Death to Disco!
May
14
Story Description: It’s 2009; Dr. Disco Fever has somehow altered the timeline so that Disco never died. The Star Spangled Banner is played to a Disco beat! Sporting events start with people standing up and “getting down” for our national anthem. Restore the timeline or be stuck Boogie Oogie-ing forever!
Story Arc ID: 84420
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Wrong Number
Length: Medium (2 missions)
Alignment: Neutral
Designer Notes: Recommend level 25+ though depending on AT it is doable at lower levels.
Similar Missions:
- Morally Impermissable
- The Fractured Dreamer
- A Rose’s Thorns
- The Hero Who Loved Me
- Ctrl + Alt + Reset!
Filed under: Reviews, Crey, Custom Critters, Length: Medium, Neutral
Heraclea
Says:
I am quite ancient, and I remember when the DJ up in Chicago blew up the box of disco records at the baseball field; apparently that turned into quite an incident.
This design has a similar theme. In the first mission, you must save Jimmy Carter, and in the second destroy disco records and stop the evil mad scientist behind the disco revival. The mobs are generally well balanced, and in the first mission mostly game standard. Custom mobs are featured in the second mission, and their names and descriptions are the source of much of the interest of the game. Almost all the in-mission texts are given to bosses, but since this can be played at a fairly fast clip that is not a problem.
Posted on May 15th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Glazius
Says:
@GlaziusF
Running this on a low 40s DB/Fire brute, since Mission Enginner inexplicably refuses to earn itself.
Also, due disclosure: I know pretty much nothing about disco. Not how it started, not how it went, not “why it deserved to die”. I liked classical music as a little boy, and while my palate has broadened, mostly it’s to other forms of instrumental music.
I am pretty much 100% guaranteed to get no in-joke.
—
You know, I was about to say “you can call him ‘God of Rock’, but no, you can’t.
The President has been kidnapped by disco. Can I rock hard enough to save the President?
…um. Crey? Crey was only established in the 90’s. I wonder if they time-traveled.
Ah. And so they… er, apparently did? It’s not really clear.
Also, Carter was grey-haired when he was in office.
—
A forest. Why am I in a forest? Wasn’t Disco Demolition Night in Chicago? If this is supposed to be a park or something, you ought to say so.
Rock seems to have the upper hand, though. Handily, even None of the rockers seem to go down in the combats.
Though I have to say i don’t exactly get the disco powersets. Katana? Dual blades? The sonic/sonic I kinda understand, but the ice/electric dual blaster just doesn’t make sense.
I think there are axes, maces, and broadswords that resemble more normal objects and would make more sense to give people who are, essentially rioters.
The costumes are pretty nice, though. As are those huge crates.
Though the boomboxes really don’t work, given that they pump out mostly techno and electronica. Maybe just have the guards doing Dance Rave?
Hmm.. I know the doc needs to spawn off only one of your many alternate destructibles, but given how Disco Demolition night shook out maybe it should be the records?
Ah, okay. So these were Crey guys who came back along with their former janitor.
For some reason the objective doesn’t count as complete until his body fades away. Since he talks about coming back I thought he might show up somewhere else on the map, but it was not to be.
—
Storyline - ***. My main problem with the storyline is that there wasn’t enough of it. I was expecting a final showdown in THE HALLS OF ROCK-ock-ock or something, and maybe a little buildup to stopping the one fateful night as well.
Design - ***. Visual design’s only really off in one place — just have a look at some file photos of President Carter. Powers design is a little more problematic - I have no trouble with the Crey doctors having random-ish powersets, but some of the Disco Nation people feel off to me. The location for that mission also feels off - maybe call it rioting spilling over into the streets and Disco “fighting back”, and put it on a KR map.
Gameplay - *****. Had a few bumps with the Disco people until I figured out to prioritize the Devas, and the Doc tossed me around a bit before the -knockback from the gravity controls kicked in. But no problems finding objectives or fighting it out.
Detail - ***. Part of my problem with the design is actually that the powers for the Disco Nation don’t flow at all from the enemy descriptions. They’re modestly biographical but in most cases (bar KFF and the Diva) do nothing to explain the powersets.
Overall - ***. It’s an idea that could go places and it plays well, but the powers feel kinda tacked on, and I feel like the story stops about halfway.
Posted on May 30th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Hellguard
Says:
Highly recommended arc!
Posted on May 31st, 2009 at 5:14 pm
@PW
Says:
The author objected to me posting the above review, so in the interests of fairness, I will note that I wrote that review on 4/27/2009 and the author has stated she has made improvements since then. At some point I’ll try to re-run the arc to see these changes; can’t definitely promise when (my queue of arcs to run is pretty long).
Posted on June 17th, 2009 at 7:17 am
CoHMR Admin
Says:
I’m recopying Wrong Number’s comments here so they don’t get lost, but removing the original comments, as their 5-star ratings were throwing off the actual rating of the arc. Thanks. - El
=========
Thanks for the review. The “DJ in Chicago blew up the box of disco records at the baseball field”. Was called the Disco Demolition and it is exactly the event you return to (via time-travel) in the second mission. Each of the npc groups guarding the records have text too, but the Unaware text often does not fire off properly.
WN
=========
Looking at your review it is clear that many of your problems with the story stem from not knowing the history it is based on. I hope after you read this you will go back and consider rerating it as will the rest of your team..
Let me explain some of your concerns..
“…um. Crey? Crey was only established in the 90’s. I wonder if they time-traveled.”
Maybe not, but it is clear that Disco hired them and he came back in time, So they easily could have come with him.
” A forest. Why am I in a forest? Wasn’t Disco Demolition Night in Chicago? If this is supposed to be a park or something, you ought to say so.”
A little history, the Disco Demolition took place at Comesky Park in Chicago. It is an outdoor stadium and that map was the closest available.
“My main problem with the storyline is that there wasn’t enough of it. I was expecting a final showdown in THE HALLS OF ROCK-ock-ock or something, and maybe a little buildup to stopping the one fateful night as well.”
See above, this was an HISTORICAL event. Again, not knowing the subject matter really hurt your enjoyment.
“The location for that mission also feels off - maybe call it rioting spilling over into the streets and Disco “fighting back”, and put it on a KR map.”
Again, most of the negative stuff is coming for the fact you did not know this was an historical event. As for President Carter, I get more “Great job on Carter” than most anything else character design wise. Not having lived through that time yourself, the portrayal of Carter may not resonate with you.
“Part of my problem with the design is actually that the powers for the Disco Nation don’t flow at all from the enemy descriptions.”
Ok, I understand your point somewhat, but this is a humorous arc and there are reasons for the powersets. For example, duel blades features many dance like moves which fit the theme. The Dancing Queen throws ice (as is Cold as Ice,, though if you missed the other Disco and Rock references, I am sure that does not make sense either)..
In summary, it is clear that most of the references, quotes,, humor and the history was not understood by you and your group. This is clearly a culture/age thing and if the story was based on today’s music or country music it would almost all go over my head too, That would not however make it a bad story, just one that is not for me.
I sincerely hope you and the rest of your group will rerate this arc based on the information I have provided you since (I think your group was 3-4 people) a block of negative votes really does hurt the rating and I feel the arc was judged unfairly.
It is one thing if the arc was truly problematic, but totally another when the ratings were based on incorrect assumptions.
=========
PW,
This review is outdated and can be found on the main CoH boards dated 4/28/09 I made changes immediately following this review and asked you to please replay if you had the chance. While I understand you may not have had time to replay this two mission arc, it is not accurate to post an old review.
WN
Posted on June 17th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Jail.Bird
Says:
Time travel storyline with a twist. Dr. Disco Fever wants to make disco live forever. First, by brainwashing president Carter to make the national anthem into a disco beat and, second, by trying to stop the Disco Demolition at Comesky park. I especially like the the disco references tossed into the story from Dr. Disco’s quotes from Saturday Night Fever to the really cryptic Donna Summers quote of “what did we do to you” that I remember from a documentary on the disco phenomenon.
I especially loved the God of Rock with his rock references. I would gladly do another mission for him.
Posted on June 17th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Robby Robot
Says:
I am old enough to remember disco and the backlash it suffered. This arc, though short, is full of humor and fun. It features many disco and rock and roll references. The characters are all nicely done and the Rock God is the coolest of cool. I would recommend this arc to anyone that likes rock and roll or at least understands the rock vs. disco thing. Two thumbs way up!
Posted on June 19th, 2009 at 11:29 am
@PW
Says:
I did another run through [i]Death to Disco[/i]. (You can replace my previous rating with these if preferred.)
I like the improvements
I think mission 1 is still a little light on content; granted, it’s a short mission. But consider adding a patrol with some dialog echoing that the Crey think this job is ridiculous. Mission 2, consider making dual blades mobs use the glowing RWZ blades to look more like the glowsticks people used to have at concerts. I really like the rock rioters, mission 2 really looks like a riot scene now! Though Hard Rocker’s axe seems weird, maybe shovel or bat? Fun stuff.
Posted on July 2nd, 2009 at 1:50 pm