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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Seven years in the city, part two
Welcome back to the second part of our look back through the past year of City of Heroes. The last installment, in case you missed it, discussed the first two issues that went live over the past year, Issue 17 and Issue 18. And here's a quick recap: They were pretty awesome, but they were lacking much for the high-end portion of the game. This time we're turning our gaze forward to the later two issues, the good and the bad. And there was some bad that came with these updates, a certain level of unavoidable badness. I called this part of the game's history the fall of the unleveled empire, and while I don't think we've quite obtained empire status, there are those among us -- including me -- who either believed that leveling past a certain point would always be an option or believed at least that level-locking was something that happened to other games. Enough meandering about it -- let's finish up our look at City of Heroes in its seventh year of operation.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Stricken pack
It's been a while since the Incarnate system went live, and we've had a little time to get used to the ideas that the Issue 19 Strike Pack brought to the table. Not a full shakedown, mind you, but enough to make it clear what the fairly minor addition actually does for the nascent endgame. Whether or not it brings anything positive to City of Heroes is still up for debate. Depending on whom you're talking to, it either nicely handles a few weaknesses of the current Incarnate design or it's a step in a bad direction. As usual, I don't think the answer is anywhere near that simple. The Strike Pack is a good thing in many ways, and not just because of the addition of the higher tiers of Incarnate abilities. I love giving people more reason to run Task Forces, definitely, but if there's a serious problem introduced by this it goes right back to the same endgame problems that City of Heroes has always had, problems that I'm not completely sure even Issue 20 will fix.
City of Heroes launches the Issue 19 Strike Pack
Have you found yourself acquiring the deific power of the Incarnate system too darn slowly? Or have you found yourself stymied as you train up your Alpha Slot abilities, knowing that new tiers will be available but wishing they were available right now? City of Heroes players with either conundrum can take heart in knowing that the Issue 19 Strike Pack has just gone live, adding in solutions to both of these problems for everyone. Players looking for a chance to earn more Incarnate materials every week will be happy with the new Weekly Strike Target, which grants extra rewards to players for the first run of a chosen Task Force and/or Strike Force and badges for players who repeatedly run the target. It also coincides nicely with the expansion of the Alpha Slot, allowing players access to the highest tier of powers available. It's not a bad thing to have extra motivation to run the Task Forces in City of Heroes, and this update offers two excellent incentives.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Moving forward and upward
As I write this, DC Universe Online's launch is a day away. By the time you're reading it, it'll have already happened. Not coincidentally, I also had a chance to interview Melissa Bianco again, proving once again that Paragon Studios knows full well how to step up its game and strut its stuff when necessary. Unfortunately, this puts me in an awkward position, because there's interesting stuff between the lines of that interview -- but there's also a nagging question that people have been asking me about why I seem to care so much about DC Universe Online. I should note that everyone who has asked that question has done so in such a way as to remind me how wonderful my regular readers are -- polite, respectful, and genuinely curious. Seriously, give yourself a pat on the back; the comments from the column are always a joy. In truth, though, I think the interview partly answers the question. It should be clear from Paragon's burst of new information that the City of Heroes team has been keeping an eye on DC Universe Online, and I take that as a sign that the team knows how to run a darn good game. You can't honestly think it's a coincidence that we got a new groundswell of information and promises of more just before another superhero game launched, can you?
