going-rogue
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NYCC 2010: The City of Heroes Issue 19 panel
It's the end of the convention season, and City of Heroes fans on the East Coast managed to get one last treat -- another chance with the development team that had long been anchored firmly on the other side of the country. The team's panel in March at PAX East saw the revelation of several new facts about the game, including the first announcement of Kinetic Melee and Electric Control, and the panel that closes out the year at New York Comic Con contained several interesting new facts as well. Melissa Bianco, David Nakayama, and Jesse Caceres were all in attendance, with the panel overseen by community representative Tia Parurahi. With Going Rogue having been out for nearly two months, this panel focused on the upcoming Issue 19 and what the changes mean for the game, as well as how much the development team is ramping up production to improve the game all around.
Layoffs hit Paragon Studios
A rumor has just broken that Paragon Studios, the team responsible for City of Heroes, has just undergone a round of layoffs. This comes following the launch of Going Rogue, the game's second boxed expansion and center of a major re-arrangement for the game. Among those rumored to be laid off is Christopher Bruce, known to the fans of the game as Back Alley Brawler and the senior animation lead for the studio. While there have been rumors for some time that the team had been expanding and working on an additional project, possibly a sequel to the now-venerable City of Heroes, it's unknown what long-term impacts these layoffs might have on both the existing game and any future projects. We contacted NCsoft and received official confirmation of the layoffs, but the company thus far has been unable to provide information on who, exactly, has been let go. Our condolences go out to all employees affected by the layoffs.
One Shots: Now you're thinking with portals
With all the heroes running around in City of Heroes, you'd think that crime would have long ago been wiped off the map. But no, the criminals still attempt nefarious deeds daily. There again, when you have the ability to create (or become) a villain, all the criminal activity probably isn't as much of a surprise. Today's great City of Heroes screenshot comes to us from Brenner H., who has been doing his best to put the smack-down on evildoers everywhere. He writes in: "Going through the new zone of Praetoria was an amazing experience with great story and fun. But like everything it comes to a close. Here is me deciding to go to Paragon City (The Heroes' side) and to begin my adventure. Beyond this portal is my future!" Whether you love story, graphics, or concept, we love to hear about your favorite MMO from your perspective. If you'd like to take part in One Shots, then email a screenshot you like to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Feel free to add server, guild, or any additional information you'd like. We'll post it here on Massively and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Because of reasons!
It's weird to say it, but City of Heroes feels like it's still on the cusp of a storm. Going Rogue was a fine expansion, but it doesn't have the sense of breaking that built-up tension, that feeling of something major just over the horizon. Or perhaps it's just me, perched out on my metaphorical porch and loudly proclaiming that this next one is going to be the big one, as I puff on my metaphorical corn-cob pipe and look across the metaphorical skyline of rural Metaphorbraska. OK, that one kind of got away from me there, but what I was trying to get at was that it's time for another question-and-answer session for City of Heroes and that I don't think I'm the only person feeling like Issue 19 might hold some great secret. We'll know soon enough, although right now it's time for Issue 20's super-secret beta, which even I don't know about just yet. I'm very curious. On to the questions!
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Party hardly
I think by this point I have a well-established reputation as being a fairly positive guy on the subject of City of Heroes. It wasn't a conscious decision or anything -- it's just that I've been pretty happy with the game's development and content, and I do tend to be a bit of a developer supporter. I don't expect the game to be something other than what it is, and I enjoy what it is. Not to mention the obvious fact that the game has given me a lot of enjoyment over the years. So I usually come down as being part of the sunshine and light crowd. But that's not by design -- it's just how things have shaken down. I hand out praise and criticism as the situation warrants. And this week I'm going to talk about something that most definitely deserves criticism. I'm talking, of course, about the Party Pack, the newest mini-addition to the game and one that's already produced more than a little fan rage. But it's deserved, and even if I can see why Paragon Studios went the route that it did, I find it a little hard to just dismiss it with the usual "if you don't like it, don't buy it" routine.
City of Heroes reactivation weekend set for early October
Paragon Studios is planning another reactivation weekend to lure former City of Heroes players back, and the company is offering more attractive bait than in previous weekends: Praetoria. The new content in Going Rogue will be available to all account holders past and present from the morning of October 7th to late on the 10th. It's a limited view -- you can only access Praetorian content up to level 14 -- so don't plan on an Extra Life-style gaming marathon to power to the level cap. However, if you've been wondering what the expansion is like, this is a good chance to try it out for free. Visit the City of Heroes site for all the details on this free weekend.
City of Heroes offers a new developer diary on the alignment system
City of Heroes players have been enjoying the newest expansion for just a little over a month now, bringing with it the long-awaited abilities for players to change their alignment. It seems like a natural extension of the game's comic book roots, after all -- you can hardly throw a rock in certain books without finding some major character who's a former villain. But with all that we've heard about the expansion's development, the subject of the alignment system has been fairly quiet, up until the most recent development diary by Shawn "Pit" Pitman. The diary goes into detail on the genesis of the alignment system from a concept into execution, as well as some of the larger changes put into place to facilitate the shift. For instance, one of the major shifts was that the alignment and tips missions would feature their own little gallery of recurring characters, rather than a steady set of existing major story NPCs such as Statesman. City of Heroes players curious about how the game bridged the gap between good and evil are encouraged to take a look at the full diary.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community lives!
The community for City of Heroes got a big shot in the arm when the expansion came out. While it hadn't exactly died in the last few years, it was certainly on a lower pulse. These days, I can't log in without seeing pretty much every server near capacity. Even with a month having passed since the initial release, it seems that Going Rogue is doing a fine job of keeping people wrapped up in the game. You can rail about the lack of endgame all you want, but Praetoria's a pretty good starting ride. Of course, it's high time for us to do another community roundup post, so the fact that the community has rallied back serves my own purposes. We've got more than just a surfeit of content to talk about -- we've got a whole collection of new missions and gameplay types to work with. And, of course, there are those "just 20 levels" of starting content to chat about. So click on through to see what City of Heroes players have been chatting about for the past month.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Both sides now
Back when Going Rogue was first released, I made a point that I wasn't going into detail on the alignment and tip system. As I saw it at the time, there were two major reasons not to go whole-hog into it, the first being that I was already writing an entire novel on the expansion, and the second being that Paragon Wiki was hard at work putting more details into place. Why try to reinvent the wheel in a weekly column? And there was also a third reason: I'd been spending more time in Praetoria than on my old characters. So I suppose in some way I ought to thank whichever designer gave my poor brute the chance to fight two elite bosses at the same time with three NPCs as backup in a single-player mission. It gave me plenty of incentive to spend more time with my higher-level characters. (Seriously, that mission is absurd.) That meant I started diving into the alignment system, and that means I'm going to spend more time detailing one of the centerpieces of City of Heroes gameplay at the moment: alignment.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: All the news that's fit from PAX
The revelations at PAX East were pretty darn big for City of Heroes, but they had a big advantage over PAX Prime. At the time we sat down in Boston, Going Rogue was months away, and we knew almost nothing about what it would bring us. This time around, it's been out for a couple of weeks, and most of the fancy pieces of knowledge are pretty well established. It would be hard, if not impossible, for the development team to hit us with the same one-two punch. I wouldn't argue that the team quite managed that -- there's no comparison to revealing two new power sets, the endgame system, and video demonstrations of much-awaited sets -- but Paragon Studios sure did manage to drop quite a bomb on us. As I've done frequently in the past, we're going to take this point by point, with a full collection of neat pieces of news that leave me wondering just how much interesting stuff is yet to come from the development team.
One Shots: Ascending to the heights
There's something to be said for being a superhero. You get to have all sorts of cool powers, the ability to fight for good (or evil), and everyday folks talking about your heroic (or villainous) deeds. For those of us who aren't really superheroes, we have comics, movies, books, tv, and of course, MMOs to enjoy the experience! Today's high-flying shot comes to us from Sam T., who was spending time in City of Heroes and reported in: "As soon as my character could fly, I immediately went up the great tower in the center of Nova Praetoria. Off in the distance I could see Imperial City. Beyond that I knew was Neutropolis, with the Underground lurking beneath it all. There is certainly no mistaking Going Rogue's new starter experience for City of Heroes or City of Villains!" Do you have screenshots of your favorite game that you haven't sent in to One Shots yet? If so, why are you holding back? You should gather those up and send them to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We can always use more screenshots to show off!%Gallery-85937%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Because you demanded answers
It's been another month, and you all know that means it's time for more questions and answers regarding City of Heroes. It's pleasing that I've been getting an ever-greater number of questions, but that also means that more and more I have to just pick a few of them to answer. So, if your question was not among those chosen, fear not; we'll get to it in due time. For now, let's move on past the preamble and into the meat of the column. Superfan asked: "Will hazard zones ever become co-op?" I'm going to do the unthinkable and attempt to predict the future here. Yes, hazard zones will become a place where both heroes and villains (and rogues and vigilantes, really) may group together, with nary a care for the alignment of their brothers in supernatural armor. City of Heroes will grow to embrace all of its players inside of these horrifying lands of insane spawns and maddening geographic layouts. While it might sound like I'm treading into ridiculous sarcasm, I'm really not.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Facefirst into Praetoria
It's finally here, and I have to admit, it's a little weird to realize it. After I spent the better part of half a year focusing on Going Rogue, the expansion has been released and is totally playable. To have the game sitting in front of me (metaphorically) after it's become such a huge part of my professional life is almost too daunting. I almost didn't even want to fire up the launcher to... OK, yeah, that part isn't fooling anyone. Getting to play around a bit while it was in beta to see how it would play was nice, but I couldn't get myself into City of Heroes fast enough to start leveling a Loyalist and going to town on the new side of town. At the end of the day, I'm just a player like everyone reading this column, and the game I got to play on Monday evening made me very happy indeed. There's a lot to see and do, and I've tried to recap some of the disconnected thoughts in this week's column. And as a bonus, there's a sad announcement at the end! It's like a bonus, anyway.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community timing
Welcome to this week's installment of A Mild-Mannered Reporter, where we will not be talking about Going Rogue. Well, OK, that's a lie -- but we're not going to be doing our big analysis and in-depth look at the entire expansion. As of the time I'm writing these words, I've not actually even played the game. (This will have changed by the time you are reading the article, but that's the wonderful part about writing ahead. I'm sending messages to the future from the past!) So while there are going to be several community threads for City of Heroes in this column, there will not be any of the biting commentary you might have hoped to see. You can at least check out my first impressions of the expansion, if you'd like -- which also isn't written as of the time that I'm writing this, but will be by the time you read it. (Editor's note: Eliot's first impressions of Going Rogue launched Tuesday.) You know what, just jump past the break already -- I'm giving myself a Lost headache thinking about all the time travel.
City of Heroes celebrates the official Going Rogue launch with a new trailer
In case you've managed to miss the news, the latest expansion for City of Heroes has launched today. Well, technically it launched yesterday, but that was for customers who had pre-purchased via the NCsoft store. Today remains the official launch of Going Rogue, and to both commemorate the occasion and drum up more interest, Paragon Studios has released an official launch trailer for the expansion. And if you've somehow missed all of the ramp-up to the launch, well, now would be the perfect time to catch up. Going Rogue is a pretty big expansion for the game's core, and the video (embedded past the cut) shows off the many new elements while also highlighting the familiar City of Heroes engine. Featuring the option to switch between heroic and villainous factions as well as a revamped starting experience, it's the perfect time for a new player to jump on. And if you get in that mood after seeing the trailer, well, we do have a contest running at the moment...
Mayhem is afoot: Win a copy of Going Rogue or a City of Heroes Mutant Booster pack!
Mayhem we say, Mayhem! The good Mother tricked us yesterday with an early launch of City of Heroes: Going Rogue and threw off our superpowered plans! But, while we scrambled to get you coverage with the strength of 10,000 men, the brave (or cruel) heroes (or villains) of Paragon City (or the Rogue Isles) entered the mirror universe of Praetoria to carve out their destinies (or plunder and loot maniacally). We hope you guys are enjoying the new areas, and the new morality options, entered into the game! But, alas, are you saddened that you can't join your superpowered friends in Praetoria? Are you one of the few who don't own a copy of City of Heroes? Well, how about we fix that for you with a superpowered contest, courtesy our friends at NCsoft? Want to win a full copy of City of Heroes: Going Rogue, or a copy of the Mutant Super Booster costume pack? Super jump after the break for all of the details!
One Shots: How the mighty have fallen
While Going Rogue was initially set to go live today, those sneaky, sneaky folks at Paragon Studios let it go live last night to the delight of many City of Heroes fans. While today's screenshot doesn't really have much of anything to do with the expansion, it does spotlight one hero who sacrificed himself for the good of Earth and wound up an evil mutation thanks to the Rikti. This super-heroic image comes to us courtesy of @ChaoticSunder, who writes in: "[Here's] a screenshot of Honoree, the Rikti secret weapon once known as Hero 1, confronting a group of meddling Earthers sent to prevent another glorious invasion. [This was taken during the] grand finale fight of a Lady Grey Task force in City of Heroes by the heroes of the Hyperion and Arc of Dawn supergroups. The recent graphics update helped make this painting-like, unretouched screenshot possible. While you're out zooming around Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, why not snap a screenshot for us? We're all about the heroics! Email those in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Feel free to include your global handle, supergroup, etc. as well. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
First Impressions: City of Heroes Going Rogue
To hear the team talk about it, Going Rogue isn't simply an expansion for City of Heroes but a full-on reboot of the game in general. It's hard to see how, on some level; outside of the new powersets and a new starting area, not much is visibly being added with the expansion. But sitting down and playing through the starting area and the game's opening suddenly feels like an entirely different experience. It's not a new game -- but it feels like a leap forward from where the game had been just a few days before. I didn't get nearly as much time with the Going Rogue beta as I would have liked, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm biased when it comes to City of Heroes. But even with those standards set, I was impressed right away with how the game has been revamped from the start -- and what these revamps mean for the game as a whole and moving forward. Click on past the cut for the first impressions of the latest expansion, which launches today. (Coincidental, yes?) %Gallery-99455%
An early release for City of Heroes Going Rogue
City of Heroes players had been looking forward to August 17th for quite some time, ever since it was announced as the release date for the game's new expansion, Going Rogue. It looks like they got their treat a day early, however, as Issue 18 has gone live today. Issue 18 is the patch that coincides with the expansion, and sure enough, players who have pre-purchased the expansion are reporting that they do indeed have full access to all of the expansion content. The official word from Paragon Studios is that the "soft launch" was done as a part of extended maintenance in order to facilitate a smoother launch day process.. Either way, there's no indication that the game is rolling back the live push, nor does it seem likely for a few hours of early release. The patch is quite large, so City of Heroes players are advised to start downloading early -- and as soon as it's done, they can start enjoying Going Rogue just a bit ahead of schedule. [Thanks to Skystreak for the tip!]
Fight another universe via jetpack, courtesy Massively and NCsoft!
What's better than fighting for truth, justice, and the American way? Jetpacks, obviously! And with Praetoria looming on the horizon of City of Heroes, now's the best time to strap a rocket to your back! Our universe needs more rocketeering men and women to defend us from the evil, yet-really-not-evil-more-like-misunderstood universe! If putting a giant flame that close to your rear sounds like a good idea to you, then skip along after the break where, thanks to NCsoft, we're giving away 20 City of Heroes 30-day temporary jetpack powers!
