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City of Heroes hosting Razer-sponsored question-and-answer service [Updated]
[Update: We were just informed by NCsoft that this contest will unfortunately need to be postponed, due to some technical issues. Please ignore the dates posted here. We will let you know as soon as we hear something new.] There's nothing quite as nice as getting rewarded for doing something you would have been inclined to do anyway. City of Heroes is offering players and fans a chance to do precisely that via an upcoming question-and-answer session. Not only do you get a chance to ask the developers whatever you want, but there's a chance for you to win a free Razer Naga mouse, which is designed specifically around MMO gaming. What could be better? Mirroring the earlier formspring session from April, the City of Heroes team is opening up submissions for questions between June 21st and June 28th. The answers are coming on the 30th, with three lucky players winning a Naga mouse. The full rules and regulations can be found on the official site, which includes language explaining that questions will only be answered regarding Going Rogue, the upcoming Super Booster, and the recent video documentary. Take a look at the official rules, and think of what you can ask the team about the upcoming content.
Exclusive: The moral genesis of City of Heroes: Going Rogue
While the Praetorian areas designed for Going Rogue are new, the actual concept of Praetoria has been in City of Heroes for quite some time. Of course, as it existed in the game prior to the upcoming expansion, it was simply the Mirror Universe ported over to the game world: all the good guys were now bad guys. (Presumably the inverse was also true, but we never found out one way or the other.) Yet Praetoria, as it's being billed now, is a region of contrasts, where good and evil aren't so easily conveyed. So how did we get from one to the other? How did the simple moral inversion become a question of totalitarian safety versus dangerous anarchy? The best answers come straight from the source, and they're right here. In an exclusive developer diary by John "Protean" Hegner, designer and mission lead for Going Rogue, we get a peek at the process that went into fleshing out the limited view we had of the alternate Earth. Entitled "Shaving the goatee off the Praetorians," it's excellent reading for any City of Heroes fan, so take a look on past the break.
Winners of "Declare your Loyalty" contest announced for City of Heroes
Sometimes you notice them and sometimes you don't, but the background touches in City of Heroes are always there. They're little reminders that you're moving through a city full of people. The Rogue Isles has its share of shady billboards and decorations (including no-questions-asked investigators and a minion recruitment service), while Paragon City has law firms and socially-conscious advertisements about the Rikti. And Praetoria has propaganda for Emperor Cole... and against him. That's the crux of the now-concluded contest to declare your loyalty in artistic form for Going Rogue, and the winners of said contest have been announced. There are three winners in each category, for both Loyalist propaganda and Resistance subversion. Two of the pieces of Resistance graffiti and one of the Loyalist billboards have also been adopted by the developers -- they will be featured in Going Rogue, albeit in a slightly-altered form. The gallery of winners showcases both the original submissions and the slight alterations made for the appearance in-game. City of Heroes players who haven't yet picked a side -- or those who are just interested in seeing some nicely-done propaganda pieces -- should head on over to take a look.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Questions versus answers, no holds barred!
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled guide to playing a spider for a number of questions and answers, and possibly several comic book sound effects! (Okay, it's not exactly "interrupting" anything when I said that it would be here this week, but humor me.) As usual, the community has taken the opportunity to ask me a number of City of Heroes questions, and I have used my magical time-looker-forward tube to find the vast majority of the answers. So with that having been said, let's get into the down and dirty, shall we? Superfan asked: "Massively suspects the game has only 40,000 active subscibers right now?" No, the quick math done by one Massively writer suggested it as a possible figure, based on some generous margins and assuming everyone's subscription is on a one-month-recurring basis as opposed to the plethora of other subscription pricing plans available. The goal was to create a vague idea of how many subscribers on an active basis the game might have at the moment, since we no longer get actual subscription numbers for the game.
City of Heroes: Going Rogue dev diary has a change of heart
Do you have any idea how tiring it is to be this evil all the time? It's like, we can only keep up this vault-plundering, mustache-twirling, damselnapping, puppy-kicking veneer before it gets a little long in the tooth, you know? We've long been thinking about seeing how the other half lives -- an opportunity that will soon be afforded to us by City of Heroes upcoming, massive content expansion, Going Rogue. Check out the developer's diary posted above to see the implications of the game's new alignment-switching feature, and to catch a glimpse at the new environments of Praetoria. We think it looks like a fairly renovated version of Paragon City, only with much more moral ambiguity.
Exclusive City of Heroes developer diary on the design of Dual Pistols animation
Even if you hate the ranged powers in City of Heroes with the heat of the sun, it's impossible to deny how stylish the animations for Dual Pistols look. The amount of movement in every single power makes the set feel organic and action-oriented, regardless of any other mechanical elements. But what went into making one of the marquee power sets for Going Rogue look so fluid and interesting? Nelson Tam, an animation artist for Paragon Studios, was the mastermind behind the gun-fu on display for heroes and villains alike. In our exclusive developer diary, "How John Woo Inspired my Gun Fu," he explains how the animations came to life, from the earliest point of conception to the finished product that players can enjoy. City of Heroes players have clamored for the set nearly since the launch of the game, but as the diary explains, it wasn't necessarily quite so easy to get it to look right in the game. Click on past the cut!
City of Heroes launches first video diary for Going Rogue
The time of Going Rogue draws very close for City of Heroes players, and we've still only scratched the surface of what there is to know. It's always a tense time when you're getting close to a new expansion, especially one that's rewriting some of the most fundamental rules about the game. While the first in a series of new video developer diaries from Paragon Studios won't necessarily make the time before release pass any faster, it will help give us a clearer picture of what's coming around the bend. For players who have never played the game before, the diary helps give an overview of where the game is and where it can go from here -- including the realm of the Super Lumberjack. (We can only assume that making one allows you to also be super okay.) Veterans can enjoy a solid look at Praetoria, as well as what can only be described as glowing costume pieces. Once the veteran players finish squealing in delight, they can take a look on past the break for the first City of Heroes video diary for Going Rogue, which is targeted for release in July.
City of Heroes launches "Declare Your Loyalty" contest
Any City of Heroes fan will likely recognize and have an answer for the question "Loyalist or Resistance?" It's all part of the ongoing campaign for the game's upcoming expansion, Going Rogue, and ties to the main storyline -- whether you're a Loyalist of Tyrant's totalitarian utopia, or a no-holds-barred Resistance member willing to topple Tyrant at any cost. Paragon Studios is taking the campaign one step further to celebrate both the impending release and the six-year anniversary: they're letting players make a permanent mark on the world of Praetoria based upon their allegiance. There are two halves to the contest, based upon one's affiliation. If you're a Loyalist, you are tasked with designing a suitable propaganda poster for Emperor Cole, extolling his virtues and those of his society. On the other hand, Resistance members will design graffiti to spread the message of freedom and encouraging others to rise up. There's a lot of fun to be had with the contest, and the prizes are pretty substantial -- even without the fact that the best entries may very well wind up in Praetoria when Going Rogue launches. Take a look at the full rules, and start declaring your City of Heroes affiliation -- the contest runs until May 14th.
Big celebrations coming for six years of City of Heroes
City of Heroes has been running for six solid years, and whether you're a current or former player (or someone never that interested in superheroes for some reason), that's a running time to be proud of. Paragon Studios certainly thinks so, which is why they're hosting a full month's worth of anniversary celebration. The party kicks off in full force on April 28th -- not just the day of the anniversary, but the launch of Issue 17 and all its varied improvements. But that's just the beginning, as are the badge, free respec, and free costume change token being given to players on the anniversary. Monday and Tuesday before the anniversary itself promise some exciting and chaotic content, quite possibly including a special title for participants. The test servers will also be remaining open to give players a chance to play with the dev team on the anniversary itself, followed by an in-game address from Melissa "War Witch" Bianco at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST). With the promise of an upcoming contest to promote your loyalty a la Guild Wars 2 and with Going Rogue just around the corner, there's never been a better time to enjoy City of Heroes.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Question and answers go retro
It's time to head back in time, back through the many views and opinion of the past month, and see where we've gone with questions from far and wide. And as long as we're going back in time, why can't City of Heroes go back with us? Seriously, where's the time-travel arc where everyone has to team up with their Silver Age counterpart in bell-bottoms and bad hair? We've long been missing that from the game, and now that I have the time to think clearly it's a problem which should be immediately addressed. Of course, we do have that new Doppleganger system coming up. It could happen. Also, questions should probably be answered before I deviate too far. Zsazsa piped up with an obvious question about the PAX information: "Was anything said about new maps located in space for level 50 characters?" Possibly? When talking with the inimitable Miss Bianco, she mentioned that there were new maps we haven't yet seen... emphasis on those of us in the playerbase. It's very possible that there are, in fact, maps set in space which will be used for the Incarnate system (which requires level 50 and Going Rogue to be playable, so there you go). But as it's implied here that they already exist, wouldn't we have seen them by now?
City of Heroes whips up some demon summoning
One of the features that City of Heroes: Going Rogue is heavily selling are the addition of new powersets. We've already seen the trailer for Dual Pistols, and we were shown the trailer to the Demon Summoning powerset at PAX East. That trailer is now available for every City of Heroes player to view online, allowing all to witness the power of ripping blood-caked monstrosities straight from the nether realms to do your diabolical (or possibly somewhat heroic) bidding. While it's not a full demonstration of the improved graphical designs coming in the expansion, it's clear just how far the game's models have come. Like most Mastermind powers, the set features both minions and a "secondary" power, in this case a flaming whip. The whip, appropriately enough, seems to be both used offensively and in a support role, as the summoner is seen whipping at least one of her demons in what appears to be an enhancing spell. And if the flamboyant gestures aren't enough to impress players, the skull-faced monstrosities should do the job. City of Heroes players who missed out on PAX East as well as those who just want to see Issue 17's upcoming pre-release powerset should click past the link for the video.
PAX East 2010: City of Heroes panel reveals many things
Unpacking the City of Heroes panel at PAX East is a big deal: there were huge amounts of information being thrown around, and a lot of new pieces of information to process. For that matter, there was far more than anyone expected, with information about the full spread of new issues up to Issue 19 and the reveal of Matt "Positron" Miller's heretofore unrevealed new endgame system. The panel as a whole featured a huge breadth of information about the game from concept into the future, and was filled with people long before the official start time, with fans vocally professing their adoration for the team the whole way through. We had the good fortune to be front and center at the theatre, and once we started taking notes we didn't really stop until the event was over. At the panel were lead designer Melissa Bianco, former lead designer and current lead system designer Matt Miller, art lead David Nakayama, and development producer Jesse Caceres. They opened off with a discussion of the game's history from launch back in 2004 to the present. The changeover from Cryptic to Paragon Studios was discussed in brief, mentioning that four of the major launch employees (Miller, Bianco, CW Bennet, and Brian Clayton) were still with Paragon even after the change.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Return of community news
There's quite a bit to crow about in the City of Heroes community of late. Since the last time we've taken a look at the community, we've had a huge amount of new information about the next expansion, a double XP weekend, and the usual regimen of alien invasions and parallel universes. (July's release of Going Rogue will greatly increase the parallel universe portion.) And if you live on the east coast, you also have the opportunity to meet the Paragon Studios crew without traveling to the other side of the country! Have I mentioned that I live on the east coast? So next week, expect a very weary me to be dishing out a whole bunch of news from PAX East, as I'm going to be following the crew around like a forlorn puppy. But that's then and this is now. Today, we're going to be looking at some of the interesting community threads that have popped up over the last month, from the serious to the amusing.
City of Heroes: Going Rogue takes a look underground
There are four months to go before the release of the second City of Heroes expansion, but the development team has been doing a lot of work to keep Going Rogue on everyone's mind. The announcement of Issue 17 certainly did quite a bit in that direction, as did the early release of Dual Pistols for prepurchasing customers. Now we've been given the first major update to the site since the biography of Tyrant, and it's a meaty one. Information and screenshots have been posted for both Calvin Scott, the leader of the Resistance, and the tunnel-dwelling nightmares known as Ghouls. Calvin Scott's biography may be of interest to many players because it gives us something that the community had wondered about -- a heroic Mastermind, leading the Resistance troops against Praetoria's fascist regime. Ghouls, on the other hand, are at once more straightforward and more unsettling, crazed undead that lurk beneath Praetoria and threaten to devour anyone who strays into their territory. The black-and-white world of City of Heroes is getting many more shades of gray in the upcoming expansion, and both of these lore tidbits hint at just how blurred the lines will get come July.
The Daily Grind: Taking part in the doubled experience for City of Heroes?
If you've ever played City of Heroes before, you most likely got the e-mail enticing you to take part in the game's ongoing doubled experience weekend, during which all inactive accounts get a brief chance to return to active duty. And with the game's second expansion on the way, there are plenty of people taking just that opportunity to spring back into the game. Veteran players, by the same token, have something to be enthusiastic about -- with the preorders for said expansion being open, they can get their hands on the highly-anticipated Dual Pistols powerset and speed past the low-level areas in record time. The short version is that if you still have an interest in City of Heroes, now is a prime time to be giving it some of your gaming hours. So what about you? Are you a lapsed subscriber lured back in by the promise of a trial to see what's changed and improved? Or are you a longtime player interested in seeing the new powers in action? And as a special bonus question, are there other games you would like to see run a similar double-rate and reactivation weekend?
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Riddle me this, riddle me that
We've all heard the repeated statement that there are no stupid questions. This is pretty obviously incorrect, and can be proven as such by asking what color has the most pizza, or how much a clearly-priced item costs, or how you mine for fish. But when it comes to being unsure about things in City of Heroes, that old chestnut rings true. Certainly you can ask questions that have obvious answers in retrospect, but there's enough to learn and know about the game that it's never a bad idea to ask a question. We'll kick off with a question asked by Sharko: "Are we ever going to see new Epic Archetypes in the game?" The developers have been fairly close-lipped on this point, and for somewhat good reason. Making a new archetype requires a concept that doesn't fit within any of the existing power frameworks, has enough to do that it can sustain itself for the same range of play as the other archetypes, and usually requires some complex balancing against the other archetypes to avoid being more powerful or less. With the breadth of options available to current City of Heroes characters, there's not always a lot of new space to squeeze in something else.
City of Heroes: Going Rogue open for pre-orders
This weekend, every City of Heroes player will get an opportunity to double up on their experience, Influence, Infamy, and possibly their playtime. (Actually, depending on how many alts you have to level you may very well be tripling or quadrupling it, but that's not the rate of increase for anything else.) So why not get the chance to start leveling one of the new powersets in the process? Pre-orders for City of Heroes: Going Rogue have opened up on the official site, allowing you to digitally purchase an advance copy of the expansion and get early access to Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning. Unfortunately, if you wanted to level up a demon-summoning mastermind, you'll have to wait just a little bit, as that powerset will go live with Issue 17. And the expansion itself still isn't set to release until July, when a whole new slew of options will open up. But if you're a longtime City of Heroes player or a recent convert, there's a whole lot of things out there to shoot and one little assault rifle likely isn't going to do the job. Go ahead and get your pre-order in, and take a look at the improved website for the expansion while you're at it. [ Thanks to Skystreak and Celestial Lord for the tip! ]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: All the community news that's fit to print
In a city marked by constant alien invasions, assaults from an island controlled by a sadistic villain, rampant street crime, and various technological and magical disasters, there's always something to talk about. There's usually more than a few things for players to talk about on top of that, which certainly helps keep our interest in City of Heroes even when we're not right in the thick of things. After all, whatever else you might say about the game and its flaws -- it's fun. It gives you a fun ride of being a superhero or supervillain. If you can't enjoy a conversation about that, really, you're just plain getting jaded. Naturally, having discussions about nothing more than "it's fun" would get a little old, but that's certainly not all of the discussions about the game. Just about half. Today, we're taking a look at some of the other half, spotlighting some of the most interesting, though-provoking, or just plain funny discussions and threads coming out of the City of Heroes community.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: I'll play your game, you rogue
One of the disadvantages to working ahead is the fact that sometimes, time catches up with you. Case in point: the latest bout of Going Rogue information. By the time I found out about everything, had digested it, and was ready to write up a whole article about it... well, it was 10:40 PM on Tuesday night, and I wasn't going to have enough time to write it before the column went live. Not to mention that there wasn't an illustration ready. (Drawing those things takes the talented A. Fienemann time, after all.) So we're going to talk about it just a wee bit later. But that's not such a huge deal, because there's quite a bit to digest in the most recent batches of news. Enough that we have quite a bit to look forward to and speculate on, even if we don't necessarily find all of it quite as interesting, and a whole lot of ramifications for the game's future to think about.
Will improved City of Heroes graphics come before Going Rogue?
Apparently not content with his most recent contest, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann decided that he would use the official City of Heroes forums to declare a war upon television. Really, it's not that unusual for the game's forums, which tend to be on the friendly and silly side; what is a bit more unusual is the carrot being offered. His promise is that if readers join him in his war against television (which, to be fair, is a fine war), the game's "Ultra Mode" will be released to all players prior to Going Rogue. Silly? Of course it is, McCann isn't even on the same team in charge of the graphical upgrade. Except that there has been a persistent rumor that the upgrade, revealed at Hero-Con along with the groundswell of Going Rogue information, will be going live before the expansion's launch anyway. Of course, McCann himself points out that he couldn't possibly follow up on his promise... which could mean that he knows something will happen. Or it could be the resident mad scientist of City of Heroes being his usual impish self. Either way, this rumor has a bit more meat on its bones, so players might want to go ahead and keep an eye on that thread. [ Thanks to Informant D for the tip! ]
