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Massively's massive giveaways: Day 4
While I know this is usually a misnomer, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Monday! What's so happy about it, you ask? Well, it's day four of our series of truly massive giveaways, and today we've got a pile of goodies for the City of Heroes and City of Villains fans in the audience, coming your way courtesy of Massively and NCsoft. We've got four more giveaways scheduled throughout the evening, so check back every even hour for another chance to win!And these giveaways are kicking off right now! Leave a comment on this post between 12:00 PM EST today, November 5th, and 12:00 PM EST tomorrow, November 6th (you must be over the age of 18 and a resident of the US to be eligible -- check the official rules for all the gory details). We'll pick two winners from the bunch -- first place will take home a 60-day game time card and second place will walk away with a City of Villains banner.
Under The Hood: Of Titles, Badges, and Achievements
Say what you will about achievement points on the Xbox 360. They may cheapen the experience, or reduce elements of skill down to raw numbers, but anyone who has ever played a 360 knows how addictive the little "Achievement unlocked!" message is. So what happens when you toss that into an MMO? Titles. It seems that a recent trend in MMOs is "titles". When they first debuted in the mainstream with City of Heroes, they didn't do much. All they did was add bragging rights for the person who has them, and a displayable title above the person's head. They were worthless (Well, mostly worthless). And most of the titles in CoX are still worthless. "Oh, I killed 200 Circle of Thorn members. I've got that sweet new title." Some MMOs are actually starting to change things up now, though, including the pioneers of the "Titles" system. Getting the exploration titles in City of Heroes/Villains will enable your Supergroup to teleport to that map from your Supergroup base. Getting certain titles in Guild Wars will allow you to increase your holding cap on faction. Getting all titles in an area in Tabula Rasa gets you a huge experience bonus (noticing a trend here? NCsoft developers seem to love the use of titles).
One Shots: A tribute
I wanted to start our daily screenshot feature on Massively off with something, well, massive. A memorable, recognizable, and important scene from MMO history.... and while you may all argue with me about what makes this particular shot important, it was the first thing that came to mind. Here we see a group of City of Heroes players gathering at City Hall in Atlas Park to, "salute the memory and inspiration that is Christopher Reeve on the 2nd anniversary of his death." It's rare to see an in-game event that brings players together for a cause other than slaying dragons and similar.But perhaps you have a screenshot of your own that you think expresses a unique or memorable moment in your MMO of choice? Send 'em my way with a description and you may see it posted here for tomorrow's One Shots.[via City of Heroes Official European forums]
The Making of City of Heroes
The blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun has been delighting PC gamers since July of this year with spot-on interviews, commentary, and diatribes on everything from FPSes to MMOGs. This week they have up an interview done by journalist Kieron Gillen talking with designer Jack Emmert about City of Heroes. The topic? Nothing less than how the world of Paragon City came to be.The interview is from back in 2004, so some of the comments are a bit dated, but it's a great look back at the concepts the designers were tossing around all the way back at the game's origin. One of Jack's most interesting comments is on the desire to get the game's scope as tight as it could be, as early as possible: "You can only do so much well," Jack insists, "It was just a decision we made in January/February of 2003. We just said that "We really should start focusing on what this game is going to be". We wanted it to be everything, but it wasn't realistic. We'd run into too many issues. We thought it was better to have a really stable, fun game and then add to it. The essence of a superhero is combat, so that's what we did, knowing we could grow the game over time and add more through patches. And to be honest, it's a mistake many MMOs make, is that they try to be everything that Everquest does... forgetting that Everquest wasn't Everquest when it released."
CoX veteran perks revealed at long last
City of Heroes lead designer, better known as Positron, has lifted the curtain on the new 42 month Veteran reward going live in Issue 11. I know the suspense is killing you, so we'll defer to Positron himself. "We are going with a 'Recall Team' Veteran power, usable once every 30 minutes. We like this as a Vet Reward because it is a nice perk we can give our Veteran players that shouldn't make players who don't have it feel left out. The power can be used only once every 30 minutes, and this can't be reduced by Hasten or other recharge reducing methods. This makes it very handy in certain situations, but obviously not required by any stretch of the imagination."There we have it! We'll find out more about the 45 month reward after Issue 11 goes live (which shouldn't be long, it's already pre-loaded) and we get closer to the actual 45 month mark.
Trick or treating in CoX
I have been having an unhealthy amount of fun Trick-or-Treating in CoX these days. Admittedly, this might be because it's the first time I actually have every participated in this Halloween ritual. In any case I spent several hours the other day knocking on doors and awaiting my fate. I got a treat about one fifth of the time, so the ratio is pretty high. I currently have seven different temporary costumes, ranging from the Goldbricker to my favorite the Freak Zapper. These last a few minutes, and enable me to get a taste of what it must be like to play a hoodlum. I also got two costume salvage rewards, but when I went to Croatoa to turn them in, not only was I not able to find Annah, the place was infested with armies of Streng so I thought better of my attempt and figured I might just keep them in my inventory as mementos of all the fun I had.
Issue 11 preloading now
The 74.2MB content update for City of Heroes/City of Villains free expansion Issue #11 is streaming to players as we speak. Issue #11, called "A Stitch In Time" features new power sets, time travel, new inventions, dual-weapons, weapon customization, and did I mention time travel? As usual, the download will trigger when you exit a game session. You can cancel it any time, and let it resume later. You know you want to grab it before Issue 11 opens officially and the update servers get slow.
An in-depth look at Issue 11 power sets in CoX
Floyd "Castle" Grubb sat down recently and recorded a video explanation of the upcoming power sets available in Issue 11: A Stitch in Time for City of Heroes/City of Villains. Since the video is only available as a download, we'll give you the complete rundown here on Massively of what we can expect from the two new power sets being added into the game. The first thing Castle mentioned was the fact that these power sets were added to the game because they were what the players asked for most. When asked, the players most requested Willpower for a defensive power set, and dual blades for an offensive set.
Halloween festivities for NCsoft titles
We already filled you in on CoX getting some Halloween fun underway, but NCsoft has now let 1Up know what their plans are for their other titles.Guild Wars players can expect the return of the infamous Mad King Thorn. This joker typically visits different areas of towns telling people what to do, rewarding those that listen and destroying those that don't. The two cities he will make appearances at are Lion's Arch and Kamadan, and you'll need to be around between October 26th and midnight October 31st to catch him.Lineage II fans will see the "Trick or Transmutation" event for their Halloween celebration. This will involve a treasure hunt for some Alchemist's Chests, to create Philosopher's Stones and unlock rewards. Some of these rewards will reportedly be unique to this event, and if you're interested in trying your hand at the hunt, the event begins October 26th.Finally, NCsoft is even infusing their unreleased MMO Tabula Rasa with Halloween madness. Those who have preordered the game will get to play a few days early, in the headstart promotion, and will be able to go on missions to earn special Halloween masks.If you want to find out about the celebrations already going on in CoX check out our previous coverage, and a link to 1Up's article is provided below.
Pocket Guide to Inventions in CoX
Just like Amanda, I have recently returned to CoH/CoV from a long hiatus and I find there is a lot of new and wonderful stuff happening in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. I'm particularly excited about the Invention system and was happy to see that there is an in-game tutorial for learning about crafting.In order to complete the Invention Tutorial, you need to attend a University. Heroes go to the University in Steel Canyon while Villains attend the one in Cap Au Diablo. You get a badge, experience, Influence/Infamy and a nice Invention Enhancement for completing the tutorial, so it is well worth it.The info in the Invention Tutorial is invaluable, but a bit tedious to read through. So I've put together the basics of Inventions in this handy pocket guide. All of the tutorial info is included here, so if you just breezed through it to get the goodies, you won't have missed out on the essentials.What you need to create an Invention: Some Salvage (appropriate for the item you are creating) A Recipe A Workbench Influence or Infamy Enough room in your inventory (if not a Costume Piece)
CoX halloween event starts today
Today Halloween has come to Paragon City. The holiday event we've been waiting for is finally here, and will be with us until November 4th. There are plenty of activities during these few weeks that you'll want to take part in. First off, there are classic costumes available to collect. Wish you could trick-or-treat as a Coralax Minion or Paragon Protector? Wish granted. There is also a Halloween costume contest, which you can participate in if you happen to be in New York and going to the ComicsOnline.com event.Baddies from years past are also back to join in the fun, err fight. The Unseelie Court is sending their minions to Paragon City, and that means that just about every nightmarish monster will be roaming the streets needing to receive some swift justice: werewolves, witches, vampires and more. I personally cannot wait to log in and see it all for myself. I have been away from the game for several years and haven't had the joy of knowing what a holiday event like this does to CoX.
Which supervillain are you?
In keeping with my fascinating with my mastermind in City of Villains of late and her growing ninja horde, I thought I would share with you a cute little quiz linked from Adventures in Azeroth. Normally this is the sort of thing people would post on their Myspace, but seeing as how mine is woefully neglected and I just plain like you guys better, I thought I would share it with you?Who am I most like? Mystique, which makes me all kinds of happy. She actually one of my favorite comic book characters anyway, and now I realize exactly why: we're connected, she and I, we share the same qualities, the same mysterious past, the same blue skin...well not that, but you get the idea. And I even collect the comic book about her (okay, so I'm that kind of geek, I'll admit it.) Take the quiz and tell us which supervillain you are most like.
WarCry interviews Melissa "War Witch" Bianco
Melissa "War Witch" Bianco is the World Designer at Cryptic Studios for popular Super-themed City of Heroes/Villains. Popular in the community for her forum participation, accessibility and a number of interesting and entertaining easter eggs hidden throughout the MMO zones, War Cry has a community-driven interview with Bianco. Bianco gives detailed answers across six pages on community-provided questions covering many aspects of zone design, approval and testing - all in her signature style: informative, interesting and engaging. If you're interested in City of Heroes or City of Villains, or you just want to see how the professionals really do it, it's worth your time to go and take a look. [via WarCry Network]
New City of Heroes & Villains update lets you invent 'stuff'
For it's ninth "Breakthrough" City of Heroes update (also compatible with City of Villains), NCsoft has introduced the 'Invention System,' whereby tinkering types can create new items out of in-game resources. Enhancements, costume pieces, new powers, and gadgets are possible to produce. And if anyone else is still lurking around the server, you can take your new wares to the 'Auction Houses' and try to get paid.We applaud NCsoft for its continued support of City of Heroes, but it's hard to get excited about CoH (even when the new content is free) when facing the simple truth that many players have been moved on to World of Warcraft. With Burning Crusade captivating the world, will anybody show Paragon some love? Anybody?
Circle of Healing or Circle of Terrible?
First Holy Nova. Then Lightwell. As of 2.0.1, Circle of Healing is the top-tier Holy talent for Priests. Notice a trend? All these talents have been considered...um..."less than optimal" by many vocal members of the priestly community. And folks have tried to defend all three of them by pointing out that they are nice to have in certain situations. Well, today Drysc plays the "situationally useful" card with respect to CoH over in the WoW General forums: "[CoH] has some amazing tactical uses; that you can sit (likely well) out of harms way and send heals to a group of players. To equalize some of that ability the healing potency isn't as strong as a normal prayer of healing maybe, but I don't think it's anything to be scoffed at either. I would be surprised if the talent was completely overlooked in strategies for future dungeons and encounters, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was relied on for more than a few".
