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Massively at the CoX Meet n' Greet
It's a busy day here at Massively. Not only are we bringing you the latest from the Independent Game Conference, we will also be your eyes and ears at tonight's City of Heroes/City of Villains Bay Area Player Meet n' Greet in Milpitas, CA. The evening proves to be an intimate affair where 200 lucky players will get the chance to talk with the NCsoft developers about all our favorite cape-related topics. But just because you can't be there physically doesn't mean you won't be able to experience the event. Massively's own Johnathan Northwood and I will make sure you don't miss a thing.On that note, are there any burning questions you have about Issue 11 or anything else about the game for that matter? We're representing you the readers tonight, so if you would like us to ask the developers anything, drop a question in the comments section. I myself have been dying for tidbits about their next expansion. What would you like to know as we meet and greet the CoX developers?
CoX: Mender Silos has a puzzle for you
"Old Man Stauf built a house, and filled it with his toys. Six guests all came one night, their screams the only noise." So began The 7th Guest, lo these many years ago. Now NCsoft provides the residents of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles with an equally intriguing time-related puzzle in the new trailer for Issue 11, provided to us by the mysterious Mender Silos, the founder and visionary of Ouroboros. Aside from showcasing some of the powers and regions accessible in the new chapter, tantalizing hints of a puzzle -- and of the game's future direction -- are revealed.Who is our greatest enemy, how will we be able to set aside our differences with our current foes, and what is causing all of the temporal anomalies? We have the questions, and now we need the answers: if we don't find them, then our world -- our future -- is doomed. Discuss amongst yourselves the mysteries. What are the secrets hidden within Issue 11: A Stitch in Time? Only time will tell.
CoX Issue 11 videos: Samuraiko Productions
Professionally-made trailers and videos are designed to dazzle and to glow. More and more, however, fan-made videos are achieving the same level of quality and professionalism, and are shaping up into astounding works of art in their own right. As our own Moo Money noted, machinima artists such as Baron Soosdon are looked up to because their work is incredibly evocative and remarkably well-crafted.In that vein, the head of Samuraiko Productions has been striving for -- and, from what I've seen, achieving -- top-notch quality in all of her work. Her latest piece, an homage to NCsoft's Issue 11 expansion for the City of Heroes/City of Villains properties, continues her path in the quest for perfection. The music is well-chosen, the transitions are seamless, the text and graphic overlays are layered perfectly ... my only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. Although I'm unable to embed the video here due to the artist's request, it is available for viewing on both You Tube and the Samuraiko Productions web site. Be prepared for buffering the first time you play it off the web site, but the level of detail in the non-compressed production is well worth the wait.
Issue 11: patch notes and known issues
NCsoft has released both the Patch Notes and the Known Issues lists for CoX's Issue 11 expansion, and both lists apply to November 28th's live game version 16.20071113.3T. Please remember that support issues should go directly to the Support Center, and that bug reports for newly-discovered concerns can be filed while in the game itself by using either the "/bug <text>" command or the Support option from the Menu dropdown.
Cape Radio: a Virtue-ous establishment
As any CoX player who's spent any time on Virtue server knows, there are a number of reasons that The Cape Radio is known as Virtue's number one source for radio. Part of their appeal lies in their incredible band of truly professional staffers, part of it is the open forums they use to address their fan base, and part of it is their truly wicked, wicked sense of humor. And, as part of their second anniversary, DJ Enigma has released sixteen exquisitely humorous .mp3s, all previously broadcast, allowing everyone who has not had the opportunity to experience their terrific lineup to at least enjoy these audio clips.
Issue 11 launch maintenance
NCsoft has announced that the North American game servers for the City of Heroes/City of Villains properties will be coming down on Wednesday, 28 November, for extended maintenance prior to the launch of Issue 11. The server downtime is expected to run approximately six hours, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Will we see Issue 11 live when the servers come back up? Naysayers point to the upcoming Prestige grant and Debt wipe on 10 December; however, even though the event is mentioned in relation to Issue 11, NCsoft stated explicitly that it would take place after Issue 11 launches. So let's keep our fingers crossed, folks: we'll know the outcome in less than 24 hours.
HeroStats: enhanced with Issue 11 flavor
Since 2005, the HeroStats Team has produced HeroStats, the premier power-tracking application used across Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Even though the developers have thought of nearly everything, as it's an Open Source application, feel free to make additions to the software. If you are good at coding and testing, however, one thing the team is looking for is a developer who can assist with solidifying the application under Windows Vista. Of course, like all works in progress, there are a few minor issues that are constantly being tweaked, whether due to internal concerns or game client changes. For example, as of 29 October, HeroStats now tracks the power sets introduced in Issue 11. And don't forget, HeroStats works with both the City Information Terminal -- one of the top-rated badge tracking sites on the net -- and the City Game Tracker.
One Shots: It's all in the glow
One of the things I love about City of Heroes (and City of Villains!) is the wide variety of graphical effects each of its skills has. You use abilities to fight in every MMO on the market, but so often attacks are represented as generic flashes of light, sometimes in different colors -- in CoX the various powers all have a distinct look. (Can't you just imagine trainers explaining, "You've almost got it, just a shade more green, with a few more sparkles. Right, that's it!") In this shot, passed on by our own Jonathan Northwood, I'm going to let you guess what power is being used, though!One Shots survives on a steady diet of your screenshots and stories! We want to see the places you've been and the people you met across this vast MMO-space. Share your gaming stories with us by send your screenshots to oneshots@massively.com. Tomorrow you could find your shot and story featured here! %Gallery-9798%
NCsoft: has the focus shifted?
NCsoft -- known for such stunningly beautiful games as Guild Wars and Lineage/Lineage II -- is slowly expanding its focus in Korea into the non-game sector. Working with in-house studio Openmaru, the company is building a series of online services to aid in comforting investors. Admittedly, the South Korean Won (KRW) is trading in a slightly stronger position against the United States Dollar (USD) now than it was in October, but that doesn't stop their concern over seeing NCsoft's stock slowly spiral downward from 86,4000 KRW in October (approximately $94.43/share) to 45,000 KRW ($48.27/share) as of Friday's market close. As a result of this move, CEO Kim Taek-jin has promised that the company will increase its investment in online applications, including data and schedule management programs and social-networking services.
City Game Tracker software updated
Until such time as NCsoft enables the web-based display options for your City of Heroes and City of Villains characters, you can capture and showcase the wonder of your creations using the City Game Tracker, brought to you by Titan Network. Drawing from the information you've input for your character, as well as from the auto-generated details supplied by the system, the tracker allows you to generate and display information about your character and share it with the world. One additional (and much-needed) feature: for those of you who use Hero Stats -- the premiere open-source software package for monitoring statistical data related to damage dealt and received, power cooldowns and more -- the tracker will capture that information, as well.
CoX community choice costume contest
When the CoX team announced their annual Halloween costume contest, they knew they'd get a boatload of entrants, and they were right. They've sorted through them to cull their pics; however, they always save one of the best moments for the very end. While the judges have already chosen the three top selections -- Grand Prize, Best Hero and Best Villain -- you need to help them decide who gets to claim the honor of creating the costume that's chosen as a winner by the players. It's time, my friends, to cast your votes. Show your support for our spandex-clad colleagues, and choose who you think best deserves the "Community Pick" prize. There are seven contestants, and each of you gets one vote to try to push your candidate to the top of the pile. But hurry: NCsoft is ending the voting at 10 a.m. Pacific on Monday, 26 November.
The leet CoV trailer
Have you ever wondered what our super heroes would sound like if they spoke more like we do in game? Well, Kill Ten Rats has reminded us about an oldy-but-goody remix of the City of Villains trailer, leet-speak style. I'm not sure how I missed this one, but I am sure those of you who play CoX will get a kick out of this. Heck, those of you who have ever grouped in an instance in an MMO will get a kick out of this. Enjoy.[via Kill Ten Rats]
CoX Splasher
Poking around on the CoX forums this morning I came across an amazing little tool brought to us by the blossoming development community surfacing in the player base of the game. This fabulous bit of coding is called Splasher, and it's a program that allows you to customize the login and character selection screens for your client. Beyond simply letting you put up a custom screenshot, the program includes a music function that will let you change the music played for you when the game loads. In this way you can create a custom anthem for your hero to serenade you while you select which character you would like to roam Paragon City with. In addition to the customizable music, there is also a randomizer function that will select a random custom login screen for you from a selection that you put into the program. I created a login screen that featured my favorite moments from Trick or Treating last month. You can download Splasher here, and soon you'll be on the road to a custom login of your very own.
CoX Issue 11: First Impressions
The newest expansion for City of Heroes and City of Villains, Issue 11 has been in open beta for a couple of weeks, and -- so far, at least -- it's proven to be a hit. As with all other releases, there have been the inevitable tweaks and adjustments to make sure that levels are being balanced and that powers are neither too strong nor too weak. Still, all things considered, it's been a phenomenal step forward in the elegance of the game.It's hard not to squeal with delight when I think of the changes that have been made since I first created my account in June of 2004. Whether we were peering Through the Looking Glass or fending off an Invasion, NCsoft was always pushing to give us new features, and to make sure that the play was as balanced as possible. As far as I can tell, they've done a phenomenal job of continuing that trend. %Gallery-9980%
One Shots: Question Manticore
Our own Jonathan Northwood offers this shot of high-end City of Heroes content straight from the pages of Issue 11. Jonathan brings us up to speed on the story (yes, these could be spoilers for some of you):The concept is drawn from the Trading Places storyline in Top Cow's City of Heroes comic (Issues 10 – 12), when Manticore is kicked from the Freedom Phalanx, and winds up teaming with the Vindicators for a short while. He apparently defects to Recluse's side; however, in the dénouement, it's seen that he took these actions in order to get more information on what Recluse is doing. The mission this screenshot is from was the fourth in the Mender Silos Task Force: your team and some of the Vindicators (Swan, Ms. Liberty, and Mynx) are sent to Siren's Call to find out what's going on with Manticore, and wind up being tasked with taking him down. For tomorrow's One Shots, we're turning the reins over to all of you -- what game do you want to see featured? Let us know in the comments!Do you have a screenshot that shows off a memorable moment or an amazing view in your favorite MMO? Send them to us at oneshots@massively.com with a description (including game name and location) and you may see it posted here for tomorrow's One Shots. %Gallery-9798%
Slashing up CoX
AmazingMOO (not our amazing Moo, but another one) put up a very cool post on the CoX forums a while back. He listed off a slew of lesser known slash commands he found in the game. I spend at least some of my play time every time I log in reading the newspaper to catch up on the latest infoz. But did you know that these were also in the game? Yeah, I didn't either:/cmdlist: A list of all the /slash commands in the game/whereami: Let's you know what server and map you're currently logged into/copychat [tabname]: Copies the contents of a chat tab to the Windows keyboard/showfps: Lets you see your frame rate/whoall: Displays every player in the zone/cc #: Insert the number of the costume slot you want to switch to, and bam! Costume switched./unloadgfx: Having performance issues in Grandville? Try this command to clear things up.Have you encountered any slash commands you find useful in the game?
Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 1)
I spent the last two years living in the UK with an architecture enthusiast, and we often got into debates about the functionality and aesthetics about architecture and design. As such I began doing a bit of personal research on the topic, but filtered it down into a view on my own extra-curricular exploits. It was through this that I found a number of papers related to architectural choices in video games and virtual worlds, some are now a little outdated as they were written in the early days of true 3D gaming, but some hold true even to today. The main point, being that the decisions being made by developers are not simply held to aesthetics, but often have classical themes of architecture and planning intertwined into the building of our online cities. MMO architecture is something I think can define, both the enjoyment, and popularity of the game in the same way that the ease of use of its interface can cause people to love it or leave it. And I think designers and developers are starting to believe this as well, looking at the cities, towns, hamlets and mega-cities of games are starting to feel more like real places instead of just something that serves in game function. This isn't something that is only tied into a single MMO genre either, games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and Final Fantasy XI all draw on well-known fantasy architectural schemes, City of Heroes/Villains uses a lot of real world and comic influences, and games such as Eve Online tie into popular sci-fi conventions. That being said, these games are not simply drawing from norms, but also are utilizing individual ideas and designs, there are influences of lore and unique design in all of the above mentioned games.
Yesterday on Massively: November 13, 2007
It's been a busy day on Massively, with the latest EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions, a new patch for World of Warcraft, and a new release candidate for Second Life. Oh, and don't forget our continuing run of exciting contests! For those of you unable to keep up with the days' news around here, we've compiled them into this handy collection of links. Contests WoW giveaway winners Massively's Massive Giveaways: EVE Online Massively's Massive Giveaways: EVE Online, part 2 Massively's Massive Giveaways: EVE Online, part 3 Massively's Massive Giveaways: EVE Online, part 4 Features Cinemassively: Mask One Shots: We miss Halloween Discussion Vanity, thy name is Pet It's as if millions of MMO gamers cried out... Slave to the 'ding' Making fun be worth it
One Shots: We miss Halloween
Oh, how we miss Halloween. There were cool events going on in every MMO and the worlds seem so drab without their holiday splendor. However, at least we can relive the fun in screenshots like this one, taken by our own Krystalle Voecks in City of Heroes, where a group of adventurers are taking down Eochai for a Hallow's Eve event. And it's more than fun and games here: Krystalle tells us that this is how she spends time with her brother (the black cyborg) despite living far away. Do you have a screenshot of your own that you think expresses a unique or memorable moment in your favorite MMO? Send them to us with a description (including game name and location) and you may see it posted here for tomorrow's One Shots. %Gallery-9798%
70 new badges in Issue 11
A full listing of the new 70 new badges available in City of Heroes and City of Villains is available on Badge-Hunter.com's site. While Issue 11's new badges are split into Exploration and Achievement areas, the vast majority seem to be focused on the new Ouroboros-based missions. I'll even give you a hint on where to find the Chrononaut badge: it's placed in a similar location to two of the badges found in Atlas Park. And don't forget that you can change or clear your badge title at any time. After all, why be known as a Keeper of Secrets when you can be perceived as Justice Incarnate?[Via Kill Ten Rats]
