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Developer keynote at the CoX Meet n' Greet
The culminating event of the City of Heroes/City of Villains Meet n' Greet Friday night was a keynote presentation by the developers where they gave attendees a sneak peak into future content. We were hoping for a huge announcement of sorts, but instead received a couple small announcements. Initially the Executive Producer for CoX, Brian Clayton, began by giving players their first look at the City Vault. These are the customizable web pages that will soon be available for every player and supergroup. There is a huge amount of information on these pages, and some in the audience seemed unhappy that all their enhancements and abilities would be viewable by their PvP opponents. Players were invited to come up to the stage and have their characters plugged into the database to see what their pages will look like.
Impressions of the CoX Meet n' Greet
Friday night as promised Jonathan Northwood and I traveled over to the Milpitas Dave and Busters for the first City of Heroes/City of Villains Bay Area Player Meet n' Greet. Winter has finally come to the bay area, and so the first stop after the ID check at the door was the coat check. From there we were able to see a long line of gamer types snaking down the hallway and knew that we were among friends. The evening was even better than I expected to be. Normally I feel very uncomfortable at functions such as these, but last night, surrounded as I was by lovers of NCsoft games and an incredibly accessible dev team, I felt right at home. Each player that arrived got three raffle tickets along with their badge. The white one was good for a t-shirt at the end of the night, the blue for a chance at raffled off goodies. And then there was the red ticket: Every player that brought a picture of their character entered a raffle for the chance to have their character sketched by comic book savant David Nakayama. What I didn't realize when I heard about this prize, was that he would be drawing about 20 throughout the night. Indeed, David was still sketching when I stopped by to say hello at the end of the evening.
New program helps bribe your friends back into CoX
Got a buddy who used to be really into City of Heroes, and is on the fence about resubscribing to see the new Issue 11 content? The folks at NCsoft are here to help. They've announced an expansion of their referral program that will allow you to invite past subscribers to reactivate their accounts, and will split a free 30 days of game time between you. So for every buddy you successfully yank back into the game, you get an extra 15 days and they get 45 days for the price of 30. We'd stop short of calling it revolutionary, but it is a rather clever spin on the usual referral programs.Speaking as somebody who just let their CoX account run out, I'm a little perturbed at NCsoft for offering such a great deal during a season when I'm already cash-strapped to begin with. Whoever came up with this idea must have their finger on the pulse of the community, because anybody whose had much experience in an MMO community likely knows that it's way easier to sucker in get older players back than it is to recruit new blood.
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 costume token, free respec delay
As astute players may remember, the City of Heroes team had promised to offer a free respec and free costume token to coincide with the release of Issue 11, which hit servers yesterday morning. Those expecting the free goodies were probably a bit distraught, and are probably curious just what happened. Counting ourselves among this group, we headed over to the official City of Heroes forums and found the answer from the esteemed community manager, Lighthouse.Turns out that they couldn't quite fit everything into the patch that they had hoped, and among the things that ended up slipping through the rungs were the aforementioned respec and costume token. But fear not, because they were only delayed, not canceled. The free costume token will be assessed to all active character accounts during the usual morning maintenance period tomorrow, Friday the 30th. As for the free respec, you'll have to wait a bit longer, as that won't be going active until December 7th. The timing seems a little strange, since the respec is supposed to compensate for all the balance challenges put in Issue 11, and letting people respec a full week and a half later is just... curious.
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.
Verbing a noun: introducing new powers
When thinking about game powers, developers have to consider four primary questions: what do the players want, do those desires fit reasonably within the framework of the game, how can the powers be balanced for the game, and how can they be coded? For example, when NCsoft's City of Heroes introduced Flight, it was competing with Super Speed, Teleportation and Leaping. How could they build it out to where it was neither overpowered nor useless? Through a series of trial-and-error efforts -- and thankfully providing an additional 10% bump in hover speed in Issue 8 -- they loaded a power set into the game that gave heroes a new way of seeing the city without unbalancing other transportation powers currently in place.As to verbs that may be more common throughout MMOs, we've all had the opportunity to "run" -- either into battle or away from almost certain peril -- and I doubt there's many here who haven't wished for the ability to "turn invisible" in order to stealth through a difficult mission, but what about some of the more exotic verbs out there? Oh, sure, in most games the alts can backslap one another, gesture angrily, and dance, but these are powerless emotes: they don't actually impact the game play. Take your favorite MMO, though, and think about what game-impacting verb or verbs you'd like to see added. Perhaps it might help to take a look at the thought process currently pushing World of Warcraft's new Death Knight and ask yourself this: if you were a developer, what would you add to the build, and how would you balance it?[Via Elder Game]
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.
CoX: New web-based display options
Supporting the theory that the world should know more about the CoX universe, you'll soon be able to configure the game client to display or hide certain information on the web. It is a bit convoluted, however, so please be sure to note the information contained in the official forums.In the Miscellaneous section under the General tab (Menu > General), you will have the option of hiding your Statistics, Powers, Badges, and Friends list from inclusion on the public web page. If you choose to show them, leave each option disabled; however, if you wish to hide them, enable the option. If you're a private person, simply enable the Statistics option, and all other options will automatically be hidden. One other thing: unlike graphic settings, these options are configured on a per-character basis, so if you want everything hidden, you'll need to properly configure each character you have on each server. The only caveat to this is if your character has not been logged in for at least 90 days: at that cut-off point, all options are hidden.Although a final go-live date for this feature has not been announced, it's planned for a relatively short lead time. There will be more information available in the official forum as the release date approaches; and, as always, if you have any issues, concerns, or comments, NCsoft wants to hear from you in the discussion thread.
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.
NCsoft working on PS3 project, CoX expansion
With a number of popular properties dominating the massively multiplayer arena and a few more on the way, NCsoft already makes a very strong case for being the most important publisher in the MMO genre. If a recent conversation between NCsoft CEO Geoff Heath and MCV are any indication however, this is only the beginning for the South Korea-based company. Heath indicated that they have plans to double their European development capacity over the next eighteen months as part of a push to get an unnamed project on the Playstation 3 by Christmas 2008. As if that wasn't juicy enough, he revealed that CoX, which they only recently acquired, is due for an expansion as well.What's there to say but, "woah!" While CoX fans have hardly been led astray with the thrice-annual Issue release schedule, it's both great and terrible news to hear that a true blue expansion is coming their way. If NCsoft wants to do this correctly, they'd better deliver a serious amount of new content to justify charging for what has been free for the last several years. And as for the goal to get a PS3 game on store shelves by winter 2008, what's with that? Hopefully it's not of the sort that we just have to have, because honestly, who owns a PS3 these days? If we had to take a guess though, we'd probably wager that Guild Wars would be making the jump. It's anybody's guess at this point though.
