Cox
Latest
Making things massive: worlds we crave
As the holiday season approaches and our favorite videogame genre bulges with new titles, it seems like many of them are intellectual properties (IP) that have been made massive: that is, an IP that somebody, somewhere thought would be cool (or profitable) to turn into an online experience. Past MMOGs based on well-known IPs have had mixed success. Star Wars Galaxies, for instance, converted arguably the world's best known IP into an MMOG but fizzled. The Matrix Online tried to take advantage of a pop-culture phenomenon but that didn't work out either. City of Heroes/Villains cashed in on our love of comic books – not an IP exactly, but close. Lord of the Rings Online has had some success, as well, but not overwhelmingly so. In the near future, Games Workshop's Warhammer IP will be making its MMO debut as Warhammer Online (developed by EA-Mythic), along with Age of Conan (Funcom's ambitious interpretation of Robert E. Howard's barbarous world). Even MMOGs based on other videogames could fit into this 'make-massive' trend: Blizzard Entertainment turned its own real-time strategy Warcraft franchise into an online world, as did Square-Enix with Final Fantasy.That got me thinking: if I had the power to make an MMOG, what would it be? A series of books, or a movie? Personally, I think that Perpetual Entertainment's Star Trek Online has great potential, but that could be due to the fact that I always thought I would look really good in a red and black uniform commanding a starship. Maybe Harry Potter? Though who knows how that one would work. As Matt points out, fans don't always make the best game developers, and it's certainly true that converting a big, complex IP into an MMOG can have its pitfalls. But ideally, in your most secret heart of hearts, which world would you love to see be made massive? Where would your dream MMOG be set?
A stitch in beta time
If any of you are as excited about Issue 11 as I am, then I have good news my friend. The beta for Issue 11: A Stitch in Time has opened up on the Training Room server, letting players have a whack at Oroboros missions and customizing their weapons. The current beta patch notes are available, and it looks like things are running fairly smoothly. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see my Stalker waiving around twin katanas. I feel some new character creation coming on! Grab yourself a spot in the Issue 11 beta today.
Heads of Cerberus and strike force number 1
I love in-character tales. There is just something about reading the exploits of a CoX group from the perspective of the characters that just makes my day all shiny and happy, REM style. For that reason, I dove right in when I stumbled on Van Hemlock's recounting of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of The Heads of Cerberus, his CoV supergroup. His most recent story has to do with the first Strike Force mission the little level 15 supergroup encountered, taking them deep into Cap Au Diable. I don't want to spoil the read for you, but suffice it to say, they had some tough times, and kicked much do-gooder butt.
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.
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)
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.
DirecTV sues Cox over claims of cable HD superiority
DirecTV has filed a false advertising suit against Cox Communications over claims made on the Cox website. It all goes back to a Comcast-commissioned market survey (also under suit) which concluded that two thirds of satellite customers preferred the HD image quality of Comcast over DirecTV and Dish Network. Cox ran with the story, and put the results under the headline "Cable Wins the HD Picture Challenge" on the company's website. We agree with DirecTV -- that's a huge logical misstep. DirecTV sums it up nicely in their complaint: "...the picture quality afforded by Comcast's HD service cannot be deemed equivalent to that of Cox's HD service." Check out the link for more "he said, she said" action. We understand that DirecTV has to defend itself, and that lawsuits are part of big business, but we also think continuing to pump out more HD channels will have a far larger impact in the marketplace.
Cox inks deal to get CNN HD and TBS HD
While some of us have been enjoying the MLB postseason in HD on TBS HD, those relying on Cox Communications have been out of luck. Thankfully, all that is changing, as Cox and Turner Networks "announced an agreement today that will allow Cox to offer TBS in HD and CNN HD in Cox markets." Interestingly, an actual go-live date wasn't noted, so for those out there paying for HD from Cox, fire up your set and see if either channel is already available.
Cox adds Hearst-Argyle locals in six markets
It's a far cry from 21 national HD channels, but Cox Communications just signed a carriage agreement with Hearst-Argyle Television in six markets that covers both HD programming (yay) and digital-multicast (meh). Stations covered by the agreement are: WESH (CBS NBC) and WKCF (CW) in Orlando; WDSU (CBS NBC) in New Orleans; and ABC affiliates KMBC in Kansas City, Mo., KOCO in Oklahoma City, KETV in Omaha, and KHBS/KHOG in Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas. The agreement ends wrangling between the two companies that started more than a year ago, which resulted in both the HD and SD digital transmission of these stations being pulled from Cox's network.
Travel Channel HD coming in '08
Well, it's about damn time that the Travel Channel hits high-def. Their programming was always a welcomed addition to the sometime stale lineup on Discovery HD Theater, but then the programming disappeared after Cox Communications bought the channel. None of that is going to matter though when the HD station hits in the first quarter of 2008. 95% of their programming is already scheduled in HD, and according to the TV Week article, the station seems committed to high-def. Channels such as these look stellar in high definition ,so hopefully the station will launch as scheduled.
Cox deploys SDV solution in Virginia, hopes to expand HD offerings
Those following the inner workings of Cox Communications ought not be too terribly surprised here, but the company has reportedly selected BigBand Networks to provide a switched digital video solution. Better still, the cable operator also announced that it has "begun to deploy the solution in its Northern Virginia market." James Kelso, vice president of video engineering for Cox, was quoted as saying that "BigBand's SDV solution gives us the ability to dramatically expand programming -- particularly high-definition channels -- at a low cost-per-subscriber." Regrettably, there's no mention of what other locales can look forward to SDV next, and while Cox doesn't exactly say what new HD channels we can expect to see utilizing this newfound bandwidth, we'll be waiting in tense anticipation.[Via MultiChannel]
Cox to add National Geographic HD
Of all the HD channels out there that aren't offered by most providers, it seems that National Geographic HD might be the most sought after. We have some good news for Cox Communications subscribers, 'cause they're going to start rolling it out this year and expect all HD subscribers to have it by 2009. Unfortunately for most, Cox isn't the biggest provider in the country, so the rest of us will have to wait -- or if you can't wait, just switch to DISH Network.
Cox initiates HD VOD rollouts with HD Movies on Demand
We knew it would just be a matter of months before Cox Communications found the means to offer up HD video-on-demand -- after all, you can't lag behind your main competitors for too long without stepping up, right? Nevertheless, the company has announced that customers in San Diego can now access "more than 20 high-definition titles" via the HD Movies on Demand channel, and the library of HD flicks should hopefully grow as time goes on. On deck to receive the HD VOD luxuries are Northern Virginia and Oklahoma City, with other unnamed markets to get tapped "later this summer." So, for those San Diegans looking for a good HD movie to soak in on Independence Day, why not give Cox's latest offering a whirl and tell us how it goes?
Cox hoping to add capacity for 50 HD channels by year-end
Finally, a figure we can (halfway) believe. While competing carriers blurt out obscene numbers in the race to magically crank out HD channels that don't even exist yet, Cox Communications president Pat Esser came back from Cloud 9 by suggesting that his company is "aiming to have the capacity to offer 50 HD channels by the end of 2007." Unfortunately, he did make certain that we took note of the word "capacity," but explained that the firm would be eying a number of bandwidth-optimization tools and techniques including "system upgrades, retirement of analog channels, statistical multiplexing of HD signals, and switched digital video." Of course, it was reported that Cox would try to expand capacity to hold 100 HD channels by the end of 2009, but considering that it can hopefully rid itself of analog support, even that seems somewhat reasonable.
Sinclair and Cox reach retransmission agreement
Seems like the negotiators over at Sinclair are earning their paychecks this year, as the broadcasting group has now settled with Cox Communications on a four-year retransmission consent agreement that "includes high-definition programming." The deal covers cable systems owned by Cox spanning over 1.25 million subscribers in six markets owned by Sinclair. Notably, Sinclair stated that this agreement has allowed the firm to complete "long-term retransmission consent agreements with all major multiple system operators in its markets," but as we've seen from our Mediacom-strapped brethren, they're still watchin' the locals in SD in some areas.
Cox disables ad skipping on ABC and ESPN VOD content
The constant battle between impatient television viewers and disgruntled providers got a shot of adrenaline today, as Walt Disney's two biggest channels have inked a deal with Cox Communications that is sure to simultaneously appease marketers and enrage customers. Reportedly, Cox will now begin to "disable the fast-forward feature that allows viewers to skip ads" in both ABC and ESPN video-on-demand, meaning that users who choose to view older programming via Cox's VOD channels can smash the FF button 'til their heart's content and get nowhere. Of course, users who actually set their DVR to record said content at its normal airing time are still free (for the moment, at least) to blaze right on through those annoying blips commercials, which means that you should probably become a lot more disciplined in your DVR scheduling if you belong to Cox. The worst (or best, depending on perspective) part is the precedent that this sets, as now the door is gaped wide open for more and more providers to grab the reigns of our DVRs and dictate just how far we push the notion of timeshifting. [Warning: Read link requires subscription][Via TechMeMe]
Pivot: Sprint's quad-play package
Yeah, Sprint unveiled the UpStage today, but the other sorta big news is that they officially took the wraps off of Pivot, the new name for their new quad-play service bundling up wireless, voice, broadband, and cable TV as a single package (they've been offering service in a handful of markets for a while now, they're basically just rebranding everything). Sprint's partners in Pivot are a handful of different cable providers, including Comcast, Cox, and our arch-nemesis Time-Warner Cable (which is owned by our parent company's parent company -- not that it's done a damn thing for the totally awful cable TV and internet service we get at Engadget HQ). All the big telcos are pimping these triple-play and quad-play packages -- they see them as a way to lock-in subscribers by offering them lower prices than consumers would pay for each service separately -- but Sprint's big selling point is that they're also promising some intergration across services, like the ability to program your DVR box from your cellphone (which we've already seen from AT&T), check home email and voicemail from a single interface, and make unlimited calls between your home VoIP line and your mobile phone. Anyway, Pivot is currently available in eight cities now, with another 40 more set to launch this year. Pricing will vary by market. Click on for a few more shots of the cellphone/DVR interface.
