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City of Heroes offers some Hero-Con highlights
If you were one of the many City of Heroes fans who wasn't quite able to make it to Hero-Con, we offer our condolences. Even though you know that the information revealed there gets disseminated as fast as possible, there's still a sense of missing out on something big. And even though that event was a couple months ago, the sting probably hasn't quite worn off yet. But fret not, as Paragon Studios has given you loyal but not-necessarily-traveling fans a little present. There are now several podcasts available on the official site with recordings from the celebrated event. The available podcasts include the opening ceremonies along with the Going Rogue preview, discussions of power and archetype balancing, and the panel regarding the ongoing storyline of the game among others. Audio quality isn't perfect, but for a recording of a live event there's little to complain about. If you'd prefer to listen on the site, there's a built-in player, or if you'd rather have them on your iPod (or other mobile player) they can be downloaded on the same page in MP3 format. It's not quite the same as being there, but it certainly beats missing the experience entirely if you're a longtime fan of City of Heroes.
Mission Architect contest launched in City of Heroes
If you like creating content, the Mission Architect system in City of Heroes offers a lot of venues for your creativity, and it's certainly one of the most-touted features of the game. Now, you might be able to get more than just the joy of having other people play through your creation as a prize. There's a new contest on the official site that promises to be the first in a series, allowing a lucky designer to receive a special title and possibly even the coveted Designer's Choice award for their mission. Sound like your sort of contest? There's a single catch -- you have to work within a given theme. In this case, the mission arc has to involve a hero doing evil for the greater good. That's a theme so ripe for exploration that we're all but certain several people came up with mission arcs just reading the line, so if you're firing on all cylinders take a look at the official rules and then get cracking. The contest ends on December 7th, plenty of time for crafting whatever story you think is best -- and considering City of Heroes: Going Rogue will be out before we know it, the submissions may wind up being more appropriate than you think. Considering that... well, who knows what winning might do for your future? Best to get to work.
NCsoft responds to City of Heroes speculation
A couple days ago, we had a post detailing some speculation on what City of Heroes: Going Rogue meant for NCsoft West, City of Heroes, and the future of the entire branch of the company. Ryan James, director of corporate communications for NCsoft, took the time to issue a direct response to us regarding that post. We also got an opportunity to ask him a few questions regarding NCsoft's current and future direction, which helps provide some context and some behind-the-scenes information to offset the speculative nature of the aforementioned post. The official response is as follows: "We wanted to respond to your post from November 2 on City of Heroes and clarify a few points for you and your readers. In short, the piece offers a rather sensationalist view of NCsoft West and our success thus far. We're very proud of what we've accomplished here in the West – we have several major MMO franchises, including City of Heroes, Lineage and Guild Wars. And our newest addition to the NCsoft portfolio, Aion, has just seen a very successful launch here in the West. As you point out, we have had to make some tough portfolio decisions, but this is very much par for the course for any major game publisher today. That being said, we remain extremely proud of the Paragon team's accomplishments with the City of Heroes franchise. City of Heroes is still the world's most popular super-powered hero MMO. Even with an increasingly crowded landscape, City of Heroes remains the gold standard for comic book-inspired MMOs – it has stood the test of time and we're excited to be bringing Going Rogue to players next year. As you note, the author of Vicarious Existence is indeed 'alarmist' in his assessment of NCsoft West and our future. We couldn't agree more. On the contrary, we're optimistic about our future." Following the statement, Mr. James took the opportunity to answer a few questions about the company's game portfolio and future plans. Take a look at the questions and responses after the break.
How much is riding on City of Heroes: Going Rogue?
At the six-year mark, City of Heroes is still moving forward, with City of Heroes: Going Rogue targeted for release in the second quarter of 2010. It's certainly not the oldest game to receive an expansion, but Vicarious Existence has an interesting point to be made: exactly how much is riding on the success of this expansion? In true heroic sense, it may well be the fate of NCsoft West and of NCsoft's entire western presence in the market. It's no secret that NCsoft West has had a difficult time in the market, with the first rumbles having been made clear with the sad tale of Auto Assault. And it's hardly necessary to dredge up painful memories about the games that have also gone the way of the dodo. But as the post points out, there's not nearly as much revenue coming in from the western branch of the company as they'd like, even with the success Aion has been having in the marketplace. (If that sounds cynical or as if it's expecting too much money, Adam Martin has an excellent explanation of why NCsoft could and would be so draconic about profits.) To be fair, the post is a bit alarmist, but it does posit that there could be a great deal of trouble on the horizon for City of Heroes -- and perhaps the whole studio -- based on the performance of the expansion. And even if the idle speculation is wrong, it certainly does put you in the right mood for the expansion, doesn't it?
City of Heroes: Going Rogue information revealed at Hero-Con
City of Heroes teased fans for most of October, promising big information on Going Rogue for those attending HeroCon, and they didn't disappoint. The welcome address last Saturday lived up to expectations in a big way. The community relations team presented nearly an hour of information, screenshots, and video covering the high points of Going Rogue. They began with the all-important process of transforming your hero to a villain, or vice versa. Rather than pushing a button or purchasing the transformation from the store, players will be able to stay in character and experience the fall from grace or redemption of their character as they work through a series of moral missions. New powersets (Demon Summoning and Dual Pistols), signature characters and enemy groups were introduced to the crowd, as well as some cool new costume pieces. An extensive look at Praetoria came in the form of a first look at the eye-popping graphics upgrade as well. All of the exciting new information begs the big question: When? Going Rogue is aiming for a release in Q2 2010, with beta coming in five waves in early 2010. After seeing the information from Hero-Con, we're as excited as you are for this expansion and will be letting you know as soon as more specific information is available. For the time being, check out the City of Heroes forums for an extensive (and impressive) rundown of all the current Going Rogue information.
Hero-Con full schedule announced
Hero-Con begins in just a few days, and it's time to start planning what you're going to do while you're there. The full event schedule, as well as a list of panels and workshops was released on the official site yesterday. Fans can kick off the event Friday with Board Games and Bevs With the Devs, then enjoy the rest of the weekend as well: participate in the live mission event as well as the costume and trivia contests, get a sneak peek at Going Rogue, and do some shopping. The panel and workshop schedule is guaranteed to force some tough choices. Everything is covered, from breaking into the industry to art design to game mechanics. On the lighter side, there are panels on player-run activities, a look at some Going Rogue characters, and several more that promise fun. Whatever your interest, Hero-Con seems to offer a panel for it. If you've not purchased tickets yet, they are still available -- check the official site for more details.
Hero-Con contests revealed
With Hero-Con less than a week away, Paragon Studios and NCSoft look to be living up to their promise of a bigger and better Hero-Con this year. They've promised closed beta keys for the upcoming City of Heroes expansion Going Rogue to all attendees, and even created a mission arc in-game that ties into the convention. They've also been hinting at some great activities at the convention, and yesterday they gave us all the information we've been waiting for.It's a fan convention near Halloween, so nobody should be surprised to hear there's a costume contest Saturday night after the banquet dinner. Five winners will be chosen, and they just ask that you leave any realistic (i.e. dangerous) weapons at home, and skip the costumes that are trademarked outside the CoH universe. There will also be trivia challenges running throughout the day on Saturday -- 30-minute qualifiers leading up to an on stage trivia competition between the six highest scoring qualifiers. The big fun, however, looks to be the live mission. Teams of eight will compete in a series of missions to be the first to find the 10 keys of the M.A.G.I. vault. You and your team (make your own PUG joke here) can sign up at the registration area on Friday.Good luck, have fun!
City of Heroes dev blog talks character customization
Massively is proud to host a new dev diary from the folks at Paragon Studios. This particular dev diary was written by Christopher Bruce, Senior Lead Animator/VFX Artist for City of Heroes, and it pertains to the character customization options that have been improved with Issue 15. Enjoy!In addition to supporting the two new task forces for Issue 15, we also wanted to focus some attention on expanding our character creation system. Character customization is a hallmark of City of Heroes and we're always striving to improve and expand upon our players' ability to create a truly unique super powered hero or villain. For Issue 15, there are two new costume sets available to everyone, created by the newest addition to our character artist team, Cheryl Austin. "Vines" is a new pattern while "Ulterior" is a new texture set, both of which work with most of the existing costume pieces. Cheryl has also created over twenty new face textures, something we haven't done since City of Villains launched. While our options for individual costume pieces and sets have continued to expand over the years, our selection of faces hasn't received the same amount of attention. Her goal was to create a set of new face textures that were a bit more subtle and realistic and while also working well across our full range skin tones.%Gallery-64392%
The Daily Grind: Do you prefer patches or expansions?
One of the big things that attracts gamers to MMOs has to be the protean nature of the genre; the games are forever changing and that keeps them fresh and interesting. City of Heroes: Going Rogue is just the latest example. However, the folks behind MMOs from World of Warcraft to Guild Wars have also realised that the time between expansions (sometimes a period of one to two years) is so long that players need something in the interim. This is where major content patches come in. Some companies, like Blizzard, have started treating these as mini-expansions but without the artbooks, CD soundtracks and other shiny extras.Personally, I think the idea of mini-expansions is a fantastic way to keep people interested and think of them as almost a free bonus for buying a game or expansion in the first place. Do you prefer lining up in the cold to get a limited special edition of your favourite MMO, or do you like major content patches and look forward to the next one with as much gusto as a full on expansion? What about the cost of an expansion versus the free patch? Is it worth it?
Heroes and villains go rogue in new City of Heroes expansion
What is left for a company that has released City of Heroes and City of Villains, two MMO titles focused on both sides of the hero/villain spectrum? Why, it's City of Toeing the Line Between Good and Evil, of course! Okay, not really, but City of Heroes Going Rogue -- the next full expansion pack from Paragon Studios -- might as well be called that.The new expansion will take players to Praetoria, a realm occupied by both the bad and the good that is ruled by Tyrant, the "evil incarnation of the game's main protagonist, Statesman." Praetoria will feature a new alignment system that will allow heroes to become villains, and vice versa, based on the decisions they make. This means that heroes who become villains can travel to the Rogue Isles for the first time, and the same will go for villains-turned-heroes, who may now experience Paragon City.There's no word on release date or price for City of Heroes Going Rogue right now, so hopefully E3 will swoop in and save the day. In the meanwhile, you can entertain yourself with a barebones site for the expansion here.
NCsoft announces City of Heroes: Going Rogue expansion
Two worlds collide. Loyalties will change. Where will you stand? This is the question posed to us as NCsoft announces the first major expansion for the City of Heroes franchise since the launch of City of Villains in 2005. Going Rogue will be a new experience for CoH fans introducing the 'mirror universe' of Praetoria and an all-new alignment system that blurs the lines between Heroes and Villains.For the first time ever, Heroes can become Villains, and Villains can become Heroes. This is yet another groundbreaking game mechanic that the Paragon Studios folks have introduced in a recent whirlwind of exciting new features. Look out Champions Online and DC Universe Online; City of Heroes is raising the standard of superhero MMOs.Check out the exciting new teaser trailer right after the jump, and to answer any questions you may have, they've compiled a handy FAQ.
