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The lore behind districts in City of Heroes: Going Rogue
As we alluded to in our small preview last week, Nova Praetoria is one of the most elite neighborhoods in the alternate Earth setting of Going Rogue. The City of Heroes team has long been known for giving every region a detailed backstory, and the new areas of Praetoria are no exception. Official information on Nova Praetoria and the Underground has just been released on the official site, giving players a chance to take a peek behind the visuals to see how day-to-day life functions in the world's most prestigious city -- and its underbelly. The seat of humanity's self-proclaimed savior, Nova Praetoria is elevated from the rest of the world both figuratively and physically, built on an artificial island upon an artificially flooded river. Unfortunately, between the Resistance and the disenfranchised Destroyers -- former soldiers who want to tear down Cole for purely anarchistic reasons -- even the seat of power is increasingly less stable. Meanwhile, the Undergound below is a war between Cole's loyalists using the tunnels for their original purpose of surreptitious transport, the Resistance setting up headquarters to strike at Cole's base of power, and the ravenous Ghouls patrolling the tunnels for unknown reasons. The lore on both areas is top-notch, and it should help make City of Heroes players even more invested in the coming expansion. %Gallery-97436%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The community and the harsh truths
It's that time again. (Those of you who immediately started in with a Wheel of Morality sketch earn a gold star and are excused for the rest of the day.) With less than a month remaining according to the official timetable for Going Rogue's release, we're taking another look at the community topics of City of Heroes, one that should prove quite rewarding. Literally, even, as some of our highlighted discussions are about prestige, merit points, and what you get off of a Giant Monster's corpse when you kill it. More than anything, if there's a theme to this round's discussions, it's a call for improvements. I've made the occasional joke about how the expansion will bring everything anyone ever wanted into the game, and there's certainly a strong thread of that running through recent discussions as well. After all, we all know there are areas where City of Heroes could be stronger, so perhaps a few side updates aren't wholly remiss? Or maybe I'm just feeling cantankerous this week. Every problem looks like a nail when all you have is a hammer, and so forth. Onward with discussion!
City of Heroes previews the districts of Going Rogue
If there's been a complaint about the visuals for the upcoming City of Heroes expansion, it's that Going Rogue will be sticking characters in yet another cityscape. On the most technical level, that's true. However, compared to the utilitarian New England city areas in Paragon City and the urban decay of the Rogue Isles, the sweeping curves and smooth designs of Praetoria couldn't be more different. And even if the visuals from the newest reveal don't grab you, there's still a wealth of information in the latest official disclosures on the expansion's site. Nova Praetoria is the heart of the world's administration and the most exclusive neighborhood ever. (It's the equivalent of the President asking you to move in next door, if the President ran the entire planet and could bend cars in half with his hands.) In a parody of the omnipresent memorials to lost heroes in Paragon City, Nova Praetoria is dotted with statues celebrating the still-living Praetors. The Underground, directly beneath the district, was created to avoid any sight of the day-to-day maintenance of the city -- but it's since become a haven for the movement against Cole and his empire. Take a look at our gallery below for more of the visual awesomeness. %Gallery-97436%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Angry, desperate, hungry, cold
Everyone has different definitions of what constitutes a hero. City of Heroes features plenty of them, after all, and even then there's a breadth of different elements that make them heroic. Some of them are bravely fighting against the odds with unreliable powers or no powers outside of training. Some are heroes who have all the power in the world, but they consider the needs of society to be greater than their own needs. But there's one unifying trait so simple as to be almost comical to state. Heroes do the right thing. No matter what. So it's kind of silly to try and glorify the actions of Emperor Cole's jackbooted maniacs, rallying under the "loyalist" banner as if stomping on people were something to be proud about. The fact of the matter is that Cole has been named Tyrant pretty appropriately, crushing any chance for an entire world to make its own choices and mistakes and steps forward. And the reward for handing him control has been paradise, sure -- if you consider what he's offering a paradise.
City of Heroes Going Rogue soundtrack available on iTunes and Amazon
There's just a little more than a month left until City of Heroes players get to take the new expansion for a spin, and Going Rogue's promotions have been stepped up accordingly. Oddly, while the art direction, storytelling, and mechanical aspects of the expansion have all gotten significant attention, we've heard very little about the music that will be expected to set the mood. But if you really want to know, there's no need to speculate -- the soundtrack is already available for purchase. Available both on iTunes and Amazon (albeit slightly cheaper on Amazon), the soundtrack contains 13 pieces composed by Jason Graves, previously of Dead Space and Command & Conquer 4 fame. The previews available suggest a highly orchestral and high-energy collection of pieces, with each piece giving a distinct and different feel from the familiar melodies of the Rogue Isles and Paragon City. Going Rogue players may well want to pick up the soundtrack, as it's only a few bucks and should conjure some engaging images for future City of Heroes adventures.
City of Heroes returns to the Cathedral in Issue 18
We know that Going Rogue is going live for City of Heroes players in August, and that means a new major patch for the game. We know that the update will be Issue 18, followed by the much-discussed Issue 19 that finishes the Incarnate System and expands the endgame. What we haven't known until now is exactly what Issue 18 will contain other than expansion content -- and while it's unlikely that many of the game's players would be skipping out on the expansion, there's always the chance. The development team has broken that silence, however, revealing some of the additions to the game with the new update, including the long-awaited return of the Cathedral of Pain. Yes, Issue 18 will see the return of the Cathedral of Pain trial after a nearly four-year hiatus. Players can expect the trial to have been heavily rewritten while maintaining the same basic framework, the location itself being one of the core sanctums for Rularuu the Ravager. Beyond that is the addition of the Tips system, additions to Mission Architect, and the ability to trade inspirations between heroes and villains. Take a look at the official site for more previews of the next free update to City of Heroes, and take a look at the gallery for some more shots of Praetoria and the revamped Cathedral. %Gallery-97111%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: A chicken in every pot, an answer for every question
It's the first Wednesday of the month, and like always that means we're going into the questions-and-answers for City of Heroes players. Before we delve into this week's column, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for the amount of discussion that took place about our last article extolling the virtues of the Loyalists. It brought a smile to my face to see all of the back and forth about the topic, something I haven't written the last word about. But that's next week's column, and right now it's time to see what other questions the community desperately needs answered. Superfan asked: "Why is the game so repetitive and lacking imagination?" On one level, I can't answer this question because I don't agree with the basic premise. I don't find the game terribly repetitive, and it's lacking in imagination in the same manner that Transformers: War for Cybertron is lacking in robots. But I've acknowledged before that there is a certain rinse-and-repeat feel to City of Heroes, even beyond the equally repetitive feeling in any given MMO. There's something about the game's layout that just gives players that feeling, and I'm not immune to it.
New Going Rogue video documentary hits the City of Heroes Facebook page
Having celebrated its sixth anniversary back in April, City of Heroes is a bit of an old dog in the MMO world. But it's proving quite adept at learning new tricks, with Going Rogue bringing out a big new trick in the form of its morality system. Allowing players not only to play heroes or villains but several intermediate forms in between, the ability to change allegiance is one of the expansion's biggest selling points -- as well as being the focus of the second video documentary, available on the game's Facebook page. While the video doesn't reveal every piece of system information on changing from hero to villain or vice versa, it does talk more about the choices that go into such a shift. We've been hearing for some time that players will be making choices within the missions of Going Rogue, and it's explained here as well. It also discusses in brief how Praetoria is a framework removed from the hero-villain dichotomy of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, allowing players to make choices and shape morality from the ground up. City of Heroes players are encouraged to take a look at the documentary and leave their comments on the page, as the developers are due to check in there throughout the day.
More details on Going Rogue from the latest City of Heroes Q&A session
Although it took a bit of back-and-forth to get moving, the most recent batch of questions for the City of Heroes team has been answered, and with it comes several new pieces of information on the fast-approaching Going Rogue expansion. Some of the answers, naturally, are reasonably well-known facts, such as the fact that allegiances may be switched back and forth as often as a player wishes. But this is also the first time we've heard of a specific timetable, with the team estimating that casual players will be able to make the switch in about a week's worth of playtime. Among the other new pieces of information are details on the content of both Kinetic Melee and Electric Control, with the former sporting a stacking buff via several powers and the latter set to feature a Sleep power that players might actually want. Even amidst the answers that players might already know, there are bits and pieces of gold, enough so that fans looking forward to the August 17th release date for Going Rogue would be well-served by reading through the whole set. It's looking to be a very interesting time to play City of Heroes, whatever side you choose to play on.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: For the greater good
It didn't take much convincing for people to start assuming that the Praetorians in Going Rogue were fundamentally the bad guys. For all the talk that's been given about how players can choose either path, about how there isn't always good and evil... the players are smarter than that. Being on the side of the jackbooted oppressors is just plain wrong, there are no two ways about it. No matter how heavy-handed the City of Heroes team might be about it, players knew better than to take the bait. The problem with this line of thinking is that it's wrong on one fundamental level. It's not that there's a lack of evil running through Praetoria, it's that people are seeing it on the wrong side. Loyalists aren't the shoo-ins for villains that the community seems to think they are -- they're heroes, making the world a better place. There might be the occasional misstep, but when you get right down to it, no faction on Praetoria is as well-suited to the ethos of heroism than those loyal to Emperor Cole.
Praetoria unveiled in depth for City of Heroes
If you play City of Heroes, you're probably not counting the days until the release of Going Rogue just yet, as it's a little too far in the future. (Fifty-one days if you count today, incidentally.) But August will be here before we know it, and today the official site takes a look at a portion of the expansion which is at once easy to forget and yet ubiquitous: the world of Praetoria itself, the utopia created through absolute power. As we've known for quite some time, it's similar and yet slightly different when compared to the setting of Paragon City -- both familiar and threatening. Emperor Cole's near-total salvation of humanity resulted in a sweeping change of the world as a whole, as discussed in Tyrant's biography quite some time ago. Praetoria is a world without borders or nationalities, wherein everyone is a citizen of the empire rather than the panoply of countries in the real world. The tantalizing hints of the world's architecture are readily visible in our gallery, which showcases both the concept art and the in-game layouts of the major new setting for the expansion. Take a look at our gallery, and head to the official site for more information on the twisted mirror of City of Heroes. %Gallery-96271%
Rescheduled developer question-and-answer contest for City of Heroes
You may recall that a couple of days ago we announced a rather tantalizing deal for City of Heroes players, involving both a chance to win a free gaming mouse and the opportunity to ask the developers your questions. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, the session was postponed, as the team found the formspring service didn't quite have the capacity for what they were doing. We're happy to say that after a very short turnaround time, the session has been re-arranged and put back on the schedule. Answers will still be forthcoming on the 30th of June, but participants will need to directly email the team their questions and all pertinent contest details, rather than using a third-party site. The official rules and regulations have been slightly changed as well, but what hasn't changed is that it's an excellent opportunity for City of Heroes players to get in touch with the developers and potentially get rewarded for it. If you're a fan of Paragon Studios, take a look at the rules and then figure out your best possible question.
City of Heroes launches the Mutant Super Booster
With all the characters growing organic spines and shooting bio-electricity at foes, the new City of Heroes Mutant Super Booster seems like an addition that the game has long been awaiting. While yesterday saw a giveaway for several codes by the Paragon Studios team, today is the official launch where everyone can enjoy the new costumes, emotes, and bonus power. The first is the most eye-catching of the setup, naturally, and we've included a gallery of both the in-game art and concept art for the new Bioluminescent and Organic Armor costume sets. New costume change emotes are also par for the course, with this booster adding a triad that includes the supremely freaky Rapid Boil emote. (The Facebook video does it justice in both accuracy and freakiness.) Last but not least is the new innate power Secondary Mutation, which allows you to unleash the latent power of your DNA for a random effect, usually involving self-buffs of varying duration. City of Heroes players will find plenty to enjoy with the newest booster, so check out the gallery and start boiling yourself a new costume. %Gallery-96158%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: We are gathered here today
As suggested in the title, we are gathered here today for a purpose: To celebrate the community of City of Heroes and all of the discussions that they've been taking part in over the past several weeks. (What, you thought it was for Terry? You clearly haven't been following along.) After several weeks with almost non-stop activity, the past couple have been fairly silent, with only a few tidbits off of the official Facebook page to discuss in any depth. But that hasn't stopped anyone before, and it's not likely to stop anyone now. After all, we've got chatter about when you've played far too much City of Heroes, the day that Mystic Fortune killed someone, and Santa as a crossdresser. No, really. So as long as you don't mind a somewhat more irreverent week of community discussions, click on past the break. (If you do mind it, well, we had a very serious illustration back around here. That's almost as good.)
City of Heroes announces Going Rogue release date and hands-on at SDCC
While dates have been thrown left and right for the upcoming expansion, City of Heroes players will be happy to know that the much-awaited expansion, Going Rogue, will officially release on August 17th, 2010. That leaves a little under two months until all of the promised features, including two more powersets, a new starting experience, the ability to switch sides, and the start of the new Incarnate system. Although it's a bit later than the previously-rumored date of July, players can still look forward to the fact that it's not so very far in the future. Can't wait that long? If you're going to the inimitable San Diego Comic Con this year, you're in luck, as the City of Heroes team will be granting lucky players a hands-on experience for the expansion. Not only that, but they'll be hosting a panel and the equally inimitable David Nakayama will be sketching select heroes and villains. Keep your eyes peeled for more news regarding Going Rogue as we approach release, and take a look at the official itinerary for the Paragon Studios team at SDCC.
City of Heroes hosting Razer-sponsored question-and-answer service [Updated]
[Update: We were just informed by NCsoft that this contest will unfortunately need to be postponed, due to some technical issues. Please ignore the dates posted here. We will let you know as soon as we hear something new.] There's nothing quite as nice as getting rewarded for doing something you would have been inclined to do anyway. City of Heroes is offering players and fans a chance to do precisely that via an upcoming question-and-answer session. Not only do you get a chance to ask the developers whatever you want, but there's a chance for you to win a free Razer Naga mouse, which is designed specifically around MMO gaming. What could be better? Mirroring the earlier formspring session from April, the City of Heroes team is opening up submissions for questions between June 21st and June 28th. The answers are coming on the 30th, with three lucky players winning a Naga mouse. The full rules and regulations can be found on the official site, which includes language explaining that questions will only be answered regarding Going Rogue, the upcoming Super Booster, and the recent video documentary. Take a look at the official rules, and think of what you can ask the team about the upcoming content.
An advance peek offered for the next City of Heroes Super Booster
The fifth Super Booster for City of Heroes has been the point of some debate. Players have known for a long time that it was going to be a mutant-themed pack, but that doesn't imply a great deal beyond having something vaguely organic going on. Luckily for players, the Facebook fan page for the game has been posting preview images to help players get a sense of what's going into the pack. And the best part isn't just that it has a set release date of June 24th -- it's that players might get to pick it up for free a day early. On June 23rd, the City of Heroes team will be giving away two codes per hour via their social networking outlets -- Facebook, Twitter, and the official forums. Where the codes will appear in the five-hour timeframe is a mystery until it happens, encouraging players to stay alert and keep their eyes on all of the above. For US players, the codes will be given away between 1 PM and 5 PM PST, while EU players will see the codes being announced between 5 PM and 10 PM British time. Keep your eyes peeled for your chance to get the newest booster a day early!
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Does whatever a spider can (VEAT levels 20-50)
Welcome back to our conclusion of A Mild-Mannered Reporter's guide to spiders! After last week's long discussion of the various builds possible for the villainous epic archetypes, we're back to blast through to the end of the unique leveling missions. And it's a pretty interesting string, although like much content in City of Heroes it starts to slow down a bit as you get higher in levels. But it also has the nice story interplay of the best content available on the Rogue Isles, the constant back-and-forth as untrustworthy people stab each other in the back. For players or readers coming in late, we left off at the conclusion of the level 20 arc, where you delivered the Eye of Chronos to Fortunata Hamilton. She tells you that the process of seeing whether or not you truly are a Destined One will take time... which is true if you turn the mission in before level 20, but otherwise it apparently takes two seconds. Of course, there's a good reason for that.
Exclusive: The moral genesis of City of Heroes: Going Rogue
While the Praetorian areas designed for Going Rogue are new, the actual concept of Praetoria has been in City of Heroes for quite some time. Of course, as it existed in the game prior to the upcoming expansion, it was simply the Mirror Universe ported over to the game world: all the good guys were now bad guys. (Presumably the inverse was also true, but we never found out one way or the other.) Yet Praetoria, as it's being billed now, is a region of contrasts, where good and evil aren't so easily conveyed. So how did we get from one to the other? How did the simple moral inversion become a question of totalitarian safety versus dangerous anarchy? The best answers come straight from the source, and they're right here. In an exclusive developer diary by John "Protean" Hegner, designer and mission lead for Going Rogue, we get a peek at the process that went into fleshing out the limited view we had of the alternate Earth. Entitled "Shaving the goatee off the Praetorians," it's excellent reading for any City of Heroes fan, so take a look on past the break.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: There's a spider in my room (VEAT level 24)
I want to give everyone a bit of an idea for how these illustrations come into being. After the first installment of the ongoing guide to villainous epic archetypes was on the plate, I let Ms. Fienemann know what I was planning so she would know what to draw. Once she drew that title image, I immediately laughed and noted how the middle soldier was sad. His name was Terry, and Jim and Earl (the other soldiers) were being jerks to him and not giving him even, like, a little bit of their lunch after Terry had fronted them both for coffee earlier in the week. This week, Jim and Earl continue being mean to Terry despite not being in the drawing. And that just makes it funnier. Where were we? Oh, right, leveling your epic villain archetype in City of Heroes. Or more accurately, making the big central decision to leveling your spider. By the time you hit 24 -- not very long after the last installment -- you're going to be neck-deep in a free respec that leads into unlocking the additional career paths for your character. Unfortunately, you're going to have to choose one or the other.
