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Winners of "Declare your Loyalty" contest announced for City of Heroes
Sometimes you notice them and sometimes you don't, but the background touches in City of Heroes are always there. They're little reminders that you're moving through a city full of people. The Rogue Isles has its share of shady billboards and decorations (including no-questions-asked investigators and a minion recruitment service), while Paragon City has law firms and socially-conscious advertisements about the Rikti. And Praetoria has propaganda for Emperor Cole... and against him. That's the crux of the now-concluded contest to declare your loyalty in artistic form for Going Rogue, and the winners of said contest have been announced. There are three winners in each category, for both Loyalist propaganda and Resistance subversion. Two of the pieces of Resistance graffiti and one of the Loyalist billboards have also been adopted by the developers -- they will be featured in Going Rogue, albeit in a slightly-altered form. The gallery of winners showcases both the original submissions and the slight alterations made for the appearance in-game. City of Heroes players who haven't yet picked a side -- or those who are just interested in seeing some nicely-done propaganda pieces -- should head on over to take a look.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Questions versus answers, no holds barred!
We interrupt your regularly-scheduled guide to playing a spider for a number of questions and answers, and possibly several comic book sound effects! (Okay, it's not exactly "interrupting" anything when I said that it would be here this week, but humor me.) As usual, the community has taken the opportunity to ask me a number of City of Heroes questions, and I have used my magical time-looker-forward tube to find the vast majority of the answers. So with that having been said, let's get into the down and dirty, shall we? Superfan asked: "Massively suspects the game has only 40,000 active subscibers right now?" No, the quick math done by one Massively writer suggested it as a possible figure, based on some generous margins and assuming everyone's subscription is on a one-month-recurring basis as opposed to the plethora of other subscription pricing plans available. The goal was to create a vague idea of how many subscribers on an active basis the game might have at the moment, since we no longer get actual subscription numbers for the game.
City of Heroes launches first video diary for Going Rogue
The time of Going Rogue draws very close for City of Heroes players, and we've still only scratched the surface of what there is to know. It's always a tense time when you're getting close to a new expansion, especially one that's rewriting some of the most fundamental rules about the game. While the first in a series of new video developer diaries from Paragon Studios won't necessarily make the time before release pass any faster, it will help give us a clearer picture of what's coming around the bend. For players who have never played the game before, the diary helps give an overview of where the game is and where it can go from here -- including the realm of the Super Lumberjack. (We can only assume that making one allows you to also be super okay.) Veterans can enjoy a solid look at Praetoria, as well as what can only be described as glowing costume pieces. Once the veteran players finish squealing in delight, they can take a look on past the break for the first City of Heroes video diary for Going Rogue, which is targeted for release in July.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Spiders on the wall (VEAT levels 1-20)
I've been talking about it more often than not these days whenever I mention City of Heroes, but in case it wasn't transparently obvious: I like spiders. Not actual spiders, mind you -- those generally merit a kill-on-sight order from me -- but the epic archetypes that villains get? Boy, I can't get enough of those. They're like sliced awesome, complete with sweet armor for the soldier side of things and buttcapes for the widow ladies. (And creepily form-fitting armor for the male widows... y'know, let's just pretend that we didn't go down that road.) What's struck me as odd, however, is that there's relatively little written up about partaking in the sheer joy of being a faceless cog in Arachnos who decided to strike out and hit the big time. With more players than ever able to access the archetypes, and more players still when Going Rogue goes live, now seems as good a time as any to take a hard look at our eight-legged friends and jackbooted oppressors. Today, we're going to go over the basics of starting a new Soldier or Widow, including powersets and the early missions.
Mother Mayhem and the Seers: New Going Rogue faction or greatest band name ever?
Thought crime: once the sole domain of Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four, it's now cropped up in City of Heroes. Praetoria City, featured in City of Heroes' latest expansion Going Rogue, curbs the local crime with a bit of mind reading and proactive rehabilitation. This initiative is led by Mother Mayhem, the leader of a new faction called the Seers. Mayhem is a powerful psychic who contains the consciousness of two people (truly, a good deal for any superhero) and uses her talents to help bring other psychics under control. These Seers, as she calls them, are a bit like the precogs of Minority Report, able to predict crime before it happens and stop it. Continuing with the blurred-line-between-good-and-evil theme of Going Rogue, players may choose to see Mayhem as a positive force who prevents bad things from happening, or a totalitarian enforcer who violates personal privacy. Is Praetoria better or worse off with Mayhem and her Seers cleaning up crime? That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, you can get a deeper glimpse into this character and faction over on the Going Rogue website.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: We're all in this together
Community can be a funny thing. We pick the community we're in -- in this case, City of Heroes -- but we don't pick any of the other members. Sometimes they're all really stand-out folks, and sometimes... well, sometimes your choices are between Flower Power, Slug-fest, and Hammer Time. Lucky for us, the community that's formed itself around our favorite superhero MMO is pretty darn good at its worst and outright awesome most of the time. (And a proper shout-out to our community for the game right here, while I'm at it.) To be fair, we're a bit on the lean side at the moment. After all, we're not getting another update for a couple of months and we almost all know it. Issue 17 is pretty awesome, but we also know that Going Rogue is just around the corner, and so most of us are focused a bit more on the future. But we've still got a lot to talk about in our day-to-day adventures. That both helps everyone to feel that much more welcome, and it helps facilitate this week's look at some of the noteworthy community threads that have been cropping up lately.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Gonna be the future soon
This week's listening, if you by some chance didn't catch it, will be from the inimitable Mr. Jonathan Coulton. Not because the song is all that thematically appropriate (I did not leave a note on War Witch's desk, for starters), but because it's Jonathan Coulton. And it offsets the tone of this article, which is going to be... well... kind of negative. Not negative in the sense that City of Heroes is dying, because it's not. The game is full of life, flush with energy and diverse ideas. Rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated for well on a year or so now, and I personally couldn't be happier about the state of affairs. For every problem it has, it has five or six great points, and every time I'm cresting a hill on my enjoyment there's another hill of sliced, buttered awesome in front of me. But City of Heroes is going to need to start taking steps to ensure its long-term sustainability. It needs to start realizing that their good fortune is not going to last. And so today will be a bit negative, as the long-forgotten second part of the anniversary column... where we look to the future, and see what needs to happen.
City of Heroes explores crime and punishment, Praetoria style
We're getting closer and closer to the launch of the second major expansion to City of Heroes, Going Rogue. While the official site has been a bit silent of late, no doubt in focusing on the game's six-year anniversary, it's just updated again with another look inside the utopia of Tyrant. The most recent update focuses on both a group and an individual, as has become the norm, with players getting a clearer look inside the head of Marauder and the ruthless criminal organizations that form the Syndicate. When Tyrant made his push to eliminate all crime, he succeeded in driving the crime families and organizations nearly to ruin -- but they've banded together to form the Syndicate, to continue their illicit trades while striking out against Cole's government. Marauder, meanwhile, is the perversion of the jovial Back Alley Brawler. Also known as Praetor White, he leads the Powers Division, the team of super-powered individuals that take on threats Praetoria's police force cannot. Take a look at the official site for more information on both of these potential allies and enemies, and keep your eyes peeled for more information as City of Heroes rockets toward the Going Rogue launch date.
One Shots: Rogue force
When it comes to the Rogue Isles in City of Villains, the starting area isn't generally as densely populated as say, Atlas Park tends to be over on the Hero side. But with the most recent graphical update in City of Heroes and City of Villains that just went live, things may well be changing. Today, we have this screenshot of those first steps for Villains, courtesy of BetrayalFive who writes in: "[This was taken on] the first day of the graphical update to CoX. I have only been playing for not even a month, but I was more interested in the player count than the "update" which is why I took this picture. Of the few days I have played I have not seen this many people in the starting area. Yes it is not the greatest shot but it showcases the commitment of players to this game and how excited everyone was. On a side note, the graphical upgrades are nice!" If you're one of the inhabitants of Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, we'd love to see some more screenshots of the graphics update. Tales of your super-heroic or super-villainous deeds are welcome too! All you have to do to participate is to email your screenshots to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of the action. (Supergroups, server, etc. welcome as well!) We'll get it set up and share it out here on Massively. %Gallery-85937%
A video retrospective of City of Heroes
We're still not done celebrating six straight years of City of Heroes, and likely won't be entirely done until July. Even that's largely because we'll have something else to celebrate... but we're getting ahead of ourselves. While we here at Massively took our own look back through the changes in the game over the years, the Samuraiko Productions team has put together something well worth spotlighting: a visual walk through the changes, additions, and updates the game has had over the years. The six-minute walk through history starts out at the very first build, complete with now-archaic UI elements and some questionable fashion choices, and heads straight on through to the upcoming Going Rogue and Issue 19. While there are occasional anachronisms, the video itself gleefully plays with those slight discrepancies, focusing instead on the broadening and expansion of the game. There are also little in-jokes and cameos here and there throughout the film. Whether you're an old fan, a new player, or just want to see a tour through history, take a look past the cut for this excellent trip down memory lane for City of Heroes. [Thanks to Samuraiko for the tip!]
City of Heroes launches "Declare Your Loyalty" contest
Any City of Heroes fan will likely recognize and have an answer for the question "Loyalist or Resistance?" It's all part of the ongoing campaign for the game's upcoming expansion, Going Rogue, and ties to the main storyline -- whether you're a Loyalist of Tyrant's totalitarian utopia, or a no-holds-barred Resistance member willing to topple Tyrant at any cost. Paragon Studios is taking the campaign one step further to celebrate both the impending release and the six-year anniversary: they're letting players make a permanent mark on the world of Praetoria based upon their allegiance. There are two halves to the contest, based upon one's affiliation. If you're a Loyalist, you are tasked with designing a suitable propaganda poster for Emperor Cole, extolling his virtues and those of his society. On the other hand, Resistance members will design graffiti to spread the message of freedom and encouraging others to rise up. There's a lot of fun to be had with the contest, and the prizes are pretty substantial -- even without the fact that the best entries may very well wind up in Praetoria when Going Rogue launches. Take a look at the full rules, and start declaring your City of Heroes affiliation -- the contest runs until May 14th.
One Shots: Not really into the bar scene
With the density of worlds, and things to do in those worlds, there's a lot of scenery that players don't often get to see. That's (at least in part) one of the reasons we do One Shots! That way when we get images like this one from City of Heroes from Sam T., other superheroes know there's more to this commonly-traveled zone than they may realize. We'll let Sam explain: "Ouroboros is probably one of the most beautiful areas to be ignored in City of Heroes. Its commonly used for the Flashback system, as a transit hub, and really? That's about it. It's a crying shame that more people just don't go off and explore it... This view from one of the eastern floating islands is quite nice! Here I am with one of my SG-mates just talking about upcoming stuff in the game and with the group. Sure beats Pocket D!" Do you have a screenshot showing off overlooked geography in your favorite game? Perhaps you'd like to show off something more personal, but just as cool. If so, send those screenshots our way at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. SG/corp/guild names and server welcome too! %Gallery-85937%
NCsoft trademarks City of Heroes 2
A little over a year ago, Massively's Kyle Horner took a look at the possibility of City of Heroes 2 in The Digital Continuum. He investigated some of what NCsoft has done before and gave several reasons why it would make sense for them to move in that direction eventually. There was a fair amount of skepticism, but it looks like Kyle may have called it. Eurogamer reported today that NCsoft has trademarked the "City of Heroes 2" name. Now this is certainly not anything resembling a commitment to make the game, but it opens the door to the possibility. NCsoft could be planning to start working on the game soon, or they could just as easily be guarding against future shenanigans from those not affiliated with the game. NCsoft had this to say: "City of Heroes is a flourishing franchise and continues to be the world's most popular super-powered hero MMO. While we cannot comment on City of Heroes 2 at this time, NCsoft is proud of City of Heroes' success and is looking forward to future product launches associated with the franchise, including the City of Heroes Going Rogue expansion scheduled for release this July." For now, we'll try not too speculate too much, and look forward to Going Rogue.
One Shots: Another day at the office
When it comes to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, superheroes may have the option of having day jobs, but they never really quit being super-powered. Thankfully, that can be really handy when your everyday office building gets invaded! Today, we have a great City of Heroes screenshot for you from occasional One Shots contributor, Redwense, who also decided to send along a short story about what's going on in this action-packed screenshot. So, we'll note here that if you'd like to send in a screen, just email it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description -- or story -- of your own! With that, we'll turn today's column over to Redwense. Be sure to read the rest after the break! The Council was once again up to their dastardly deeds in yet another office building-this one belonging to a prominent law firm, despite its identical layout to another one (which also happened to be infested by vile villains!) on Talos Island. And once again, the director of Paragon Secret Intelligence Service and heroine from Great Britain, 'Lady Caliber', finds herself in the midst of blood-thirsty werewolves and super-powered chaos... %Gallery-85937%
The Digital Continuum: The trouble with sticking to MMOs
I get to these points where not a single MMO will stick with me any longer than roughly one month -- sometimes less. That wasn't always the case, though. There was a time when I could play a single MMO nearly every day for three or four months before getting tired of it. And a lot of my friends are in the same boat, trying to regularly play an MMO but mostly faltering. This isn't new to me. In fact, I've been here before and I know how to get out of the viciously boring cycle. This week's The Digital Continuum is all about renewing the luster to your MMO experience, and maybe a little more.
PAX East 2010: Our interview with Melissa Bianco of City of Heroes
Melissa "War Witch" Bianco is without a doubt one of the leading ladies of the MMO world, a title she said she could definitely get used to. But as she says it, that hasn't made an impact on her in some ways, because she never felt there was a bias to overcome at either Cryptic or the current Paragon Studios. "I don't know if I just happened to be in a company that wasn't like that," she says, "or if I'm just so awesome it didn't matter." We would certainly believe either. Bianco is riding fairly high on success at the moment in the eyes of many players, having a solid track record of revamped and improved zones coupled with a highly-anticipated expansion on the way. We had a chance to speak with her after the City of Heroes panel to talk about more future plans for the game, aiming for several of the more outlying areas in the game's development. Read on past the cut for her answers ranging from the immortal warehouse map to the possibility of new epic archetypes.
PAX East 2010: City of Heroes panel reveals many things
Unpacking the City of Heroes panel at PAX East is a big deal: there were huge amounts of information being thrown around, and a lot of new pieces of information to process. For that matter, there was far more than anyone expected, with information about the full spread of new issues up to Issue 19 and the reveal of Matt "Positron" Miller's heretofore unrevealed new endgame system. The panel as a whole featured a huge breadth of information about the game from concept into the future, and was filled with people long before the official start time, with fans vocally professing their adoration for the team the whole way through. We had the good fortune to be front and center at the theatre, and once we started taking notes we didn't really stop until the event was over. At the panel were lead designer Melissa Bianco, former lead designer and current lead system designer Matt Miller, art lead David Nakayama, and development producer Jesse Caceres. They opened off with a discussion of the game's history from launch back in 2004 to the present. The changeover from Cryptic to Paragon Studios was discussed in brief, mentioning that four of the major launch employees (Miller, Bianco, CW Bennet, and Brian Clayton) were still with Paragon even after the change.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Return of community news
There's quite a bit to crow about in the City of Heroes community of late. Since the last time we've taken a look at the community, we've had a huge amount of new information about the next expansion, a double XP weekend, and the usual regimen of alien invasions and parallel universes. (July's release of Going Rogue will greatly increase the parallel universe portion.) And if you live on the east coast, you also have the opportunity to meet the Paragon Studios crew without traveling to the other side of the country! Have I mentioned that I live on the east coast? So next week, expect a very weary me to be dishing out a whole bunch of news from PAX East, as I'm going to be following the crew around like a forlorn puppy. But that's then and this is now. Today, we're going to be looking at some of the interesting community threads that have popped up over the last month, from the serious to the amusing.
City of Heroes panel to appear at PAX East
We're just over a month away from PAX East, and those planning to attend have bought their passes and are beginning to think about itineraries. The event schedule hasn't been added to the PAX site yet, but City of Heroes released an exciting piece of news today. They'll be hosting a panel titled Re-Inventing A Super-Heroic MMO,where they'll discuss keeping their game interesting and fresh after all this time, and delve deeper into Going Rogue. For those who want to hang out later, the City of Heroes team is planning a meet and greet Saturday night for fans to visit with the panel members and possibly win some raffle prizes. The location and some other details are still coming, but the date and time are set, so CoH fans can mark their calendars for both the panel and the meet and greet. Check out the full details on the official site, and we'll see you at PAX! [Update: More details have been released on the meet and greet.]
City of Heroes announces Secret Admirer Contest
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and City of Heroes is ready and willing to help you woo your sweetheart. Well, as long as your sweetheart is the War Witch -- anyone else and you're on your own. They're making it worth your while, though. The City of Heroes Secret Admirer Contest invites you to create a digital or homemade Valentine's Day card for the War Witch and submit it for the chance to win some great prizes. While we can't guarantee that the lady herself will be presenting you with her phone number, three people in each category (homemade and digital) will be presented with prize packages including Logitech gaming headsets and a pile of CoH goodies. The contest is going on now and will last until the submission deadline of February 28th. Take a look at all the rules and regulations here, and good luck to you!
