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NCsoft Europe launches first podcast
NCsoft Europe launched its first official podcast today, and it's full of City of Heroes goodness. Why should us Yanks bother?Sure, in the inaugural episode Stephen Reid ("Rockjaw" from the CoH EU forums) talks about an upcoming European community event (happening in Birmingham, UK, March 2st-24th), but he also chats with Matt "Positron" Miller (Lead Designer of City of Heroes), and gets the scoop on Manticore and Sister Psyche's wedding from none other then the real life couple behind the heroes themselves, Sean and Jen Dornan-Fish. Sean is the Lead Content Designer on several unannounced NCsoft projects, and works on CoH and Exteel. Jen is a freelance CoH writer (and anthropology professor). There's even some Guild Wars love thrown in for good measure as they speak to Martin Kerstein (European Community Team Lead for GW) about the Bonus Mission Pack.Click on over to the NCsoft EU site where you can download the podcast and the transcript.
Positron discusses XP curve smoothing in CoX
CoX Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller took some time out of his schedule to discuss XP Curve Smoothing. As was mentioned previously, the patch currently on Test provides enemy XP value increases across most levels, with the largest increases appearing between levels 13 to 20 and 36 to 50. As he explains, this action was taken to balance playability and level concerns, with the difficulty variable required for certain groups, zones, and missions.
Meet 'n Greet with the CoX team
Sometimes developers have a way of seeming as ethereal as the games they create. In the case of CoX, most of the developers are actually pivotal actors in the game they've helped create. In an effort to transcend their digital personas, the several members of the CoX crew will be hosting a Meet and Greet event at the Dave 'n Busters in the Great Mall of the Bay in central California. In addition to just being able to talk shop with the developers (which I'm sure they never get enough of), there will be food, drinks, games, and prizes galore.The list of attendees includes such fan favorites as Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller and Melissa "War Witch" Bianco as well as special guest David Nakayama, of Top Cow Comics fame. There will also be a raffle for one of ten character sketches by Nakayama. The event takes place on November 30th and is restricted to the first 200 people who sign up via their online form. So sign up, check it out, and send us some pictures! We'd love to know how the event goes.
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.
Researchers fire most powerful antimatter beam ever
Scientists at North Carolina's PULSTAR nuclear reactor facility fired a positron bean five times stronger than any other ever created earlier this month, breaking a record previously held by a team in Germany. The antimatter device -- which apparently looks like a Star Trek warp reactor -- was developed as part of a two year project by NC State, the University of Michigan, and Oak Ridge National Labs. Now that the device is working, the team is looking for practical applications for the tech, including building an "antimatter telescope," which would allow even closer observations of atomic interactions. Or they could use it to blow up the universe. You know, whatever.[Via TG Daily]
