this would be great for CoH

Origins Booster in Nov!

A bit better than the Party Pack, a new cape and two auras for each origin all available at the beginning of character creation. Gonna have to get this one.
10 auras at level one? Yes please!

Edit: Additional info on this one, the release date is Nov 3 and the price will be $9.99 US.

Issue 19 reveals from NY Comic Con

A whole bunch of details have emerged from the City of Heroes panel at NY Comic Con...
Many of which can be seen at the wiki here... as well as forum goer, James Joyce's video on Youtube...




Rumor is that closed beta starts this coming week! And for the clothes horses out there, yes it will have new costume parts in this issue... pieces from the Imperial Defense Force!

Two New Auras Leaked to Live!

The last patch to live accidentally added two entirely new auras to the costume creator for those who have their auras unlocked at lvl 30... Fireflies and Snow! No word on when or if these are to be removed, if they are actually part of Issue 19 or a booster or anything yet.

Aion:

The Good:
1. PVP can be very challenging and rewarding.
2. Story content “if you actually read it”
3. Game engine is great, able to run on lower system specs and still look great. Even at max setting the game is not terribly taxing on a decent PC.
4. The Dev’s have been doing a great job keep up with player suggestions
5. Character creator, while not terribly detailed, but you can still modify the look of your character quite well. Being able to scale the hands/feet/arms/legs …etc really shines

The Bad:
1. PVP, while very fun, you have players that love abusing the system.
2. Bots, you what they are and they are in every MMO out there.
3. Price/rates/earning can be very very challenging, it can get down right irritating and they really is no reason behind it.
4. Forced grouping/teaming, a big turn off for people that like to go solo



City of Heroes/Villains:

The Good:
1. Some PVP content is very rewarding
2. Paragon Studios is doing a great job listening to their player base.
3. Character creator, probably one of the best out there.
4. Story content and Area maps/zones are quite large
5. Probably one of the best games for grouping/teaming. Lv40’s toons playing at Lv10 and still getting their respective EXP and drops or vice versa.

The Bad:
1. Old game engine
2. Old game engine with new “add on” game code or as they call it “Ultra Mode” it does really hurt the game. I understand what they tried to do, but when compared to Aion “and how much less Aion uses your systems resources maxed out” Paragon Studios really should have just started a new game engine from the ground up OR implemented CoH/V into the Crytek Engine as Aion has done/is.
3. What the Character creator lacks. The scaling in the creator is horrid in my opinion. There are a few options to change the scaling for the body, but not enough to really make characters stand apart from everyone else.
4. “The Nerf” many fun things aboutCoH/V has been nurfed over the years and for no apparent reason. I understand people abusing the game mechanics, but nerfing certain thing in the game for no apparent reason is very irritating. One of my personal irritations is the nerf they implemented with Tanks and being able to aggro a solid 3 eight man mobs, it can’t be done anymore.

Final Fantasy 14 “just started the Open Beta”

My review: “so far”
1. The game engine seems nice, but very taxing. I can’t see many people playing on low end PC’s with what I would call decent graphics.
2. Updates and initial download via torrent ….. Simply idiotic. 8 hours to download the game on an 8Meg connection. It shouldn’t have taken any where near that amount of time.
3. Configuring the game “right now” has to be done with the game shut down.
4. Starting the game and playing, not for the new to MMO players. Not at all in the way of help tips or hints
5. Character Creator…..worst I’ve seen aside from Final Fantasy 11. They might as well just said “here is a toon, now go play” The options are ridiculously narrow. It seems like the creator was an after thought and not a priority. I give it a -10 very disappointed with it.
6. With all the MMO’s out there, Square could have taken some hints for Controls/Targeting/HUD/Chat and all of thee above. Not sure what they were thinking. I can say it’s much much better than Final Fantasy 11, but much worse than any other MMO I have played in the last 4 years. Again it seems an after thought and not a priority.


I ‘m certainly going to give it more time, I really do want to like the game. The targeting and such will take sometime to learn “more than most” but I’ll push through it.

I will say that Square needs to pay attention to what is on the market now. Not because they should be cookie cutter, but so new players can hop right in and have fun instead of taking a week or two to learn the mechanics. They can be original with story content, add-ons and the character creator “which as I said is incredibly bad”.

Anyway, just my 2 cents on Final Fantasy 14. I know a lot of die hard fans will not agree.

PAX Issue 19 & 20 info!

All of this has been culled from the ongoing forum thread located here...

"Issue 19: Alpha Strike

• Released in Fall 2010
• Alpha incarnate slot which will be story driven and ties to the game lore
• 'Alpha Strike' task force for Alpha enabled characters - Apex is the contact
• Primal earth characters can enter Praetoria
• More tip missions
• Image from @Gothess: http://twitpic.com/2l8hvy - Is that a new enemy?
• Image from @Gothess: http://twitpic.com/2l8n5a - Apex in what appears to be RWZ
• Image from @Gothess: http://twitpic.com/2l912q - Not sure what this is o.0

Other info (some may be i19 info, will post here unless it's been confirmed for i19)

• Incarnate content will be included in every issue
• Issue 20 closed beta starts in a week (with signed NDA)
• Mission maps will get a minor update
• Fitness pool becomes inherent
• 'Issue 19 will have a normal beta after issue 20. Issue 20 includes a lot a of new systems that will require more beta time.'

Q&A Info

• Changing character without logging out has not been implemented and has no timeline
• 'Will Paragon and Rogue Isles get yellow targets?' 'Probably not but maybe'
• No new news on hero/villain coalitions or base access for tourists
• No new news on personal bases, but they are talking about it
• Old zones may see an update to make them look nicer
• There will be 'casual paths and new features'
• They have been looking into animated facial features and fingers but it won't be any time soon
• Alternate animations might be coming in a bit
• Praetorian Epic ATs may be coming
• They are working on updating old costumes and new costume sets but Sexy Jay is apparently overwhelmed
• Tip missions will be getting a bit of a tone update
• They have looked at taking down the paragon war walls but won't happen anytime soon
• 'Will hero get more arachnos missions in paragon?' 'Yes we can do that'
• 'Will we get and automatic team finder? Maybe?' (I'm not sure who said what here)
• Cross server teaming exists on a priority list no more details
• 'Are power pools going to be expanded?' 'It's been discussed but no timeline'
• Power pool customization is on the radar but not a priority
• Ouroborus mission to explore what happened to dark astoria? Very possible to do may happen"

And later on in the thread...

" Quote:

Originally Posted by Leese Heya Castle, can you clarify whether the Inherent Fitness powers will be slottable?

Yes, they are enhanceable and you can add up to 5 additional slots to them, just like the current versions. The powers are all available either at level 1 or 2 (I forget at the moment) -- no waiting 'til 20 for Stamina."

WOW! Health & Stamina at lvl 1 or 2! This will totally change how we play the game!

GR is LIVE!!!

YAY! It's like saturday morning AND christmas all in one!

And here's your patch notes, as per this post:

"COMBINED


Merging Hero and Villain Economies

• Influence, Infamy and Information are being combined into a unified currency called ‘INF’. All characters will be able to trade ‘inf.’, salvage, recipes and enhancements between each other.
• Wentworth’s Consignment House and the Black Market now share inventories. Capitalism at its best.
  • All outstanding Buy and Sell orders will be cancelled as part of the market merge. All items and bids will be refunded and stored in the auction inventory. Listing fees for unsold items will be refunded.

Auction House

• You can now tab forward and back (shift-tab) through stored items. The price text gets reset when you move to a new item.
• You can tab forward and back through the search field, min level, max level, bid price and bid quantity fields. Their text auto-selects so you can type to replace it. Similarly the bid price and quantity auto-select when you click on them (the others already did).

Global Email

• Any player can claim enhancements, inf, inspiration, recipes, and salvage regardless of alignment.
• Global attachments can no longer be claimed while in an Arena match.

Chat

• If you send a tell to a player with a Trial account, an auto-reply will be sent explaining that players with Trial accounts cannot send tells.
• You should no longer see the message "You can now receive global emails from any player not on your ignore list” spamming your chat. It’s still true, though.
• The channel admin command /chan_timeout [channel name> [duration>” is working correctly now. The minimum time that can be set for timeout has been increased from 7 days to 30 days. Channels that have already been set to a timeout period of less than 30 days will be unchanged.
• Players can now right-click another player, and if that other player is in a group, the player can select to send a “Tell” to the team leader

Pop Help

• Pop help adds exclamation point icons to the side of your screen as you play, providing useful help and information.
• Left clicking on the icons will display a window with the information.
  • The icon will disappear after the information has been displayed.
• You may have more than 5 pop help items available at any one time, but only 5 will display on the side of your screen at any one time.

Team Search Improvements

• This color scheme came about along with other behind-the-scenes work to make searching more useful in Going Rogue. It used to be that heroes could see heroes and villains could see villains and that was that. With Vigilantes going to Rogue Isles and so on, we needed a more sophisticated approach. Now the people you see are people you could team with, and who are in the same part of the game world as you (eg. people in the Rogue Isles can't see people in Paragon City and vice versa, regardless of their alignment).
• The new color scheme works like this:
  • [font >Jade green[/font>: Same team as you
  • [font >Red[/font>: They have 'not looking for group' set
  • [font >Yellow[/font>: They can't be invited to team with you because they're on a mission map or in an arena match
  • [font >Orange[/font>: They're the opposite faction to you and not on a mixed team, so you have to go to their map to team with them
  • [font >Violet[/font>: They're the leader of a team with less than 8 people on it
  • [font >Pale blue[/font>: They're not on a team and you can invite them
  • [font >Green/grey[/font>: They're on a team but not the leader, so you can't invite them and they can't invite you

Costume Sets

• The following costume sets are available as part of the Going Rogue expansion:
  • Sports
  • Overguard
  • Syndicate
  • Clockwork
  • Resistance
  • Praetorian Police
• These additional sets are available through purchase of the City of Heroes Going Rogue(TM) Complete Collection.
  • Alpha
  • Omega

Combat Auras

• All in-game Auras can now be set to only activate while in combat.

GOING ROGUE

Alignment System

• The Going Rogue Alignment System is a new feature that allows you to change your faction from Hero to Villain and from Villain to Hero. The Going Rogue Alignment System allows you to experience all sides of the game content with a single character. It introduces two additional alignments, Vigilantes and Rogues. These new factions represent the moral gray line between Hero and Villain, and will benefit from unique rewards.
• Upon reaching Level 20, defeated enemies that are Level 20 or higher will now have the chance to “drop” a Contact Tip. These Contact Tips are similar to existing contacts except they have a dialog tree attached to the front of it. You can investigate Tips by clicking the “Investigate” button. This opens a description of the Tip and then leads into a dialog tree where you can choose how you want to act upon this information. All Tips will have two flavors to them, either Vigilante and Heroes for characters based in Paragon City or Rogue and Villains for characters based in the Rogue Isles. Depending on the choice you make with the information you're given, you will receive a specific alignment mission of that flavor. Once the mission is complete, you're another notch closer towards reaching that alignment and the Tip is cleared out of the contact window.
  • A Tip will be written as if it was information picked up off of a defeated enemy. For Example: "You found a small torn piece of paper that appears to have some interesting information on it."
• You can work on multiple different alignment missions at any given time. After completing 10 Tip missions towards a chosen alignment, a Morality mission is unlocked. This mission is also tied to the “Contact Tip Drop” system. Once you've done enough Alignment Tip Missions to qualify for a Morality mission, the Morality mission drop will be an alignment drop of that type. The Morality missions make the actual hard switch from one alignment to the next.
• Characters that change their alignment from Hero to Vigilante or Villain to Rogue may choose to switch back to their original alignment (i.e. Vigilante to Hero / Rogue to Villain), however once a character makes the final switch to the polar opposite alignment, characters must move forward to redeem their Villain to become a Hero, or fall from grace as a Hero to a Villain.
  • For example, a Hero can become a Vigilante, and return back to a Hero. If the Vigilante falls from grace to become a Villain, that Villain character must go on the path of redemption to a Rogue alignment before becoming a Hero again.
• Players can defeat enemies and collect Tips that they can act upon, making adjustments to the character's alignment.
  • Change sides from Hero to Vigilante to Villain or Villain to Rogue to Hero.
• After 10 Alignment Points are earned in an Alignment Pool, a Morality mission drop becomes possible.
• Vigilantes and Rogues that visit the other cities will con “friendly” to native Heroes and Villains in all PvE areas.
• Tourists: Vigilantes can travel to the Rogue Isles, and Villains turning Rogues can travel to Paragon City. While there, the Vigilante or Rogue is considered a moral ‘Tourist’.
• Vigilantes and Rogues must become ‘Tourists’ to earn the alignment points needed to complete their switch to Villains or Heroes.
• Players can earn a limited amount of fame for their alignment-related deeds. To earn more fame, the public has to first lose interest in your old deeds. The public will hold interest in no more than five deeds, and their interest will last for 20 hours after the deed occurred.
• The player also has the option to reinforce their standing as their current alignment. Continuing to complete Tips tied to the player’s current alignment will give them the chance to complete the Moral mission once again, thereby reinforcing their existing moral beliefs. This cycle of reinforcement can be completed as many times as the player likes.
  • This can earn them Hero Award Merits or Villain Award Merits.
  • Heroes will earn Hero Award Merits for reinforcing their alignment, redeemable at the vendor found within Fort Trident.
  • Villains will earn Villain Award Merits for reinforcing their alignment, redeemable at the vendor found within The Crucible.
• Players can earn alignment powers after they have spent a certain amount of time as a Vigilante or Rogue.
• Players who make the switch from Villain all the way to Hero or Hero all the way to Villain will no longer be able to lead their previous alignment’s Super Group.
• In PvP zones or Arena matches, Vigilantes are considered “Heroes” and Rogues are considered “Villains”.
• Stores, Tailors, and Respec contacts will interact with tourists.
  • Some exceptions to this are Store NPCs in Brickstown, Founders Falls, and Peregrine Island.
  • These NPCs require a mission completion to unlock their stores but NPCs do not grant missions to tourists.
  • Tourists in Paragon City can travel to the Midnighter Club, Rikti War Zone or back to Rogue Isles to purchase Single Origin Enhancements.
• Tourists may run radio or newspaper missions. They can complete Safeguard or Mayhem missions and gain new contacts, but they cannot interact with those new contacts until they complete the switch to Hero in Paragon City or Villain in Rogue Isles.
• Alignment Merits:
  • Hero and Villain reinforcing Morality Missions will now award 50 Reward Merits on the first reinforcement and 1 Hero or Villain Merit on the second and subsequent reinforcements.
  • The Conversion cost for Hero and Villain Merits is 50 Reward Merits and 20 Million Inf.
• Tips do not transfer from Villain side to Hero side and vice versa.
  • They will go into Escrow when a character moves from the Rogue Isles to Paragon City and back.
• Players cannot read Tips in Hazard, Trial, or PVP zones.
• Tips will not drop while in missions from Architect Entertainment.
• Tips will continue to drop in Co-Op zones, but cannot be investigated unless the player is within a standard Hero/Villain area.
• When in Task Force mode (Task Forces, Strike Forces, Flashback missions), Tips will drop for players, but they will not show up in the Tips tab until they leave Task Force mode.
• The Pocket D Teleporter will prompt you to verify your wish to teleport if you would switch from Hero to Villain content in doing so.
• Team members assisting on a Morality Mission who are not eligible for an alignment switch or reinforcement will receive an alignment point towards the alignment of the Morality Mission instead, as long as they have an available alignment slot.
• Tourists may use either Consignment House (Paragon City) or Black Market (Rogue Isles) Transporters, providing they are in the appropriate city at the time.
• All alignment switch opportunities present a choice table which includes additional warnings of consequences for alignment switching.
• You should not immediately receive the same Alignment tip after just recently completing or discarding it.
• Characters may join and remain in leveling pacts regardless of alignment.
• When a Supergroup leader tries to switch sides, a popup appears telling them the consequences of the alignment shift, which is that they will be removed from their leader rank if they switch their alignment to the opposing side.
  • If they do switch alignment all the way to polar opposite of the SG, leadership will pass to the next highest ranking/senior member of the SG.
• Vigilantes and Rogues should now see progress meters for side-restricted Day Job badges. However, side-restricted Day Jobs do require a full switch to Hero or Villain to actually earn the badge and/or accolade. Vigilantes cannot become full fledged Arachnos Agents, etc. though they can start making headway.
• Alignment Guides: When a player receives their first tips, a new contact will show up on the Tips menu who can be contacted via cell phone. They do not give missions, but will explain Tips, Morality Missions, and how to change alignments.
  • These guides can be reached in person from inside Pocket D

Zones

• Fort Trident and The Crucible
  • Players who maintain either a Hero or Villain alignment through reinforcement will now find they are welcome to enter Fort Trident (Hero) or The Crucible (Villain). Located in Atlas Park and Cap au Diable, these zones allow the Hero or Villain to relax, meet well known signature characters, teleport to their Task Force/Strike Forces, and also purchase purple recipes and PVP recipes from special vendors with earned Hero or Villain Merits.

Badges

• When you open the Badge menu after changing alignment, a popup will appear to explain the changes to your badge names.
  • No badges or accolade powers are lost.
• Players who possess Hero or Villain specific accolade powers will now automatically be granted the other side's corresponding badge and accolade power when they switch sides. Only one side's accolade powers are enabled at any one time.
• Many Badges which were previously side-specific (and now accessible to both sides after Going Rogue) have had the previously inaccessible titles and/or texts updated to reflect the effects of side-switching and provide a new side's take on your past actions and experiences.
• Removed Hero/Villain Requirements from the following Badges:
  • Firebug
  • Hero Slayer
  • Impounder
  • Outlaw
  • Safecracker
  • Vandal
  • Swashbuckler
  • Arachnos Rising
  • Villain Disruptor
• Corrected an issue where the icons for Clothes Horse, Fashionable, and Ostentatious were not showing up properly.
• The Hero title of The Justicar badge for defeating a Rogues Gallery boss has been renamed to Judge & Jury.
• Mother Mayhem has been added to the requirements for Dimensional Warder.

Super Groups

• Players remain in their Super Group if they change alignments to the opposing side.
  • Hero and Vigilante are considered blue-side, and Villain and Rogue are considered red-side for this purpose, no matter where they happen to be.
• Players that are in a Super Group of the opposing side are considered to have “gone dark”.
  • Dark members aren’t allowed to access their Super Group base.
  • Dark members aren’t given most Super Group permissions.
    • Dark members are allowed to pay base rent and to talk in Coalition chat.
• If the Super Group leader goes dark, the leader will then be demoted from their rank.
  • A different non-dark member will be automatically promoted to the leadership position.
  • The Super Group leader will be notified with a pop-up if they attempt to complete a Morality mission that would change their alignment such that they would go dark. The leader must confirm that they are fine with going dark and getting demoted before being allowed to switch to the new alignment.
  • If they do switch alignment all the way to polar opposite of the SG, leadership will pass to the next highest ranking/senior member of the SG.

POWERS

Ancillary/Patron Powers

• Ancillary Power Pools are now available to all characters that reach Level 41, regardless of Hero or Villain status.
• Once a Patron Pool has been unlocked as a Villain, it remains unlocked even if you later switch sides.
• Patron and Ancillary equivalencies are as follows:
  • Scrappers get Stalker Patron Powers, and vice versa.
  • Tankers get Brute Patron Powers, and vice versa
  • Blasters get Mastermind Patron Powers, and vice versa
  • Defenders get Corruptor Patron Powers, and vice versa
  • Controllers get Dominator Patron Powers, and vice versa
• Specific power instances were altered to eliminate duplication of powers.

New Power Sets

The following four Power Sets are available as part of the Going Rogue Expansion.

Kinetic Melee

• Kinetic Melee is a melee attack set based upon siphoning your opponent's energy and using it to power your own attacks. Each individual attack adds a damage debuff to the target (strength and duration dependent upon the tier of the power used) and Tankers inflict even stronger debuffs than the other ATs. Additionally, if Power Siphon is active, the caster gains a damage buff.
• The following Kinetic Melee powers are intended for Scrappers, Tankers and Brutes:
  • Quick Strike
  • Body Blow
  • Smashing Blow
  • Taunt
  • Repulsing Torrent
  • Power Siphon
  • Burst
  • Focused Burst
  • Concentrated Strike
• The following Kinetic Melee powers are intended for Stalkers:
  • Quick Strike
  • Body Blow
  • Smashing Blow
  • Assassins Strike
  • Build Up
  • Placate
  • Burst
  • Focused Burst
  • Concentrated Strike

Electric Control

• Electric Control is a power set that can be used by Dominators and Controllers.
• Electric control offers a mastery of using electricity to negate enemy attacks and keep them off balance. Many effects will arc from one nearby enemy to another, creating dazzling chains of electrical energy. It offers a wide variety of short duration soft controls in the form of stuns, confuses, and knockback.
• Arcing controls tend to be short duration, but can hit multiple foes and recharge quickly.
• All arcing controls will be able to use enhancements, allowing players to enhance the Damage, Stun, Immobilize or other effects of the power.
• The Electric Control Power Set is comprised of the following powers:
  • Electric Fence
  • Tesla Cage
  • Chain Fences
  • Jolting Chain
  • Conductive Aura
  • Static Field
  • Paralyzing Blast
  • Synaptic Overload
  • Generate Gremlins

Dual Pistols

• This set is a primary power choice for Blasters and Corruptors and a secondary choice for Defenders. Dual Pistols is also the power set of choice for the Going Rogue signature character Maelstrom.
• What differentiates Dual Pistols from the Assault Rifle power set is the ability to modify every attack's secondary damage and the effect that has on your target. 70% of damage dealt by most attacks is lethal, the other 30% is modifiable from pure damage to cold, toxic, or fire. This versatility comes at the cost of slightly weaker secondary effects when compared to other power sets. In short, Dual Pistols is a set that can adapt to most situations by bringing a wide variety of debuffs and damage types.
• The Dual Pistols Power Set is comprised of the following powers:
  • Pistols
  • Dual Wield
  • Empty Clips
  • Swap Ammo
  • Bullet Rain
  • Suppressive Fire
  • Executioner's Shot
  • Piercing Rounds
  • Hail of Bullets

Demon Summoning

• Demon Summoning is a primary power choice for the Mastermind archetype and is also the power set used by the Going Rogue signature character Desdemona.
• This power set allows the player to summon elemental demons that can manipulate flame, cold and hellfire. However, what truly sets this power set apart from other Mastermind primary power sets are the summoner's Hellfire Whip attacks that deal both fire and toxic damage and reduce the target's damage resistance.
• The Demon Summoning Power Set is comprised of the following powers:
  • Corruption
  • Summon Demonlings
  • Lash
  • Enchant Demon
  • Crack Whip
  • Summon Demons
  • Hell of Earth
  • Summon Demon Prince
  • Abyssal Empowerment

Fiery Embrace Change

• Fiery Embrace power now adds bonus fire damage for all Melee Power Set attacks instead of being a normal damage Buff. All Melee Power Set attacks made for 20 seconds after activating Fiery Embrace will do bonus damage based on that attack’s damage. This bonus damage IS affected by enhancements and outside buff/debuff effects. At low levels, this means Fiery Embrace will have lower impact than the old implementation, while at high levels or on teams with lots of +Damage effects, you will see increased damage output.
• Critical damage is not affected by the new Fiery Embrace
• Spines Toxic Damage Over Time effect is not affected by the new Fiery Embrace
• In PvP, Fiery Embrace uses the previous Damage Buff version.
• Fixed Thunder Strike Fiery Embrace bonus – it was not properly applying the split radius effect.

Electric Melee

• Corrected combat spam for Lightning Rod

Shield Charge Changes

• Made several changes to correct balance problems introduced a few months back:
• Brute Version: Damage broken into 2 stages -- stage one has a 5' radius and does scale 1.8 Stage 2 has a 20' radius and does scale 1.275
• Tanker Version: Damage broken into 2 stages -- stage one has a 5' radius and does scale 2.04 Stage 2 has a 20' radius and does scale 1.445
• Scrapper Version: Damage broken into 2 stages -- stage one has a 5' radius and does scale 2.7 Stage 2 has a 20' radius and does scale 1.9125

Fiery Aura

• Burn – changed power substantially:
  • Added initial hit damage
  • Removed Fear effect
  • Decreased tick rate by 4 (now ticks every 0.8 seconds, instead of 0.2 seconds)
• Consume: Added Recovery boost per target hit and flat Endurance Drain Resistance value.

Martial Arts

• Cobra Strike:
  • Decreased Recharge Time from 20 seconds to 10 seconds
  • Increased Endurance Cost from 10.14 to 10.19
  • Increased damage scale from 0.25 to 1.96
  • Reduced Stun chance from 100% to 75%
• Stalkers Eagle Claw: Increased Recharge time from 12 seconds to 16 seconds, increased damage from 2.28 to 2.92, increased End Cost from 11.86 to 15.18
• Scrappers Eagle Claw: Eagles Claw now increases the Critical Chance of Martial Arts attacks by 33% for 2 seconds after it has been activated.
• Crippling Axe Kick – increased recharge to 11 seconds, and increased damage and endurance cost appropriately. Added 10 second scale 1 Defense Debuff.

Brutes

• Fiery Aura/Fiery Embrace – The Brute version of this power had a 30 second duration on the Fire Damage buff. This was inconsistent with the Tanker and Scrapper versions and has been reduced to 20 seconds. Note with the changes above, this only applies in PVP.
• Dark Armor/Aura of Fear – The Brute version of this power has a magnitude was set to 3. This was inconsistent with the Tanker and Scrapper versions and has been reduced to 2.
• Decreased Brute Damage Cap from 850% to 775%.
• Modified the Brute Fury Formula so that there is a more gradual degradation of Fury Build Up while attacking/being attacked instead of a sharp fall off at 80%. The fall off begins at 30%.
• Reduced Fury Decay Rate from 2 points per second to 0.75 points per second.
• The overall result of these two changes to Fury Generation is that it will be easier to maintain low levels of Fury, while gaining very high levels of Fury will be more difficult.
• Fixed a bug which prevented bonus Fury generation when attacking other players or very difficult targets such as Archvillains. The bonus is a flat 5 points per qualifying target hit by the attack, up to 70% Fury. Note that unlike standard Fury generation, this bonus only applies if the attack hits the target.

Controllers

• Fixed an issue with Controller Kinetics Siphon Power which caused it to spam the Combat Log. It now matches other versions of the power and will only report the initial hit.

Defenders

• Added continuing FX to Defender version of Hail of Bullets while using Toxic ammunition to match other versions of the power

Dominators

• Corrected an issue which prevented Dominators with the Primal Forces APP from taking the final 3 powers.
• Changed display name of Fiery Embrace for Dominators to Embrace of Fire

Scrappers

• Scrappers will no longer "Drift" more than other AT's when coming to a stop while Flying or Hovering.

Stalkers

• Stalkers will no longer "Drift" more than other AT's when coming to a stop while Flying or Hovering.
  Stalker Offensive Toggle powers will now affect no targets while the Stalker is Hidden. As soon as the Stalker becomes unhidden, the toggle will begin to affect targets as normal. This means these toggles can be run while in Hide and they will not break the Hide state, because they will not hit anything until Hide is broken by some other event.
  • Includes Dark Armor/Cloak of Fear, Dark Armor/Oppressive Gloom, and Energy Aura/Repulse.
• Broadsword/Head Splitter now correctly accepts Melee AoE IO Sets instead of Melee Damage IO Sets.

Tankers

• Added Bruising effect to Tanker Secondary Tier 1 powers. Bruising is a 20% resistible damage resistance debuff which lasts for 10 seconds. Note: only one application of this effect on a given target is possible at a time.
• Increased Tanker Maximum Health multiplier from 2 to 2.2. At level 50, this means a Tanker's maximum health when buffed increases from 3213 to 3534.

General

• Archery/Trick Arrow (All) - Cast Time and Animation Changes
  • Explosive Arrow cast time reduced from 1.83s to 1.00s
  • Stunning Shot cast time reduced from 1.83s to 1.00s
  • Flash Arrow cast time reduced from 1.83s to 1.00s
  • Ice Arrow cast time reduced from 1.83s to 1.67s
• Archery/Trick Arrow (All) - Improved the lighting reliability of Oil Slick Arrow.
• Traps (All) - Corrected an error with the animations for Triage Beacon, Poison Trap and Acid Mortar. The result of this is the reported animation time has been increased from 2.17 seconds to 2.77 seconds. The *actual* animation time has been reduced from 2.83 seconds to 2.77 seconds.
• Power Pools/Fitness/Health – Fixed a bug that made this power selectable at level 12 instead of level 14.
• Purchasable Raptor Packs are no longer usable on 'Master of' attempts
• To reduce the travel times involved in larger zones, we've made a couple QOL changes to some movement powers:
  • Increased base Flight Speeds by 50%
  • Sprint now improves Runspeed by an additional unenhancable portion equal to its previous value (0.5 scale enhancable + 0.5 scale unenhanceable buff)
• Changed Cast Time for Enforced Morale and Clear Mind to 1.00 seconds to match the new animation

PVP

• Corruptor Trick Arrows, Entangling Arrow, and Freezing Arrow PVP durations set to the correct value.
• Widow Indomitable Will immobilize protection will no longer suppress in PVP.
• Ancillary version of Telekinesis now behaves the same in PVP as non-ancillary versions.
• Tanker and Scrapper versions of Fiery Embrace were set to cause Travel Suppression in PVP, while Brute and Dominator versions were not. The Tanker and Scrapper versions have had the Travel Suppression flag removed.
• Teleportation Resistance is no longer subject to Diminishing Returns in PVP.

Mission Architect

Introducing: the Designated Helper

• We are removing the reduction to rewards based on the number of allied NPCs in a mission, since that had undesirable side effects and limited legitimate story telling options.
• Instead, a team can only get assistance in the form of buffs and debuffs (and Autopowers) from a single ally in the amission. That ally becomes “The Designated Helper”.
• There can only be one Designated Helper in a map.
• If there are multiple candidates for Helper, the FIRST eligible ally the team encounters that uses its powers will become the Designated Helper.
• In order for an entity to be a candidate for Designated Helper, the following rules need to be true:
  • The candidate must Follow the player:
    • Added via choosing an Advanced Mission Goal of:
      • Add an Ally
      • Add An Escort
      • NOTE: If the Author chooses “Release a Captive,” the Captive will not follow players and is not a candidate for Designated Helper.
    • The candidate must have the “Follow “ behavior set in the goal Settings
      • Ally: “Ally Behavior” is “Follow”
      • Escort: “Arrival Behavior” is “Follow”
  • The candidate must have its combat abilities set to either:
    • Aggressive
    • Fight Defensive
  • The ally becomes the Designated Helper once it USES its powers, and Defensive allies only use powers defensively, so if the team meets an Aggressive ally before the Defensive ally uses its powers, the Defensive entity will NOT become the Designated Helper.
  • It is possible for the team to end up with a Designated Helper with no buff/debuff powers if the first candidate the player meets does not have Buff/Debuff powers but is set to Aggressive or Fight Defensive.
  • NOTE: Allies with combat abilities set to “Non Combat” or “Pacifist” will not be the Designated Helper
  • No other allies in the map will use their buff/debuff abilities. They also won’t use any Autopowers, summon any pets or use location-based attacks (like Rain of Fire) or chaining attacks (like Chain Induction).
    • Including any friendly bosses, patrols, ambushes, etc.
    • Including any Designated Helper candidates after the first
• If the author adds more than one buffing ally to the map, and sets those allies to follow the team, after the first ally they will not use their buffing powers. They will still follow the team so goals can be completed and will use offensive powers to attack enemies, but only one ally will use their non-offensive abilities. If the non-DH allies do not have offensive capabilities, they will not do anything other than follow, much like a non-combat escort/ally.

General

• Players can now fight Doppelganger versions of themselves. This can be found in the Boss Enemy Group "Doppelganger". Players can mix and match to create different types of doppelgangers. The following choices are available:
  • Shadow
  • Demon
  • Reverse
  • Random Powers
  • Ghost
  • Inverse
  • Angel
  • Black and White
• Custom Critters - fixed several small errors in the amount of XP weight certain powers were awarding in the custom XP calculations.
• Alignment Tips will not drop in missions from Architect Entertainment.

Invention

• Smoothed the INF cost to create Set IOs across various levels. Previous instances where a recipe cost more to create than a recipe of the same enhancement at higher level have been corrected by reducing the outlying costs. All Set IO creation costs should only now increase with level.

Arena

• Fixed a bug where rated Gladiator matches could not be started.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Swiss Draw Arena option to be unselectable.
• Fixed the bug where the Arena scoreboard didn't update while open during an Arena match.

Tailor

• Characters will no longer be granted additional costume slots if they already have 5 or more.
  • You can no longer switch to any costume beyond the first 5.
  • Soldiers of Arachnos and widows are still able to unlock a 6th slot.

Combat Mode Auras

• Players now have the ability to set all Auras to “Combat Mode”.
  • Combat Mode Only versions of all auras have been added to the Tailor and Facemaker. These auras will only turn on when your character engages in combat. They are selectable from Aura -> Effect menu. (Note: The option for persistent Auras (always on) is still available.)
• Pocket D – The Tiki Room - Trina the Body Sculptress has looked into a mirror and didn't like what she saw. She's undergone a fabulous makeover.

TASKS

Cathedral of Pain

• Issue 18: Shades of Gray reintroduces the long-awaited Cathedral of Pain Trial. The Cathedral of Pain is the name of one of the strongholds of Rularuu the Ravager, a cosmic entity with unimaginable powers. Inside the heavily defended Cathedral of Pain, Rularuu is attempting to pierce the barrier between his realm and our reality. If he succeeds, Rularuu gains ultimate power, and our dimension will be obliterated.
• Only you and your allies can stop Rularuu.
• The Cathedral of Pain is one of the most challenging trials in City of Heroes. Up to 24 Level 35 to 50 characters can work together to take down the Soldiers of Rularuu, Psionic Resonators, and ultimately an aspect of Rularuu himself. You have only one hour to complete your mission.
• If your group manages to stop Rularuu's insane scheme, your courage will be rewarded! You can earn Merit Rewards, or even earn a rare badge to celebrate this epic victory. But be on guard--Rularuu will return.
  • The Cathedral of Pain is available to Supergroups equipped with a Mission Computer or an Oracle and a Raid Telepad or Raid Portal for play.
  • This Trial is balanced for 3 teams of level 50 players, though players as low as level 35 can participate.
  • Each Team Leader must be in the hosting Supergroup, but the remaining team members may be visitors, so long as your base is set to allow them.
  • Rewards for completing the Cathedral successfully include Temporary Powers and badges.

General

• Police Band missions and Newspaper missions are available to players regardless of alignment. So Rogues can pick up Police Band missions and Vigilantes can pick up Newspaper missions.
  • Mayhem/Safeguard missions will grant new contacts to Tourists, even though they cannot talk to those contacts yet.
• Rogues can participate in Task Forces
• Vigilantes can participate in Strike Forces.

OPTIONS

Alienware Lighting Support

• There is a new AlienFX section under Menu -> Options -> Graphics and Audio.
• AlienFX support is defaulted to “on” so any player with the AlienFX Command Center and appropriate hardware will instantly see color changes.
  • In City of Heroes / City of Villains, the lights will change as a player’s character changes their alignment from Hero to Vigilante to Villain to Rogue.
  • In Praetoria the lights will change as players make moral choices between Resistance or Loyalist.

Razer Naga Mouse Tray

• An extra custom power tray can be enabled under Menu -> Options -> Controls -> Mouse
• This tray is set up to match the layout of the Razer Naga(TM) Expert MMO Gaming Mouse with 11 and 12 used to toggle between trays.
  • When this power tray is active, it becomes the default, #, followed by the lowest tray for alt+#

CITY OF HEROES

Tasks

• Steel Canyon – Montague Castanella: During the “Craft Lost cure” mission, the temp power ‘The Lost Cure’ will continue to work if temp powers are disabled in the mission, making it able to be completed..
• Tina Macintyre's missions that involve Praetorians have been updated, story-wise, to make more sense to characters with more knowledge of Praetoria and its politics. The old Story Arc (The Praetorian War) is accessible through Ouroboros.
• Maria Jenkin’s missions have received the same treatment. The old Story Arc (A Hero’s Hero) is accessible through Ouroboros.

PRAETORIA

Welcome to Praetoria, the dark mirror version of Primal Earth. Its reflection is one of a utopia where there is little to no crime and to look down upon the city from on high, you would believe it to be a peaceful, happy place. Marcus Cole, the Emperor of Praetorian Earth is looked upon as a savior, but others know there's more to the story that isn't written in the history books. Most citizens of Praetorian Earth respect him or even love him. Some who know the truth fear him, and fewer still dare to stand against the lies. No matter what he is called in the halls of power or history books, no one can stop the hushed whispers in the streets and back alleys of his empire where he is called by another name...Tyrant.

ZONES

Nova Praetoria

• Level Range 1 to 10
• Access to Nova Praetoria:
  • Players arrive in Nova Praetoria following the tutorial. They will also start here when the tutorial is bypassed.
• Significant Buildings:
  • Cole Transport Authority (CTA)
    • Players travel between zones at the CTA subway system.
  • Imperial Bank of Praetoria
    • Players are able to store salvage at the Imperial Bank
  • Loyalist Lounge
    • This is the lounge for those most dear to Emperor Cole and his senators. Only the most trusted of his citizenry may venture here.
• Significant Contacts
  • Trainer
    • Praetor Duncan – Located in the Magisterium courtyard.
  • Vendors
    • Vendor 56-925 and Merit Vendors are located in the Magesterium.
    • Vendors may also be found in the north and south ends of the island.
• Mission Contacts
  • Praetor White – Located in the Magesterium, this is the first contact for all members of the Powers Division (Resistance and Loyalist)
  • Provost Marchand and Calvin Scott are your handlers as members of the Loyalists or Resistance.
  • At level 5, Calvin Scott will lead you to Robert Flores; or Santiago, who directs you to meet Ricochet in the Underground. At this point you may choose the path of a Warden or Crusader.
  • At level 5, Provost Marchand will offer you a choice between the Deputy Assistant of Information and Chief Interrogator Washington. This will start you down the paths of Power or Responsibility.

Underground – Nova Praetoria

• Significant Locations
  • Resistance Hub
• Significant Contacts – All located in the Resistance Hub.
  • Trainer
    • Vanessa DeVore
  • Mission Contacts
    • Ricochet
    • Jack Hammer
  • Splice

Imperial City

• Level Range 9 to 15
• Access to Imperial City:
  • Players can reach this zone via the CTA subway system, the Underground, or by simply travelling towards the city seen in the distance from Nova Praetoria.
  • In Pocket D, Praetorians can return to Imperial City’s Studio 55 where they can continue their party in their own dimension.
• Significant Buildings:
  • Cole Transport Authority (CTA)
    • Players travel between zones at the CTA subway system.
  • Cultural Direction and Education Center (CDEC)
    • The CDEC is where all of Emperor Cole’s “propaganda” is created and distributed and where Praetorian citizens gather for higher learning and cultural wisdom. The CDEC is also where they are able to access invention tables to create all things for the glory of Cole.
  • Imperial Bank of Praetoria
    • Players are able to store salvage at the Imperial Bank
  • Studio 55
    • Studio 55 is the place to see and be seen.
  • Trading House
    • The Trading House allows players to buy and sell in Praetoria..
• Significant Contacts:
  • Trainer
    • Nightstar – Located in front of the CTA Building (near People’s Park)
  • Respec Trainer
    • John Snow – Located in Studio 55
  • Tailor
    • Rita Mayfair – Located outside of the Tailor shop in Aureas
  • Inventions
    • Relations Expert Verna Arcola - Invention Tutorial starting contact at Level 10.

Vista Zoning Tech

• Your character can reach Imperial City by flying, running, teleporting, jumping, swimming or walking to it from any point along the border of the two zones.
  • Expected behavior: Your character should appear at a similar location on the “opposite” side of the zone border. (For example, if your character crosses a bridge to Imperial City, the character should not appear in the water on the other side.).

Underground – Imperial City

• Significant Locations
  • Resistance Hub
• Significant Contacts (Resistance Hub)
  • Storage Assistant – you can store your salvage
  • Marcus / Cerys – Resistance who have secretly tapped into the Trading House pipeline.
  • Tailor – Tailor 4-5264

Neutropolis

• Level Range 16 to 20
• Access to Neutropolis:
  • Players can reach this zone via the CTA subway system or by simply travelling towards the city seen in the distance to the west of Imperial City.
• Significant Buildings:
  • Cole Transport Authority (CTA)
    • Players travel between zones at the CTA subway system.
  • Neuron Technologies Unlimited
    • The headquarters of Neuron is quite something to behold. He has money and lots of it and it has not gone to waste here. His building is the second tallest in Praetoria, the shiniest, and is the center of technological innovation in Praetoria.
  • Keyes Reactor
    • The source of the city's power, this island is devoted solely to supporting the reactor and everyone who works there.
    • The most notable feature of the anti-matter reactor are the cooling towers. Nearly ten stories in height, these high-tech marvels bear the singular design aesthetic common to all of Anti-Matter's structures. At the base of the towers are the industrial installations essential to the reactor's functioning: platforms sandwiched atop each other, threaded with pipes and conduits, while catwalks connect to other ancillary structures.
  • Imperial Bank of Praetoria
    • Players are able to store salvage at the Imperial Bank
• Significant Contacts can be found beneath Neuron’s Tower
  • Trainer
    • Battle Maiden
  • Vendors:
    • Vendors 36-287
    • Merit Vendors

New Villain Groups

• Ghouls
• Praetorian Police Department
• Praetorian Clockwork
• Resistance
• Seers
• Syndicate
• Destroyers

Critter Leashing

• All spawns in Nova Praetoria, Imperial City and Neutropolis will now ‘leash’ to their spawn locations after 210ft, when engaged in combat.
  • Enemies which leash to their location will cease attacking players, will return to full health and endurance, and will become untargetable and unselectable while returning to the vicinity of their spawn location.
  • Leashed spawns cannot be re-engaged until they have reached their spawn area, at which point they will become targetable and selectable again.
  • Leashing is used in these three zones only and in no other zones.

Invention

• The Backup Radio Invention Temporary Power summons a Resistance Veteran for Resistance Members and a Praetorian PD Sergeant for Loyalists."

So what are ya waiting for!?! Get in there and fight!

FYI

I have re-activated my account, at least for a while. I needed a reality trip.

Max Capacitor electric tanker

City of Heroes Going Rogue Soundtrack

Here's something odd... Paragon Studios has released an offical soundtrack to the upcoming expansion. All of the tracks are available through Amazon for $.99 each or the entire album for $8.99!
Head on over for a load of samples to listen to!

Issue 18 : Shades of Gray

As per this page:
"The eighteenth free expansion for City of Heroes® introduces major new game upgrades and is the milestone for the release of the content in the City of Heroes Going Rogue™ expansion.

Tips System

The Tips System gives players a new way to find missions. During play, foes Level 20 or higher may drop notes or clues, or offer information. These Tips start new mission arcs, allowing characters to face new opponents and challenges--and perhaps even change their destiny.

One Auction House for All

Players of all alignments, whether they are Heroes, Villains, Vigilantes, or Rogues, can now use any Wentworth's Consignment House or Black Market venue.

Trading Between Alignments

Heroes and Villains can now trade Inspirations in co-op zones. Players can even mail certain items to their own characters using the global email system.

Mission Architect Additions

With the inclusion of doppelgangers, your character can now fight against himself or herself!

New Hardware Support

City of Heroes now supports Alienware AlienFX®.

Cathedral of Pain

Issue 18: Shades of Gray reintroduces the long-awaited Cathedral of Pain Trial. The Cathedral of Pain is the name of one of the strongholds of Ruularu the Ravager, a cosmic entity with unimaginable powers. Inside the heavily defended Cathedral of Pain, Ruularu is attempting to pierce the barrier between his realm and our reality. If he succeeds, Ruularu gains ultimate power, and our dimension will be obliterated.

Only you and your allies can stop Ruularu.

The Cathedral of Pain is one of the most challenging trials in City of Heroes. Up to 24 Level 50 characters can work together to take down the Soldiers of Ruularu, Psionic Resonators, and ultimately an aspect of Ruularu himself. You have only one hour to complete your mission.

If your group manages to stop Ruularu's insane scheme, your courage will be rewarded! You can earn Merit Rewards, or even earn a rare badge to celebrate this epic victory. But be on guard--Ruularu will return."

The page noted also has more screenshots of the next issue and Going Rogue to check out.

Whats up Guys?

Do You guys still play regularly?

I am considering Re-upping.

Super Booster V: Mutant now available!

"Harness the powers of mutation in City of Heroes® Super Booster V: Mutant now available at the NCsoft® store. This new super booster evolves character customization to a higher order with its fantastic Organic Armor and Bioluminescent costume sets.

For the first time ever, costume pieces can also have their own unique glows! Super Booster V: Mutant also comes with three bizarre costume change emotes and the new Secondary Mutation power, which unlocks the incredible potential within your character's DNA!

After much excitement generated by the testing of Super Booster V: Mutant on the North American Training Room, our European and North American code giveaway as well as the posting of the new costume change emotes on our Facebook page, the wait is now over! So wait no more and head over to the NCsoft store now to embrace the mutant within!"

Not my favorite out of the packs, but playing around with it on test has shown it's uses. The power is quite useful though.

Going Rogue Releae Date Revealed

As per this posting:

NCsoft and Paragon Studios are proud to announce that players will have the opportunity to walk the line between good and evil (or cross it), on 17th August 2010 with the release of City of Heroes Going Rogue™. City of Heroes Going Rogue is the second paid expansion in the City of Heroes® franchise. For the first time in any super-powered MMORPG, the moral choices players make will affect their characters' game play experiences. Heroes can fall from grace to become villains, while villains can redeem themselves to become Heroes. In addition, players can now access the alternate universe of Praetoria where they can enjoy new missions, zones, costume sets, fight new villain groups, and play with new power sets including Demon Summoning, Dual Pistols, Electric Control and Kinetic Melee.

"I was proud when we launched City of Heroes® back in 2004 and even prouder when we unveiled the City of Villains® expansion in 2005, but Going Rogue is by far the best work that this team has ever done. Paragon Studios has distinguished itself as a premier studio committed to excellence with every issue and we've raised the bar on this expansion. I'm so honored to be a part of this team and I believe that our players will be absolutely amazed when they see what we've done." - Melissa Bianco, Lead Designer of City of Heroes.

City of Heroes Going Rogue will be available as an expansion-only, or as part of the City of Heroes Going Rogue Complete Collection, which includes both City of Heroes® and City of Villains®. Both versions of City of Heroes Going Rogue will be available from the NCsoft store.

It's Offical... Hell Has Frozen over.

As per this posting:

"Hey everyone,

I know you’ve been asking for some new Going Rogue information, and I’ve got some exciting news that I’d like to share with all of you.

Here at Paragon Studios, we’ve been hard at work preparing our newest expansion, Going Rogue, for prime time. One of our major features, the alignment system that allows our players to switch sides, has presented the perfect opportunity for us to improve Hero and Villain auction and trading dynamics. In order to make the alignment switching system the most fun and rewarding experience possible, we’ve made a few key improvements based on beta tester and internal studio feedback.

Here’s a brief list of these upgrades:

• Heroes and Villains can now trade and gift each other in Co-Op zones (except in PvP zones)
• Players can Global Email (GleeMail) INF and most items to their characters regardless of alignment (some restrictions apply)
• The Auction House markets for Heroes and Villains will become ONE

Wait. What?

Yes. You heard me, we’re merging the markets. After looking at how the system has performed in beta, we thought long and hard about the Markets themselves. This important improvement seemed to make everything more accessible and streamlined, allowing every character to participate. Keeping the markets divided would require significant on-going development support, and we needed to take this into consideration. But, most importantly we wanted to produce the most fun system possible, and this decision reflects that.

These changes are very exciting and will simplify not only the way we create content, but provide freedom for you to play your characters the way you choose.


War Witch

P.S. An informative FAQ is available for questions you may have regarding these major changes. "

Thor's Movie Suit - Full Monty

The First Avenger: Captain America Movie Costume

As per Ain't It Cool News... a pretty reliable source.

ViDoc #1: Prelude to Going Rogue

The Cape

I haven't heard anything about this, But it looks pretty good

Thought You might get a kick out of this.

God of Thunder?

First Look at Thor for next years movie.

City of Heroes 6 Year Anniversary

As per this posting:

"It's that time of year again...for heroes and villains to reflect and rejoice!

We're turning six years old and want you to help us celebrate.

With Issue 17 on the way and Going Rogue™ just around the corner, the phrase: You're not getting older, you're just getting better has never been so true.
So many of you have been with us from the very beginning, and while we could never do enough to truly show you our gratitude and appreciation, we do have some fun activities planned to help us ring in our anniversary with style!

Please join us for a month of celebration starting on our birthday, April 28th and continuing on throughout the month of May.

Read on and plan accordingly so you don't miss any of the fun!

Issue 17: Dark Mirror
We'll start with the biggest news first. In honor of our Six Year Anniversary we are proud to announce that Issue 17: Dark Mirror will officially release on our birthday, April 28th!
The amazing visuals made possible by Ultra Mode plus new story arcs, player emotes, numerous Mission Architect additions, the introduction of animated tails and much more will hit the live servers for your enjoyment next Wednesday.

As part of this release you will be receiving:

• 1 Free Respec (so use up your current one if you still have it to make room for this one!)
• 1 Costume Token per unlocked costume slot.

So on anniversary day, see City of Heroes® in a whole new light (literally) and help us celebrate by playing and enjoying this latest free content update!

In-Game Events
Gameplay Fun!
You may have noticed that things tend to get a little... "out of hand" in-game on our anniversaries. Well, this year will be no exception! On Monday, April 26th and Tuesday, April 27th, get ready for chaos to break loose on a server near you! Don't miss out on this opportunity to band together with your fellow players to defeat giant obstacles, earn merits, badges, XP and maybe even pick up a 30 day anniversary title!
*Click here for the list of days, servers and times!

In-Game Training Room Meet and Greet with the Devs!
The developers want to wish you happy anniversary personally on Wednesday the 28th, so please join us at the following times in Pocket D on the North American and European Training Rooms:

*EU Training Room - 9am - 1pm PST, Wednesday, April 28th

• 9-10am PST (12-1pm EST / 5-6pm British Time / 18:00-19:00 Central European Summer Time) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
• 10am- 12:00pm PST (1-3pm EST / 6-8pm British Time / 19:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "Positron" Miller
• 10am-11am PST (1-2pm EST / 6-7pm British Time / 19:00-20:00 Central European Summer Time) - Floyd "Castle" Grub
• 11am-12pm PST (2-3pm EST / 7-8pm British Time / 20:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "The Television" Stults
• 12pm-1pm PST (3-4pm EST / 8-9pm British Time / 21:00-22:00 Central European Summer Time) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres

*NA Training Room - 3pm - 7pm PST, Wednesday, April 28th

• 3-4pm PST(6-7pm EST) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
• 4pm- 6pm PST (6-8pm EST) - Matt "Positron" Miller
• 4pm-5pm PST (7-8pm EST) - Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres
• 5pm-6pm PST (8-9pm EST) - Floyd "Castle" Grub
• 6pm-7pm PST (9-10pm EST) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Matt "The Television" Stults

*In some cases (and depending on availability), certain Devs may stay beyond their scheduled 'appearance' times.

If you don't currently have a copy of your character on The Training Room, make sure to transfer him/her there so that you can pay the Devs a visit! Go here to transfer your character now.

*Please note: Due to the content release on this day, if any problems with Issue 17 arise that require Dev attention, we reserve the right to reschedule the North American Training Room In-game "Meet and Greet" Event to another day/time.


Global Anniversary Address From War Witch
This year, the baton has been passed to War Witch who will present the 6 Year Anniversary Address to players. At approximately 8pm EST in-game (and shortly thereafter on the website), she will share some words of wisdom that will no doubt reflect on the past and help us all look forward to the future!

Declare Your Loyalty Anniversary Contest!
Leave your mark on Praetoria forever! Be watching the website within the next week for the debut of our "Declare Your Loyalty" Anniversary Contest which will allow Loyalists to create a piece of propaganda for a billboard in Praetoria and Resistance supporters to create a piece of graffiti that will appear around the city. The best thing about this contest? Winning entries in both categories will all be considered for inclusion in the game! There will be other great prizes too, of course!

Specifics are coming soon, but you only have three weeks to enter, start thinking creatively now about the piece of propaganda or graffiti that you want to submit. With any luck it will become a part of City of Heroes® for the rest of time!

Player Run Activities/Events
We're pleased to share that our players are getting involved by throwing their own anniversary-related activities and events. Keep an eye on the website and message board for what the "Off The Cape" Podcast and thecaperadio.com are up to for our six year anniversary. If you're planning on doing something for your fellow heroes/villains to mark the occasion, let us know! Send an email to cohcommunity@ncsoft.com and we'll help you promote it!

6 Year Anniversary Badge
Another year means another commemorative badge!

Beginning at 11am EST on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 and continuing until 11:59pm EST on Monday, May 31st, we will be issuing each individual character you log into the game with, the following 6 Year Anniversary badge:


Just a reminder - this badge will be awarded per character, not per account, so be sure to log those characters into the game starting next Saturday, May 1st, if you want them to get the anniversary badge!

It all starts this coming Monday the 26th and we hope you'll join us celebrate the fact that we're six years and going strong!

Thanks for helping us make City of Heroes® the longest-running and most popular comic book-inspired MMO in existence.

Happy Anniversary!"

Issue 17 in Open Beta

As per This post:

"The Open Beta for Issue 17: Dark Mirror has now started!

Experience the many thrills coming with the next city of Heroes® content update before it hits the live servers. Crank up the graphics with Ultra Mode, experience brand new story arcs, revisit your characters thanks to even more costume options, and more!

To check out the Open Beta, all you need to do is log into the North American or European Training Room! If you are not familiar with the process to access the test server, please read this post for our North American players or this one for our European players.

Also please keep in mind that this is a beta version, which means you might encounter bugs or other gameplay issues. We strongly encourage you to report them using the /bug command ingame, and we'll be happy to collect any comments you might want to share with us on our official boards. Your feedback is as always very valuable to us!"

Hermione's Stalker

PAX Going Rogue Info

Updated with better quality video:

Iron Man 2 = BAD ASS!

Okay, now I am officially psyched up for this!

New Going Rogue Website & Pre-Purchase!

As per this post:

In honor of the expansion coming this July, we're happy to unveil a brand new Going Rogue website!

Along with its new look comes Dual Pistols information (including screenshots and a video), details on new enemy groups like the Praetorian Police Department (PPD) and Resistance, plus a lot more. Check it out for yourself and enjoy!

And this one:

The prepurchase option for City of Heroes® Going Rogue has arrived! Whether your first instinct will be to create a Praetorian, or turn Rogue or Vigilante with one of your existing characters, by prepurchasing for $29.99 you'll be ready on launch day to check out all the new content Going Rogue has to offer.

But there are also special advantages to prepurchasing! When you prepurchase Going Rogue you'll get early access to both the Dual Pistols and the Demon Summoning power sets. Dual Pistols will be available immediately upon prepurchase, and Demon Summoning will come shortly thereafter with the launch of Issue 17. And let's not forget about the City of Heroes® Double XP/Reactivation Weekend March 4th-7th. If you act right away, you can wield Dual Pistols as you rack up all that extra XP, Influence and Infamy!

So go take a look at the new and improved Going Rogue website and prepurchase your copy of Going Rogue today!

Issue 17 Overview

As per this updated page:

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

With the release of April's Issue 17: Dark Mirror, the newest free update of City of Heroes®, the game you love now has the visual depth, contrast, and richness it deserves! Dark Mirror includes a superior graphics rendering process, dubbed "Ultra Mode," that gives City of Heroes a heightened level of detail in lighting, reflections, shadows, and water effects. Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™ have never looked better.

In addition to Ultra Mode, as part of Issue 17, you will confront a new and nefarious foe who will be able to match your character blow for blow.

Other Issue 17: Dark Mirror features include:

• Epic archetypes are now unlocked at level 20.
• Animated character tails.
• New missions, new badges, and new player emotes.
• Quality of life enhancements to the UI and game systems.
• Improvements and additions to Mission Architect.

Features

Ultra Mode

Ultra Mode includes a superior graphics rendering process for players who have higher-end graphic cards. Each feature can be enabled or disabled in the graphics menu options and will be scalable. Ultra Mode works on both Macs and PCs. In specific, it offers dynamic shadows, screen-space ambient occlusion, and dynamic environment reflections (including planar reflections and environment mapping of reflective surfaces).

Epic Archetypes Unlocked at Level 20

Previously, you had to have at least one character at level 50 to make an epic archetype character. No more! Now you can create an epic archetype character as long as you have any one character at level 20 or higher.

Animated Tails

No more tails lying about like dead weight! You will now be able to select tail body parts that will react to your movement and have a swaying or swishing idle animation mode. You will need to go to a tailor to upgrade to the animated version.

Content

New Story Arcs: Issue 17: Dark Mirror features two new Hero and two new Villain story arcs for levels 20-30. Each of these story arcs has four missions, and the story arcs highlight the Dark Mirror's sinister new enemy. Acquire first Hero story arc in Talos Island, and the first Villain arc in Sharkhead Isle.

Silver Mantis Strike Force Update: The Silver Mantis Strike Force will now be available to all Villains, not just supergroups. You now can access the Silver Mantis Strike Force via Silver Mantis, located in Sharkhead Isle. You can also run this Task Force from your supergroup computer.

Positron Task Force Update: This Task Force has been split into two halves and dramatically upgraded and updated to ramp up the fun. The final battle of the Task Force takes place in the Faultline Dam and incorporates the new Dark Mirror enemy.

New Badges: Along with adding badges for 500 Badges Earned, 750 Badges Earned, and 1,000 Badges Earned, we are adding new exploration badges to city zones, almost doubling the number of exploration badges. You can learn new Accolades for finding all of the exploration badges in each city zone.

New Player Emotes: We'll let you know more about the new emotes soon.

Quality of Life Improvements

Craftable Temporary Powers: You will now have a much cleaner and more consistent way of finding and crafting temporary powers.

Increased Mission Count: You can now have seven active missions (previously three).

Show Last Objective: This UI improvement lets you find your last objective on a mission map, making it easier to find something you've missed.

Auction House: The UI gives you new options for sorting search results, your Auction House inventory is now separated by clearly marked tabs based on the item's status, the Auction House text entry box now autocompletes, and a single click on a recipe displays all salvage needed for that recipe.

In-Game E-mail: You can now use in-game e-mails to send Influence/Infamy to your own characters or to other players' characters via in-game e-mails. (You still cannot send Influence, Infamy, or items from a Hero to a Villain or vice versa.)

Mission Architect Improvements

Experience: You can now handpick the powers for custom enemies and still receive experience for them (within game balance limits).

New Maps: We have added approximately 20 new unique maps.

Giant Monsters: You can now add giant monsters to some outdoor maps.

Exit Mission on Complete: You can now specify that players have to leave the mission manually on completion.

Escort Missions: "Lead to place" technology allows you more control over escort objectives."