As the Paragon Studios team puts a wrap on August, the latest City of Heroes producer's letter reiterates the studio's key philosophy: Content is king.
Along those lines, the letter discusses several exciting developments in store for the game's future, including the upcoming Haunted Mansion for the Halloween season, new Incarnate Trials, and more content for the Winter Event. The team is also focusing on delivering "more regular updates" than has been seen previously, so expect to see CoH upping the frequency of in-game goodies from here on out.
As part of the "content is king" philosophy, Paragon will be releasing a monthly Signature Story that will be free for VIP (subscribing) players. These will not only tell intriguing stories, but will reward superheroes with increased rewards. The team is also going to put new items into the in-game Paragon Market store on a weekly basis, including costume pieces and power sets.
City of Heroes is preparing to launch Freedom, its free-to-play version of the game, at an unspecified point in the future. Subscribers will be able to get a head start when Freedom arrives, and they will enjoy spending the 400 points that their VIP status entitles them to each month.
Reader Comments (16)
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 9:12AM Tizmah said
Does Paragon Studios have another MMO in the works? Or are they planning on living on City of Heroes forever? I've not heard of anything else they are working on.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 9:26AM Wic said
Cox2 web page has been booked and they have been working on cox2 but very quietly. CoX will be like eq original is to SOE it won't die it will be a part of the stable.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:45AM Stormwalker said
@Wic There's no evidence they're working on any such thing. Having a website placeholder means nothing. They could simply have bought it to prevent anyone else from claiming the domain name. CoX2 has been nothing but a rumor for the past couple years.
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Posted: Sep 1st 2011 9:54AM CitizenH said
'City of' has always put out a ton a free content on a regular basis. In the game's first 9 months they put out arguably more free stuff than other guys have in paid expansions. Multiply that over seven years, that's a lot of stuff.
The problem is, it's split over two factions and you have to switch sides to play it. Also, a lot of it is hit or miss. The RWZ makeover and Cimerora were huge hits. The Shadow Shard and Gladiator PvP were misses.
They throw a lot at the wall and see what sticks, but honestly they've never really learned how to predict that any better than at Day 1. The Keyes Incarnate Trial is proof. Even in the Issue 21 content there's stuff I don't see having 'legs' to last once the shine comes off.
They've yet to duplicate the simple success of the ITF which is almost universally loved and can be run a million times over and still be fun.
The problem is, it's split over two factions and you have to switch sides to play it. Also, a lot of it is hit or miss. The RWZ makeover and Cimerora were huge hits. The Shadow Shard and Gladiator PvP were misses.
They throw a lot at the wall and see what sticks, but honestly they've never really learned how to predict that any better than at Day 1. The Keyes Incarnate Trial is proof. Even in the Issue 21 content there's stuff I don't see having 'legs' to last once the shine comes off.
They've yet to duplicate the simple success of the ITF which is almost universally loved and can be run a million times over and still be fun.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:22AM (Unverified) said
Unlike with Champions, I believe when the CoX team says they are going to put out more frequent updates. The Signature Series missions sound pretty cool and they're getting new power sets with the Freedom update.
I'm certainly going to check out CoX when it goes free to play.
I'm certainly going to check out CoX when it goes free to play.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:34AM ZenJitsu said
I'm impressed that even with their workload on getting CoH Freedom up and running that they want to increase production. I agree with CitizenH above that they've output a pretty steady amount of free content with each issue. (http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Issues)
Even with them going F2P, I'm not concerned as they've taken great care of me as a player over the years, and I've certainly never felt shorted even when they were down to 15 people on staff.
Even with them going F2P, I'm not concerned as they've taken great care of me as a player over the years, and I've certainly never felt shorted even when they were down to 15 people on staff.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:40AM Space Cobra said
I don't know if I believe them. Oh, I believe their intent, but putting it to practice is another thing. Something unforeseen iRL always gets in the way.
Honestly, IMO, they've already stepped up the time-frame of content releases. That's good enough for me. It would be good to see slightly faster releases; at least they are not promising "monthly content" as a certain other MMO based on Super-Heroics did.
Honestly, IMO, they've already stepped up the time-frame of content releases. That's good enough for me. It would be good to see slightly faster releases; at least they are not promising "monthly content" as a certain other MMO based on Super-Heroics did.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:38PM (Unverified) said
@Space Cobra
They actually are kind of promising monthly content though. They're promising new stuff in the store every week to buy and a new story arc every month that's free to VIPs and purchasable otherwise.
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They actually are kind of promising monthly content though. They're promising new stuff in the store every week to buy and a new story arc every month that's free to VIPs and purchasable otherwise.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 11:46AM rockman0 said
Choosing CoH as the MMO that I would pay to play couldn't have been a better choice. I love the community and the devs. The devs are awesome! Keep being awesome, awesome devs! :p
Yeah, we already get a lot of free content already. I can't imagine what it will be like if they actually do pump out more updates.
Yeah, we already get a lot of free content already. I can't imagine what it will be like if they actually do pump out more updates.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 12:27PM blackcat7k said
I always enjoyed CoX, I just thought the missions got a little stale. I don't necessarily want them putting out more content, but putting out systems that allow that allow them to do more varied objectives/gameplay mechanics in missions. I don't like to feel like I've just run the same mission X times in a row with the only change being the mob and map texture loadout.
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 1:25PM (Unverified) said
Have to wonder what my $3 Steam purchase of the STO digital deluxe edition will get me when it goes f2p. Extra tribbles?
Posted: Sep 1st 2011 1:33PM Sente said
I quite like a lot of the new stuff in Issue 21, as well as the low level revamp they have done. There are certainly more things that can be done, but it is a good start.
New mechanics like the combat phasing could potentially provide some interesting changes for content in general.
It is also nice to see that they extend the incarnate rewards to go beyond running trials.
New mechanics like the combat phasing could potentially provide some interesting changes for content in general.
It is also nice to see that they extend the incarnate rewards to go beyond running trials.
Posted: Sep 2nd 2011 2:13PM syberghost said
It seems like their entire business strategy these days is "incorporate everything Champions Online does, only rename it".
Posted: Sep 11th 2011 2:21PM syberghost said
Ask yourself this:
If CoH was doing better than CO, why would they be emulating the CO business and development models?
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If CoH was doing better than CO, why would they be emulating the CO business and development models?
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