City of Heroes

It's hard to believe that it's already February and that spring is now within striking distance. City of Heroes feels the season coming on strong, which is why it's bringing back its Spring Fling holiday event from February 8th through the 27th.

The event this year will be a mix of the old and the new. Returning from the past are tangles with Arachnos, quests to fetch underwear for Eros, and a smackdown of Snaptooth. New for the 2012 season are a couple of additional missions for the restless hopeless romantic in all of us -- Widow in Red and Valentines -- with accompanying badges.

The former quest will have players looking into the love life of Lord Recluse (Match.com has no entry for "super-villain," much to his dismay), while the latter will send heroes all across the game world looking for valentines to deliver or redirect. The Valentines missions reward players with temporary powers such as Arrows of Romance and Arrows of Jealousy.

It's been a little over two years now that I've been writing a regular column on City of Heroes, and in one sense that still feels very strange to me. I'm guessing that the novelty of doing this for a living is never going to entirely go away, for reasons that really have nothing to do with the topic of this column. But I'm not going to dwell on the more meta facts here; I'm going to focus instead on the past year of the column.

This year was a try for something slightly different in both the tone and approach that I'd been taking with these columns. I finished off one major project, started another one, and along the way, I found that I gathered a very different attitude over time. In relationship terms, the first year of A Mild-Mannered Reporter was apparently still the "gushing" phase of a new relationship. This year has been much more about the flaws that City of Heroes has, both in structure and in design choices.

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On Christmas, Ms. Lady and I received a power juicer.

This wasn't a bad present by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a present that left us momentarily baffled. We hadn't asked for a power juicer, we didn't feel a great need for a power juicer, and we weren't even sure exactly what to do with a power juicer. (Make juice, obviously, but beyond that?) It was a great present but one that struck us as so far out of left field that we really weren't quite sure how to use it at first, much less what it would offer us.

Issue 22 of City of Heroes strikes me in much the same way. It's not that the update is bad or unwanted or unnecessary; it's that the entire thing is essentially aimed in a direction away from my own playstyle. I imagine a lot of free players are going to run into the same issue because even though it's being touted as the game's newest free update, there's precious little in there that's actually changed on the free side.

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While Paragon Studios is being tight-lipped about exact numbers since City of Heroes' free-to-play conversion, Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller has said that the company has been "blown away" by the results.

According to an interview at GameZone, City of Heroes has witnessed not only an "incredible number" of subscribers, but also a tidal wave of returning and first-time players curious about the new model. Miller cites the popularity of the Paragon Rewards program as a key factor in Freedom's success: "We've really broadened the idea of what a free game can be to a lot of people."

On a more somber note, Positron delivered a touching eulogy for the recently departed Statesman on the City of Heroes website. "Statesman's hand was a hand that lifted us up with inspiration," he wrote. "His back was the strong back of a sheltering protector. His wisdom, that of an insightful teacher and leader. His confidence, driven by a profound optimism about the human spirit."

Massively recently spoke with Paragon Studios about this momentous in-game event.

Statesman has been the face of City of Heroes since the game has launched. He's been the man at the forefront of the game's lore and the setting-defining hero for players. He earned a lot of ire from some players due to the designer who had chosen him as his avatar, but that didn't diminish his importance to the game as a whole. But after surviving war against the Rikti, the machinations of his rival Lord Arachnos, and the invasion of his alternate self from Praetoria... Statesman has finally fallen and is no more.

Of course, this brings up some pretty hefty questions about the future of the City of Heroes setting, since such a death is about as high-profile as in-game-deaths can be. We had the opportunity to ask Matt Miller a few questions about the ramifications of Statesman's death, the team's motivation, and what players can expect in the wake of his passing. After all, even though the hero is gone, the villain responsible is still out there...

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I have a nemesis, but it's not a person. It's an idea, and that idea is optimization.

Given enough time (about seven minutes), people will figure out the best builds and abilities for pretty much every single character class in any game. This is great if all you're interested in doing is banging out the best possible character to tackle endgame challenges, but it's kind of disappointing if you like creating odd characters, ones that play strangely or feature under-utilized abilities or specs. That's the sort of stuff that I like, the things I find fascinating.

City of Heroes is hardly the first game to do this, so I've had plenty of time to learn how to fight my nemesis. And so I offer you today the lessons of nemeses, the path to figuring out how to make your bad character into a force to be reckoned with. There are certain rules to being a nemesis rather than simply an adversary, and some of them aren't what you think.

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Did you miss the first City of Heroes player summit? It's understandable -- no matter how much of a fan you might be, a trip to California in November is hard to swing sometimes with the holidays fast approaching. But perhaps you'll have better luck in April, as that's the announced month for the second Freedom Player Summit taking place (once again) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Specifically, the summit is planned for Saturday, April 28th, 2012.

It's also quite possible, of course, that you did attend the first summit and found certain areas of the event to be sorely lacking. That's something that the staff at Paragon Studios is looking at very seriously; it's made a change to a single panel track rather than multiples and will host more interactive panels instead of static ones. Keep an eye over the next few weeks for more details on pricing and location if you're interested in going; for fans of the game, it's a great chance to get your feedback heard in person.

He's been the face on the package, the man on the cover, the big guy above all other big guys. But today, he is no more. Statesman, the most iconic hero in the City of Heroes lore, is going to meet his end, and it's time for everyone to say goodbye. Episode 5 of the signature story arc is live today, and while the titular question "Who Will Die?" has been answered, it's time to see what happens when Statesman does meet his end.

There's more to do than just go play through the arc, however. A new issue of the Intrepid Informer is available in which Matt Miller discusses why the team decided that now is the right time to kill off the game's biggest hero. And if you need a little more help catching up with the story so far, the final vidoc on the arc is embedded just past the cut, giving players a recap of what the Freedom Phalanx is, what is represents, and what this death means for Paragon City.

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Paragon and NCsoft have officially announced the latest update for the long-running City of Heroes superhero MMORPG. Issue 22: Death Incarnate is the title's first major content drop since the free-to-play conversion, and new endgame trials, costumes, powers, and VIP items are on the way.

Chief among the updates are tweaks to the Dark Astoria zone (it becomes a Co-op Incarnate Zone tailored for level 50-plus heroes). Also noteworthy is the new darkness power set for Controllers and Dominators, which should cause a cackle of glee for those of you who relish summoning spectral minions and commanding shadows.

There's also a new trial called Dilemma Diabolique in which heroes and villains must join forces to take down the evil sorceress Diabolique before she makes good on her nefarious plan to rule the world. And that's just the tip of the new content iceberg. More info on Issue 22 is available at the CoH website.

[Source: NCsoft press release]

There are certain villains that just resist all logic and refuse to go out of style. Case in point: Nazis. Despite the fact that they were a political party in a war that ended about 70 years ago, somehow it's still satisfying to beat them up. That was the basis behind the initial placement of the 5th Column on the launch of City of Heroes... a position that was later usurped, then reclaimed, and now remains in a sort of back-and-forth limbo.

You can't talk about the 5th Column without talking about the Council because the two groups are almost the same. Of course, one is a lot more reprehensible than the other, which oddly makes them far more interesting. Put simply, it's a tangled web of subterfuge and backstabbing, and the two organizations are still struggling for dominance on the streets of Paragon City. They're like a slightly more accessible version of Nemesis for one another.

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The Surviving Eight, the members of the Freedom Phalanx, are the most important heroes in the mythology of City of Heroes. But in the not-so-distant future, they're going to be down a member as the game's first signature arc reaches its conclusion. In case you're not totally familiar with the characters in question, however, you're in luck -- the latest video documentary shows off the big eight in all their glory, explaining how they got where they are and what the team hoped to explore with each character.

Narrated by Matt Miller and Sean McCann, the video goes into detail about the powers of the survivors and their roles in the game, from Positron to the now-marked Statesman. It's a useful refresher on the game's lore, so if you're looking forward to the remainder of the signature arc and want to get a refresher on some of the fine points of lore, jump past the break for the video.

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If you are perusing this column, chances are you are a fan of virtual worlds and the sandbox genre. Join the club! (Dues will be due on the third Tuesday.) The aspect that compels many aficionados to delve into a game is the ability to make an impact on the world in some small respect instead of making them into Hive Member 1593072 running a static, predetermined gauntlet. How that impact is accomplished, however, varies; there are multiple features that can facilitate it, and which ones are considered most important depends on the player.

With the loss of one of the best sandbox games just last month, some players may be feeling a void. Others still are looking/hoping for the "ultimate" sandbox that contains nearly every virtual world feature. Certainly, there are some upcoming games that make some drool-worthy promises, but what about playing something now? There are actually games out on the market that have at least one aspect of the genre, if not more.

To start off the new year, Some Assembly Required looks at some of the top features of virtual worlds and lists games that incorporate these features. While this list isn't exhaustive (considering the sheer number of games when you include all of the smaller free-to-play titles, I'd run out of column space!), it is a comprehensive enough overview to point you toward some games worth playing that perhaps you hadn't considered before.

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Here we are after the kick, and I have to say, thus far 2012 feels pretty much the same as 2011 but with fewer weather effects. But it also brings the opportunity to ask for a new round of features from City of Heroes, and as I think you've all learned by now, I'm always willing to ask for new stuff for the coming year. Just look at all my requests from last year and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So did I get what I wanted? Well, we got a big new dump of improved content after all, which sort of fulfilled my first request. There's been no word on any new archetypes, and we only got two full issues last year, unless you count the little half-issues in between. Let's call it an even half. But those weren't predictions, after all; they were just wishes. So what do I think we should wish for over the next year?

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Travel powers can show you the world as you level through City of Heroes. Unfortunately, they've long been limited mostly to powers that come from within each individual character. But that's changing -- first with the Rocket Board, and now with the newest addition to the game's travel power library, the Flying Carpet. If you've long wanted to use decorative surfaces from your home to explore the dark alleys of Paragon City, your wait is finally over.

Running 600 points (around $7.50) in the Paragon Market and available to characters starting at level 4, the rug is similar in function to both the aforementioned Rocket Board and the magical rugs found in games such as World of Warcraft and EverQuest II. If you're attracted to the idea of levitating upholstery but still on the fence about the money, there's a trailer showing off the latest addition to the game just after the cut.

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2011 was an odd duck of a year for MMO news. A huge chunk of the year felt devoid of significant releases, but that was mitigated somewhat by the major launches of RIFT and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Titles got shoved back to 2012 or beyond, MMOs that we thought never would go free-to-play did, and the industry continually surprised us with revelations, ideas, and controversy.

So in my last Perfect Ten of 2011, I put together the 10 most significant MMO stories of the year. Ten seems like an awfully small number for such a great big field, so I had the rest of the staff members chime in with their nominations just to make sure I wasn't too off-base with any of these.

It was a whopper of a year, and Massively was there for all of it -- the ups, the downs, the queues, and the QQs. It's time to wrap it up with a pretty bow and dedicate it to the history museum!

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