Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/a-mild-mannered-reporter-digital-enhancements/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/a-mild-mannered-reporter-digital-enhancements/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/a-mild-mannered-reporter-digital-enhancements/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Illustration by A. Fienemann
Last week, I covered the raw basics of Enhancements in City of Heroes. This was a good place to start, but it also glossed over everything but the basics. It's telling that glossing over everything but the basics still involves stuff that's as bogglingly complicated as diversification, but then, there's a reason I decided to do these columns in the first place. But with all the basics out of the way, what more could there be to cover?

Lots, as it happens, because last week didn't touch upon dual Enhancements or Inventions, both of which cover the same ground and take into account the specifics of Enhancement Diversification and so forth. So for those of you wondering why I didn't talk about IOs, those still trying to get a handle on the system, or those just morbidly curious about how the game works, it's time to start in with the enhancements that broke the entire system in half more or less the second they were introduced: Inventions.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-mild-mannered-reportercity-of-heroescity-of-villainscohcovcoxcraftingenhancementsf2pfeaturedfree-to-playfreedomgame-mechanicsinventionsmechanicsmild-mannered-reporterncsoftopinionparagonparagon-studiossuperherosuperheroessystemsWed, 21 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-some-enhancement-evening/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-some-enhancement-evening/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-some-enhancement-evening/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

A Mild-Mannered Reporter header by A. Fienemann
Using the Enhancement system is pretty important to playing City of Heroes successfully. It's a combination of both gear and (arguably) character specialization, and it's the main way that you increase your power over the course of your leveling. Sure, you get new powers as you level up, but your earlier powers remain your steadfast workhorses. Mastery of Enhancements is the path to being imbalanced.

Unfortunately, the Enhancement system is also really, really complicated.

I don't say this lightly; in fact, I say this specifically after a conversation with a fellow Massively staffer who has never fully understood how this system is supposed to work. Said staffer is an intelligent man, but the system is rife with corner cases, strange rules, exceptions, and several elements that are never really explained in full. So for all of the newer free-to-play people or old hands at City of Heroes who never really got the system, here's a primer on how Enhancements work.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-mild-mannered-reportercity-of-heroescity-of-villainscohcovcoxenhancementenhancementsf2pfeaturedfree-to-playfreedomgame-mechanicsmild-mannered-reporterncsoftnew-player-informationopinionparagonparagon-studiosstartersuperherosuperheroesWed, 14 Mar 2012 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The power reset]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-the-power-reset/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-the-power-reset/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/14/a-mild-mannered-reporter-the-power-reset/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

A Mild-Mannered Reporter header by A. Fienemann
Respecs are a powerful tool in MMOs. They're a way for you to feel confident that no matter what choices you make when developing a character, you can make better ones further on down the line. Instead of worrying with each character decision that you're locked in to something you never wanted, you know with confidence that you can always back out if turns out that your abilities are actively causing you to die in horrible and unwanted ways.

And in City of Heroes, you get three of them.

This is the sort of thing that raises a few eyebrows, since having a limited number of choices to rectify your already-limited number of choices is not something to inspire confidence. And I'm not going to lie to you: It's certainly not the brightest decision in the world. But the hard limits on the total number of respecs you get doesn't actually mean you're forever locked in to terrible decisions. The fact of the matter is that for a number of reasons, you won't really care.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The power reset

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: The power reset originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-mild-mannered-reportercharacter-buildcity-of-heroescity-of-heroes-freedomcity-of-villainscohcolumncovcoxenhancementsf2pfeaturedfree-to-playgame-mechanicsgame-systemslimited-respecsncsoftopinionparagonparagon-studiosrespec-trialsrespecsspecializationWed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Directing the devs for a day in Asheron's Call]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/12/directing-the-devs-for-a-day-in-asherons-call/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/12/directing-the-devs-for-a-day-in-asherons-call/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/12/directing-the-devs-for-a-day-in-asherons-call/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Asheron's Call screenshot
Turbine may be best-known to modern MMO gamers for its F2P games Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online, but veteran gamers know that the company has a tiny little subscription sandbox game operating a bit outside of the limelight: Asheron's Call. Yes, AC is still chugging along, thanks in part to the devs' interaction with their small but faithful community. In fact, to reward that community, the development team has in the past asked its players for ideas on how to enhance the game. The catch is that said enhancement has to be something the devs can do in a single day.

Today, Turbine has posted up the best of the best ideas from the recent round of submissions from the playerbase, and apparently, AC players want their team working on everything from casino tweaks to tailorable undergarments (really!). Check out the whole list of itty-bitty incoming enhancements on the official forums.

MassivelyDirecting the devs for a day in Asheron's Call originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>acasherons-callcasinosdevelopmentenhancementsideassandboxturbineTurbine-EntertainmentunderwearMon, 12 Sep 2011 22:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Paragon Studios answers our questions about Issue 19 of City of Heroes]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/15/paragon-studios-answers-our-questions-about-issue-19-of-city-of/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/15/paragon-studios-answers-our-questions-about-issue-19-of-city-of/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/15/paragon-studios-answers-our-questions-about-issue-19-of-city-of/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Just three months after the major upheaval of Going Rogue, City of Heroes is getting another big update in the form of Issue 19. Bringing with it new task forces, the first part of the new Incarnate system, the long-awaited baseline Fitness pool, and several other quality-of-life improvements, the issue is packed to bursting with things for players to enjoy. So we naturally had a few questions, even above and beyond our first impressions of both the Incarnate system and the new Apex task force.

Of course, this issue isn't the work of just one or two people within Paragon Studios, but the whole team. So it was fitting that we got our questions about the newest update to City of Heroes answered by several members of the team. Melissa Bianco, Matt Miller, Sean McCann, and Tim Sweeney all took the time to answer some quick questions about the substance of the update, so click on past the break to see our questions and their responses.

Continue reading Paragon Studios answers our questions about Issue 19 of City of Heroes

MassivelyParagon Studios answers our questions about Issue 19 of City of Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apex-task-forcecity-of-heroescity-of-heroes-going-roguecity-of-villainscohcovcoxcraftingendgameendgame-systemenhancementsfitnessfitness-poolgoing-roguegri19incarnate-systemincarnatesinteviewsissue-19ncsoftparagonparagon-studiospatchespraetoriatin-mage-task-forcetip-missionstipsupdatesMon, 15 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[New Issue 17 details for City of Heroes]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/24/new-issue-17-details-for-city-of-heroes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/24/new-issue-17-details-for-city-of-heroes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/24/new-issue-17-details-for-city-of-heroes/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If you play City of Heroes, you're looking forward to the upcoming Issue 17. We've heard some of what can be expected from the big pre-expansion drop, but much of it was cloaked in vague terms -- improvements that didn't have any hard data attached to them, like the promise of new missions and UI revisions. But the official site has put up a page on the coming features for the update, and it helps clarify some things we didn't know about, as well as offering some excellent news besides. And it promises the end of Positron's dreaded unending task force! (It'll still be there, but it will be split into two parts and improved all around.)

Continue reading New Issue 17 details for City of Heroes

MassivelyNew Issue 17 details for City of Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>altsanimationscity-of-heroescity-of-villainscohcoh-issue-17contentcovcoxenhancementsgraphicsinfamyinfluencemailmission-architectmissionsparagonparagon-cohparagon-studioestask-forceWed, 24 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST