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City of Heroes re-review for Issue 12

Shawn Schuster — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Game mechanics, Patches, Reviews, Opinion

If you haven't noticed, recently Eurogamer has been doing a series of re-reviews for the most popular MMOs, especially older ones. The City of Heroes/City of Villains games are a perfect candidate for this re-review, since they're a little over four years old now, and have just released an update. So in this re-review, Eurogamer takes a look at a few major points of the game, including the state of the server population, the most recent update entitled Issue 12: Midnight Hour, and their general view of how the game held up over all these years and where it could be headed.

Their consensus for the server population is grim, stating that the game seemed empty in the lower-level areas. This is quite common in MMOs of this age, as high level "end-game" content is usually first priority on the developers' agendas. But perhaps the underlying point that Eurogamer reiterates to us here at the end of the article is the fact that Champions Online "will inevitably take its throne". That's a whole new blog post in itself.

City of Heroes re-review for Issue 12 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 May 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes broadcasting live from Cimerora

Adrian Bott — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, real-world

Our friends at mmorpg.com have reported a groundbreaking event taking place this Thursday. In a field test of the new Dyyno streaming technology, Matt 'Positron' Miller of NCSoft will be giving a live demonstration of some of the new City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour content. This includes a scenic tour of the new high-level zone, Cimerora. Matt will do his best to answer questions arising during the exposition.

Dyyno is a new high-quality streaming system that allows one-click broadcast of gameplay (or any other window) to an online audience. It's still being worked on, and we're warned that technical issues might complicate Thursday's broadcast, but it looks like an exciting new piece of tech. Visit the mmorpg.com Dyyno Room on Thursday evening at 5pm PST / 8pm EST to watch the tour, put questions to Matt and join in the test.

City of Heroes broadcasting live from Cimerora originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 May 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Issue 12 comic book available

Adrian Bott — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Comics

Proving once again that some of the best MMO material out there is made by the fans, Chase Arcanum and Cinder Flame have released a comic book that showcases CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour in all its various aspects. Assembled using a huge guest cast and a lot of hard work with screenshots, the Midnight Hour comic takes a wickedly humorous look at the newest issue to hit CoX, with special emphasis on the Midnight Squad and the Villain Epic Archetypes.

Regular readers will have encountered Chase Arcanum's acerbic humor before, when he covered the infamous wedding of Manticore and Sister Psyche in comic-book format. This latest edition, which can be accessed from the CoH main page or downloaded directly in PDF format, looks to be the most ambitious collaboration so far.

Face down the forces of evil! Give good a quick jab to the jaw! Massively has all the CoX Issue 12 news you can handle. Make sure to check it out!

CoX Issue 12 comic book available originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 May 2008 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samuraiko reveals CoX Issue 12 video

Adrian Bott — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Trailers, Video, City of Heroes, City of Villains

Acclaimed City of Heroes fan video maker Michelle, otherwise known as Samuraiko, has released her second Issue 12: Midnight Hour video, timed to coincide with the issue's launch to the live servers yesterday. Unlike the first (completely speculative) piece, this one contains plenty of footage from the actual issue, including material from Cimerora, the Midnighter Club and the Imperious Task Force.

Warning: there are some very brief potential spoilers in this video. Blink and you'll miss them, but don't say you weren' t warned!

Samuraiko's highly regarded in the CoX community as one of the best fan video makers out there, with standards comparable to those set by the official CoX videos. She's produced her own trailers and promotional films for CoX since Issue 11, including a documentary of Manticore and Sister Psyche's chaotic wedding. In her latest offering she also does a little voice acting, giving the reaction that most of us give when we step on to Cimerora' s shores for the first time.

'Midnight's Secrets' is available in high quality format on the Samuraiko Productions web site. The YouTube version follows after the break.

Continue reading Samuraiko reveals CoX Issue 12 video

Samuraiko reveals CoX Issue 12 video originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 May 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes lead developer Matt Miller interviewed

Adrian Bott — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Interviews

Our friends over at rpg.boomtown.net have posted a lengthy interview with Matt 'Positron' Miller, lead developer for City of Heroes and City of Villains. This comes just in time for the live launch of Issue 12: Midnight Hour.

Matt gives us the rundown of Midnight Hour, hinting at future storylines and assuring players that there's a very long game being played here. The seeds of future adventures are being planted right now. There's even a hint that the task force recipe drop award system, currently causing some dissatisfaction, is to be revamped. Quite right, too - who wants to undergo a whole Task Force just to get a measly Trap of the Hunter recipe instead of an endurance and health-boosting Numina's Convalescence?

Continue reading City of Heroes lead developer Matt Miller interviewed

City of Heroes lead developer Matt Miller interviewed originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 May 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour goes live!

Adrian Bott — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, Server downtime

Today at 6.00 AM CDT, earlier than many players were expecting, the live servers for City of Heroes went down to be patched with the latest Issue: number 12, Midnight Hour. According to lead developer Matt Miller, the testing process has been 'surprisingly smooth' and the live rollout is bang on schedule. Full patch notes are now available including some significant changes to trial accounts, which should stymie RMT considerably.

CoX players can now enjoy all the new features, including long awaited Villain Epic Archetypes, the new Midnighter Club content, the beautiful Ancient Mediterranean zone of Cimerora, the vast number of new power combinations available through Powerset Proliferation, and of course the numerous Quality of Life improvements. These last have been so well received that some players have likened the experience to playing a whole new game.

Continue reading CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour goes live!

CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour goes live! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 May 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An end to easy XP as the Family get whacked

Adrian Bott — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, Leveling, PvE

They had it coming.

City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour, now in Open Beta, comes with a nerf or two as well as all the good stuff. Over on the Test server, some changes have been made to high-level Family mobs. The changes are now on their second iteration. In the first round, high-level Family minions were altered in status, increasing their relative power without increasing the XP rewards, so that more work had to be done for the same overall result.

In response to a request for clarification ('lol devs pwnt the family mish?') the Dev Castle responded 'Indeed.'

In the latest round, minions are back to being minions again, but the XP reward has been nerfed down. The reason given, which will surprise nobody at all, is 'their reward scale has been lowered to be commensurate with the risk involved in the encounter'.

So why target the Family?

Continue reading An end to easy XP as the Family get whacked

An end to easy XP as the Family get whacked originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 17 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes to venture underwater?

Adrian Bott — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, PvE, Rumors

Sometimes the tiny unannounced changes are the most fun. City of Heroes Issue 12: The Midnight Hour, currently in Open Beta, has sneaked a little extra feature in under the radar.

Ordinarily, characters in CoX who fall into the water simply splash about on the surface. You can swim around there, but diving has been impossible, with the tantalizing exception of one narrow shaft in Grandville. This had been the only place where characters could submerge completely, although there was no underwater swimming, just a very surprised Coralax on a coffee break.

Continue reading City of Heroes to venture underwater?

City of Heroes to venture underwater? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 May 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Podcast with Joe Morrissey, aka Hero 1

Adrian Bott — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Podcasts, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Interviews, MMO industry

The flood of new information coming out of NCSoft NorCal continues unabated. Fresh from sharing his Developer Diary with us, lead City of Heroes writer Joe Morrissey (no relation to the lugubrious singer, before you ask) has joined Chooch and Viv for a long in-depth interview. Notably, Joe takes time to answer many of the questions the players have asked on the forums.

Despite being relatively new to the CoX staff, Joe has made his mark with some superb new story content, including the hot new arcs and Task Force in Issue 12: Midnight Hour, currently in Open Beta. In the interview, he talks about how he landed the job in the first place, the challenge of joining a cut-down team where everyone was working at full tilt, his own hopes for future content and what we can expect from the coming issues.

Joe also reveals how he came to choose Hero 1, a character from the CoX universe who is so British he sports the Union Jack on both his cape and his helmet, as his signature character.

Listen in here at the CoH Podcast webpage.

Face down the forces of evil! Give good a quick jab to the jaw! Massively has all the CoX Issue 12 news you can handle. Make sure to check it out!

CoX Podcast with Joe Morrissey, aka Hero 1 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Issue 12: Inside the Midnighter Club

Adrian Bott — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Galleries, Screenshots, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Expansions, Guides, Patches

City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour is now in Open Beta. We've brought you a tour of Cimerora, and now venture into the Midnighter Club, home of the Midnight Squad.

The zone itself is unusual for CoX. Although access to it has to be unlocked, with separate arcs on the hero and villain side giving access, it currently contains no mission content of its own. There is a time-travelling crystal giving access to Cimerora and a store selling level 35 to 50 Enhancements of all kinds. That aside, the Midnighter Club is useful as a shortcut between heroside universities and a sumptuously atmospheric roleplaying area.

The club also contains a Mystery, a form of treasure hunt that players can follow by clicking on objects.

Gallery: CoX Issue 12: The Midnighter Club

Face down the forces of evil! Give good a quick jab to the jaw! Massively has all the CoX Issue 12 news you can handle. Make sure to check it out!

CoX Issue 12: Inside the Midnighter Club originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 May 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour enters Open Beta!

Adrian Bott — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, PvP, PvE

As of yesterday, all City of Heroes players can access the twelfth expansion, Midnight Hour, on the Test Server. For an issue that was originally touted as a fairly small one, it's extremely impressive. The main features are, of course, the Villain Epic Archetypes, Powerset Proliferation and the new Cimerora and Midnighters Club content, but the Quality of Life changes have left many players open-mouthed. These are literally what the players have been asking for. Several of them appear to have come directly from the Suggestions and Ideas forum. The patch notes are now available to read.

We're especially impressed by the 'Inspiration upon levelling up' concept, which will even bring you back to life if you should happen to level up while defeated, and by the Zone Event Alerts channel. From now on, if Lusca surfaces in Independence Port or the Arachnos Flyer leaves its roost in Grandville, players who have added these channels will know about it. Every zone event is covered, with one exception; the reclusive lake monster, Sally.

Read on for a few more off-the-cuff impressions.

Continue reading CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour enters Open Beta!

CoX Issue 12: Midnight Hour enters Open Beta! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 May 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX Issue 12: Journey to Cimerora

Adrian Bott — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Galleries, Screenshots, City of Heroes, Lore, Patches, PvE, Maps

City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour has finally reached Open Beta, and in the first of our articles covering the new issue content, we're delighted to bring you a scenic tour of the Cimerora zone.

The Midnight Squad, researchers into the arcane, have acquired a time-travel crystal. Those who have gained access to the Midnighters Club, their secret stronghold connected to both Paragon and the Rogue Isles, can reach it; but access to Cimerora is limited to characters of levels 35-50.

A co-operative zone where Heroes and Villains work together (each for their own ends) Cimerora is small but beautiful, containing one introductory arc, a contact who gives out repeating missions, and one extraordinary Task Force that testers have called the best in the game so far.

Gallery: CoX Issue 12 Cimerora

Face down the forces of evil! Give good a quick jab to the jaw! Massively has all the CoX Issue 12 news you can handle. Make sure to check it out!

CoX Issue 12: Journey to Cimerora originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 May 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoX: Throw Moar Slots!

Adrian Bott — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Business models, MMO industry, Patches

CoX players have been crying out for extra character slots for some time. Now, with Issue 12 bringing both Powerset Proliferation and the new Villain Epic ATs, many of us had feared we'd have to delete some characters to make room for all the new ones we're aching to make. Positron has come to our rescue by confirming plans to add additional character slots with Issue 12. Here's how the optional additional character slots will work.

Continue reading CoX: Throw Moar Slots!

CoX: Throw Moar Slots! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Glimpse of the Villain Epics

Adrian Bott — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Classes, Patches, PvP, PvE

Issue 12 Beta for CoX is currently in Friends and Family stage and closed to anyone else, but bugs do happen, and one forum poster has accidentally accessed the Villain Epic Archetypes.

He's generously taken plenty of screenshots and thus given us the first real taste of how the VEATs will work. NCSoft haven't objected to his sharing the information with us, but have reminded us that VEATs are still being worked on. So, please remember that this isn't final.

Continue reading First Glimpse of the Villain Epics

First Glimpse of the Villain Epics originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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April Fools' in CoX

Eli Shayotovich — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Humor

Holy highway robbery!

NCsoft NorCal "announced" today that they're dropping a new feature into their superly duperly costumed heroes and villains game. Visual Sounds are cool words that pop up on the screen (both in games and famous caped crusading TV shows) based on the old school comic book technique known as onomatopoeia. It's the use of a word to replace a sound. The upcoming Issue 12, which has been renamed "Issue 12: Pow, Biff, Boom, Bam!" will include this all new system.

Brian Clayton, Executive Producer and head of the NCsoft NorCal office, said all their research shows that many gamers are building their own computers now, and sometimes they forget to buy speakers or headphones. This is their small way of helping those forgetful types. Matt "Positron" Miller, the Lead Designer on the CoX titles, is a big advocate of the theater of the mind and likened this to reading a book where you give the characters their own voices. Literally.

While players will be able to disable Visual Sounds... they shouldn't. Why? In order to make room for the visual sound files all actual in-game sounds are being removed from the players' hard drives. DOH!

April Fools' in CoX originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The "real" story behind CoX's powerset proliferation

Eli Shayotovich — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Expansions, Lore

Dr. Brainstorm is at it again.

If you're a tight wearing do-gooder or vile evildoer within the City of... universe then you can't miss this exclusive broadcast (from an undisclosed location of course) made by Dr. Brainstorm.

During yet another crazy experiment (this time involving Rikti technology, Hypothetical Frameworks and invisible, mystical networks) the good Doctor has made a startling find regarding one of the most anticipated features of the upcoming free expansion Issue 12: Midnight Hour - Powerset Proliferation.

With the help of his newly built Resonance Manipulator, Brainstorm can now alter the energy strands connecting every Hero and Villain to their powers. New characters (both sides) will be able to access additional primary and secondary powersets they didn't have access to before.

[Via GameZone]

The "real" story behind CoX's powerset proliferation originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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