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A Mild-Mannered Reporter header by A. Fienemann
What with one thing and another, a year has passed. At this time last year, things were very different for City of Heroes, and so I started up my usual trifecta of columns on the past year with a look back at what I said the game needed and how it's done on those fronts. So it's time for the second annual iteration because as we all know, the first annual anything doesn't really count. And if your memory is getting rusty from a year ago, by all means, take the time to refresh it.

Certainly if you had told me back then that every major superhero game would be free-to-play before the year was up, I wouldn't have believed it. But that's what's happened, and as the game has shifted, so has the market around it. That means that the game has really had to face off against its two "direct" competitors on a straight footing, and that might not have been in the game's best interests as a whole.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Status report, last year

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Status report, last year originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-mild-mannered-reportercity-of-heroescity-of-villainscohcovcoxculturef2pfeaturedfree-to-playfreedommild-mannered-reporterncsoftopinionother-gamesparagonparagon-studiosretrospectivesuperherosuperheroesyear-in-reviewWed, 18 Apr 2012 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Steal me]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/a-mild-mannered-reporter-steal-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/a-mild-mannered-reporter-steal-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/a-mild-mannered-reporter-steal-me/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

A while back, a reader suggested that I talk about the five things that City of Heroes ought to steal from other games, inspired by a column written by our inimitable Ryan Green for a different game. (I've sadly lost the original mail through various cleanups of my inbox, so if the reader in question might speak up, that would be great.) In the wake of the big upgrades coming with Issue 19, now is a wonderful time to take a closer look at the things that would make fine additions from elsewhere.

Of course, part of the reason this took a while (as the reader noted in the mail) was that, truth be told, there are a lot of systems that Paragon Studios was either the first or darn near the first to innovate. How many games even have content-generation at the level of the Mission Architect? But there are still places where City of Heroes could take a lesson or two that (hopefully) wouldn't require rewriting the entire game from the ground up.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Steal me

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Steal me originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>city-of-heroescity-of-villainscohcovcoxddodesigndungeons-and-dragons-onlinefeaturedff14ffxivfinal-fantasy-14final-fantasy-xivgame-mechanicsideaslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromechanicsmission-architectncsoftopinionother-gamesparagonparagon-studiosstar-trek-onlinestoworld-of-warcraftwowWed, 13 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: What's your favorite non-MMO genre?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/01/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-non-mmo-genre/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/01/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-non-mmo-genre/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/01/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-non-mmo-genre/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Long before we had the soaring crafts and grand interstellar vistas of EVE Online, most games that involved spaceships were of a very set type. They usually involved one small ship, a horde of other ships, bullets flying everywhere, and a number of lives that were expressly designed to eat up as many quarters as possible. The gaming field has changed quite a bit since then, but scrolling shooters in the vein of Darius or R-Type can still eat up hours on end... much like most MMOs, although without as much emphasis on virtual worlds. And there's little denying that for fans of the genre, they're as effective at reducing stress.

Today, we ask our readers: what's your favorite game type that doesn't fall under our header? Do you prefer traditional console RPGs? Do you veer more toward fighting games, or strategy titles, or is it a mishmash of different things that appeal to you? You could argue the elements of Team Fortress 2 or Borderlands, but they generally fall under a different aegis than Champions Online or EverQuest II for most players... so what about you? What do you like to kick back with when you aren't on your MMO of choice?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What's your favorite non-MMO genre? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>borderlandschampions-onlinecoculturedariuseq2eqiieveeve-onlineeverquest-2everquest-iiopinionother-gamesr-typetdgteam-fortress-2tf2the-daily-grindSun, 01 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST