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: Both sides now]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/15/a-mild-mannered-reporter-both-sides-now/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/15/a-mild-mannered-reporter-both-sides-now/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/15/a-mild-mannered-reporter-both-sides-now/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Back when Going Rogue was first released, I made a point that I wasn't going into detail on the alignment and tip system. As I saw it at the time, there were two major reasons not to go whole-hog into it, the first being that I was already writing an entire novel on the expansion, and the second being that Paragon Wiki was hard at work putting more details into place. Why try to reinvent the wheel in a weekly column? And there was also a third reason: I'd been spending more time in Praetoria than on my old characters.

So I suppose in some way I ought to thank whichever designer gave my poor brute the chance to fight two elite bosses at the same time with three NPCs as backup in a single-player mission. It gave me plenty of incentive to spend more time with my higher-level characters. (Seriously, that mission is absurd.) That meant I started diving into the alignment system, and that means I'm going to spend more time detailing one of the centerpieces of City of Heroes gameplay at the moment: alignment.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Both sides now

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Both sides now originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alignmentalignment-switchingalignment-systemcity-of-heroesCity-of-VillainsCOHCoVcoxfeaturedgoing-roguemild-mannered-reportermoralitymorality-systemncsoftparagonparagon-cohparagon-studiospraetoriaRogueroguelikeroguesRolePlayingtiptipsvigilantevigilantesvillainsWed, 15 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Facefirst into Praetoria]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/25/a-mild-mannered-reporter-facefirst-into-praetoria/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/25/a-mild-mannered-reporter-facefirst-into-praetoria/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/25/a-mild-mannered-reporter-facefirst-into-praetoria/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It's finally here, and I have to admit, it's a little weird to realize it. After I spent the better part of half a year focusing on Going Rogue, the expansion has been released and is totally playable. To have the game sitting in front of me (metaphorically) after it's become such a huge part of my professional life is almost too daunting. I almost didn't even want to fire up the launcher to...

OK, yeah, that part isn't fooling anyone. Getting to play around a bit while it was in beta to see how it would play was nice, but I couldn't get myself into City of Heroes fast enough to start leveling a Loyalist and going to town on the new side of town. At the end of the day, I'm just a player like everyone reading this column, and the game I got to play on Monday evening made me very happy indeed. There's a lot to see and do, and I've tried to recap some of the disconnected thoughts in this week's column. And as a bonus, there's a sad announcement at the end! It's like a bonus, anyway.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Facefirst into Praetoria

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: Facefirst into Praetoria originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alignmentalignment-systemcity-of-heroescity-of-heroes-going-roguecity-of-villainscohcovcoxexpansionexperiencefeaturedgame-mechanicsgoing-roguegrheromission-mechanicsmissionsparagonparagon-studiospraetoriaroguestarting-arcsstarting-areavigilantevillainWed, 25 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Mild-Mannered Reporter: A chicken in every pot, an answer for every question]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/07/a-mild-mannered-reporter-a-chicken-in-every-pot-an-answer-for/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/07/a-mild-mannered-reporter-a-chicken-in-every-pot-an-answer-for/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/07/a-mild-mannered-reporter-a-chicken-in-every-pot-an-answer-for/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and like always that means we're going into the questions-and-answers for City of Heroes players. Before we delve into this week's column, I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for the amount of discussion that took place about our last article extolling the virtues of the Loyalists. It brought a smile to my face to see all of the back and forth about the topic, something I haven't written the last word about. But that's next week's column, and right now it's time to see what other questions the community desperately needs answered.

Superfan asked:
"Why is the game so repetitive and lacking imagination?"

On one level, I can't answer this question because I don't agree with the basic premise. I don't find the game terribly repetitive, and it's lacking in imagination in the same manner that Transformers: War for Cybertron is lacking in robots. But I've acknowledged before that there is a certain rinse-and-repeat feel to City of Heroes, even beyond the equally repetitive feeling in any given MMO. There's something about the game's layout that just gives players that feeling, and I'm not immune to it.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: A chicken in every pot, an answer for every question

MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: A chicken in every pot, an answer for every question originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alignmentarchetypecity-of-heroescity-of-heroes-going-roguecity-of-villainscohcolumncovcoxfactionsfeaturedgoing-roguegrmoralityncsoftopinionparagonparagon-studiosroguevigilanteWed, 07 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Virtual Whirl: Of villains and crusaders]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-virtual-whirl-of-villains-and-crusaders/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-virtual-whirl-of-villains-and-crusaders/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-virtual-whirl-of-villains-and-crusaders/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're taking a look at the vigilante side of intellectual property rights.

For many, it seems like a good idea to mass-report or name-and-shame intellectual property rights violators whenever and wherever you see them ... but is it really?

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Of villains and crusaders

MassivelyThe Virtual Whirl: Of villains and crusaders originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CopyBotcopyrightcultureDMCAfeaturedlegallinden-labopinionsecond-lifethe-virtual-whirlTrademarkvigilantevirtual-worldsSat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST