NCsoft NorCal is pleased to announce the thirteenth free expansion to come to City of Heroes® since it's launch: Issue 13: Architect! Issue 13 introduces astounding new systems, content, challenges and features!
To read the announcement, click here.
To discuss Issue 13 with City of Heroes players, please join us on the Official Message Forums.
Good morning Players!
I wanted to be the first to let you all know that the primary Feature list for Issue 13: Architect is now live! That said, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk to you about some of the new features, more in depth.
First off is the issue name, Architect. I liked the correlation that the name has between some of the improvements we are making to bases (in the way new things are purchased for them) and to our Mission Architect feature. Players can now be architects of their own story arcs that other players can play. When I first mentioned this system in the 4th Anniversary post, I had no idea how wildly popular that single concept would be. The thread that followed that post had a plethora of ideas of how such a system could, and should work from a player's perspective.
With virtually no information to go on, some people very much underestimated what would be possible with the Mission Architect. Some got it spot on, and some people wanted features that were simply impossible to get into the system at launch. Even so, we are very proud of the system as it stands. Players can make their own story arcs using a customized version of the tool used by our mission writers, in some cases rivaling our own internal tools in ease-of-use. I am really looking forward to playing the stories you all create with this amazing tool!
I should probably take this moment to talk about what the Mission Architect is not meant for. It is not meant for "easy leveling" or "badging" or "farming". Those are things that we specifically wanted the Mission Architect NOT to do. This may be a disappointment to some, I know. The goal was to give creative minds an outlet to tell the stories they have in their heads. We didn't want the system clogged with Farm missions, so actually finding someone's story that they lovingly crafted became more a chore than it was worth.
To that end, the Rewards in the Mission Architect are something we, ahem, discussed with raised voices time and time again. How much was too much? How little was too little? What limits needed to be put into place to stop farming? Should we even have such limits? Etc. In the end, we have a system that we believe is the best suited for what Mission Architect was made for, and is not abusable. Time and testing will tell if that is really the case though. Like the Invention System, there will be many iterations on the Mission Architect to make sure we get it right before it goes to the Live servers.
Next I want to talk about Day Jobs. This started out as a kind of "secret identity" system, but we wanted to save the term Secret Identity for a system that fit that name better. Day Jobs works well because it is "what your character is doing when not being a Hero or a Villain". It's their "day job". A character who logs out in the Hospital is assumed to be working in a medicinal capacity, and they will receive a themed bonus when they log back in, that sort of thing. We even made it possible to have your character's Day Job to be "On Patrol" or "Committing Crimes", just in case you couldn't envision your character having a "normal life" while you were not actively playing them.
There are plenty of other features in Issue 13: Architect as well, like the new powersets, including the much requested "Villainous Version of Empathy" called Pain Domination. We're also adding some great new missions to Issue 12's Roman Zone "Cimerora," as well as a brand new reward system that will hopefully see the end of "necessary" Task Force farming trying to get that one specific Recipe you have been dying to get. The Issue 13 Feature List explains more about that. We'll be announcing more specifics of each of these features between now and the beta testing for Issue 13.
Finally, I want to tell you about two "Booster Packs" that will be available in a month or so. Many players have requested the ability to buy the 30 day temporary jetpack that comes with the new City of Heroes Game Cards. Once the retailer exclusive period ends next month, we are making the same jetpack available for purchase for $4.99 (which is the cost difference between the one month game time and the $20 Game Card price). We are also excited to launch our Super Booster I: Cyborg Pack for $9.99. This pack has an awesome set of costume pieces, emotes, auras and a power. We'll be sharing all of the details shortly.
So thank you players for the enthusiastic support and I can't wait to get these new features into your hands and to answer your questions about Issue 13 over the coming months and at Hero-Con in October.
Happy hunting!
Matt "Positron" Miller
Lead Designer, City of Heroes/Villains
To discuss this letter, please join us on the Official City of Heroes Message Forums.
Registration is now open for Hero-Con '08. Register Now!
Join the City of Heroes & City of Villains Development team and other heroes and villains for a "Freem" filled day and night of activities.
This year promises to raise the roof of the exclusive Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, California on Saturday, October 18, 2008. We have arranged special pricing at this beautiful hotel for our event attendees, if you wish to book a room for the event please enter this code G-NCSO to unlock or book directly from this page to get our special pricing for rooms. This special rate can be applied on dates prior and after the event as well.
The Show
The City of Heroes Team, along with other representatives for NCsoft Games, will be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), held in the Seattle Convention Center from August 29th to 31st. You can find us in booth number 642. While there, be sure to pick up your special PPD Hardsuit Costume Code!
For more details about PAX visit their website at http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/
Hang out with the Team!
Also, while the team is in Seattle, some members will be meeting with fans at a player organized meet 'n greet. This will be on August 29th from 7 PM to 9 PM at the Seattle Gordon Biersch. For all the details and discussion, click here.
Discuss it!
To discuss the PAX show, join the discussion here.
Stay current on the latest changes to the game! On Tuesday, August 19th we updated City of Heroes to a new game version that includes a number of improvements and revisions. To read all the details of this update, please visit the Patch Notes web page.
The top five finalists have been announced by Gametrailers.com in the Toyota Matrix Machinima Contest! One of these five will be taking home the grand prize of a 2009 Model Year Toyota Matrix S model filled with prizes, while the 1st runner up takes home $1,000 and the 2nd $500.
Be sure to visit the contest web page, view the entries and then cast your vote for who you think should win!
Join your fellow Heroes & Villains on the Official City of Heroes Facebook page!
Our community team has been working to create a new page on Facebook where you can receive news feeds, share images and videos with the community, and stay in touch with all your heroic and villainous friends.
You can even create a "Masked" profile to hide your secret identity, a place to put your Hero or Villain's character profile and connect to other Heroes and Villains... a way to share and promote the game to your mild mannered friends on Facebook. So come and join us, you never know who you might run into!
Coming up this month lucky attendees to Leipzig Games Convention in Germany and Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle will have the opportunity to pick up VIP passes* to unlock the Paragon Police Department Hard Suit Costume Power for their account. See details below for Leipzig and PAX! See your Community Representatives for more details.
On Tuesday, August 5th we updated City of Heroes to a new game version that includes a number of improvements and revisions. To read all the details of this update, please visit the Patch Notes web page.
Additionally, the Training Room Test Server was updated on August 5th to a new version for public testing. This is our next candidate to promote to the Live servers and we invite anyone interested to check it out. Visit the Training Room patch notes and log in to the Training Room to experience this new version firsthand.
There are only a handful of days left to put together your Machinima video with City of Heroes / City of Villains and have the chance to win the grand prize of a 2009 Model year Toyota Matrix S filled with good stuff! Submissions must be uploaded to GameTrailers.com by August 10th. Winners will be announced on Spike's GTTV on September 12th.
Click here for the contest details and rules!
To discuss the contest, please join us on the Multi-Media forum.
Brace yourselves as the full fury of the Rikti Invasion Force is set to descend upon Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™ starting on Friday, August 1st and continuing through Thursday, August 7th.
For details or to discuss this event with fellow players, please join us on the Official City of Heroes Message Forums.
City of Heroes has expanded their suite of available purchasable services to include Character Respecs (short for Respecifications). Over the course of leveling up, there are many powers that a character can choose from. A Character Respec allows the character to re-select their powers from their chosen primary and secondary powers, along with any other pools of powers they have access to. To be clear, this optional purchasable Respec does not allow the primary or secondary powerset to be reselected; it functions like existing respecs currently available in game.
Optional Character Respecs are available via the in-game store found at the character select screen for the per transaction price of $9.99 USD.
There are already multiple in-game methods that players can obtain a Respec. Now, if the convenience of purchasing a Respec is desired, it is available. Having a purchasable option has been an often heard desire from the game's customers.
Once players purchase a Respec, they must then visit a Respec Contact in-game to use it, in the same manner as the in-game obtainable respecs are done. The Respec Contacts include: Jack Wolf in Galaxy City and Arbiter Lupin in Nerva.
Visit Massively.com now through 5PM Eastern on Wednesday, July 30th for the chance to win one of 10 Comic Con in-game costume codes. This code will allow the characters on your account to turn into the fearsome Freakshow Tank!
The costume is purely cosmetic and doesn't bestow any powers or allow you to sneak by the Freakshow.
For all the details, visit Massively.com.
Target, Best Buy and Rite Aid to sell cards for popular NCsoft online games
