Arctic Sun

I'm pleased to announce we are now hosting the new I10 movie on our site.

Matt “Positron” Miller narrates a tour of the new Rikti War Zone in this movie for Issue 10: Invasion, the 10th free expansion since the launch of City of Heroes in April 2004. Meet the Vanguard, Earth’s last line of defense against alien, extra-dimensional, or even astral threats. Beyond the Vanguard base are areas of heavy fighting, including the redesigned crashed Rikti mother ship. Heroes and villains both help the Vanguard, and can cooperate on a new joint task-force. They will need to cooperate if they want to survive the 2nd Rikti War!

Movie Gallery

(NOTE: The QuickTime versions should be up later today).

I'm pleased to announce we are now hosting the new I10 movie on our site.

Matt “Positron” Miller narrates a tour of the new Rikti War Zone in this movie for Issue 10: Invasion, the 10th free expansion since the launch of City of Heroes in April 2004. Meet the Vanguard, Earth’s last line of defense against alien, extra-dimensional, or even astral threats. Beyond the Vanguard base are areas of heavy fighting, including the redesigned crashed Rikti mother ship. Heroes and villains both help the Vanguard, and can cooperate on a new joint task-force. They will need to cooperate if they want to survive the 2nd Rikti War!

Movie Gallery

(NOTE: The QuickTime versions should be up later today).

[ QUOTE ]
A month has passed... there is no soon!

[/ QUOTE ]

"Soon" is a quantum state, much like Schrodinger's Cat. All updates both exist on the web site and do not exist until I say they are live.

Actually, I owe you guys a big apology for this. My time has been eaten up heavily by I10, so the Warriors got put on hold. I will get back to it as soon as I can.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

There definitely is a "soon." It's just "not yet."

cheers,
JS

[ QUOTE ]

Yeah Cryptic is in San Jose, CA. NCSoft offices are in Austin, TX; Brighton, England; Tokyo, Japan; Shang-Hai, China; Bangkok, Thailand; Taipei, Taiwan; and Seoul, Korea. All of which are listed.

I'm assuming Orange County, CA; Santa Monica, CA; and Osaka, Japan also have NCSoft offices.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty much the most correct answer! (There's NC folks in San Jose, also).

Good work, folks!

cheers,
JS

[ QUOTE ]
Pet peeve:
[quote...]they will attack any large group on site.

[/ QUOTE ]
I believe you mean on sight. You know, when you see something.
Crazy English language.

[/ QUOTE ]

Argh! Curses! I blame Rikti mind-control powers!

I'll get it fixed shortly.

(You're always welcome to PM typos to me)

[ QUOTE ]
Reports have come in from around the world...San Jose, Orange County, Santa Monica, Brighton...

[/ QUOTE ]
I wasn't aware California constituted most of the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

Got an Enigma Prize in my pocket for anyone who figures out my logic.

cheers,
JS

Gamespot has the first look at the full City of Heroes Issue 10 Trailer for the Rikti War Zone, narrated by Matt "Positron" Miller! Matt discusses the features of I10, and takes a close look at Vanguard, the revamped zone, and the Rikti threat.

Check out the trailer here.

Discuss it here.

Gamespot has the first look at the full City of Heroes Issue 10 Trailer for the Rikti War Zone, narrated by Matt "Positron" Miller! Matt discusses the features of I10, and takes a close look at Vanguard, the revamped zone, and the Rikti threat.

Check out the trailer here.

Read all about it in this special edition of the Paragon Times! Extra! Extra!

PARAGON CITY, Rhode Island, July 24 – The city’s morning calm was shattered by air raid sirens just after 10:00 a.m. The Vanguard issued an all-alerts broadcast on the Emergency Alert System declaring, “AIR RAID! PARAGON CITY! THIS IS NO DRILL!”

Read the full article here.

Discuss it here.

Read all about it in this special edition of the Paragon Times! Extra! Extra!

PARAGON CITY, Rhode Island, July 24 – The city’s morning calm was shattered by air raid sirens just after 10:00 a.m. The Vanguard issued an all-alerts broadcast on the Emergency Alert System declaring, “AIR RAID! PARAGON CITY! THIS IS NO DRILL!”

Read the full article here.

The tenth free expansion to City of Heroes,“Invasion,” introduces a new group to the world of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Vanguard’s primary role is to defend the world against alien invasion, no matter the cost. But not everyone agrees with their tactics or principles. Longbow has compiled a Top Secret report on Vanguard.

From the report:

“We have compiled a preliminary report on the Vanguard base located in the Paragon City neighborhood designated as the Rikti War Zone.

“Vanguard is an all-volunteer force funded by the United Nations Security Council. They have been in operation since the first Rikti invasion, and have maintained a philosophy of watchfulness and preparedness, always proclaiming that the next “alien threat” is lurking a day away.

“Although they have not been much in the news of late, we have observed considerable movements of troops and weaponry, and a higher-degree of battle-readiness in recent weeks than in past months. Their current command and operations center is located in the Rikti War Zone, and their primary North American agents are all stationed there."

Read the full Longbow Top Secret report here.

Discuss the report here.

Issue 19 of the Top Cow City of Heroes comic is now available for download as a PDF from our site. Issue 19, “Passing the Torch,” is the penultimate issue in the Top Cow run. It features the return of Dark Watcher, has cameos from two forum regulars, and foreshadows upcoming game events!

Check out the issue 19 PDF here.

Don't forget to check out the Community Section with the stories:

Paladine Part 2, by Goth_Angel

26 Seconds, by ParadigmShift

And art:
Windsong by John Millington
Valentine by Soulasylum
Crimson Storm by Darkjedi
And a great Group Pic by Alex Dai

And look for the conclusion to the Top Cow series, #20, which leads directly into the upcoming “Invasion” expansion. Top Cow City of Heroes #20 is on store shelves today!

Discuss #19 here.

In this lead up to the next free expansion, Issue 10: Invasion, the Paragon Times reports on a Senate inquiry questioning the role of the Vanguard today.

From the article:

“Senator Gilmore of Rhode Island today announced an inquiry to examine the United States’ role in funding of Vanguard, the United Nations special forces unit with a focus on extraterrestrial threats. Senator Gilmore said, “The Vanguard is an outdated, old-fashioned institution. It has no foreseeable purpose anymore, yet the members of the UN Security Council are expected to fund it to the tune of several billion a year?”

Read the full article here.

Discuss it here.

Well, there won't be a major announcement....but the Warriors update should be up "soon," if all goes well.

I've just been swamped getting a bunch of I10 updates going - some exciting stuff!

Thanks for all the great submissions, and thanks for your patience.

cheers,
JS

A new Paragon Times article is published today. “A City Remembers” by guest reporter UnSub looks back at the past 3 years of City of Heroes.

“Paragon City, the Birthplace of Tomorrow, has recently celebrated its third anniversary of the end of the Rikti Invasion. From the dark hours of literally fighting the Rikti on the steps of the Chiron Medical Centre in Atlas Park, the heroes and citizens of Paragon City have come far and overcome great challenges in the past three years.”

Read the full article here.

Discuss it here (fixed link!)

A few more answers:

[ QUOTE ]
Arctic_Sun...Could we implement text art over the screenshot or use borders to fame the shot?

[/ QUOTE ]

Text art. Hm. Maybe. I think it will probably lower your chances, but hey, impress me and we'll see.

Borders = bad. Just say no.

[ QUOTE ]
I have a few good ones, only issue is, my favourite has some unfortunate def penalty indicators . . . will this be a disadvantage?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure what that means. Do you mean you can see modifiers floating over people's heads? Yes, that would be bad (hence my instruction to turn off the UI).

Can villains enter? If you can find some Warriors to smack down, you're mor than welcome to enter.

Is that fair to villains? Well, no, not necessarily....but I will try to think about a similar type thing to do on the villains' side. (Feel free to throw out some ideas).

cheers,
JS

2 questions that I've seen....

OK Photoshop and colors - keep in mind that in the past we've turned the images into fragments of the Paragon Times, and made them black and white. ( See page 2 of the Tsoo Backgrounder). We might go color with these, or we might not. Just keep it in mind.

Demo edits and such like - keep in mind that all shots have to be approved by a panel of elite judges (and I'm not talking about Hasselhoff, Abdul, or even Fisher here). As such, the less your shot looks like the game, the less likely it is to be used. Taking off the restraints is an experiment for all of us this time, so consider this fair warning. On the other hand, if it's a damn cool picture, and it keeps true to the spirit of CoH or CoV, we'll do our best to showcase it.

Fair?

cheers,
JS

You spend your days patrolling the streets of Paragon, battling it out with dastardly villains. Or perhaps you spend your evenings cruising the Rogue Isles, looking for weak fools to smack down on your rise to power. Would you like to be immortalized in the background lore?

What We Want

An engaging screenshot of your character …

Fighting with the Warriors.

It can be an action shot. It can be an atmospheric shot. It can be a funny or interesting shot. It cannot be a boring shot.

DO turn your UI off.

DO take a crisp, clean, high-res image.

DO make sure your character is very visible (and preferably facing forward).

DO make sure the Warriors are also very visible.

Normally we say “DO NOT photoshop the picture” and “DO NOT manipulate the picture,” however, this time I’m going to remove this restriction and see if it makes a difference. Remember the most important element: “An engaging screenshot of your character fighting with the Warriors.”

You MAY enter ONLY ONE screenshot, although more than one character can be featured. (For example, if Lighthouse, Ex Libris, and Arctic Sun were all in a Super Group, they could each enter one screenshot. Arctic’s might feature only him, while Ex’s shows both her character and Lighthouse’s, while all three characters might be in Lighthouse’s shot – each player/account can only submit one screenshot … so make it sharp!).


Timeline:
Submissions can be made by emailing your screenshots (details below) from THURSDAY May 31st until 5:00 PM (CST) TUESDAY June 5th.

Submissions
* You may only enter 1 screenshot. If we see multiple entries from you, all entries may be disqualified.

* EMAIL submissions to cohsubmissions@plaync.com

* Screenshots MUST be JPG format, no bigger than 1024 x 768.

* Your submission MUST include:
- Your real name
- Age
- Address
- PlayNC Master Account name
- Game account name
- Character & server name (for all characters in the shot)

Winners
* Winners will be selected randomly, but with an eye towards dramatic scenes/engaging action.

* If you aren’t selected, it’s likely that it’s because the number of submissions is so high. If this goes well, you will have another opportunity to submit.

* Anywhere from one to four winners will be selected. Winning screenshots will be featured in a web site article.

* Screenshots that are too dark, too small, or otherwise unclear will be disqualified.

For full submission guidelines & legal notice, please click here.

OK, Let’s get down to it boppers!

To discuss this, click here.

You spend your days patrolling the streets of Paragon, battling it out with dastardly villains. Or perhaps you spend your evenings cruising the Rogue Isles, looking for weak fools to smack down on your rise to power. Would you like to be immortalized in the background lore?

What We Want

An engaging screenshot of your character …

Fighting with the Warriors.

It can be an action shot. It can be an atmospheric shot. It can be a funny or interesting shot. It cannot be a boring shot.

DO turn your UI off.

DO take a crisp, clean, high-res image.

DO make sure your character is very visible (and preferably facing forward).

DO make sure the Warriors are also very visible.

Normally we say “DO NOT photoshop the picture” and “DO NOT manipulate the picture,” however, this time I’m going to remove this restriction and see if it makes a difference. Remember the most important element: “An engaging screenshot of your character fighting with the Warriors.”

You MAY enter ONLY ONE screenshot, although more than one character can be featured. (For example, if Lighthouse, Ex Libris, and Arctic Sun were all in a Super Group, they could each enter one screenshot. Arctic’s might feature only him, while Ex’s shows both her character and Lighthouse’s, while all three characters might be in Lighthouse’s shot – each player/account can only submit one screenshot … so make it sharp!).


Timeline:
Submissions can be made by emailing your screenshots (details below) from THURSDAY May 31st until 5:00 PM (CST) TUESDAY June 5th.

Submissions
* You may only enter 1 screenshot. If we see multiple entries from you, all entries may be disqualified.

* EMAIL submissions to cohsubmissions@plaync.com

* Screenshots MUST be JPG format, no bigger than 1024 x 768.

* Your submission MUST include:
- Your real name
- Age
- Address
- PlayNC Master Account name
- Game account name
- Character & server name (for all characters in the shot)

Winners
* Winners will be selected randomly, but with an eye towards dramatic scenes/engaging action.

* If you aren’t selected, it’s likely that it’s because the number of submissions is so high. If this goes well, you will have another opportunity to submit.

* Anywhere from one to four winners will be selected. Winning screenshots will be featured in a web site article.

* Screenshots that are too dark, too small, or otherwise unclear will be disqualified.

For full submission guidelines & legal notice, please click here.

OK, Let’s get down to it boppers!

The Warriors, a group of street punks loosely inspired by ancient Greek military traditions, are one of the most infamous gangs in Paragon City.

Can you dig it? The Warriors are at the top of the food chain in Talos Island, and control the lion’s share of blackmarket antiquities sales, particularly concerning dangerous magical artifacts. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing…


We want to hear your stories about dealing with the Warriors. Keep ‘em short, and keep ‘em in character.

Make sure you include:

- Your character’s name.
- Server.
- Names of any allies you were working with at the time.
- Brief description of the event / encounter. (Please aim to keep it under 300 words. You *can* submit longer ones, but I may not read ‘em. Can you count, suckers?).

Cut off date - June 6!

OK, Let’s get down to it boppers!

NOTE: I’ll be looking for the best bits to incorporate into the official Warriors Backgrounder. No promises that we’ll necessarily use any, of course, and we reserve the right to edit the testimonials in any way necessary to suit our purposes.

To post an in-character testimonial, go to this thread.

We are pleased to announce issues 17 & 18 of the Top Cow City of Heroes comic are available for free download.

You can download them here.

In the Community Pages, you'll find parts 1 & 2 of "Rose in Bloom" by Roughtrade, a look into the dark mirror of the Praetorian universe. (in issue 17 & 18)

You'll also find part 1 of "Paladine" by Goth_Angel, another look at a tragic alternate Earth. (in issue 18)

And there's some amazing fan art in both issues:

Issue 17
Statesgirl - by Matt H.
The Purple Bomber - by Anthony Goodsell
Slip Stream - by Liz
Astroblasto - by Kevin G.

Issue 18
Mach - by Chaz Kemp
Electracutionar - by Maxxrpg
Cat Stryke - by Lunaseas
The Best Mind - by Anthony Goodsell

And some fun Q-Forces in each issue.

Discuss it here!

[ QUOTE ]
uhm...is Erica related to Dr. Girlfriend?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Dr. Girlfriend's voice is much deeper and sexier.

She's not even related to Lord Fanny, though it might be a closer guess.

cheers,
JS

For a slightly different perspective on the story, check out Top Down Paragon's radio coverage, available in streaming or downloadable versions.

Huge *thanks!* to DJ Jester and w00t for putting this together!

cheers,
JS

The Paragon Times covers Statesman’s Task Force.

PARAGON CITY, Rhode Island, April 30 – A stalwart Statesman addressed the heroes of Paragon City today at an early morning press conference in front of City Hall in Atlas Park. He was accompanied by several members of the Freedom Phalanx, including Numina and Sister Psyche, and called the conference to discuss the ongoing threat of the Rogue Isles.

Read the full coverage here.

And discuss it here.

The Paragon Times covers Statesman’s Task Force.

PARAGON CITY, Rhode Island, April 30 – A stalwart Statesman addressed the heroes of Paragon City today at an early morning press conference in front of City Hall in Atlas Park. He was accompanied by several members of the Freedom Phalanx, including Numina and Sister Psyche, and called the conference to discuss the ongoing threat of the Rogue Isles.

Read the full coverage here.

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, I must agree with that. It does seem odd that they're wielding the Void Hunter rifles so frequently. Maybe it's a subtle hint that there's more to them than they're telling us right now. Maybe the Knives are involved in some way with the Void Hunters and Quantums. Or maybe they just used some screenshots that ultimately weren't as appropriate as they could have been.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or maybe the Kheldian in Lighthouse just drew out the Quantum in the sisterhood.