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Release notes for Issue #17: Dark Mirror.
This issue contains a significant upgrade to the look of the game, some new content, and many quality of life improvements.
Ultra Mode- Ultra Mode is a superior graphics rendering process that gives City of Heroes a heightened level of detail in lighting, reflections, shadows, and water effects.
- Ultra Mode is intended for players who have higher-end graphic cards. Each feature can be enabled or disabled in the graphics menu options and will be scalable. Ultra Mode works on both Macs and PCs. To be specific, it offers dynamic shadows, screen-space ambient occlusion, and dynamic environment reflections (including planar reflections and environment mapping of reflective surfaces).
- At the log-in screen, there will now be a one-time pop-up window if the client detects that your graphics card can handle Ultra Mode features. You'll be able to chose from Ultra Mode's Quality or Ultra settings or cancel the choice.
- Some graphic options do not appear until Apply Now is selected. In the Options Menu, the "Apply Now" button will change colors when you select any graphics change that has not been applied yet.
- Known issue - Catalyst 10.2 drivers have a conflict with Ultra Mode features. After toggling between graphics quality levels and pushing "Apply" in the UI the game framerate may drop dramatically until you quit the game and restart. In order to avoid this issue please update your drivers to the latest 10.4 version.
- Menu Options for Ultra Mode:
- "Graphics Quality" slider
- Previously there were 4 notches in this slider. With Issue 17, we have expanded it to include a 5th notch, "Ultra". The notches currently behave as follows:
- Minimum, Performance, Recommended - these 3 settings remain unchanged from Issue 16. No new graphics features are enabled.
- Quality - enables all of the new Ultra Mode features (shadows, building/character reflections, water reflections and ambient occlusion), each in a "fast" configuration.
- Shadows set to "ShadowMaps" at Low Quality
- Environment Reflections set to Low Quality
- Water Effects set to High QualityAmbient Occlusions set to High Performance
- Ultra - enables all of the Ultra Mode features in a high quality configuration.
- Shadows set to "ShadowMaps" at High Quality - Real-time shadows and self shadowing. The sun now casts shadows that are relevant to the time of day. Characters cast shadows on themselves.
- Environment Reflections set to High Quality - Windows and reflective materials mirror the world around them.
- Water Effects set to Ultra Quality - Water ripples, reflects and moves realistically.
- Previously there were 4 notches in this slider. With Issue 17, we have expanded it to include a 5th notch, "Ultra". The notches currently behave as follows:
- "Advanced" settings
- "Water Effects"
- The "Water Effects" Option was changed from:
- None
- Low Quality: refractions without depth
- High Quality: refractions with depth
- To:
- None
- Low Quality (same as before)
- Medium Quality (old High Quality)
- High Quality: Medium Quality plus some reflections
- Ultra Quality: Medium Quality plus lots of reflections
- The "Water Effects" Option was changed from:
- "Water Effects"
- Full Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) - We have moved this setting out of the advanced graphics options and placed it on the main graphics options pane.
- "Graphics Quality" slider
New Power Set: Demon Summoning- Issue 17 introduces the Demon Summoning power set. Like Dual Pistols, this set is tied to the Going Rogue expansion, but will be unlocked in Issue 17 for players who prepurchase the Going Rogue Expansion.
- Demon Summoning is a primary power choice for the Mastermind archetype and is also the power set used by the Going Rogue signature character Desdemona.
- This power set allows the player to summon elemental demons that can manipulate flame, cold and hellfire. However, what truly sets this power set apart from other Mastermind primary power sets are the summoner's hellfire whip attacks that deal both fire and toxic damage and reduce the target's damage resistance.
- The Demon Summoning Power Set is comprised of the following powers:
- Corruption
- Summon Demonlings
- Lash
- Enchant Demon
- Crack Whip
- Summon Demons
- Hell on Earth
- Summon Demon Prince
- Abyssal Empowerment
Mission Architect Changes- There have been some upgrades to the Mission Architect system:
- Mission Architect Experience Rewards
- Previously, if the player made any changes to make the enemies they face in Mission Architect easier, they would receive zero experience for those enemies. We've made an adjustment to allow players to handpick the powers for custom enemies and still receive experience for them, but not be able to exploit weaker enemies for unfair experience gain. Now, every power for custom critters has been weighted individually.
- New Mission Architect Maps
- Approximately 20 new unique maps have been added to the Mission Architect system.
- Giant Monsters Added
- Players can now add giant monsters to most outdoor maps in Mission Architect. Defeating Giant Monsters in Mission Architect will not grant any badges associated with them.
- Arachnos Flyer
- Deathsurge
- Caleb
- Babbage
- Clockwork Paladin
- Stropharia
- Thorn
- Eochai
- Kraken
- Kronos Titan
- Jack in Irons
- Ghost of Scrapyard
- Players can now add giant monsters to most outdoor maps in Mission Architect. Defeating Giant Monsters in Mission Architect will not grant any badges associated with them.
- Exit Mission on Complete
- Mission Architect Authors can now specify that players have to leave the mission manually on completion.
- Escort Improvements
- "Lead to Place" technology allows Authors more control over escort objectives
- File size for missions has been doubled to 200kb.
- Mission Architect Experience Rewards
- These archetypes are now unlocked as soon as one of your characters reaches level 20 on the appropriate side, instead of level 50.
Mission Updates- Contacts in starting zones (Atlas Park, Galaxy City, Mercy Isle) should, in general, no longer send players into dangerous neighborhoods to reach low-level (1-5) missions. Travel times will often be shorter to reach these mission doors, as well.
- Players can now have 7 active missions, instead of just 3.
- Show Last Objective: This allows players to be able to find their last objective on a mission map, making it easier to find something they missed.
- Contacts give out their cell phone number sooner.
- In the mission window and when talking to a contact with whom one has a standing mission, there is now an option to abandon that mission. This does not complete the mission. This is not available during "Task Force mode."
- Evil (and good) has a new face. Check out new story arcs for a new kind of enemy.
- For Heroes:
- Field Agent Keith Nance has arrived in Talos Island to investigate charges of treason. He realizes he has the wrong suspect so he needs your help to solve the case.
- Once you've cleared things up with the government and Keith Nance, he directs you to Special Agent Jenni Adair who has just come into some new information.
- For Villains
- Dean MacArthur in Sharkhead Isle has some information on the troublesome hero, Ajax, who has been spotted in the Rogue Isles recently.
- After you are finished with Dean MacArthur, you can look up Leonard Silmon, who is interested in a new group called "Mane Corp".
- For Heroes:
Task Forces and Strike Forces- For Heroes:
- The Positron Task Force has been updated. Please check out this dramatic upgrade of a classic Task Force.
- The original Positron's Task Force is available in "The New Recruits" flashback arc. Completing either the new Task Force or the original will grant the Positron's Ally badge.
- For Villains:
- The Silver Mantis Strike Force is now accessed via Silver Mantis, located in Sharkhead Isle. (This Strike Force was previously accessed only via mission computer in a supergroup base.) Players will also be able to run this Strike Force from their Supergroup computer. This adjustment makes the Silver Mantis Strike Force accessible to players who are not part of a Supergroup and ensures that the Strike Force is available both in a zone and in a supergroup base.
Task Force Difficulty- Notoriety Settings will now affect Task Forces and Strike Forces as follows:
- Setting level to -1 will set level to +0 (not -1)
- Setting team size will affect spawn sizes accordingly
- "Allow Bosses" will always be enabled
- "Allow AVs" will always be enabled.
Badges- There are now at least 8 exploration badges in every city zone. Happy hunting.
- There is now an Accolade for finding all of the exploration badges in each zone (i.e. Atlas Park Explorer, Mercy Isle Explorer, etc.)
- There is now a badge for finding 500 badges. And one for 750.
- All new story arcs have badges associated with them
- The new Positron Task force is split into two halves, each of which grants a new badge. Getting both badges grants Positron's Ally. Players who already have the Positron's Ally badge will keep it, and it is still possible to earn it through the original Positron Task Force via flashback.
Invention- Crafted Temporary Powers - added several new recipes for Temp Powers, and shifted these recipes in the crafting UI to make them easier to find.
Tailor Updates- Updated Costumes - certain costume sets have been specially updated to take advantage of Ultra Mode features:
- Armored
- Cyborg
- Enforcer
- Tech Sleek
- Valkyrie
- Vanguard
- Metallic
- New Costume Part: Animated Tails - most types of tails in the game now have a version that moves.
- The original tails remain available. Both versions can be found in a brand new costume part, separate from belts.
- Depending on which costume part you are changing, the zoom button now creates new views and stances to better see that section of your character.
- There are new weapon options for Dual Pistols
- Improved Sorting Options
- Your Consignment House transactions are now sorted into separate tabs for each category, such as Selling or Bidding. Each tab will indicate how many transaction slots are being used by that tab. There is also an All tab, where you can find all of your transactions. You can resize the transaction pane by dragging the border separating the search pane from the transaction pane.
- For Sale and Bidding Radio Buttons
- Search results can be further filtered by the "For Sale" and "Bidding" radio buttons. For example, with Bidding toggled on, the Consignment House will only show items with bids. With both "For Sale" and "Bidding" toggled on, only results that are both for sale and with bids will be shown.
- Text Autocomplete
- The search bar now supports auto-completion of text. Start typing, and press Tab to auto-complete the current word. When you are ready to search for the item, press the Search button. If you turn off Autocomplete (by unselecting the radio button), searching will function as it did prior to Issue 17.
- One Click to find all Salvage used in Recipe
- Search results for salvage now provide for one-click searching for any recipes that use the salvage. Just click on the text, "Search for Recipes that use this salvage".
- The "More" Button is Replaced
- Instead of the More button, simply click on an item in your transaction inventory to bring up information on that item. Click on the Find button to search for that piece of auction inventory.
- Warning if Selling salvage that is used in a recipe that is owned.
- When selling salvage that is used in a recipe you own, you now receive a warning message.
- Item Level Dials
- We replaced the item level drop-down lists with up and down arrows to dial-in the desired level range. Alternatively, you can type directly over the level number.
- Tintable Window Border
- The Auction House window is tintable, just like other interface windows. Window color can be changed in the "Graphics and Audio" section of the Options Menu. The Auction House window can also be made transparent.
Email Improvements- The email system can now send to @global names.
- Global emails can have influence or items attached
- Heroes can only send emails with attachments to Heroes, and Villains can only send emails with attachments to Villains
- The UI for writing emails has been slightly improved
Audio Updates- Sounds now position in 3D space in both Sound Playback Modes.
- 3D Sound option now properly supports 5.1 Surround Sound.
- The Music Volume slider now correctly controls all music in the game.
- Many new and updated sounds (footsteps, vehicles, citizens, flight, swim).
- Cleaned up a number of old sound bugs.
Vigilance for Defenders Upgraded- The Vigilance inherent power has been improved to give benefits to Defenders who are not in groups. To that end, in addition to the increasing Endurance discount in groups, Vigilance now adds a damage buff which only applies fully when solo. The damage buff degrades as more team members are added. The buff starts small and increases until it is a 30% increase to (unenhanced) damage at level 20 and above, minus 10% per additional team member.
New Emotes- Dig
- Picklock
- Spraypaint
- Jackhammer
- Warmhands
Arena Updates- Added a button that displays the score of an Arena match while the match is still being played.
- Exiting an arena match is now a two-step process: first you open the score window, and then choose to exit the match from there. You can no longer leave the match from just clicking on the Exit button in the navigation window.
- The arena UI no longer resets some settings to their default values between matches during the same client session.
- The options within the upper left master dropdown in the arena window have been broken up into multiple separate dropdowns, allowing for further player customization of match settings.
And more fixes/changes:
COMBINED
Auction House- Influence from sold items cannot be claimed and Bids cannot be canceled until doing so will not put the character's total influence over their cap (Normal accounts capped at 2 billion, Trial accounts capped at 50k).
Invention[list][*]Blessing of the Zephyr: This set's bonuses were significantly decreased as the 2 and 3 piece set bonuses were far too powerful, allowing players to easily stack 5 copies of these buffs for minimal slot usage.- Decreased the 2 piece set bonus from this set from +3.125% Ranged Defense, +1.563% Energy and Negative Energy Defense to +1.25% Ranged Defense, +.625% Energy and Negative Energy Defense.
- Decreased the 3 piece set bonus from this set from +3.125% AoE Defense, +1.563% Fire and Cold Defense to +1.875% AoE Defense and +.938% Fire and Cold Defense.
Powers
General- Player Buff fix. Some buff powers had been recently changed to affect a max of 16 player allies (including pets), which had implications in some groups and in large outdoor fights. These are now fixed to affect up to 255 targets. The powers affected are:
- Power Pool - Flight/Group Fly
- Power Pool - Leadership/Maneuvers, Tactics, Assault, Vengeance
- Power Pool - Teleport/Team Teleport
- Arachnos Soldier - Teamwork/Training and Gadgets Tactical Training/Assault
- Arachnos Soldier - Teamwork/Training and Gadgets Tactical Training: Maneuvers
- Arachnos Soldier - Training and Gadgets Tactical Training/Leadership
- Arachnos Widow - Fortunata Teamwork/Mind Link
- Arachnos Widow - Fortunata Teamwork: Tactical Training: Vengeance
- Arachnos Widow - Teamwork Tactical Training/Leadership
- Cold Domination/Arctic Fog
- Cold Domination/Heat Loss +Recovery effect
- Dark Miasma/Howling Twilight Rez effect
- Dark Miasma/Shadow Fall
- Dark Miasma/Twilight Grasp Heal effect
- Empathy/Healing Aura, Recovery Aura and Regeneration Aura
- Kinetics/Transfusion Heal effect
- Kinetics/Transference +Endurance effect
- Kinetics/Fulcrum Shift +Damage effect
- Kinetics/Siphon Power +Damage effect
- Pain Domination/Nullify Pain, Soothing Aura, World of Pain
- Peacebringers/Luminous Aura Group Energy Flight
- Plant Control/Spirit Tree +Regeneration effect
- Police-bot +Perception effect
- Robotics/Protector Bots Dispersion Bubble
- Storm Summoning : Steamy Mist
- Traps/Force Field Generator Dispersion Bubble
- Traps/Triage Beacon +Regeneration effect
- Dual Pistols\Dual Wield (All): This power now accepts Knockback IO sets.
- Mystic Fortune buff is now automatically granted. There is no longer a pop-up window to accept or decline the buff.
- Stealth and Invisibility powers will now cause your character to cast no shadow. This does not apply to the Stealth from SuperSpeed.
- It is no longer possible to use Teleport Foe on enemies while they are inside Hospital recovery rooms.
- Dual Pistols (All)/Bullet Rain: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's secondary damage effect to be slightly higher than normal in PvP.
- Dual Pistols (All)/Empty Clips: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's secondary damage effect to be slightly higher than normal in PvP.
- Dual Pistols(All)/Swap Ammo: Fixed a bug that would cause the ammo powers granted to the player by Swap Ammo to not apply if the player was in an environment where temporary powers are disabled.
- You now respawn with full health and endurance when you spawn in a hospital in Bloody Bay, Siren's Call, Warburg, and Recluse's Victory.
User Interface- The color of the splash notices for recipe drops now correspond to the color-coded rarity of the recipe: White for common; yellow for uncommon; orange for rare; and purple for very rare.
- Now when you respec, there is a "Current Respec Level" counter in the upper right when you're picking powers
- Fixed a bug which sometimes caused the cursor not to appear in fullscreen mode for Windows Vista.
- The command "show_bind <key>" shows what commands are bound to the key
CITY OF HEROES
Powers
Defenders- Dual Pistols/Piercing Rounds: Fixed a bug that would cause this power's PvP damage to be lower than it should be.
CITY OF VILLAINS
Powers
Masterminds
- Traps/Caltrops - this power no longer accepts Melee AoE Enhancement sets.
-
In order to investigate and correct an issue that is currently affecting stacks of items in the Auction House system, the Wentworth Consignment Houses and Black Markets will be unavailable starting today Thursday, April 29th at 1:30pm BST (4:30pm EST / 9:30pm BST / 22:30 CEST) until further notice.
We apologize for this inconvenience and want to emphasize that this unavailability is to allow us to get this problem fixed but also for our players not to lose items in the meantime and cause further inconvenience.
We thank you for your patience and understanding with this matter. -
And the live servers are now back up and running! Enjoy!
-
The maintenance is taking a little longer than normal but we'll keep you posted as soon as the live servers are up!
Thank you for your patience ! -
And better late than never! Kidengineer you were almost there. Instead of Mole, it was xray so well done Modern_Voodoo! Shoot me a PM to let me know what costume code you want
Here is the solution wordblock:
-
Submissions open on Mondays only from 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM Eastern Time / 6PM GMT / 19:00 Central European Time) until 5:00 PM Pacific Time (8:00 PM Eastern Time / 1:00 AM GMT / 2:00 Central European Time) between January 11, 2010 and July 26, 2010).
Welcome to our "Search the words, save the world" forum mission!
A super computer turned evil codenamed Ebil-o is attempting to take over our most powerful nations' computer systems and exterminate us puny human beings (how original, huh?). However, every week, a short window of opportunity allows us to break into Ebil-o's matrix and reset the timer leading to our undoubtedly apocalyptic end!
How do we do that, I hear you ask? Well, we happen to have an anonymous little helper and each week, he or she snail mails us a word search puzzle containing anywhere between 10 to 15 words related to City of Heroes related theme (Ebil-o likes City of Heroes; apparently, it helps him unwind after a long day hard at work planning to get rid of humanity).
Each week a new theme will be passed along and you will need to find the exact number of words youre being told exists within the block of letters you are given.
Your opportunity to save us all is through a word block located at the bottom of this post.
The goal is to be the first one to find the words based on the theme (without being told what they are), circle them in the word block (using Paint or an equivalent program) and then list them below it.
If you are the first one to answer with the correct words, you win and only then will we be able to input the words into Ebil-o's matrix, thus delaying our impending doom. As a token of our gratitude, we'll give you the "Ebil-o FTL [date]" forum title as well as 1 (one) costume code amongst the following ones:
- Carnival of Shadows Harlequin
- Freakshow Tank Boss
- Paragon Police Department Hardsuit
- Carnival of Shadows Ring Mistress
- Knives of Artemis Lt.
- Praetorian Clockwork
Rules
1) Reply in the official City of Heroes® forum (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/) thread created for each weekly " Search the words, save the world Contest with your submission.
2) Your reply must contain a number of words or names that will be defined every time this contest is run. Please refrain from posting more than the number of words indicated in every contest post. Only post the correct number of words or names, even if you notice duplicates..
3) Your reply must also contain the following statement. Please note that your submission will be disqualified if this statement is not present in your post:
If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
4) To enter the contest weekly, as of January 11, 2010, you must be 13 years of age or older. If a winner is under 18 or a minor in his or her state/province/country of residence, his or her parent or guardian must also sign any applicable releases and documentation.
5) Please note, only 1 (one) entry per forum account will be accepted. If you post a second time, you'll get disqualified, so make your one entry count! Also, once you have posted your entry, do NOT edit it as any edit will disqualify you from that day's forum game.
6) Entries must conform to the Official City of Heroes Message Forum Rules and Guidelines and to the Contest Official Rules and Conditions.
7) [I] If you win the City of Heroes® Search the words, save the world Contest one week, you are not eligible to do so again for the next 8 weeks. This is to allow other people the opportunity to win. Please be courteous to others and refrain from participating during the weeks you are not eligible to win.
-After reading the feedback from previous "Search the Words, Save the World" puzzles, I have made a few changes to how this will work and removed the failsafe.
- Note that if a word includes more than 1 word, they will run together in the puzzle. Example - Envoy of Shadows would be found in the puzzle as ENVOYOFSHADOWS
If there is not a winner by the end of the day, I will post the solution.
This week's word list consists of 15 Names related to Firebase Zulu (Contacts, Neighborhoods, Enemy factions). Only last names or non-repetitive names were used for this word block.
Monday, April 26th, 2010 - Word Block
Good luck all, and don't forget that the fate of the world is in your hands! -
The Live European City of Heroes servers will be offline for a network maintenance on Tuesday, 27th April 2010.
Start Time: 6AM British Summer Time (7:00 Central European Summer Time)
Expected Duration: 2 hours
Expected Finish Time: 8AM BST (9:00 CEST)
We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience! -
And our European players are welcome to start submitting their questions to formspring from 8AM British Summer Time (9:00 Central European Summer Time) on Friday, 23rd April.
Thank you! -
It's that time of year again...for heroes and villains to reflect and rejoice!
We're turning six years old and want you to help us celebrate.
With Issue 17 on the way and Going Rogue™ just around the corner, the phrase: You're not getting older, you're just getting better has never been so true.
So many of you have been with us from the very beginning, and while we could never do enough to truly show you our gratitude and appreciation, we do have some fun activities planned to help us ring in our anniversary with style!
Please join us for a month of celebration starting on our birthday, April 28th and continuing on throughout the month of May.
Read on and plan accordingly so you don't miss any of the fun!
Issue 17: Dark Mirror
We'll start with the biggest news first. In honor of our Six Year Anniversary we are proud to announce that Issue 17: Dark Mirror will officially release on our birthday, April 28th!
The amazing visuals made possible by Ultra Mode plus new story arcs, player emotes, numerous Mission Architect additions, the introduction of animated tails and much more will hit the live servers for your enjoyment next Wednesday.
As part of this release you will be receiving:
- 1 Free Respec (so use up your current one if you still have it to make room for this one!)
- 1 Costume Token per unlocked costume slot.
In-Game Events
Gameplay Fun!
You may have noticed that things tend to get a little... "out of hand" in-game on our anniversaries. Well, this year will be no exception! On Monday, April 26th and Tuesday, April 27th, get ready for chaos to break loose on a server near you! Don't miss out on this opportunity to band together with your fellow players to defeat giant obstacles, earn merits, badges, XP and maybe even pick up a 30 day anniversary title!
*Click here for the list of days, servers and times!
In-Game Training Room Meet and Greet with the Devs!
The developers want to wish you happy anniversary personally on Wednesday the 28th, so please join us at the following times in Pocket D on the North American and European Training Rooms:
*EU Training Room - 9am - 1pm PST, Wednesday, April 28th- 9-10am PST (12-1pm EST / 5-6pm British Time / 18:00-19:00 Central European Summer Time) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
- 10am- 12:00pm PST (1-3pm EST / 6-8pm British Time / 19:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "Positron" Miller
- 10am-11am PST (1-2pm EST / 6-7pm British Time / 19:00-20:00 Central European Summer Time) - Floyd "Castle" Grubb
- 11am-12pm PST (2-3pm EST / 7-8pm British Time / 20:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "The Television" Stults
- 12pm-1pm PST (3-4pm EST / 8-9pm British Time / 21:00-22:00 Central European Summer Time) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres
- 3-4pm PST(6-7pm EST) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
- 4pm- 6pm PST (6-8pm EST) - Matt "Positron" Miller
- 4pm-5pm PST (7-8pm EST) - Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres
- 5pm-6pm PST (8-9pm EST) - Floyd "Castle" Grub
- 6pm-7pm PST (9-10pm EST) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Matt "The Television" Stults
If you don't currently have a copy of your character on The Training Room, make sure to transfer him/her there so that you can pay the Devs a visit! Go here to transfer your character now.
*Please note: Due to the content release on this day, if any problems with Issue 17 arise that require Dev attention, we reserve the right to reschedule the North American Training Room In-game "Meet and Greet" Event to another day/time.
Global Anniversary Address From War Witch
This year, the baton has been passed to War Witch who will present the 6 Year Anniversary Address to players. At approximately 8pm EST in-game (and shortly thereafter on the website), she will share some words of wisdom that will no doubt reflect on the past and help us all look forward to the future!
Declare Your Loyalty Anniversary Contest!
Leave your mark on Praetoria forever! Be watching the website within the next week for the debut of our "Declare Your Loyalty" Anniversary Contest which will allow Loyalists to create a piece of propaganda for a billboard in Praetoria and Resistance supporters to create a piece of graffiti that will appear around the city. The best thing about this contest? Winning entries in both categories will all be considered for inclusion in the game! There will be other great prizes too, of course!
Specifics are coming soon, but you only have three weeks to enter, start thinking creatively now about the piece of propaganda or graffiti that you want to submit. With any luck it will become a part of City of Heroes® for the rest of time!
Player Run Activities/Events
We're pleased to share that our players are getting involved by throwing their own anniversary-related activities and events. Keep an eye on the website and message board for what the "Off The Cape" Podcast and thecaperadio.com are up to for our six year anniversary. If you're planning on doing something for your fellow heroes/villains to mark the occasion, let us know! Send an email to cohcommunity@ncsoft.com and we'll help you promote it!
6 Year Anniversary Badge
Another year means another commemorative badge!
Beginning at 11am EST on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 and continuing until 11:59pm EST on Monday, May 31st, we will be issuing each individual character you log into the game with, the following 6 Year Anniversary badge:
Just a reminder - this badge will be awarded per character, not per account, so be sure to log those characters into the game starting next Saturday, May 1st, if you want them to get the anniversary badge!
It all starts this coming Monday the 26th and we hope you'll join us celebrate the fact that we're six years and going strong!
Thanks for helping us make City of Heroes® the longest-running and most popular comic book-inspired MMO in existence.
Happy Anniversary! -
Depending on your server, report to Atlas Park or Talos Island (if you’re a hero), and Cap au Diable (if you’re a villain)!
Monday, April 26th- Zukunft (10am-1pm PST / 1pm-4pm EST / 6pm-9pm British Summer Time / 19:00-22:00 Central European Time)
- Union (11am-2pm PST / 2pm-5pm EST / 7pm-10pm British Summer Time / 20:00-23:00 Central European Time)
- Virtue (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Victory (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Champion (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Pinnacle (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Liberty (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Justice (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
Tuesday, April 27th- Vigilance (10am-1pm PST / 1pm-4pm EST / 6pm-9pm British Summer Time / 19:00-22:00 Central European Time)
- Defiant ((11am-2pm PST / 2pm-5pm EST / 7pm-10pm British Summer Time / 20:00-23:00 Central European Time)
- Freedom (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Guardian (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Infinity (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Protector (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
- Triumph (4-7pm PST / 7pm-10pm EST)
-
It's that time of year again...for heroes and villains to reflect and rejoice!
We're turning six years old and want you to help us celebrate.
With Issue 17 on the way and Going Rogue™ just around the corner, the phrase: You're not getting older, you're just getting better has never been so true.
So many of you have been with us from the very beginning, and while we could never do enough to truly show you our gratitude and appreciation, we do have some fun activities planned to help us ring in our anniversary with style!
Please join us for a month of celebration starting on our birthday, April 28th and continuing on throughout the month of May.
Read on and plan accordingly so you don't miss any of the fun!
Issue 17: Dark Mirror
We'll start with the biggest news first. In honor of our Six Year Anniversary we are proud to announce that Issue 17: Dark Mirror will officially release on our birthday, April 28th!
The amazing visuals made possible by Ultra Mode plus new story arcs, player emotes, numerous Mission Architect additions, the introduction of animated tails and much more will hit the live servers for your enjoyment next Wednesday.
As part of this release you will be receiving:
- 1 Free Respec (so use up your current one if you still have it to make room for this one!)
- 1 Costume Token per unlocked costume slot.
In-Game Events
Gameplay Fun!
You may have noticed that things tend to get a little... "out of hand" in-game on our anniversaries. Well, this year will be no exception! On Monday, April 26th and Tuesday, April 27th, get ready for chaos to break loose on a server near you! Don't miss out on this opportunity to band together with your fellow players to defeat giant obstacles, earn merits, badges, XP and maybe even pick up a 30 day anniversary title!
*Click here for the list of days, servers and times!
In-Game Training Room Meet and Greet with the Devs!
The developers want to wish you happy anniversary personally on Wednesday the 28th, so please join us at the following times in Pocket D on the North American and European Training Rooms:
*EU Training Room - 9am - 1pm PST, Wednesday, April 28th- 9-10am PST (12-1pm EST / 5-6pm British Time / 18:00-19:00 Central European Summer Time) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
- 10am- 12:00pm PST (1-3pm EST / 6-8pm British Time / 19:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "Positron" Miller
- 10am-11am PST (1-2pm EST / 6-7pm British Time / 19:00-20:00 Central European Summer Time) - Floyd "Castle" Grubb
- 11am-12pm PST (2-3pm EST / 7-8pm British Time / 20:00-21:00 Central European Summer Time) - Matt "The Television" Stults
- 12pm-1pm PST (3-4pm EST / 8-9pm British Time / 21:00-22:00 Central European Summer Time) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres
- 3-4pm PST(6-7pm EST) - Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann
- 4pm- 6pm PST (6-8pm EST) - Matt "Positron" Miller
- 4pm-5pm PST (7-8pm EST) - Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres
- 5pm-6pm PST (8-9pm EST) - Floyd "Castle" Grub
- 6pm-7pm PST (9-10pm EST) - Chris "Back Alley Brawler" Bruce, Matt "The Television" Stults
If you don't currently have a copy of your character on The Training Room, make sure to transfer him/her there so that you can pay the Devs a visit! Go here to transfer your character now.
*Please note: Due to the content release on this day, if any problems with Issue 17 arise that require Dev attention, we reserve the right to reschedule the North American Training Room In-game "Meet and Greet" Event to another day/time.
Global Anniversary Address From War Witch
This year, the baton has been passed to War Witch who will present the 6 Year Anniversary Address to players. At approximately 8pm EST in-game (and shortly thereafter on the website), she will share some words of wisdom that will no doubt reflect on the past and help us all look forward to the future!
Declare Your Loyalty Anniversary Contest!
Leave your mark on Praetoria forever! Be watching the website within the next week for the debut of our "Declare Your Loyalty" Anniversary Contest which will allow Loyalists to create a piece of propaganda for a billboard in Praetoria and Resistance supporters to create a piece of graffiti that will appear around the city. The best thing about this contest? Winning entries in both categories will all be considered for inclusion in the game! There will be other great prizes too, of course!
Specifics are coming soon, but you only have three weeks to enter, start thinking creatively now about the piece of propaganda or graffiti that you want to submit. With any luck it will become a part of City of Heroes® for the rest of time!
Player Run Activities/Events
We're pleased to share that our players are getting involved by throwing their own anniversary-related activities and events. Keep an eye on the website and message board for what the "Off The Cape" Podcast and thecaperadio.com are up to for our six year anniversary. If you're planning on doing something for your fellow heroes/villains to mark the occasion, let us know! Send an email to cohcommunity@ncsoft.com and we'll help you promote it!
6 Year Anniversary Badge
Another year means another commemorative badge!
Beginning at 11am EST on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 and continuing until 11:59pm EST on Monday, May 31st, we will be issuing each individual character you log into the game with, the following 6 Year Anniversary badge:
Just a reminder - this badge will be awarded per character, not per account, so be sure to log those characters into the game starting next Saturday, May 1st, if you want them to get the anniversary badge!
It all starts this coming Monday the 26th and we hope you'll join us celebrate the fact that we're six years and going strong!
Thanks for helping us make City of Heroes® the longest-running and most popular comic book-inspired MMO in existence.
Happy Anniversary!
Join in the Community discussion here! -
Smash-Zone it was a good effort but unfortunately it was indeed 15 different powers. While Frag Grenade was there twice, the 15th was really Grenade. I know that was vicious of me...
Congratulations Biidi! Send me a PM with the costume code you would like to get (and whether it's a North American or European code youneed) and I'll get that to you asap.
Thanks all! -
Submissions open on Mondays only from 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM Eastern Time / 6PM GMT / 19:00 Central European Time) until 5:00 PM Pacific Time (8:00 PM Eastern Time / 1:00 AM GMT / 2:00 Central European Time) between January 11, 2010 and July 26, 2010).
Welcome to our "Search the words, save the world" forum mission!
A super computer turned evil codenamed Ebil-o is attempting to take over our most powerful nations' computer systems and exterminate us puny human beings (how original, huh?). However, every week, a short window of opportunity allows us to break into Ebil-o's matrix and reset the timer leading to our undoubtedly apocalyptic end!
How do we do that, I hear you ask? Well, we happen to have an anonymous little helper and each week, he or she snail mails us a word search puzzle containing anywhere between 10 to 15 words related to City of Heroes related theme (Ebil-o likes City of Heroes; apparently, it helps him unwind after a long day hard at work planning to get rid of humanity).
Each week a new theme will be passed along and you will need to find the exact number of words youre being told exists within the block of letters you are given.
Your opportunity to save us all is through a word block located at the bottom of this post.
The goal is to be the first one to find the words based on the theme (without being told what they are), circle them in the word block (using Paint or an equivalent program) and then list them below it.
If you are the first one to answer with the correct words, you win and only then will we be able to input the words into Ebil-o's matrix, thus delaying our impending doom. As a token of our gratitude, we'll give you the "Ebil-o FTL [date]" forum title as well as 1 (one) costume code amongst the following ones:
- Carnival of Shadows Harlequin
- Freakshow Tank Boss
- Paragon Police Department Hardsuit
- Carnival of Shadows Ring Mistress
- Knives of Artemis Lt.
- Praetorian Clockwork
Rules
1) Reply in the official City of Heroes® forum (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/) thread created for each weekly " Search the words, save the world Contest with your submission.
2) Your reply must contain a number of words or names that will be defined every time this contest is run. Please refrain from posting more than the number of words indicated in every contest post. Only post the correct number of words or names, even if you notice duplicates..
3) Your reply must also contain the following statement. Please note that your submission will be disqualified if this statement is not present in your post:
If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
4) To enter the contest weekly, as of January 11, 2010, you must be 13 years of age or older. If a winner is under 18 or a minor in his or her state/province/country of residence, his or her parent or guardian must also sign any applicable releases and documentation.
5) Please note, only 1 (one) entry per forum account will be accepted. If you post a second time, you'll get disqualified, so make your one entry count! Also, once you have posted your entry, do NOT edit it as any edit will disqualify you from that day's forum game.
6) Entries must conform to the Official City of Heroes Message Forum Rules and Guidelines and to the Contest Official Rules and Conditions.
7) [I] If you win the City of Heroes® Search the words, save the world Contest one week, you are not eligible to do so again for the next 8 weeks. This is to allow other people the opportunity to win. Please be courteous to others and refrain from participating during the weeks you are not eligible to win.
-After reading the feedback from previous "Search the Words, Save the World" puzzles, I have made a few changes to how this will work and removed the failsafe.
- Note that if a word includes more than 1 word, they will run together in the puzzle. Example - Envoy of Shadows would be found in the puzzle as ENVOYOFSHADOWS
If there is not a winner by the end of the day, I will post the solution.
This week's word list consists of 15 Powers used by the Longbow.
Monday, April 19th, 2010 - Word Block
Good luck all, and don't forget that the fate of the world is in your hands! -
In order to resolve some long standing issues with the City of Heroes Veteran Rewards system, we have recently upgraded to a new one that will be better able to manage the automatic delivery of those rewards.
As part of the switch, some of you may have gained a few additional Veteran Rewards. We were aware that this might happen but decided that we would rather choose an option that was in the favor of our players than one that might penalize them.
If you did receive some extra Veteran Rewards for a short amount of time that you werent actually subscribed, please know that you can keep them and we wont be removing them from your account. If you didnt, please do not contact Customer Support, for this means that the new system now is in place and working as intended. Any problems you previously had with Veteran Rewards should now be resolved due to the switch.
That being said, we are aware of the issue regarding Veteran Rewards displaying incorrectly on the Accounts Management page. This is being addressed and we hope to have it resolved as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding with this matter. -
This issue is now resolved. All puchases made in the NCsoft store should now be immediately applied to your account.
Thank you all for your patience with this matter. -
Please note that we are currently aware of the delay between the purchase of items via the NCsoft store and their actual application to your game account. This is only a delay, and rest assured that you will get your items. We will let you know as soon as the issue has resolved itself and things are once again working as normal.
We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience and cooperation while we work this matter out. -
Greetings,
We are currently investigating new server technology and need your help. We have created two Training Room servers, Training Room 01 and Training Room 02. We need players logging in and playing missions on each server so that we can evaluate server performance.
We will be reverting to just one Training Room once the tests have been completed.
Thank you for your patience and for your assistance with this matter. -
The Open Beta for Issue 17: Dark Mirror has now started!
Experience the many thrills coming with the next city of Heroes® content update before it hits the live servers. Crank up the graphics with Ultra Mode, experience brand new story arcs, revisit your characters thanks to even more costume options, and more!
To check out the Open Beta, all you need to do is log into the North American or European Training Room! If you are not familiar with the process to access the test server, please read this post for our North American players or this one for our European players.
Also please keep in mind that this is a beta version, which means you might encounter bugs or other gameplay issues. We strongly encourage you to report them using the /bug command ingame, and we'll be happy to collect any comments you might want to share with us on our official boards. Your feedback is as always very valuable to us!
To report your feedback, please make use of the following forums:
Issue 17 Dark Mirror Open Beta: Chatter & Discussion
Issue 17 Dark Mirror Open Beta: Feedback
Issue 17 Dark Mirror Open Beta: Bugs
Have fun! -
Thank you all for your prompt reactions to my post. We have now identified the source of the problem and we expect this issue to resolve itself within a day or so, even though we expect many of you will be able to see an improvement much sooner than that.
Again, we apologise for this great inconvenience and thank you for your patience with this matter. -
Could I please get all of you affected by this issue to get in touch with our Support team via our Support hub? We need to get some data together to figure out what could be causing this issue.
Apologies to all of you for this inconvenience, we'll do our best to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. -
Wow, I thought I was going to have to post this for lack of a winner:
Congratulations newbabel, your title has been set and all you need to do is PM me with your choice of costume code (I suppose you want a North American one). -
Submissions open on Mondays only from 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM Eastern Time / 6PM GMT / 19:00 Central European Time) until 5:00 PM Pacific Time (8:00 PM Eastern Time / 1:00 AM GMT / 2:00 Central European Time) between January 11, 2010 and July 26, 2010).
Welcome to our "Search the words, save the world" forum mission!
A super computer turned evil codenamed Ebil-o is attempting to take over our most powerful nations' computer systems and exterminate us puny human beings (how original, huh?). However, every week, a short window of opportunity allows us to break into Ebil-o's matrix and reset the timer leading to our undoubtedly apocalyptic end!
How do we do that, I hear you ask? Well, we happen to have an anonymous little helper and each week, he or she snail mails us a word search puzzle containing anywhere between 10 to 15 words related to City of Heroes related theme (Ebil-o likes City of Heroes; apparently, it helps him unwind after a long day hard at work planning to get rid of humanity).
Each week a new theme will be passed along and you will need to find the exact number of words youre being told exists within the block of letters you are given.
Your opportunity to save us all is through a word block located at the bottom of this post.
The goal is to be the first one to find the words based on the theme (without being told what they are), circle them in the word block (using Paint or an equivalent program) and then list them below it.
If you are the first one to answer with the correct words, you win and only then will we be able to input the words into Ebil-o's matrix, thus delaying our impending doom. As a token of our gratitude, we'll give you the "Ebil-o FTL [date]" forum title as well as 1 (one) costume code amongst the following ones:
- Carnival of Shadows Harlequin
- Freakshow Tank Boss
- Paragon Police Department Hardsuit
- Carnival of Shadows Ring Mistress
- Knives of Artemis Lt.
- Praetorian Clockwork
Rules
1) Reply in the official City of Heroes® forum (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/) thread created for each weekly " Search the words, save the world Contest with your submission.
2) Your reply must contain a number of words or names that will be defined every time this contest is run. Please refrain from posting more than the number of words indicated in every contest post. Only post the correct number of words or names, even if you notice duplicates..
3) Your reply must also contain the following statement. Please note that your submission will be disqualified if this statement is not present in your post:
If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
4) To enter the contest weekly, as of January 11, 2010, you must be 13 years of age or older. If a winner is under 18 or a minor in his or her state/province/country of residence, his or her parent or guardian must also sign any applicable releases and documentation.
5) Please note, only 1 (one) entry per forum account will be accepted. If you post a second time, you'll get disqualified, so make your one entry count! Also, once you have posted your entry, do NOT edit it as any edit will disqualify you from that day's forum game.
6) Entries must conform to the Official City of Heroes Message Forum Rules and Guidelines and to the Contest Official Rules and Conditions.
7) [I] If you win the City of Heroes® Search the words, save the world Contest one week, you are not eligible to do so again for the next 8 weeks. This is to allow other people the opportunity to win. Please be courteous to others and refrain from participating during the weeks you are not eligible to win.
-After reading the feedback from previous "Search the Words, Save the World" puzzles, I have made a few changes to how this will work and removed the failsafe.
- Note that if a word includes more than 1 word, they will run together in the puzzle. Example - Envoy of Shadows would be found in the puzzle as ENVOYOFSHADOWS
If there is not a winner by the end of the day, I will post the solution.
This week's word list consists of 15 Police Radio Villain Boss names.
Monday, April12th, 2010 - Word Block
Good luck all, and don't forget that the fate of the world is in your hands! -
The Live North American and European City of Heroes servers will be offline for the implementation of a build on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010.
Start Time: 4AM Pacific Time (7AM Eastern Time / 12PM British Summer Time / 13:00 Central European Summer Time)
Expected Duration: 2 hours
Expected Finish Time: 6AM Pacific Time (9 AM Eastern Time / 2PM BST /15:00 CEST)
Patch notes will be available after the downtime.
We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience! -
Weve concluded another fantastic contest with top quality entries thanks to our talented players. But, as always, only a lucky few can be winners!
Unfortunately, the hand made category entries didnt *quite* follow the contest rules/guidelines we set forth so as a result, were only going to be awarding the winners of the digital category.
Please join us in congratulating the following City of Heroes players for the creative ways they found to express their love and admiration for our very own War Witch!
1st Place Winner
Liz
Richmond, Virginie
Etats-Unis
2nd Place Winner
zOorg luB
Prague
Czech Republic
Front - For Valentines day I am sending you these flowers...you have my words, I had never felt this way since the birth of my youngest Yak
Center - My love,
From the depth of my yurt, I am sending you this bunch of flowers know that I hesitated for a long time to offer you Yak butter or a bowl of Ayrag...I would like to grow old loving you, but I cant die without telling you.
One word from you and I leave everything My native Mongolia, my yurt and my yaks,
Yours truly,
[War Witchs post-it on the card
1- reminder to turn away this friendly but lout hero
2- buy bread and a pint of milk after my mission]
Zoorg
Winner 3
Nicholas Totton
Norton New Brunswick
Canada
Join in the Community discussion here! -
We’ve concluded another fantastic contest with top quality entries thanks to our talented players. But, as always, only a lucky few can be winners!
Unfortunately, the hand made category entries didn’t *quite* follow the contest rules/guidelines we set forth…so as a result, we’re only going to be awarding the winners of the digital category.
Please join us in congratulating the following City of Heroes players for the creative ways they found to express their love and admiration for our very own War Witch!
1st Place Winner
Liz
Richmond, Virginia
United States
2nd Place Winner
zOorg luB
Prague
Czech Republic
Front - For Valentine’s day… I am sending you these flowers...you have my words, I had never felt this way since the birth of my youngest Yak…
Center - My love,
From the depth of my yurt, I am sending you this bunch of flowers… know that I hesitated for a long time to offer you Yak butter or a bowl of Ayrag...I would like to grow old loving you, but I can’t die without telling you.
One word from you and I leave everything… My native Mongolia, my yurt and my yaks,
Yours truly,
[War Witch’s post-it on the card
1- reminder to turn away this friendly but lout hero
2- buy bread and a pint of milk after my mission]
Zoorg
Winner 3
Nicholas Totton
Norton New Brunswick
Canada
