Cricket_NA

I can say that open beta for Exteel has not yet begun nor have the invites been sent out for it yet. We're going to post something for the public (on the website) as soon as we have some specifics to provide.

Exteel is currently under an NDA (which has nothing to do with the OB delay, btw) so please remember that is all I can say to those who were not Exteel closed beta testers.

Happy Monday, everyone! I’m looking out my office window here at NCsoft - holy cow. It is looking more like 10PM instead of 1PM. Come back on out, day star.

But I digress. I came here to talk about COH! It is true; it has been three years. I remember the day we launched…the day badges were introduced….the day the Terra Volta Trial went live. (Now that day was a long day!) On and on it goes - the memories just start rolling, one after another.

Yet, oddly enough, COH still feels like it was brand new game. Oh, how time flies. But COH isn’t new, and I have to remind myself that. In reality it has become well established, pushing out update after update. It isn’t until I look back and mentally review all of the previous changes do I see exactly how much content has been added. I just never would have guessed that we would see all these amazing changes! To this day, I still think that COH/COV fills a void in the MMO market that other MMOs just haven’t caught on to. (Can anyone say they have come up with a better character creation system? I think not!) Perhaps this is why it still feels brand new to me. COH could very well be the leader in originality.

For those that have wondered, I am well...I’m just busy with my current games these days! I love my games, so I'm really trying to hold back here and not ask you all to come play them. *twitches* But I didn't come back to try to steal you all :P The great thing is some of you guys DO play some of the games I currently work on, and don't think I don't notice!

Sometimes people ask me if I’m still in touch with Cuppa. You betcha. We do work in the same building, and I like our talks. I always wanted to get her a "I Survived ED" t-shirt.

Yep, COH is still a baby. I think that is the year when molars start to come in. Teething is no fun, but at least the terrible twos are over.

*Runs for the hills*

Happy 3 years, COH. I only wish I could have posted this over the weekend. I think the internet gods were angry at me!

Cricket (These days, Crickette, but call me whatever. I ain't picky!)
Community Manager
Lineage 1/Auto Assault/Dungeon Runners/Exteel
Former COH/COV Community Coordinator
Former COH/COV GM Senior
Lvl 50 Fire/fire tanker (no comment)
Lvl 40 Mind controller/empathy (You should try it. It is a great combo for tough TFs!)
And more alts than I can count...

The remaining servers are now spinning up. Thank you for your patience!

All servers are online except for:

Liberty
Champion
Triumph

These servers are expected to arrive shortly.

All servers are currently down for extended server maintenance. Please check our Server Status page for updates as they arrive.

Our current ETA is 10:30AM CST.

Heroes and Villains,

Many of you may have noticed the NCsoft Community Coordinator position that was posted on PlayNC.com several weeks ago. This position is for City of Heroes/City of Villains, and it is currently being filled. This means you can expect to see a new red name soon.

One thing I should point out is that this position is located within the offices of Cryptic. So not only will this person be working right beside Lighthouse, but they will also be right next to the developers! This is a good thing, and I firmly believe that City of Heroes/City of Villains will benefit greatly from this decision.

My life at NCsoft Austin will continue on; I have accepted a community manager position within the company. If you play Auto Assault, Exteel, Dungeon Runners and/or Lineage 1 - you better look out! Cricket is heading your way! I will be posting on those boards in the near future.

This was not an easy decision for me. I will never forget my first day on the job here, back when I was a GM in beta. I knew the game was going to go places. I just knew it and I felt so lucky to be on board. I'm so proud of where the game has gone, and what lies ahead. I'll also never forget my first day in community. I've learned so much during my time here, and want to thank you all for sharing the experience with me.

My last day on City of Heroes/City of Villains will be Jan. 31st.

Thank you again for all for the great times - it has been an honor. Thanks go out to the devs, producers, sales, PR, Lighthouse, CuppaJo, Arctic_Sun, account support, tech, and marketing. And let's not forget the GMs (I feel like I've known you all forever) and QA (thanks for putting up with all my questions!) Most importantly, I want to thank our community. Without you, where would we be?

And remember, be good to one another! The ban stick will live on forever.

Cricket

The new and improved Winter Event is back on the Training Room!

Please, go check it out and help us test. We'd like to get the Winter Event LIVE as soon as it is ready.

Thank you, and Happy Holidays

Use this thread to discuss this announcement.

Ladies and gents,

I won't tease here. I'll get right down to it: check out the 2006 Halloween Costume Contest Winners and Contestants!

Oh the glamour, the fame....yes, the moment has arrived. I am honored, thrilled, excited, overjoyed, thrilled -oh wait, I said that one already. But you get the point...I'm SO proud of each and every applicant. You guys made it really hard for us to choose, but dang it, that is why we love you guys.

All servers are back online. Issue 8: To Protect and Serve is now LIVE. Make sure you check out the patch notes.

ENJOY!

On 11/28/06 our regular server maintenance window will be extended to prepare for the launch of Issue 8: To Protect and Serve. Normally our downtime is reserved from 8AM CST to 10AM CST. Although we will restore the servers as soon as possible please note that this maintenance could take an additional two hours to complete. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Your favorite overall game aspect may not be listed, but please, choose your favorite from the list

Pssst I wanted to make sure everyone caught this announcement. It reads:

PlayNC Maintenance

"On Wednesday 11/8 the PlayNC Account Management tool will taken offline at 9:30AM CST for scheduled maintenance. The downtime is expected to be one hour."

Please note that during this time period users may not be able to review their account information - this includes the section that lists earned vet rewards. After maintenance is complete we'll be sure to get the account management page back up ASAP

YAY! Welcome aboard Lighthouse!

Lighthouse comes with a lot of experience under his belt and we're all very thrilled to have him as part of the team.

Check out this announcement.

Don't miss it! Make sure you tune in to World of Roleplayers Radio tomorrow night at 9pm CST!

Introducing Veteran Rewards Milestone Set Three (27 through 36 months)

Enjoy!

Milestone Set 3

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page. I don't think I need to say much here - these rewards really speak for themselves!

Title says it all Please be sure to report any new issues that you may face in the Training Room Forum section.

Thank ya!

Hey folks,

We're taking down the Training Room now (2pm CST) to re-launch Issue 8. I'll post an update once the server is back up.

Note: Veteran Rewards will be introduced at a later date.

About I8's return to test:

I'll make announcements once I8 is ready to go back up. I don't have an ETA just yet.

Starting at approximately 5PM today (Wednesday 10/18) the Training Room will be brought down to implement the Issue 8 pre-download system.

We need to make sure that the pre-download feature works properly before it ever goes live. In order to do this we have to bring back the last build – the one that was on test before Issue 8 ever arrived.

For those of you who have played on Issue 8 already: your characters will still be there (today and tomorrow.) However, the character you are currently playing has developed some, and some of that content may not display properly while you are back under Issue 7. The good news: Issue 8 should be back on test tomorrow (10/19). The specific time has not yet been announced.

Why are we doing this? The pre-download system was not ready to go on test before Issue 8 was ready. At the same time, it was very important for us to get the maximum amount of Issue 8 testing on Training Room. If we had waited for the pre-download before launching Issue 8 on test this ultimately would have caused delays on Issue 8’s arrival on the live servers.

When Issue 7 is brought back to test: when you log out the pre-download patch for Issue 8 will begin. You can leave this running. And when we bring Issue 8 back up on test, you’ll be ready to go!

I laughed. I cried. I wish I was really like that

Excellent work, Ace.

After server maintenance on 10/18/06 (approximately 10 AM CST) the Halloween Event will be going LIVE.

The event will end at 10:59pm CST Nov. 1st.

Enjoy

Howdy folks,

I sat down and had a "Meet Cricket" interview with BLU from World of Roleplayers Radio recently. You can catch the interview here. (You will have to register to listen!)

Years ago I had teacher who always joked around with us - he said that we would all graduate from HS and take silly college elect classes like underwater basketweaving. Well, in this interview, I sound like I'm in that class It wasn't WoR's fault....it was my internet connection. So heads up: I apologize if you can't understand me in certain parts.

Issue 8: To Protect and Serve is now on Training Room!

Test Patch Notes

No Vet Reward teaser this week...sorry folks. We'll have more

(For the record this is for the week of Oct. 9th)