CuppaJo_NA

The Winter King has awakened from his slumber, casting an icy gaze over Paragon City. What cold ambitions lie in his frigid soul? What devastating powers will he unleash on the unsuspecting citizens of our fair city? Keep on your guard, as with icy breath, he approaches swiftly, silently, to freeze the very heart of the City of Heroes.

I am going to lock this thread. Please post your questions in the thread provided for it. Thanks!

PCC is to do stuff on the test server. The Q&A did not work very well and most people just wanted to ask Statesman questions. We thought Q&A with Statesman would be more productive. It's just really hard to run a Q&A in-game.

PCC will mostly focus on testing new content and events so PCCs will happen when we have stuff to test instead of on a regular schedule.

As far as the questions are concerned - You guys asked them, I just compiled them. I think questions about the boss/mission slider, Invul changes, and high-end content were the burning questions from the majority of the board. Half of the questions came from Euorpe - since they are in Beta and just starting to play, their questions are more focused on upcoming features and European issues.

If you have a 'burning' question - submit it to the question thread.

Due to hardware problems, Pinnacle server was down from 8:00 AM CST until 12:00PM CST. As a result, Pinnacle was restored to its 4:00AM state. This means that if you were playing between 4:00 AM CST and 8:00 AM CST, your character was reset to its pre-4:00AM existence. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

You asked, he answered! A new feature arriving to the CoH boards is "Ask Statesman" - where Jack "Statesman" Emmert responds to the most frequently asked questions on the CoH US and European Message Boards.

Questions are gathered by Bridger and CuppaJo every two weeks - 5 from each board. You can submit questions via this thread linked here, but questions will also be taken from all over the boards.

And now, the first episode of "Ask Statesman!"


1. Will you and the other devs be reading and posting to the European message boards?

Yes. I was just reading the UK boards yesterday…My French and German is too rusty to post responses, but I do skim posts.

2. What is the “Vision” for CoH?

Our vision for City of Heroes is to deliver an enjoyable game experience to players regardless of their MMP experience. A person should be able to log into City of Heroes, play an hour, have fun and accomplish something. A player should be able to find something to do solo, while team ups should be enjoyable & rewarding. City of Heroes is meant to emulate the world of comic book heroes as much as possible within the constraints of a MMP.

3.What are you most pleased about in Issue #3?

Striga Isle. We’ve really gotten down what’s needed to create a great zone. I think we’ve outdone ourselves with Striga.

4. Why did you decide to keep the Invulnerability changes? (You can see the changes in the patch notes at http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/updates.html)

Because the changes solved the problems we were having. Naturally, some players didn’t like the “nerf” because their Tankers couldn’t operate exactly the same. Many, after experimentation, found that they needed to adjust their gameplay and overcome. A lot of the feedback was focused on rolling back the changes to the point where Invulnerability would still be unbalanced. On the other hand, players did point out a very good issue: sometimes villains don’t ever use melee attacks and instead use their ranged weaponry exclusively. Without ranged defense, Invincibility suffered. We’re rectifying that by adding some ranged defense back; this is due to players’ feedback.

5. Why did you incorporate a mission slider to make some missions more difficult and increase the boss difficulty level when bosses make up such a large percentage of missions?

We’ve found that as players go up in level, minions and lts. become much easier to defeat – to the point where it’s boring. Players instead resort to street sweeping in order to find something tough enough that’s both fun and rewarding. Missions, however, are a great part of the game! So we wanted to give players an ability to raise the level of the spawns within a mission so that they could make missions as fun & rewarding as their skill dictated.

6. Even now there are Arenas under construction around Paragon City, and City of Villains is in development. What can we expect from PvP in City of Heroes?

Fun (I hope)! The same sort of exciting battles that players already experience in PvE.

7. Will powers have two modes when PvP is introduced (A PvP more and a PvE mode) or will the powers work the same in both situations?

As a goal, we’re avoiding this as much as possible. In other words, powers will work exactly the same in both PvP and PvE. We’re sticking to this principle because to do otherwise would be counter-intuitive to the player (“Why does my power do this against a mob but something else to a player?”). However, we recognize that sometimes power changes are inevitable for the sake of balance. I just don’t want that to be our first resort.

8. Will there ever be player housing in City of Heroes? Will we be able to customise it?

Definitely. This is a major feature in City of Villains. Supergroups will be able to build their own HQ’s from the ground up.

9. When can we expect more high end raid type content like Hamidon?

I’ve planned for some raid like content to be added to the Shadow Shard and Rikti Crash Site in one of our upcoming Issues (I hate to give an exact date only to see it change). In conjunction with this, we’ll be making both sites for more accessible and easy to navigate. For instance, we’ll put a teleporter in Peregrine Island to allow people instant access to the Crash Site.

10. Can you give us a sneak peek at what we can look forward to from Issue #4?

The Arena! PvP will make its first appearance in City of Heroes. Player will be able to match wits & abilities against other players.

Thanks to Statesman for taking the time out to answer!

And now, without fanfare or flourish, Ask Statesman Issue #2!!

1. Are we going to see any European-situated zones?

After City of Villains, I want to focus on expanding our game universe across the world. Heroes and villains alike will be traveling across the planet…


2. Can you give us more details about player housing? Will there be special zones where it is possible to place bases, or can you place them wherever you like? Or do you need to move into an existing house which will become a base?

Player Housing will first come into play with City of Villains. Essentially, Super Groups will need to pool their resources in order to rent space. The more public the location, the more expensive the rent! The system has both the flexibility of “build where you want” and “you must build here.”


3. Will there be extended grouping features for raids? An alliance system for supergroups to coordinate with other groups, with a combined chat for all?

We’re still fine tuning the raid system. It’s unlikely, however, that multiple super groups can ally during a raid. There’s simply too many performance issues once 200 some players are on screen with f/x.


4. I love City of Heroes and I'd really like to see spin-off products - action figures, a tabletop roleplaying system, trading cards or a collectable card game, maybe books or graphic novels... Is anything like this being planned? How about a movie?

We already have announced a book trilogy with CDS and I think you’ll be happy with some other announcements in the near future.


5. Do you play the game yourself? If so what do you play as and what do you enjoy most?

I play in fits and starts. Usually, there’s a period of a couple of weeks when I play everyday, but then work sort of demands my attention for a while. Then I pick it up again.

My favorite part of the game is teaming up with people. City of Heroes really shines when heroes join together to fight evil. Even better, I get to make new friends from all over


6. What is balance, can you please explain what you mean by balance and what you hope to achieve "balance-wise" when you make changes to the game? Does balance mean, damage balance? Or does balance involve ATs usage? A comprehensive explanation of what balance is and why it is necessary would be greatly appreciated.

There are two levels of balance that I consider. First is Archetype balance – is any single Archetype more favored than another in a group? If I play a Defender, do teams say that Defenders are useless and they’d rather have all Tankers? That’s the sign of a huge Archetype issue. This touches on something about the Archetypes, namely that each Archetype must have a well defined role in a group setting.

The second level is Power Set balance. Are any power sets within an Archetype demonstrably better than others? I’m not talking about a couple of levels of disparity; sometimes certain sets get access to useful powers at an earlier stage then other power sets. The key, however, is to analyze whether the temporarily “gimped” power set gets something cool that then tips the scales in their favor at a later point. In other words, when all the powers within a set are observed, is each power set relatively as useful as others?


7. When will we be seeing more Epic Archetypes? What about non-epic ATs? Will some be added? Or maybe new power sets?

Epic Archetypes to come: Avilans, Incarnates, Blood of the Black Stream and the Coralax.

We’ve got new power sets coming in Issue 5 for sure, and more to come afterwards!

I’m still toying with a new non-epic AT right now, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet.


8. Timeframe for flashback? The current temp solution is unfeasible for many due to the "kick exemplar/buddy if crash" in TFs.

I’d like to get this out sometime before City of Villains.


9. Can we get any elaboration on the whole 5th/Council war, storyline wise? Where's the story arc explaining everything? I saw a one page "article" on the website, but there was no in-game explanation.

The information is scattered throughout the Striga Isle & Kheldian story arcs..but here it is in a nutshell… [SPOILERS]

Decades ago Arachnos planted Requiem and other agents within the 5th Column. Requiem used his outside ties and the power he gained from the Nictus to cultivate many followers within the Column. When SPIDER recently reared its head, the Center (former member of Aracnos and founder of the Council), decided it was time to complete the takeover of the 5th Column. After sending a signal to Requiem the Council was able to subdue all resistance virtually overnight. Any 5th Column troops not willing to convert were killed or driven away. The 5th Column is no more, now there is only the Council.

You’ll be learning A LOT more about Arachnos and Lord Recluse in the forthcoming novel from CDS Books…Web of Arachnos, written by the indefatigable Robert Weinberg.


10. Why were non-power-10 DOs suddenly removed from L10-14 contact stores?

That’s a bug – sorry! We’ve fixed it and that should be going live shortly.

Issue #3

Here are the latest questions and answers from Jack 'Statesman' Emmert, Cryptic Studios Creative Director and Lead Designer of both City of Heroes and City of Villains. Remember that we collect questions from the US and European boards every two weeks, and you can submit yours in this thread. (Please note that it's worth checking the boards and website - particularly the Dev Digest - before posting a question to see if the information is already available.)

In the days of Issue 2, you mentioned that the Dev team was working on/testing "something very comic booky" for Tankers. Is that still in the works? Has it been scrapped as unviable? Was it already released, and we simply haven't recognized what it is?

We have no imminent changes planned for Tankers. To a degree, the increased damage was to get the Tanker somewhat more 'comic booky'. The goal was to make him feel more powerful.

Statesman, Are you going to be at E3, and what will you be showing off there?

Yes. You’ll just need to wait and see (though I think City of Villains would be a good guess)…

Is anything being done to address the issue of delinquent SG leaders/members? IE - Will we ever be able to remove leaders/members who leave the game without warning?

Yes. We’re working on a whole bunch of Super Group additions – many of which were gathered from Forum suggestions.

What is the rationale behind the Power 10 architecture for enhancements? Why is it alright to buy hold DO enhancements at level 12 from a shop, but not slow DO enhancements? Is there a game balance issue I'm not seeing?

We wanted to make the most commonly needed Enhancements readily available; the power 10 were chosen for their almost universal appeal. That hasn’t really worked out so well, to be honest. Basically, receiving an Enhancement isn’t special at all. People get all the Enhancements they need at the store and sell the rest.

My question involves housing. Will it be possible for an individual hero to get a home base or 'lair' at some point? I don't mean the supergroup base, I mean one that is either strictly their own or just for their own account.

We have some plans for individual housing options, but we’re not ready to talk about it.

Will it be possible to change sides with my 'good' CoH character when CoV comes out? Will there be a mission or something to become a bad guy for existing chars?

Eventually, yes. We currently don’t think that will be with release, but this feature will soon follow.

Will there be changes in the graphics with City of Villains? More character details and/or world details? Special f/x? Do I need to upgrade my PC?

You won’t need to upgrade your PC, but we are adding some new tech to take advantage of the new video cards out there.

Will there be any changes to Flight to make it look a bit flashier, ie barrel rolls when flying forward and strafing, or letting us fly in loops?

This is on the back burner.

Is there any chance of introducing new items of clothing at higher levels for our characters to wear? Maybe a crown, or jewel encrusted hat of some kind. More seriously, are there more models of cape coming anytime soon, perhaps something very large and brooding?

We’d like to add costume pieces as rewards for particular missions or task forces. For example, if you do a mission for the Freedom Phalanx, you’d unlock the ability to purchase a special Freedom Phalanx cape at Icon.

As for capes in general, we’re looking at ways to improve them and increase their variety.

Can you confirm that there will be a 'spectator' mode for PvP in Issue #4? How will it work? Can you also explain more about what 'rewards' we'll get for winning PvP fights?

Yes, there’s a spectator mode. Anyone can enter a match in the form of a floating camera. Because there’s a chance that some people might be a spectator to spy for their friends in the match, players in the match can target and destroy the cameras.

In the Arena, there is a Chess style ranking system. Players win points for victories and lose points for losses. The greater the points another character has accumulated, the more you would get for defeating him. The fewer the points another character has, the less you would get for defeating him.

Additionally, players can earn badges for officially sanctioned tournaments and they can bet Influence on their bouts.

Issue 4

With Hamidon being defeated on a regular basis now, is the dev team planning on doing anything about the issue of Hamidon reward distribution? As it is now, it is easy to exploit the mechanics of the encounter resulting in many enhancements being collected by a very small number of players – who may or may not have been involved in the actual defeat of Hamidon. This has resulted in many fights amongst players and GM petitions, not to mention flame wars on the message boards. Is there any way to instance this mission, or adjust the enhancement reward system so that it is more equitable to the heroes actually fighting Hamidon?

We are adding a new reward system to the Hamidon encounter to prevent griefing


What is the intended role of trial and Hamidon enhancements in PvP?

The same as other Enhancements – boost aspects of a power.

Will we ever be able to toggle power effects (graphic and sound) on/off?

This is already an option in the game – simply go to “Options” and click on the “Graphics and Audio” tab. You can turn down f/x with sliders.

Will there ever be an option to auto-decline team invites? If so, is this something that is easy to do and we should expect soon or hard to do and thus should expect later?

We have it on our quality of life list, but I wouldn’t expect it before City of Villains.

Any plans to address some of the more general Blaster issues such as increasing the range from which blasters can deal damage or reducing the amount of aggro that a blaster pulls? These two issues are causing Blasters to be less useful in the higher levels (abv 35) in both solo (range less than that of foes) and team play (pulls villains off tankers).

We’re looking into this issue.

A while ago there was some discussion on the US boards about heroes having a personal ‘nemesis’ or ‘arch enemy’. Has there been any progress on this? Is it still a planned feature? If so, any hints how it might work?

This is a wish-list item and there are no immediate plans to put it in. Currently, the design allows players to gather information about a mysterious foe – say, that he has ice powers or has a skull mask. When a player collects the right amount of info, the arch nemesis appears and begins to vex the hero! This info is tradeable so that a player could customize his very own foe.

Are there any plans to implement a ‘secret identity’ system in City of Heroes? Could this be tied into ‘personalised’ missions, where you have to rescue your girlfriend/grandma/pet cat from the villains, for example?

There are no plans, primarily because there really isn’t all that much that’s interesting in “secret identities.” After all, we all lead those lives every day!

Supergroup HQs are due to be added when City of Villains is released. Will I and everyone in my Supergroup have to buy City of Villains in order to build an HQ for our heroes?

We’re still working out the details on that.


Could you give a complete overview of how experience is awarded when in a team? How does the level of the team members affect the xp earned and how it is split between players? What effect does Sidekicking or Exemplaring have? Is there a group bonus, and does it change based on the size of the group? (Apparently much of this has been explained in dev posts on the US boards, but as these are no longer available, new European players like me would really appreciate the info.)

On the top level, XP is divided by damage done. If two heroes both attack and defeat a single mob, each hero is given XP proportionate to the amount of damage received by the mob.

Within a team-up, XP is divided equally among each member, but levels are taken into account. So if a 35th level Blaster teams up with a 32nd level Tanker, the 35th level Blaster would receive proportionately more XP (on the assumption that the higher level character contributed more to the conflict).

When two or more different groups of heroes attack the same mob, the damage of each group is added up and used to divide the mob’s XP.

For every person in a team up, there is an XP boost. The experience points of each mob are multiplied by a value before being divided among the team members. Currently, the XP boost values are this:

Team Size XP multiplier
2 1.25
3 1.5
4 1.8
5 2
6 2.1
7 2.2
8 2.5

Sidekicking allows players to play at a level higher than their actual Security Level. While Sidekicked, a hero is considered to be at this higher level for XP division. But the hero receives XP depending upon the relatively levels of the mobs he faces. Example: my 15th level Scrapper is sidekicked to a 28th level Controller. For purposes of combat, my Scrapper is now 27th level. If I went out and fought 29th level minions, their XP would be calculated as if they were 17th level minions.

One thing to keep in mind is that as a sidekick, a hero is counted as a full high-level hero when doling out rewards even though he doesn’t have as many powers as a natural hero would. So the risk for the mentor (and teammates) is slightly higher but they get the same reward. If you are within 3-5 levels of your buddy you might want to think about being a regular teammate and not a sidekick: the rewards might be better. This will depend on the villains you are fighting, your aversion to risk, and the composition of your team.

While Exemplaring, a hero receives XP in a similar way. The hero’s actual level is brought down to that of the Aspirant. The Exemplar takes XP from mobs depending the relation of the Exemplar level and the mob level. Example: A 45th level Defender is Exemplarred down to 29th level. He fights a 30th level Minion. The Defender earns XP as though it were a 46th level minion. However, an Exemplar does not gain XP; anything earned is applied exclusively to XP debt.


When is the next Epic Archetype going to be added to the game, and which one will it be?

I’m afraid I have no exact answers for either question. The planned epics are: Incarnates, Coralax, Blood of the Black Stream and Avilans. But even that may change.

Issue 5

I love most of the graphics out there, and don't want to have to turn my graphics off entirely in order to enjoy using, say, Hasten - but the Glowing Fists of Recharge are utterly unsuited for a shadow wielder like my dark/dark defender. Will we ever be able to turn off specific effects while leaving the rest unaffected?

Eventually? Yes. We know that this has been requested by many people. It is not, however, on the immediate schedule.

Similarly, I find most of the sound effects pleasant and/or useful, and I don't particularly want to play in silence. But some of the looping sound effects are annoying on my system. Will we ever get the ability to disable only the looping sounds?

See above.

We know that the Avilians are something to do with wings, the Coralax is something to do with water and the Incarnate is the Archetype of Lord Recluse and Statesman, but can you tell us a little more about the Blood of the Black Stream?

You’ll need to wait and see.

What is the design intent of the Hamidon encounter and do you feel that it is now (after recent changes) working as the devs intended, or can we expect more changes to Hamidon such as a reduction in spawn times or further changes to the rewards system for the encounter?

I’m sure we’ll always be changing Hamidon! We want it to be a fun challenge for a large group of high level characters. That’s the goal.

Once the body slider/face slider changes go live with issue 4, will we be able to change our body/face at Icon or will our current characters be 'locked in' to our existing body?

You’ll be able to change your avatars at Icon.

Are there any special plans for the 1st anniversary of CoH going live? A second round of the Rikti Invasion, perhaps? It seems like an awful waste to have the code for massive, floating Rikti motherships going unused, when so many new players have never experienced the glory of the beta invasion...

None planned.

Are there any major storylines upcoming that all the heroes can participate in? I don't just mean like a winter event, I'm thinking more along the lines of a world affecting crisis where the successful completion of missions help to uncover a story that the entire game world can see developing, perhaps maybe a souvenir could be specially written detailing the players who took part and given to all those involved.

This is something that we definitely want to do moving forward. We’d like players to have a real, lasting effect in the game.

Besides the already mentioned arena ones, will there be added more badges to ensure that there'll still be some to gain even after you reach the high levels? I'm thinking along the lines of more 'recieve an insanely high amount of damage'-badges and 'heal a massillion HP' ones.

We’ll be adding new badges with every Issue; and high level gameplay is going to be something of a focus moving forward.

Are there any plans to have Arena matches against monsters like the Paladin, Admastor and others? Kind of like gladiator bouts?

Currently, the Arena is all about PvP, but your idea is a good one!

Will we be seeing any more monsters like the Paladin in Kings Row and the Octopus in Independance Port? If so, any hints what they might be?

My goal is to put a special event in nearly every zone. In every issue, we’ll try to add to pre-existing zones.

What do you think are the most important lessons you've learned from City of Heroes, and how are you applying them to City of Villains?

First, make every zone dynamic. In other words, make them come alive. We accomplished this quite well with Striga; that zone provides a new standard for us. Secondly, communicate the story better. We’ll have some new technology in City of Villains that will allow players to see the plotlines in a cool new way. Thirdly, give players what they want. We have a much better understanding of what makes Archetypes and powers cool. Lastly, make missions feel unique. One of the earliest criticisms was that our missions were repetitive. Now we've got over a year’s worth of new tech and art to use as we write the City of Villains missions from scratch.

Greetings, Heroes. In anticipation of making your New Year’s Respec available on the live servers, we’re ready to push it to The Training Room! Please assist us by trying it out so that we can insure a smooth launch into the game. This free respec can be accessed by using the /respec command. If you had a character that for some reason didn’t get the last Respec awarded on The Training Room, please verify that you have, in fact, received this one. If not, please let us know in The Training Room section of the CoH Message Board. Have fun re-specifying your powers!

We will be conducting some necessary network maintenance on Tuesday, January 11, from 1:45AM to 2:00AM CST. Customers may experience disconnects when accessing game servers and the website. Please reconnect after the maintenance period has ended. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

With just a week left—deadline is 11:59pm CST, Monday, January 17—it’s time to ramp up your creativity and artistic design skills. So far we’ve received many great examples of CoH wallpaper/desktop goodness and, to be sure, judging will not be a walk in the park. And it’s been said before, but it bears repeating—the CoH community is overflowing with creative talent! So get those wallpaper entries in today! Not only do you get to show off your skills, you may also win some very cool prizes. For complete contest details, please visit the Wallpaper Contest page.

Check out our updated In the Press section for current and recent reviews, articles and interviews. Here’s a sample of what the press has been saying about City of Heroes and the release of Issue 3:


GameDaily Issue 3 Article January 2005
"NCsoft has upped the addiction factor for City of Heroes with the release of its third expansion pack Council of War."

GameSpot Issue 3 Update January 6, 2005
"New update for NCsoft's superhero MMORPG features a new zone, new archetypes, and new powers for high-level players."

IGN Issue 3 Article January 5, 2005
"The evil 5th Column villains have been taken over by mysterious Council, and a war is sweeping through Paragon City."

Games Domain Issue 3 Update January 4, 2005
"NCsoft has upped the addiction factor for City of Heroes with the release of its third expansion pack Council of War. "

GameDaily Issue 3 Interview with Jack Emmert January 2005
"City of Heroes has been one of the most popular MMORPGs to be released in some time. To keep the title going ahead at full steam, the team at Cryptic Studios is about to release the third update, called Issue 3. We sat down with Jack Emmert, the creator of City of Heroes to chat about the upcoming update."

Digital Entertainment News Review Score: 9.1 December 30, 2004
"I'm going to come right out at the beginning of this review, throw out all pretense of credibility and journalistic integrity and just say that city of Heroes is not only one of my favorite games, but that it is nearly impossible for me to review."

SuperSean said it best:

[ QUOTE ]
Many thanks to all the constructive posters out there, those that help the community with guides, rational discussions, helpful posts, and the just funny ones. Kudos to the community, you are too numerous to name all of you, and it should be that way. If there were only a few names to point out, we'd be in sad shape.

[/ QUOTE ]

I want to take a chance to thank to YOU - the community. Thanks for making me laugh every single day. You constantly amaze me with your humor, creativity, and wit.

I also want to say thanks to those of you who DO take the time out to tell us what you think - even if you dislike something. I know you wouldn't do it if you didn't passionately care about the game.

Thanks to everyone who has played on the Test Server to help us work on new content.

And finally thanks to the Devs and all of the CoH team for being the most community friendly team out there. It sure makes my job easier.

Paragon City is bracing for an invasion of another kind. There’s a massive freeze building up north and it’s sweeping down towards our usually temperate city. Time to cover your plants, get the pets indoors, and find those thermal socks. It’s going to get cold. Very cold. Check out the Paragon Times article for more info.

To show our support for those victims of the recent tsunami tragedy affecting parts of Asia and Africa, NCsoft has placed a banner to the Network for Good "Help Support Disaster Relief in South Asia" website on the front pages of all North American NCsoft websites.

Network for Good, an "e-philanthropy" website resource for those wanting to get involved in charitable endeavors, has established a resource page here for those wanting to assist in the relief efforts for those stricken by this terrible event. Please take a moment to visit Network for Good to learn more.

Leveraging decades of deception and betrayal, a new power rises from the ashes of the 5th Column. From its earthly refuge, an alien race plays its mysterious hand in the control of Paragon City. It’s a time of terrible conflict—a deadly web of escalating violence that will test even the greatest of heroes among us. A great evil is gathering, planning its new assault on our fair city. Every hero must find the courage within to face and defeat the new threats arising from "A Council of War."

Free Expansion Issue #3 ("A Council of War") content is now available for download on the live servers!

For more information about the Issue 3 expansion, please visit our Features Update.

Just so everyone knows, the free respec will be given out later this week. Some of our external testers reported some instances in which characters may not have received the expected Free Respec. We want to ensure everyone receives the respec so we will be granting it later this week.

Also, after testing Global Chat we have found a few issues that need to be addressed before going to the live servers. We will bring global chat to the live servers as soon as these issues are ironed out.

Thanks to all the heroes that helped us test these features in the Training Room!

The regular server maintenance window of 8am to 10am CST will be extended today, January 4th, 2005 for an indeterminate amount of time. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The holiday season edition of our newsletter is now available! We’ve put together some great info about upcoming events and features, including a new contest, the European beta and Issue 3. Active subscribers to the game will get their copies by email... for everyone else, here's the link to the online version of our newsletter.

States has posted 114 times since 10/1/04.

*Goes to check post count of other MMO Lead Designers*

Eight months ago Paragon City opened its gates to a whole new generation of Heroes. You arrived eager for adventure and excitement. You came in all shapes, sizes, colors and abilities-forming a community of dedicated super-powered crime-fighters that's second to none. It's been an amazing, thrilling ride so far, with even greater things waiting in the wings for Paragon City and its heroes in the coming New Year.

We at NCsoft and Cryptic Studios want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support, your constructive feedback and your joyful participation in taking on villains in the world's greatest MMOG city. We could not do this without you! And as a token of our appreciation we want to bestow some holiday cheer by offering a free respec to all heroes currently existing on (or newly transferred to) The Training Room Test Server as of 12 noon CST, Tuesday, December 21st. Sorry, but those creating or transferring characters to The Training Room after noon CST will not be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Don't have a hero on the test server? Here’s how to copy a character to the Training Room.

Happy Holidays!

Heroes of Paragon City, we’re throwing a City of Heroes Wallpaper Contest!

What could be cooler than a City of Heroes wallpaper? How about a City of Heroes wallpaper that you design and create? Imagine your very own hero or team gracing the desktops of your fellow community members. Imagine winning fabulous prizes, including a Radeon 9800 Pro (256MB) card, Logitech Cordless Mouse & Keyboard, CoH Collector’s Edition DVD and other super-powered goodies, for submitting a wallpaper that best exemplifies style, creativity and outstanding design.

Now take all that imagining and get to work! Check out all the important details at our City of Heroes Wallpaper Contest Page .

We’re looking forward to seeing your wonderful wallpapers!


Good luck!

There will still be dev postings in other places as well as here.

As for test server issues - If there is a post asking for the information here - post it here. If not - post it there.

Welcome to the Developers Corner. This section was created for the Developers to post information about upcoming game features, discuss changes, dispel rumors, and solicit feedback from players. This section also hosts the Dev Digest, a listing of developer/mod comments on the boards.

This section will also host "Official Threads" created by the Devs or Mods. Please check this section regularly and BEFORE starting a new thread in the forums to see if there is an "Official Thread" about your issue.

In this section, only Moderators or Developers will be able to create new threads. Players will be able to respond to the threads - and are encouraged to do so. However, this forum will be heavily moderated. Insults directed at the devs, mods, or other players will be removed without notice, as will flame wars and any trolling behavior. Please keep your feedback constructive and concise and be able to back up your claims with data. Don’t be afraid to go and check something out by testing it before forming an opinion.

The City of Heroes team wants your feedback to help us make the game the best it can be and hope this section becomes an easy place to go to for information direct from the source.

We will be conducting some necessary network maintenance on Thursday, December 16, from 1:45AM to 2:00AM CST. Customers may experience disconnects or lag when accessing game servers. Please reconnect after the maintenance period has ended. Additional lag or disconnects may be experienced for several hours after the maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

We will be launching an update to the PlayNC billing and account management website on Thursday, Dec 16, at 9:30AM.

This update is expected to take about an hour, though it might take as long as an hour and a half. During this time you may experience delays in account activation. The website will remain available during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

For decades a web of deception has been woven among the ranks of the 5th Column. For an even longer time an alien race has used earth as a refuge. Now these dangers are surfacing in a violent and explosive way. What’s worse is that they seem to be connected. The heroes of Paragon City must now face these new threats hatched from: A Council of War. For more information about the upcoming Issue 3 expansion, please visit our Features Update.

Some of them have been among us for decades, if not longer—alien beings working behind the scenes, manipulating their human hosts, altering history, and waging a secret civil war. With expansion Issue 3 "A Council of War," these aliens, the Kheldians, are available as new high level player archetypes (players have to be at level 50 to gain these archetypes). We have a great video teaser featuring the Kheldians, which can be viewed here.

Enjoy!