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We will be conducting some necessary network maintenance on Tuesday, December 14, from 11:00AM to 12:30 PM CST. Customers will experience disconnects when accessing game servers or may be unable to access game servers completely during the maintenance time. Please reconnect after the maintenance period has ended. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

We can barely keep up with all the great reviews and interviews—they just keep rolling in! 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:

Digital Entertainment News Issue 3 Interview

"This is one of the largest free expansions possibly ever distributed for a MMORPG, and one that dramatically moves the overall story of City of Heroes forward."


NetworkWorldFusion 2004 Holiday Gift Guide Selection

"If you've ever wanted to control your own super hero with their own powers to help save the world, then City of Heroes is worth a look."


GameSpy City of Heroes Issue 3 Update

"They've got reason to celebrate. Billboard Magazine named City of Heroes the " PC or Console Game of the Year" in its recent Digital Entertainment Awards, a sign of its widespread appeal."


GameDaily's MMOGuide Collector's DVD Edition Review Score: 5/5

"The Collector's Edition DVD of the hottest MMO on the planet, City of Heroes, is on store shelves just in time for the Holidays!"


WomenGamers' Review Score: 9.5/10

"I am a long time comic book fan and a long time gamer and I find this MMORPG to be one of the finest fusions of the two that I can imagine and wonder why it hadn't been tried earlier."

Greetings European Heroes!

The eagerly awaited European beta test for City of Heroes will be commencing very shortly, and we are seeking applications for places in the beta over on PlayNC.

For full details on how to signup and other information about the European beta, please visit City of Heroes EU, City of Heroes UK or, for German speaking players, City of Heroes DE.

French speaking players are also welcome to apply - the French language site City of Heroes FR will be going live very soon.

Please note that only European residents can apply, as one of the main goals of this beta is to test and optimize our European servers.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Paragon City!

Greetings European Heroes!

The eagerly awaited European beta test for City of Heroes will be commencing very shortly, and we are seeking applications for places in the beta over on PlayNC.

For full details on how to signup and other information about the European beta, please visit City of Heroes EU, City of Heroes UK or, for German speaking players, City of Heroes DE.

French speaking players are also welcome to apply - the French language site City of Heroes FR will be going live very soon.

Please note that only European residents can apply, as one of the main goals of this beta is to test and optimize our European servers.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Paragon City!

An interview with Statesman about Issue 3 is now available at DEN here. Enjoy!

We will be conducting some necessary network maintenance on Friday, December 10, from 5:00AM to 6:00AM CST. Customers will experience disconnects when accessing game servers. Please reconnect after the maintenance period has ended. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

Attention Heroes!!

Our new Global Chat feature will be going to the Live servers soon and we want to give you the opportunity to reserve your global chat handle!

What is Global Chat?

Global Chat is an in-game cross-server chat system and friends list.

What is a Global Chat Handle?

Every player selects a name which they are universally known by; this "handle" is what they can be referred to regardless of what character they happen to be playing at the moment or what server they are on.

How do I reserve my global chat handle?

Just change your message board name to the name you wish to reserve for global chat now. You will need to leave your message board name changed until after Global Chat goes to the live servers and you have logged in successfully for the first time. After global chat goes live, changing your board name will no longer affect your global chat handle.

How do I change my message board name?

Click on "My Home."

From this page, under main configuration, choose Edit from the Personal information section. The first option to edit should be your display name.

What happens if I do not have a Message Board name?

If you do not have a message board name, your global chat handle will be the name of the character you log in with for the first time after global chat goes live. If that name has already been taken, a number will be added to the end to make it unique. Everyone can change their global chat handle one time after global chat goes live.

IGN has an exclusive new video teaser of "A Council of War"—the City of Heroes free expansion issue 3. Check out new zones, new villains, epic archetypes and much more. The video is available in Windows Media and QuickTime formats (Windows format is free, the quicktime format is NOT) here.

We will be conducting some necessary network maintenance on Thursday, December 9, from 6:00AM to 7:00AM CST. Customers may experience latency and/or disconnects when accessing game servers during this maintenance period. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding!

The Paragon Times is reporting some unusual activity among the Clockwork. Collecting and hoarding scrap metal is at an all-time high. Power sources, particularly towers, seem to be of great interest to these mechanical villains. Heroes are advised to be on the alert. Read the full article here.

Free Expansion Issue #3 ("A Council of War") content is now available for download prior to being released on the live servers. So give yourself a head start!

The download will begin after you exit your play session rather than prior to entering the game, and is purely optional – you can cancel at anytime.

It’s important to note that you won’t be able to see or experience the "A Council of War" content until it has been officially released on the live servers. However, receiving it ahead of time will allow you to play right away once the content is available, instead of waiting for a large patch to download.

Remember – you can cancel the download at anytime. Your progress will be saved and you can resume downloading the content the next time you’re done playing City of Heroes.

NCsoft and Cryptic Studios will be at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Ca., December 2-5, for Gen Con So Cal 2004. Among this year’s highlights, Jack "Statesman" Emmert, City of Heroes lead designer, will be giving a seminar on Saturday and masterminding a trivia contest for cool prizes Saturday and Sunday.

NCsoft will also be hosting the LAN Center for playing City of Heroes, conducting daily drawings for the DVD Collector’s Edition, manning dedicated character creation stations, giving live demos, and offering other great activities and giveaways.

Gen Con So Cal Exhibit Hall Hours:

Thu. Dec. 2 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Fri. Dec. 3 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sat. Dec. 4 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sun. Dec. 5 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.


We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

What is Gen Con?

Gen Con began as a meeting between friends (among them, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson of D&D fame) to play games in Lake Geneva, WI - thus the name Gen (Geneva) Con (Convention). Today that name lives on in the gaming industry as the source for all the latest information on RPGs, Card Games, Miniatures, Wargames, Board Games, Computer Games – just about any type of game ever created. Since its rather humble and exclusive local beginnings, Gen Con has expanded to three shows worldwide: Europe, Indianapolis, and Anaheim. For more information about Gen Con So Cal, please visit the official site.

The first City of Heroes European website has gone live at (take your pick) City of Heroes UK or City of Heroes EU! Drop by to find out all about the European version of the game, including the upcoming European Beta.

The French and German sites will be up very shortly—so stay tuned!

There’s a monster in the waters of Independence Port. Or so it’s been reported. It’s big. It has 8 arms and a very bad attitude. The dockworkers of Independence Port want to strike. The authorities are investigating and heroes are put on the alert. The Paragon Times reports on this developing situation. Read more...

City of Heroes Lead Designer Jack Emmert answers questions from Slashdot readers. Among the topics addressed were details on the upcoming CoH expansion, the future of MMOGs, and commentary on some of the decisions that led to the creation of City of Heroes. Read the full Q&A here.

The New York Times has listed its top 10 video games of 2004 and City of Heroes is among the chosen! With The Sims 2, Myst IV: Revelation, Full Spectrum Warrior and Thief: Deadly Shadows among the other great games on the list, CoH is in excellent company. To read the full article, please visit the NY Times Circuits/Game Theory Section (registration required).

With Issue 3: A Council of War, level 50 Heroes will be able to choose the Kheldian Archetypes. Peacebringer or Warshade, they both offer unique and exciting powers. For more details about these new Archetypes, please read our Issue 3 Feature Spotlight.

Heroes of Paragon City!

Spike TV has just listed the categories and nominees scheduled for their 2nd annual VIDEO GAME AWARDS, to be broadcast live on Tuesday, December 14 at 9:00PM EST. City of Heroes has been nominated in two categories: “Most Addictive Game” and “Best Multiplayer Game.”

According to Spike TV, the nominees were determined by the Video Game Awards Advisory Board, made up of a group of gaming industry experts. Winners will be determined by votes from the Advisory Board and consumer voting—this means you, the City of Heroes faithful! Voting for this year's nominees on SpikeTV.com starts today, November 16 and runs through December 14. So get on over to Spike TV and cast your vote for City of Heroes!

Heroes!

Please join me in welcoming Bridger, who has recently joined NCsoft as our first European Community Coordinator. Bridger will be bringing you information about the CoH European launch, answering your questions, and eventually running the English version of the CoH Europe message board when it goes public. If you have questions about the European launch, feel free to start asking them, as Bridger will be following this thread over the weekend and will begin responding to questions Monday.

Before joining NCsoft, Bridger spent over a decade as a games journalist working for many of the UK’s most successful games magazines and websites. He’s been an avid player of CoH since launch, and a comics fan since before he could read (he liked the pretty pictures, apparently).

We are excited to have him on board and are eagerly awaiting CoH’s European launch.

All the entries are in!

Winners will be announced on Monday, November 15!

We want to thank everyone for their wonderful entries and for making the City of Heroes Halloween Costume Contest a rousing success! You inspired us, amazed us and made us laugh out loud with your creativity and skill. Check out your fellow players in all their super-powered glory on our Costume Contest Gallery.

It’s not going to be an easy job coming up with our winners. We have an amazing community with so much talent! Give yourself a big round of applause!

Thanks again for all your hard work. See you back here on Monday!

With Issue 3, A Council of War, heroes will gain access to a new set of power pools: Epic Power Pools. For more details on the Epic Power Pools, please read our new Issue 3 feature spotlight.

City of Heroes was crowned PC/Console Game of the Year and Multiplayer Game of the Year at the first annual Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards held on November 5 in Los Angeles. For complete details, please read our press release. For more information about the Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference and Awards, please visit the official site.

Yes, it’s coming down to the wire. The Halloween Costume contest deadline is just three days away! Sunday, November 7 at 11:59PM CST to be precise. So hurry and submit those pictures of you dressed up as your in-game hero for a chance to win great prizes in six available categories.

You could walk away with a variety of treats including an nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Card, Apple Ipod, Cannon Powershot Digital Camera, unique in-game title and cameo in the Monthly CoH comic book!

But wait – there’s more! We’ve updated our photo gallery where you can see the latest and greatest entries. Enjoy!

For complete details about the contest, head on over to our contest page. Good luck!

Please join us on the Training Room test server this Friday, November 5, from 10AM to Noon CST for a special PCC event! We’ll be offering players a one time, limited opportunity to test the special rewards available in our upcoming City of Heroes Collector’s DVD Edition!

This is a sneak preview only and no progress will be saved during the two hours of testing. At the end of the event, the test server will be rolled back to a "snapshot" from its pre-event state. Any levels gained or rewards received during this testing period will be lost.

To fully experience all of the special Collector’s DVD Edition rewards, you have the option to "copy" over a higher level character (level 20 or above) from a live server rather than create a new one on the Training Room. If all your characters are under level 20, you can still test – you just won’t be able to experience one of the available features.

For information on how to copy a character from a live server to The Training Room Test Server, please visit our Character Copy page.

Here are the special rewards you’ll get to try out:

Powerslide

This power forms a frictionless field of energy beneath the user that allows rapid transit while close to the ground.

V.I.P. Badge

There are many kinds of recognition in Paragon City. Receiving this special V.I.P. Badge indicates that you are among the elite. Only those with the highest social graces receive this honor.

Cape of the Four Winds (only available at level 20)

Granted by the Monks from the Order of the Four Winds this translucent cape signifies great strength of spirit. Anyone who receives it has a great destiny ahead of them.

PLEASE NOTE: The rewards made available on the Training Room Test Server will only be available on the live servers to those who purchase the Special Edition DVD version of City of Heroes in the future.

Want to know more about the Training Room test server? You can get the details here.

For more information about the PCC, please visit this page.

We hope to see you on the Training Room test server for this special ‘sneak peek’!

NCsoft announces the release of the City of Heroes Collectors DVD Edition, which will include enhancements to the game, a limited edition Statesman HeroClix figure and other exclusive collectibles. The special edition DVD will be available to would-be super-powered heroes next week in most retail outlets throughout the United States and Canada. For more information please read our Press Release.