Niviene
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Posts
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Architect
Architect Edition Horoscopes
Aries (3/21 - 4/19): Danger lurks around every corner this week, hopefully you know martial arts or else you might be in some serious trouble. You will find thrills in Impossible Kung Fu Mission! #111367 @Spiral Architect
Taurus (4/20 - 5/20): This week will be a little bit twisted as unexpected things start happening to you. Carry a good luck charm with you just in case. You will find mystery in Deal with the Devil's Pawn #207266 by Telstar.
Gemini (5/21 - 6/21): It's time to revisit a little history this week. Be sure to bring your reading glasses, and your sidekick. You will find Ms. Liberty in Childhood Horrors #5349 by Lord Xenite.
Cancer (6/22 - 7/22): Keeping your feelings inside may strain relationships with friends and family. Take an hour of "me time" to vent your frustrations by destroying Doktor Kannoenfutter and his eight elite robot bosses, then approach things with a fresh perspective tomorrow. You will find robots in The Terrible Plan of Doktor Kannoenfutter #185425 by Eraserdog.
Leo (7/23 - 8/22): Math is not your friend this week, especially Bunnygirl multiplication! Be careful where you step. You will find fun in Too Many Bunnygirls! #101165 by Clave Dark 5.
Virgo (8/23 - 9/22): A penny on the sidewalk can be a good omen, but beware of other things made of copper. Be careful at work, especially when confronting a deceptive and two-faced boss. You will find danger in Dr. Dave and the Copper Legion #60280 by the Hedoren.
Libra (9/23 - 10/22): You're in the zone today! You keep coming up with brilliant ideas! Unfortunately, your social awkwardness seems to have increased as well. No worries; soon you will be feeling nerdy and heroic all at once! You will find anxiety in Freaks and Geeks #55715 by El Condor.
Scorpio (10/23 - 11/21): Adventure and fortune are there for the taking so take them. Today a portal can open to an entirely new dimension and horrors you might not have even dreamed about a week ago. This is a moment to join the Horsemen in their vigil of Praetoria. You will find acceptance in The Horsemen Chronicles (Part 1) #195149 by Citizen Razor.
Sagittarius (11/22 - 12/21): The Moon has retreated from your sign and the Sun will not enter for another week. Do not let your enemies take advantage of this! You will need perseverance in your endeavors during this week. You will find blood in The Invasion of the Bikini-clad Samurai Vampiresses from Outer Space #61013 by Aliana Blue.
Capricorn (12/22 - 1/19): This week will be your "Raspberry Heaven", if you have any idea what that means. You'll find familiar faces and laughs aplenty in Enter the Father Hat Gang #21391 by Backfire.
Aquarius (1/20 - 2/18): It's about time for your lucky break. Don't give up on your confidence or you will fail. You will find music in The Audition by MrCaptainMan (221240).
Pisces (2/19 - 3/20): Your house is in strong opposition to Gemini, thus you are destined to fight a villain who has multiple aspects, multiple faces, or multiple bodies. You will find abundance in Escalation #6143 by @FemFury.
If you would like your arc featured in the City Scoop, post submissions here. Horoscope format is not required.
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Community
Die Kuche Von Barron
Fish in Horseradish Sauce
This simple dish highlights the spicy-sweet sauce made with horseradish, apples and sour cream. These are very typical ingredients in traditional German cuisine.
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 lb. fresh or thawed sole or flounder filet (with or without skin)
* 2 T. vinegar or lemon juice
* 1 T. melted butter
* 4 T. freshly grated horseradish, or 3-4 T. bottled horseradish or to taste
* 1 tart apple, grated
* 3/4 c. sour cream
* Salt
* Sugar
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Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Butter a casserole dish large enough for the fillet or fillets. Rinse and pat the fish dry. Sprinkle with vinegar and brush the melted butter over the top. Place the fillets in the buttered dish.
Bake fillets for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients together, seasoning to taste with the salt and sugar.
Spread the sauce over the fish and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork and sauce is bubbly.Serve with Cucumbers and dill make a great combination, but this salad is tasty with just cucumbers, too. Serves 4.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 seedless cucumber (long and skinny, slightly bumpy), or 2 American cucumbers
* 3 Tbsp cider or white vinegar
* 1 Tbsp sugar
* ¼ tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 small red onion, sliced and broken into rings (optional)
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, (leaves from 1 lg. stalk) (optional)
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Preparation:
Wash the cucumber(s). If you have unwaxed, seedless cucumbers you can leave part or all of the skin on in strips (attractive when sliced), all others should be peeled. Using a mandoline, a food processor with the thin slicer attachment, or the slicer opening on a cheese grater, slice the cucumber very thin.
Place the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a serving bowl and whisk until the sugar dissolves completely. Add the cucumber, onion, and dill, if using, and toss well. Marinate for 5 or more minutes and serve.
Fan Fiction Spotlight
Shades of the Past
By Grog_the_Big
Rick Valencia breathed deep, inhaling the aroma of a past life. Warm asphalt. Cool sea air. Exhaust fumes. Old wooden buildings. The still-unidentifiable odors from the Chinese general store behind him. He imagined the smell inside Central Station, his old stomping grounds, would also have remained unchanged; sweat, old coffee, and desperation.
How long did we wait in those airports? How long did we sit and wait in that plane? And now, after traveling for nearly a full day, we're on the other side of your nation, and all you can think to do is stand on a sidewalk, waiting! We could have done that in Paragon City!
"Shut up, will you? I haven't seen or spoken to Tom in almost five years, thanks largely to you, and I need to concentrate to find him."
Don't blame me for that! It was your own attempts to evict me that caused your downfall! If you'd cooperated as I suggested-
"You mean as you demanded! And, if I had, we'd both have ended up in prison, the nuthouse, or the morgue, so put a sock in it!
Well, we've both been through some changes, haven't we?
Grog_the_Big has delivered great Fan Fiction for our enjoyment recently. This little taste above comes from "Shades of the Past," a continuation of his story "Shades of Things to Come."
First I would suggest you read "Shades of Things to Come" to be introduced to these wonderful characters, and then move to "Shades of the Past." The writing style is very refined and easy to follow, which helps you jump right in to the story. I'll admit, I read the first few paragraphs and I was immediately hooked due to Rick, the protagonist, and his conversations with his internal partner. Their banter back in forth provides humor as well as insight into the character, helping the reader to become more attached to both of them.
The dialog is also impressive. It sounds very natural and flows well adding to the interactions of the characters. Another unique draw for this story is that it begins outside of our lovely Paragon City. Something that's going to make a few readers iffy is the dreaded Wall-o-Text, which can be daunting at first. However, if you take the time to sit down and read this, you will definitely enjoy it. Check out Grog_the_Big's "Shades of the Past!" Do it, DO IT NOW!
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Larissa Rasputin, Hero of the City! by LadyJudgement
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 Rikti Invasion Incoming!July 17th to July 19thWar Returns To Paragon City And The Rogue Isles A shadow passing overhead... Fire and destruction raining from the sky... A warlike adversary returning to menace Paragon City and the Rogue Isles once again... The Rikti are returning. Starting Friday July 17th (11:00 AM Eastern / 10:00 AM Central / 8:00 AM Pacific) and lasting through Sunday July 19th (11:59 PM Eastern / 10:59 PM Central / 8:59 PM Pacific) the Rikti will once again renew their assault. Every hero and every villain's services will be required to repel these vicious invaders if our homeland is to be safe from their murderous invasion. Everyone will be called to action, will you answer the call? JOIN IN THE COMMUNITY DISCUSSION | Vol. 3, Issue 8July 14, 2009This Issue:Official Announcements . . . . .  |
Stalwart heroes and dastardly villains have always been a staple in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Power sets, archetypes, and features are often exemplified and defined in City of Heroes® by our signature characters.
The time has come to add two more to the ranks. From the upcoming Going Rogue expansion, we're happy to introduce Maelstrom and Desdemona who walk the very thin line between good and evil. Go here to read their stories.
Then, make sure to read Senior Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller's Developer Diary, where he talks about the process involved in bringing two new City of Heroes® signature characters to life.
The time has come to add two more to the ranks. From the upcoming Going Rogue expansion, we're happy to introduce Maelstrom and Desdemona who walk the very thin line between good and evil. Go here to read their stories.
Then, make sure to read Senior Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller's Developer Diary, where he talks about the process involved in bringing two new City of Heroes® signature characters to life.
Signature Rogues
By: Matt Positron Miller, Senior Lead Designer, Paragon Studios
When Going Rogue was in the planning stages, we knew that we would need a couple poster-children to encompass what Going Rogue meant. We needed a Hero and a Villain to cross over to the other side and show to the world, and our players, that yes, this can and will be possible for your character too.
We originally thought that we would take existing Signature characters and migrate them to the other side, but since we did the Trading Places storyline in the comic (where Manticore joins up with Arachnos), it seemed we couldnt do that without someone tying it back to that comic storyline where (spoilers ahead!) Manticore was only faking and was actually a Hero the entire time.
So that meant we needed a Hero-gone-bad and a Villain-gone-good. Looking back into my stable of old RPG super-heroes I remembered a gun wielding vigilante I used to play called Maelstrom. Since we really wanted to get a dual pistols Powerset into Going Rogue I thought that he would be a great guy to dust off and bring to life in the City of Heroes universe. Like all creations, he went through many iterations before the final look and style was settled for him. The Going Rogue version and the RPG version from years ago are pretty much two distinct entities now, and I just love what our concept team was able to do to modernize him.
That took care of our vigilante Hero, but I still needed a redeeming Villain. I looked to the other powerset we wanted to put into Going Rogue, Demon Summoning. This was a Mastermind set, so it was already exclusive to villains, making it obvious that whoever we came up with was going to be a demon summoner.
Desdemona was the hardest to nail down a name for. We had gone through many iterations of her name, everything from Pandora to Eve to Demonatrix to Parable. We were never happy with any of them, until Melissa Bianco (War Witch, our Senior world designer) came up with Desdemona. It fit the character perfectly and instantly became her name in the story bible. We loved that she had such an evil powerset, but found herself in a situation where she wanted to use her powers for good.
Personally I love the way both characters turned out. During the concepting phase Desdemona had a lot of skin showing around the neck so we were trying out various jewelry and collars to break things up. Then Carolina Tello Alvarado, who did the concept art for her, realized if this girl was summoning demons, shed probably want something mystical to keep them from controlling her. Thats when Carolina came up with the idea of a tattooed circle of protection encompassing her mind, that demons couldnt penetrate and was permanently part of her body.
Maelstroms power source was also a great idea. Ken Morse, the Lead Artist, wanted something that evoked Maelstrom more than just the name, and so his idea was to having this glowing, swirling, energy source in his chest. I think the end result was awesome.
Sharp-eyed fans will note that weve been working on these two characters for a while, as they had their birthdays listed in the online calendar we released for the fourth anniversary of City of Heroes, over a year ago. Although Desdemona was listed as Pandora on that calendar, it just shows how fluid, and long, some of these ideas take to come to fruition.
For the next Dev Diary, Joe Hero 1 Morrissey will detail new information on Tyrant, err, I mean Emperor Cole, and the world of Praetoria where he and his Praetorian Guard hail from.
By: Matt Positron Miller, Senior Lead Designer, Paragon Studios
When Going Rogue was in the planning stages, we knew that we would need a couple poster-children to encompass what Going Rogue meant. We needed a Hero and a Villain to cross over to the other side and show to the world, and our players, that yes, this can and will be possible for your character too.
We originally thought that we would take existing Signature characters and migrate them to the other side, but since we did the Trading Places storyline in the comic (where Manticore joins up with Arachnos), it seemed we couldnt do that without someone tying it back to that comic storyline where (spoilers ahead!) Manticore was only faking and was actually a Hero the entire time.
So that meant we needed a Hero-gone-bad and a Villain-gone-good. Looking back into my stable of old RPG super-heroes I remembered a gun wielding vigilante I used to play called Maelstrom. Since we really wanted to get a dual pistols Powerset into Going Rogue I thought that he would be a great guy to dust off and bring to life in the City of Heroes universe. Like all creations, he went through many iterations before the final look and style was settled for him. The Going Rogue version and the RPG version from years ago are pretty much two distinct entities now, and I just love what our concept team was able to do to modernize him.
That took care of our vigilante Hero, but I still needed a redeeming Villain. I looked to the other powerset we wanted to put into Going Rogue, Demon Summoning. This was a Mastermind set, so it was already exclusive to villains, making it obvious that whoever we came up with was going to be a demon summoner.
Desdemona was the hardest to nail down a name for. We had gone through many iterations of her name, everything from Pandora to Eve to Demonatrix to Parable. We were never happy with any of them, until Melissa Bianco (War Witch, our Senior world designer) came up with Desdemona. It fit the character perfectly and instantly became her name in the story bible. We loved that she had such an evil powerset, but found herself in a situation where she wanted to use her powers for good.
Personally I love the way both characters turned out. During the concepting phase Desdemona had a lot of skin showing around the neck so we were trying out various jewelry and collars to break things up. Then Carolina Tello Alvarado, who did the concept art for her, realized if this girl was summoning demons, shed probably want something mystical to keep them from controlling her. Thats when Carolina came up with the idea of a tattooed circle of protection encompassing her mind, that demons couldnt penetrate and was permanently part of her body.
Maelstroms power source was also a great idea. Ken Morse, the Lead Artist, wanted something that evoked Maelstrom more than just the name, and so his idea was to having this glowing, swirling, energy source in his chest. I think the end result was awesome.
Sharp-eyed fans will note that weve been working on these two characters for a while, as they had their birthdays listed in the online calendar we released for the fourth anniversary of City of Heroes, over a year ago. Although Desdemona was listed as Pandora on that calendar, it just shows how fluid, and long, some of these ideas take to come to fruition.
For the next Dev Diary, Joe Hero 1 Morrissey will detail new information on Tyrant, err, I mean Emperor Cole, and the world of Praetoria where he and his Praetorian Guard hail from.
Heads up to all the Heroes and Villains currently logged into the Test Server.
We are rebooting the server.
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We are rebooting the server.
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Several posts have been removed from this thread. If you have a question about a post that was removed and you feel it was not in violation of the rules, please send me a private message.
Please keep the thread on topic and refrain from trolling and attacking each other.
Please keep the thread on topic and refrain from trolling and attacking each other.
heh it's only closed for this shot 
Greetings Players,
Todays patch included back-end/behind the scenes fixes for Microtransactions, so there are no Public Release Notes for this build.
Thanks for your continued support.
Todays patch included back-end/behind the scenes fixes for Microtransactions, so there are no Public Release Notes for this build.
Thanks for your continued support.
[ QUOTE ]
Niv,
I love the fact that you (as a redname) still have your holiday temporary powers in your tray.
I can't explain WHY that is funny to me. It just is.
[/ QUOTE ]
I tend to hoard things I still have them on all but one of my personal account characters as well.
Niv,
I love the fact that you (as a redname) still have your holiday temporary powers in your tray.
I can't explain WHY that is funny to me. It just is.
[/ QUOTE ]
I tend to hoard things
I still have them on all but one of my personal account characters as well.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mine
[/ QUOTE ]
Your inspie tray strikes me as a difficult place for the mouse to land on. You ever have problems with that?
I know that it'd probably be a security issue, but I'd LOVE to see the way the devs have their dev clients setup.
-- Edit --
[ QUOTE ]
Wow, we are actually learning stuff from this thread. I know you can change the color of your text and bubble but I didn't know you could change the color of your windows. I always thought the colors were locked to blue for hero and red for villain. I think I'm going to try this out.
[/ QUOTE ]
Like some others in the thread, each of my characters gets custom window colors (and speech bubble colors). The colors are based on characterization, but not necessarily costume colors.
[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, works out well for me and reminds me to use them when it's there.
[ QUOTE ]
Mine
[/ QUOTE ]
Your inspie tray strikes me as a difficult place for the mouse to land on. You ever have problems with that?
I know that it'd probably be a security issue, but I'd LOVE to see the way the devs have their dev clients setup.
-- Edit --
[ QUOTE ]
Wow, we are actually learning stuff from this thread. I know you can change the color of your text and bubble but I didn't know you could change the color of your windows. I always thought the colors were locked to blue for hero and red for villain. I think I'm going to try this out.
[/ QUOTE ]
Like some others in the thread, each of my characters gets custom window colors (and speech bubble colors). The colors are based on characterization, but not necessarily costume colors.
[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, works out well for me and reminds me to use them when it's there.
[ QUOTE ]
Wow. Some of you people sound like you're jaded beyond enjoying the game anymore. Myself, I've only been playing since January, and I can't wait to see this. I get all excited when the sky turns red or green...
[/ QUOTE ]
Me too! Sky turning eerie and then crowds of players pumping up to take them down the min they arrive... I love it.
Wow. Some of you people sound like you're jaded beyond enjoying the game anymore. Myself, I've only been playing since January, and I can't wait to see this. I get all excited when the sky turns red or green...
[/ QUOTE ]
Me too! Sky turning eerie and then crowds of players pumping up to take them down the min they arrive... I love it.
For your testing pleasure we will be re-enabling the Superscience pack on the Test Server tomorrow, Thursday, July 9th and would love your help testing it once again!
announcement
announcement
Greetings players,
For those of you that missed trying it out the first time and those of you who wouldn't mind giving it another look... we will be re-enabling the Superscience pack on the Test Server tomorrow, Thursday, July 9th and would love your help testing it once again!
Please post your feedback and any bugs you may find in this thread.
And thanks again for the testing help!
For those of you that missed trying it out the first time and those of you who wouldn't mind giving it another look... we will be re-enabling the Superscience pack on the Test Server tomorrow, Thursday, July 9th and would love your help testing it once again!
Please post your feedback and any bugs you may find in this thread.
And thanks again for the testing help!
Release Notes for Build 19.20090702.3
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
COMBINED
Mission Architect
<ul>[*]When creating a Custom Boss and choosing the Same as Boss setting, the accompanying mobs will be the default Villain group of the mission in general. To circumvent this issue, you can use the Custom Tab for the accompanying mobs, and select the Custom group that the Custom Boss is in.[/list]
PVP Changes
<ul>[*]Dominator - Energy Assault - Power Push now deals damage versus players correctly.[/list]
CITY OF HEROES
Tasks
<ul>[*]Now using the correct (unkillable) version of Reichsman in mission 2 of the Reichsman Task Force[/list]
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
COMBINED
Mission Architect
<ul>[*]When creating a Custom Boss and choosing the Same as Boss setting, the accompanying mobs will be the default Villain group of the mission in general. To circumvent this issue, you can use the Custom Tab for the accompanying mobs, and select the Custom group that the Custom Boss is in.[/list]
PVP Changes
<ul>[*]Dominator - Energy Assault - Power Push now deals damage versus players correctly.[/list]
CITY OF HEROES
Tasks
<ul>[*]Now using the correct (unkillable) version of Reichsman in mission 2 of the Reichsman Task Force[/list]
War Returns To Paragon City And The Rogue Isles
A shadow passing overhead
Fire and destruction raining from the sky
A warlike adversary returning to menace Paragon City and the Rogue Isles once again...
The Rikti are returning.
Starting Friday July 17th (11:00 AM Eastern / 10:00 AM Central / 8:00 AM Pacific) and lasting through Sunday July 19th (11:59 PM Eastern / 10:59 PM Central / 8:59 PM Pacific)
the Rikti will once again renew their assault. Every hero and every villains services will be required to repel these vicious invaders if our homeland is to be safe from their murderous invasion.
Everyone will be called to action, will you answer the call?
A shadow passing overhead
Fire and destruction raining from the sky
A warlike adversary returning to menace Paragon City and the Rogue Isles once again...
The Rikti are returning.
Starting Friday July 17th (11:00 AM Eastern / 10:00 AM Central / 8:00 AM Pacific) and lasting through Sunday July 19th (11:59 PM Eastern / 10:59 PM Central / 8:59 PM Pacific)
the Rikti will once again renew their assault. Every hero and every villains services will be required to repel these vicious invaders if our homeland is to be safe from their murderous invasion.
Everyone will be called to action, will you answer the call?
War Returns To Paragon City And The Rogue Isles
A shadow passing overhead
Fire and destruction raining from the sky
A warlike adversary returning to menace Paragon City and the Rogue Isles once again...
The Rikti are returning.
Starting Friday July 17th (11:00 AM Eastern / 10:00 AM Central / 8:00 AM Pacific) and lasting through Sunday July 19th (11:59 PM Eastern / 10:59 PM Central / 8:59 PM Pacific)
the Rikti will once again renew their assault. Every hero and every villains services will be required to repel these vicious invaders if our homeland is to be safe from their murderous invasion.
Everyone will be called to action, will you answer the call?
JOIN IN THE COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
A shadow passing overhead
Fire and destruction raining from the sky
A warlike adversary returning to menace Paragon City and the Rogue Isles once again...
The Rikti are returning.
Starting Friday July 17th (11:00 AM Eastern / 10:00 AM Central / 8:00 AM Pacific) and lasting through Sunday July 19th (11:59 PM Eastern / 10:59 PM Central / 8:59 PM Pacific)
the Rikti will once again renew their assault. Every hero and every villains services will be required to repel these vicious invaders if our homeland is to be safe from their murderous invasion.
Everyone will be called to action, will you answer the call?
JOIN IN THE COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
Vol. 3, Issue 07
July 8, 2009
The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Niviene.
If you would like to do a feature article, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe.
If you would like to place a classified ad or have an event covered, contact Cende, EnnVee, or Lemur Lad.
If you need some "Advice" contact Lady_Athyna, would like to "Ask The X" contact LiquidX, or need help with fashion, "Ask Arbiter Fabulous."
If you have a base you would like featured, please contact EnnVee.
Finally if you have a Recipe you would like included please contact Barron_.
July 8, 2009
The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Niviene.
If you would like to do a feature article, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe.
If you would like to place a classified ad or have an event covered, contact Cende, EnnVee, or Lemur Lad.
If you need some "Advice" contact Lady_Athyna, would like to "Ask The X" contact LiquidX, or need help with fashion, "Ask Arbiter Fabulous."
If you have a base you would like featured, please contact EnnVee.
Finally if you have a Recipe you would like included please contact Barron_.
Vol. 3, Issue 7
July 8, 2009
The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Niviene.
If you would like to do a feature article, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe.
If you would like to place a classified ad or have an event covered, contact Cende, EnnVee, or Lemur Lad.
If you need some "Advice" contact Lady_Athyna, would like to "Ask The X" contact LiquidX, or need help with fashion, "Ask Arbiter Fabulous."
If you have a base you would like featured, please contact EnnVee.
Finally if you have a Recipe you would like included please contact Barron_.
July 8, 2009
The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Niviene.
If you would like to do a feature article, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe.
If you would like to place a classified ad or have an event covered, contact Cende, EnnVee, or Lemur Lad.
If you need some "Advice" contact Lady_Athyna, would like to "Ask The X" contact LiquidX, or need help with fashion, "Ask Arbiter Fabulous."
If you have a base you would like featured, please contact EnnVee.
Finally if you have a Recipe you would like included please contact Barron_.
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EnnVee - Bases Reyne_Maker - The Hecktic Life VexXxa - In the Scoop Neuronia - PvP Correspondent TopDoc - Under the hood - Behind the Walls | |
Barron_ - Barron's Kitchen | |
Teldon - Behind the Mask HumanMiracle - Fan Fiction Spotlight | |
Fleeting_Whisper - MArc reviews Bubbawheat - Exploring the Architect | |
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Needed! | |
More Welcomed. (Need HTML skills.) | |
More Welcomed. | |
Art Correspondents Event reporters HTML Layout Puzzles Writers | |
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The Hecktic Life |
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In the Scoop Okay, so here I am sitting in my office, wandering through the boards for my next article. My phone startles me as it loudly rings at me. It's my boss, Snow Globe. She says to me, "VexXxa, I hear there is a street fair in Siren's Call and that there are supposedly some heroes and villains that are good artists showing off their talents by painting the streets and sidewalks. I need you to get over there and get the scoop on it." I reply with a "yes, ma'am." and grab my camera as I head out the door. - an assignment from the Editor-in-Chief, I best make this a good one! I arrive in Siren's Call, and find that it is peaceful with heroes and villains all about. The artists are painting the streets with images that look magnificent! I wander through the streets observing the crowds as they walk around each huge image. The people are watching the artists as they kneel and magically create for all to see these awe-inspiring pictures.  I see this one artist that just seems to stand out from the others. I watch him as he crouches above the section of the image that he is painting onto the pavement. What a fascinating piece of work. Looks like the image is leaping out of the pavement! I quietly watch this artist until he was done for a moment and stood up. He turns to me and smiles as I do my little wave. He walks over to me and I introduce myself and ask him if I may talk with him about his work. He says, "Sure! Come on over here. I have a few easels with some of my other work on display. By the way, my pen name is Lady Judgement, but I go by LJ." We shake hands and LJ, says, "I have lived in Liberty's Paragon City for 36 months and plan to be here until I am at least 42. I mostly hang out in Atlas, or you can find me in just about any Icon store." As I look through some of LJ's other pieces of work, I ask him if he can recall about how old he was when he started to discover his artistic talents. LJ gives me a big smile and says, "Sometime around age 7, my brother was drawing 'Gigantor' the space-age robot. I noticed it was off here and there, so I corrected it. I also did a lot of wildlife with crayons and liked working big, on 14" x 17" paper; that was huge to me as a kid." I ask LJ if he has any pieces that he thought would depict his best work. LJ thought for a moment and then picked up two of his pictures for me to see. LJ said, "As to the best pieces, that's hard to put my foot on, as I feel I've gotten better and will continue to do so. So to use one example as, well, this is my best; I'm not sure I can. I will give you two examples of early and better work. As probably, my Mr. Majesty pieces illustrate my growth in three years: | It amazes me to see the difference between both of those pieces. I asked LJ if he has any favorite CoX pieces he has done. LJ replied with a serious look, "I don't have a favorite, usually it's the newest piece I am doing, because that's what excites me at the moment. And I try to keep consistent or improve if I can. I draw a lot of women , so if I had a favorite subject, that would be it." LJ continues to chat with me and says, "I did a lot of freebies before I thought myself good enough to charge for my work. I actually have a gallery of those, AND my first tries, as well as a gallery of pieces I thought were breakthroughs in style. I do have a gallery of the first pieces I ever charged for, kind of like framing your first dollar bill - First Queue " I was curious if LJ was working on any current CoX pieces. He thought for a moment and said, "Currently I am having a Summer Sale, with four slots open at a given time, By the time this story prints, I may not have a current project. Here is a gallery to my previous commission pieces." http://baquitania.deviantart.com/gallery/#Previous-Commissions After looking through all of LJ's artwork and then looking back at the image that he is laying out on the pavement, I asked LJ where he gets his creative ideas. LJ replied with a smile, "I am primarily a portrait artist at heart, so I look at A LOT of photos. I collect them for shadows, for highlights, for colors. I think of it as data, so that if I fill my head with enough inspiration, I can 'recall' some of it as I work, and think, oh yeah didn't I see that somewhere? I also watch an inordinate amount of movies, over and over - more visual stimulation. Lastly, I play music during every work session, silence for me is not golden." I believe that LJ's work is fabulous and ask him if there are places where the City Scoop readers can see more of his work and whether or not he takes commissions. LJ smiles brightly at me and says, "I have two sites, my account on Deviant Art under 'baquitania', which stands for Bobby Aquitania (the real name), and an art blog where I post some personal work." I tell LJ that I need to get back to the office and ask him if there was anything else he wishes to share with The City Scoop readers. LJ jokingly says, "Did I mention I was having a sale? Just kidding. If you haven't hired someone yet from the COH Art Forum, there is a very good thread on how to request fan art. 'How to Request Fan Art by Juggertha'" LJ continues, "What it boils down to is: be courteous; be specific; have your screenshots ready; agree to meet the artist's payment options; be patient; be vigilant; and order again - some of us make our living this way. If you can't afford art, two things: butter-up the artist community, support is always appreciated, and, as I remember, many of us still give a lot of 'free gift art' to unsuspecting forum members. It always helps to post a link to your toons in your signature, oh and also it doesn't hurt to participate respectfully in the Art forum." I asked LJ if the Scoop can use his art work in future publications and he excitedly replied, "Yes of course. It's always a thrill to be in the Scoop!" I thanked LJ for taking the time to talk to me. And with that said, I hustled back to the office. "Bring me your visions" - VexXxa |
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Patriots and NationalistsA celebration of national identity in City of Heroes Hello my little American chums, it is Crime of Fashion your friend and mentor in City of Heroes fashion. And before anyone makes nay comments, I have been experimenting with Castle's latest toy on test and I look fabulous. Well, it is July and this month always gets my patriotic juices flowing. This month we celebrate the day that signifies the rise of democracy and the death of tyranny. All over the world people will be celebrating the day that gave rise to the greatest democratic nation the world has ever seen. That's right my little American chums; July 16 is Bastille Day! You didn't think I was talking about some other date in July, did you? To celebrate this momentous event in world history, I have decided to examine the concepts and ideas behind Patriotic and Nationalistic toons. I use these two separate terms to describe Heroes and Villains respectively. A good guy with a flag on his chest is a patriot; a bad guy is a nationalist. How we humans love our labels! Why make a patriot or a nationalist? Patriotism is a powerful psychological force. We are raised to love our country and respect our heritage. What better way to act out a fantasy of defending your country than playing a hero who embodies those values? The classic super heroes of comic books are littered with examples of this, probably best embodied by a certain super solider with a shield. Nationalism is also a powerful psychological force. It encapsulates the negative connotations of patriotism, blind obedience to authority and hatred of those who don't fit your values. It is perfect conceptual material for a great villain, probably best embodied by the various Nazi and Soviet super villains in the silver age of comic books. Where to start? First of all, you need to pick the nation of country you wish to embody, then you need to have some inspiration. You can draw inspiration from a variety of sources. I will look at the national symbol and national icons. Look around at the symbols and mythology that surround you and just draw on those. In no time you will have a Patriot or Nationalist of your very own to play with. Don't feel limited to national symbols either, local and regional icons can be just as rewarding. I wonder how many players in Pittsburgh have characters with peg legs and hook hands? | National Flag Probably the easiest place to start is with your nation of choices flag. It gives you two key components to start designing, your colour palette and some symbols. As a test I decided make a character by picking a random nations flag and basing a toon off it. I give you the National Hero of Pakistan, the Karachi Kid, a simple design using the palette and symbols provided.   . National Icons A good place to look for these is in the history and propaganda of your nation. Uncle Sam, the French Foreign Legionnaire, the Spartan Warrior, Britannia, The Soviet Worker and Fred Dagg are all examples of patriotic icons. Take inspiration from these Icons and make a tribute, or use them as the basis for an idea. Susiebot, from the forums submitted the following character based on a Icon for the USA from World War II, allow me to introduce "The Riveter"   Conclusions Playing a toon like this is fun, you will find a back story will readily come together, and people in game will easily identify with what your toon is about. COX is about having fun and living out the fantasy. The following image is just a sample of the rich variety of costuming that can be achieved while creating a Nationalist or A patriotic toon.  My thanks to all those who contributed to this collage, and my apologies to all those I could not include. Please find the full thread with costumes here. |
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Exploring the Architect#6: Stories and Lore InterviewGreetings Mission Architects! Today I am featuring a part of the Mission Architect that no one really expected to see, but has become a large part of the Stories and Lore section of the forums especially - Arc reviews. This week I sat down with Venture, one of the most prominent, and talked about reviewers in that section. If you missed the Architect Edition Horoscopes, it was due to a temporary lack of internet connection and slight shortage of submissions. You can fix the second part of that by submitting your Arc in this thread. Remember, if you don't want to write up a horoscope style description, I'll be happy to write one for you. Q) First, let's start with the introductions. You were the first person to start a review thread for MArcs and have had one of the most popular review threads in the Stories and Lore section. So, Venture, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? A) Sure. I'm 45 years old. I've been a fan of the typical "geek" stuff (science fiction/fantasy, comics, computers, gaming, etc.) for most of my life. I currently work in the family antique business but I'm also taking classes at Montclair State University (NJ) majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Philosophy. Q) So, what made you decide to start that first review thread in the forums? A) I felt it would be a good way to popularize the system. People would see reviews of good arcs and consider playing them. I expected others would jump on the bandwagon, posting their own reviews - which they did with both feet. The MA system has so much content in it that it's really impossible for any one person to sort through it all. Q) Absolutely, it seems that the Stories and Lore section has become the Advertising and Reviews section. A) It has, very much, and that's probably a good thing. Q) Now, besides being the first of the reviewers, you are also regarded as one of the harshest critics on the forum, most often coming from one of your most frequent complaints: "Just a bunch of stuff that happened". Do you feel that reputation is deserved? A) Yes, I'd have to say I'm probably the toughest critic currently posting reviews. I expected it. I've been at this (as a fan, not a pro) longer than a lot of City players have been alive. Q) Being a popular reviewer, that means that you've played a lot of arcs, can you name an arc, or even just an objective in a mission that completely surprised you, in a good way? | A) An arc that was a pleasant surprise was "Aeon's Nemesis." I have pretty low expectations for Nemesis plots but this was a five-star arc. An arc with a number of very clever objectives is "The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts." - I didn't really care for it (too artsy) but the Architect was very inventive with the tools available. I gave it four stars. Q) And on the other side, was there an arc you had high hopes for that didn't deliver? A) I haven't posted a formal review of it (though the author has since requested one - I'll replay it when it comes up in the queue) but I had high hopes for a certain film noir themed arc and ended up rating it one star. I even broke out my gumshoe character Phil Noir for it. Q) So, what advice do you have for aspiring Mission Architects in terms of story writing and objective creation? A) The first thing I would say is that the creative process has a destination (a good story) but no map. There's no one way, right way, or wrong way to get there. Everyone has to work out the process for themselves, and that process may be different from one story to the next. Sometimes you'll have a theme you want to work with, and you'll build around that. Other times it will be a character or characters at first, or maybe a particular plot twist. That's OK, as long as it works. (One of Murphy's Rules of Combat definitely obtains: "if it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid".) The next thing I'd say is "learn to kill your darlings." Writers in general, not just here, can find themselves too attached to something they want to include, to the point that "the tail wags the dog." When that happens you have to cut out what's responsible, no matter how much you like it. Q) Sounds like good advice for writers, do you have any advice for aspiring reviewers? A) As for reviewers, you need to have standards and stick to them. If you don't know what it is you like to see in an arc, you're talking just about aesthetics, and aesthetics are entirely subjective. I try to grade arcs on technical issues: does the plot make sense, are there any logical flaws, spelling errors, mechanical problems (missing objectives, clues, etc.), how well the themes were developed (if any), etc. I try to keep "did I like it?" out as much as possible. No one, of course, is perfectly objective but that's no excuse not to try. Q) Well, thank you for talking with me today, do you have any final words? A) I hope for the day when someone can walk up to the MA browser, hit "random" (coming soon in issue 15) and be assured of getting a well-written arc that wasn't just a farm. That won't happen, but every time an Architect raises his bar, we get closer. Q) Thanks again for your time. A) You're very welcome. |