Hi, my name is Bonehead and I’m an altoholic.

I started playing Sept. 13, 2004. I was an instant altoholic.
There are just so many different cool power combinations! It also helped that a
bunch of people I knew from another board played as well. Since they were
scattered on different servers, I, of course, had to make characters on their
servers as well.

I became pretty quick friends with one of them, Tirtuatha, and
he’s probably a worse altoholic then I was (am). So, over the next two years,
we made dozens of toons on just about every server. I ended up with at least
one character of each AT in the teens or higher (except Brutes) on every server
except Protector. My next toon will be a Brute on Pinnacle to remedy that. One
day, we were joking around about silly toon ideas and wondered if you could
make a Robot/Ninja/Pirate/Zombie/Cowboy with all the new costume pieces from
CoV. Enter P-HIL (Poly-Historic Intelligent Lifeform), a Katana/Regeneration
Scrapper. I played him a few levels, thought it was fun, and then moved on.

Speaking of City of Villains, it really gave my altoholism a
boost. It was like a chocoholic being charged a one-time entry fee into
Hershey’s, and then being able to have as much as you want as often as you want
(I’m a chocoholic, too, so excuse me while I have something chocolaty now) .
Anywho, I ended up really liking my Bots/Traps Mastermind and Tir’s Merc/Poison
MM, and I would just tear through missions. Somehow, I ended up getting ahead
of him and hit 30. Whoa…how’d that happen? I couldn’t have a Villain hit 32
before a Hero. It just didn’t feel right. So, I hopped on my Rad/Rad and got
him to 32 in fairly short order…and then my altoholism kicked in again, and he
fell to the wayside.

Then one day, Tirtuatha tells me about this great SG he’s in: the
Dark Forces of Paragon, on….Pinnacle. He asks if I have any toons there. I
check my list, and sure enough, there’s this P-HIL character there. So, against
my altoholic instinct, I don’t create a new toon and start playing P-HIL
regularly. I get to meet Lord Russ, our SG leader, SuinYuostia 3.0, and a bunch
of people in our Coalition. Everyone is really cool and a blast to play with. I
team with them regularly and notice I’m leveling really fast. P-HIL was great
to play both solo and on teams. I cranked things up to Unyielding and kept
flying through missions…and levels. Suddenly, I was in the mid-30s and
eventually passed Tir’s Ele/EM blaster at 38. Wow…my altoholism seemed to be in
remission. And, to help with that, Lord Russ started ribbing Tir and me to no
end (though Tir got the worst of it). There were a few times where we had to
stop playing because we were laughing so hard.

August
rolls around, and I’m in the late 40s. By the week before GenCon, I’m about 47
and could probably hit 50 before I head to Indy. But, I’d be itching to play a
Kheldian the whole time I was there, and that would drive me nuts (reading
Plasma’s guide had really fired me up). So, I figured I’d wait until
afterwards, much to Russ’s chagrin, I think. Hold on a second, I say to myself.
Doesn’t NCSoft have a booth at GenCon? Answer: Yes. Excitement: Rising. I PM Ex
Libris and ask her if I could login at the booth and hit 50 there. Sure enough,
I can. WOOT!

At GenCon, Ex Libris does an awesome job getting the word out at
the CoH party at the Hard Rock Café. Meanwhile, Tirtuatha is making sure Russ,
Suin, and some others can make it in game. Saturday rolls around, and
everything just falls into place (including P-HIL a couple times in the first
mish). Tir and some people at the NCSoft booth got Russ, Suni, OmniKing, and
OmniQueen to join us. I say some because when I finally hit 50 there were more
then some cheering. I hadn’t realized how many had been watching. I got a good
case of the goose bumps from that (and something got in my eyes, too. Maybe it
was whatever gave some of us the flu). As a gamer, that has to rank as one of
the coolest moments ever. I can’t thank everyone enough who was there and made
this happen. Best. Community. Evar.

My name is Bonehead. I’m an altoholic. And now I have a server to
call home: Pinnacle.

Pinnacle's Night Out

Party to Apocalypse in forty-two minutes!

By
Lemur_Lad

Last
Friday evening, Pinnacle had its inaugural Night Out event, a Lady Gray Task
Force race. The event was set up by two players, Magia and Midnight Cowboy, as
a way for anyone and everyone to get together and have some fun. The Lady Gray
TF was chosen so that players could bring whichever character they wanted, Hero
or Villain. Attendance was excellent, with eight officially entered teams, and
one team running unofficially because the registration had to be closed so
things could get rolling. Magia did an incredible job getting things set up in
two different zones because, unfortunately, real life called Midnight Cowboy
away until near the end of the event. However, things got rolling without a
hitch only a few minutes after the planned start time of 9:15 Eastern. At 9:26,
seventy-two racers went screaming out of the Vanguard base and the race was on!

The organizers had set up a lot of solid rules to ensure a clean
race. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to observe and make sure no one
deliberately failed in missions one and three, so a pre-announced ruling
allowed the teams to do or not as they chose.

"We would have to put a judge on every team, but that wouldn't be
fun for them," Magia told me as we stood at the start and talked while the race
went on. I asked about prizes, and she told me, "Just the temporary titles" she
had arranged with Ex Libris. With full teams and mixed Hero/Villain, it
wouldn't be easy to come up with something for everyone.

From thinking about the TF ahead of time, I knew that good
planning, a bit of luck, and a couple good power choices would make the
difference. Most teams had some of those, but only one had all three. The team
from Jagged Legion was pulling ahead at every mission. Some other teams spoke
of momentarily getting misdirected or having difficulty locating some NPCs. As
it turns out, though, the missions that could be failed weren't the deciding
factor. All the leading teams that failed missions did it in roughly the same
amount of time. The race hinged on how organized and focused the teams were in
the missions you couldn't fail. Being quick in the second mission helped or
harmed different teams, but what cemented the lead was mission four: the
Hamidon. By my chat logs, it took the JL team exactly ten minutes. I knew this
is what I had to ask them about.

Another ten minutes for them to run the final mission, and the
Alert Message came out: Invasion in Cap au Diable. Everyone in the Global
channels and on the teams that I was in touch with was amazed. The winners
entered the Vanguard Base, and Magia verified the badge. I had time to snap
pictures of the winning team, and talk with them about the run.

Team
Jagged Legion (with 100% bonus Big Mike)

We got the team lined up for a glory shot next to Lady Gray. I'm
certain they were dealing with a lot of questions from people who couldn't
believe the fast, fast time, but I had Local to myself so I got to hear the
team's thoughts:

"Thank you, we had lots of fun" said Iron Tiger, as he and his
teammates thanked Magia and expressed their appreciation. I first asked whether
they had any tips for the others, "Bring a JL member" quipped rinvisible, and,
"Have someone who did the mission a bunch of times," said Dausojin.

I really wanted to know about the Hamidon mission though, and they
were really open about it. "We hunkered down and buffed before going in," said
SensoryOverload. "Group fly, have everyone on the same target," from Dausojin.
"We all just rushed him and all took the mitos down one after another in no
time," said Celestial Embers right as Iron Tiger added, "Everyone attacks, no
one quits."

I asked them for final comments, and they were funny. Odin's Shame
said, "Smash everything in the way" as SensoryOverload added, "And look
fabulous!" Time Traveller had been quiet up to that point, but summed it all up
with: "We thought about doing it again, but thought that if we lapped a group
that would be mean..." I thanked them and assured them I knew they would have
whupped the Invasion wave if it had not headed to the Rogue Isles, and
OhSoNaughty assured me, "Without question."

We settled in to see who would finish second and third. I have a
bunch of notes about banter and people complimenting my costume. While
personally satisfying, they don't make good news, so I'll talk about how all
evening long, while the race was rolling, the leader of the second place team,
Friggin' Taser, had been keeping us amused. He had chosen to zip back to the
contact after every mission, and each time said something weird or witty. He
insisted I call their team Task Force Conversational Norwegian in this article,
so there it is. We tried to tell him he didn't have to come back, that he could
use the phone, but regardless, it was funny. Task Force Conversational
Norwegian finished second, thirty minutes after first place. The third place
finishers, the team from the Adversity SG came in, one minute after that.
Things were a bit hectic at that point for me. Here are the images of second
and third place:

Task
Force Conversational Norwegian

Team
Adversity

This was an interesting and exciting event to cover. I realize now
I could probably have done a ton better at getting everyone's names down, but
here is the forum thread, and several of the teams listed their members
there. I had a great time covering Pinnacle's Night Out. Next time I'm chomping
at the bit to actually participate, so one of the other Scoopsters who plays on
Pinnacle will have to bring you the story. Thanks and congratulations to
everyone though. Fun stuff like this makes me happy to call Pinnacle home.

The Pack Wolves

By
born2luz

On Saturday, August 18th, a Protector SG called the Pack Wolves
held a fun event in Pocket D to introduce themselves to the server and to say
thanks to the community.

Starting from about 6pm PST, there was dancing, many costume
contests with some really nice prizes, and several good-natured PvP arena
matches also with prizes.

The costume contest winners were:

Harvy the Hampster

Denier

Splat the FireFly

Liquid Tension

Lady Emeraldjinx

Talon the Hunter

Harvy the Hampster and Hazardous Material tied for first place in
the lower level arena match, but I was unable to get the names of the rest of
the match winners.

Prizes handed out included about 6 million in influence and
recipes for three sets of wings and two boots. Winners were able to choose
which they’d rather be awarded.

There was a great turnout for the event, and the Pack Wolves
couldn’t have been happier. Krieg Wolf had this to say, “The real intent of the
event was to introduce our Super Group to the Protector community, and perhaps
give a little something in the way of fun back to the community and the game we
love so much. Of course, the added benefit of getting a few new recruits for
our group would be great, too!”

The
Pack Wolves' Guildportal Site

If you’d like to contact the Pack Wolves, find Platinum Wolf or
Kreig Wolf in game, or the global @rex_havoc.

F.U.S.I.O.N. Penciled by JBreak Ink by Juan Vlasco.

This piece was commissioned by Warface while he was deployed in
Iraq. JBreak and Juan Vlasco are two of Marvel's newest comic artists for
X-Men. Warface is an avid art collector, but not for so much for just himself!
Most of the pieces he has done include his entire V.G.

Windfallen by Bokuman

The Cat and the Bird by Matheus

Dear
Athy,

Dear Athy,





I have a problem, Athy. I signed up to be a henchman to a new mastermind, and
it just is not as satisfying as my relationship with my old mastermind. The old
one was a brilliant and cruel goddess of the battle field and knew how to
punish us if we displeased her. This new guy is only interested in having me
knocking over street vendors for protection money and stealing old ladies’
purses. I mean, I refused to do this one day, and he didn't even make me swim
in a chum swimsuit in a shark-infested pool for insubordination! He just said
“whatever.” How would you go about finding a new mastermind to serve?



--Loyal but not Stupid

Dear Loyal,



I can honestly say I’ve never heard a similar question to yours. May I ask how
you met your new mastermind? What happened to your previous…err, employer?




If these ideas aren’t helpful, I did call around the Isles, and, in addition to
learning some interesting new words, I found a support group for disgruntled
henchmen. They weren’t exactly forthcoming with a phone number but perseverance
pays off! 555-HENCHIE. Give them a call. They’ve probably amassed a list of
masterminds more suited to your needs. That’s just a guess as they weren’t the
most helpful support group I’ve called for others.



~Athy

Send
Athy your questions! [/b]

FemFury by Tom Bugos

~Handwritten page found laying atop the Horoscope submission~

Hello again, my dears. It’s touch up time again, and from the mild
skimming I’ve bothered with, there’s a lot of touching up to do this week.

Villainscopes

Brute
– Sun transiting the Second House indicates…yada yada…blah blah blah…you're apt
to spend new-found finances unwisely. Think before you spend. ~Little Miss Hero
has lost her mind. Once that fury starts building, there’s no time for
contemplation, now is there dear? But that’s what we have peons for. Hire
someone to think for you leaving you more time to smash things.



Mastermind
– Mercury transiting the Ascendant accentuates your communicative abilities.
This is an excellent time to sway others to your "cause" through speeches or
clever arguments because your thinking is most lucid and grasping. ~The day you
need to sway others to your thinking is the day you need new henchmen.


Corrupter
– Venus conjunct Jupiter purifies your feelings, instilling inner peace to your
consciousness. You are cheerful and friendly to all, making you popular with
others. ~Purifies? Cheerful and friendly? HA! Inner peace means one thing,
fewer stray thoughts muddying up the plans. Yeah, I’ve got your cheerful,
friendly corruptor right here.

Dominator
– Mars conjunct Mars infuses great energy into your ego and body. Physical
exercise (like sports) is a good outlet for it. A good workout will enable you
to overcome the irritability and restlessness that this transit brings.
~Workout? Work over a few heroes. That’s all the exercise any rogue needs.

Stalker
– Mercury trine Sun empowers you with the mental acuity to perceive an unusual
opportunity. Your effervescent personality confers to you an almost magnetic
quality today. ~After this many, now you see why I think she’s off her rocker
more than usual. Imagine a bubbly stalker. If the stalkers have finished
laughing, mental acuity is a good thing when planning and stealthily bringing
others to their knees before they even know you’re there. Have fun, dears.

Heroes…

Controller
– Mars conjunct Sun infuses great energy and confidence in you. Avoid being
confrontational as you may be overly aggressive today. Still, this is a good
day to start new projects as your instinct for success is spot on. ~An overly
aggressive controller? Pardon me whilst I laugh uncontrollably.



Defender
– Venus conjunct Venus is a transit which makes you unusually affectionate and
likely to have that affection reciprocated. It is a good time to express your
love for someone or perhaps start a new relationship. It is also a good day to
be with friends or just party. ~Ah, I shall spread the news. Party at the
defender’s base.



Scrapper
– Neptune transiting the Seventh House may fill you with unrealistic
expectations about a partner. While your ability to detect your partner's true
feelings is great, you should not let your high idealism cloud your judgment.
~Oh yes dear, beware of clouded judgment for that will surely your downfall…



Blaster
– Mars trine Mars marks a transit of great energy which will probably be
channeled into your work or new projects. Romance is generally put on hold.
~Great energy? Really…Will you be at the defender party?



Tanker
– Mercury square Saturn instills in you a sense of practicality to get many
things done. Concentrate on work and career now instead of leisure activities
with friends. ~Anything here that can help you in battle? No? Pity…



Peacebringer
– Jupiter trine Jupiter marks a period of optimism and emotional stability,
making it a good time to evaluate and modify existing relationships, or perhaps
to start a new one. ~Ah so, odds are that Peacebringers in Warburg might be a
tad distracted. Yummy.



Warshade
– Saturn trine Mars is a transit where the power of Mars is constructively
channeled by Saturn. It isn't a wildly romantic time, but one where small scale
endeavors will meet with success. ~Small endeavors? Why aim small? Aim big my
friend. Aim big.

~Love and Kisses

~Scorn

Base Showcase

By
born2luz

Click on a non-greyed room to view details

This week we visit the Infinity server and talk with OSHA’s Lady
of The OSHA Academy, a hero SG.

Supergroup name: The OSHA Academy

Which Server do you call home?

All US Servers on blueside. Our largest base is on Infinity where
we are currently ranked as the 15th out of 100 SGs.

When established: Dec 24, 2005.

How many members: Seventy-five. We have a ten day
kick policy because our SG is always full. If you narrowed it down to actual
players, I'd have to say between twenty and twenty-five people with various
alts.

Approximate base value: Approximately $33
million.

Approximately how much time do you spend per day/week/month
editing your base, and how much time would you say you have invested in it as
the base now stands?

Well, now that the base is basically complete, I would have to say
other than adding something here or there, we really don't spend a whole lot of
time changing things around. On a whole, if I had to guess, I'd have to say
OSHA and I have spent a total of fifty hours rearranging and building things.
Some SG bases are far more decorative and creative than ours, but we are more
of a function versus looks kind of SG.

Favorite base item/least favorite:

Currently, our new shiny Fusion Generator and the Autonomous
Expert System have to be our favorite. We've wanted it for a very long time,
and we're so happy the Devs have fixed the badge so that we could finally
obtain it. As far as least favorite, well to be honest, I'd have to say the
Robo Surgeries. We spent a lot of time working on the SG healing badges. We are
one of the few SGs on Infinity that have the Combat Logs. But the fact that the
Robo Surgeries still don't work is disappointing as they used to work just
fine.

What do you most enjoy about base editing? Least enjoy?

I guess that would have to be adding the features that the SG has
really wanted for a long time. Some of the base editing can be frustrating.
Trying to get things in just the right place is sometimes difficult. I wish
there were more decorative options.

What would be highest on your wish-list for new base items?

Someone brought up in the forums that it would be really cool to
have an Icon Representative in your base. I think that would be really neat. A
Wentworth’s Representative would also be very nice. The other thing that would
be cool would be an enhancement dealer.

If you could give just one piece of advice to a new base
editor, what would it be?

Start small. You don't have to delete everything in the base to
upgrade your plot. I so wish someone would have told us that the first time
around, lol. Be creative, but to be honest, function is far more important at
least to us.

Anything else you'd like to add about your SG, your base or
the base system in general?

We have SGs on every server. We have bases on most of them. Our
bases range from the smallest to nearly the largest. In our humble, opinion
Function > Style. When our SG puts our collective minds together to achieve
a goal, we do it. OSHA and I wish to thank you for asking us to share with you
our newest SG accomplishment.

This article, should you choose to read it, represents the opinion
of a guest writer from the PWNZ forum. If you or any other super is caught or
killed during the reading this article, the City Scoop will disavow all
knowledge of your actions. - Hertz

Win or Phail?

Manticore

By
LegendaryJMan

Win

▪ Has money

▪ Has money like whoa

▪ Does it with Sister
Psyche nightly

▪ Can teleport arrow

▪ Shot Statesman in the
heart

▪ Has so much [censored]
money

Phail

▪ lol trick
arrow

▪ It’s all Daddy's money

▪ His stupid monochrome
outfit

▪ lol archery

▪ His first power is RP

▪ Manticores are
[censored].

Chimeras
are better

▪ He cries himself to
sleep missing Daddy

Phail!!

What a jerk. Oh, was Katana/Regen not good enuff so ya had ta
switch it up when ya got tired of bein’ pwnt? Ooo, big teleport arrow. Does the
way you RP shootin’ through walls make ya feel betta, Manticore? Well guess
what. Virtue ----->

If ya want ta make a name fer yerself in this city, then mabye ya
should step in the arena once an' a while an' fight someone of note. Oh wait,
that’s right. Yer trick arrow, a team build. I'm sorry I didn't mean ta try an'
1v1 a [censored]. Half man, half lion, half eagle, all [censored].

Camo
Fire

Liberty Server

Where
do you live?

Newburgh, New York--a bit north of New York City.

Do you have any pets?

One cat named Tigger, the best claws Scrapper in the world.

What is the most interesting place you have visited?

Key West, Florida. There are so many things to do in such a little
area, and the ocean around it is so amazing.

What are your top three songs of all time?

"American Idiot" by Green Day


"Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi


"Photographs" by Nickelback

What five TV shows could you not live without?

No real favorites. I don't watch TV much, but I would have to say
I can't live without “American Idol.”

What was the best book you last read?

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,” no doubt. The Harry Potter
series is all I really read.

What is your favorite pop culture quote?

"Spiderpig...Spiderpig...Does whatever a Spiderpig does..." -Homer
Simpson

What other hobbies do you have?

Other than City of Heroes? What else do I have time for? Eating,
sleeping...The only other real hobby is writing.

Who is your real life hero?

J.K. Rowling. She proved that any writer can make it big no matter
where they start.

Pants?

Make people look fat...except me *flexes*

What is your home server, and why did you end up picking it as your
home server?

Finally, some City of Heroes questions. I'm on Liberty. I chose it
because my cousin got me started, and this is where his characters are.

How were you drawn to this game?

What's better than making a super hero and beating up ugly
computer-generated thugs? And to this day, I've never had a time where I had
nothing to do.

What is your favorite aspect of the game?

Badges. They're so much fun to earn. It's like a trophy that you
can get easily and have fun doing it. I'm nowhere near having all of them, but
I recently hit 400. I'll still keep working.

Who is your namesake character, and what are they?

My main character is Camo Fire, a Fire/Ice/Flame Mastery Blaster
that I can't stop playing. He got his name because of my zero creativity. He
has fire powers, his first outfit had a camouflage design, so he became Camo
Fire. The creativity never began when I made many other "Camo" characters.

Which type of character would you say is your favorite to play and
why?

I love playing Scrappers and Controllers, although I can't seem to
get one to 50. Scrappers are fun to just run in and dish out huge damage, and
Controllers have so many fun powers that you can't find with any other
archetype.

How do you normally handle new challenges in the game?

Keep a stock of Shivans. They usually solo EBs for me, except the
Carnie story arc in Peregrine Isle when it died before the EB got to even half
health. But, with a trillion inspirations, I won.

Which zone is your favorite?

I have no idea why, but I love Atlas Park. I guess it's because I
go there so much with my many, many, many alts.

What is your favorite storyline in the game?

The Rikti War Zone contacts, hands down. Those story arcs are the
only reason I train my characters to 35 now.

It has been a busy year for the game so far. Do you feel that I9
and I10 have really added anything to the game and why?

I9 definitely did. I absolutely love IOs. Unfortunately, it
completely destroyed the economy, but I was able to salvage some influence and
slot my Blaster up with all IOs and a bunch of sets. Unfortunately, the only
things I10 brought that I like are the RWZ story arcs and the Lady Grey Task
Force. Other than that, it was a pretty bad issue. Invasions are way too laggy,
the RWZ itself is too laggy, and there just isn't much to do there. I would do
Mothership Raids, but once again, way too laggy. You can't even move on the
ship.

What advice do you have for any new players to the game?

Mainly, learn to speak English. All these new players are making
no sense when they talk, then they get mad that no one will help them and they
leave. And also very important, do NOT send blind invites to every person you
see. Ask someone near your level if they will team up with you, then send an
invite after they say yes.

Any closing comments?

If you're on Liberty, don't trust anyone, especially the channel
LBx, and the people on the Liberty forums. Budokai, Hakster, and Robo Bug are
EVIL!

THE CITY SCOOP seeks staff writers to contribute articles,
columns, or HTML layout on a biweekly schedule. We want helpful, positive and
motivated people! Send a PM to
Marcian_Tobay or
Hertz.

The Kheldian League is a supergroup on Triumph. It is only for
Warshades and Peacebringers. We have a friendly group of players and a nice
base. To join, please email
xoxman on the forums, or contact us in-game by emailing Beta Sword PB,
Enis, or Umbrastar.

The PvP Event Committee is looking for more experienced event
coordinators and planners to add to our current team. We are looking for
PvPer's with a general knowledge of tourney formats and PvP tactics. We are
looking for players with evening and weekend availability who are dedicated to
improving the PvP community on not just their server, but the whole of CoX. We
need dependable, hard-working members who will put in extra time when needed to
teach, promote, or host events game-wide. If we just described you, please
visit our website at
http://pvpec.guildportal.com, click "Join the PvPEC", and fill out our
short membership application to become a part of the driving force in PvP
game-wide.

Smiling Lemur's Kora Fruit Smoothie Stand is open for the Summer!
Fresh Kora Fruit shipped in daily. Come down and relax with some cool
refreshment that's out of this world! Located on Spanky's Boardwalk, Talos
Island.

What's small friendly and gets the job done? Classifieds in The
City Scoop. Sell, find or buy anything. Send a PM to
LadyK today.