I was sitting in the Pocket D for the first time in a long time. I
had missed the beats that DJ Zero cranks out, the guy who can't handle his
booze puking in the corner, and the Carnies dancing in the cages. Lord Recluse
sent me to some God awful duty station in the middle of nowhere, and I managed
to sneak away for a few drinks. Man...cellphones don't work, no way to keep in
touch with the Corps...it was brutal. I wonder what I did to tick him off?
Anyway, I was having a pomegranate martini (my personal favorite) when this guy
in crimson tights and a lion's mask walks in. He had a bow slung over one
shoulder and a quiver of arrows over the other. Oh my God! It was Manticore! I
nearly choked on the raspberry that came with my drink.

I turned away and stared resolutely at my drink, stirring it with
the swizzle stick, hoping he wouldn't notice me. I really didn’t think he’d
forgotten about that time I dropped a Shivan Decimator on his head and watched
it beat him to a pulp. I was acting on orders that day! Like he'd believe that.
I figured that he'd probably challenge me to a cage match and skewer me a few
times with those arrows of his.

Then he started walking my way! Oh crap. I think he wanted to talk to me or
something...or manually jab an arrow between my shoulder blades. He's probably
got one that can pierce Rikti alloy.

Manticore: If you're here to start trouble, I
recommend heading back to the Rogue Isles before I send you back...in a box.

Kahlan D'Rane: Th...that Shivan, it wasn't mine!
It was Clarisse's! She was even giggling as it beat you up!

Manticore: Look, I’ve had plenty of defeats in my
life, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty more. It really doesn’t matter how many
times you get knocked down. What matters is how many times you stand back up.

Kahlan D'Rane: Oh, okay. So no hard feelings?

Pulling his bow off his back and casually leaning on it, Manticore
flashed his patented wicked grin at me.

Manticore: Well, there weren’t any, but now that
you reminded me...

I decided it was time to change topics.

Kahlan D'Rane: So, just out of curiosity, how did
you get into crime fighting?

Manticore: My parents were killed by a psychotic
madman. I wanted to become a useless sack of flesh but my governess had a
different idea. So…she taught me to use a bow.

Looking at the bow in his hands, the archer shrugged.

Manticore: Never quite figured out that logic,
but it worked, so who am I to argue?

Kahlan D'Rane: Do you know what happened to
Protean once you handed him over to the authorities after rescuing the city
from Null and the Shadow Queen?

Manticore: I know exactly what happened to him.
He got put into the “system” and flushed out the other side...back into
circulation where he could kill more people. I was almost one of them.
Fortunately I have some solid friends who wouldn’t let that happen. I repaid
their favor by making sure Protean won’t make it back onto the streets so
easily this time.

Kahlan D'Rane: Interesting. So about the whole
working with Lord Recluse thing...does that mean you're gonna be hanging out
over in the Rogue Isles? How did your old lady handle the news?

PCSAR’s Holiday Event

By Mrs_OSHA

Here is a final update with all the information you need regarding this great
event. All events will take place on the Infinity server.

No pre-registration is required for the following events.

Friday, December 14th

[*]
6:30 pm EST/3:30 pm PST: Opening ceremonies. The Super Groups that
brought you the Olympics will be marching from the sewers to City Hall in
Atlas.


[*]
7:15-8pm Holiday Themed Costume Contest: Hosted under Atlas and judging
only Holiday Themed costumes. This is a great way for a large population to see
PCSAR as a group (in our schmexy holiday costumes!). Prizes tentatively set as
Influence and full Halloween salvage. Please remind contestants not to use
their powers before the judging begins.


[*]
8-8:30pm Game-wide Hide and Seek with PCSAR: Covering Atlas Park, Galaxy
City, Skyway City, Steel Canyon, Kings Row and Talos Island. Recruit for
volunteers. Prize is $100k for the first person to find the PCSAR member. Use
of travel powers by higher level toons is forbidden!


[*]
8:30-9pm Badge Tours: Each PCSAR member stationed in zone for the Hide
and Seek will broad for members for a badge tour in that zone. Run as many
groups as you can in the 30 minutes scheduled.


[*]
9-10pm Scavenger Hunt: After the CC, PCSAR members will each recruit a
team of four total players to run a Scavenger Hunt across Atlas Park, Kings
Row, Perez Park, and Galaxy City. First team back to the PCSAR member will win
handsome prizes. Use of travel powers by higher level toons is forbidden!


[*]
10pm-??? PCSAR Meet and Greet in Pocket D!: This'll be a fun time for
players to hang out with us, inquire about joining (serious inquiries only
please), and ogle our schmexy costumes!


[/list]


With one hundred and fifty million influence in prize money to be had, you'll
want to be there!

Hi
everyone. It's me, Belle! I'm terribly sorry about having Tango fill in for the
previous article, but you know how tensions have been running high between
Vanguard and Longbow lately. I had to help out with a few things, but I'm back
now! I think he did a great job and I really appreciate the help!

This week, in honor of the first anniversary of the first phase Overbrook’s
renovation, and in the spirit of taking trips back in time, I wanted to write a
little bit about the zone a lot of heroes call Faultline.

But first, I did want to make a few comments about Tango's article. Can you
believe that he was acting like he was giving away our Taxibot secrets? That's
so funny! We don't really have any secrets. We'll share what we've learned with
anyone who might be interested in knowing! We're kind of like...well, open
source teleportation professionals, I guess! Not only do we telezone fares, and
sometimes even use the Teleportation Attack Sequence (although I don't
personally use that very often, I don't much care for fighting!), but we
sometimes use 'port swapping and 'port circles, badge tour chains, GPS units,
and other such techniques to locate places around Paragon City,. If you ever
have any questions, just let me know and I'll gladly answer them!

Also, he showed a picture of a location where the Moretti family was
considering opening a branch of the Monkey Fight Club but never did and told
everyone to "bug Belle" about where it is. Well, the joke is on him, because I
LOVE it when people "bug" me! It was a good question, too—probably better than
the ones I come up with. The location shown is in the northwest section of Port
Oakes, up in Villa Montrose. Silverspar, Star_Empath, and TayJK all answered
correctly.

He really is a sweetheart, though he likes everyone to think he's so tough, and
I appreciate him filling in for me. If anyone wants, maybe I can ask him to
write some more articles when he has time. They'll probably be about the Rogue
Isles, since that is his backyard, but I'll bet he has a lot of neat things to
talk about too!

Now, they don't go by very often, but the lounge is still there. It's called
the Cryptic Lounge, and it is hidden below Freight Lift C in the zone. To get
there, take the freight lift down, and go down the ramp just outside the lift
doors at the bottom. To get into the lounge, you need to walk behind some
crates stacked under the ramp. I've included a picture of me standing behind
the boxes so you can see where to go to find the entrance. Just keep walking
behind those boxes until you come to it.

Entrance to the Cryptic Lounge

I've had a few heroes ask how to get on the other side of the dam to the
reservoir. There are actually two ways: a really easy way and a really hard
way. The first way is through the Faultline Utility Company building, located
east of the dam. The entrance to the building is at the top of Freight Lift F.
Once inside, head west until you come out the other side. The other way is
through a tunnel. The tunnel entrance is just north of Freight Lift H. After
exiting the top of the lift, walk across the bridge, and once on the other
side, turn right and walk north along the fence until you see the tunnel on
your left.

Be careful if you take the tunnel. It's really twisty inside and easy to get
lost in. At the first intersection you come to, turn right (west). At the
second intersection, turn left (south). At the third, go straight (south) and
you'll come out at the reservoir. Just remember that pattern: right, left, then
straight, and you should be fine. Going back, the pattern is straight, right,
and then left at the intersections. Don't get them confused!

I have a couple of more hints for heroes in the area. If you get a mission in
the northwest business district and it looks like it's underground—well, you're
right, it is underground! To get to it, follow the line of buildings on the
south side of the concourse until you see the street down below. The street
leads to an underground parking area, and that is probably where your mission
is located.

Milpitas or Bust

By LadyK

It may sound like a bad joke, "a UI designer, a corrections
officer and a chef walk in to a bar," but trust me, it was the start of a
rocking evening. Even being faced by a serpentine
wall of the finest people in all of gamedom, whom, by the end of the
night became 300 or so of my closest friends, I was undaunted. Dave &
Buster's is an awesome place, however, filled to past capacity with people from
as close a Milpitas, San Jose and Riverside to as far a way as Melbourne and
Perth (a funny story, I hope you enjoy your shirts, guys), it is "six
slotted"-ly so.

One of the first friends that I was able to catch up with was Ex
Libris, who immediately pointed out Mantid, the City Scoop's lay out/programing
guru. About that time the "Sea of humanity" was thinning out as our
registration was picking up speed. The only personal snags happened
when my husband and my badges weren't there, and my friend was wearing her
husband’s name. This turned out to be another funny story, but more on that
later. On my way to finding the other "Scoopies," I saw a table of folks rather
excited to meet David Nakayama. This smiling bunch turned out to be the Super
Group "The
Dark Ones,” and they were more than happy to pose with their screen
shots. Then it was on to the upper deck to finally meet all the
City Scoopers and a few other friends from the
boards: Muad Dib, Kitten of Chaos, and Robo Bug.

Hanging out on the billiards deck, I turned around to see the
second sexiest man at the Meet and Greet (my husband being the first), Jay,
taking on all comers on the green felt. Behind the eight ball,
Jay re-enacted the winning shot of his previous game. Within a few
moments, the doors opened to the "Red Room," and the meeting and greeting took
to new heights. I cannot even try to describe the feelings of standing next to
Mr. Nakayama all night, watching him coax the images off of the blank
paper. It was inspiring. I do want to say "thank you" to all the folks who let
us sign their comic books, even if I think I devalued them.

As the night wound down and I returned to my husband and my
friend, the most exciting thing happened to me. There was
Manticore chatting up my friend as if they were old buddies. It turned
out that they were. At one point in time, Manticore was a roommate of my
friend's husband. Dumbfounded, I listened in to the conversation and got a
wonderful sense of who Sean Fish really is and his process of writing the
characters and story lines of the "City of" universe.

The only true glitch in the night was that D&B had no idea
what they had gotten themselves into. This could be seen by the lack of plates
and food at the buffet. But for free, who is really going to complain?

Meet and Greet Experiences

By Pants Stealer

What an incredible event! I’ve never been to any kind of
convention before, so this was a great way to initiate me into that kind of
setting. I was really overwhelmed at how many people showed up—not to mention
how many people stopped by the City Scoop table to praise us and get our
autographs. I was beyond flattered when I was asked to sign people’s
comics—enough to think, “You know I’m not a dev, right?”

We asked everyone that stopped by our table to email us their
thoughts about the event if they had the time. Here’s what they had to say:

Players

“Since the advent of issue 11 only a few days earlier than the Meet & Greet
in Milpitas, California, I have tried to find out the general rule for ultra
rare superior recipes dropping. I asked around the game a few times, asked
within channel Chrome Support and no one had an answer beyond 'it says level
50.' At the M&G, I took a chance and bailed up Castle right after the event
formally finished. I suspected already that the text should read 50+ but that
someone along the way had forgotten this important piece of information.

Masters of
Debt

Who is your base designer and who are your supergroup leaders?

Design by Ura Hero. Led by Jolan, Shesa Heroine, and Ura Hero.

Which server is your base on?

Protector

When was your supergroup established?

3/24/2006




How many players are in your supergroup?

Four regular core members. We have other members who are not steady players and
come and go.

What is the approximate value of your base?

5 million prestige

How much time do you spend working on your base? How much time
have you invested so far?

The base design is solid until new base details are released. So far I’d say I
have spent about thirty to forty hours in various incarnations trying different
things out.

What is your favorite base item? Least favorite?

Favorite item is the teleporters. I love being able to hit the base to go to
other zones. Least favorite is the lack of variety of decorative items.

What is your favorite thing about base editing? Least
favorite?

Completing a layout, standing back and hoping that the SG and coalition members
enjoy it. I least enjoy the restrictions for item placement for base raiding.
“What do you mean I can’t put that here?” Arrrgggghhh!

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

More details that aren’t huge! Give us more knick-knack stuff for the walls and
desks, as well as a few more lighting options. I’d love to see a Wentworth’s
terminal for the workshop or control room.

The Rogues' Gallery

Who is your base designer and who are your supergroup leaders?

The SG is a one-person deal. I (BCP) am the base designer and leader.

Which server is your base on?

Infinity

When was your supergroup established?

Sometime around February of 2007

How many players are in your supergroup?

Everyone in the SG is an alt of about four real-life players.

What is the approximate value of your base?

About 2 million prestige.

How much time do you spend working on your base? How much time have you
invested so far?

Too much time, really. Over the summer, it became a full-time job with me
investing close to three hours some weeks. I've put more than the play time of
a single character into it, mostly in revisions and fine-tuning.

What is your favorite base item? Least favorite?

Favorite: Bookshelves!

Least favorite: Base teleporters (so limiting!)

What is your favorite thing about base editing? Least favorite?

Most: The creative process. I think, like most base designers, this is my
outlet for the creative urge that tugs at me near-constantly.

Least: Raid rules, of course. Nothing hampers a designer's style quite like
raid rules.

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


More decorative items and more rustic-looking pieces. The power-builders can
have the functional stuff, I want more character.

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


Don't plan early. Experiment early. Don't get too attached to your experimental
base, though: once you know how to torque the base editor, a solid groundwork
before starting out will save you a lot of headache later. Modularity is the
key to easy alteration.

Happy Holidays!

Well, it's that time of the year again. It's time to go out with the family to
get a Christmas tree, sing carols, make those gingerbread houses and cookies
for the family, dinner, exchanging gifts and much more! This week, I am just
going to give you a few recipe ideas. I hope that will help you plan a meal
that your family won’t forget!

But first!

I was curiously wandering around Paragon to ask folks what holiday traditions
they have. Personally, I will be working probably on Christmas Eve. Luckily, we
are only open until 5pm. After that, I’ll probably play CoH and then sleep. On
Christmas day, I’ll head to my mother-in-law’s and have dinner and open gifts.
My husband, on the other hand, will be working probably. The joys of security.
But, someone’s gotta do it, right?

Here are a few holiday traditions from people in Paragon:

Neuttrino

Well, spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day with family and close friends.
We also watch A Christmas Story—it never gets old. Besides cooking for
hours just to devour it in minutes, and my dad telling us stories of us when we
where kids…it embarrasses the heck outta us, but makes us laugh, that's about
it.

Gyffes

Well, a week before Christmas, we bake cookies. Then usually two days before
Christmas, we go to my grandmother’s and come back home by Christmas Eve. We
then open presents Christmas Day and have all our family in the area over for
Christmas lunch. Nothing really big and huge. We are pretty low key.

Power Line

I always do it with my family. One year, it will be with my mom's side of the
family, another year, with my dad's. We alternate back and forth because of
having to travel. We do make this stuff called "Divinity." I’m honestly not
sure if it's actually a recipe, or if my family just named it that, but it's
basically pure sugar melted/boiled into water. It gets so hot that it thickens
a bit. Sounds disgusting, I know, but we take it and put it on wax paper—only
little spoonfuls—and when it eventually cools down and hardens, it's soft and
really sugary, and good. But other then those two things, it's just mainly
opening presents. I can't say we're too steeped into tradition with my family
though.

Next week: New Year’s Eve ideas!



See you next week!



Mistress Noire

Saturday Night Fights, in conjunction with the PvPEC and KPOW
Justice Radio, will be hosting a three month long event to celebrate the
release of Issue 11 on Justice Server. Any questions, please feel free to email
Merry Prankster at;




SaturdayNightFights@GMail.com

Become a hero! The first life you save maybe your own!


Are you a teenager who's been blessed, or cursed with power? Do you wish there
was a place that understood your "special" needs? Perhaps you want to become
apart of something bigger, or do you just need a warm place to stay and some
company along your way.




When teens develop meta-powers, they face many risks. Oftentimes these dangers
leave them in need of a rescue from their own lives.




We're not just another community out-reach center offering an empty plate full
of good intentions, because we know what it really means to be "at-risk."




We're your peers. Come Join Us!




The Artful Dodgers


Home for Wayward Meta-Teens


Celebrating our first year as a super-group on VIRTUE!

Sentient liquid based life form seeks Writer to retcon him back in continuity.
Writer must be able to handle multiple crises spread over infinite worlds with
infinite crisis’s and the occasional civil war. If interested, call (912)
867-5309. Bendis need not apply

Converted_Clock and Genna are looking for recruits to their team! Having run
the Super Olympics on Champion the last three years we would like to take the
event game wide Feb. 2008! If you are interested in helping plan the events,
assisting with running the events on your server or just have a burning desire
to know more please PM either Converted_Clock or Genna. Currently we are
looking for people on all servers. Organization, Web Skills, or Prior Event
Experience a Plus! We are a non discriminatory group; casual player, RP'r,
PvP'r, WE WANT YOU!

n00b at HTML seeks mentor, will pay if needed. Contact @Molten Slowa on
Test/Live if interested.