Holiday Memories

By
Lady_Athyna

I'm trying to decide which 'thing' to do this year with the family
and I realize I've got a lot to choose from. Our standard plans involve going
to my dad's on Christmas Eve for the whole Christmas thing, exchange gifts and
dinner and such, come home, fire up the NORAD Santa Tracker while setting out
the cookies (oatmeal raisin this year, mmmm). Mom will come over to spend the
night; I don't like her being alone. Then shuttle the little ones off to bed
and start the dirty business of assembling everything. There will be no
regulation basketball hoop this, that had to be one of the coldest Christmas
Eves ever. No two desks and a bar. They're boys, they can assemble it
themselves, right?

Get up, slog some coffee and let the little ones go. Actually, not
entirely chaotic, some enthusiasm has to take over, but I don't want to duck
the wrapping paper toss again. I got hit in the face one year. Then the feast,
the biggest, southernest breakfast ever. Pancakes, bacon, sausage, gritz,
milk-sausage gravy, eggs, biscuits... everything, and more coffee for mom.

Then pile into the old minivan and head over a county to do it all
again at the in-laws. This always blows me away. She used to be a foster parent
and they had, at most, I think about 24 kids one year. The living room was a
sea of presents. They'd start opening in the morning, take a break for
breakfast, go back to opening, break for lunch, opening, dinner and still more
opening. It'd last till midnight sometimes. But they've cut back on what they
can do, both with fostering and with spoiling them. And, when you've got a kid
who's never really seen a Christmas tree, much less a present just for them,
you spoil them a little.

A few times, hubby and I did the deliveries for the foster
program, driving to drop off locations and taking the gifts to some of the
foster families. That was amazing. If you get a chance, I recommend doing that
if you don't have little ones. As in, really little ones. The whole thing is
kinda lost on the 2 year old but that might be something to do again when the
little ones are a tad older.

This year, we'll be driving down a few hundred miles to see my
oldest son. He's taking a course through a halfway house to straighten a few
things up before joining, I think it's the Marines this week he wants.

But what else? There's got to be something beyond the norm,
something that's just plain fun for everyone. The little ones are still too
young to accompany us to a toga party on Saturnalia (those are fun, a feast
with every kind of imaginable food and drink and sometimes a huge bonfire), the
last one was at a friend's home. I still have mine and hubby's black togas and
gold laurels. But that's not kid-friendly.

Oh! For a few years we were invited to a few Hanukkah parties. One
of the nights is usually set aside to invite friends and those are awesome.
Much like Saturnalia food-wise (huge spread!) but minus the togas. And the
older kids managed to get pretty good with a dreidl. One year, the Hanukkah
festivities coincided with a friend's birthday. Her husband hired a horse-drawn
carriage to take her and some guests for a hay-ride through Davis Island. That
was beautiful.

Some might not believe it, but the holidays can be a blast without
that nasty white stuff. Here in Florida, we find plenty of things to do without
that mess. Granted, it was cold as heck on that hay-ride. The winds blowing of
the Bay during winter get plenty cold for me. One particularly warm year, as a
child, my parents took me to Honeymoon Island to hunt sand dollars at the
beach. You just wade out into the water till you hit a sandbar and then scootch
your toes around in the sand until you find one. They crawl across your hands.
It was neat. Coincidentally, I learned that bleach can be bad that year.

Some years, we drive around to look at the lights on the nearby
homes. Some are fantastic. One year, we made a special trip to Dunedin to see a
house that had been decorated in CD's, hundreds of thousands of CD's. Mostly
the AOL ones that come in the mail. I guess they got tired of using them as
coasters. Oh but it was gorgeous. The guy had even fixed some together into a
big, disco like ball with lights pointed at it so that they sparkled that prism
looking thing. That was beautiful.

There used to be a home in Town and Country that was phenomenal.
People came from everywhere to see it. He had a Santa's workshop set up with
little animatronic elves toiling away while Santa slept (and snored) on a
little elf bed. He also had a three story train set with versions of the Polar
Express running simultaneously. Giant snowmen (styrofoam, I think, this is
still Florida) and a little village with a little winter carnival and 3 foot
tall Victorian dolls on the rides.

Victorian! Oh, there's the Victorian Stroll at Harbour Island.
That's another good one. All the shops in the Harbour Island mall decorate in
Victorian style, but with electric lights. Though that might be better for the
little ones in a year or so. I know my boys.

I could always go with a family tradition for the gifts, that's a
thought. See, every year someone gets "the big box" and there's no telling
what's actually in it. It's my dad's thing usually. He likes to prank. One
year, he gives "the big box" to his new wife, they'd barely been married a
year. That year, he used a refrigerator sized box and filled it with balls from
the tree that the cats had partially eaten, crumpled newspaper, an old sock...
oh she was in tears. He's telling her to keep looking, look under that stuff.
She finally found it; thank any god you want for that. She was about to kill
him, then she found the cruise tickets down at the bottom.

Oh, there should be a family friendly Solstice dance and dinner
somewhere. That might be good for everyone. This always seemed like a cross
between Christmas Eve present opening, a feast, and country line dancing.

It's too late this year, but a few times we've done the traveling
thing. Visited family in Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia... It gets cold in
those places. Like, snow and stuff. Hubby has an aunt in Alabama that lives on
a mountain. It's pretty but it's cold. It's also deer season right around then
so... maybe not for the little ones right now anyway.

So, weather depending, we might go to the beach, go on a Victorian
stroll, see some houses all decked out, crash a party or just prank each
other... what to do, what to do...

What are your plans and traditions?

Happy Holidays!

I'd like to thank the Art and Screenshot section for being so
festive! Over the last few days, I've collected a ton of Holiday themed
costumes from some of the most creative folks on the forums. Through out this
issue are the some of the ones I collected.

~Dirtwolf

Content Watch

Events

“I haven’t seen you around here much. Get out on that dance floor
and burn it up!” -DJ Zero

“As a veteran of the Rularuu invasion, the first Halloween, the first Winter,
the first Valentine’s day...etc., etc., etc. They just keep getting better.”
-The_Zekiran

It’s this time of the year again where you need to buy gifts for
all your family and where you’ll be spending this weekend waiting at the mall
in a long line to pay for your last minute bought presents. The regular Content
Watch is taking a small break and we present to you this special holiday
edition featuring Special Events provided by the devs.

First, I must thank all of you that took the time to reply to my
thread. It took a while to start, but that was partially my fault as I lost my
home Internet access last week and due to a general lack of free time, but
that’s another story. You can follow and post your opinion
here. I will surely find some time to read it and reply during the
holidays.

You can split the Events into two generic categories: recurring
event and one shot deals. Examples of recurring events are Halloween, the
Winter event, Valentine’s day and double XP weekends. One shot deals happen
according to the situation, like the Rularuu invasion with the introduction of
the Shards, the Statesman strike at the end of CoV beta, and the CuppaJo
goodbye party in Pocket D on the test server.

Recurring events always come back at the same period of the year
and, so far, bring something new from the previous year’s version. For example,
the possibility of exchanging Candy Canes for badge and temp powers in this
year’s Winter Event and the ski slope badges. Also in the Halloween event, NPC
costumes temp powers were added this year.

Shadow Fire wrote, “I love the events. They provide a nice respite from the
usual. The major turnout as players renew their accounts or just log in more
often really livens things up.”

That is true. You can expect to see many more players logging in during these
special periods of time.

However, JkevinCarrier wrote, “The Trick-or-Treat thing was clever, but I have
to admit the novelty kind of wore off after a day or two.”

A little over a three months ago, a group of people came together
and formed a players event resource committee—otherwise known as PERC. We are a
collection of players from every server, dedicated to enhancing the CoX
experience by helping plan, support, and run different player events on a
server wide and game level.

In all our ambition and wanting to get out of the gate, we ran a
little contest calling for the best dressed heroes and villains in game. This
was no ordinary under Atlas costume contest because the winners would have to
answer questions. The answers and costumes of all the finalists were judged by
all members of our committee and also Sexy Jay! Such as it was, the Mr./Ms
Paragon City/Rogue Isle Costume Contest was born.

We have had several requests to see the questions that the
finalists had to answer. We apologize for the delay, as there were some
technical issues surrounding retrieving them after the contest was over. The
questions were:

1. 
   What is your favorite hero/villain AT?
   
2. 
   What is your favorite thing about CoX?
   
3. 
   What was the design aesthetic behind your costume?
   
4. 
   If you could tell Sexy Jay, the costume designer of CoH, one thing, what would
   it be?
   
5. 
   You’re in this situation, how do you accomplish your objectives to these two
   scenarios:
   
   
   
6. 
   A cat is stuck in a tree—granny is calling for help! Tell me, what steps would
   you take to rescue granny's cat? (for Heroes)
   
7. 
   You see a baby with a lollipop—he’s surrounded by adults. Tell me, how would
   you steal candy from the baby? (for Villains)

Without further ado, here are some of the more creative answers
that we received:

Dr. Aquaticus, question 5

First off, this was a difficult situation, considering the fact
that I am, in fact, a FISH attempting to rescue a CAT...but a true hero can’t
pick and choose his good deeds...

GRANNY: “Help! Help! Help me please!”

GRANNY: “Oh my God! Save my
poor Sebastian! He’s going to hurt himself!”

DR. AQUATICUS: “Don’t worry, ma’am. I assure you, he’s perfectly
safe.” (Telepathically) “I am sorry Sebastian; I don’t have any tuna for you.
But I’m sure your granny has some tuna for you at home if you come down to
her.”

(Sebastian continues to crawl farther out on the branch and closer
to Dr. Aquaticus.)

SEBASTIAN: (purring) (Telepathically) ”Mmm...is that...you...that
smells so good?” (licking his lips again and starting to crouch down in a
pouncing stance)

DR. AQUATICUS: (hesitantly) (Telepathically) “I have given you a
bubble-shield. It will protect you if you fall. I’m going to help you down from
that tree and I promise that no harm will...”

(Sebastian leaps from the tree branch at Dr. Aquaticus, with teeth
barred and claws extended. Dr. Aquaticus instinctively activates a repulsion
field. Granny screams as Sebastian is suddenly thrust away from Dr. Aquaticus.)

(But, Dr. Aquaticus quickly uses his telekinesis to stop
Sebastian’s fall and gently push him into granny’s open arms.)

GRANNY: “Sebastian! You’re safe! Thank God! Thank you so much Dr.
Aquaticus! How can I ever repay you?”

DR. AQUATICUS: “No payment is necessary, ma’am.” (taking a
relieved breath) I’m glad your cat is safe again.”

(Dr. Aquaticus sees that Sebastian has recovered from the fall and
is again focused on him.)

DR. AQUATICUS: “Sorry, ma’am. But a hero’s work is never done. I
must leave you now. Good luck, and keep Sebastian safe.”

(Dr. Aquaticus quickly teleports away in a shimmering flash of
light; Leaving a cat’s growl and an old lady’s “thank yous” in his wake.)

Autumn Nymph, question 2

I could no sooner choose a single star in the heavens, but I can
tell you a favorite "down time" activity. One of my favorite things to do (when
not chasing the naughties) is sitting under the falling leaves in Perez Park.
The atmosphere is serene, and I love the fall foliage! The richness of the
environments makes me feel like I was home again.

Completion: "Yeehaw, you did it. I gotta hand it to you, Hell O
Ween. Taking candy from “The Baby” is not the easiest thing to do."

Rewards: Badge: Snidley Whiplash (You are truly “tie a damsel to
the railroad tracks” evil.)

Souvenir: Soggy paper stick (This wet, half-chewed paper stick is
all that remains of the lollipop you stole from “The Baby.”)

Santa_Claws, question 3[/B]

I get a lot of heat about having very little covering for my
nether regions. Okay, let me set something straight: I'm not the one who leaves
fireplaces on, got it? Those brats did it. They burn off my clothes, and now I
have a constant draft. Since I ate my wife, she can't make me anymore clothing.
So, now I'm stuck with no elves (eaten), no wife (eaten), and I have an
irresistible urge to destroy the lives of all who cross my path. There isn't
enough time to wash the blood off my hands and feet, much less go shopping at
the Goodwill for some new pants.

Our congratulations to all the winners of the contest, and we look
forward to working with you again!

Patty-Sue Ivanova by Emperor steele

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

Powershift, Flamerator, and Lady Katherine. Powershift (CaptA in forum) is the
designer.

Which server is your base on?

Freedom, Heroside

When was your supergroup established?

July, 2005

How many players are in your supergroup?

About thirty, but really four players

What is the approximate value of your base?

29 million

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

Not too much. Over the life of the base, I would say a few hundred hours at
least. It has changed a lot in the last two years.

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


Tons of new decorative items (mostly the ones already present in missions) and
a means of partitioning rooms without taking up whole blocks of space.

What is your favorite base item? Least favorite?

My favorite is the Auto-doc. It buys, it sells, it makes Julienne fries! My
least favorite would be anything defensive. The entry cost for any of the
defensive items is just too high and limitations on placement too strict.

Artist Spotlight

Graver

By
darque

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I originally began collecting odd things for a series of still
life paintings I was working on but after about twelve or so, I got a bit
blocked up in that regard. Just as a means to clear my head and block, I
painted my main character which opened the flood gates. A few requests for art
later and I found my self taking commissions... which has turned into something
a lot bigger then I had ever thought it would at the beginning.

Beyond all that, what else can I say? Well, I'm a 32 year old
slightly anti-social (but not in the "I can't feel antything outside my self so
I'll skin you and put your toes in a jar" kind of way) semi-professional
artist. I'm not entirely sure if I'm professional or not. I live off of my art
but thinking of my self as a professional just seems a touch off, like that
thing I'm still working on attaining. Some day, though, I will be a
professional... probably right around the time I grow up I reckon.

What inspired you to start drawing?

I think my mom did. I've always drawn or colored from as early as
I could remember, but then who didn't? However, my mom always went nuts over
anything I did and it always ended up on the 'fridge. I took to this and used
it as an excuse not to have to run around or do other things of a more
exhaustive nature... I'm sure that if I had a modern game system back then, I
would have just played video games instead.

Modern Crusader by Graver

What's your best experience as an artist? Worst?

Oh, that's a tough question.

Art for me is a package deal, it's all bad and good at the same
time... it's art. Experience-wise, it sucks sometimes, it's elating other
times. Hell, finishing out a piece that turns out better then I had expected is
one of the best highs I've ever had. At the same time, the process of trying to
make the piece and just the reality of living as an artists has caused me some
of the greatest stress and oh so wonderful wish I were dead depressions as
well. It's a package deal and it's really hard to sift through it all and pull
out one event and say it was good or bad without the rest tagging along with
it. However, if one event does come to mind as one of the best...

It was a simple little thing. An autumn morning back in 2001 while
I was walking back to my duplex from the painting studio after a bottle of wine
and an all night painting session. I was on my second month in my first
painting class ever. Before that time, I had hated painting with a passion, and
through most of the class, my opinion did not change -I just couldn't ever make
it work.

As far as I was concerned, I was never going to be any kind of
real artist and had given up on that idea. I was going to school pursuing my BA
in graphic design. I figured it was kind of artsy and I stood a decent chance
of making a living off of it. Prior to that morning, I had produced one half
way decent painting. That night, though alone with a bottle of wine, the paint
fumes, and four Wumpscut CD's it all clicked together for me. I finally
realized a method of painting that worked for me and I went to town with it.

Walking home the next morning, it just struck me; I was a painter.
I had just spent 13 hours breathing it in, cursing and scrubbing at a canvas,
and I, bleary eyed and high on the fumes, drunk, or tired (or some combination
there of) was dragging my [censored] home to maybe get five hours of sleep
before repeating it all... and I loved that idea.

That realization that I was doing something I never thought I ever
could and, not only that, but loving it to such an extent was one of the best
feelings I can remember. I knew that I had to give it everything I had from
that point forward. About a week latter, I had switched my major from a BA with
an emphasis in graphic design to a BFA with an emphasis in painting.

The music I tend to use is
somewhat eclectic ranging from ebm and industrial, to urban folk blues type
stuff and weird sufferer rock / rockabilly. For instance, for "She is the
Dark", I had a playlist consisting mostly of black metal... primarily My Dying
Bride (where the title came from) and Moonspell with some Tiamat tossed in for
funsies. For every one of TA's pieces (Nightmare, Eternal, etc), I had a LOT of
Therion playing and for Recruitment Drive and The Killing Blow, I made some EBM
playlists consisting of VNV Nation, Front 242, and Wumpscut. Currently,
however, I've found that I've gone off on a bizarre tangent with Tom Waits and
The Red Elvises.

Do you ever suffer from lack of inspiration (aka artist's block)?
What's your cure?

Eternally. In fact, I began offering watercolor commissions due to
a block I was having with my oil painting. As for how to get rid of them... I
honestly don't know. Sometimes something as simple as seeing new art that blows
me away and makes me wish I could do that is enough to light a fire under my
[censored] and get me going in a new direction. Sometimes, I need to switch
mediums, or just take a break. Each time it happens, it seems to come on in
it's own way and go the same... never the same way twice.

Luckily, doing commissioned work and work for hire tends to keep
the damage of a block to a minimum. When I have someone else telling me what
they'd like to see or have something to illustrate with the imagery already
there, what's there to be blocked? I take what ever is brought to me, work up a
few scene ideas, the client gets back to me with more ideas, I elaborate, etc.
I guess two heads really are better then one.

It's exceptionally rare for a client to come to me who doesn't
already have a vague idea of what they'd like... usually some image or
character would look great in my style which is what brings them to me in the
first place.

Do you have some advice for up-and-coming artists?

Well, for starters, this might be a big "duh" statement, but I
feel it needs to be said. Do not, and I repeat, do not under any circumstance
take out student loans to go to get a fine arts degree unless you're planning
on getting a masters and then tearing out someone else's throat who did the
same thing in order to get their job teaching at some college somewhere.
Granted, it seems like common sense, but then again, there's a lot of us
artistic types who are a little over drawn at that particular bank and might
get caught up in events and not think things through... bad idea.

Happy New Years!

I know it's early, but this is the last Scoop until the New Year.
I am going to toss some food ideas at you for your perfect New Years Eve bash,
so stay put!

Finger foods or quick foods are the way to go, especially if
you’ve decided to have a party and invite a lot of friends. Most know that, if
they’re going to be drinking, the best thing to do is eat a good meal
beforehand or have quick or finger foods they can snack on though the night!

Now, just remember, you can make as many as you want. You can double, triple
and quadruple the recipes if you want!

Developer Incognito

Well folks, I am branching off and starting a semi-regular column
in the Scoop. I have been talking to the community team about doing a Behind
the Mask style interview with members of the development team. I had to go back
to my old style of Q and A, which involved a series of standardized questions
for this, and I won’t know which member of the dev team has responded. I hope
y'all enjoy getting a glimpse of the City of universe from a dev’s point of
view when they are playing the game.

-Teldon

Where do you live?

Somewhere in the US, between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans...

Do you have any pets?

Two dogs; a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd mix.

What is the most interesting place you have visited?

Yellowstone Park. Incredibly beautiful, surreal, and visually varied place to
visit.

What are your top three songs of all time?

I can’t really answer this one. What I like depends entirely on my mood and
what else I’ve heard lately. Very hard for me to pick a favorite anything,
especially movies or songs. All I can say is that I usually like almost
anything and everything done by U2.

What five TV shows could you not live without?

Live without? No, not really...it’s just TV. My current top five favorite shows
that I’d miss the most would probably be “Heroes,” “House,” “Battlestar
Galactica,” “Family Guy,” and “Mythbusters.” Also fond of “Bones,” “Pushing
Daisies,” “Reaper,” and a few dozen other shows that I watch every so often.

What is your favorite aspect of the game?

Character creation and customization. I truly feel like I have a unique
snowflake in the “City of...” multiverse and can recognize all of my friends by
sight alone.

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

I keep coming back to my tank, so I guess that’s my favorite. Why? Probably
because tanks are generally a laid back way to play the game. You can take your
time a bit more. You get to be in the middle of things and see stuff up close
that you’d otherwise never get to see. Plus there’s just something really
satisfying about being on a team in the middle of a big spawn of bad guys and
having almost all of them focused on you.

How do you normally handle new challenges in the game?

Methodically and logically. I prefer coordinated tactics over brute force and
temp powers.

Which zone is your favorite?

I’m really fond of Sharkhead. I spend most of my time playing heroes, but that
zone in particular really stuck in my mind as being awesome. The big factory,
the giant pit, the shanty town...all of the business between the consortium and
the scrapyarders. I just really like that zone.

What is your favorite storyline in the game?

I’m a big embarrassed to admit this, but I’m more of a visually-oriented
person. I tend to pay more attention to the unique looking things than what all
of those walls of text are saying. Any missions with unique set dressing or
maps tend to impress me, whether it’s the ice ramps in Frostfire map, Dr.
Vahzilok’s base, or rescuing Penelope from underneath the Rikti Mothership. I
honestly can’t remember any of the full storylines, just fragments here and
there, and then any really unique AV/Boss fight or map that they might have had
in them. I love reading books, but for some reason, that just doesn’t work in
games for me.

It has been a busy year for the game so far. Do you feel that Issue
9 to Issue 11 have really added anything to the game and why?

Absolutely. I think the Inventions system and consignment houses alone filled
in a big gap that was missing from this game. Weapon Customization added
another huge bit of character personalization that I think is vital for this
game. Tons of bug and QoL features; so very happy with the past three issues.

Are you seeing someone special?

I met someone special here playing the game, so I owe a debt of thanks to the
Dev Gawds.

What would you say are your top five songs of all time?

Wow...difficult choice really. I'm a romantic at heart, so for me, it would
probably be “Total Eclipse” by Bonnie Tyler as number one, followed by “The
Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars, pretty much anything by Evanescence or Linkin
Park, “I Don't Have to Wonder” by Garth Brooks, and “Tainted Love” by Soft
Cell. Whew, tough choices there.

What TV shows do you enjoy watching?

Oh that one is easy! Heroes is GREAT! I also really enjoy Chuck. Of course, I
have been a fan of Survivor and American Idol from the start, so they always
suck me in, too. Finally, even though they are gone now, I still enjoy Buffy
and Firefly thanks to the power of DVD!

What authors would you say are your favorite?

Short stories would be Poe, and in terms of books, I really enjoyed the Harry
Potter series. I'm interested in seeing what else J.K. Rowling puts out. But
Dan Brown and Lahaye/Jenkins are skilled with the pen too. I enjoy stories that
really draw the reader in and get them involved in the book. Books that almost
make the reader a character are great!

So how did you end up picking your home server?

For me it was about what I was "signing-up" to do. I was about to make a Super
Hero, a "protector," so for me the choice was easy. Since I was going to be a
"protector," I joined Protector Server.

To Our Loyal Readers,

At the time of this writing, the City Scoop has been in the eye of
the public for almost seven months.The project was in the works for a while
before that. I, like so many of our still very dedicated staff, have been here
since the very beginning. After all this time, though, it is now right that I
step down as Editor in Chief of the City Scoop. It has been a great run, and I
look back on it with no regrets.

I have taken a fantastic job that I enjoy very much, but being
Editor in Chief is something that requires more of a commitment than I can
give. I will be taking off my Captain's hat, but I will be staying on the team
as a general City Scoop staff member, giving advice and helping out when
possible.

You may have noticed that I this message doesn't contain the
phrases "sadly" or "with a heavy heart." This is a conscious decision that I
made after reflecting on the current City Scoop staff. When the announcement
was made internally two weeks ago, we immediately began setting into motion
plans to replace me and carry on with the vision of the Scoop that we all
originally had.

After an election, we decided that the new Editor in Chief will be
Dirtwolf.

This is something that I say with pride and with joy as I've always seen
Dirtwolf as a passionate person perfectly suited for the position. Shortly
after the internal handing of the baton, Dirtwolf began not to change, but to
improve the Scoop. While it's a rule not to repeat what is said in the City
Scoop forum, I can tell you without hesitation that you all are in very good
hands. You can only expect the City Scoop to be an even greater homage to City
of X's greatest asset: all of you.

I love you all very much. I believe that this community is
something worth working for and taking pride in. It has been a joy getting to
know each and every one of you and learning about all the different ways City
of X fans love the game. You are all encouraged to participate in as many
events as possible and try something out of the norm for you. You'll only see
great things with this community. I speak from an irreplaceable experience.

With all due respect,

Marcian Tobay