The City Scoop! ~ Front Page ~ May 9, 2008
By
Ex_Libris,
Posted on: 2008-05-09 11:51 in Announcements
Fan Fiction SpotlightThe Chronicles of the Templars of the Abbey By Diamond_ Sometimes the events one goes through in-game inspire a player to write a story based upon them. With all that goes on in the Virtue server, one would think we would see more of these kinds of stories. Instead, Diamond_ has been one of few to ante up, and the author has forked over not just one, but three chronicles. These Are the Moments Frankly, there's nothing I can say that will be better than Diamond_'s own description: "Bits and drabbles of daily life and what not from my character and a few Templars." The stories you find here are more... personal. These are heroes with their home lives, what they do to kill time and the decadent calm that they so violently defend. Sometimes it's good for a laugh, other times it's good for a pluck at the heart strings. From the Shard This one's still on it's first page. Diamond_ only started posting recently, and it's been amazingly prolific writing. Oddly enough, it's also not nearly half bad (meaning it's pretty good). From the Shard is a chronicle of Kara and her adventures in the (you guessed it) Shadow Shard. While it may be a dry and barren wasteland in terms of gameplay, the story behind it is such remarkably fertile soil in which you can plant pages and wind up with books months later. Diamond_ is apparently trying that right now and I'm a little ashamed to say that I was beaten to the punch. The Coming of Storms Here, Diamond_ presents the Templars of the Abbey and their response to the Rikti threat. We don't wind up with God King avatar clones punching holes in interdimensional warships, or skinny punks single-handedly saving the day with plucky canine sidekicks and convoluted inane super-super-powers. Instead, we get salt-of-the-Earth, man-the-front-lines, we're-not-the-[dreck]-but-we-can-help soldier heroes. Nobody in this story is trying to be Top Dog, nobody's hogging the glory. Instead, they're all looking out for each other and trying to make sure everyone they care about is making the right decisions, whether they fight or not. It's all very touching storytelling. If you're looking for a general mix of everything, I recommend these three.
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Costume AdditionsIssue 12 is sure to have a lot of great additions, from Villain Epic Archetypes to a new Roman themed zone. These, along with others, are major content upgrades, but, for some of us, what's new for character creation is just as important. If you haven't made it to the Training Room to mess around in the character creator to view the new patterns, no worries, I've thrown a couple examples together of our four new patterns for you. Take a look at what you will be able to use on your costumes when i12 hits live.
Arctic This pattern offers those chilly heroes or villains the chance to show off their power pride. It's been a long time coming. Fire has been holding that over ice's head for far too long.
Perplex A little on the techie side, this pattern, even though simple and light, will be a great addition to that armor suit that just needed a little something extra. |
Thorn Not to be confused with the 'Thorns' top available to female characters, this pattern has sharp edges and clean lines. It looks great on just about everything, including as a tattoo on a sexy male hero or villains chest. Rawr!
Vandal I cannot put into words how great this pattern is. It has crisp lines and three different shades attached to the secondary color. The only way to do it justice is to play around with the colors yourself to see what I mean. On top of these patterns we have also been given an English Monocle and a bunch of predefined costume sets that are leaps and bounds better than what you get from clicking random.
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The View on BlueThe Lucky Lowbie Lottery
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When I was writing my first column, I had no idea if anyone would actually read it. As you may recall, I shared a tip for new players in that first column: You can sell the big inspirations you get from the tutorial for good money, especially with a little patience. Before committing to any numbers, I spent more than a week buying and selling inspirations, to test the price points. I felt pretty comfortable about the numbers I posted in that first column. Since then, the supply of large green inspirations has gone up by quite a bit, and prices have dropped. Did I do that? I mean, did you, my faithful readers, do that? The market is an ever changing beast, and it's possible that prices would have fallen whether I wrote that column or not. I can't help but wonder whether or not the column had an effect, though. It wasn't a permanent change. Prices seem to have crept back up in the last few days, so maybe it was just a random fluctuation. At any rate, I wanted to remind you that advice I give may be accurate at the moment I give it, but there is no reason to think it will remain good advice for any length of time. As for myself, I will be more wary about the effect this column might have on the market itself. This week's focus is on low level characters. Once upon a time (March 3rd, 2008, a little before midnight EST to be exact) 0th_Power decided to buy a piece of low level, low value tech salvage for the outrageous price of 1,000,000 influence. He was chatting on the global channel TheMarket at the time, and received plenty of encouragement from other players. He went onto the forums, in the market section, and posted a new thread declaring his intentions. CoTCaveHater offered to do the same thing on the villain market. Nethergoat suggested that such purchases should become a regular weekly event, and volunteered to take the next shift. It was Catwhoorg who dubbed the it the Lucky Lowbie Lottery. | If you scroll through that thread, you will find screenshot after screenshot of people paying 1,000,000 inf or more for computer viruses, circuit boards, carbon rods, and other worthless clutter. See for yourself! Those greedy, selfish monsters in the Market forum were giving away influence like it was Monopoly money! Here is a (hopefully complete) list of philanthropists so far: 0th_Power, CoT_CaveHater, Brawlnstein, Lavitae, Iskel, 8_Ball, SwellGuy, Nethergoat, RagManX_CoH, Zyn, Miraja, Plasma, Peterpeter, Catwhoorg, Squez, Ian_Of_Moore, Abigail_Frost, and Mister_Weekly. Every one of them gave away at least a million influence or infamy, oftentimes both, and sometimes several million of each. As I write this column, it looks like the Lottery may be drawing to a close. Who knows? Perhaps this column will rejuvenate it. Maybe a new wave of people will be inspired to contribute to the Lucky Lowbie Lottery. You should come on down to the market, just in case. If you normally sell all of your drops to the vendor, or just ignore them completely, then take a chance: Try selling something on the market for a change. Maybe you'll get lucky. On the other hand, maybe you don't need to get lucky. Once you set foot in Wentworth's, you have taken your first step towards becoming a millionaire, no luck required. There is a lot of influence in the market, just waiting for someone to grab it. We'll look at some ways to do that in future columns. In the meantime, I hear one of the local gangs is having their own lottery. The winning prize is a luck charm, and no purchase is necessary to enter. Just go, hunt, kill helions!
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The Legion Of Terra | |
| Who is your base designer and who are your supergroup leaders? I am the base designer and one of the leaders. My name is Agent Kendt. I took over the supergroup when Gratis-Molgavin, our founder, left to battle evil and never returned. I promoted Algae to leader after I thought it would be good to have someone else shoulder some of the responsibilities. Which server is your base on, and is it a hero or villain SG? We are a Liberty based hero supergroup. When was your supergroup established? Approximately 2.5 years ago. How many players are in your supergroup? We have quite a few players but a lot arent very active, although we do have 5 active players. What is the approximate value of your base? 15.7 million prestige. How much time do you spend working on your base? How much time have you invested so far? Over the years LoTs base has had many makeovers. When I started doing design work and LoT was still on the smallest plot with very little money, I had designed a windy maze in the abandoned sewer network. When we got more prestige I moved us into an orbital space station in a geo-synchronous orbit above Paragon City. The design for the base is thanks to my love of the Alien films. I wanted to make a dark claustrophobic base reminiscent of the Nostromo. What I got was a cross between that and the Sulaco from the second film. What is your favorite base item? Least favorite? The Sewer winch is my favorite and was real hard to find a useful place for one. You can find ours in docking bay near the LB chaser. As far as least favorite, I dont really have one. What is your favorite thing about base editing? Least favorite? My favorite thing is the infinite possibilities that you can design. My least favorite thing would have to be trying to move an entire room. It never works out too well thanks to raid pathing. What is the highest thing on your wish-list for new base items? Sewer Catwalks. If you could give just one piece of advice to a new base editor, what would it be? When you have limited room for teleporters I would do it in a functional way. That is make it easier for newer characters to move around by including one yellow line TP (Atlas Park is good because you can pay base upkeep), one green line TP (Talos Island for ferries and the arena), and then put in the hazard zones since they are the biggest pain to access. [/color] |
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Bases Architect Spotlight: BrancheClick | |
Can you tell us a little about yourself? In real life, I am educated in fine art, art history and philosophy. Professionally, I am a fine visual artist (painting/printmaking) and commercial photographer. The human animal is my subject of choice. Born in the USA and grew up in Germany and the Netherlands, I am a French/German/Welsh American, aka a mutt. I adore cultural diversity and abhor homogenization. My paintings and drawings paid for my house and taking photographs of pizza and shampoo bottles continues to pay for the Rahman noodles and Leffe ale in the fridge. :-) Playing CoH and other games is a new genre of life for me, which was started by my brother giving me COH for my birthday and talking me into trying it out. A game? "I have no time to play a game", I said. Needless to say, I was hooked at the first character design window and ended up creating an entire family of toons. Branche is the Executive Director and co-leader of Statesman's Watch supergroup on the Infinity server. Great friends Beeks and Shaman Elder are also leaders in this great SG. Statesman's Watch, along with our great coalitions Children of the Gods, Hands of Destiny, Children of Data, the Underground Syndicate, Paragon Broadcasting Service, The New Knights of Avalon and the Big Red Machine, team up all the time for serious power gaming, TFs, badging, and trying to subdue our addiction to the Eden Trial and Katie Hannon TF. What inspired you to start Base Building, or better yet, to start volunteering yourself out to designing bases for others? FUN! Its brutally fun for me to muck about with the base editors. My first experience came in my second month of play from my first SG leader, Xog2 of "Faith of the Fallen", suddenly shooting me edit permissions and letting me go play with the editor. Not many in the SG were interested in the base, thus I had a lot of room to play. There I learned the basic system on which my own abilities took over. After 6 months, the SG slowed and my brother and I started our own "Statesman's Watch" supergroup on Infinity so I could really play with the editor. People raved about the bases and started asking me to create bases for them. I did and suddenly I was a base builder. Which styles do you prefer? What are your favorite items to place or techniques? I do prefer to create base designs that fit the characters and feel of a supergroup, not only in style and overall design, but also to scale. I think of the original Batcave or Justice League Headquarters from the good old comic days when contemplating a base for a supergroup. We are superheros after all, and deserve a bit more than cardboard boxes in a garage out of which to work. I try to create a base environment that reflects the professionalism and dedication of the SG's overall membership. With this in mind, I learned to exploit base items to the n'th degree. Dark wood small shelves are probably my favorite item, they not only hold books, but also make nice wooden rails, floor moulding and even lovely parquet flooring. The base item selection is extremely limited, rather like a box of crayolas, but with a box of crayons and a dash of creativity, you can create a masterpiece worthy of MOMA. Sculpting an environment for a group of superheroes with little wooden shelves is a habit I recommend highly. What's your best experience as a Base Builder? Worst? I really love seeing people in the base enjoying the space. Entering the base and seeing all sorts of people, SG members and visitors, just hanging around chatting in my base environment is the ultimate reward for me as a designer. The worst experience has to be our first anniversary party when the Big Bad Base Bug moved our party from our SG nightclub to Pocket D. It was still an extremely fun event, but it would have been quite awesome to have had Ghost Widow and Ex Libris visit our base. I had created a special VIP booth for them just for that occasion. Perhaps we will have better luck this June when we have a VERY special celebration planned. | Has there been another base designer, or perhaps a base mission that inspired you or been your biggest influence, artistically speaking? I have been inspired by every base I have visited! There are so many very creative base designers and decorators out there. BaseBuildersInc. continues to inspire me and other builders. A great group of people there - some real talent! If anyone is interested in base design, that would be the first place I would go. The Interserver Association of Base Designers and Interior Decorators, aka BaseBuildersInc. Also, the City Scoop continues to feature some great bases each week, with great ideas from all over the game. The Base Construction forum is another great place to see what other builders are doing and ask questions and get *inspired*! When you're base editing, do you have music/television/movies on in the background? Anything in particular you prefer for ambiance? Oh yeah. I love to use music to push me creatively, both in my real life and in game studios. I choose music that reflects the mood I am expressing in an image thus enhancing my own personal vision. Building a base for my necromancer on villains, I watched 'The Exorcist' and listened to old 'Black Sabbath'. Designing a base for the 'Wood Elves of Croatoa' I listen to 'Steeleye Span' and 'Jethro Tull'. Whatever reflects the mood and stimulates creativity. Do you ever suffer from lack of inspiration (aka artist's block)? What's your cure? That has been a classic problem ever since the cave painters of Lascaux. The best cure I can mention is a brutal change of pace. Drop the brush and leave the studio for a while. Go in an opposite direction. Get involved in something totally different for a while. Then let the brush call you back, and it always will, and suddenly you are back in studio and back in the groove. Time is the best cure for artists/writers block. Are you currently accepting commissions? (ie. can people still *hire* you to do their base? How do they contact you if so or whatnot?) Absolutely, but real life has been a bit time consuming of late. I will do a base for people but they would have to be patient with me as it may take a bit of real life time juggling for me to get it done. It takes me about a week to build a medium sized base. I like to do one room per day. Base building is like baking a cake. Creativity makes it good, but time makes it great. How does your significant other (if there is one) feel about your talents, and how much time you devote to the game? My addiction to art lead to my two divorces, so my once-better halves have no problem anymore with the time I spend in either my real life or in game studios. When did you realize you had a certain talent for base design and creating? How did you hone your skills? Playing with the editor is the best way to learn how to build bases. I started my own and played with it. If you are not the leader of a supergroup, create a character and start a small one of your own. The starter base is rent free, and a great place to start learning the process. If you want to build fantastic bases, look beyond the game. Take a look at the Bauhaus and works of other real life architects and interior designers. Let real life environments inspire your in game designs. You would be surprised at how much can be build with so few options. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received? What's the strangest thing you've ever heard said about your work? "You don't need a diploma or other piece of parchment to justify your art or your existence. Just do it, live it." was a statement made to me by an dear friend and professor years ago. With that in mind, I decided to just live life, have kids, travel the world, experience the planet and then paint about it. It worked. Fascinating world it is in which we live. Art is a life to live not a career to choose. One is born an artist and needs not an education to create socially important work. If you feel it, then create it. |
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Johnny Turbo
Virtue ServerWhere do you live? Phoenix, Arizona. What drew you to the Virtue Server? This SG called the Frontline. I joined 'em, and it got me into roleplaying and what not. Havok Bros are my homeboys. What do you like to do when you are NOT playing CoX? I play baseball, and my friends and I also like to go around malls messing with people. Yeah, I'm a jerk pretty much. Do you have any favorite movies? I love funny movies, like Zoolander and Blazing Saddles, but I like The Green Mile too. Do you have any favorite books? I don't read... unless Garfield counts... How about TV shows? Scrubs, George Lopez, NCIS, and Fresh Prince are my shows. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate My Name Is Earl. I hate it with a passion. Do you play any other games other than CoX? Crash Bandicoot. Do you have any pets at home? I had a lizard, but forgot to feed it. As an role-player, do you draw your inspiration from anything special? Flash and funny characters. I dislike all-business Superman types. I like the really flawed jerks who enjoy making fun of everyone else, which explains my main Johnny Turbo. How did you get introduced to the CoX games? I really don't remember. I think I saw an ad in some magazine, then watched Spiderman, and one thing led to another. | What do you enjoy most about the community in CoX? Everyone's always willing to help you out. 50s will help you level, but the good thing is that nobody really judges you by your level. Who do you think your signature character is and why? Johnny Turbo, because he is the legend man. He's the biggest jerk on Virtue and whenever I go to Atlas people flock to him. He's the definition of awesome, and he's good looking too. Do you prefer the hero or the villain side of the game? Hero side, because its usually more populated and easier to get a team. The story arcs on the villain side are a lot more fun though, I think. Do you have any special groups or friends you like to team up with when you go on missions? The Action Pact. and my buds Epic Man and Space Age/Ballistic Beetle. My friend Liquidus and I used to do missions a lot too. What has been your most memorable moment during the game that made you feel like a super hero the most? Probably once when I owned up Honoree in the Lady Gray Task Force and didn't die from his crazy moves. Do you have a favorite zone at the moment? The Hollows. No, that's a total joke. I hate that place. My zone is Atlas, plain and simple. What has been your favorite update or added content for the game and why? Probably PvP, either that or weapon customization. Do you have a favorite Freedom Phalanx member? Synapse. He's the man. Do you have any favorite issues of the CoX comic? I like the one where Manticore and Sister Pysche get married. I'm a sucker for a heartwarming moment.
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Do you have an event coming up? Are you going to attend an upcoming event? Do you want to see or even write an article for The City Scoop? Drop a line to LadyK a week in advance, and you too could be a guest writer for The City Scoop. Help Wanted: Writers for The City Scoop. Please contact Snow_Globe, Pants_Stealer, or Marcian_Tobay for submission details. Want to be part of the VEAT Army? Yes we are an offshoot branch of the FUSION empire in the Protector dimension loyal only to Ghost Widow. We are destined for greatness. Ghost Widow has ordered my organization to form a new sect in support of special operations. I will recruit within our ranks as well as go outside of our known coalition. These chosen members will go to an academy for training as various Arachnos soldiers. While I do not like to be told how to run FUSION, Widow assures me that I will be rewarded for forming this group. My first order of business is to choose villains among my organization that display some of the following qualities: Mind control, knowledge of poisons, stealth, acrobatics, weapons fighting, and most importantly do not display fear and that would die if I ordered them to do such. I have at least 20 in mind from my 150 Villain organization that fit this criteria. Over the next few weeks I will begin listing them in preparation for training. This training will consist of a series of trials and strike forces ordered by Ghost Widow. More to follow soon. Want to know more? Please come to the Veat Army Project War Phoenix: LVL 28 TANK LFT | Lost: Paradigm Shift Device. Contact Demented Cynic at Portal Corp. by Friday. Remember to bring Hawaiian shirt. LOST: My pet Alpha Bomb has been lost. Last time I had him he was on Protector. He has been last seen on Champion, but bounces to different places. He is very sly and can go by different names, but he always responds to Yo Gamma. If found please contact Crimson Betrayal. "Lost: One sense of humor. If found, please return to Agent Omega. Hiram Giovanni's Deli and Pizzeria Food, Fence and Forgery "Everything's Kosher" WANTED: Fan Artist to draw my character. I cannot offer much compensation other than any of the wares I would otherwise sell on the Auction House. If you are interested, please contact Hakuro de Killer on the Virtue Server Head of the Thug Security Task force is looking for new pryo techo thung. IQ required, and Tank like urges removed (Or supply your own self rez). Thanks Mal Boneface Lost: Hub of the Wheel of Destruction. If found, please contact Azuria. P.S. Please do not use to construct deadly wheel of Destruction. Thanks. -Azuria Lost: One Zinc Oxide bottle, last seen on the beach of Independence Port. Lost it last Sunday when I rushed to a costume contest. Burnt LifeGuard Need to sell something? Post it in The City Scoop Classifieds. Send PM to LadyK. |
Edition 47 of "The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
This edition packs in new costumes featured in Issue 12 as well as a call out for folks interested in strutting their stuff for upcoming video and comic productions. Also hot off the presses are player interviews, art, fiction, bases, and the top secrets to the Market.
The Scoop has been delivering news FTW weekly for the past year! If you wish to get involved see the contact list below!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Lighthouse or Ex Libris.
If you would like to do a feature article, have an event covered, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe or Pants_Stealer
If you or someone you know should be considered for Behind the Mask Teldon
If you need some Advice contact Lady_Athyna or would like to Ask The X contact LiquidX
Finally if you have a Classified Ad you would like included please contact: LadyK
Discussion on the latest edition of "The City Scoop" is located here.
The City Scoop
OPEN CASTING CALL FOR SPECIFIC COSTUME SETS!
Have you ever wanted one of your characters to make an appearance in one of the
Official or Player Created Videos or Comics?
If so, here is your chance!
We will be hosting an open casting call for the following sets on Friday Evening
from 8:00-11:00 PM EST and Saturday afternoon from 12:00-3:00 PM EST on the
Pocket D main floor.
If you want to strut your stuff, capture some thematic content for your own
creations or just hang out, come on over to the Test Server on Friday night or
Saturday afternoon.
The following sets costumes have been requested:
Archetype Sets
As most Archetypes have a new primary and secondary. We'd like to have group
shots of characters illustrating that new Archetype powerset. We'd be looking
for name & appearance combinations that best reflect the archetypes,
primary, and secondary combined.
Soldiers of Arachnos
We need groups of Soldiers of Arachnos (6-8 characters) shown together. We'd
like to highlight the wide variety of appearance customization options
available under just the basic SoA costume sets. The focus is on a diverse
selection while still being aesthetically unique. There are lots of
opportunities to be seen as a team or even as an individual leader in upcoming
productions.
Midnighters of the 30's
With flashback to the Midnight Squadrons of the '30's, there's room for
costumed heroes appropriate for that era. Candidates should be representative
of the era, costumed or "civilian" appearance. Only the best dressed will be
selected as these representative costumes will be featured briefly.
Midnighters of the 60's
The lore on the Midnighters indicates that the Midnighters wore "tights and
masks" in the 60's and 70's. We are looking for a few great images of
magic-themed "tights" heroes and heroines from this era. Candidates should
reflect the style of that era's heroes.
Roman-Themed Costumes
When in Cimerora do as the... We want to see what awesome "Roman Type" costumes
you can come up with featuring the new costume sets released in Issue 12.
Variety is the Spice...
If you have an awesome costume and you think it is a sight to behold, copy your
character to the test server and come show off your stuff.
Come on over to the test server
test server and join the fun, if you are into media production or an
artist please feel free to come along as well.
Vol. 1, Issue 47
May 9th, 2008
This Issue:
By Popular Request
Fan Fiction Spotlight
Letter from the Editor
On the Warpath
The Calgary Comic Expo
Fashion
Market Watch
Base Showcase:
The Legion Of Terra
Architect Spotlight
Behind the Mask
Classifieds
Upcoming Events:
May:
Follow the White Rabbit!
May 15th:
Infinity:
Virgil
Tarikoss SF
May 17th:
Infinity:
Silver
Mantis SF
The Showdown by Aerones
By Popular Request
By
Bowfling
This is the fourteenth in a series of By Popular Request articles, which
reviews commonly requested player suggestions that have strong positive
support, and reviews the implications and considerations that would need to be
considered if these suggestions were to be implemented.
This weeks subject: Player Generated Content
With the 4th anniversary of the "City of" franchise, Positron mentioned
something players have asked for off and on for the better part of the
franchises existence: player generated content. You can read
the announcement here.
What this means for players is that they will be able to create missions and
story arcs that can then be uploaded for all players to participate in. Players
can then rate that content, and highly rated content will provide the creator
with some fame. Whether that fame is simple good word of mouth or something
more tangible is as yet unknown, but there is no doubt that the creative juices
of players will finally have an outlet. A future article will be run to discuss
the technical aspects of such an addition.
So, start writing your story lines today, plan out your mission design, and add
directly to the content of the franchise.
Incidentally, the ability to use mission designer tools may also provide
insight into the nuts and bolts of why certain missions are the way they are.
This insight might show what possibilities are there, and also what limitations
there may be and allow players to better understand the constraints the
developers work within when generating content.