The City Scoop ~ Front Page ~ May 30, 2008
By
Ex_Libris,
Posted on: 2008-05-30 15:04 in Announcements
Continued from page 1The standards we adhere to today, almost unconsciously, were set in that day. Nihilaa used the power of Illusion and Empathy to create what is now a required build. One team had an Ace in the hole, only to be trumped once loading into the Siege map. Scrappers harnessing the powers of Darkness rushed in to get quick kills. As with anything, games change and people change. The introduction of Villain archetypes, zone play and changes to various powers and slotting brought an upheaval to the PvP scene. Some teams left for other pursuits while Stalkers were holy terrors in Sirens Call and elsewhere. Other teams emerged and made their names. The Silver Age (Issues 6-8) As stated, innovation and playing on the edge have always been a part of high end play. Issue 6 saw the much-argued Enhancement Diversification lower the value of Hamidon Origin enhancements to SO levels. The first Test PvP League saw play during this period which featured the power of Rad/Psi builds. Along Came a Spider saw a slew of power changes as well. Players were given 25% more defense in PvP, Enhancements gradually lost efficiency after multiple slottings and, combined with the Hamidon Origin change caused a huge uproar on the CoH forums and ingame. PvP wise, much hubbub was created over targeting macros (eventually eliminated) the use of Tier 3 inspirations in matches and caging. The Sonic Resonance powerset, introduced earlier though not adapted early on, would later become a gold standard with Fire Blast being improved by the developers. Vengeance Stacking was a fairly common practice and was perfected by groups such as NDX. While this power is meant to be used only a single times, groups at the time practiced gathering on a dead teammate, sometimes before matches even started, to give themselves an insurmountable kill count advantage. These were the final days of Penance and HVND. Freaks of Legend started practicing very hard while groups such as Old School, Velocity and Justice for All League continued their strong play. Groups didnt practice as regularly as we do now, but Freaks of Legend dedicated practice nights and improved enough to defeat Penance and HVND. Issue 7, Grandvlle (affectionately known to some as Lagville), brought Patron Power Pools to villains. Much maligned by many as being inferior to the hero ancillary pools, Villain epics essentially gave level 50 characters an armor buff, web grenades and a pet. Still, Villains started coming on strong. One archetype in particular proved to be the bane of zones (Stalkers, take a bow) and were a small reason the "two-shot code" was introduced. Additonally, Sturdy inspirations gave resistance to Teleport Foe. Issue 7 also saw the waning of "Toggle drop" powers. Back in the day, people used Brawl and other abilities to drop toggles, leading to quick defeats. Defense also applied to taunt powers, whereas previously Taunt worked about half the time. These changes, along with improvements to the Fire Blast set, saw Sonic Defenders see play in the Arena. Meanwhile, Villain groups started getting organized and stabilizing their own line-ups. Though many of the old school (excuse the pun) groups were moving on, Arena play endured despite incredibly unstable terminals. It became a running joke that matches were often over by the 9:00 mark, and not because of an overwhelming defeat count. Outside of all these upheavals, Terpman generously dedicated a large amount of time to stabilizing a duel ladder on Test Server. Though Ive never personally been a huge dueler (mostly due to my affinity to playing support), its important to give credit to those Ice/EM Tankers, Rad/Psi Defenders and various other high-end heroes and villains with toned reflexes and tweaked builds. These issues also saw the formalizing of the Hero and Villain ladders on Test Server. Whereas players were perfecting their craft long before some of us even tried our PvP training wheels, matches could be a long time coming in organized play. The formation of a parallel Villain ladder brought more and more players into organized play on Test Server. While many no doubt found the faster pace a big adjustment from zone play, those that had been honing their skills became a force to be reckoned with. These issues saw the emergence of Velocity, Justice for All League, Old School Legends, VORI (Villains of the Rogue Isles), Renegades and a slew of other groups making their niche in the Training Room. We are creative. We find discarded objects and fashion them into greater improvements. Strange winds blow in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, allowing villains and heroes to share powers once thought unaccessible. Despite the time spent crafting powers and art, it comes down to two things: fun and the community. The Bronze Age (Issues 9-present) Issue 9: Breakthrough, changed the game as few systems have. The arrival of the Invention System allowed players to alter their characters benefits to health, endurance, damage, resistances to various forms of attack and so on. When Issue 9 launched, there was a lot of confusion, speculation and ultimately comprehension. Fire Blast/Energy Manipulation Blasters became killing machines in the vein of the old Ice/EMs piloted by Blazin' Blue. The added damage, however, made the Developers scale back Blaster unresisted damage from 30% to 10%. This reduction brought Sonic Defenders to the forefront, further cutting back incoming damage. Scores dropped dramatically from the old days. A 10-minute match ending 5-3 or 8-6 is not uncommon these days, making split second buff and attack decisions the norm. Even so, some of the high-end matches have been incredible tense. Velocitys final match against Victory Reborn was close, tense and not without a little drama. All the ingredients for a fun time. The much-maligned Arena crashes now mostly a thing of the past, power tweaks are making PvP an evolving experience. Of late, Phase powers cannot be queued except after downtime, Cage powers have suppression and Power Boosts bonuses have been scaled back. However, new powersets such as Psychic Blast for Blasters, Cold Domination for Defenders, Thermal Radiation for Controllers promise to alter strategies as we speak. Colds are already seeing play in practices at the moment. The most dramatic change, however, seems to be that Confuse now makes its target only affect teammates. This makes Mind Controllers, Illusion Controllers and Mind Dominators extremely lethal in duels and a great nuisance in organized team play. Test Arena PvP is in a state of flux. Some players and even groups are leaving the game for other interests or the world behind the screen, while the new issue blues have done funny things to power representation. Many PvPers remain, however. Why? Speaking for myself, Ill refer to a match Integrity had vs. PCJL (Pingu City Justice League). They had a well-practiced Storm team, we had a run & gun team. Loading into Atlas Park, they turtled on the globe while we stood ground on City Hall. 9:00 mark, nothing. 8:00 mark, nothing. 7:00 mark, nothing. 6:00 mark, nothing. Down to the final minute, where all hell broke loose. We traded kills and then sneaked another kill while we were racing across the Atlas plaza, phasing and healing within a second of our lives. We won, but it was so tense, so fun, that we remember it to this day. In the end, PvP is all about the memories. Hope to get farmed by you soon in zones and Arena! (This article would have been impossible without contributions and feedback from many in the PvP community. In no particular order, thanks to: perilX, AJAX, black_barrier, Rystorm, Psypunk, Labrynth, NotPutzing, F-22 Major, Dumok and many others.) | ||
| SuperTeams!I'm here today to talk about SuperTeams. Now I don't mean a team made up of Supers, which pretty much applies to every team in CoX. A SuperTeam is more like a professional sports team. A SuperTeam can roll over mobs that regular teams find challenging. It's often quite different from the way most people play CoX mainly due to the different builds and tactics. In a SuperTeam, the emphasis is on the team. Usually someone puts together a SuperTeam by figuring out what ATs and powersets work particularly well together, then convincing a lot of people to try it. You need a lot of people in order to achieve critical mass, so that on scheduled nights (or every night) you can put together big teams. You need big teams because most SuperTeams are based on stacked buffs and AoEs. Of course a SuperTeam can also be a single group of 8 people who follow the design and play together. My first SuperTeam was Buffer Overrun back in '04, and I put it together when I realized that Radiation Emission Defenders and Controllers had some pretty amazing buffs and debuffs. A team of 8 level 2 Rad Defenders could all cast Accelerate Metabolism and go to town. They could run around at near Super Speed, they recovered END far faster than they could spend it, their attacks did massive damage, and everything (including Accelerate Metabolism) recharged really fast. Stacked Radiation Infection and Enervating Field reduce mob damage by 99%, both by reducing base ToHit from 50% to 5% (a 90% reduction), and by reducing damage by 90% (from a normal 100% to debuff capped 10%). Those debuffs also made mobs VERY easy to hit (-250% Defense) and damage (attacks did 3.4 times as much). I've made several SuperTeams since then. The Tank Mages started when Sonic Defenders were added to the game. It was all Defenders and consisted of 2 Sonics, 2 FFs, and 4 Kinetics. I've done Tankers (Stone/Fire and Ice/Fire, with Kins to support), Scrappers (Spines/Dark with Emps for support), Khelds (Any Kheld, any Support), Frads (Fire/Rad Controllers), Corruptors (mostly Rads), Masterminds (fell apart due to lag), and Dominators (6 Doms and 2 Kins for perma-Domination). Many other people have run SuperTeams, as there are a lot of interesting combinations that work well. Designing a SuperTeam isn't easy. After picking a theme, you need to figure out what sort of offense and defense you start with and what needs to be augmented. You need to figure out how the team will manage agro, what sort of Controls it has, and what sort of status protection it needs. For speed, you need to take into account Healing and END Recovery. It's a complex balancing act that usually involves picking 2 builds. That's because there are the human concerns. You don't want a SuperTeam with more than 2 builds or it'll be hard to form and maintain teams with the proper power mix and level range. You don't want a SuperTeam that requires 5 people to get rolling, or again it'll be hard to form teams. You can get around some of these concerns if you only have a single team that plans to meet at scheduled times, but you better be able to run while missing one or two people. RL happens. In general, the more time you put into planning the team, the better it works out. Most SuperTeams have non-standard builds because they're designed to provide team buffs and work together as a team. Spines/Dark Scrappers are notorious for using END, but my Spines/Darks took expensive Leadership toggles rather than Fitness. But that's because 2-3 Emps could alternate Recovery Aura and keep those blue bars full. Leadership is a staple of many SuperTeams as the stacked buffs are just overpowering. Capped Defense is also key, as it keeps even squishies alive when they're facing masses of orange, red, and purple mobs. Blazing Imp came up with using Team Teleport during the Tank Mages to keep everyone together and in range of Leadership and the many Dispersion Bubbles, and it's still common in SuperTeams today. Running a SuperTeam is about as hard as designing one, but I doubt if any of you want to hear about that. The key thing is getting everyone to stick to the plan. Why? A SuperTeam isn't a roll of the dice. A SuperTeam is an organized group of people all working together and following the same plan. Log in, LFT, and there's a good chance you'll be in a team and playing within minutes. You know the powers everyone will have, and you know how they work because you level from 1 to 50 in basically the same team. People come and go, but the play experience remains the same. Next week: The VEAT SuperTeam |
| |
Fan Fiction Spotlight[u]Life Outside the Big City[u] by Really_Big_Bang Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 --From Life Outside the Big City, Part 2-- I am writing this letter to address some rumors that have been floating around about me. Yes, it is true, last weekend, renowned villain sidekick and Bone Snapper junior member Kid Bang actually managed to do something heroic. He stormed across the island of St. Martial and stopped complete chaos from tearing about this fragile island. For reasons unknown, fighting had broken out in the area between several different factions. The Family were getting fried by Freakshow. Ancestor spirits were locked in combat with Nerva Spectres high above the city. And something had gotten the Devouring Earth worked up into a frenzy! I actually saw a Tree of Life running right down Recluse Avenue! ... But, everyone knows you don't go and have an out and out street brawl in St. Martial. The island is already a hot bed of supernatural activity, and those big obelisks you see around the Golden Giza? They ain't just for decoration. The obelisks are the only things keeping the demons from chowing down on John and Jane Q. St. Martial. And these thugs weren't paying all that much attention to what was being caught in the crossfire. Now, me personally? I've had enough problems with demons over the years, so I single-handedly went out and stopped the war myself. I risked life and limb to save the good people of St. Martial! The whole island owes the safety of their souls and plasma TVs to me! I'm expecting a check in the mail any day from the ungrateful bums who live there. Not all fan fiction need be about heroes, nor does it have to be completely unique to that character. Does a certain in-game story arc ring true to you in some way? Does it inspire you to say "Now, what would my character really think about this situation?" So many times throughout the game, our characters are slung about as tools or weapons, furthering the goals of others who almost never seem to leave the same spots we always find them. This is true for both heroes and villains. When the mission or arc is done, we're given a token for our efforts and told to move along. Well, what if our character doesn't like moving along? What if they have a beef with how they might wind up portrayed at the end of the arc? Really_Big_Bang actually explores that some when he explains the aftermath of his characters' adventures against the machinations of Vivacious Verandi or the minor deception of the Slot Machine in the second and third parts of his story. The first part, however, is an origin story that does a pretty decent job of getting into a young thug's motivations for wanting to be a super villain. Sometimes, it's the attitude and thrill that winds up selling the little monster, and they never see any reason to look back. They're having too much fun. | Point / CounterpointThis is the fifteenth 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 New I12 features There are a number of new features added with I12 that have previously requested by players on the forums. The ability to convert inspirations was added. Now you can convert 3 of a kind into a different inspiration of the same strength. The number of power bars, and the ways they can be shown on the screen was increased. We can now have up to 8 power bars, and can change their shape and location. The number of slots being used and total number of slots is now shown in the consignment house. We also have the level of a mission indicated in the mission info. Players can now rate and make notes about other players. And perhaps most interesting for game play, leveling up will fill both the health and endurance bars, and activate high level inspiration effects on the character. In addition, low level characters receive a boost to their base to-hit value, making lower level attacks more likely to hit their target. Each of these features was requested by players, which shows that the developers will consider ideas suggested on the forums, if they deem them worthwhile to add. So keep generating new ideas and filling the idea and suggestion forum, which you can find here.
|
| |||||||||
Cleanup! Costume Aisle!This game has gone through multiple graphics upgrades and with them our costume pieces have started to look better and better. There is just one problem with this: the older pieces haven't been updated to match them. This week I will touch base on a few 'flaws' that the general CoX population would like to have fixed so they can look as fabulous as our wonderful costume creator JLove. (Did I mention he was super sexy?)
| |||||||||
| |
Finding a BargainEveryone likes to find a good deal. Everyone wants to buy things cheap. I'm going to use the economic concept of "Equilibrium Price" and apply it to City of Heroes to describe a way to find items on the market at bargain prices. Equilibrium Price (EP) is where the number of buyers willing and able to purchase something at a certain price is the same as the number of sellers willing and able to sell at the same price. Luck of the Gambler: Increase Recharge/Defense is one of or perhaps the most expensive single item in the game. The number of players willing and able to buy at a price of 100 is vastly greater than the number of players willing and able to sell at 100. Conversely, the number of players willing and able to buy at 1 billion is vastly lower than the number of people willing and able to sell at 1 billion. Somewhere between 100 and 1 billion is EP. At 100 there are more buyers, at 1 billion more sellers. The point where the buyers and sellers are even is EP. EP is always changing and almost impossible to know for sure. However, having a general understanding of where EP may be can greatly help bargain hunters. The closer you can come to identifying EP the better at finding deals you will become. Here is how I apply the concept of EP to the CoH markets. First I take a simple line graph of possible prices. Then I picture buyers and sellers. I throw them all in the graph in my mind. Where they overlap, sales occur and these buyers and sellers are "satisfied" and move off my graph. Only players with outstanding bids remain.
If more players come in and set reserve prices under 30, sales instantly occur. This concept is "supply goes up, price goes down." If more players come in and set bid prices over 30, sales occur instantly. This concept is "demand goes up, price goes up." Following the fluctuations in the rates is what causes prices to change over time. The rates are always changing. As I've stated before, EP is where the rate of buyers at a certain price equals the rate of sellers at that same price.
Application of EP to items in City of Heroes. Deific Weapon: from 4/29/08
Somewhere between 1.6M and 2.1M is the Equilibrium Price. Where exactly? I do not know. The important thing to understand is if you buy below EP you have found a bargain! If you end up not wanting the item you bought below EP you can certainly and surely resell the item at EP for a profit. Knowing where EP is can help you save money on each and every purchase. Some items are much more complicated than Deific Weapons. Some items have few sellers or few buyers. One needs to soak in the last 5 History, the number of buyers, the number of sellers AND one's own personal knowledge to make an accurate estimation of EP. Luck of the Gambler: 7.5% Recharge Speed level 27 Recipe from 4/29
Here, the rate of people willing to pay 75M is HIGHER than the rate of people willing to sell at 75M. How do I know this? 1) Lots of outstanding bids. No outstanding listed items. That is one factor that indicates more people want to buy at a certain price than sell at a certain price. However this is not the sole factor nor always an accurate indicator. 2) I ask people. Often I go around and ask people about items I don't have. "Would you be willing to sell me an LotG for 75M?" "Would you be willing to buy an LotG from me for 75M?" Try it out sometime. More people are willing to pay 75M than sell at 75M. Thus the rate of demand is higher than the rate of supply. So the equilibrium price must be somewhere higher. So I ask again... "How about 85M?" "How about 100M?" The last 5 shows prices ranging from 15-75M. However, EP is likely on the high end of this range. EP price may even be higher than this range. Efficacy Adapter: Rech/Acc level 50 Recipe 4/29
Here the number of people willing to sell is higher than the number of people willing to buy. Though the last 5 shows prices from 100k-125k the EP is likely much lower. You can likely buy this item in a reasonable time period for far less than the last 5 indicates. The concept of Equilibrium Price is very nerdy. However, knowing where EP is can save you the Infamy or Influence that you worked so hard to earn. Find EP. Save Inf. Kill Skuls. |
| |
The League of | |
Who is your base designer and who are your supergroup leaders? Our base is designed by @Rendbite, and the SG leaders are Dr. Feelgoode, Alexandre, and Eloquent Conjuror. Which server is your base on, and is it a Hero or Villain SG/VG? Heroside, Triumph server When was your supergroup established? October 2007 How many players are in your supergroup? We only have a couple dozen players in our SG, with half of them forming our core group. What is the approximate value of your base? We've earned 11.6 million prestige so far, and sunk it all into our bases decorating and upkeep! How much time do you spend working on your base? How much time have you invested so far? Let's just say that when Doc says, "Guess what I did!" folks say "Decorated the base?" What is your favorite base item? Least favorite? My favorite item is probably the tech inspiration collector, and my least favorite item is the bilious green fainting couch. What is your favorite thing about base editing? Least favorite? I really like the color choices we have for lighting. I have two things I dislike...the lack of spatial controls (i.e. rotation, vertical) and that my video card doesn't support the secondary colors, so I have to rely on other folks to show me what colors are going where! What is the highest thing on your wish-list for new base items? Spatial controls or better storage permissions, it's a close tie. If you could give just one piece of advice to a new base editor, what would it be? Think. Think, think, think! If you have an idea, use resources to figure out how to make it happen. The forums, coalition bases, and just asking around for people who are willing to give you a tour to get inspiration! Also kick your SGmates regularly to make sure they're in SG mode. Anything else you'd like to add about your SG, your base or the base system in general? I couldn't have gotten this SG so far without the help of my friends in game. I never believed I'd get so far so fast! Thanks most to Alex, Eli, Genie, Mac, Soup, Electric, and Eloquent. To all of my SG members: thanks! | |
| |||
Candy Candy Candy!Everyone has heard of the Candyman, I am sure! No, not the scary one found in the movies. The one that brings all the sweets we all love! Here are some homemade candy recipes I found! Enjoy!
Again, enjoy! See you next week! Mistress Noire | |||
| |
Couples that Play TogetherTechSpider & Mistress ArachnaeFreedom Server
So how long have you two been together? TechSpider: This July it will be 11 years together, but 10 years married. Mistress Arachnae: Too long! Where do you two live at? TS: Hollister, MO. MA: Outside Branson, south of Springfield. TS: Note - Branson is a tourist destination, by the way. TS: She grew up here, I'm originally from southeast Kansas. Do you have any kids either two legged or four legged? TS: Three daughters, ages 8, 5, and 1 years old. MA: The 8 year old begs to learn to play, too. TS: Yeah I set her up with a toon on guardian I think. MA: She uses the third computer. What do you five do for fun when you are not playing the game? TS: Play the game. MA: Going out. We have three amusement parks here and a water park. TS: Yeah that too. Though I work 50 hours a week, so not much time for me sadly. What do you two do for a living? TS: I manage a Wendy's in Branson. MA: Management for Wal-Mart. TS: She's been with wally world for 7.5 years. TS: I've been with Wendy's for 2 months so far, but I'm opening a new store on Monday. So, how did you two get interested in this game? TS: I was playing SWG, EWWWWWW!, for 3 years, then heard about this super hero MMO and got in the COH closed beta. I got hooked and have been here since. MA: I hated these games, so I didn't start until later. TS: Yeah, she's got like 28 months now. MA: He got me on his account, and then I got hooked, and I reached 50 before him! TS: Yeah, I hate that. She did it like two days before me. MA: Yeah, but before you did. TS: I still only have one 50 hero, but I own 2 accounts, and she owns one. MA: I only have six characters. TS: I have about 27. I suffer from altitis. | How do your play styles complement each other? MA: I like to play what's fun. The MM was because I liked to be away from the fight, but now I'm all about brutes. I'm gung-ho, and all about badges. I like to play the game, but I love a power level session also. I love the whole way to play the game and ALL the content! TS: Together, we usually play archetypes that compliment, or contrast, it works well that way. So who is the better player? TS: I say I am, I know more about the game and its workings, but she probably plays more than I do. MA: No, I play smarter. TS: Yeah, well, that too. My blaster is known for dying every 5 minutes. MA: Yeah, your blapper. So what has been your favorite thing in the game so far? TS: Hmmmm, I love my Mastermind. I always find myself leveling something, then getting bored, and I log in Tech just to run around and kill. Gotta love the bots! MA: Learning to play a stone brute. It scared me at first, but now I like to get in there and take down the bad, oops, good guys. What do hope they will add to the game? TS: I want the ability to recolor and/or redo sections of the bots/pets. Like we can do with costumes, arms, legs, and such - I want that with pets. Gotta have a flame paint job on my Assault Bot. MA: More levels. I got to 50 and no where to go, I want more end game content. TS: Then I would have more chance to die on my blaster, WOOT! So what do you think the future holds for you two? TS: I'm awaiting STO and maybe giving Champi- a chance, but for real life, we have many years left, and getting the girls into comics, and gaming. MA: I just want to relax, and this game and watching Reality TV work well for me. Maybe not other games, but you never know. Three years ago I didn't think I would log in and game nightly. TS: *evil laugh* Thats my fault! Well I wish you two the very best and hope that all your years together have you smile more then anything else! TS: Thanks Teldon, I appreciate it! MA: Yes, thanks much. Others should try this together. Its actually fun! Here is a link to a series of comics by Tech Spider.
|
| |
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. 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. 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 | "TO: The Sinclair Syndicate. Just a public note of thanks for always being there, even when the viewing public doesn't know that it's you. Without your help, some of the coolest shots in my videos would never happen (to say nothing of me meeting deadlines). And in case you missed it, the I-12 teaser was dedicated to you guys. Thank you. - Johanna Sinclair." Hiram Giovanni's Deli and Pizzeria Food, Fence and Forgery "Everything's Kosher" The Cooperative Story project is in need of authors. You can locate the current work here. Support, commentary and introductions are located here. The idea is simple: Find an author you know well and can work with, and write a story together. At present, all styles are welcome. We look forward to your contributions. Help Wanted: Writers for The City Scoop. Please contact Snow_Globe, Pants_Stealer, or Marcian_Tobay for submission details. Lost: One sense of humor. If found, please return to Agent Omega. 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 pryotechnic thug. 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 Need to sell something? Post it in The City Scoop Classifieds. Send PM to LadyK. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edition 50 of "The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
This edition of The City Scoop is #50! Thats right, for 50 weeks the Scoop has delivered Community News from City of Heroes & City of Villains. This issue highlights many of the regular game feature news sections as well as a special historical piece about the Test Server Community and the changes they have experienced over the past several years. Thanks Scoopsters for another great edition.
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 PMSnow_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
Test PvP
Through the Sands of Time.
By
Neuronia
King v Flag by KingChrono
There was a time when giants walked Paragon City. Not Devouring Earth
monsters or Council Mekmen, but players whose blood raced as fast as the ice
blasts they threw from their palms. It was a time of great upheavals, where
players could remove themselves from play for entire matches, stack powers to
make themselves invincible and rivalries were bitter and unforgiving.
This was a time that belonged to groups with names such as Tribute, HVND, Lions
Den, Sitting Ducks, Lords of the Dead, Freaks of Legend, Hell Raisers, Penance
and countless others. This was the Golden Age of Arena PvP.
Scores were a little higher than they are now:
Freaks
vs. JAL (Golden Age)
Arena PvP has clearly delineated itself into the Golden Age, Silver Age and
Bronze Age.
The Golden Age (Issues 4-6):
Organized PvP, both on live and Test servers, originated during this period. We
had Tribute as the pioneers of Arena PvP. While most teams at the time threw
together whichever Heroes of the City people had, Tribute clued in that you
needed a balance of offense, support and disruption. Bear in mind that at the
time, there were no Invention Origins but that Hamidon Origins were much more
powerful than they are now. Tribute had a memorable match vs. HVNDs Turtle
team (more on this later) which consisted of Storms, bubblers and some support
and offense. To highlight the point that lineups werent as static as they are
now, Rystorm handled a Spines/Regen Scrapper on offense. At the time, Impales
range was huge and Instant Healing was incredible making a Regen Scrapper a
very hard mark to kill.
Also of note is that 20-minute matches were the gold standard at the time. While
that might seem an onerous amount of time these days, teams often had more than
eight players, leading to some epic 16 vs. 16 action. Managing inspirations,
buffs and targeting over a 20-minute period called for nerves of steel.
Early Villain teams appeared at this time, including FoL, Lords of the Dead,
Original Sin, Jagged Legion and Bedlam. Freaks had an impressive 57-0 record
vs. other villain teams that ended when the Villain Ladder was formed and they
faced VORI. Those villain teams fielded a Brute as well as a bevy of
Corruptors, including Cold, Sonic and Thermals.
Though there were few teams taking Arena play seriously, there were many duels
and people throwing their hats in the ring to prove they could best their
friends or rivals. Stories of Earth/Emp Controllers dueling Dark Armor
Scrappers abound.
As well, matches were server vs. server more than supergroup vs. supergroup.
Nowadays, teams are pretty quiet on the boards but at the time, the braggadocio
was epic.
Our greatest ability is that to adapt and innovate. Whether in common or
complex situations, we try new things and use them to our advantage when they
work consistently. So it is in PvP in the City of Heroes and Villains.
The warriors loaded into the enclave. Not much had filtered out about their plan
and their opponents were surprised to see several Storm Summoning and Force
Field heroes. They took position and, hidden behind an impenetrable wall of
winds, waited for victory.
Continued on page 2
Vol. 2, Issue 1
May 30th, 2008
This Issue:
SuperTeams!
Those Who Can't Do
Community
FanFiction Spotlight
Point / Counterpoint
Fashion
Market Watch
Base Showcase:
The League of Extraordinarily Well-Dressed
Gentlepersons
Food & Recipes
Behind the Mask:
TechSpider & Mistress Arachnae
Classifieds
Comic and Staff
Upcoming Events
May 31st:
Infinity:
Imperious
SF
Triumph:
Fusion
Force Four
Feline
Fellowship celebrates 4 years
June 1st:
Justice:
100
Million Influence PVP Battle Royale
Victory:
4th
Anniversary Hall of Justice/Hall of Doom Event
Virtue:
Lilith's
Halloween Party in June
June 7th:
Freedom:
High
Roller Costume Contest