The City Scoop! ~ Front Page ~ October 17, 2008

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:21 PM

The City Scoop

Get Your Freak On

First Winners of the City Scoop contest

Marcian_Tobay is currently unavailable. Dreck denies responsibility,
and no one actually saw what went on, so we're just gonna take his word for it
that he wasn't responsible. Fortunately the Freakshow respect Doctors, so I was
able to talk with him about the "Get Your Freak On" contest.

What contest? The one we ran in the August 29 issue of the
City Scoop . Submissions had to be in by September 15. (We kind of
forgot about it too, till someone noticed that Marcian was gone and we started
looking for him.) Anyway, I waited till Dreck was in a good mood, got a solid
SuperTeam for backup, and approached him (after being buffed to the gills).
Fortunately he actually DID want to look at the entries, though he wouldn't say
why. I think he was just messing with me.

The first winner is T3hh4xx0r by lycanthropus. I'm not sure why, but Dreck
seemed particularly interested in this individual.

The second winner is eaburns with his story "Billy B Statik". See below. And
before you ask, of course Dreck can read. He didn't become the leader of the
Freakshow due to his sparkling personality.

Dreck was getting bored, so be picked one more winner and then told me he was
done. He said he liked the video
My Freaky Life by gman1968.

Have no fear, I'll be back to visit Dreck again in a week. Assuming Sister
Psyche says that he's in a good mood, and my backup SuperTeam is available.

"Billy B Statik"

By eaburns, A Winner of the "Get Your Freak On" contest

The meat doctor bent over Billy B. He was strapped down onto the filthy metal
table. He'd been here before, when he got his Excelsior pump. "Hrm," she said,
narrow eyes looking him up and down. "You're sure he's right for this/"

Zappa-Tistah smirked. "He offered. Like I'm gonna say no. Light 'im up."

Billy B shivered as the meat doctor leaned over him, staring at him with those
freaky little beady eyes. "Spare parts," she muttered. Billy B knew what that
meant. Sometimes Freaks didn't come through the upgrades, and some of the meat
doctors -- well, they used to work for the Zombiman, and sometimes they still
cut bits out of corpses. Or made corpses while cutting bits out.

Zappa-Tistah shrugged, a crackle of electricity trailing up his teslas.
"Whatevs," he said. "But only if he dies."

The meat doctor smiled. It was an ugly smile on an ugly face. "Then let us
begin," she said, and her metal arms extended over him.

Billy B Statik had the shakes. His skin was crawling and he couldn't stop his
muscles from contracting -- that came from the feedback into his nerves. That's
what they told him -- they said that when you went Stunner, your muscles never
really stopped. They never stopped and you never slept, 'less you were taken
down. No probs. The excelsior fixed them up, made them never really tired, and
the feedback tingled. That's what they called it -- the braintimes, the highs.
Tingling. It felt good. It always felt good. That's why you wanted the teslas.
Why you wanted to ride the lightning.

That and kickin'. You had to love the kickin'.

Zappa-Tistah was long gone -- he skipped back and forth from the Rogues to
Carnivaltown, ferrying meat doctors in and prospects out. The doctors were
mostly ex-zombis, and sometimes the Doc wanted them back, so they stuck to the
Islands where he didn't usually go. Billy B Statik was in the Freak'to'win
Talos Seven set now, kickin' the New Thebes action.

"Billy B," Chatter yelled. He was new dregs. Just meat with a gun hoping for an
excelsior hookup. "We got Warriors!"

Billy B Statik smirked. "Thought we told them," he said. "Didn't we tell them
seventeenth was a toll road?"

Chatter grinned, almost shaking. "Take 'em?"

"You know it." Billy B Statik shivered, and the teslas began thrumming, kicking
him off the ground. He loved flying. The tingles went hot when you kicked off
the dirt -- that's why Stunners and Juicers had to stay low. You went too high,
sometimes the tingles zeroed you -- blacked you out, and then you fell. Smart
freaks stayed near the dirt. "Hit 'em!"

There were five Warriors. Buncha posers with axes and swords, one tough guy with
a mace. That was Billy B Statik's dance partner. The Warrior growled as the
dregs laid down gunfire. Billy B Statik distracted him with bursts of
electricity -- they came off the turbines built into the gauntlets that had
replaced Billy B's forearms. The gauntlets were numb, like your hands were
always asleep, but when you fired off the lightning the feedback went up your
arms like pure lava in your veins, and that triggered the excelsior feed. And
that was ace.

The Crusher roared, firing off a crossbow bolt that dug into Billy B Statik's
side. Billy B Statik laughed -- he barely felt it. The excelsior made getting
shot a little party in the brain. Billy B Statik almost giggled with the
tingles as he flew forward, his turbines charging, the teslas off his back
burning with ozone and singing his hair. Most stunners and juicers cut most of
their hair off -- cut down on the smell a little. He hadn't gotten around to it
yet. He drove his dead metal fist into the Crusher's chest, an explosion of
electricity rocking them both. Any normal jack'd drop like a stone with the
charge, but Warriors were tough. Some said it was magic. Billy B Statik didn't
care.

The Crusher swung his mace two handed from the side, smashing Billy B Statik
hard. It threw him to the dirt, tumbling, pain shooting through him. The nerves
and the teslas were jacked, the metal hands were new, but most of Billy B
Statik's body was meat, and that hurt. Sometimes, the pain pushed over the buzz
and that wasn't fun. That was harsh. But that was okay. It would get better.
Way better. Billy B Statik tumbled, coming up and running the disco. His brain
was hooked into the wires that ran the turbines, and the disco was a
preprogram. The gauntlets thrummed and shuddered, and the lightning soared out
and nailed the Crusher, wrapping around him and making the ball. And the
Crusher cried out and twitched and spasmed. Dancing in the disco ball. Dancing
at Billy B Statik's tune.

Billy B Statik grinned, and tried to stand. The pain was bad -- maybe busted
ribs. No worries. That was part of the fun. He took a breath and focused his
brain bits, and the excelsior feeder responded, flooding his body with the
drug. Flooding it with endorphins and good feelings and deadening the pain even
as Billy B Statik's cells began to regenerate hardcore. The excelsior meant all
breaks were broke. All cuts were short term. And it felt so damn good to run
the feed when you were hurt bad.

Billy B Statik laughed, and fired up the turbines. The teslas screamed. His
nerves shot the feedback. His brain felt the tingles and he rode the lightning,
the bolts dancing off his fingertips and tearing through the disco to make the
Warrior suffer. He laughed as the Crusher crumpled, the mace falling from his
fingers. He laughed as he saw some of his set drop and some of the warrior
wannabes go down too. He laughed because it was funny and it was fun, and he
loved kickin'. And he laughed because Seventeenth belonged to the Freak'to'win
Talos Seven set, and the Warriors were paying their toll in spades.

Vol. 2, Issue 19

October 17th, 2008

This Issue:

Community

Fan Fiction Spotlight

The CoH Fan-Made Comic

The Redeemers

Behind the PvP Mask

Market Watch

Base Showcase

Mistress Noire's Kitchen

Classifieds

Comic

Upcoming Events:

October 18th

October 25th

Champion

UHB
Halloween Event

Freedom

1st
Annual Coalition of Arachnos Halloween Hunt 'N Party

Guardian

The
Halloween Ship Raid

Infinity

The
Devil's Ball

Justice

PvPEC:
Gimps Against the World

Protector

A
very spooky Monster Mash

Triumph

Masquerade
Ball

October 31st

Virtue

It's
that time of year again.

Seraff by ProphetX

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:21 PM

Community

Fan Fiction Spotlight

Presented by:Mr_Grey

The
Course of Superhero Romance

By:
Dark_Respite, a.k.a. Samuraiko

"So, any other business before we adjourn?"

Statesman glanced at each member of the Freedom Phalanx
in turn, waiting to see if any of them would speak, but most seemed inclined to
remain silent. Not surprising, considering it had been another long day for
them, what with dealing with back-to-back-to-back fires in Steel Canyon,
rescuing a few less experienced heroes after getting in over their heads during
a battle with the Kraken in Perez, and then the impromptu Tsoo-Freakshow gang
war that had erupted in Talos.

"No? Then I declare this meeting adjourned."

To Statesman's surprise, as well as the other members of
the Phalanx, Positron was for once the first one out of his seat.

"Whoa, what's the rush? You pretending to be Synapse?"
the archer asked, eyebrows raised, and Positron looked away in embarrassment.
He hadn't meant to get up that fast and draw attention to himself.

"I'm, um... I've got plans."

"Oh, really?" In a red and blue blur, Synapse zoomed
around the large table to drape one arm across Positron's shoulders in an
exaggeratedly casual gesture. "And would these plans happen to include a
certain dark-haired researcher turned superhero?" Positron barely managed to
stifle a groan, and Synapse laughed aloud. "Oh, yeah, the uber-geek finally
scores!"

There isn't much that can be said about this one.
Romance and superheroes has always been a very unstable compound (a concept
which I've touched upon in my own fan fiction), so I have a lot of fears about
the direction in which this story will go, but for now, it's pretty comical.

It's an interesting concept, to be sure. For all of
their popularity, the Surviving Eight don't seem to have much of a social life
to begin with. In fact, we hardly know anything about their personalities aside
from what glimpses we saw in the comics and what little bit we get out of the
Task Force dialogue... Oh, and there's also a little from the Web of Arachnos
novel, which may or may not be considered canon, depending on which side of the
debate you're on.

So far, it seems like it's up to us, the fan fiction
writers, to make these determinations. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about
that. On the one hand, we've actually had some pretty decent work coming from
the minds of BlueBattler, ChaseArcanum and Samuraiko (I'm sure we all remember
this). However, on the other hand, there are a lot of people out there
that like to tear a fictional world asunder, and leaving the background canon
up to the fans is probably a treacherous path to follow. I'm quite leery of all
the people who've referred to Statesman as being a [jerk], and the possibility
that any one of them could determine just what's going on is a little
frightening.

Of course, I'm still holding my breath for another comic
book, so this could just be the rantings of a madman who's not getting enough
oxygen.

Frankly, this story is great. It's got comedy, action,
and (most importantly) humanity. DarkRespite/Samuraiko has an excellent grasp
on the characters involved and they act as anybody would expect them to. I
highly recommend this to anybody seeking to understand the "Major Leaguers" any
better. Or maybe you're just looking for a good story, in which case, this is
still good for you.

Mar-Dun by baquitania

The COH Fan-Made Comic

by
Kinetic Kitten

City of Heroes and City of Villains has had a wide
variety of fan-made contributions to its history, notably being fan art. Now
what is fan art you say, how could you have just crawled out from under that
rock? Fan Art is taking your COH/V Costume Creator-made character, and creating
a visibly pleasing piece of work, whether it in digital or traditional forms,
being Drawings, Paintings, Videos, or even Comic Books.

What? Comic Books, aren't those for kids? Well, isn't
playing a super hero daily for kids also? OK point made. But yes, even comic
books. You see a while back, COH and Creative Labs; along with Planetwide Media
did a Comic Book Creator Contest. It was simple, take the software, get some
screenshots, and make a 9-page (8 pages + 1 cover) comic book following the
hero or villain of your choice. This contest brought to light the fan-made
comic book, and the software to make it.

Lets explore a few of the points in making you own
comic book:

1. You need software or a graphic editing program.
Planetwide Media has created Comic Book Creator as a tool for this. It is
currently in its second version, and is a wonderful program; even yours truly
uses this program to make my comic books. You can find the program and more
information about it at http://planetwidegames.com.
This software has many updates, with more options and bells and whistles to
make your comics come to life.

There is also another alternative to the comic book
software, and that is Comic Life. This software was originally for Mac only,
and bundled with the MacBook, but since then they have created a Windows
Version. While still buggy and sometimes just doesnt work at all on the
Windows Version, it still offers some options that CBC does not. You can find "
more information about it at http://plasq.com/.

2. You need a compelling story to tell. This is what
hangs up most people in making their own comic book. Story lines can be as
simple as your character on a mission and you want to tell that into a story,
or as complicated as a 9-issue story arc that takes your character through
months of time tracking down some un-named antagonist. This is left up to your
imagination. You say you have no imagination? Well, guess what, you play a game
in which you are a Super Hero or Super Villain, and you came up with a name,
and in your own mind, a back story to fit that character, you have imagination!

3. Screenshots, Screenshots, and more Screenshots! Now
this is the easy part, but can become complicated depending on the way you want
to do things. Now me personally, I use a combination of methods. I take the
story I want to tell, then screenshots from the game following the basic
outline of the story. Sometimes it takes me hours just to find the right
location, and then I take the shots. If I need a good battle in the comic book,
I usually demorecord (Paragon Wiki article on demo recording can be found at
http://cityofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Demo_Recording the battle, then use
a program called TweakCOH to dump it out as a series of screenshots and pick
the best ones for the battle frames. Either way, you lay the screenshots out
into your comic books frames, and then place your bubbles for text, and insert
text and jokes there.

4. A way to get the comic book to the masses! There are
many ways I have observed to translate those comics to the masses of the COH/V
Community. After all, isnt that your target audience? You can use
http://www.mashon.com/ for your comics, but they became really buggy
after the fall of Hypercomics. You could also use
http://drunkduck.com/ but they are mostly a webcomic community, and
from what I have seen at their site, they look down on Sprite Comics, which is
what screenshot comics fall under in the big scheme of things. And finally,
http://cohcomics.com/, a wonderful piece of work, that was created to
host the comics made by authors. But they undertook a little too much, as comic
books submitted are being uploaded almost a year later. It took them from the
time I submitted the second issue of a title in Sept of 2007, until just last
month, Sept of 2008 to upload the comic. They are extremely back-logged in
their uploads.

You could also host your own comics, from HyperBus, to
4shared, or any public hosting site where they let you upload your PDF files.
You can also get your own hosting, and host your own comics. The hurdle there
is knowing how to code a simple web-page. Most creators that go past one issue
end up hosting their own on some site or another. But to start, try out some of
the links provided above.

5. An audience to read the comic book! You can post to
the boards that you made a comic book, but 9 out of 10 of such posts go read
and no one even posts so much as a thank you. Now there are certain ones out
there, that gets big attention. Even big attention from the Devs of the game,
but for the most part, they go un-noticed. My suggestion after doing this a
while, is to post it in the forum for your server, and let your server-mates
know you are authoring a comic book, and also posting in the Fan-Art section,
since this is what it is. If you went with the option of hosting your own
comics, and have a website, make sure to post the link so people can see the
whole body of your work, not just the one issue.

Now why did I write this article you ask? Some of you in
the COH/V gaming community may know me and some may not, I am known in some
circles as TechSpider, and in other circles as Kinetic Kitten. I am the owner
and author of KK-Comics, a collection of 9 different COH/V Fan-Made Comic Book
Titles, located at http://kk-comics.com/.
I and a few others are working on a way to get the Fan-Made Comic community a
good bump in the public eye, as they deserve. I have created comic books based
on COH/V for over a year now, and just wish to see the community of creators
and authors grow.

So in closing, if you want to make a comic book, or you
currently make one, KEEP MAKING THEM! The time will come, that your hard work
will be appreciated by someone, and know there is a group of people out there
somewhere, who already appreciate them as much as you do.

TechSpider / Kinetic Kitten

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:23 PM

City
Fiction

The Redeemers

By Mr_Grey

Somber wasn't exactly praying. He was begging the forgiveness of the souls whose
energy he was about to pull from. They were all throughout the city, the
spirits of the dead, from all throughout history, from all across the world (a
fact which perplexed the former Skull). He'd always been able to see them, to
communicate with them, and, after some practice, to command them. Now, he was
asking them to forgive him, because he needed their help to stop this psychotic
Freakshow Tank that was about to turn all of the heroes into puree.

They answered him. They answered loud and clear. Somehow, he had found just the
right group, and a teaming mass of screaming souls came pouring through the
wall, blazed through Blender, and unleashed a torrent of dark energy across
Mountain Crag and Cinder Burst. The two jumped up with a roar, while Blender
seemed to have gotten dazed and his arms were no longer facing forward. Crag
took advantage of the momentary distraction to summon a large stone hammer from
the concrete below them and stepped in close to slam the heavy weight against
the Tank's face.

The big Freak stumbled, but came back with his arms starting to spin again.
Vines shot from the floor and wrapped about the twisting limbs, holding the
blades in place. Blender lurched, and almost got a shout out before Martin
Sanders punched his bugged out eyes back in.

The fight wasn't over yet, however. Blender thrashed free of the vines holding
him down and took a swipe at Sanders. A large boulder, thrown by Doug, hurtled
through the air and smashed into the thin frame of the arm, causing the
spinning to stop. The other arm was being held down by Crag and Garm, with the
Caliban trying to break the Tank's blades off and the former Outcast trying to
break the arm at the elbow. Blender tossed them off, but wasn't ready for Ashen
Roast, who came flying over the other heroes to drive a fiery blade into the
villain's face.

His head on fire, Blender started screaming and running around, thrashing
violently. He turned at the wrong angle and wound up with another blast of fire
in his face. Doug finished him off with another boulder, but he rolled this one
across the floor like a bowling ball.

"Okay," the Tank gasped as he lied on the ground, smoldering, "I'm done." ---

The other groups had either recovered and overcome their opponents or ported to
the hospitals. The latter groups were an unfortunate case, as the criminal
organizations they were against were able to move their operations elsewhere.
They weren't dealing with anybody as bloodthirsty as Blender, so it wasn't a
complete loss. Still, Martin started taking information on the various cases
the groups were working on so Freedom Corps agents, contacts and informants
could be on the lookout when he got the information back to them. While they
went through that, the others went about their business.

"I want in on your crew," Johnny Slag growled at Garm, "I'm sick and tired of
being pushed around by a pansy..."

"Hey!" Mider shouted, "It wasn't my fault you got your butt handed to you by
your old friends! If people would listen to me-!"

"You wouldn't want in on my group anyway," Garm chuckled, "Our scrapper is his
brother."

A hand clapped onto Johnny's shoulder roughly. Before Slag could react, Gregory
had yanked one of the tubes out of his arm and kicked the former Freakshow
Swiper in the back of the knee. The dark-skinned, green-haired man looked back
at the man angrily while he righted himself and reattached his arm tube.

"You've got a bad attitude,
Freak-boy," the rough-shaven man rasped, "I suggest you un-"

"Caid, beat it," Mortiganen's voice resounded through the chamber, "Garm and I
have some discussing to do about what it means to be suspended."

"Now, hang on," Martin tried to interject on the conversation, but the wizard
dismissed the liaison with a wave of his hand.

"You have your hands full, transient. Besides, your counterpart is quite vexed
with you. I suggest you prepare yourself for a loss in pay."

Sanders just shook his head and went back to his work. Garm folded his arms over
his chest and settled in for a long talk about how "the rules apply to
everyone."

---

"That must be the pizza..."

The Mob Specialist started walking toward the door, but the Paragon protector
standing next to it held a hand up and waved him back.

"It's alright, Sergeant," the generic hero said calmly, "I can get it."

"Yeah, but..." the man smiled, "Okay, cool. Thanks, Blades."

The Protector chuckled a little as he reached for the handle of the door. To
him, just because he was one of the Crey Corporation's elite didn't mean he
couldn't do simple things like acquiring pizza from the door. Besides, it was
probably better public relations to show that the Paragon Protectors were
willing to do menial tasks as well as providing security for major facilities.

However, when he opened the door, two things hit him at once. The first was the
aroma of the pizza, which was apparently a supreme-style. The second was
Synapse's body, hurtling through the doorway and sending the Protector flipping
through the air so he would land hard on his head. There was an audible crack
as his visor smashed against the concrete, but by then, half the facility had
been wiped out.

"Come on, Synapse!" Mynx shouted as she followed behind her mentor, "Leave some
for me and the new guy!"

"I've been here for two years," the dark-skinned wizard with red-dyed hair
holding the pizza box mused, "I've been here for some of the most pivotal
events, alongside many other 'rookie' heroes. It's not fair to call me a new
guy, especially since you were using me for this pizza scam..."

"Ooh, 'I make the pizza hot,'" the catgirl snarked, "'I'm really important. Stop
calling me new meat.'"

"Oh, knock it off, Mynx," Synapse chuckled as he zipped up to the two heroes and
reached into the pizza box, "Cory's a great guy, and this pizza thing was
funny... Too bad I went and cleared this place out before they could blink."

Mynx looked down at the Protector on the floor and nudged him with her toe.

"You kinda missed this one, boss."

The wizard knelt down and tapped the weapons at the Protector's side.

"He... He has swords? That's new..."

"Let him be," Synapse muttered, "I got the files out of the cabinets that we
need... We better move on."

"Will you two still need me?" Cory asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Synapse said as he reached into the box again and pulled another
slice from the pizza, "You really do keep this thing hot!"

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:24 PM

Behind the PvP Mask

Psoma

Interview by
Neuronia

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Age, occupation and your natural
habitat?

I turned 31 in July. 30 was okay...but now it's sinking in that I'm no longer
in my 20s. I work with my husband in the IT field (mostly answering the phone
it seems). My natural habitat? I live in VA, surrounded by gorgeous mountains.
You get to see a distinct 4 seasons here, and (thankfully) there's not much in
the way of natural disasters in my region...so it's pretty much perfect I
think.

Have a favorite movie?

I'm horrible at picking favorites-I change my mind depending on my mood. I'm a
sucker for cheesy 80s movies and will get drawn into them when I catch them on
TV-watched Can't Buy Me Love just yesterday. lol I loved LoTR, and I really
enjoy most movies from this list (thanks to Mesmorph for that link, btw)

How about musical tastes?

I'd say I'm picky, but in a wide-array-of-stuff type of way. For instance, I
wouldn't say I love Bluegrass, but I really enjoy and appreciate someone that
can play the banjo really well. Overall, I prefer rock from the late 60s.
Nothing compares to that era, though I was big into alt-rock in the 90s (like
Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Weezer, etc.).

When did you first discover PvP in City of Heroes?

I tried out the arena when it came out in beta. lol It was very buggy at
first-they had to shut off the terminals after about 10 minutes or so I think.
I had been L50 for a good time by then, but I was anti-alt (stemmed from hating
the non-global chat system early on, among other reasons), so I was a little
bored, and I was curious about what CoH PvP would be like.

I enjoyed the arena, but I mostly just dueled (yes, lolz @ dueling emps), and it
didn't take too long to figure out what I stood a chance against and what I
didn't; I did manage to surprise a few people early on...because TK was so rare
back then, and I was built to stack holds.

I was a fairly casual PvPer at first. Most of my PvP time was spent in Warburg,
pocket emping for a blaster friend of mine during I4, and we were usually
fighting against ABH, the best PvP SG on Infinity. Losty (another current Test
emp from Infinity) and I had become friends during that time, and she
eventually joined ABH and was one of the big reasons I joined them as well.

Any PvP experience outside this game?

The only other PvP experience I have is from my short time in Warhammer Online
and playing around on some early 1st-person games from like 1995 or so.

Which Test PvP groups have you been a
member of, could you tell us about them?

I played for ABH until it disbanded. One of my most exciting memories from that
time was playing against LD in their warm-ups before the epic LD/HVND match.
Though it was only warm-ups, we won 2 out of 3 (and 1 was our storm team vs
their r+g in the lab), so I was happy...especially with the graveyard win.
Things were looking up for us at that point, but the SG had internal problems
because some people were really into the Test scene, and others were busy with
rl and/or sort of burned out on PvP. When several people parted ways, either
for other PvP SGs or from the game, that was it for ABH.

I left the game not long after that for about 3 months I think. I had made
friends with a lot of dUmb members (also from Infinity) before leaving, and
they were just getting into the Test ladder back then. I stayed in touch with
them and they eventually placed me on their roster in case they had a match and
were short on emps. I started playing again and officially joined them not long
after that and have been very happy with that decision ever since. They are a
great group of people, and I love being a part of them. They're like me in that
they like winning, but they're not going to lose sleep over a loss, and
practice happens if it happens-very casual.

Your favorite role in the Arena and most challenging?

My only role in the arena is being an emp. I've been told that it's the most
challenging as well, but I honestly can't compare it to anything but the few
times I've PvP'd with my mind dom. I don't die very often, and I don't hear a
lot of complaints about buffs, so I'm assuming that I do an okay job. If I
can't emp halfway decent by now, I guess I should stop trying.

What is your most memorable Arena moment, team or otherwise?

That's hard to say. I must admit that I was really proud of myself early on
when I beat a few spines/regen scrappers and tanks that were pretty good
duelers on Infinity. lol And I was excited to get to play against (although not
in an official) LD. There have been several times when I was really proud of
our dUmb team...like beating others in Perez, etc. Close matches are always
really fun; there's nothing like not knowing who has the lead when the end of
the match is near.

You're called the "Heart of the Arena". How did you gain that moniker?

Haha. Honestly, I think I gave that title to myself when we were having fun on
the Infinity boards and Slax (a dUmb member) was giving out unofficial red
titles. I usually tell everyone " probably make fun of, and I was pretty much just making fun of myself with that
title. To go along with that, I was shown how to get inside the arena (CoH
Easter Egg, not an arena match) a long time ago, and I made my previous avatar
a screenshot of that. Anyway, yes, I've seen a few people refer to me as that,
and I'm just hoping that it isn't meant as sarcasm. I really do you know.

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:25 PM

Market Watch

The View on Blue

Predictions

by peterpeter

Super Kate by toddworld

The markets were introduced in Issue 9. Issue 10 brought us the Rikti invasion,
loaded with tech salvage. The price of arcane salvage soared. Ever since then,
savvy players have taken the introduction of a new issue as an opportunity for
to make a quick buck. Issue 13 is full of changes which will affect the
market... but how?

To answer that question, I turned to the Market forums community. I posted a
request for predictions. Many people responded, some of them sincerely. I
should mention that these predictions are all from before I13 beta started. By
the time I13 actually arrives, that thread may well have vanished into the
gaping maw of the purgemonster. While threads come and go, the Scoop is
forever. After I13 is released, I plan to revisit this topic, and see how our
fortune-tellers performed. I've edited some of the responses for brevity. You
can see the full thread here if it hasn't been purged yet.

Necromatic: Price for highly sought after recipes go down.
Moderately popular recipes go up. Salvage goes up, maybe a lot.

Combat: Prices will rise.

Whiteseeker: I don't think anything really changes. Things go
up and things come down. Always been the same. All but for the really coveted
things. I can see that those will just keep going up just like they are now and
have been.

Shred_Monkey: The first week will be chaos because there won't
be enough salvage to go around.

EvaDestruction: I predict it'll be easier to get a team
together for the Ouroboros arcs.

Neuronia: Heal and Defense sets will see a price spike as
Shields and Pain Domination enter the fray. Purples will spike about 15-20% at
first as people try to trick out dual builds. Respec recipes will increase for
about a week or two. The high-demand regulars will drop in price slightly as
people use the Merit system.

Hell_Jumper: Very Rare's will stay high Priced. Purples will go
up in value.

TheCooler: Highly sought after recipes and enhancements will go
down, and will slowly climb back up to where they are now or higher. Mediumly
sought-after recipes and enhancements will go up. Salvage used for the high
demand recipes will go up. Common Salvage may jump up in price, but it will
quickly settle into about a 10-20% increase in cost.

LadyMoon: More people running story arcs instead of just paper
missions/police bands!

Kitteh: Mid pool C's will eventually spike...perhaps become
scarce. Pool B's will definitely become scarce. Farmers will be looked upon as
saviors as they keep supplying the market with well-needed rare salvage.

Plasma: I roughly expect an initial price spike as people slot
alternate builds, then I expect high end stuff people use merits on to fall,
and cheaper things to rise. Trash will still be trash. I expect the lower-mid
end things (250k to 5M) to spike in price significantly, say 50-100%, but it
will depend a huge amount on the mechanics of merits.

Honcho: With the dropping of base salvage, the Devs about
double the drop rates for salvage. They allow the salvage bins in the bases to
hold invention salvage also. They allow the players to hold about twice as much
IO salvage as we can now. The Devs remove common recipes from dropping. To make
up for this, they will either double the drop rate, or make it so that multiple
people can get a drop from a given mob. The market is hit hard by this triple
whammy. Less stuff coming in to sell means more fluctuations. Less inf being
generated by lv 50s means the high end stuff has to drop in price. More drops
mean the pool A's go down in price. Less people running TFs for random chance,
means fewer pool Cs, but any high outliers get creamed by the merit farmers
flooding the market, so the whole pool C market shifts to the middle, with
almost all of them going for 5-15 million.

Hotchili: First the popular recipes reach the highest levels
they have ever been as no one can get anything at the start of the merit
system, supply dries up and players are not patient enough to get the merits.
They come down later, but still stay high as those getting merits buy what they
want and only a few put them on the market. It won't drop for a long time if
ever as the only ones putting the rares on the market are those looking to make
a profit keeping the prices inflated. In general salvage will also jump to the
highest levels at first.

Dragos_Bahtiam: All the good recipes (Crushing Impact, Mako's,
Numina's, LOTG, etc.) will spike with the addition of multi-builds (effectively
doubling demand). Merits will only have an impact on the Market a few
days-weeks-months in because people will be collecting them.

Smurphy: Merits will not be tradable via the market nor through
the trade interface. 1 and 1/2 hours of game content will get you enough merits
to choose a random Recipe. Ten or more times the random Recipe merit amount
will be the "you choose" a recipe. I'm hoping for 15-25ish.

Khenal_Baroney: Just about everything will jump big in price
for about a week, then settle to maybe slightly lower than now.

Frostweaver: For the first week the prices on EVERYTHING will
go up, by at least 50%. Blueside prices on PVP-strong recipes will go up by at
least triple... especially for procs that have status effects like stuns and
immobilizes, and sets that give psi and recharge reduction. The 'big hitters'
will be red fortune, thunderstrike, tempered readiness, regenerative tissue,
impervium armor, reactive armor. ESPECIALLY keep your eye on Sniper sets.
Executioner's contract is going to be a BIG HITTER for a while. I expect 'tech
wings' and 'rocket boots' to go up in price by a nice margin as people start to
add in flight to their 'auxiliary' builds. Don't waste your time on rare
salvage right now. There is going to be a massive glut right after the patch.
Low-end procs are going to drop in value a bit. On the whole, expect good sets
to lower a little bit, 'median' sets to rise a good deal in value, and
low-value sets will probably stay rock-bottom after the first month.

Scientist: Long term, if they don't change anything for drop
rates, I predict common salvage to become more expensive to supply bases as
well as IOs. Short term, it's hard to predict because they also mentioned
converting existing base salvage to invention salvage, of which there is a huge
supply compared to invention salvage. I predict a flattening of the
recipe/enhancement market. Less supply of unwanted recipes coming in may bump
their prices above vendor prices, since some people running TFs will take
merits instead of a chance on another Trap of the Hunter. It seems certain that
the "choose a recipe" option has to let most people get the very highest priced
stuff like a LotG faster then farming for it, so prices should come down on
those. If I were the devs, I'd start with a merit rate where you would get 3.5
merits for Positron, and choosing a recipe would cost around 20-30 merits. That
puts a "soft cap" of around $20-30M on desirable recipes, because if they go
much higher people will focus on getting them via merits instead of via Inf.

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:30 PM

Base Showcase

By
EnnVee

League of Extraordinarily Indebted Heroes

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

My Name is Dark Mystik and I'm a Leader in the League of Extraordinarily
Indebted Heroes. Mr. Solon created the initial base, since he has gone overseas
in service of our country we have had several people step up to the role of
Base Designers. Base designing for us is truly a group effort. Some people have
designed their own rooms (Cheetah, Omen, Mythel, DiesaLot and Bob have all
designed individual rooms), while others share their ideas and help make sure
things work correctly (floating stairs for example, thank you Nikki). Dark
Mystik designs the extra rooms in the base. At any time there are usually four
leaders of the League, currently Bob, Mythel and Dark Mystik, are leaders.

What server is your base on?

We are based on the ever exciting Infinity server (insert shout out to Infinity
server here)

When was your supergroup established? The supergroup was established when a
couple of friends used to get together in Atlas and just talk shop, this grew
into an every day occurrence and it soon dawned on them that they should create
a super group. The actual supergroup has been around for a couple of years,
though the exact date is unknown since the Founders have long since gone.

How many players are in your supergroup?

The supergroup is in constant flux as to the number of active players, number
of people that have logged into their toons in the past three days is 91

What is the approximate value of your base?

About 68 Million Prestige and growing

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

There has been an untold amount of hours spent in the base. It took two weeks
for the original base, approximately 16 hours for BobbyWood, the base entrance
has changed at least 5 times with over 20 hours dedicated to that (ya for
floating stone steps that drive people nuts) I have probably put in about 60+
hours into the League's base. There are a few people who have been there with
me during that time to make sure things work correctly. I know of one person
who ran up and down floating stairs for hours for me.

What is your favorite base item? Least favorite?

My favorite base item would have to be the blocks. If you know how to use magic
desks there are so much you can do with blocks. Least favorite would have to be
the large arcane items. I mean really, you have to have a really large room to
use most of those correctly.

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

My favorite thing about base editing is seeing the finished room. My least
favorite, well there is a long list of those. At the top of that list would
have to be the inability to create doors, windows, why can't we have the 4th
mission map from the Lady Grey Task Force in our base (The Water Falls there
are spectacular).

What is the highest thing on your wish-list for new base items?

More arcane items! But there are so many more things I would love to see made
available.

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

Check out other bases and talk to people who work on them. The number one thing
is to not be afraid to start all over again.

In Closing we at The League of Extraordinarily Indebted Heroes would like to
think our great coalition and the Infinity Server for all the great people in
it. Now lets go out there and have fun....dammit

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:30 PM

This week I have a recipe that comes from a good friend of mine, Shadow
Ravenwolf.

Followed up by a dessert recipe that I have of my own.

See you Next week, Enjoy!

Mistress Noire

Shadow Ravenwolf's All Day Pot Roast [/b]

The following recipe has been a staple in my culinary arsenal for many years. It
is quick and easy on the prep and can be planned around different schedules.
Versatility is the design with this recipe. This recipe can serve 3-4 hungry
adults with some left for lunch the next day. I use a Rival 18-Quart Roaster
Oven, but you can use a decent sized crock pot or roasting pan in your oven.

Ingredients:

5lb Roast(Beef, chuck, round or London Broil works well)

3-5 Med/Lrg Red Potatoes

4-6 Med/Lrg Rutabagas (peeled)

4-6 Carrots (skinned)

4-6 Yellow Squash

2-3 Medium Zucchini

4-6 Celery Stalks

1-2 Vidalia Onions

1-2 White Onions

Prep Directions:

1. Set the meat out on the counter for 20-30 mins. Let the meat
warm up to about room temperature or slightly cooler.

2. Season with: Salt, Pepper, Garlic (fresh or powdered),
McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning, Worcestershire, Soy Sauce.

(Season meat when setting out on counter to blend the flavors, or marinate
overnight in the fridge)

3. Flour the meat and brown it on all sides in a skillet.

(make sure you get the flats and the sides browned with a slight crust.)

4. Chunk the veggies to your liking. Do not cut too small so
they maintain consistency.

All Day Cooking Directions:

1. Put meat and veggies in an 18Qt. Slow Roaster and fill with
water until the meat is 3/4 to almost covered.

2. Set the Slow Roaster to 200 degrees for 6-8 hours

3. Serve and Enjoy!

"Quick" Cooking Method

1. Set the Slow Roaster to 350 degrees for 3 hours

2. After 3 hours, turn the heat down to 200 degrees for 1 hour

3. Serve and Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions:

A - After cooking, you can remove the beef, slice, and place on
a platter with the veggies on the side.

You can take either part or all of the juices, add flour and cook into a gravy,
or use it as beef stock in your next culinary adventure.

B - You can also chop the beef into bite-size pieces, return it
to the Slow Roaster, and serve soup-style.

I recommend a nice full bodied Merlot with this meal.

Comments about this recipe can be sent to
Shadow Ravenwolf

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 (18 ounce) package small chocolate chip cookies

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1 cup hot fudge topping

2 quarts vanilla ice cream

1 cup whipped cream

12 cherries

DIRECTIONS

Crush half the cookies (about 20) to make crumbs. Combine crumbs with melted
margarine and press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan or pie plate.
Stand remaining cookies around edge of pan. Spread 3/4 cup fudge topping over
crust. Freeze 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, soften 1 quart of ice cream in microwave or on countertop. After
crust has chilled, spread softened ice cream over fudge layer. Freeze 30
minutes.

Scoop remaining quart of ice cream into balls and arrange over spread ice cream
layer. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight. To serve, garnish with
remainder of fudge topping, whipped cream and cherries.

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:31 PM

Classifieds

ARTIST WANTED

Published author seeks superhero artist for politically
progressive comic book project. Speculative: no money up front, any profits to
be split 50/50. Character designs to start; full script pages will follow.
Interested parties should PM DoctorJ through the forums or @DoctorJ on the
game.

Better Base and Fortress

Otto is seeking volunteers for upcoming episodes of Better Base and Fortress. Do you think your base has what it takes to get 5 out of 5 Otto's from Otto Plair? Contact Mindscythe in game @Mindscythe to arrange a base tour and discuss the details of becoming an upcoming episode

NOW HIRING

Paragon Underground Radio is now hiring bouncers and bartenders. Please send an in-game e-mail to DJ Durango on the Virtue server for more information or an application.

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.

Want your character to be interviewed by Scoop Man? Send
a PM to HumanMiracle!

Want your character to be interviewed by Patty-Sue
Ivanova? Send a PM to Emperorsteele!

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.

Need to sell something? Post it in The City Scoop
Classifieds. Send a PM to a scoop staff member.

DO YOU LOVE MUSIC?

Well, so do we! KJSR.net, the Voice of Jello Shooters, is a relatively new internet radio station, and we're looking for new DJs! So if you love all kinds of music, and want to "share the love" so to speak, contact either @Kyo-chan or @Steampunk Charlie right away!

And for our devoted listeners, we've got MORE shows, and MORE prizes coming up, so tune in!

Introducing Two-for-Tuesday at El Super Mexicano! All
regular quesadillas just 2 for $5 all day Tuesday!

Reward

$20 for substantial photo evidence of Bigfoot in Paragon City or the Rogue Isles. $1,000,000 for Actual Capture of Bigfoot.
-HellSprite

Lost

Paradigm Shift Device. Contact Demented Cynic at Portal Corp. by Friday. Remember to bring Hawaiian shirt.

HELP WANTED

Writers for The City Scoop. Please contact Snow_Globe or Marcian_Tobay for
submission details.

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 an Editor-in-Chief a week in advance, and you too could
be a guest writer for The City Scoop.

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:32 PM

The City Scoop Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Snow_Globe
Editors / writers
By Popular Request, Point/Counter Point Bowfling	Under the hood TopDoc	Comic Lattice
Content Watch Plater	Rogue Isles Legend Blood_Spectre	Fashion HexGirl
Why I joined... Otterine	Food ~Mistress Noire~	Humor Hostile_V
The People On HumanMiracle	Spandex Spotlight EmperorSteele	Bases EnnVee
Advice, Horoscopes Lady Athyna	Advice LiquidX	Fan Fiction Spotlight Mr_Grey
PvP Correspondent Neuronia	Wentworth's Advice peterpeter	PvP Correspondent Acanous_Quietus
Event Reporters
White_Gravel		More needed!
Behind the Scenes
Lead Layout	Layout assistants
Mantid	Frost	Snow_Globe
Copy Editor
	PhoenixRaz	More welcomed.
Additional Staff
Lemur Lad	Bonker	Marcian Tobay
	SpaceNut
Positions needing staff
Puzzles	Art Correspondents	Event reporters
Writers
The City Scoop is always seeking comments, suggestions, and articles from our readers. Just send them to the corresponding department or one of our Editors-in-Chief.

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

Lighthouse_NA · 10-17-2008 06:36 PM

Vol. 2, Issue 19
October 17, 2008

The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!

Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!

Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager

If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.

The City Scoop! ~ Front Page ~ October 17, 2008

The City Scoop

Get Your Freak On

First Winners of the City Scoop contest

"Billy B Statik"

Vol. 2, Issue 19 October 17th, 2008

This Issue:

Upcoming Events:

October 18th

Santa Clara, CA

Champion

Freedom

Guardian

Justice

Triumph

October 25th

Champion

Freedom

Guardian

Infinity

Justice

Protector

Triumph

October 31st

Virtue

Community

Fan Fiction Spotlight

The COH Fan-Made Comic

City Fiction

The Redeemers

Behind the PvP Mask

Psoma

Market Watch

The View on Blue

Predictions

Base Showcase

League of Extraordinarily Indebted Heroes

Shadow Ravenwolf's All Day Pot Roast [/b]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake

Classifieds

ARTIST WANTED

Better Base and Fortress

NOW HIRING

WANTED

DO YOU LOVE MUSIC?

Reward

Lost

HELP WANTED

The City Scoop Staff

Vol. 2, Issue 19

October 17th, 2008

City
Fiction