Issue 15 Overview | Upcoming EventsMay 2COH DOLLS Presents Deal or NO Deal Server: Triumph Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009 Time: 9:00 pm Eastern / 6:00 pm Pacific Host: Fanci Details: Pocket D, hero participants only. Dolls turn 5 events weekend May 3Find the Missing Dolls Scavenger Hunt Server: Triumph Date: Sunday, May 3, 2009 Time: 7:45 pm Eastern / 4:45 pm Pacific Host: Tiny_H Details: Dolls turn 5 events weekend - Atlas Park, under the statue May 4Abandoned Sewer Trial Server: Freedom Date: Monday May 4, 2009 Time: 10:00 pm Eastern / 7:00 pm Pacific Host: Luna_de_Nocturne May 5 Tanker Tuesday! Server: Champion Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Time: 9:00 pm Eastern / 6:00 pm Pacific Host: Kiloton Details: Tanker Tuesday #55 AND El Cinco de Mayo! OWNSF: Ice Mistral Server: Infinity Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Time: 11 pm Eastern / 8 pm Pacific Host: Textilian Details: Note that this is a different starting time than usual. See thread for details. May 6Deadline for Projectionist's Mission Arc Contest Server: All Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Time: 3:00 am Eastern / 12:00 am (midnight) Pacific (note that this turns it into THURSDAY morning) Host: Projectionist May 7Red Side EoE Farming Server: Infinity Server Date: Thursday, May 7, 2009 Time: 9:00 pm Eastern / 6:00 pm Pacific Host: Mrs_OSHA Details: Hosted by the OSHA Academy. Raid on Sunday. May 10Red Side Hamidon Raid Server: Infinity Server Date: Sunday, May 10, 2009 Time: 7:00 pm Eastern / 4:00 pm Pacific Host: Mrs_OSHA Details: Hosted by the OSHA Academy. EoE farming on Thursday. May 12Kid Engineer & Nomme Get Married Server: Real Life Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Time: 9:30 pm Eastern / 6:30 PM Pacific Host: Nomme & kidengineer Details: Wedding News |
Fan Fiction Spotlight
Many players make the argument that this game shouldn't have a fantasy element in it. I think we should take a moment to reflect on that issue for a moment. We're playing a game where we take on the personae of impossibly athletic individuals (even at level 1, Sprint is faster than a car) clad in garish armor or spandex hurling energy, fire, ice, nightmares or even punching enemies into the sun. If there's nothing fantastic in any of that, then obviously we are dealing with particularly differing understandings of the concept of fantasy. My argument is that a story such as this, where a young woman is enchanted or cursed into becoming a fairy, still has as much a place in the City of Heroes world as would any other story about any other hero, heroine, or villain. Protecting/victimizing the innocent has as much place in "dragons and wizards" fantasy as it does in "skyscrapers and spandex." Fortunately, we have the talented Kyo_Chan bringing us a tale that still takes place in the world of Skyscrapers and Spandex. Our heroine is both of this world and outsider to it (though in a world where countless alien species and meta humans of numerous bizarre origins battle for order in or control of the future, it's a little hard to be an outsider). After being transformed into a fairy, young Jodie Wilkins seems to be more at home dancing on the dewdrops on the flowers of some far-flung vibrant forest or jungle as a Hyde grazes peacefully nearby and naiads and dryads lounge at the riverbank, but on the horizon, trouble's brewing as the Evil Empire seeks to exert its control on the wild lands surrounding it. Instead, she's in the here-and-now. A former librarian who read the wrong book, Ms. Wilkins becomes a fairy who is forced to rename herself Snap Play, and her adventures begin with this story, which explains her origin and how she meets her adventuring partner, Blackrazur. With any luck, we'll see more works featuring this out-of-place heroine. You can see some more of their story in Kyo_Chan's arc, 100176, "The Fae and the Feral." It expands on the relationship between the characters somewhat. AnnoucnementsEngagement Announcement!Peony and Alexandre, of the Triumph Supergroup "The League of Extraordinarily Well-Dressed Gentlepersons", would like to announce their engagement. The current plans are for an in-game ceremony in late June. More details will follow, as plans are confirmed.
Projectionists Most Enjoyable Solo Mission Arc | Anniversary RemembranceOn May 20, 2009, I will receive my 60-month Veteran Badge for being a part of the City of Heroes community. 60 months. 5 years. I honestly didn't think I'd be looking back at this milestone. I'd come close on a few occasions to canceling my subscriptions and letting City of Heroes become just another MMORPG game that I'd tried, enjoyed for a time, and eventually moved on towards the next MMO flavor of the year. That didn't happen. Of course I tried other MMORPG's before I loaded up City of Heroes for the first time in 2004 (directly ordered from the United States I might add, before City of Heroes was released in New Zealand!), and I've tried a few other MMORPG's during the past five years. A few MMORPG's did capture my attention between 2004 and 2009, but none managed to spark my imagination and maintain my enthusiasm like City of Heroes has done. In the end, I never followed through on bidding farewell to City of Heroes. While the graphics engine may appear dated compared to those of the latest release video and console games, it's the constantly evolving game play and additions to City of Heroes over the years that have kept me coming back for more. I don't always agree with some of changes made to City of Heroes, and have often wanted to vigorously shake a few of the Developers and yell all sorts of profanities at them for emasculating some of my favorite characters. But from my own personal experience, the positive aspects of City of Heroes have far outweighed the negative. Many of us 'old hares' still recall the heady early days of City of Heroes when Blasters did damage equivalent to small nuclear weapons, Tankers waded through whole groups of opponent with relative impunity, and some Scrappers could go toe to toe with Arch Villains without breaking a sweat. Of course, those early days weren't so great for Defenders and Controllers. If you weren't an Empathy Defender, then you mocked for not being a 'true' Defender; and any Controller who played anything but an Illusion or Fire Controller was considered somewhat insane. While the introduction of City of Villains, Invention Origin Enhancements, and Architect deserve their special mention as worthy achievements, many of the veteran City of Heroes gamers still consider the single biggest impact to be Enhancement Diversification. Introduced on Live Servers with Issue 6: Along Came a Spider, Enhancement Diversification was vehemently resented and protested against at the time. Many new gamers aren't aware of the impact that Enhancement Diversification (or ED) had amongst the veteran gamer base of City of Heroes. To put things in perspective, the response thread to Enhancement Diversification on the message Forums exceeded 3,500 replies in the first 36 hours! The Thread grew so large that a second one had to be opened to accommodate the flow of messages. Long-term gamers, including some who had been with City of Heroes since the days of Beta Testing canceled their accounts out of frustration and anger. Looking back at those tumultuous times now, I consider Enhancement Diversification to have been a necessary evil. An unpopular decision - I don't dispute that - but in the long run, Enhancement Diversification gave me the motivation to think outside the box and improvise, adapt and change how I interacted in solo and group play. And in the end, that isn't such a bad thing. I can still do the lone wolf thing if I want to, but the real fun comes from rolling up my sleeves and joining a group of determined heroes or tenacious villains on their (mis)adventures! So here's to 60 months, 5 years of City of Heroes. The good, the bad, and the ugly. At the end of the day City of Heroes is like a favorite computer or console game that I keep coming back to again and again because it's easy to get setup, enjoyable to play, and has just enough tricks and twists to me coming back Issue after Issue to see what's new, what's been changed, and what's been improved. I may not game as much as I like on City of Heroes these days, but I don't intend to emigrate from Paragon City anytime soon. Happy Anniversary City of Heroes. You're a classic. Comrade Hero
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Exploring the Architect | The Course of Events
During the course of normal play, various things happen. Mobs, Giant Monsters (GMs) and Arch-Villians (AVs, which are also Arch-Heroes) all spawn, Rikti and Zombies both invade, and players find themselves interacting with other players as they fight these menaces when and as they occur. Rarely do all of these events happen simultaneously. On April 28 2009, however, the players of City of Heroes came, they saw... and they fought a bunch of big battles as the 5th Anniversary month kicked off in a 13-hour fit of chaos. Rikti invasions were supplemented in Atlas Park with visitations by Lord Recluse and his faithful assistants. Meanwhile, in Cap au Diable, incursions by Statesman, Manticore, and Positron were beaten back while Zombies rose up out of the ground. Giant Devouring Earth monsters escaped their island home to rampage through both the Rogue Islands and Paragon Cities -- and that was only in the first hour. The City of Heroes/Villains development and community staff rotated through all 11 live servers and the main test server (test2 was taken off-line for the duration of the event), sowing chaos and Anniversary titles in their wake. While all of the participating staff members seem to have had the same tools available to them, each had their own style, and that style appeared to have some affect on what situations occurred at any given time. Some players saw heavier groupings of each individual target; one forum post specifically indicates seeing 6 Winter Lords in one grouped spawn. Others saw a variety of targets in each spawn, and still more, like me, report that what they saw varied over the course of the day. I got into the game about two hours after the event had already started. When I got on, I was that there were Rikti in Atlas. The first thing I discovered upon exiting the base portal was that there was a low-flying drop ship directly above me, and it was aiming right at me. That should have warned me about the rest of the day - a lot of things were going to be aiming right at me: Lord Recluse, many (many) Jade Spiders, Quarrys, Lattices, Sciroccos, Ghost Widows, Kronos Titans, Jurassics, and Adamasters, to name just as few. As one of my teammates said, "I feel like I'm in Disneyland." While the events were happening on the blue-side, I also saw calls to help with events on the red-side. Deciding to take a break from heroes, I went to see what the villain action was like. Unfortunately, at least on one server, mid-day was not the best time to be looking for activity, so I took a break for lunch. Later in the day, my partner and I came back in to play for a while and the first invasion after we came in happened, surprisingly, in King's Row. I managed to get a group shot of some of the Kings Row Defenders once they fought off the invasion. SteelWool, one of the Defenders, commented, "I think that it's awesome to have seen this game from it's beginning, and grow with it every day since, to now be a witness to 5 years." After Positron's message, I popped over onto test to see what was happening in the Pocket D there. Well, the answer was LOTS. By the time I got on, about 6 pm Pacific, Pocket D 3 had around a dozen people in it and was quickly gathering more. Within a half hour, Mynx and NCsoft_Prescient popped in to start the party. Nemesis and Hamidon soon joined us! BackAlleyBrawler showed up to lend a hand with Hami, and then announced that he would be hanging out in the ski chalet for those that would prefer a calmer event. In the few quiet moments between battles, I asked people to tell me what they thought of this event. WRider had the most to say, telling me, "It was a rockin' party! Great hanging out with everyone and battling the GM's. Nice touch having KJSR.net cover events too." Apparently, Rider had been on test for quite a while, because he added, "Partying with Ms Liberty, Synapse, and Mynx was awesome." Silver-Haze gave some welcome news, and the most amusing word I heard for the day, "It pulled me away from AE farming, and it was Spectaculicious!!" Finally, before I left, the day was summed up nicely by Opera Ma'am, who described it as "fun chaos; nice to see everyone let loose." Sadly, I wasn't actually able to catch up with any of the staff for quotes - when I went out to the chalet, Mynx had already gone, and BackAlleyBrawler was just leaving (with a good-bye present of at least 3 Winter Lords). They finished what that Ritki drop ship this morning started, and I found myself in the Pocket D hospital. At the end of the event, I trying to describe how it all went, I find myself returning to the sentiment Cobalt-Fusion expressed after helping to defend King's Row: "WICKED AWESOME." Yes, in fact, I believe that will do nicely.
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In The Scoop
As I sit here thinking about what I am to write and who should be my artist of choice, I wander through the forums and start looking at Wassy's work. Wassy has a few unique styles that are quite eye catching, and many of the boardsters really like her! So I sent out a little note to Wassy and received the quickest reply back ever! She should be in the Statesman Book of World Records for replies! Wassy and I establish a com-link and I find that Wassy is quite polite, and willing to provide artwork to the Scoop to help illuminate the City Scoop submissions. As I talk with Wassy, I discover that she lives all over Freedom in no particular zone, and has been a member of the City of* family for just shy of five years! She has always been an artsy type and said to me, "I just remember always drawing/coloring and really enjoying art class in school." When asked about her very first piece, she replied, "Probably some hellish crayon mess my mother had to clean up! And done on nothing it should have been on." Wassy said that her favorite City of* piece "Is a couple years old, but it's still my favorite. It's the first piece I did in what is now my more established style. It also has a lot of personal/sentimental value." Flowy Frost She thinks her first City of* piece "Was an earlier picture of the same character! I don't have it up in my gallery right now because I've moved beyond it in skill and style. Frost had it as his avatar for a long time back in the day, if any veteran forumites remember it, heh." I asked Wassy what her next City of* piece would be. Wassy responded, "I'm almost done with a large group piece for The Dolls supergroup. I have a few work-in-progress shots from it at my deviantArt page " Nemue & Wicked Luv Wassy says that she gets her inspiration "...from everywhere. Obviously, there's a ton I get from comics and manga. But I also just... look. All the time. At everything. I probably stare and creep people out.... But there's inspiration at every turn, so many textures, so many colors, so many angles." I asked Wassy about her website and commissions, and she replied "I have my own website at s href="http://www.wassyart.com">www.wassyart.com with a full gallery, and yes, I'm currently open for commissions and all my commission information and order form are on my website. There's usually a wait, but I do work steadily through the line and have only ever been accused of keeping clients OVER informed!" When asked if there was anything else she would like to add. Wassy replied, "Thanks for the opportunity to get my work out there! I have to say, the CoH community has been nothing but FANTASTIC to me and I love working with all you guys. Best forums on the internet." At the end of the interview, I thanked Wassy for taking the time to chat with me and for sharing her work with the City Scoop readers and all the boardsters. Wassy replied, "The City Scoop is welcome to grab anything they want from the gallery whenever." And with that said, the com-link was disconnected and I retreated to my office to share with the Scoop readers what I learned about Wassy! "The cute part is kind of the perfect example of how you don't find your style... it finds you. It's never been intentional... just kind of happens!" - Wassy |
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The Hall of BasesGreetings! As many of you know (and for those who don't), I try my best to bring the base world to life in my articles. I am always amazed and intrigued by the different designs and layouts I see presented to me in the interviews I hold. Over the past few weeks however, it seems I-14 has taken the reins and stolen my thunder. I have run dry in my well of presentations; as a result, I have decided to show everyone that even though earlier showcases may have been in a "past issue" in the Scoop, they are far from forgotten. So I present to you the Hall of Bases! I have kept a record of the Bases featured during my time as the Base interviewer with the City Scoop. I was trained by Bonker, guided by Snow Globe, and encouraged by the entire Scoop staff as I made my transition from newcomer to Scoop Family. I hope you all enjoy this "trip down memory lane." I even included the issue dates of each base in case you would like to look up the back issue of the Scoop they were in!
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The Hecktic Life | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Vol. 2, Issue 44
May 1, 2009
The City Scoop a publication for Supers by Supers!
Read the latest publication and then join in on the community discussion!
If you have concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please direct your comments via PM to Niviene.
If you would like to do a feature article, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Snow_Globe.
If you would like to place a classified ad or have an event covered, contact Cende, EnnVee, or Lemur Lad.
If you need some "Advice" contact Lady_Athyna, would like to "Ask The X" contact LiquidX, or need help with fashion, "Ask Arbiter Fabulous."
If you have a base you would like featured, please contact EnnVee.
Finally if you have a Recipe you would like included please contact Barron_.
The City Scoop
5 Year Anniversary Address!
By Positron
Attention Heroes of Paragon City and Criminal Elements of the
Rogue Isles!
It's Positron, and I just wanted to say "Happy Anniversary" to all the Heroes
and Villains who have logged in today. I've been with CoH since it launched and
I am super-excited to be sharing this anniversary with you. I love that I work
on an MMO that has survived five years in a tough marketplace and is actually
thriving in the wake of Issue 14: Architect.
Speaking of Issues, I know you are chomping at the bit for any news on Issue
15. Well, I can give you the title: Anniversary. The plan is to get it on the
Training Room very soon. As part of our gift to you, we are going to give ALL
accounts access to the closed beta portion of the testing! That's right;
EVERYONE gets into the closed beta!
I should probably talk about some of the features in Issue 15. We've got a slew
of tweaks and changes coming for Mission Architect -- things we wanted to add
in at the last minute, but decided that they needed more love and testing
before we could go live with them. Among these will be the ability to set the
level range of your story arc, and even review missions with "key words" that
players can search on. This should ease the pain of finding missions that suit
the play-style you are looking for.
We've also got a new Task Force and a new Strike Force for the issue, where
Heroes and Villains will see the return of one of the most iconic villain
groups to the game.
And free (as in "no extra cost to you"), there are costume pieces! We've got a
ton of cool costumes that we are giving out as part of the issue, as well as a
slew of brand new facial textures that will give your characters new looks.
All in all, we are excited to bring you Issue 15, and to be enjoying the
anniversary festivities with you. If you have a chance, drop by Pocket D on the
Training Room this evening and hang out with the devs. It should be a blast!
Vol. 2, Issue 44
May 1st, 2009
This Issue:
Issue 15
Upcoming Events
Fan Fiction Spotlight
Annoucnements
Anniversary Remembrance
Exploring the Architect #3: Choices
The Course of Events
In The Scoop
Base Showcase
Masthead
Lady Farsight by RogueRider and TurboSki