Games » City of Heroes »

NCSoft has unveiled a new trailer for the next expansion to the City of Heroes/Villains universe. Issue 12: Midnight Hour will chronicle a group called The Midnight Squad and their efforts to bolster their numbers and try to stop the Rikti invasion. In addition to the new story, the expansion will also offer some new powersets, gameplay improvements, and a new Roman-themed zone that will factor into the story. The Issue 12 expansion is currently in beta and expected to release later this month.

If you found this story interesting, why not subscribe to our RSS feed to get your daily fix of gaming news?

Those who make the claim that PC gaming is dying or already dead might want to take a look at some new numbers that the NPD Group have released. The value of online subscriptions in the US from games like World of Warcraft exceed even Dr. Evil’s fantasies, to the tune of more than $1 billion a year. This number is based on data gathered from October 2007 to March 2008, which also reveals that 11 million people subscribe to online games every month.

“Now that NPD can estimate the value of the subscription market, it’s clear that there is a sizable chunk of revenue being generated by PC gaming beyond what is reflected in retail sales,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. Certainly, this bodes well for the PC gaming community and developers who remain interested in the platform. But, success doesn’t come easy; looking at the top PC MMOs in terms of subscribers in Q1 2008 show that there’s some extremely stiff competition at the top.

MMO/PC Games:

1. World of Warcraft
2. RuneScape
3. Lord of the Rings Online
4. Final Fantasy XI
5. City of Heroes

Gaming Websites:

1. Pogo.com
2. Realarcade.com
3. Bigfishgames.com
4. Gametap.com
5. Disney.com

Demographics were another area that was looked at by NPD, which show that MMO players are primarily males under the age of 35, while the majority of those on gaming websites like Pogo are females over the age of 35.

The problem with tapping this market, of course, is the significant investment it takes to even attempt to become a successful MMO. Coupled with the high risk of failure, it’s not likely that you’ll see every developer around trying to tap this market — at least not at this point.

via GI.biz

NCSoft’s COO, Sebastien Vidal talked with GamesIndustry.biz about the MMO business in the site’s first of several interviews kicking off its MMO week. Vidal started by revealing the secret of NCSoft’s success in the MMO market.

Our publishing and development strategy has always been to provide a wide range of titles from subscription based to free to play, from fantasy to science fiction. And there is even more diversity to come in the next few years, both on the business model and genre sides.

Unlike some publishers who focus on one or two MMO titles, typically within the fantasy setting, our strategy is to provide players with a portfolio of online gaming options, catering for all tastes and payment options, for both hardcore gamers and the casual audience.

The interview takes a look at current plans for NCSoft’s line up and also gives readers an idea of what the future holds for several of it’s MMOs. You’ll find information on Lineage and Lineage II, Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 and a bit on Aion as well. Vidal also touches on City of Heroes and City of Villains.

Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa has been a big project for NCSoft. Vidal talks a lot about the complexity of the game, which has had a very rocky start. NCSoft has been concentrating on balancing and polishing existing content rather than rushing to add more “end game” elements. The company plans to initiate a series of online trials in the middle of May to get more people to try the game, and hopefully stay.

Vidal is confident MMOs have a future on consoles. In fact he feels the change is inevitable. He stated NCSoft’s deal with Sony is just the beginning.

Well, in the end it’s just a platform - the important thing is the game itself, and whether you’re playing with a keyboard and mouse, or a control pad…a game designer can come up with something good for either interface.

So I can’t see any reason why they won’t do well on consoles - it’s a huge market, although the biggest market right now is the Nintendo Wii and DS, which aren’t the best platforms for MMOs.

But all the consoles, including the DS, can go on the web and browse, so really the platform is the web, and the console is simply the interface for the web. So I think in the future, for me, you can design a game for the web and it will be playable on any platform - the DS, Wii, PS3 or anything.

via GamesIndustry.biz

City of Heroes Senior Designer Joe “Hero 1″ Morrissey has submitted a developer log on the Midnight Squad which is stepping out of legend in Issue 12: Midnight Hour. After a brief personal introduction, Morrissey dives into the back story of the Midnight Squad, those hit first and hit hardest by the Rikti.

In the Midnight Hour, players of both CoH and CoV will find new story arcs involving the Midnight Squad as the team gathers its strength to fight the Rikti.

The biggest revelation in this dev log isn’t the Midnight Squad but the introduction of a new game mechanic. Issue 12 introduces Contextual Dialog. NPCs will now use specific information about your character or where you are in a quest to give you information.  Morrissey hints that the new system may someday replace the status quo entirely, but that’s another Issue altogether.

via MMORPG

City of Heroes is turning four this year. Having survived a change of ownership, the MMO now under NCSoft is commemorating the event with a downloadable calender featuring City of Heroes/City of Villains content. The months correspond with the twelve “Issues” released for the game since launch.

NCSoft’s Matt “Positron” Miller has also promised players a new dynamic in game play will released in the coming months.

“…I can’t tell you how excited I am for our game’s future, and although we have some major announcements yet to be made, one of the things I can talk about is a feature that we are planning. Similar in concept to our character creator, it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in…”

The calender will be available for download from the City of Heroes website later today.

As a person with a vast store of useless information, I have to pass on some CoH trivia:

Since City of Heroes launched:

• More than 32 million characters created – that’s 4 times the population of New York City!
• Players have spent a combined 292 centuries playing City of Heroes and City of Villains
• More than 100 million items have been traded through the consignment (auction) houses since they were launched in 2007

Read the full article

I have a problem. It’s not a serious addiction, in fact its much the opposite of an addiction. I can’t commit.

If the subject of my problem were a woman I’d be the very picture of a man who wouldn’t commit – frequent hot dates with a possibility of long term relationships are tossed to the side in search of the next shiny object or attractive game setting. I dawdle between games like a child with free run of a candy store and no oversight. I just can’t seem to find that special game to break me of my wanderlust.

Now you might not think this a serious problem, I mean after all, who doesn’t play multiple games? But my issue goes beyond rotating pastimes to keep from losing interest. I have a staple game I play – Guild Wars – mostly because its free and doesn’t require a huge commitment of time or energy to hop into any of its settings and grind out a few missions or quests. Guild Wars is like the partner who dislikes your wandering habits but lets you come home whenever you feel like it because it knows it’ll always get what it can while you’re around.
Read the full article

Melissa “War Witch” Bianco, Level Designer on its NCsoft’s City of Heroes MMO, has posted a dev diary on the reworking of the Hollows zone. Players have registered numerous legitimate complaints about Hollows. Poor framerate and repetitive, boring content are part of the problem. Enemies are reported as too hard, and players can’t solo it although they have missions there.

Bianco has wiped the slate clean and started over fresh creating a more streamlined area with both city spawns and hazards. Spawn changes include clearing roads, rescaling encounters and adding more variety of MOBs. Missions have also been revamped with a new contact giving out repeatable missions.

The full details of changes in Spawns and Missions by neighborhood are listed in the dev diary on City of Heroes.

NCSoft has revealed new details for the next expansion for the popular MMO, City of Heroes/Villains. Issue 12 will feature a few gameplay tweaks and improvements as well as the next chapter in the ongoing story. After the Rikti Invasion, the secret organization known as the Midnight Squad is looking to rebuild their numbers and tackle a new threat. Heroes and Villains will be able to team up with the Squad to battle the enemy in a new area in the Roman Cimeroran Peninsula. This new area will feature new monsters and a Roman-style backdrop. Players will be able to unlock Roman-themed costumes as they battle through this area. In addition to all this, a number of changes have been made to the powerset system, and the Hollows Zone has been given some significant improvements.

Be sure to check out the City of Heroes website for more specific details.

City of Heroes Spring Fling event is now in full swing. Ganymede, Emissary of the God Eros, is once again exerting his influence over heroes and villains alike so they can work together on quests under a temporary truce in Pocket D. Out side this buffer between Paragon City and the Rogue Isles heroes and villains have their own mission’s to run.

It seems to me that making mischief for Zev Scalamore, under direction of Arachnos, would be much more exciting than tracking down wedding gifts for Manticore and Sister Psyche’s wedding planner, Sela Vermont. I guess that’s why it’s usually more fun to play the villain. Evil is good.

via City of Heroes 

Cryptic Studios, developer of the acclaimed MMO City of Heroes and the recently canceled Marvel Universe MMO, have announced that they’re hard at work on a new online game. Surprise, surprise it’s an MMO based around superheroes, this time titled “Champions Online.” Little is known about the game at this point other than you’ll be able to play as either a hero or a villain, and it’s being developed for consoles as well as PCs. Considering the handful of similarities between this new title and the ill-fated Marvel MMO, it sounds like the studio is trying to salvage some of their old project for this new one. We’ll have to see if this new game can compete with their old project, City of Heroes, which is now under the watchful eye of NCSoft.

Via Eurogamer

City of Heroes developers answer questions on the new XP curve smoothing. The change is meant to even out progress on those levels that seem to drag on for characters. Players can look forward to leveling faster in the same amount of time they’re used to playing.  The update is set to take effect before Valentines Day.

via CoH Community Site

City of Heroes players can look forward to another semi-annual Double experience Weekend. The event kicks off Friday, February 8, 2008 at 8:59am PST / 11:59am EST and ends  Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 8:59pm PST / 11:59pm EST. AS usual all heroes and villains will receive double the XP, Prestige, Influence, and Infamy.

There’s never a better time to play than when you get double payoff for all your work.

via Press Release

NCsoft and MMORPG are teaming up to offer gamers a chance to try City of Heroes and City of Villains free for 14 days. The offer doesn’t require a credit card and gives players access to both Heroes and Villains as well as the new Issue 11 update, A Stitch in Time.

Players will need to login or register for a free MMORPG account to qualify for the trial.

via MMORPG

The City of Heroes update Issue 11: A Stitch in Time launched this afternoon. Players will be granted some bonuses to go along with thislatest update.

• Free Costume Token
  Given the debut of Weapon Customization in Issue 11, a free costume token will be granted to all characters on Friday, November 30th.
• Free Respec
  Additionally, with the many changes to powers included in Issue 11, we will be making a Free Respec available to all characters on Friday, December 7th. Read the full announcement of that here.

Remember each character can only have one free respec available at any time, so if you have an alternate character build you’ve been dieing to try out, now is the time to do it.

via PlayNC

NCsoft is celebrating taking sole control of City of Heroes by offering players Character Debt Wipes and Supergroups Prestige Grants. Players should mark their calenders for December 10th, then get out there and start accruing debt like a true Americans.

Prestige Grant
Supergroups will receive an additional 20,000 Prestige per Supergroup member on Dec. 10th! This means SGs could acquire up to 3 million Prestige based upon their Supergroup membership roster! This is a one time grant, based strictly on the number of people in the Supergroup at the time the grant is done.

Debt Wipe
It’s time to get crazy! We will be clearing out any accrued debt on Dec. 10th! So, get out and find some spectacular ways to take a faceplant! Organize some chaos events and generally have some fun!

Log on to City of Heroes December 10 to cash in on these opportunities.

via City of Heroes

City of Heroes/City of Villain’s prodigal son Sean Fish… aka Manticore has returned to the fold. Now that CoH is fully under NCsoft’s control Manticore will once again be able have more involvement with the development process. Players are encouraged to offer ideas and suggests for new content to this consummate storyteller.
via PlayNC City of Heroes 

NCsoft has taken full control of the City of Heroes/City of Villains IP it once shared with the developer Cryptic Studios. The company is forming a new Northern California studio to manage it where many of the former Cryptic developers on the CoH team will continue to work on the franchise.

“We’re happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP,” said Brian Clayton, NCsoft executive producer and manager of the new studio. “Our plans are clear. We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line. With our existing Cryptic and NCsoft team as the core, we will be able to run our current service without any interruption to our players, expand our studio to deliver triple-A content, and take City of Heroes to new heights.”

NCsoft is expected to announce formal plans for the IP soon, involving expansions and sequels to the comic book inspired MMOs.

Matt Miller, Lead Designer on the City of Heroes project and formerly with Cryptic Studios said, “We’re thrilled to be bringing the CoH franchise to the next level. And we couldn’t be more pleased to be working completely under the NCsoft banner. We feel that City of Heroes’ best days are in front of it.”

City of Heroes will be facing competition with the new Marvel MMO in development by Cryptic Studios in partnership with Microsoft.

via WarCry

Whether you celebrate Halloween, Samhain, Day of the Dead, or the Harvest Festival; autumn is a very magical, mystical time of year. Gaming Today looked into MMORPGs celebrating the holiday and were overwhelmed with the number of games with festivals and celebrations honoring this time of year.

We found events tend to fall into two categories; celebrations that occur in the game world and real time contests and promotions. Take a look at some of what MMOs are offering players this Halloween.

Read the full article

NC Soft has sent out a new trailer that shows off some new powers that will be available in the next expansion for their MMORPG, City of Heroes/Villains. In Issue 11: A Stitch in Time, players will be granted a few new options for power sets, such as Willpower and Dual Blades. There’s also now a new weapon customization system which allows you to tweak the weapons you have however you want. NC Soft should announce a release date for Issue 11 sometime soon.

Are you looking for your weekly fix of MMO news? Would you prefer it with a dash of irreverence and plenty of humor?

If so, we’ve got you covered. G4 TV has a segment they’re putting out weekly titled, “The MMO Report.” It features news and rumors from a number of MMO’s, and presents it all in a format styled after Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.”

Check it out, and stay tuned for more from our friends over at G4!