The world of Paragon City is getting a bit darker as the lines are blurred between good and evil. City of Heroes/City of Villains is promising to muddy up the ethical water in the near future thanks to its “Going Rogue” expansion. The new content is designed to allow players to run the gamut of alignment between Superman-good to Apocalypse-Evil with all the morally shady places in between.

Brian Clayton, general manager and executive producer at Paragon Studios, explains in the press release that the team behind the game is looking to expand the game  into the four-colored jumpsuit world with the new content.

“For Years, players could choose between playing as a hero or a villain. Now we will present a third, malleable path where players can be affected by the results of their actions, enabling them to further develop, unveil new perspectives, and overcome new challenges.”

At the same time the game will introduce that time honored comic book convention – the mirror universe – where the normally heroic Statesman becomes the evil dictator of the world known as Praetoria in the guise of Tyrant. In the core universe the new alignment system also finally allows players to freely cross between Paragon City and the Villain haven of the Rogue Isles. Missions in all locations will now reflect their moral compass as well, allowing players to shape their character’s outlook and just where they fall in the good guy – anti-hero – bad guy range.

Along with the new alignment system and mirror universe zones two new archetypal storyline characters – Maelstrom and Desdemona will make their appearance to typify the good/bad paradigm.

I applaud the concept of making an MMO more responsive to the choice of the players and recent additions to City of Heroes/Villains like the Architect mission creation tools go a long way to extending the lifespan of this elder MMO even as Champions and DC Universe Online wait in the wings to give players more superhero MMO choices. I just find the claims hard to believe after all good/bad the missions are all still basically the same and nothing ever changes in Paragon City.

Full details after the jump.

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The Mac is often over looked as a videogame platform, and although EA is pushing releases for it, Mac users are often left out. NCsoft is bringing its City of Heroes MMORPG to the Mac and has launched the open beta.

The Mac City of Heroes Special Edition comes with exclusive in-game items. Mac players will get the Mission Teleporter Power which will allow them to teleport to their mission site immediately. The exclusive Valkyrie Costume set is also part of bonus. I’m a little confused about that since these Norse warriors were women who would triumph or die in battle but hey I guess guys like wings too.

Mac gamers can get in on the City of Heroes Mac open beta on the City of Heroes site.

December 15th is the kickoff for the first of the holiday events NCSoft has planned for its MMORPGs. Players can expect traditional events with fresh content as well.

City of Heroes leads off with its Winter Event 2008. City of Villains is also included because naughty players like gifts too. A festival atmosphere has already taken over Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, and will linger December 15th until January 4th, 2009. You can look forward to lots of goodies this year although you may still have to take your lumps of coal.

The Lineage II Saving Santa Event is next up running December 16th to December 30th. Players will face the nefarious Thomas D. Turkey to save Santa and Christmas.

Guild Wars‘ Wintersday 2008 event begins December 19th. The Eye of the North will be decked out for the Wintersday for the first time, and that’s only the beginning of new content planned for this event. Players will receive a special gift for attending the Wintersday Finale January 5th.

Get the full scoop on these winter holiday events after the break.
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Aside from layoffs and massive reorganizations, there is one other prevalent trend during an economic crisis: companies buying each other up. Atari has now announced that they have acquired Cryptic Studios, the developers behind the successful MMO, City of Heroes. Cryptic will bring with them three other MMO projects in the works, including Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and an undisclosed title. The deal apparently cost Atari a $26.7 million cash payment up front as well as a future earn-out or around $27.5 million made up of cash and company stock. Cryptic could also stand to earn performance bonuses if their games perform better than their anticipated targets.

Of all the news of publishers buying up developers, this is probably the least unsettling. Cryptic has a pretty good track record when it comes to the MMO market and two hotly anticipated games on the way, so I doubt Atari would do anything major to upset that right now. Of course, I said the same thing about Ghostbusters when Activision snatched up Sierra, so we’ll have to see.

NCsoft has released Chapter 13: Power and Responsibility for City of Heroes and City of Villains. Although the update is minus the scenario creation that has been pushed back to Issue 14 for polishing, there are several new features to enrich the lives of players’ avatars.

Multiple Builds will now allow players to have two builds of each character. Pact Leveling will allow you and a friend to permanently sync characters below level five so that they gain experience at the same rate, even if one of you is hardcore and the other a casual gamer. The most anticipated new feature is the Day Job which will allow your character to keep busy improving itself during your downtime.

Also City of Heroes’ new Day Job feature offers a way for players to progress their characters in the game even when they are logged out of the game. In addition to providing an XP rest bonus to all characters, specific Day Jobs are determined by where you log out of the game. There’s an associated Day Job at many key locations in Paragon City™ or the Rogue Isles™. Once characters have accumulated the required amount of time for each Day Job, they are rewarded with the appropriate Day Job Badge, increasing their “earnings” for that job. Multiple Badges can be combined to unlock Accolades and the ability to accumulate additional new rewards.

Check out the Issue 13 Overview for full details on the latest update for City of Heroes.

1UP is appealing to gamers to take a 5-10 minute break from their games to fill out the 2008 MMO Gaming Study survey. Those who make time for this no fail quiz by December 1st will be entered in a Sweepstakes to win a $300 American Express Cheque.

Attention FileFront Community!
We want to hear about your MMO gaming experience. Help shape how MMO games are built and be entered in an exclusive sweepstakes drawing to* win a $300 American Express Cheque. * Survey only takes about 5 to 10 minutes and your input would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, you can earn additional entries into the sweepstakes. The first 500 completed surveys will earn a double entry into the prize drawing.

*Directions for the survey:*
1. Step#1: _[CLICK HERE TO START SURVEY]
2. Fill out the entire survey to be eligible for the drawing. *Please fill out the entire survey by December 1st in order to be eligible.*
One entry per household only, additional entries will be void. The winner will be notified as soon as a winner is selected.

Thanks again for your continuing support.

World of Warcraft players certainly don’t mind that 7-Eleven has been dabbling in the field of selling videogames. Thanks to the apparent disregard for street dates, WoW players were able to secure early copies (albeit not early access) of Wrath of the Lich King. The retail chain has announced that its recent sales of games like WoW, Halo, and Madden isn’t a temporary holiday cash-in — they’re planning on permanently adding videogames to their inventory (via Joystiq).

“This is not just a holiday promotion for us,” explained 7-Eleven category manager for gaming and electronics, “but a brand new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination … yet, but we’re hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot-selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies. For consumers wanting convenient one-stop shopping for at-home entertainment along with groceries and gas or who just want to avoid big-store shopping inconveniences, their local 7-Eleven store is open and ready.”

In addition to Wrath of the Lich King, 7-Eleven is planning on selling the Guitar Hero World Tour band kit, Fallout 3, Quantum of Solace, Gears of War 2, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, and Call of Duty: World at War. They’ll also begin selling subscription cards for around 20 games and services ranging from Xbox Live to City of Heroes to Runescape.

Picking up a game at 7-Eleven seems to be more of a convenience rather than an alternative, at least at this point. Unless you’ve got one closer to home than any other retailer, will gamers really opt to go there instead of GameStop, Best Buy, or Walmart? But if they decided to throw in a free Slurpee with the purchase of any full-priced game, that might just give them the edge that makes it the premiere destination for picking up big-name games. It would for me, at least.

The denizens of Paragon City and Rogue Isles will share a common foe this Halloween as zombies invade City of Heroes and City of Villains for Halloween. Having beaten off waves of werewolves, vampires and other horrendous hordes of supernatural creatures, the heroes and villains should have little problem keeping their heads.

Among the prizes for this holiday event are Classical Costumes such as Goldbrickers, Freakshow, and PPD in the screenshot which can be worn and turned in for badges after the zombie threat has passed. You have until Sunday, November 2nd at 11:59pm EST to check in with Ravenwing Cabal’s Annah in Croatoa or Granny Beldam in Nerva Archipelago for the latest on the Halloween events.

NCsoft is throwing down the gauntlet and issuing a challenge to players to enter the Palit/AMD City of Heroes “Create a Character” Costume Contest. Don’t panic if your not the artsy crafty sort. Entries will be judged primarily on the innovative use of the Costume Creators for City of Heroes and City of Villains.

The other criteria judges will be looking at is how well you flesh out your character. The character’s biography is the next most important consideration although the quality of the submitted screenshots and the appropriateness of the character screenshot’s background are also important.

There are 11 Palit Radeon™ HD 3850 SUPER+ 1GB Video Cards for runners up and gaming PC for the grand prize winner. Just the video card is well worth the effort NCsoft is asking of you. For the full details on entering the contest read the article on the City of Heroes Community website.

NCsoft has given gamers a preview of details from the next update for City of Heroes. With Issue 13: “Architect” City of Heroes takes a flying leap forward by giving players access to an editor which will allow them to create their own episodes from the ground up.

There are other significant changes to CoH including two new power sets; the classic Shield and for all those villains out there, Pain Domination which is the evil opposite of “empathy”. Heroes will now also have Day Jobs. You’ll get perks dependent on where you log out.

A character’s day job is determined by the actual in-game location from which he or she logs out. If players log out from a University their day job is considered to be a Scholar. If they log out from City Hall they’re a City Official. The benefits are thematically appropriate to the location. For example, a City Official earns extra Influence, a Scholar is granted Salvage, a Caregiver is granted Health Regeneration Buffs, etc.

For more on day jobs, the adventure creation system, the merit reward system and other new content read the full preview on the City of Heroes Community Site.