My City of Heroes Blog on Hiatus :(

Due to technical difficulties, My City of Heroes Blog is going on a bit of a hiatus while I square away some computer problems. Most likely, I'll be missing the entire Winter Event.

I'll try to get back as soon as possible, but until then I thank you for your readership, and I thank the devs for the great game of City of Heroes.

Kick some bad-guy butt for me. I shall return.

Daemodand

Happy Winter Event!

The Winter Event is scheduled to start today, Monday, December 15.  Time to start hunting for those Slow Resist IOs. ;)

Today's PvP Results: 14 Rep, 2 Defeats

As I try to work more PvP time into my schedule as I rebuild my characters for Issue 13, I got my first live PvP in tonight.  Playing Daemodand in RV, I got 14 Rep and got defeated 2 times.  7 Rep per defeat.  Not bad at all!  I Phased to avoid a third defeat, and I felt kinda bad about it, my opponents earned a kill.  But I have to use the tools the game gives me, you know?  Maybe PS can be either disabled or put on a very, very long timer in PvP zones.

The reports of Energy Melee's death are greatly exaggerated.  I was on the recieving end of a lot of it tonight, and it remains highly effective, especially in the hands of a Stalker.

What I like about how Defense is handled in PvP 2.0 is that I don't feel like I have to live in Elude just to survive.  I save Elude for emergencies/when I'm outnumbered.  I popped it only twice tonight (tried to pop it before my first defeat but as usual was too slow lol; the second defeat came while in Elude...Arachnos Heavy killed me right through it lol).

When I get my builds organized at long last, I'll be PvPing much more often.  It was nothing but fun tonight, even when I lost.

Subscription Fees + Microtransactions: A Negative MMO Trend

Sonly Online Entertainment recently introduced microtransactions to the subscription-based EverQuest and EverQuest 2 MMOs.  Apparently they dropped it on the playerbase without so much as a warning, and in direct contradiction to prior promises to avoid such a move.  The Galaxies NGE vets are not surprised.

This is the kind of thing City of Heroes needs to be very careful about.  They've been moving more towards this themselves recently.  Purchasing renames, server slots and character moves is one thing, but the Booster Packs have you purchasing costumes as well, and they've even started including powers with the Packs (such as the Self Destruct that came with the Cyborg pack).

MMO publishers need to make a choice.  They need to go with subscription fees, ads, or microtransactions, not two or more.  Sure there is money to be made, but there is customer wrath to incur as well, as SOE is finding out once again as people rexamine their EQ and EQ2 accounts.

NCNC, don't let this happen to you.

Read the MMORPG thread.

SOE's new cash shop.  Note how next to "IT'S TIME TO TAKE YOUR GAMING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL" is  a graphic of a wallet with money coming out.  Very poor design choice.  I'll bet that gets changed.

More Valkyrie Pics

Check out the article in this week's Scoop.

Task Force Random Roll

Daemodand got another 20 Merits and I went with the Task Force random roll.  This time I got the Entropic Chaos trio, level 35.  Crafted, it's worth about 5 million, minus about 500k crafting costs yields 4.5 million "profit".  That's 225,000 Influence per Merit.  My lowest take yet, but very acceptable.

I have been going on a tear with Daemodand.  I've played him for years at this point, and he just keeps getting more fun!  What a great guy.  And I set him up with some new duds for when he's off-duty:

Daemodand, recently hired as a PPD Detective, consults with his fellow officers.

Winter Event Coming December 15th-January 4th!

I'm so looking forward to getting the Slow Resist IO for Daemodand and Bush Ranger.  It'll stack so nicely with Super Reflexes natural Slow Resist.

Read the announcement at the official forums.

Task Force Random Roll

Bush Ranger got 20 Merits and I decided to gamble on a Task Force random roll this time.  Guess what I got?  A level 40 Miracle +Recovery!  Crafted, it's worth approximately 75 million on redside.  That's about 3 million per Merit.  Very, very good return.  Boy, did I get lucky!

So that's 1 Trial roll and 1 Task Force roll so far, and they're both winners.  I like Trial rolls more because I think there's less junk in 'em (thus the higher price).  I was feeling lucky today and it paid off.  Big. :)

Dupin' Rares

There's been a big scandal in game.  People found out an exploit that allowed them to gather hundreds or even thousands of Merits in a trivial amount of time.

I don't like exploits, but this may have a positive effect for buyers on the market as the super shinies become more common and therefore more affordable.  Of course this pretty much invalidates my experiment to see what will happen with market prices on super shinies.  Oh, well!  At least there's a positive effect for non-exploiters looking to buy.

And the client crashing issue has been fixed.  Again.  Wow, the launch of Issue 13 may be the roughest launch of any Issue.  I've only been around since Issue 6, but I might still be right on that.

Here's hoping the troubles are behind us.

Character Gender Census

Inspired by this forum thread, I got curious and did a census of all my alts. I have no mandate of a certain number of males or females as I go entirely with concept. Turns out I have 12 female and 12 male characters. 50/50 just by chance lol. I find that amusing. Probably a reflection of my view of women and men as equals, so one is just as good to roll up as another.

I thought it'd be interesting to break it down by Archetype, too:

Brute: 2 female; 1 male

Stalker: 2 female; 1 male

MM: 3 female

Corruptor: 2 male

VEAT: 2 male

Dom: 3 female

Scrapper: 3 male

Tanker: 1 female; 2 male

HEAT: 1 female; 1 male

other: not currently rolled

Interesting. Yep, I'm a redsider lol.

From The "I Didn't See That Coming" File

Atari acquires Cryptic, developer of Champions Online, former developer of City of Heroes.

All I can say is, "Huh?"  This can only be good for Cryptic, though.  Jack Emmert probably just got a nice payday.  He's turned his comic book passion into a more-than-decent living.  Good for him.

Issue 13 - Come Join the Fun!

Ouroboros Sure Can Be Cool

Market Crashes and Burns

Ebil marketeers killed the market.  No, not really.  But it is down for the time-being for emergency maintenance.

Announcement at the official forums.

Merits By Task @ Paragon Wiki

Here's a couple invaluable lists to help you maximize your Merit earnings:

Hero Merit rewards.

Villain Merit rewards.

Trial Random Roll

I got 30 Merits on Daemodand and spent them on a Trial random roll.  I got a Luck of the Gambler Def/End/Rech, level 50.  Blueside, it's worth about 12 million Influence.  That's about 400,000 Influence per Merit.  Not bad!  This was my first Merit-purchased random roll.

G4 Covers Champions Online

PART ONE

PART TWO

Check This Out

Positron's Address to Returning Players

With Issue 13's free access weekend (on now through midnight Sunday), Positron has released an address to the player base (it popped up in-game, too).

One tidbit that immediately struck me was that they are allowing some of the Issue 13 PvP rules changes to be optional in Arena, and this is hitting the training room "very soon".

On the one hand, I kind of prefer people to be "forced" to use the new I13 rules for a few months to give people a chance to acclimate to it.  On the other hand, allowing for optional rules in Arena may make some PvPers happy, and it might bring some people back (there aren't a lot of them, but more people is always better than fewer; the in-game population hasn't changed one iota due to quitting PvPers though).

My PvP bailiwick is zone PvP.  And in zone PvP, these Issue 13 changes are absolutely necessary.  It was way too easy to avoid combat and turn tail and run under the old system.  The new system helps limit that kind of thing, and this is especially important in zones where there is way too much room to maneuver in (on the smaller Areana maps, it's much less of a problem).

Overall I approve, with the caveat that we need to let PvP 2.0 have a chance, rather than strangling it in the cradle.

Read the announcement at the official forums.

Market Canary: Level 20 Miracle +Recovery Recipe

68.22 MI on average.

I'm using this one as a "market canary" to see what effects Merits have.  My hypothesis:  the price will gradually rise.  Time will tell if I'm right or wrong.

TenTonHammer Issue 13 Video

Check out TenTonHamer's Issue 13 video!  It's a riot!

Reactivation Weekend On Now Until Midnight Sunday

If you let your subscription lapse, now's a good time to check the game out again for free as City of Heroes hosts another reactivation weekend!  Inactive accounts in good standing are active from now until Sunday, December 7, 2008 at midnight.

Check it out at the official forums.

Issue 13: Power and Responsibility Goes Live

Here's my post mortem of the patch notes:

New Midnight Squad and Cimerora Story Arcs

A very welcome addition.  Always glad to get some additional story content.

Merit Reward System

Overall it's a great addition.  I fear there may be some unforseen problems such as the rarest IOs becoming even more rare, and basing rewards on time (people will always find a way to get the time down, thereby rendering the TFs less rewarding, especially for casual players).  My own approach will be to take the random rolls and craft and sell whatever I can't use.  My game hasn't changed at all, but it has become more rewarding with those TF rolls that I never would have gotten otherwise.  Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy market!

Day Jobs

Fun!  I wish the rewards lasted more than two hours/20-30 uses, but it's purely extra and the Patrol XP is an altaholic's dream.  Reducing the wait time on badges to 21 days from 30 was good (15 days would have been going too far).  It's a really good feeling that even while you're not playing, you're still accruing rewards.

Shield Defense

I've not tried them since the buff, but on Tankers it's plenty strong and the customization options are out of this world!  BABs and company really outdid themselves with those shields.  I'm rolling a Shield/SS/Pyre Tanker.  The damage of Super Strength plus the damage boost of Shield Defense should make for a much more soloable experience.  We'll see if I get more Shield characters going, but that's the only one I have planned right now.

Pain Domination

This set looks and sounds Villainous!  Very nice to see.  And it's strong...very strong, especially on a Mastermind.  I don't recall them ever nerfing it in closed or open beta, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it nerfed after a couple of months live.  We'll see.  Pain MMs are juggernauts.  I'm rolling Thugs/Pain.  And I'm taking and slotting the Pistols and no one can stop me. :p

Multiple Builds

This feature is gold, pure gold.  You'll have to work extra hard to equip two builds should you choose to use two, but it's worth every Inf because the flexibility it gives you is so very powerful.  Love it!

Patron Powers Unlocked

It's a huge relief to finally get some parity between APPs and PPPs.  The new PPP powers are unbelievable, and you don't have to lose any power that you like.  More options is better than fewer.  I get to keep my Spiderlings.  Yay!

PvP Revamp

Easily the most controversial change in Issue 13.  I really like the changes though.  Let's face it:  PvP 1.0 was broken.  Stupidly broken.  In PvP 2.0 you can bring any Archetype, any set and at least stand a chance.  Diminishing Returns ensures that people can't just buy victory and allows newbies a fighting chance.  Travel suppression enforces engagements and adds risk to buffers and healers.  I love the new system and will PvP much, much more often in it.

Toggles

Defenseive toggles don't turn off when you're mezzed, but only suppress for the duration of the mez then come right back on again.  Love this change!  The game runs so much more smoothly with it, it's unbelievable.  Offensive toggles still drop however (as they should).

Costume Save/Load

This ability has been requested for a long time and now it's a reality.  Such a great feature!  Characters now have unlimited costume options.  Don't like the 5 you've got?  Get to the Tailor and load in some that you do!

Badge Organization

I'm no badger, but even I'm impressed with how much easier to use badges are now with the new interface.  Badgers must be orgasmic over it.

Kheldians Buffed

My jury is still out, but they are better to play now than they were.  I'm going to get a Peacebringer and Warshade up to SO levels before making my final decision on whether I like Khelds or not.  They remain team oriented, the transformations are still clunky as heck, and if you're a tri-former there's an incredibly unfun slot crunch making one of your forms virtually worthless until the very highest levels.  But they do more damage now, and benefit from their Inherent in forms, dual builds allow for human and tri-form builds, the toggles don't drop when mezed and Dwarf acts as a Breakfree.  I'm intrigued.  We'll see.

Check it all out at the official forums.

Now stop reading and go play. :)

Unofficial Issue 13 Trailer: What's Past is Prologue by Samuraiko

It's Official: Issue 13 Tomorrow, December 2nd!

As predicted by My City of Heroes Blog, Issue 13 will release on December 2nd.  Way back on October 28, I made the following prediction in my post "Issue 13 Starts Pre-Downloading!":

Still, Issue 13 is nigh. Pretty exciting! My prediction: it goes to live December 2nd.

No, I'm not psychic.  Randi's million is safe.  Who's your daddy?  ;)

Read the announcement at the official forums.

Joystiq: Keeping City of Heroes Relevant

Interesting tidbits:

• The Merit system was put into place to let people work towards a specific goal.  [Actually, the market already allows for this.  But the market is about as out-of-theme as you can get, and can be a source of real frustration so it's nice to have an alternative. -Ed.]
• Mac beta is coming with Issue 13, and will be included with all future boxes of City of Heroes.  [Boxes on retail shelves are quickly becoming a thing of the past in PC software. -Ed.]
• In Mission Architect (released in Issue 14) you'll be able to design your own Contacts as well as your own Bosses.  [Hey, that's a nice touch!  Now if only they let you get missions by going to Contacts in the actual game world rather than going to an "arcade"... -Ed.]
• More Microtransactions are coming, starting with Booster Pack II:  Valkyrie.  [It's hard to argue the economics of it, but they are losing some of the good will of some of their customers by doing MTs on top of sub fees and ads.  That's hard to put a dollar sign on, but is an invaluable resource that they are, IMHO, squandering by locking up costume options behind $10 payments. -Ed.]
• Issue 15 will concern the 5th anniversary of City of Heroes.  [Here's hoping Villains get some content, too. -Ed.]
• Issue 13 will release this week.  [As My City of Heroes Blog predicted some time ago.  No, I'm not psychic. ;) -Ed.]

Read the article at Joystiq.

A New Month, A New Wallpaper

December:  Issue 8 - To Protect and Serve.

The Wallpaper collection at the official site.

How I Feel When I Go To The Market In CoX

Castle Hints at Further Invulnerability Buff

I spent the better part of two days running various numbers and options early last week. Invulnerability is fine in the up front damage dept. Human Beings post illuminates a potential need for some regeneration increase (something I am considering; although I'm thinking less about straight up regen and more about a small +Health in RPD) and really, that's about it.

If you ask me, Invulnerability is just fine.  Where the set looks weak is on Scrappers.  This is likely due to Scrapper primaries not offering the mitigation of Tanker/Brute primaries as well as Scrappers having fewer Hit Points than either Brutes or Tanks.

I'm a big fan of the set, it's one of my favorites.  I can't stand it on Scrappers though.  Scrappers have a very, very rough early game with that set.  But on a Tank or Brute, it's just fine.  Better than fine.

But, it's getting another small boost looks like.  I just hope it doesn't get boosted until it's on par with the clearly-overpowered Willpower.  And Willpower needs a nerf.  It seriously does.

Check it out at the official forums.

Vertical Stuido

I don't recall if I posted about them before, but even if I have it bears repeating:

Vertical Studio does amazing City of Heroes video work.  Amazing.

P.S.  I hope they add a feed to their site so I can more easily Follow them.

Like Numbers? Arcanaville Has Something For You

Arcanaville has released the latest version of her melee defensive set analysis spreadsheet.

City of Heroes Comes to 7-Eleven

1up is reporting that 7-Eleven is now carrying video games, including time cards for City of Heroes.

Now I can get my Slurpy and my super heroics in one stop.  Thanks 7-Eleven!  And I welcome our new convenience-store overlords.

Read the article at 1up.

Episode 40 of City of Heroes Podcast

I wouldn't normally do a post just to announce the release of an episode of a regularly produced podcast, but lately City of Heores Podcast hasn't been regularly produced and has been on hiatus for some time.

So episode 40 is out, that's the good news.  The bad news is it's part 3 of the IO set feature.  You know, that kind of information belongs on tables and forum sticky posts, not read outloud on a podcast.  It's like reading the telephone book or a dictionary.  There's just better ways to get the info.

Don't hesitate getting the episode though because they also feature news and actual interesting, fun things.  The IO part is easily skipped, or listened to if you are so inclined.

And hey, at least it is'nt the lastest episode of Jerk Radio. ;)

Visit the weird looking CoH Podcast official site.

Subscribe to CoH Podcast in iTunes.

Bad News: Tabula Rasa Dead, NCSoft Shrinking

I'm very worried for City of Heroes upon hearing this news.  The good news is the CoX staff has been increasing, not decreasing, and revenues for the game are up even in the face of the second-lowest subscription rate in the game's history (probably due to micro-transactions; there's the upside of micros right there).

I'm always saddened at the news of the closing of an MMO, but Tabula Rasa was always a very questionable game.  MMO players don't want a first person shooter, and first person shooter players don't want an MMO.  They are different audiences and games like Planetside and now Tabula Rasa are proving that it's just a bad idea generally to mix the two.  Will SOE's The Agency turn that trend on its head?  It's free to play, so it just might.  Don't be shocked if it doesn't, though.

Read the article at Kotaku.

Discuss it on the City of Heores forums.

Drop Ship Bites The Dust Commentary

Ex Libris worked very hard getting these events together, and they've been very successful.

Samuraiko put the video together and it is a really great one.

My only regret is that the Drop Ships are rarely ever challenged.  It's a city full of Heroes, and yet the Drop Ships, an invasion force, are ignored 99.9% of the time.  Why?  Because it is very difficult getting so many people together, and numerically speaking it's very unrewarding.  So, people rarely ever bother, and that's too bad.  If they made Drop Ships easier to take out and made them rewarding in something other than fun (fun is good, fun+rewards is best) it would become a much more common sight seeing people attacking them as one would expect given the setting.  Too bad that'll never happen.  It's poor game design, if you ask me, the way it is currently.

Not that I really have a dog in this fight.  I take a break from the game when Rikti Invasion weeks happen.  Still, something to think about.

Drop Ship Bites The Dust

Synapse and Sunstorm Join the Rednames

Jonathan Sunstorm Courney

and

Phil Synapse Zeleski

Castle's announcement on the official forums.

Not much to say about this but, "Welcome!"

Character Contest Winner; A Prediction Fulfilled

Anyone remember this thing was still on?  Well it was, and now we have a winner:

Swiftwing

Now, if we can all remember, what exactly did I say about this contest in my previous post on the topic, "LOL@Character Contest"?

My prediction: the winning character will be a hot girl character. Just like last time. And every other time. :p

No, I'm not psychic.  Randi's million is safe.  Costume contests are just pretty predictable.  Here's one for the road:  :p

That is a good costume, though.  Congratulations to the winner.  But still:  :p

P.S.  The winner gets an ATI video card.  Sounds more like a punishment, doesn't it?  ATI+CoH=you're gonna have problems

Once Again, UBB Sucks

Forums seem to be down.  UBB's fault?  Dare I hope the upgrade is in progress (and if so, way to drop the ball on not announcing it)?  DOOM!?

I vote "upgrade".  Hey, sometimes I'm an optimist. :p

EDIT:  Yet another temporary outage.  Oh, phooey!

Awesome City of Villains Art Project

It speaks for itself.  It's pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Check it out at the official forums.

Note to Self: Rikti Invasion = Go Play Rappelz

When it's going to be a Rikti Invasion week in game (like it is right now), I'm gonna go play something else. I'm so done with Rikti Invasions.

There are no Rikti Invasions on Test though. Hmmm...

Capitalism Isn't Heroic

Yeah, I've done some market playing. I make a nice chunk of change whenever I really need it. Once you know a few techniques (or just plain old craft) making a few million is trivial.

But after I've made so many market runs, I get increasingly frustrated with each one. At first I wondered why. Why was it working with the market for a comparatively trivial amount of time each day had me wanting to tear my hair out in frustration. It's pretty simple, really.

Nearly three years ago, I signed up for a super hero/super villain game. I wanted to make like the super powered characters of my dreams and save the day or do crime. I wanted to do grand, amazing things. What I didn't sign up for was to play a market simulation.

IOs in and of themselves promote the super powered feeling, since essentially the sky's the limit on how powerful they can make your characters. But how you go about getting those IOs, the market, is anything but super heroic. It's mundane, it's tedious and it's entirely out of genre.

For a super being to modify, make or even acquire something they need to get the job done is very much a part of comic books. But standing in front of an interface, day trading or playing the market...very much isn't.

Some people have fun with the market, I can respect that. But I still wish there could have been a better way. An in genre way. A way that didn't make me feel not only unsuper, but like a beaurocratic policy wonk.

When looking at the fact the game has fallen to its lowest concurrent user base ever, I wonder to what extent the market is to blame for that. Do others look at it with the same resentment I do? Are people not touching the game, in part, due to the fact they want to be a super and not a shopkeep? I wonder.

One thing is certain: capitalism isn't heroic.

Today's PvP Session

OK, I admit it. Elusivity is kinda broken. Nothing that can't be fixed, though. All that really has to be done is Elusivity needs to replace Defense rather than be stacked on top of it (according to Arcanaville). Along with some other tweaks. And IMO Fortunatas need to have plain vanilla Defense, not Elusivity (Forts are unbeatable 1 on 1 right now).

After a good couple of sessions today I came away with:
20.8 rep, 3 deaths (6.9 rep per death)

Not too shabby for a melee. Webnade is back in my build and let me tell you it helps tremendously. I missed it and I'm glad it's back.

I look forward to the Elusivity fix.

Help Arrives for Shield Defense

The #1 complaint about Shield Defense from open and closed beta was that the set felt quite squishy, especially solo. I experienced it first hand at various level ranges and I agree with this assessment. The set is rather squishy.

In my opinion, the feeling of squishiness came from two basic factors: the +Health power comes too late in the set, and the plethora of -Defense powers critters in the game throw around willy-nilly (I have no idea why they thought so much -Defense was needed by critters in this game) remove most of the 22% or so of Defense you're depending upon for survival. Combine the two, and you end up with a very squishy feeling, espeically pre-level 28.

Luckily, Castle is on the job and I think he nailed it:

Shields changes:
1) Altered Level availability of True Grit (earlier in the set) and Phalanx Fighting in all versions of the Sheild Defense powerset.
2) Increase +Health in True Grit from scale 0.75 to scale 1.0
3) Add Scale 1.0 Resist to Smashing and Lethal damage to Active Defense, and scale 1.0 resist to Energy, Negative Energy, Fire, Cold and Toxic damage to True Grit. In all cases, that brings the total resistance provided to scale 1.5.
4) Make Grant Cover affect the Caster, except...
5) Add additional Defense Debuff Resistance to Grant Cover. This is the only aspect of the power which would apply to the caster -- the Defense only applies to allies still.

This addresses exactly the two problems I identified with the set very nicely. It'd be nice to see the Endurance cost of the set lowered as well, but we'll see.

Starting from a clean slate, the way I would have gone about doing Shield Defense would be: The set would have 24% Typed Defense (to everything but Psi) and 37% Resist (to everything but Psi). The set would give Allies within 12 feet 3% Typed Defense and 5% Resist. 75% Defense debuff protection (none for allies). A team of 8 shielders would be quite impressive, and the set would solo quite well.

The way they are doing Shields in open beta is a bit...over-engineered IMO. But workable. Especially with the upcoming changes. When it goes live I'll definitely be rolling a Shield/Super Strength/Pyre Tanker. Having tried a Shield Tanker in open and closed beta, they actually feel very Scrapper-like thanks to the extra damage the set has.

Me liking a Tank. What hath Shields wrought? ;)

Boomtown (not the one you think) Interviews Positron

Interesting tidbits:

• Shield Defense is intended to be stronger on teams than solo.

• Positron believes Villains need to have powers different from Heroes, specifically in the case of Pain Domination they were wary of giving Villains any healing sets. [I'm guessing based on this Positron isn't a fan of the idea of crossover either. That's good news for the anti-crossover crowd.]

• PvP was indeed broken with only a tiny fraction of the player base partaking, so things absolutely had to change. [The PvP conservatives need to just get used to it. The PvP they like is going away because nobody but them likes it. Good riddance to it, I say.]

• Day Jobs are this game's version of secret identities. [Though secret identities, in the way they usually work, just don't fit well into the City of Heroes world. Heroes are very much above board in this universe; even licensed, so the classic secret identity just doesn't fit. Day Jobs is a reasonable compromise, though I would also include "Alter Egos" in the future that would give you an Alter Ego costume slot and change the name that appears over your head.]

• Mission Architect is the only feature of Issue 14. [Bold move there, but I can see how that would be enough for its own Issue, it's so potentially game-changing.]

With the game reaching an all-time low concurrent player base, very stiff competition just around the corner (DC Universe Online is the one to watch as a potential threat; Champions Online is repeating a lot of the mistakes City of Heroes made), and such a long lag time between Issues (despite a larger team), the way the developers handle City of Heores in the next several months will be make or break for this game. Personally, I think the game is in an excellent position to maintain, and perhaps even grow, its player base if they play it right and if the larger dev team really starts churning results out.

City of Heroes has an exciting future!

Read the article at Boomtown.

City of Heroes Subscriptions Down

The quarterly report is out and things aren't looking good for City of Heores. The game had 124,939 active subscriptions over the last quarter, down from the previous measure of 137,026. This is the second-lowest popoulation the game has ever had.

Given how long it's been since the last Issue, this isn't terribly surprising. However, if previous trends hold, next quarter will probably be back up to about 140,000 subs.

For those wondering if quitting PvPers are causing this, the answer is "no". It was revealed on the forums by Castle that during the time the "I'm leaving" posts were heaviest, the actual number of account cancellations actually declined. Hardcore Arena PvPers are a tiny, tiny minority in this game. They could all quit and it wouldn't even register. The real culprit, IMHO, is the long lag between Issues, and the fact that CoH is just a very mature MMO that's down to its core audience at this point.

Read Leandro's report to the forums.
Get the quarterly report.

New Drones? No Drones?

There are reports on the forums that according to the Euro boards, big changes are coming to Police Drones ("non-lethal Police Drones").

This is...interesting. If true, what could they have planned?

Super Strength Still Out of Whack in PvP

I've taken more averages from Super Strengthers attacking me in PvP. They have up to a 60% chance to hit me. Rage is still broken for PvP. It truly needs the Focused Accuracy treatment.

My #1 annoyance is Fortunatas' Dominate. It hits me 95% of the time, does very good damage, and can be recast in a matter of 2-3 seconds. Definitely unbalanced.

2 wins and 1 loss in a short session today puts me at about 8 rep per loss. Not bad for a melee. I am missing Web Grenade a little. I can get it back if I want it now, though. :)

My Live PvP Score vs. New Test PvP Score

Elusivity is working beautifully! People can still hit me often enough to kill me, but I've got a real chance at survival 1 on 1 now. The Scores:

Live: 2.5 rep per death
Test: 7 rep per death

I don't feel like I have to rely on Elude all the time to survive, and it's a wonderful feeling. Now I can save it for when I'm outnumbered or my health gets to 50%.

*tears well up*

I'm so proud! My Daemo is all grow'd up! :)

And Super Strength no longer hits me 78% of the time. Depending on slotting and bonuses, I noticed it was hitting (outside of Elude) anywhere from 30% of the time to 50% of the time. I consider this very acceptable, though I reiterate Rage must get the same treatment Focused Accuracy got (nobody needs that much ToHit 100% of the time in PvE, and in PvP it's still unfair compared to powers like Buildup which get the same bonus Rage does but only for 10 seconds.)

All SR needs now is Elusivity of the Psi type. About 25% or so should do it. This is because Dominate still hits me 95% of the time (that is to say, I'm completely helpless against it). I can Taunt Forts left and right now, but all I can do is force the stalemate with Taunt. To get close enough to kill them I still have to expose myself to that 95% hit rate (which is suicide).

Breaking News: New Patch Hits Open Beta

Lots of PvP changes.

Squishy resists have been reduced (what a relief! When a squishy doesn't even bother to get out of melee with a Scrapper, something is wrong.)

The anti-gank ToHit penalty is gone. Boo! (I play SR lol).

In-set self Heals no longer heal suppress. Eh, ok, but Regen needs to be adjusted down in its effectiveness.

And a real biggie: ELUSIVITY! Oh FUCK YEAH! (excuse my French, but I'm STOKED!) This basically levels the playing field between Defense sets and Resistance sets in PvP. Previously, lots of ToHit (as from Buildup+Aim) broke Defense completely, making it worthless. Elusivity (proposed by Arcanaville, the community numbers person, some time ago and loved by all) cannot be overcome with lots of ToHit (except marginally), allowing Defense sets to survive in ToHit-heavy environments (which PvP naturally is).

This is a long time wish of mine, and it looks to be coming true! [toki]Oh, wow-wee![/toki]

P.S. I direct your attention to this post in which I said:

...Castle hinted to me on the closed beta boards that things are looking up for Defense.

Who's your daddy? ;)

APP/PPP Powers Spared!

Big news that I almost missed! The powers that were going to be taken out of the APPs and PPPs are going to stay as alternative choices! I among many others suggested this would be possible on the forums, due to the fact you can have mutually exclusive power picks with the VEATs (eg, on a Widow picking Followup locks you out of Buildup, so you can take whichever one you prefer).

Good move guys! Issue 13 just got even more awesome!

Read it at the official forums.

P.S. Electrical Assault Dom, Soul Mastery Pool. Oh, yes.

Positron's Issue 13 Open Beta Letter

I almost missed this one but today Positron issued a statement about open beta. There's nothing remarkable in it, though Posi does reiterate that the Patron Powers and Ancilliary Powers were imbalanced (which is always nice to hear).

Read the full story at the official site.

Daemodand Joins King's Row Police Force!

In some rare Daemodand news, the Hero was recently spotted working with Detective Freitag in King's Row. When questioned he would say only "No comment," but it can be safely assumed he has joined with the King's Row division of the Paragon Police Department to help with the many persistant crime problems there.

Could the extra large order of Tear Gas requisitioned by the King's Row Police be related?

Not coincidentally, Daemodand's name has been removed from the Recluse's Victory active roster where he was previously assigned.

Leave it to a Hero like Daemodand to go where people need the most help!

Interesting factoid: Daemodand is a member of the Freedom Phalanx Reserves.

LOL@Character Contest

Some of the contestants have been removed due to IP violations. Generic FTW! LOL

Also, does anyone even remember this contest is still on? It kinda got lost in the I13 excitement.

Yeah, I'm kinda glad I didn't enter. It's turned into a real circus. A circus that no one is attending LOL.

Oh, just in case you care, here's the voting thread.

My prediction: the winning character will be a hot girl character. Just like last time. And every other time. :p

Caught on Film: The Colloidal Cruiser

I was recently in the Hollows (the taxi took a wrong turn. Trust me, no one was as surprised as I was!) when I got a real treat: an encounter with The Colloidal Cruiser! I snapped these shots of him (using the ultra-fast exposure film I just happened to be carrying lol) in action:

I was getting directions out of the Hollows from Julius the Troll when our Hero arrived!

The Cruiser spots some bad guys, and dashes off of at light speed to enforce justice!

The fight took about 3 seconds. His fists were nothing but a blur!

And then he picked me up and had me back here safe and sound on the west coast within 60 seconds! Boy is he fast!

Thanks Cruiser! (And thanks for the advice to take my vitamins and eat my vegetables.)

I managed to use the Surveillance Device I also happened to have (don't ask why lol) to take a sample of The Cruisers vital signs. Here's the data chunk you can upload for your supercomputer to crunch and see some of The Cruiser's vital statistics (keep in mind a Hero's vital signs often change as they practice, eat their vegetables and become more powerful):

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1288;560;748;|
|>-JEDUMO$D$4QX=;5^Y%I"V]"(*UK<B:OGEY,!$T:2(66?1))5N8RL;-@KO0E#<_@%_|
|!#V+\;`;/95BGX=%)^)W9__G/F;/#;.>ZG1'B^PL1R;5<.P@&UM"WIU/I&];0D=Y0EO|
|IC66U-7'?BC&RWVO+G3@!9(41Y91UTI"NEV;;]KSRMA)FVO)1>($UKCD\]>>G*:QD4S|
|KRQ]*4W,U>33'<R<<W7SLR309"B!VLJY2C-NNM\&<\*-#_SKIS`N7!<9[8HO)HZ0_/E|
|9+08=.Q@)OW%#O1U`C]JD,8R(98P1%SCAL9;Q`[Z(^2/"4U/:?QF*`O4C)"RJ?&VQCO|
|$`/PQY8]I^I;&'8WGX$^H'A*DY(B[S#^0.!!S,!FJJ$&)?8UWB56-73`GV2^2#0BG(@|
|%2FJ5HNDE2YD;8`$.6&Q%9JO(.E#PKT3PI]S2^A6Q!-5[0]N9LG8\3/$55H:CI]XDUR|
|)942R5-9]8ANZW>89N4'BAE5:W,3=<Y/.!@@6%/&?9HR1'QA,L:>)2</=`.CKF`;$4=|
|<45;Q7RXQC[X:^KU:Z0\6N-[\!RJ?@[Y;SCB3IL<^G!3CM4['M,2"Y2&:J-!2I/X>(V|
|GQ"O8PE053%(0R_UX^"4(OMEO_BE1P;M';X1N/+SH@B]Z)1Y^'O\U?F566R=[*6`?T4|
|5\0'Q$?$)\1MB("\00L?P=KLX_P8:>(IXAGB-^H,G`FYU&9!!91`Z11VPBBH@MQ"[B)|
|V+Y%YOIY_(`|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Open Beta On Now! Surprise! I Was In Closed Beta ;)

Played it pretty close to the chest there, didn't I? Yep, I was in closed beta. My very first, and I have to say it was lots of fun. A few notes:

• PvP is looking up, especially for melee. I'm a bit concerned over the state of Defense for sets like Super Reflexes, Castle hinted to me on the closed beta boards that things are looking up for Defense. Otherwise, I'm well pleased with the direction of PvP. (Also, squishy inherent resist needs to be lowered).
• Shield Defense is great fun, but needs a bit of a buff. And it looks like it'll get it. Potentially a great set. I ran a Dark/Shield Brute, Electric/Shield Brute and a Shield/Super Strength Tanker.
• Patron Powers are now worth picking! The only beef I have is Stalker Mace Mastery actually got worse with the Spiderlings being traded for the very weak Distruptor Blast. I'm very happy with what Doms got (Soul Drain, Personal Force Field and Power Surge!) And everyone (except Mace Stalkers) came out ahead. Fantastic!
• Day Jobs are a fun bonus. I especially like the XP from Patrol. My favorite Accolades? The Police Baton, Sleep Grenade and Placate Power. The -Teleport Accolade is great for MM PvP. I wish the Accolades stuck around for more than 2 hours of play or 20-30 uses, however. Still, very much worth it and a nice addition to the game.

The announcement and details at the official forums.

Today's DING!s

It's been a while but today debuting on the DING!s:

The Colloidal Cruiser, level 11 Dark Melee/Super Reflexes Scrapper

He's my new favorite Hero! A super speeder concept character, and he's already feeling pretty powerful even at level 11. The synergy between DM and SR is undeniable, and I've wanted to make a true super speeder for some time. City of Heroes is pretty limiting in this particular concept (most sets just feel way too slow for a speeder) but he's working out pretty well. Shadow Maul+Sands of Mu for lots of fast-punchy goodness. ;)

I need to post a picture of his modern costume (he has a Golden Age costume, too) because it came out unbelievably good.

Fan Art at the Official Site

Check out the new fan-art section of the brand new official City of Heroes site. It's pretty slick!

A New Month, a New Wallpaper

It's November 1st. Do you know where your City of Heroes wallpaper is? Hint: it's right here. ;)

City of Heroes wallpaper collection.

Oops, I Forgot! October 31st was CoV's Anniversary!

My favorite half of the game turned one year older on Halloween. I guess that makes it 3 years of Villainy. I've been playing for about 2 1/2 (with breaks).

Sure, it has its wrinkles (the Snakes should have been a Hero group instead, for one) but it has its strong points too (the Archetypes are its #1 selling point).

Happy anniversary City of Villains!

Vote for the Character Contest Finalists

Lots of voting going on right about now, and City of Heroes is no different. Vote for your favorite character in the character contest. Winner gets an awesome rig.

I have some characters that are real contenders for something like this, but I'm not especially competitive and I really didn't like the idea of submitting a character I'm really fond of only to have the judges and CoX public at large reject it. Hmmm. Maybe I am competitive after all. I never do costume contests in game either.

I voted Swiftwing. Great costume, and she's Martial Arts (probably SR but I'm not sure). She'd make a good sidekick for Daemodand. ;)

American Shaman is vaguely unsettling. There's something a bit creepy about draping a native American in the symbols of their conqueror that just seems wrong.

The Mac of MMOs Meets...The Mac!

City of Heroes is known in the player base as "the Mac of MMOs" due to its elegant design reminding people of the quality of Apple products (OMG I sound like an Apple ad lol).

Well, the Mac of MMOs is coming to the Mac of computers! For those keeping score at home, the Mac of computers is the Mac. ;)

If you like reading press releases, here's another for you to read.

This is fantastic news! I welcome our new Apple overlords.

And uh, I use a PC. :p

P.S. A Valkyrie costume set is included with the Mac edition of the game, and will be available for purchase in early 2009 for those not using Macs. I really don't like the trend of locking up costume pieces like this, but I don't begrudge new Mac players some perks.

New City of Heroes Articles

TenTonHammer.com discusses making the new Cimerora missions with Senior Game Designer Bruce Harlick.

GameZone.com has an Issue 13 Q&A with Matt Miller.

Funny thing about Day Jobs, I remember some time ago the idea of rested XP was suggested on the forums and the devs said at that time that they categorically did not want to reward people for not playing the game. I wish I could find that post, but it's probably long since eaten by the forum monster. Imagine my surprise when Day Jobs included both mission complete XP bonuses and On Patrol XP (ie, rested XP). A pleasant surprise, though!

When asked about his favorite Archetype, Matt mentions his Dominator first. I always did like Positron. ;) Doms are probably my overall favorite too, they just need a bit of work to make them more playable in the 40+ game. Having your primary arbitrarily shut down just isn't fun.

Issue 13 Starts Pre-Downloading!

The updater for the live version of City of Heroes is now pre-downloading the preliminary Issue 13 patch after you end a play session. Closed beta is still ongoing so it seems a bit early. Will open beta be truncated or skipped? This Issue has taken plenty of time to complete, but probably not. NC likes polish in their products, and CoX is one of the most polished MMOs around.

Still, Issue 13 is nigh. Pretty exciting! My prediction: it goes to live December 2nd.

NC Advertises (for once), People Buy the Game

From Lighthouse on the official forums:

We're seeing a significant upswing in trial usage and corresponding conversion from trial to full accounts, from the web advertisement campaign that is underway.

Viva la N00bs!

Miracle of miracles, eh? You advertise a product, and people buy that product. Well no duh NC! Hint: Advertise more! Or at all!

Zombie XP Isn't Undead...It's Dead

So Zombies in the Zombie Apocalypse are worth only 25% of what a normal mob of the same con is worth. That is really cruddy. A white con Zombie is worth the same as a green con minion. And they're harder to kill than a green con minion, too. That's awful.

So some say that the fact you kill them on Zombie teams really fast generates nice XP. I say take that team and go beat up on some green cons...the XP is the same. In fact, it's better since the green cons die quicker. Sorry, but even on a team, the Zombies are giving pitiful XP. That same team can go do a mission and generate far more XP and get a mission complete bonus to boot.

I've also heard that "It can't always be about XP. The event is fun so the XP doesn't matter!" Rewards are good. Fun is better. Fun plus rewards is best! Just because it's fun doesn't mean it shouldn't give XP.

A third argument I've heard is that the event gives no debt, therefore gives no XP. You know what? Leave debt on and give us normal XP. There's no reason not to and the Zombies will seem even more dangerous. And what is debt these days anyway? A pale shadow of its former self. It barely exists.

I love the red sky (it looks better on redside due to no war walls), I love the music that plays when an Apocalypse starts, I love the way the Zombies look and sound. I love that they can give you a tough fight. But they give you no XP, aside from token XP. There's no good reason why they shouldn't.

CoX Website Revamped

Today the official site is undergoing big changes with a redesign. Dare I even dream City Vault is among the newness? No. I dare not, because it won't. I still find myself hoping it will though lol. Hope springs eternal. ;)

Today's DING!s

The Crimson Chameleon, level 24 MA/NIN Stalker

She's back from a month hiatus, and just as fun as ever. The Staminaless build is working out quite nicely at this point. I respecced out of Thunder Kick and into Crippling Axe Kick. I checked the numbers and they have the same Damage Per Activation, but CAK has better burst damage and better (and more reliable) secondary effects. As a result, she's killing things much more quickly and saving a bit more Endurance because of that.

Easily my next 50 Stalker, she's a lot of fun.

The Star-Spangled Basher, level 29 SS/WP Brute

I want to get him up to 30 and try him out in PvP a bit. I'm loving Super Strength as usual. It's just such a solid set. I'm thinking of respeccing to rearrange Hand Clap and Swift though. Swift is the only power from Fitness I'm taking. Why take one and not the others? In for a penny, in for a pound? Because even though I'm taking Swift, I'm skipping the others to save two powers. And a power saved is a power earned. ;)

Hollerin' Harry, level 14 Sonic/Sonic Corruptor

I beat an Elite Boss Facemaker with good ol' Harry! I'm really liking the solo build Sonic sets. Thank goodness Issue 13 will allow me to have a teaming build, too.

Occaisional Random MMO: Galaxies and TOR

The Escapist has published an article stating that Galaxies is not shutting down with the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The question is, of course, can Sony keep Galaxies running if most of the remaining players leave for TOR? If The Matrix Online is any indication, the answer is "yes". Apparently, an MMO doesn't need very many players at all to be profitable enough to keep around. The Sony Station Pass is probably the prime motivator of that, since additional MMOs, no matter how sparsely populated, is value added for Pass holders.

So Galaxies will persist, but the real question is will you be able to find anyone to play with even on the now-most-populous servers? The game is a virtual ghost town compared to when I played it back in pre-NGE. And it's very concerning that these devs seem to think the NGE was a good thing:

"We also realized what players expect from an online Star Wars game - they expect to be that iconic Star Wars hero as soon as possible. They don't want to play for hundreds of hours just to become a Jedi."

*SIGH!* At least they say they've learned listening to the customer is a good thing to do. NCNC and Cryptic could have told them that.

Read the whole, worrisome thing over at The Escapist.

Today's DING!s

Mega Maggie, level 14 Stone/Inv Brute

She's lots of fun, but I'm crying for Stamina at this point.

Today's DING!s

Miss Air Force, level 12 Energy/Energy Blaster

Having a lot of fun with her. I hope she doesn't peter out like every other Blaster I've ever rolled in the mid-20's (yes, Brain Caster is stalled at, IIRC, level 24). I don't know what it is about Blasters that has me having so much fun in the sub-20 game that then goes away in the 20+ game. It's a complete mystery to me.

Hero Con Mission Architect News

Quilcene, reporting from Hero Con has this report on Mission Architect from the MA panel that was held:

Mission Architect (MA) will be accessible as a building in several zones. When you go in it will look arcade like. You will set up your mission at a terminal and enter the missions through a door inside the MA building. Think of the missions as occurring on a holodeck.

Not liking this. I was imagining the system would be accessed through contacts in the game world, but they're going with a "Holodeck". Well, I can live with it I guess, but thumbs down.

All published missions will be accessible cross faction and cross shard. This means heroes can rob a bank and Villains can save little old ladies.

This sounds like "forced" co-op. I hope it is revealed that you can tag missions for either faction or for co-op instead. Until then, thumbs down.

Customize enemies, rescuees, allies and contacts in what they are calling the Critter Creator. The primary for created enemies must be an attack set (no helpless enemies).

Outstanding! A feature worth waiting for if ever there was one. Thumbs up!

The MA is fully searchable for content you want to find.

I guess it would have to be to be any good lol. Thumbs up.

Enough positive feedback gets you story promoted to Hall of Fame which frees up that slot for you to add another story. Select stories will be flagged as Dev Choice, but nothing will become cannon at this time.

The canon thing is understandable. But if you look at the most Digged stories for the last year on digg.com, what does that say about the editorial abilities of a mob? Nothing good, that's for certain. Still, such a feature is a necessity. Let's hope it works out. Thumbs sideways.

MA story arcs will be treated similar to Oroborous TFs in that normal contacts cannot be reached, but you will be able to invite new team members mid story.

Locking out Contacts. Weird. And kinda pointless. Probably a limitation of the tech. Thumbs down.

Innappropriate content can be flagged by the community for review. If inappropriate, story will be removed. If same account keeps creating banned content, account could be banned from MA. If somebody continual griefs an MA writer with false inappropriate flags, that account could be banned from MA as well. So it works both ways.

This sounds good. People can't grief you with flags. They can grief you with poor ratings, though. "Oh, you thumbs-downed my mission? I'll do the same to yours! On all my accounts!" But such a system is necessary, worts and all. Thumbs up.

MA stories will get normal XP for defeats, but no mission complete XP. Nothing in MA will count towards badges. Inspirations will drop as normal, but instead of enhancements, recipes, or salvage, you will receive “skeeball tickets” (pohsyb’s term) that can be redeemed in a similar manner to the new Merit system.

If anyting kills Mission Architect, it'll be lack of rewards relative to the "real" game. You can pretty much count PuGs out right from the start. The real challenge is making it rewarding enough to make people want to participate, yet not so much that it obsoletes the rest of the game, or is expoitable. That's a very fine line, and right now I fear they are being too conservative with it. It all hinges on what "skeeball tickets" can get you. Since so much is unknown, thumbs sideways.

The rating system is a simple thumbs up or thumbs down.

Gee, I wonder how I got the idea for doing that in this article? ;) Thumbs up, I like a binary system far more than the typical 5 star system (wich rarely works well--look at YouTube).

MA stories are co-op style (implying that MA will be accessible in a co-op zone or two).

Forced co-op. City of Metas/City of Neutrals is encroaching more and more into this game. It's a negative trend, and extremely bad for the game. Co-op allowed? Fine. Co-op "forced"? Thumbs down!

The level system (sk, exemp, etc.) is more complex, and I didn’t fully follow it, so someone else can fill in this info.

Uh, oh. Let's hope it isn't unnecessarily complicated. Thumbs sideways because we just don't know enough about this element yet.

No manual spawn placement (No AV at the door), but it is something they may add someday.

You know, I really don't mind this at all. You just know that some yahoo would put spawns in very hard-to-locate places. X-Com Syndrome is bad, OK? Thumbs up.

1000s of predefined maps to choose from. Not customizable, but if it’s in the game, you can use it.

Customizable would be better, but with thousands available, who needs to customize? And like the spawn placement thing it keeps it to the KISS principle. Thumbs up.

You can save your story to your local computer before publishing it (can save as many as you like). You can play these is a testing environment and even invite people to test it with you; but it is not accessible to others until you publish it. The character that publishes it is the one that gets credit for it (towards badges for example).

So you can make unlimited stories just for yourself. That's hot. Thumbs up!

All in game characters are useable, or you can design your own for placement in the mission. You can even place multiples of the same character. For example, Hero 1 had the Clockwork King as an ally to help him defeat the Clockwork King.

Awesome. It's a critical feature if you ask me. Definitely worth waiting for. Thumbs up!

Character allies act as non-teammates for the purposes of XP… i.e. the damage they do is deducted from your XP. They can kill steal.

I can see the design reson behind this, but aren't we being punished enough already with the reduced rewards? For making one of the coolest features in MA a liability: Thumbs down!

You can set the temperament of the characters you rescue… for instance you can have to rescue someone who hates you who will fight you all the way to the exit.

You know what's more frustrating than a regular kidnap mission? A kidnap mission where you have to fight the kidnap all the way back to the mission door. An interesting feature, but boy will it easily frustrate players! Be very careful with it, my fellow Mission Architects! Until I have proof this feature is fun: thumbs down.

Totals:
Thumbs Down: 6
Thumbs Up: 8
Thumbs Sideways: 3

Looks like a winner, but with some signigicant concerns. Final judgement for after it releases and I get some time with it, of course. I can tell you right now they are probably going to have to make playing these missions more rewarding, though. #1 mistake they are making with it, easily. Depending upon just what skeeball tickets get you (those had better be good!)

Read the original post at the official forums.

[Once again the quote feature goes screwy on me. *sigh* Maybe I'll use HTML or something to quote in the future, cause Blogger's quote feature ain't cutting it.- ed.]

Today's DING!s

For every Hero who falls, another always rises to take their place! And today we have debuting on Today's DING!s:

Miss Air Force, level 10 Energy/Energy Blaster

An homage to Lady Blackhawk, she's been transported from World War II to today through an Ouroboros portal. The last surviving member of the legendary Golden Eagles Squadron, will she have what it takes to be my first Blaster 50? Time will tell! But there's Zombies about, so it isn't looking good!

Zombie Apocalypse Claims First Victim!

Today Alien Lad (Spines/Willpower Scrapper) became the first member of my lineup to become a victim of the Zombie Apocalypse. A zombie vomited on his Medicom teleporter device, preventing him from being safely teleported to the hospital when he received severe injuries, which then ended his life. Brains were had.

RIP Alien Lad! Who will be next to fall in the Zombie Apocalypse?

Today's DING!s

Mega Maggie, level 11 Stone/Invulnerability Brute

Debuting today we have Mega Maggie. She's an homage character loosely inspired by Supergirl, Galatea, Ms. Marvel and Mary Marvel. However, her powers are more of an absorbing type than straight up super strength, specifically of minerals (stone and metals). This absorption is quite limited (various minerals and metals but nothing else) but very long lasting (she need not be in contact with the material constantly to reabsorb it. Once absorbed, she retains a "memory" of it and can utilize it at will).

She's a very strong contenter for my first Brute 50. And according to the official forums, in Issue 13 Invulnerability (already a very solid set) is getting some buffs. I'm liking The Star-Spangled Basher (SS/WP Brute), but I think my heart belongs to Invulnerability. It's just so iconic. And Stone is just an amazing melee set.

We'll see!

City of Heroes Among Seven Best, Yahoo Says

It's a little long in the tooth, but if you'd rather create your own superhero than play as an already-established character, this massively-multiplayer online game is the one for you. Once you've picked your outrageous costume, your superpowers, and a suitably impressive moniker, you're let loose in an online world filled with opportunities for crime-stopping...or crime-starting, if you're playing as a nefarious villain. Either way, you're bound to have a super time.

Read the full article at Yahoo.

"...a little long in the tooth..." it may be, but it's also better than ever! But hey, it's nice to have the game make the list.

Halloween Event Is On!

It's time to fight some zombies, as the Halloween Event has been given an early start as a "thank-you" to the players.

Announcement at the official forums.

Paragonwiki article on the 2008 Halloween Event.

More Issue 13 Goodies

The Pain/Shield video is now up at the official site, as are some great screenshots.

To top it all off, we have a brand new interview from Castle at Massively.com. [And yes, rednames are now going to be red. I like red. ;)] Not much to say about the interview, it's pretty straight forward. I agree with Castle that Soul Storm is perhaps the coolest looking power in the game, but Pain Domination, judging from the video and screenshots above, is giving it a run for its evil money.

City of Heroes Podcast Threatens Hiatus, Rambles for 3 Hours

In the latest episode of City of Heroes Podcast (a monstrous 3+ hours long manifesto) Viv and Chooch say there may be a hiatus coming up as Viv looks for employment. I wish her good luck, and suggest she check out the voice over industry. Her voice would be great for voice over work.

And look at that running time. 3+ hours. Not even Yivvits and Mr. Bubble have an episode that long. It's likely the last we'll hear of C&V for a while though, so consider it your City of Heroes Podcast reserve.

Check Out A Cool I13 Powers Video!

It isn't a Dark_Respite video :( but it's very cool nonetheless! And I love the word "nonetheless". Look how cool it looks. ;)

Check it out at the den of MMO sin, otherwise known as MMORPG.com.

Today's DING!s

Hollerin' Harry, level 12 Sonic/Sonic Corruptor

6 hours to level 11, +1 more hour (7 total) to level 12. It didn't feel like it was that slow. I guess he's so entertaining, I don't mind. On my level 15 Wolf Spider it feels like it takes forever just to get through a mission, but he also made level 11 in 6 hours. Hmm.

My Brutes and Scrappers usually get to level 11 in 2 or 3 hours. ;) They'll spoil ya!

I uh, turned down the volume of the game thanks to Harry. lol

PvE Rewards in PvP: A Step In The Right Direction

According to Castle in the discussion thread for PvP changes in I13, Shivans and Nukes will be obtainable with Merits.

This is a big step in the right direction as it gives carebears motivation to stay out of PvP zones if they don't want to PvP. Few things are more frustrating in zone PvP than encountering what you think is a legitimate target, but to be greeted with the "I'm just Badging" or "I'm shust Shiving" line. That's a fun killer. Now, less of a reason for that to happen.

Castle Talks I13 PvP Power Changes

The long awaited post on PvP has been made by Castle on the official forums. The highlights:

Diminishing returns:
The first buff of a particular attribute is full strength, but each additional buff to that attribute is reduced in effect, and buffs in addition to that are reduced further still. The example given is Aim+Buildup currently grants 67% ToHit, and under the diminishing returns system it will grant 49%.

I don't know that this goes far enough for addressing the prevalence of ToHit in PvP. Defense sets practically have to live inside their tier-9 if they are to survive in the current PvP environment. In comics, you always see the reflexer giving the super strengther a hard time, not the other way around. In CoX PvP, Super Strength trumps Super Reflexes completely, and that's just plain wrong.

Melee attack range increased:
Melee range is increased to 7 feet. This effects PvE as well (probably not a bad thing there).

I would have looked at making it 8-10 feet for PvP, because I find that's the minimum range a melee attack can have before you start running into serious problems reaching your target. Notice how easily Bane Spiders' Shatter and Brute and Tanker Knock Out Blow are executed in PvP compared to 5 foot range attacks (they are easier than the 5 footers by an order of magnitude).

Travel Suppression:
Activating a ranged damage power activates a 3*damage scale second travel suppression. So if a power has a damage scale of 1.0, it activates a 3 second travel suppression. 2.0 is 6 seconds and so on. Melee attacks have a 2* suppression, and ranged control powers are 3.5*. Interestingly, being attacked gives a 2 second suppression.

The attacked-suppression could be a bit frustrating when you're trying to get out of a bad situation, but I can see the reasoning behind it. Right now it's just too easy to avoid combat all together, and this can make getting a kill in very difficult. Heals and buffs cause suppression too, and that's good to see, since it can be very difficult getting those support classes as they hop around at will. This also gives melees a bit more of a chance to get to a ranged attacker, since ranged attackers have about 50% more suppression.

Control Duration:
Control duration is now basically 4 seconds. 8 seconds in Domination. Resistance instead of protection means you'll more easily get someone held, but for a far shorter time (for example a Tanker will be held for 3.48 seconds if a control lasts 8 seconds). Holds do far more damage now, however.

This could make taking a Tanker out more problematic. Right now you can get that Granite Tank held with just a bit of patience and have enough time during that hold to kill him. Under the new system? Not so easy. This has me wondering about the value of my Doms in PvP under this system. I'll try it out first and before crying DOOM! though. Odds are I'll like it once I get used to it.

Heal Resistance:
When someone gets a heal from any source, a 15 second heal suppression goes into effect during which an additional heal is reduced in effectiveness by 25% (and more heals are further reduced still).

I like it. I immediately wonder what affect if any this will have on Regeneration, the premeire PvP melee armor set.

Power Damage:
Longer activation time powers do more damage. Long recharge powers get a smaller bonus to damage.

I really like this. Right now, you're punished for using any long animating attack. Under this new system, you'll be rewarded for it. The new system is much more fair and makes much more sense in this way. It enables you to bring a much wider selection of powersets into PvP, too, and I love that! This is perhaps my favorite change of the lot.

Resistance:
Each Archetype gets a bonus resist buff in PvP, equalizing the survivability of the various classes. All armors now protect against all damage types.

I don't know about this one. A Blaster is as survivable as a Tank is as survivable as a Dominator etc? Well, I suppose some of the damage advantage of Blasters has been taken away (since all Archetypes do generally the same damage now), so some survivability in return would only be fair. I'll have to see how this one goes in open beta before deciding if I like it or not. It somehow seems necessary to the new system, though. *shoulder shrug*

Taunt:
Taunt has a -75% range effect now. Tankers get a full AOE Taunt, while Scrappers and Brutes get a single target. All have the -range. Each attack has a guaranteed minimum range beyond wich it cannot be dubuffed.

I like this one a lot! It was first dicussed on the forums very recently, so I thought it was going to be a while before we saw it implemented. I guess Castle really likes it because he apparently put it on the fast track. This goes a long, long way to giving melees a chance in PvP.

That's a lot of changes coming to PvP! I sure hope they take a long, hard look at Defense vs. ToHit in PvP though, because the stacking limitation isn't enough to solve the problem (Super Strength's Rage alone cuts right past Super Refelxes Defense, and that's just not fair or comic-bookie). Here's hoping that gets fixed, too!

Check it out at the official forums.

There has been much crying in the Arena PvP forums over these changes. Very many threats of leaving. You know, I'm a bit disappointed. Aren't these the people that, when people complain about the current broken system say, "cri moar, l2p"? Heed your own advice, guys! The current system is broken and you know it. Things must change in PvP. Learn, adapt, grow. You just might find, in the long run, that you find you like the new system once you acclimate to it.

Today's DING!s

Hollerin' Harry, level 11 Sonic/Sonic Corruptor

That's right! I rolled yet another Sonic Corruptor. Yes, the others ended in deletion in the mid-20s, but I'm taking a very different tact with Harry. I'm giving him a solo build, where he takes powers that are personally useful first and foremost. Then, if there's room, get the buffs in there too somewhere. When Issue 13 releases I will give him a solo and grouped build (assuming he survives that long, but so far so good).

Plus, I really like the character. He's Silver Age all the way, in both costume and bio. I didn't want to stop playing him for the day, he's so much fun.

We'll see if he stays that way.

Huntsman Tourney Hits 50!

That's right, Huntsman Tourney my Bane Spider has hit level 50! Tourney is my fourth 50. The journey was very enjoyable. Those who listen to the naysayers on the forums and avoid Banes or roll Banes only as Huntsmen are really missing out on something special.

In PvE they have incredible damage output, especially single target, but the Placate->Crowd Control combo produces impressive AOE damage. Doubly so when combined with Venom Grenade.

I went with 3 ranged attacks(Venom Grenade, Mace Beam, Poisonous Ray) and 3 melee (Crowd Control, Pulverize, Shatter). This gives me a lot of versatility, and makes me a threat at range and up close. A lot of people pick Bash over Mace Beam, but let me tell you Mace Beam is worthy of consideration in every build as it's a great performer. Personally, having tried both, I'd never go back to Bash.

In PvP a Bane can kill squishies with the best of them and can harass, and with some work even kill Scrappers and Tankers. Tankers are usually much more work than they are worth, but it's doable with patience. The Bane is the ultimate anti-armor unit in PvP as they can get no less than four sources of -Res: Venom Grenade, Surveillance, Surveillance -Res Proc and Poisonous Ray -Res Proc. If you get lucky and both your Procs go off, your Resist based target is in big trouble!

My only complaint? Poisonous Ray has no -Res like the Patron version of the power gets. Given the relative squishiness of Banes (I love Banes, but they are undeniably the squishiest of the VEATs) I'd say putting a -20% Res in Poisonous Ray isn't overpowered, but rather fair compensation for their squishiness. This would give a PvP Bane no less than five sources of -Res, too. That would be just devastating even to a Tank. It's still balanced due to Banes' squishiness, though! (It'd be nice to see Bane Crowd Control go to 10 targets instead of the current 5, too.)

About that squishiness. The pets go a long way to mitigating the squishiness. Also, you can use active defense techniques to help keep yourself alive even against a very strong opponent. I used Web Cocoon on Statesman to allow me to kite him and wear him down with my ranged attacks, for example. A lot of people don't get this about Banes, and it's part of the unfair rap they get on the forums.

I will eventually roll another Bane. I'm very curious about doing a ranged Bane so I might go that way.

It was a weird, wild ride. Banes kill very fast, and their leveling speed is reminiscent of Brutes because of that. I highly recommend them, and not those poor-man's-crab Huntsmen either but real mace-weilding Banes.

On to purples!