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.