So, Q4 Earnings Report (Now Including Q1 2012)

The fourth-quarter financials for City of Heroes Freedom are in. Sales for City of Heroes were up 18% from last quarter, and up 6% from Q4 2010.

We knew sales were going to be up this quarter, the only question was by how much. Now that the game's whales have bought their year-subscriptions and hundreds of dollars worth of Paragon Points each, will we see the numbers continue to rise in Q1 2012, or will they start to decline again? [Q1 2012 financials are in, and unfortunately the game's revenue has continued its overall downward trend: down 16% from Q4 2010. Revenues are now lower than they were the quarter before Freedom's launch. Looks like Freedom has failed to turn the game's sales around. The only question left is: how low can the revenues get before the game closes? - ED]

But for now, Freedom is a success, if a modest one. That's good to see.

Year-on-year the game's sales are down 23% due to "user attrition", but Freedom seems to be reversing that trend, at least for now.

NCSoft earnings releases page.

Rageless Brute 2: Low Fury Boogaloo

In my last article, I showed how at high Fury a Rageless Brute build, far from being gimp, is actually very viable and enjoys various advantages to make up for damage output that is only very slightly lower. Now in this followup article, I examine what happens at lower Fury values. Does the Rageless Brute fair as well as at high Fury, or does the idea of a Rageless Brute fall apart? Follow me after the break to find out!

Going Rageless?

The one and only thing I don't like about Super Strength as a set is Rage. It's a poorly balanced power and the crash is annoying. So I ask myself: can I go Rageless on a Super Strength Brute? What would I be gaining and what would I lose?

Join me after the break to examine the Rageless possibilities!

Issue 22 Fan Trailer by Sport921

While I take a break from the game, why don't you check out this great fan-made trailer to get you hyped up for Issue 22? It's looking like an amazing update for the game! And roll a Stalker. You just might be glad you did!

Positron Interview at Massively

The death of Statesman: best feature of Issue 22, hur, hur!

Addressing the death of Statesman and its implications for the game, Matt "Positron" Miller sat down with Massively.com for an interview. Among other things, it's revealed he won't be coming back (as already reported on this blog) and won't be removed from marketing materials, though he will be removed from the game.

I think you could remove Statesman from the marketing materials, replace him with just about anyone else, and it wouldn't be a big deal at all. Some potential replacements, such as Back Alley Brawler or Manticore are much cooler looking and might even be an improvement over the Face-Plated-One. But they are under the impression that Statesman is somehow a big draw for people to the game (I know, I find that hard to believe, too) so he'll be staying on marketing materials in all his dated, uninteresting glory.

Read the article at Massively.com
Unofficial discussion thread at the official forums.

Statesman Tribute Video by Samuraiko

Visit Samuraiko's YouTube channel.
Discussion thread at the official forums.

BeTwixt

Twixt

Searching the Googles for City of Heroes cosplay (don't ask) I came upon an old, but interesting article. The Twixt debacle is one I watched unfold on the forums. I never PvPed enough to encounter him in game (in part because of the attitudes the article mentions; even a great community like City of Heroes has can have a dark, ugly underbelly, and PvP tends to bring that side into view much more often than PvE).

If you want to know what the big deal about Twixt was, the article lays it all out.

Read the Twixt article at nola.com.

Signature Story Arc ViDoc #2

New Issue of Justice-Knights!

Issue 8 is #7. Best not to question that, citizen.

The most smartly-written City of Heroes Freedom digital comic book, Justice-Knights is now available. If you're not reading this one, you're really missing something. The series makes interesting observations about the game's world, including just why the medi-porter is not the 100%-death-avoidance machine most players assume it is.

Visit the official JK Comics site.

Let's Play City of Heroes Freedom Video Series

Here's an excellent City of Heroes Freedom "Let's play" video series from ThePCGamingVortex channel at YouTube. Forty-six videos, watch them all! Just go to the channel and scroll down to "City of Heroes Freedom Tutorial/Let's Play" for the playlist.