Category: MMO

CoH: A fine Double-XP weekend. Plus, Death from Below!

Margie and I didn’t spend quite as much time on CoH over the weekend as we’d hoped, but we still took good advantage of the exercise — pushing a couple of our 30s duos into the higher 30s.

We also discovered the joys of “Death from Below,” the introductory trial / Sewer Mission that they’ve added in since Freedom came up.  For about an hour of time (including standing around and waiting for the team to gel), you can easily add several levels of experience to your intro characters, plus get a nice Hydra boost to your accuracy, damage, regeneration, or defense for a couple of weeks of game time.

(It’s not clear how much of the level jump was also due to the double-XP weekends. Okay, well, thinking about it, I’d guess about half of it. 😛 )

It does have a feel very much like the old Sewer Raids (which you can still do if you are so inclined), but somewhat safer and more organized.  It’s also a good intro to various low level mobs.

The DfB missions can be run by any level, though you get exemplared down to level 2 to start with.  They are also re-runnable, so we were able to fairly easily advance a couple of our beginner toons into the low/mid-teens with relative ease.  (Though CoH has added some nice low level material, it’s also nice to be able to advance relatively quickly to Steel Canyon … and, honestly, a “can’t we start off around level 15?” has been a long-time lament from many in the player base).

There are also trainers stationed along the way of the trial, to let you level up as you go if you’re so inclined. Ironically, not all of your leveling will immediately take, since your exemplared level is dependent on the team leader’s leveling, not your own. Thus you can take a new power, have it showed up as grayed out, then have it appear later in the trial. Also, there’s a certain time pressure (aka “everyone’s running pell-mell ahead”), so standing around pondering power choices for too long is a bit impolite.  Do it a couple of times, but save most of it for Ms. Liberty at the end.  Slot in haste, respec at leisure.

One slightly irksome note: While the DfB missions are supposedly doable via the “LFG” functionality they’ve added in (click on the LFG button, join the queue, get automatically added into a mission once 4-8 other folks have joined in), few people seem to be using it, meaning that we were dependent on folks pulling together DfB team, or pulling one together ourself, semi-manually.

How to pull together your own DfB run (since the instructions are not readily apparent):

  1. Join the queue, noting that you want to reserve it for your own group.
  2. Broadcast/invite people to your team. This may take 30 seconds or 15 minutes depending on competition, time of day, etc.  People can be anywhere, so a lot of folks use the Help message queue for this.
  3. When you get 4-8 players, go back to the queue, click on it again, and once everyone on the team accepts, you’ll be teleported in.

It’s not for everyone, but, as I said, it’s a nice, non-tedious way to get past the first several-to-dozen levels in a short period of time … especially during double-XP weekend.

CoH: And I Want to Paint It Black

You would never have guessed that I22 came out yesterday, with the new Darkness Controller/Dominator power set.

I mean, there I was, standing in front of Ms. Liberty, and around me were:

  • Dark Mistress
  • Battle Shade
  • Sorceress of Shadows
  • Dark Spirit
  • Dark Wanderer

Of course, I was there with my new (well, re-rolled) toon, the Grey Haunt, so I have no basis for complaint.  But at least I color shifted the power a bit …

CoH: Who Will Die? (Part 6 of 7)

The latest installment in the signature arc, “Who Will Die?” came out this week, and last night Margie and I ran a couple of our 50s (blue) through it.

(The arc is designated for level 40+.  Paragon decided to have the earlier episodes available in the 20s, and then ramp up to the 30s and now 40s.  Which makes it a bit tough to run a low level toon through the whole contiguous story, to be honest.)

The illustration for this ep has a skull-faced Manticore drawing back his bow, and, yes, Manticore does something that will shock, shock, shock you.  Or maybe not, since Manticore is the go-to guy for bad decision-making in the Freedom Phalanx.  (What is it about archers, anyway?)

But here’s the thing — it’s a cool adventure, full of drama and all that, but … it just didn’t click. No spoilers here, but while I could see that there was a connection with the previous eps, I didn’t go, “Ah, of course, there’s the problem.”  The episode and it’s climactic problem just felt sort of pulled out of a hat.

The adventure, at least, is pretty good, with minimal cut-scene constipation as the previous couple of eps had.  It’s centered in Peregrine Island, and was doable by both our duos in about 35-40 minutes.  Travel powers are optional, unless you have problems with the mobs in PI.  The mission sites are all within a reasonably close jog (esp. if you start at the mission-giver).

The individual missions are pretty decent and of good length.  Mobs include Carnies, Malta, Nemmies, Circle of Thorns, and Rularuu troops.  There’s also a pretty decent ally that comes along with you and is only mildly annoying in her over-aggression against the baddies. The final boss in the final mission was not all that big a deal.

Overall, a good mission arc, even if the Big Event at the end felt like it was coming out of left field (and with no sense that you could have done anything about it).

CoH: Hangout

I had a chance to hop on one of the Google Hangouts that Paragon does periodically.  I was pretty much the only one on with Zwillinger, which meant we got to chat on a bunch of items.  Specifically:

  1. Though the retro space gear given in the user selection poll is all on male models, there will be versions for all three body types.  There are also specific female costume bits that have already bee selected.
  2. More signature arcs are on the way, dealing with “different sorts of stories” than before, and also with the repercussions of Statesman’s death.
  3. The premature “spoiling” of Statemen’s death was driven at least in part by the need for formal publicity set up with various gaming sites and mags, and because of concerns of spoiling  by others.  Zwillinger did note that it was a concern Paragon had heard of from a number of sources.

In discussing stuff, I came to realize that I’d been playing since Issue 3 (!), which makes some seven years now.  Crikey!

It’s a shame there weren’t more people in on the Hangout.  It’s a fun way to discuss things with the Paragon folks.

Number one question I forgot to ask: When are leveling pacts coming back? Margie and I were just starting some new toons last evening, and I hated that we were dinging at separate times (esp. since it now brings up the level sidekick dialog).

Has it only been 7 years?

Friday was my 7-year anniversary with City of Heroes — 28 January 2006.  I don’t have a “first post” here on Blog of Heroes because …  well … I was a bit reluctant to let on about it publicly.

Margie started playing in February (I gave her a subscription for Valentines Day).

On the one hand, that seems like a huuuuuge chunk of time — seven years, OMG!  On the other hand, so much has happened in my life during that tenure on the game, and so much has changed, it seems like it’s been much, much longer.

I started in Issue 3, by the by.  And when I think back to the game at that time — no crafting, no “no use slotting more than three of anything into a power” (ah, the days of Perma-Haste), the introduction of so many zones and other game mechanics …

I’ve drifted to and from the game over the years.  And pretty much nobody I know who played it — with the exception of Margie, of course — still does.  But it remains fun, new content keeps being added, and new alts and powers keep things pretty darned fresh.

Don’t know if I’ll be playing it in another seven years, but don’t feel any particular itch at the moment to stray.

(As a personal trip down memory lane, this listing of alts I had in late February is fun — two of them (Psi-clone and Torchielle) eventually dinged 50; one (Velvet) stalled in the low 30s; the rest got deleted at one point or another …)

CoH: Signature Story Arc Spoiler Alert (no spoilers)

A wag of my finger to Paragon’s official Twitterer (and their Google Plus person, to a somewhat lesser extent).  Today was the opening day for the fifth installment of the “WHO WILL DIE?” signature story arc in City of Heroes … and there’s @CityOfHeroes twittering away about how you should click the link to see the storytelling decisions behind [REDACTED]’s death, or go over to Massively for their reaction to the Death of [REDACTED]. Ditto, pretty much, for the +CityOfHeroes Google Plus chatterer.

WTF, fellas?

I mean … really?  Spoilers of that sort, of a story so profound and reaching that it was considered a signature story arc and advertised constantly and promises to have dire consequences?

Sure, I’ll play the story multiple times, but I would have liked to have been surprised at least once.

Bad show. Really bad show.

(If you want to read some similar, “WTF, spoilers?!” reactions, with spoilers, check the forums.)

LotRO: Unto a New Generation

Katherine has suddenly decided over the last few days that LotRO is an incredibly fun game that she wants to F2P.  With Margie as a partner, if available.

Which led to her watching the first to LotR movies today (since she was off for MLK Day). And also to opine that she really doesn’t want to play a dwarf because they’re all boys.

I’ll be curious to see how long this impulse lasts for her, but I think it’s kind of cool.  Not that it makes me want to play LotRO again, but it’s still cool.

CoH – Issue 22 Preview

I’ve been playing a lot more CoH the past few months — pounding through the Signature Story Arc for starters, and, in the last week or so, circling around to some alts we pieced together on Exalted when CoH Freedom came online.

The new Issue 22 stuff looks very, very cool …

Issue 22: Death Incarnate Overview

Starting with a cool new name — Death Incarnate …

A reenvisoned Dark Astoria beckons its bony claw! Issue 22: Death Incarnate,introduces new powers and costumes, exclusive VIP content, and expanded endgame features, and reintroduces Dark Astoria, a zone corrupted by evil magical forces.

Features

Dark Astoria Reincarnated

Mysterious forces have twisted parts of Dark Astoria into a bizarre, nightmarish land! The undead are now stronger here than ever and new menaces brood within the area.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about DA.  I’ve thought the perpetual fog was kind of cool (it was even more fun during the “Fog Bug” days, when you could see the whole city), and the undead/supernatural nature of it was pretty spiffy.

That said, it was waaaaaaay to hell and back, so, honestly, if it was a choice between going to DA and just doing something in Talos — well, it was mostly a no-brainer (for a one-off, the Mission Teleporter and then Wentworthing back to Talos was the easy way to handle things).  So it’s good to see that it’s becoming more central, and getting some even more enjoyable content.

Zone Level Increase: Dark Astoria transforms into a Level 50 Incarnate co-op zone, with missions that can unlock Incarnate abilities for both Heroes and Villains. Dark Astoria is also now accessible from both Peregrine Island and Grandville.

Improved accessibility is a great bonus.  I’m wondering how they’ll handle this geographically.

Turning it into a Level 50 zone is also cool.  We’ve done next to nothing with the Incarnate content, and that’s coming up pretty high on our list of things to do (now that we’ve gone back to those 50s in the last few months and gotten them all respecced and IOed up).

Repeatable Missions: Dark Astoria repeatable missions feature rewards befitting an Incarnate, including Incarnate Experience and Thread Components.

  • Ephram Sha of the Midnight Squad has tasks befitting Incarnate-level Heroes in Dark Astoria. Help him push back the forces of Mot!
  • The Circle of Thorns has an interest in the dark magics swirling around Dark Astoria. It has sent Maharaj, a powerful Soul Mage, to help Incarnate Villains sow chaos in the ranks of their foes.

Repeatable Missions Good. That they can be done solo (from what I understand elsewhere) is even better.

Content for All Levels

Dilemma Diabolique Incarnate Trial: Diabolique, the evil sorceress, plots to become an avatar of death by seizing the powers of the banished god, Mot. With them, she can bring the living world to its knees! She seeks nothing less than to dominate all life and hold the fate of the many dimensions in her grasping hands. Heroes and Villains must unite to protect our dimension from this terrible fate.

Co-op Hero/Villain stuff is fun (though less essential now that powers are basically available interchangeably).

Drowning in Blood New Low-Level Trial: The Shivans that decimated Galaxy City are now attacking Bloody Bay! Using the Team Up Teleporter, groups of up to eight players can fight off this alien invasion. Heroes and Villains each have a separate trial. Drowning in Blood is a PvE encounter available for all characters of level 15 and higher.

Another good thing: lower level trials.  And Level 15 love is useful.  What’s unclear in the above is how this trial works in conjunction with the PvP zone — the trial is PvE, but it’s in Bloody Bay …

New Mission Arcs: Steel Canyon and Cap au Diable feature new mission arcs. Heroes can encounter the latest conflict between the 5th Column and the Council. Villains face off against the Longbow and the Luddites.

New low-level mission stuff also good.  I’ve been finding myself skipping over most Steel and Cap Au missions of late, with the zone-independent stuff available.

New Adamastor Zone Event: Adamastor has broken free of Dark Astoria! Prevent this Giant Monster from going on a rampage in Talos Island and Sharkhead Isle by finding the Ritual of Summoning and using it to summon and defeat the creature.

Ooooh … a Giant Monster for Talos.  Excellent!

New Darkness Power Sets and Olympian Guard Costumes

Darkness Control (Free for VIPs): Command the shadows to terrorize your foes, devastating them with spectral minions. The Darkness Control power set is a primary power set for Controllers and Dominators. This new power set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.

Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault (Free for VIPs): Two more power sets are now available to Controllers and Dominators. Controllers can access Darkness Affinity as a secondary power set, and Dominators can access Dark Assault as a secondary power set. Darkness Affinity and Dark Assault are free for VIP’s. You will also be able to buy them in the Paragon Market™.

Glad they are free.  Though it sound like (sigh) time for yet another set of alts …

So, is this Fear-based? Would make sense — it’s a secondary power for a lot of sets, but I’ve always thought it was very cool.  In fact, I might hold off on a Mind Controller concept I just rolled up to try this out.

Hmmmm … might be time to start building some of those inexpensive Fear IOs and then selling them once demand spikes.

Olympian Guard Costume Set (Free for VIPs): The technology-themed Olympian Guard costume set is free for VIPs. You will also be able to buy it in the Paragon Market™.

More Costumes always good.

(Are you getting  theme here?  Good stuff!)

Quality of Life Upgrades

Expansion of the Team Up Teleporter: In addition to granting access to the new Bloody Bay Trial, the Team Up Teleporter can now be used inside missions and to organize groups for existing task forces and strike forces. Characters on solo or group missions can queue up for trials from within those missions. You can also use the Team Up Teleporter to queue up for a task force or strike force.

Ah. That answers the question about the PvE Bloody Bay trial above.

I have to confess, I’ve not used this particular feature.  Some Friday afternoon or evening while Margie is out, I’ll have to use it to run some of my solo toons around with others.

New Teleporter Pad: The new Hacked Telepad and Magicked Telepads are available for bases. These new telepads cost more Prestige to build, but allow Super Group members to teleport to six zones per telepad instead of two.

Well, I guess that’s helpful. But, honestly, I think I’ve used the Telepads in any of our bases, oh, maybe twice in the last year.  There are so many other ways to get to locations quickly, between all-points trains/ferries, Wentworthing, the “O” …

Changes to Powers

Controllers

Gravity Control: Increased the damage of Singularity’s Lift by 63%.

Controllers/Dominators

Gravity Control: Added a bonus mechanic to player character versions of Lift and Propel. These powers now deal a small amount of additional damage (called “Impact!”) to targets that you have recently held with your Gravity Distortion power. In addition, Propel’s cast time has been reduced and its projectile speed has been increased.

Oooooh. One of my new low-levels (Unified Fieldsman, Gravitic/Chronotic Adventurer!) is a Grav Controller, so I look forward to these improvements.

Stalkers

Stalker Buffed Max HP modifier has been increased from 1 to 1.3. This results in Stalker’s potential Buffed Max HP increasing from 1,606 to 2,088 at level 50. This allows powers like Dull Pain and Frostworks, as well as +Max HP set bonuses, to have a greater potential effect.

Assassin Strike (All Versions): This power now functions differently while you are not Hidden. When attacking a foe when Hidden, it behaves normally, dealing tremendous damage with a chance to demoralize nearby foes, but it can be interrupted. However, when you use the power while you are not Hidden, it deals Superior damage and is uninterruptible. While you are not Hidden, Assassin Strike has a base 0% chance to crit.

Assassin’s Focus: All damaging powers found in the Stalker’s primary power set, other than Assassin Strike, have a chance to grant you a stack of the Assassin’s Focus buff. This buff increases Assassin’s Strike’s chance to critically hit (for +100% damage) while not Hidden by 33.3%. Assassin’s Focus stacks up to three times. Using Assassin’s Strike when you are not Hidden removes all stacks of Assassin’s Focus.

Aside from when CoV first came out, I have never run a Stalker.  They seemed very much a one-trick pony, and really only usable on a team.  This sounds like it changes things some.

Overall, an excellent update.  Now … when do we get it?

Mr. Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang

Via Doyce, from the Daily Grind a way to frame to your relationships with MMOs the way you frame your … “real” relationships:

I’m sure you’ve heard of the classic “marry/kiss/kill” ranking game (or some not-so-PG version thereof) designed to rank your interest in a trio of human beings. So how about turning that upon MMOs today?

Which games would you marry, would you kiss, and would you kill? By which, I mean:

  1. Marry: You’re in it for the long haul with this title, admiring the devs’ past and present efforts, and are confident that the future will hold great things. You plus this game equals “happily ever after.”
  2. Kiss: You’re interested — or currently involved — with a brief fling with this game, but you’re pretty sure that it’s not going to last. This is a title best left to brief flirtations versus long-term relationships.
  3. Kill: You are done with this MMO — or never wanted to get involved with it in the first place. You abhor the studio’s practices and products, and wouldn’t mind seeing the game thrown into the sun. Metaphorically, of course.

Actually, kind of an objectionable way of framing it, but let’s see if I can tweak it a bit:

Marry:

  • City of Heroes:  A first love, and still a best love.  She’s comfortable, pleasant, mature, fun to be with, a great sense of humor, still has plenty to explore … and she eve now manages some new surprises and unexpected presents now and again. My friends know her, which is nice.  There have been times we separated, though I always come back.  Lot of people think she’s over the hill, but I’m quite happy with her.

Kiss:

  • Lord of the Rings Online:  Old, kind of crazy girlfriend I remember fondly and still occasionally socialize with. Things just never seemed to be going quite the way I was hoping, though, but I’m very glad she’s found other relationships.  Still occasionally think about another brief fling, since she’s free now, but it hasn’t happened yet.
  • Wizards 101:  I’m happy enough chatting with her while the kids are capering on the playground equipment. We were never close, but she always seemed good with children.

Kill Don’t Return Phone Calls From:

  • World of Warcraft: We went on a first date, and I carefully thereafter blocked her on my phone. Never did see what people saw in her.
  • Champions Online: She was bright and shiny and promised so much but gave back so little.  We had some fun times, but ultimately she was never someone I could settle down with.
  • DC Universe Online:  Another try at rekindling an old relationship, but it was just too much of the same old grind.  I keep thinking I might give her a call some day, have some coffee, no strings attached, but I can never quite work up the interest.
  • Star Trek Online:  Met her at the con, seemed to share may of the same geeky interests as me, but eventually it seemed like that was all she was about.  The repeated conversations grew boring. I still play some of the music she lent me, sometimes.

(Maybe I need to stay away from girls named “Online” … it ever seems to end well.)

Ogle from Across the Room:

  • Star Wars: The Old Republic:  She’s hot, she’s new to the scene, she’s hot, she’s got everyone talking.  But she looks like someone who could take over my whole life, and I’m just not ready for that now.
  • EvE:  She’s mysterious, intriguing, and into some wild and different stuff.  I know folks who go on and on about how cool she is. Rumor has it she’s a tiger in the sack, but a very demanding mistress. Staying way away from her.

Man, gaming relationships are complicated …

Paragon Potpourri

1. The new Titan Weapons power set looks fun.

It’s a crappy video, but, heck, giant weapons? Intrinsically fun! And if you buy it by 12/19, you get a free weapon pack with it. Score!

2. Signature Story Arc #1 Episode 4 is now out. I’ve been really enjoying these (and enjoying running a ton of alts through them).

3. Issue 21 Special Update: Media Blitz is also now out. Wow. Maybe one of these days we’ll even get around to doing some Incarnate stuff with our stable of 50s.

The CoH Signature Arcs – “Who Will Die?”

I’ve not been playing much CoX of late — but when we have gotten on, we’ve been having fun with the “Who Will Die?” signature arc tales they’ve been putting out on a monthly basis. The story arc hasn’t been wildly gripping, but the scenarios and set work have been fun.  And they’ve done some great stuff in varying them between how they work for heroes vs. villains.

What’s actually been fun is running them with our full stable of alts.  Different power combinations make for different ways to get through, blast through, eke through the same scenario.  Part of it depends on what level prestige level we’re at going in. Having good stealth make things easier (or not).  Some of our sets are more vulnerable to debuffs than others.

Each scenario takes us about 30 minutes to complete (make it 45 the first time through), so it’s not a huge time sink, which is nice.

Each progressive story has been staged at a minimum 10 levels higher.  That meant our normal Victory stable was short on bodies on the most recent tale … so we’ve started dusting of our Old Stable of folks over on Champion … which gets pretty embarrassing, because the 50s there are all into SOs and don’t have their Inherent Fitness respecced and …

(Psi-Clone and Amorpha still kick ass. Even downgraded to lower levels.)

Dipping a toe into I21, Part 2

Got in a little more gameplay last night on the VIP nights for COH:Freedom.  More early impressions …

  • Atlas Park sure is prettified.
  • The initial mission arcs in Atlas are also nicely crafted (even tying into the Galaxy events, as should be).
  • There are a lot of open zone/instance hunt missions (“Hunt 10 Skulls [in this area where they will regen moderately quickly]”).  It has a different feel (not necessarily good) from the traditional hunts for some reason, perhaps because so many others were hunting there, too — largely because the proposed area to hunt is now highlighted on the maps.
  • I do like the giant arrow coins over the heads of the contacts, rather than just a colored circle at their feet.  Less realistic, sure, but it does make them easier to see.
  • There are several early adventures where you end up split up as individuals on a team (single-person instances, run in parallel).  Which is great, but at present buggy — every time, the mission didn’t give credit to the non-leader on the team, and we had to rerun it.
  • In addition to an Icon in Atlas, Ms. Liberty also lets you buy costume tweaks.  It looks like there are 5-6 slots you get through the normal means, and then another 5-6 you can buy (if you are really into costume changes).  This is actually a nice feature, to allow this at such a low level, since  what looked good in the costume maker doesn’t necessarily look good once you’re running around staring at the toon’s butt the whole time.
  • It’s still possible to make a lot of money very quickly at Wentworths.  If one is so inclined.

Travel Powers:

Okay, my life is much easier because of two costume packs I already had purchased — Steampunk has a jet pack, and Animal pack has the most excellent Beast Run.  Those become available at lvl 4 — which is the point that the Power Pools become available.

All the Travel Pools now have five powers.  The first 3 come up at lvl 4, which removes that problem, the 3rd of them being the traditional travel powers.  However, there is now a 5th Travel Pool power that comes available at 14 (if you’ve chosen two in the pool already):

  • Afterburner (Flight): Increases your fly speed and makes you much more difficult to hit for a time.  However, you can only use self-directed powers while it’s running.  This should be cool.
  • Spring Attack (Jump): Heavy damage attack where you land in the middle of a crowd, knocking them down (“boom” for jumpers).  Looking forward to this, too.
  • Burnout (Speed): In exchange for a big Endurance hit, you recharge all of your powers.  Not quite as usable as the others, but I can think of a few situations.
  • Long Range Teleport (Teleport): Increases TP range, including across zones.

Interestingly, these extra Travel powers counteract the recent trend, where (a) you could get the real Travel power without any prerequisites (besides level) and (b) the Fitness pool became automatic.  Suddenly, I’m eyeing what I’m going to want to take in the way of powers, and when, and realizing I’ll have to compromise.

Good stuff so far.  A very nice issue.

Dipping a toe into I21

I’ve had near-zilcho time to take advantage of the VIP Head Start to City of Heroes I21 / Freedom / new-shiny-coolness. So some very few notes on it:

  1. The new character creator is very nice. There are some bugs in how easy it is to browse through stuff, and there are still odd disconnects where it’s not clear why an option is or isn’t available for certain classes of costume parts.  But the overall looks is nice, and the mere fact that you can check and reserve your name while just starting off your character is truly awesome.
  2. Splash screens, illustration style, and updated character creator music are all pretty spiffy.
  3. The new Galaxy intro is fun, exercises basic combat skills and is overall a Good Thing — certainly more heroic than slugging Infected.  My main problem is that it is way too reminiscent of the intro setting for Champions Online — you’re in a city, devastated by an ongoing alien invasion, with voices telling you which way to go and what to do.  I was just waiting for someone to tell me to “Launch the Ironclad Defense!”
  4. That said, the “morality mission” part of the intro is a bit … lame.
  5. There’s now an Icon in the very attractively redressed Atlas Park.  Hurrah!
  6. No email before level 10?  That’s weird.

And that’s about all I’ve done (thanks to a malfunctioning client that hadn’t been keeping me patched).  But I’m looking forward to more.

The Dynamic Trio

So Margie and I play CoH off and on fairly regularly, rotating through a variety of duos. This week we shook things up a bit, though, and had our daughter, Katherine, play as well.

I’ve been eyeballing the F2P option coming up in City of Heroes for a bit, thinking that would let Kay play at will, rather than waiting until one or the other of us is off. But as we looked at the options, we realized that a purely F2P setup was going to place just too many limitations — including not being able to join a supergroup. We realize there will be some limits, but we didn’t want Katherine to feel too gimped.

So we went ahead over the weekend and opened up an account for her and got her set up in it, and then spent most of Sunday running a new trio through Praetoria (or least through ten levels of it) — Margie with a broadsword scrapper, me with a grav/rad controller, and Kay with a ninja/bubbles mastermind.

Fun times, though Katherine was having some performance problems with her machine that I need to check out, as well as just her having to deal with the learning curve (and the kibbitzing from the parents). It was kind of cool having a third member of the party, too.

One thing that stood out, though, was her lack of veteran award status, and how much that shapes our early game — e.g., getting full travel powers at 6 (vs prerequisited powers at 14), Nemmy staff / Blackwand / Sands of Mu options, etc. Plus we have some costume packs we’ve purchased — Mystic, Mutant, Beast, and now Steampunk — that provide some added bonuses (travel powers, in particular).

Fortunately for the travel power glitch, we can also do Assemble the Team. 🙂

The plan is to maintain her account for a few months, then switch over to F2P when Freedom comes out. That will give her some extra benefits. Or, if playing with her becomes a new norm, we might maintain her as a VIP account. We’ll see.

The City of Heroes panel from SDCC

Video of the CoH panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. Alas, doesn’t include the Q&A at the end.

Discussed a lot of the Freedom features, but also some of the other keen stuff going on:

  • The new “Street Justice” (brawling) and Beam Rifles power sets.  These will be premium sets, it sounds like, even for VIPs.  Street Justice is combination-based (like Dual Swords?).
  • Updates to the downloader (start playing within 5 minutes), as well as to the introduction / character builder and to the Tutorial.  It all sounds really nice, and a great way to make the game more attractive for the new players they’re expecting.
  • Atlas Park has gotten a total makeover with their new rendering technology, and the missions/contacts have been redone.
  • Mercy Island isn’t quite as made-over, but the missions/contacts have been revamped, and you actually start down in the main burg to the south, rather than up at Ft Darwin.
  • The low-level “Death from Below” sewer raid “event,” similar to the Incarnate Trial tech only for Levels 1-5.
  • Added training missions in levels 5-19 (to make up for the very short tutorial).
  • Issue 21 – the new zone “First Ward” in Praetoria, Lvl 20-25, complete with the new villain groups and the zone-wide Giant Monster (Seed of Hamidon) event, and the new underground Incarnate Trial (Avatar of Hamidon).
  • Quality of Life improvements — dynamic icons over potential contacts’ heads; find contact button (with info!) for a nearby contact (and you can even teleport directly to him/her); and  now travel powers will now become available at Level 4* and there will be “high end” travel powers, too.
  • Signature Stories – key storylines, new story arcs monthly, hero and villainside (free for VIPs).

It all looks pretty cool!

The Prezi presentation can be seen more fully here.

* Young whippernappers got no idea of what life was like with travel powers only showing up at 14 … jogging through all the zones … including the dangerous ones like the Hollows … damned kids these days …

More CoH Freedom FAQishness

Via Positron (and, yes, over a week old, but …)

VIP Server

First and foremost, it’s optional. If you are a VIP subscriber you can play on any server. Premium and Free players can play on any server except the VIP one. Second, it’s a brand new server. We are not going to take an existing server and make it the VIP server. That would be unfair to all other server communities and counter to one of our goals, which is for your friends to try out (or come back to) City of Heroes and play with you at no cost.

I’m glad they are offering this option (to assuage the “OH NOES! NOOBS!” fears), but, honestly, I have no desire at this point to be off on a VIP server.

Supergroup Transfers (Including bases)
This is something we anticipated and are actively working on, but it likely won’t be ready for City of Heroes Freedom’s launch. We are committing to bringing you this service in the future and it won’t be just to the VIP server, it will be between any server. It will likely require the Supergroup’s Super Leader to actually execute the transfer.

That’s actually a clever idea, as they’ve made server moves easier and now created a “different” (VIP) server.

Restricted Archetypes
Free and Premium players are not allowed to make or play Masterminds, Controllers, Soldiers of Arachnos, or Kheldians. There are many reasons behind this, not the least of which is the extra CPU drain some of these Archetypes can have on the servers. We want all players (free and VIP) to have a smooth gaming experience and if that means we’re going to restrict some Archetypes to ensure that, we will.

However, the Paragon Rewards program has an “unlock” for Masterminds and Controllers at Tier 5 (which is about a three-year CoH veteran status). So if you have enough veteran status at the launch of City of Heroes Freedom, you will be able to play these restricted archetypes on a Premium account on day one. As always, we’ll be chatting more about the Paragon Rewards in the coming weeks.

I just tweeted something about this that didn’t mention Arachnos or Kheldians (though both also make sense).

(Though, honestly — haven’t seen any Kheldians lately. Does anyone still play them?  Tempted to give it a try, again.)

First Ward’s Level range
First Ward is a zone in Praetoria, continuing many of the storylines of that world. It takes place from levels 20 to 26.

As I suspected. Glad to see more Praetoria content.

CoH: Issue 21 preview

Overview for I21 “Convergence” is up. Key take-aways:

  • First Ward is a new zone, Praetorian (open to F2Pers to visit, but no missions), a city area that was supposedly abandoned to Devouring Earth, but now used by Emperor Cole for testing things that go boom. It’s also full of Hamidon magic and a new Giant Monster.
  • Incarnate Trial in Praetoria, fighting Devouring Earth under the city.  (Does that mean we have some sort of content for Praetoria between 20 and 50? Is that what First Ward is for?)
  • Time Manipulation is a new Defender Primary and Controller/Corrupter/Mastermind Secondary.  No details. “Channel potent temporal energies to alter the very forces of time to help your allies or devastate your foes.”
  • Some new Costume sets.

And, the biggest change, I suspect:

New Starting Experience

Galaxy City is under attack, and you are thrown immediately into the middle the fray! A new co-op tutorial orients you in the world of City of Heroes, testing you with the moral choices that will determine your future as a Hero or a Villain. In this new starting experience, you can play using any of the Archetypes from the start with no alignment restriction. You will then take part in ongoing training missions in Atlas Park and Mercy Island that will let you further your growth, learn more about the game world and the game’s features, and test you to master your skills as a Hero or Villain.

So it sounds like that replaces (?) Outbreak and Breakout (awwwww …) (optionally?) (If not, then how does that fit into the whole CoV Chosen One mythos?).

Also interesting in that it gets rid of villain-only and hero-only archetypes, it seems. No need to start your heroic Mastermind in Praetoria any more.

So, plenty of reason, it seems, to build some new alts once I21 hits — assuming you’re VIP and can have more than two slots …

City of Heroes goes Free-to-Play? Just the FAQs, ma’am!

My immediate thought: “Cool, now Kay can roll her own characters on her own account …”

So, big announcement from NCSoft today about “City of Heroes Freedom” (CoHF?).  Let’s break it down:

Announcing City of Heroes Freedom and Issue 21: Convergence!

City of Heroes Freedom™will be launching later this year and will be the new name for City of Heroes®. City of Heroes Freedom redefines City of Heroes based on the cornerstones of content, rewards, and choice. With City of Heroes Freedom, you will get the freedom to play and pay as you choose. Join the future of City of Heroes in City of Heroes Freedom. Freedom is the future!

Blah, blah, blah … okay, okay, what does it mean?

Content

In City of Heroes Freedom, dive into new stories and features right away and enjoy more of them in the future. Freedom kicks off with a new free update, Issue 21: Convergence, and increases the pace of quality, high-energy content with regular new Issues, monthly signature story arcs, new weekly in-game store items, and high-level Incarnate Trials. 

Which we’ve already had, I think.  What’s “increased” about the pace of content?

Issue 21 packs in the First Ward co-op zone, gripped in mystical conflict, as well as the Time Manipulation Power Set, the IDF and Defense Costume Sets, and the Underground Incarnate Trial. Signature story arcs, free with VIP players’ subscriptions, let you fight alongside iconic Heroes and Villains in story arcs that make a difference in the City of Heroes universe.

Ooookay. Hope there’s a FAQ down there somewhere, since a bunch of that still doesn’t make any sense.

Rewards

Current City of Heroes subscribers will continue as a VIP players in City of Heroes Freedom, gaining more features, services, and rewards in addition to what they have already received. Some rewards begin today, as all current City of Heroes subscribers will accrue 400 Paragon Points per month starting on their first billing cycle after July 1, 2011 . At the launch of City of Heroes Freedom, you will be able to use Paragon Points to purchase new costumes, Power Sets, and hundreds of new items from the in-game Paragon Market. The new Paragon Rewards program also rewards all levels of loyal players with new bonus content that you select, including exclusive rewards for VIP players.

Hmmm. Okay. Current subscribers get additional cool stuff (so as to encourage us to stay subscribers, one assumes).

Choice

Pay for the content and features that you want. Choose to play for free, or become a VIP player and command VIP service. With City of Heroes Freedom, you don’t have to buy the game or pay a monthly fee to play. You can download the game and play for free for as long as you wish. If you upgrade to VIP player status, you will unlock a bounty of content and benefits. You can also buy a variety of content and services from a new in-game store.

We will be giving you more information on the above features over the next few months, but in the meantime, an overview of Issue 21: Convergence, as well as a City of Heroes Freedom fact page and a statement by Brian Clayton, Executive Producer and General Manager at Paragon Studios are available for you to peruse!

Okay, I will have to peruse. But, basically, it sounds like you’ll have:

  1. Free Players, who get the basic game, and can pay for additional stuff.
  2. Subscribers (“VIPs”) who get extra “content and benefits” for their sub.

Basic hybrid model. Interesting (and, I think, preferable to going totally F2P).

City of Heroes® Freedom FAQ

Q: Why is City of Heroes® moving to a hybrid model?

A: Simply stated, it’s the right time. We’ve been planning this transition to Freedom for well over a year now.  We believe this opportunity is the best way for us to provide more value to our devoted player base than ever before, as well as grow our leadership position in the super-powered hero online gaming space. Over the past few years, MMO players have been enthusiastically embracing “choice”. By making the transition now, we’re putting our stake in the ground as a leader in the industry, helping to define the future of the MMO gaming space.

I.e., it’s been the trend, and for good reason.  It’s hard to get someone to commit, out of the box, to a subscription fee.  On the other hand, micropayment games can get annoying depending on how frequently you get dunned for them.

Q: I am currently a subscriber to City of Heroes. What does this change mean for me?

A: All current City of Heroes subscribers will automatically be upgraded to VIP accounts when City of Heroes Freedom launches. When City of Heroes Freedom launches, you will continue to enjoy all of the subscription benefits and content you enjoy today, as well as brand-new exclusive rewards, features, and services. Additionally, beginning on July 1, 2011, you will earn 400 Paragon Points each month. When City of Heroes Freedom launches, you will become a VIP player, and you will start with a tidy sum of Paragon Points to spend in the new in-game Paragon Market.

How much is 400 PP?  No idea — how long is a piece of string?

Q: What are Paragon Points?

A: Paragon Points are a form of currency that you will use to purchase items and services from the Paragon Market. You can purchase Paragon Points through the Paragon Market or our partners. VIP players automatically get a 400 Paragon Point bonus per month as part of their subscription.

I.e., virtual money that they can get partners to work with.

Q: What is the Paragon Market?

A: The Paragon Market is a new in-game store where you can purchase costumes, powers, items, and game services or features without ever having to leave the game.

Q: Will booster packs be available from the Paragon Market?

A: Super boosters and booster packs will no longer be available for sale when City of Heroes Freedom launches. The costumes, powers, emotes, and auras from super boosters and booster packs will be available for sale individually or as part of different bundles in the Paragon Market.

Well, that makes sense.  Bundles are a natural outgrowth here from booster packs.

It will be interesting to see what VIPs get that F2Pers have to pay for, and what both groups have to pay for.

Q: What will happen to the game servers?

A: All 15 existing global servers will be available in City of Heroes Freedom. We are also adding a new server exclusively for VIPs.

Still think they’ll have to consolidate servers eventually.  Heck, I want them to, just clear up some ghost towns. Although maybe that will change some with F2P.

Q: Will VIP players play with Free players?

A: Yes, although we have taken several steps to make sure that our VIPs have the choice for how they want to play, including creating a new VIP-only server.

Hrm. So what will distinguish the VIP-only server from the hoi-polloi servers?  Will we be able to transfer characters there for free?  Why would we, aside from our sense of specialness?

Q: What happens to my Veteran Rewards? Will I continue to earn new Veteran Rewards?

A: We are replacing the Veteran Rewards with the Paragon Rewards program, a rewards program superior in every way with Veteran Rewards, to add new rewards, features, and choices. The Paragon Reward program unlocks new exclusive rewards on top of the existing Veteran Rewards. All subscribers keep their Veteran Rewards and badges, even if they choose to play for free. We will have more information to share about that in the coming months.

Interesting.  More “hooks” to stick with the game.

I’ve really liked the Vet Rewards.  Some of them are goofy-useless, but others make a real (if not overwhelming) difference at early levels (Nemmie Staff/Blackwand, Sands of Mu, etc.).

Q: What is the difference between a Reward Token and a Paragon Point?

A: Reward Tokens can be redeemed to unlock free in-game benefits. They are earned as part of your monthly VIP player subscription or as a bonus for purchasing Paragon Points. Paragon Points can be used to purchase items through the new in-game Paragon Market.

Wait … we get Paragon Points and Reward Tokens, and we get Reward Tokens from being a VIP (but also Paragon Points) or from buying Paragon Points, and maybe the Reward Tokens as part of the Veteran Awards and …

Dammit, NCSoft, your player currencies are as freaking confusing as your in-game currencies.

(It’s explained a bit more here. Still will need to see it in action.)

Q: What will happen with the issue game content system? Will there still be free issues?

A: City of Heroes Freedom lets Paragon Studios continue to support free issue launches and major seasonal events that expand the lore of the City of Heroes universe. City of Heroes Freedom will feature numerous free updates. In fact, we are inaugurating City of Heroes Freedom with a new issue, Issue 21: Convergence! We plan to share additional information about issues as launch day approaches.

Q: What new game content will we see when City of Heroes Freedom launches?

A: Issue 21: Convergence will launch alongside City of Heroes Freedom. Issue 21 packs in the First Ward co-op zone, gripped in mystical conflict, as well as the Time Manipulation Power Set, the IDF and Defense Costume Sets, the Underground Incarnate Trial, the new Seed of Hamidon zone event, and over 60 new missions.

Cool.

Q: Are there any incentives to maintaining my subscription or reactivating my subscription before City of Heroes Freedom launches?

A: Current subscribers and former subscribers that reactivate their accounts earn 400 Paragon Points per month beginning July 1, 2011. Any active subscriber also earns Reward Tokens in our new Paragon Rewards program.

So, yes.

Part of me thinks I’ll just stick with the subscription, but it sounds like Kay can do some fun F2P stuff (and buy trinkets if she so desires, as she does in Wizards 101).

Q: What content will Free players receive?

A: A Free player can achieve maximum character level (Level 50) in the game and can choose from among eight Archetypes (classes). Free players can create up to two characters (total) and play as Heroes in Paragon City™ or Villains in the Rogue Isles™. Free players can join in most Task Forces, Strike Forces, Trials, and raids. However, certain content and rewards are reserved for VIP players only.

Free players are restricted from certain systems within the game (alignment change, Day Jobs, Mission Architect, and so on), and they will not receive any live support unless they upgrade to VIP player status. They can still access self-help support. View the Free player benefits in the Freedom player choice side-by-side comparison.

Hmmm.  So, F2Pers basically get the game as of four or five issues ago, with severe limits on character slots.  That’ll probably be the biggest heartburn for Kay.

Q: What additional content will VIP players get?

A: A VIP player will enjoy the same benefits as a current City of Heroes subscriber and much more! In addition to the regular Issue content updates, VIP players will receive new monthly Signature Story Arcs as well as full access to Incarnate Trials and Going Rogue expansion content. VIP players have high priority status in any server queues, access to live in-game support, and one free server transfer per month.  VIP players also receive 400 Paragon Points each month and earn exclusive rewards in the Paragon Rewards program.
View the VIP player benefits in the Freedom player choice side-by-side comparison.

Coolness.  Plus — a free server transfer a month.  Hmmmm.

Q: If I am a subscriber now, what will happen to my account if I choose to become a Free player when City of Heroes Freedom launches?

A: Current City of Heroes subscribers who choose to become Free players will retain access to tons of content, however some Issue content will be reserved for VIP players, including power sets, costume sets, etc. One notable difference is that Free players will be limited to two character slots total, plus any character slots directly purchased or earned through Veteran Rewards. All existing characters will be saved and reenabled if a player subscribes as a VIP player.

View the Free and Premium player benefits in the Freedom player choice side-by-side comparison.

So not a good option for folks with alt-itis.

Now, if we look at that side-by-side …

Side-by-Side Comparison*

Character Features Play for Free Premium Players VIP Players
Archetypes 8 8+ 14
Maximum Level 50 50 50
Power Sets 100+ 100+ 150+
Costume Pieces, Auras Thousands Thousands Thousands+
Content Features
City of Heroes Going Rogue™ Purchasable Purchasable Included
First Ward Zone Access Included Included Included
First Ward Missions Purchasable Purchasable Included
Social Features
Super Groups Not available Can join Can join or form
Chat Channels Local, Team Local, Team, Whispers (Tells) All game channels, and can create them
In-Game Mail Not available Included Included
Forum Access Read only Read only Read or write
Account Features
Free Paragon Points Not available Not available 400 per month
Character Slots 2 total 2 total, plus slots that were unlocked or directly purchased 12 per server, plus slots that were unlocked or directly purchased
Server Transfers Purchasable Purchasable 1 free per month
Auction House Use Limited Limited Buy/sell/store
Mission Architect Purchasable Limited Play/create
Inventions Purchasable Limited Included
Priority Queues Not available Not available Included
VIP-Only Servers Not available Not available Included
Premium In-Game Customer Support Not available Not available Included

*Subject to change by launch.

So a few things to note:

  • Premium Players?  They weren’t mentioned before.  Ah, those are folks who return who were previously playing.  So you’ve got the added slots you bought/earned, your old vet rewards, SG access, some MA and Invention access.
  • F2P – no tells, no SGs.  No Inventions? Interesting. No mail, either.

More to come, obviously.  Overall, I think this is a good direction — getting more people to try the game can only be to its benefit.

When Praetorians Attack!

For the 7th anniversary of CoH, they are running some special Praetorian invasion events for a few weeks. Margie and I hopped on this evening for a couple of hours for the one on Champion.

I got on first, running Torchielle (figuring a blaster would be a worthy addition to an attack from Praetorian Earth), with Margie later jumping on as Amorpha. And, it quickly became clear that the biggest danger to Primal Earth from a Praetorian invasion was a disruption of the time continuum, leading to things moving ever and ever slower …

Yeah, the lag was pretty awful.

After most of the invasion was done, I swapped out to Psi-clone, figuring he deserved some massive SO drops like Torchy had been getting.  Unfortunately, the event sort of dragged out to a close, with large intervals of nothing happening leading people to think it was all over.  Still, I got some action in with him, too.

And, when all was said and done, I realized I’d missed both those characters — and that both needed some serious attention, as they’re still all-SO, still unrebuilt after veteran travel powers and inherent Fitness.

And, yeah, that means some money, which, fortunately, I can send in bushel-baskets-full from some other characters I’ve actually been paying attention to.

Not looking forward to respeccing Level 50 characters, but it really needs to be done.