Category: Resources & Rules

… tomorrow. 

We are pleased to announce that Issue 11: A Stitch In Time will be made available on the Live City of Heroes servers on Wednesday, November 28th. All servers will be coming down for extended maintenance starting at 7 AM Eastern (4 AM Pacific) and we estimate they will be back up by 1 PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific).

• Free Costume Token
  Given the debut of Weapon Customization in Issue 11, a free costume token will be granted to all characters on Wednesday, November 28th with the launch of the Issue.
• Free Respec
  Additionally, with the many changes to powers included in Issue 11, we will be making a Free Respec available to all characters on Friday, December 7th. Read the full announcement of that here.

If you are not familiar with the many features included in the 11th free expansion to City of Heroes, click here to read the highlights!

It sure seems like this has been an exceedingly long beta — but there’s been a lot of numbers / power tweaking behind the scenes beyond the big flashy new features which has needed testing.

It’s a good new issue.  I look forward to playing it Real Soon Now.

Signed in this afternoon to discover I hit my 33 month Vet Award — Nemmie Staff or Blackwand.  Woot!

From what I’ve been able to glean (since I paid only academic attention at the time the vet awards went in*):

Category	Nemesis Staff	Blackwand
Damage:	Moderate (176 at 50)	Moderate (176 at 50)
Damage Bonus:	+50% for Tech, Science, Nat ATs	+50% for Magic, Mutant, Nat ATs
Damage Type:	Smashing	Negative Energy
Damage Type Resisted:	Frequently	Rarely
Secondary Effect:	Knockback	-ACC**
Recharge:	2.5 cast, 8 recharge	2.5 cast, 8 recharge
Endurance:	10.7	6.5
Range:	100 ft.	80 ft.

Coolness!

* Also noted in some locations as ToHit Debuff, which is not exactly the same thing as -ACC.

** Note that post was exactly one year ago today.

Big shuffle-up (kinda) in the whole CoX development realm, per this announcement.

NCsoft® Corp, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced the formation of a new development studio in Mountain View, California. The announcement comes as the company begins a renewed push to further develop the City of Heroes® property, which is now 100 percent owned by NCsoft. Previous to today, ownership of the intellectual property (IP) was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the original developer of the project.

And the full announcement:

Today we announced the acquisition of City of Heroes from Cryptic Studios™ and the formation of our new Northern California studio which we are informally calling NCsoft® NorCal (click here to read the press release). Nearly the entire City of Heroes team from Cryptic Studios has joined the NCsoft team and together we have formed the core of our new studio.

The City of Heroes franchise has been a tremendous success for both NCsoft and Cryptic. More than three years after the City of Heroes launch, our community is strong and thriving. There are so many great ideas and plans, both from our development team and from the players, and we can’t wait to make them a reality. Our team is 100% dedicated to City of Heroes and we are extremely excited about the present and the future!

Click here to read the Dev Corner chat with General Manager Brian Clayton and learn more details.

Special Thanks to Our Players

Now back to you, the players. You are the lifeblood of our game. In celebration of our new studio and our exciting plans, and in order to thank you for the fantastic community that you have built, we are pleased to announce the following.

Full Access to City of Heroes and City of Villains®
All players with City of Heroes retail* accounts will now have access to City of Villains, and all City of Villains retail* accounts will now have access to City of Heroes. Players that didn’t previously have access to “the other side” will find that they do now. Just log in to check it out!

Debt Wipe
After the launch of Issue 11: A Stitch in Time this Fall, we are removing Debt from all characters and giving you a fresh start. Actual date will be announced shortly. Have fun in the mean time.

20,000 Prestige
Also after the launch of Issue 11, all Supergroups will receive an additional 20,000 Prestige per Supergroup member, meaning SGs could acquire up to 3 million Prestige based upon their Supergroup membership roster! Actual date will be announced shortly.

In the near future we will begin to share more information about our development plans. With this major reinvestment and effort ahead of us, we will take City of Heroes to new heights!

Huh.  All very exciting — almost too much so.

That more-detailed link above?

This has been an exciting week for NCsoft®! On the heels of the major new release of Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa®, we are happy to announce the full acquisition of the City of Heroes intellectual property (IP) and formation of a new studio in northern California dedicated to the ongoing development of the City of Heroes Franchise! This is the first step in a major reinvestment back into City of Heroes and City of Villains®. Over the coming years, we plan to aggressively develop and expand the franchise. I’m sure this raises questions about what this means for our awesome community of players and what the future means for their favorite heroes and villains. Rest assured, the future is indeed bright!

While we’ve acquired the full rights to the City of Heroes IP, we’ve also brought on board the solid core team of developers from Cryptic Studios: Matt “Positron” Miller (lead designer), Aaron Brady (lead engineer), and Ken Morse (lead artist). The management of City of Heroes will transition fully to NCsoft. I [Bryan Clayton] will still be the executive producer, my production team along with Ross Borden the director of business and marketing will also remain. We’ve been with the game since the early days and are committed to its long term success. Our community team, which has always been part of NCsoft, will also continue to be an integral part of the new studio. In the coming months we’ll be looking to add literally dozens more employees. We’ll have a full-fledged development studio to achieve our goals and we’ll be undergoing substantial, but careful, growth to get there.

I’m sure that you’re also asking, “What will happen to City of Heroes?” In the short term, you’ll see our major content expansions, the Issues, continue. Issue #11 is due out shortly and plans for Issue #12 and beyond are already underway. [..] We don’t expect the transition to the new studio to make a noticeable dent in our free Issue scheduling. As a player you shouldn’t see any ill-effects of this transition from a development or customer support perspective. In fact, you should see a significant positive impact on your game experience within the few months and beyond. Cryptic Studios is giving us all of the support we’ve asked for and has been tremendously helpful in this transitional process. All parties involved want what’s best for the franchise.

At this time, we’re not quite ready to disclose longer term plans. We’ll have the usual slate of announcements when we’re ready to reveal our plans. But, what I can say is that we’re building this new studio not just to maintain the status quo. We’re looking beyond the normal slate of free Issues for City of Heroes. We want to use City of Heroes as a focal point and really build on this franchise. We absolutely value the City of Heroes IP with its unique focus on the superhero genre, we’re really thrilled at the opportunities that full ownership brings to the table, and we can’t wait for the “City of” community to see all that we have in store for them. Now is the right time to get started on the next chapter!

The more PR-related announcement comes here.

And an interesting note on the boards here (from Ex Libris):

The decision for Cryptic Studios to sell COH was difficult as COH/COV was the foundation of their studio. A year ago Cryptic Studios signed a deal with Microsoft to develop Marvel Universe Online, which is due to the nature and genre of the material a directly competitive product.

Ultimately this decision was the best decision for the game and the community, as there is now clearly two separate groups working on both projects.

Statesman has been involved with MUO since that deal was signed, he has had a great influence on COH/COV and the development decisions in the past but currently and moving forward those decisions have rested on the shoulders of Matt ‘Positron’ Miller.

And yes, MUO is competition.

And here, from same:

You have probably answered most of these by now but:

i)Will we have a game to play over the next year or so?

ii)Does this move signal faster release of issues?

iii)Will there be a new ‘Statesman’?

iv)Will City of Villains see new content added to it?

v)Will sub fees increase?

Thanks!

i) The game will remain online and constant for the next year with our regular publishing schedule intact. We are in negotiations now about hardware upgrades for the servers, so there may be some down time associated with that, but it should be minor and we will be in communication with the community when that transpires.

ii) We hope this signifies faster iteration, with more people, more resources, and less communication sticking points all arrows point to yes.

iii) Statesman as the signature character will be determined, if I had my druthers it would be something the Community Team would acquire rights to, one can dream right?

iv) City of Heroes and City of Villains will be seeing new content. Both are award winning titles, and both deserve some attention, with additional resources we hope to be bringing the community wish lists to fruition.

v) Subscription fees will be determined by NCsoft, NCsoft has been researching every possible business model possible and will not make any decision affecting the community without clearly determining the bonus/backlash.

And here:

Manticore as in the person behind the sig Sean Fish, left COH and Cryptic after COV launch…ironically he works for NCsoft in Austin on some other project, but I heard rumors that he and Positron have been discussing the COH/COV Bible lately.

The person in charge of COH’s lore is Hero One, and speaking of shy… I’m still trying to get this guy to take a step out and introduce himself.

If you have been following the story arcs for Ouroboros this is our guy, his name is Joe Morrissey, and speaking of creative efforts, this guy is expecting his first arrival, un-known gender at this time sometime this week.

We’ll get him to pop on the boards and say hello soon.

And on the Statesman theme:

Statesman is part of the Intellectual Property that NCsoft just purchased.

Jack Emmert played that role while he was working on the project, Jack has since moved on to work on MUO and posts from a different name on the MUO forums.

And related:

Everyone from the current team signed on with NCsoft, this includes.

Sexy Jay
Ghost Widow
War Witch
BAB’s
Castle
Positron
all the programmers and other design staff that are not currently under signature names.

CuppaJo is working on Tabula Rasa and that is a project that she has been on for over a year and is very dedicated and excited about. Not to say she didn’t love COH/COV but she made the choice to move to that project and I don’t foresee that changing in the near future, especially since they just launched last week.

And here:

 I know this hasn’t been posted in this thread but here is a link to the newly updated hiring page for NCsoft. For the COH/COV project check out the Mountain View location.

There are 19 positions that were just announced.

For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for “Mountain View” would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.

Hmmm.  If I mentioned I was raised in Mountain View, would I get a discount?

This all sounds like a generally good thing.  Time will, of course, tell.

Is up live.  As noted earlier. in addition to the normal hitting doors and fighting things, the prizes this year include costume “temp powers” — make your character look like one of the various villain (and hero) groups.  Cool beans, even if they don’t last nearly long enough, and I think it’s grossly unfair they don’t work in the PVP zones …

Halloween runs through 4 November.

Melissa Bianco (War Witch) talks about how they go about designing a new (or revamped) zone in CoX.

When we decided to redo Faultline, we assumed it would be quick and easy because we weren’t starting from scratch, we were just ‘moving a few things around’. Yeah, we were wrong. We eliminated 1/3 of the zone and added access to the ‘hazard’ area. We raised it up and flattened it out. Yes, many elements stayed the same, but it was so much work to incorporate the new geometry that it was far from simple because every single neighborhood had a fundamental layout change to it. Live and learn!

Rikti War Zone was easier because the changes were more subtle. Well, except for a few places where I chose massive changes (i.e. the path leading to the Rikti ship and the Vanguard Base), but even the Base was a piece that I could do “underneath” the world so it didn’t affect the zone ‘topside’ too much (except for the compound), even that was added on to the existing zone by adding a cubby hole.

Good stuff.

Nice article, going into more detail on the time travel mishes and other new stuff.  Most interesting is that there’s little to no mention of what’s engendered the most commentary (at least red names) on the boards, weapon customization.

And, yes, issues have been coming faster.

Last year, it was decided that the pace of Issue releases would be increased so that one new Issue would be released every four months. The launch of Issue 11, which is scheduled for Fall 2007 or before December 21st, will mean that that goal has been reached.

“It’s a testament to the team,” Miller said, talking about their dedication to getting new systems, elements, missions and other content to the players. “[We’re] making sure we give [the players] the best quality product we can”

It’s almost (dare I say it) too fast a pace.  🙂

 

At least that’s how Margie characterized 99% of the forum response to the announcement of I11 coming out Real Soon Now and what it will have.

Issue 11: A Stitch in Time reveals that all that is and was is not as it should be! The mysterious Ouroboros organization, a group of beings from the ends of time, enlists the aid of Heroes and Villains to rewrite the past. Heroes and Villains are able to travel through time using the new Ouroboros System, which opens the gates to both new and existing content for players. Issue 11 also unleashes two brand new power sets: Dual Blades and Willpower, giving Heroes and Villains a slew of new power options. Additionally, Dual Blades offers Weapon Customization – taking the “City of” Character Creator to the next level! And the Inventions system is enhanced with new “Very Rare” Purple invention sets.

Okay, sounds interesting.

Ouroboros System

Through the mysterious Menders of Ouroboros, players gain the ability to “Flashback”, that is to travel through time and relive major events from the history of Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™. Heroes who travel back in time will embark on missions such as preventing the Circle of Thorns from unleashing a devastating demon on a defenseless world, a story originally presented in the City of Heroes comic book. Villains who journey through time will get the chance to assist Lord Recluse™ in his initial campaign to conquer the Rogue Isles, and much more.

Heroes and Villains also use the Ouroboros System to return to story arcs that they may have missed and replay hundreds of missions from earlier in the game. Players will even get to set mission parameters for these missions to earn special badges. Heroes and Villains will be auto-exemplared to the appropriate level for each story arc to ensure the challenge level remains constant.

Interesting. “Flashback” is the feature that was being talked about earlier as a long-term request that the devs wanted to do — for those completists who wanted to go back and run arcs (and get badges) that they’d bypassed on the way up.

The addition of doing it as a time travel device for added content, though, is a very cool bit.

The “mission parameters” include “Time Limits, Lives, No Inspirations, No Temp Powers, self-nerf, (as well as others).”

Weapon Customization

Sometimes an assault rifle just isn’t the right tool for the job, or character, especially when he or she should be using a sniper rifle instead. Players can now change their weapons in the same way that they change their costume parts! From within the costume creator and tailor screen players select the new “Weapons” region. A number of new options are now available for appropriate power sets. Current power sets that benefit from this upgrade include Assault Rifle, Mercenaries/Assault Rifle, Bow, Broadsword, Claws, Villain Claws, Dual Blades (see below), Katana, Ninja Blade, Mace, Robotics/Pulse Rifle, and Thugs/Dual Pistols.

Okay, this is definitely worth of an OMGASM.  First off, though AR is an annoying set to begin with, it’s a *really* annoying look.  But the idea that we can now tailor the various swords, axes (not mentioned here, but included elsewhere), and other such discrete weapons is extremely cool.  Granted, folks will now want tailored/customized power effects, but that’s a different technical battle (which includes spines).

Well done.

That customization, btw, seems to include (based on the pics) colors for weapons.  Hmmmm … Jack could use a bloody sword …

And though it’s not mentioned above, axe is part of the customizable set.

It’s also mentioned elsewhere that mace includes as variants, war hammer, pipe wrench, and sledge hammer.  And dual blades includes sais and faerie daggers and red cap daggers.  Oh, and tommy guns for AR.  And, somewhere, shovels. And compound bows.  And, for the dual pistols (me wants for non-MM character!) “Revolvers, semi-autos, flintlocks” — and “color-tinable laser sights.”

Another note that customization refers “for Masterminds it’s the bow, pistols, assault rifle, and pulse rifle for Ninja, Thugs, Mercenaries, and Robotics powersets.”

There are hints, btw, that some weapon options (at least) will be unlockable or based on combat defeats of enemies that wield them.  That feels appropriate on the one hand (a combat trophy) and annoying on the other (no “I start off as a rebel Family guy with the tommy gun”).  That includes at least a couple of Rikti weapons, as well as the aforementioned tommy gun. Or, as another example, “Vanguard Talsorian blades (claws) and the Redding Rail Rifle (Assault Rifle) are purchased with Vanguard Merits, if you are of the correct AT and powerset.”

And because it’s costume system based, it means (a) you can have different variations in different costume slots (“Today I feel like wielding a pipe wrench”), and (b) it doesn’t open up for you until you start using the costume system (Icon).  Though that will, I suspect, start folks using all those unused veteran costume tokens they’ve (well, I’ve) not seen much use from.

Two New Power Sets

The City of… universe expands with two new amazing power sets: Dual Blades and Willpower.

    Dual Blades

    With a flashing blade in each hand, the Stalker made quick work of the Coralax hybrids guarding the shipwreck.

    Now Heroes and Villains can wield paired weapons to devastating effect! Use the new Weapon Customization interface to choose from several types of weapons. Dual Blades also uses a brutal new Combo system, where the order of your strikes can create new advantages for you to take down your foes! Dual Blades is available to Brutes, Scrappers, Stalkers and Tankers!

Okay, I will be curious to see how this “Combo” system works — and when/if it gets retrofitted to other power sets.  More variations in the Attack Chain is a good thing.

    Willpower

    Available to Tankers, Scrappers, Brutes and Stalkers, the Willpower set offers a strong mix of resistance, defense and regeneration powers. This is the perfect power set for those characters who have the mental will and determination – the  willpower – to ignore pain and press on through insurmountable odds!

And (as I understand it from previous posts) who want minimum fx around their defensive set.  Though the picture used is anything but.

More images via here.

New Inventions

Issue 11 brings with it new invention sets including “Very Rare” Purple sets, as well as brand new invention sets for Taunt, Buff and Debuff powers, among others.

/em shrug

It also looks like (from the illustration) that we’re going to see more cut scenes, as in CoV.  I have mixed feelings about those.  On the one hand, they provide some nice flavor.  On the other hand, they are always startling out-of-the-moment intrusions, and (when repeating a mission for the Nth time) annoying.

Whew.  Good stuff.  And, interestingly, what’s drawing the most commentary (or the most red-name reaction) is the customization bits, which ties into the general acknowledged strength of CoX in toon design.

Margie was running in the Halloween Test this afternoon — in addition to the normal trick-or-treat doors and inspirations and costume bits (toward an extra costume slot), etc., this year you can pick up …

Real costumes.  Toggleable temp “powers” that give you the appearance of several of the groups running around Paragon and the Rogue Isles.  Lost, Freaks, Council, PPD, Paragon Protectors, etc.  Fun stuff.  The costume, when turned on, simply substitutes for your form (though you can still use all your powers — watching a Freak Boss run around with a broadsword and fly through the air was … disturbing).

The costumes don’t work in PvP zones (to avoid griefing — though, to be honest, I think that’s a perfectly legit use of such a power), and they have a 17 day timer, real-time, so they should all be gone by Thanksgiving.  Fun stuff.

I guess it must earn enough customers to be worth it, because I, too, have noticed the upsurge in spam — personal tells pointing you to a website for PLing, farmed influence, etc. 

While I’ve usually /petitioned their asses, the devs have put in a new command (per the patch last night):

 This version includes a new chat command.

/ignore_spammer

By using this command, a user will let our customer support know that they consider the person they added to their ignore list as one that is “spamming.” For example, if a player receives an in-game tell advertising for a real money trade web site, they can use the /ignore_spammer command, followed by the name of the character they received this advertisement tell from to put them on ignore.

Ideally, the user can then follow up with a /petition to also let us know of the disruptive behavior via that method.

I’m not sure how useful this is, if it’s still suggested that folks /petition with more details (evidently Customer Service can’t easily pull up the chat logs to see what the kerfuffle is about).  And I actually only rarely /ignore the spammers because I’ve only rarely gotten any follow-up tells from them.

Still, if it makes it a bit easier to point the annoying gits out, I’m willing to take the extra step.

“Mindripper,” who was at PAX, noted some tidbits about I11 that Positron dropped there (emphasis mine):

1. I asked him about future plans for the Shadow Shard and if it was going to go Co Op. Basically his answer was the the RWZ is what they wanted Co Op to be at this time, and that because of gameplay problems with the shard and how big it is that this wasn’t something they intended on getting into the game anytime soon.

2. I asked him about Pocket D getting year round contacts for Co Op and he basically said that would be seasonal stuuf only. I quickly followed this up with are we getting Halloween agian this year. His response was Yes, with some new twists and some new badges. He didn’t go into details.

3. I asked him if the 5th Column were comeing back. He said yes and left me under the impression that it would come in issue 11. That conjecture on my part though.

4. I asked him what he could tell me about I11, He said that there will be a number of new story lines introduced and plenty of things for level capped aka 50s to do.

5. Another fan asked about the new power sets, Posi said they will be Dual Blades and Willpower, and will be for all 4 of the Melee ATs in whate ever Combo makes sensce for them.

6. That Fan also asked about a lv cap increase. No.

7. I asked about after 50 rewards such as extra enhancement slots. His answer was that was something they had discussed in house but that the tech programming is time consumeing and that that was way on the back burner.

8. I asked about the SG limit and the whole 75 accounts in a sg deal. This is something he says they want to implement but they are haveing Data Base problems with it. He further said that they thought they had the problem licked 2 issues ago but the solution that they had come up with had the potential to massively corrupt the data in super groups through out the game.

9. Also my brother says that Lighthouse said that closed beta for i11 is right around the corner, its a matter of a few weeks. Keep in mind I didn’t actually hear this but others in the group I was in confirmed thats what he said.

This has led to much other discussion about, in particular, the melee powers.

On Dual Blades, Castle says:

1) Primarily Lethal damage (and, yes, I am very aware of the arguments against that.)
2) The animations are pretty darn cool looking. BAB has outdone himself here, I think.
3) As Posi said, the set is FAST. Not quick ‘claws’ speed, but fast nonetheless. For Tankers and Brutes, I imagine that’ll be a nice change!

BackAlleyBrawler added:

Dual Blades are currently fast. Really fast. So fast, probably going to have to slow them down before we go into testing. They are also going to have a few extra gimmicks that are going to make them a very interesting set to play. This set is currently being designed for Stalkers, Scrappers, Brutes, and Tanks.

Willpower is designed as a Resistance set, mostly perma-powers.  Castle says:

Willpower has ‘decent’ resists against Smashing/Lethal/Toxic/Psi damage. It has ‘poor’ resists but ‘decent’ defense against Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative Energy.

BackAlleyBrawler noted:

Willpower is our attempt to give the players a powerset that can fulfill the ‘tough guy’ concept and we’re trying to hit a very minimal FX look to it. We have to have some kind of visual effects for the various toggles and clicks just so players will know what’s on and what’s not on, but overall it’s going to be a much less glowy/sparkly than any of the the other ‘defensive’ powersets. We’ll see if that survives our initial closed beta testing or if players will just feel it’s lackluster because of the subdued FX.

Castle also said (about Willpower? Or more broadly?):

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Taunt Auras. Brutes, Scrappers and Tankers all have a ‘Taunt Aura’ power called “Rise to the Challenge” that works similarly to Invincibility, but increases Regeneration rate rather than Defense.

Very cool.  Now I’ll have to free up some character slots to play with them.  🙂

A new prototype of the FAQ to go with the Character Transfer and Renaming system, “coming soon.”

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Q: Can I transfer a character from one account to another? I had this old account I’m about to get rid off, but I’d like one of the characters from it.

A: Character moves from account to account are not part of the features described, sorry.

Q: These features would make great Veteran Rewards! Is that possible?

A: We’ve talked about this, but the tech to do it wasn’t a simple thing. We’d rather get the basic functionality out there for everyone and then go from there.

Q: Given the interest in names and the Character Rename feature, what is going on with character name purges?

A: As we announced on July 31st here (link to http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=8836713 ) the names for characters below level 6 on game retail accounts that have been inactive for over 90 days will be changed to unreserved status. For complete details, please reference the previous announcement ( link to http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=8836713 )

Q: Any number of questions regarding a “server-less” game configuration and possible speculation about how that will work.

A: We don’t have anything to add about a “server-less” system, other than to reiterate what was stated in the original announcement. To quote:

Quote:

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“One example of such a change would be a “server-less” game configuration where all players can group with anyone, without the restriction of which server they play on. We are not committing to this “server-less” configuration, and in fact there are no plans to implement a “server-less” environment this calendar year…”

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Q: With Character Transfers, when someone does use it, do they receive a warning that their name is already taken prior to the move?

A: There is a Name Check feature included in the game now. By using this feature, you can check if a name is available prior to purchasing a rename token. Please keep in mind that while a name check may come through as showing a name available, there is still no guarantee that someone might not choose that name just before you use your rename to obtain it. Therefore, there are no guarantees that any name will be available. All purchases of Character Renames are final and non-refundable.

Q: Is there any other means to pay for a Character Transfer or Character Rename besides a credit card on file?

A: The systems currently in use Character Transfer and Character Rename do not include the option to use a game time card or any other payment option for these services. Only with a card on file for recurring billing is it possible to purchase these items.

Q: Can I move my characters to a Europe server or characters from a European server to North American Servers?

A: The Character Transfer Service does not allow for moves between the EU servers and the US servers or vice versa.

Q: Do all your possessions move with you when you do a character transfer?

A: Yes, including your auctions on the Consignment Market. Here is a list of things that do not move

* Your Friends list of players will no longer be valid
* You will be removed from any Supergroup that character was in, and will lose access to any SG storage.
* Taskforces or Strikeforces that may be in progress will be abandonded.
* Kiosk stats will be preserved, but rating positions will likely chage.
* We cannot guarantee that your character’s name will be available on the destination server you move too. Should there be a name conflict, your character will be issued a free character rename to change the name.

Q: Will the Character Transfer Service allow me to make a copy of my character?

A: No, sorry. No copies, just transfers.

Q: Is there a badge associated with making a Character Transfer? In the past, there was the Passport badge that was given out.

A: There is no badge received from moving in the current system. The Passport badge was intended as a one time offering for US to EU moves, since the European (EU) service started after the North American game was launched.

Q: Is there a “swap” feature to Character Transfer, so in one move I could switch 2 characters?

A: there is no “swap” feature included in the Character Transfer feature. As it currently stands, servers that are full and have no available character slots are not allowable destinations.

Q: Will the Character Rename Service allow us to change our global chat handle as well?

A: The Character Rename System currently only deals with the actual character name and is not associated with the chat server or your global chat handle.

Q: If someone moves their character OFF of one Server and transfers to another Server, does that character-name suddenly become freed-up for another player to immediately use on the first server?

A: Yes

Q: I am about to move my character from his old server to a new server. His name was so super-awesome that I created a placeholder character with the same name on the new server, to keep others from taking my super-awesome name. I want to delete my placeholder (and free up that super-awesome name) just before I move my main character to that server. My timing needs to be perfect! Here’s my question: When I delete my placeholder, how long do I have to wait before my super-awesome name is freed-up?

A: We cannot specify a time duration, but in practice the name becomes available fairly quickly. Please keep in mind that we never guarantee any names will be available.

Q: If I have items for sale/buy on the Consignment Market and my character moves to a new server, will the sale/buy still work?

A: Yes. When a character transfers servers, anything they are buying/selling on the auction house is tied to the player’s account, not the character, so the buy/sell transactions will go with them.

The same goes for the Character Rename feature; buy/sell transactions or pending transactions will not be affected by the name change.

Q: When you change your character’s name, does it change on everyone’s Friends list, or do they have to re-add you?

A: When a character does a rename, their name will not change on other people’s friends list until they a) zone, or b) logs out and then back in. Once one of these 2 conditions happens, other people’s friends list will be updated with the new name.

Someone’s tracking the cost of Invention Salvage. It’s worth having the list in hand just so you don’t, y’know, sell some Pangean Soil to a contact for 5K (rather than the 4.5MM it’s selling for recently).  Or, conversely, so you have some idea of what buying the pieces for that nifty IO you just picked up will actually cost.

The list is being regularly linked to in the City Scoop newspaper (on the CoX boards).

And, btw, that link to Pangean Soil is actually to the Dread Tomax guide to what Invention Salvage gets used for what, part of the City of Data pages.  Very spiffy.

On an amusing tote board post of “Compiled List of what Positron may hint at…“ Positron himself posted on some things not likely to be seen any time soon.

Weather

Too much art for no add to gameplay. We may get into stuff like rain, but if the streets are not slick, it just wouldn’t fit. Plus if weather had gameplay (like fire powers reduced in rain, wind affecting Archery, etc.) while cool, I can’t see it as fun. People would just avoid weather when it didn’t sync with their powers.

Probably correct.  I have liked the yellow storm clouds around the Rikti invasion, but it’s not high up on my list.

On the other hand, if you had weather effects that benefited / detracted from powers in a more global basis, and they were (appropriately) city-wide effects, that might be an interesting random factor.  E.g., Dark powers being more powerful at night, less during the day (neutral under fluorescent interior lighting).  Lightning being stronger during storms, less so otherwise.  Etc.  Yes, players might only trot out their particular character during positive weather — but even if they were chronic altaholics, there would be times when it would be necessary to play a flame guy in the rain, a cold guy during a heat wave, etc. 

I think it coiuld work — but like I said, it’s not a big desire.

Powerset Respecs

While this may happen within your Archetype someday (i.e. a Fire/Devices Blaster becomes an Energy/Energy Blaster), don’t hold your breath. A lot of the thinking comes in the “we give you 8 (or 12) character slots per server”, which should be enough to create alts of whatever power combos you want, without destroying a character you invested time and effort into. Probably not the most popular answer.

Vaguely disappointing, but not critical.  Posi’s right about alting up a new power set (though that has some disadvantages, too — maybe that “you begin your new characer at Level 10” thing — and it begs the story line in the early zones if you’ve actually already met some of the mission contacts).

Positron TF redone

Yeah, it’s a lousy TF. It’s the first one we ever did, it’s due for a revamp, but that’s not coming anytime soon. For the time being there will still be reason to brag about having the “I endured Positron’s TF and all I got was this lousy badge” badge.

I think this is a mistake.  I think they could improve early game experience by revamping this guy.

Underwater Zones

We’d rather do Space Station Gagarin or the Armstrong Moon Base.

Given the choice, I agree.  Though I don’t know as it has to be an Either/Or.

Vehicles

We discussed this recently and couldn’t justify putting it in. Vehicles would either be really good (then it becomes City of Jet Bikes), or boring (my Jet Bike isn’t faster than Fly). The effort to put them in simply wouldn’t equate with what you got out of them. This is why wings took so long. When the effort DID equate with what you got out of them, they went in.

Yeah — this one is a moderate desire on my part.  I don’t know that Jet Bikes should be faster than Fly — it’s just another expression of the same power with “color.”

Of course, I’m still ticked that rocket boots and wings are invention items, so …

AI System Overhaul

Too risky of completely breaking the game in some obscure way. Tweaks sure, an overhaul, not likely.

Probably true — and a real shame.  I’d love more intelligent, less predictable (but more sensible) opponents. 

Ability to unslot enhancements without a respec

We like the Bind on Equip mentallity. The fact you can un-slot them during a respec is a conceit that this really isn’t “equipment” per se. Different power combinations take different Enhacements, so we could either screw you during the respec process (i.e. if you can’t slot it, you lose it) or let you keep some in your Inventory slots. We erred on the side of “nice” with this one.

Frankly, the implementaiton of the enhancment mechanic leaves me cold, from the arcane naming conventions to the idea that I really need a Barium Enema (or whateve it is) to give my Science character added accuracy to the whole concept of stores to buy/sell enhancements (and villains don’t attack these stores because…?).  The mechanic is fine — the implementation is non-heroic.

That said, I’ll also note that for a long-time player, the burden of respecs (and costume changes) have been nearly negated.  I have a ton of characters that have a ton of respecs/costume tokens from vet awards.  Almost makes me think it’s a whole mechanic that could be gotten rid of.

Fitness Pool becoming an inherent

We’ve tried to make Stamina less a required power with a lot of the things IO’s do. Any discussion on Stamina generally leads to the elimination of Endurance altogether (because a lot of the reason Staminia is so popular is that is lets you no longer worry about Endurance for the most part). i.e. Making Stamina an inherent means we might as well eliminate Endurance from the game.

And the problem here would be?

No, I mean, Endurance should be a problem at the end of a major, titanic struggle, or after a huge nova-like exertion.  Short of that, heroes just don’t get winded.  Bugs the heck out of me at early levels.

 Now … what didn’t Posi eliminate from the list?

1. Power Customization (Though I think this has been previously ruled out).
2. Tanker Shield Powerset (Meh)
3. Flashback (Doing old content you missed on the way up?  That’s what alts are for.)
4. New Epic Archetypes, i.e., Incarnates (Doesn’t seem likely, though there’s plenty of room for something post-50.)
5. Unlimited Respecs (Except that cheapens the Vet Rewards, unless you do it as part of a trial.)
6. Player Apartment/Personal Base (Can you say, “SG of 1”?  Not that difficult to do, I wouldn’t think.)
7. Influence Banks / Mail System (Meh.  The Invention system seems to have made money woes largely a thing of the past.)
8. Cross-Server Teaming (Not likely.)
9. Villain Stuff (Villain epic archetypes, switching allegiences between the Recluse’s lieutenants, etc.  Whatever.)
10. Return of the Fifth Column (Seems more and more likely.)
11. Jetpacks (As a permanent costume piece.  Seems likely, with all the other jetpack costuming now available.)
12. Hero to Villain Switch (Or vice-versa?  It may be the cooperative RWZ is a test for how this would potentially work.  I’d like it, frankly, though it would make CoV less “unique.”)
13. New Tanker/Scrapper Power Sets (Almost certain.)
14. Numbers on Powers (We keep edging closer and closer to this – might as well make it transparent.)
15. Offline Costume Creator (I think it’s very unlikely, both because of the possibility of hacking the system and because it takes people out of the online game.)
16. Supergroup System Revamp (Limit numbers to accounts, not characters.  Not high on my list, but it should be trivially doable.)
17. Defiance Change (Castle gathered together some faboo ideas — I’d like to see something implemented)
18. Picking Up and Throwing Things (A red name has previously indicated this is not doable in the game engine, alas.)
19. Interactive Environment (a la Mayhem Missoins.  We might see more of this, but I don’t see revamping the game with it, nor do I want to see a lot of dev time taken up on it.)

 

Patch notes:

---

Issue 10: INVASION!

The skies over Paragon City are filled with dark, grey thunderheads. It is the same in the Rogue Isles, Europe, and across the globe. Small ships dart through the heavy weather … and there are so very many of them.

 The Rikti have returned.

HEADLINES:

Rikti World Invasion: The Rikti have been fought off before.  But now, prepare for a desperate battle to save Earth from the new Rikti Invasion Force!  Aggressive Rikti forces can attack Paragon City and Rogue Isle areas at any time and with little warning!

Rikti War Zone: Heroes and villains are asked to put aside their differences and co-operate to assist Vanguard, the all volunteer force funded by the United Nations Security Council, to stem the flood of Rikti and their attempts to salvage their downed Mother Ship.  Earn Vanguard Merits to obtain new costume items and other cool stuff!  [Okay, i can believe in super-heroes.  I can believe in alien invaders.  But believing an effective, active, aggressive UN Security Council?  Naaaaah …]

Rikti Co-op Task Force: Lady Grey, leader of Vanguard, has a series of missions for a proven team of superpowered individuals, security clearance 45 to 50, designed to take the fight to heart of the Rikti Invasion!

INVASION!

“The Rikti Return! The Vanguard needs YOU! All super powered beings are encouraged to join the effort! This isn’t about your history, but about OUR future. Join now.”

• The Rikti have somehow found a way to bridge the dimensional gap between their world and ours once again and are staging raids on Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.
• When Zones within the cities are under attack, a world-wide alert will be issued by Vanguard. This alert will show up in your Chat window, warning you in which zone attack is imminent. 
• While the invasion is occurring, players do not receive debt while outdoors in an invaded zone.
• Those in that zone that do not wish to be at risk of Rikti attack are asked to take shelter immediately. They can do so by leaving the zone, or moving inside buildings or under cover (overpasses, parking garages, etc.).
• Rikti bombs appear to be unstable and not 100% reliable. Some do not explode on impact and only embed themselves in the ground. These bombs have been noted to detonate after a time, so take caution when you see these. They can be disarmed or delayed by inflicting damage upon them.

Revamped Zone: Rikti Crash Site is now Rikti War Zone

The region previously known as the Crash Site has erupted into a War Zone!  All non-combatants are advised to stay well clear of the area!

This zone is now co-operative, Heroes and Villains can both enter into the zone and team together while here.  Heroes and Villains cannot fight against each other in this area. They will both arrive into the zone in the Vanguard Base that has been established there.

Entry points can be found in Vanguard Bases in the following zones:

• Paragon City:
  • Atlas Park
  • Founders Falls [Conveniently next to the new tram.]
  • Peregrine Island
• Rogue Isles:
  • Cap au Diable
  • St. Martial
  • Grandville

The SWAT entrance from Crey’s Folly is sealed. [Awwww … that was a convenient way to get back to FF from Crey’s Folly.]

• The zone is now scaled for levels 35 to 50.
• While in the Rikti War Zone, debt obtained will be 50% of normal.
• When you enter the zone, Levantera, one of the directors of Vanguard, will be auto-issued to you as a contact. Complete her missions to get a feel for the area, as well as be inducted as an honorary member of Vanguard and be able to obtain merits.
• Borea has repeatable missions for you in the Rikti War Zone.
• Other characters that have missions available are Gaussian, Dark Watcher, and Serpent Drummer. They can all be found in the Vanguard Base
• By joining Vanguard you will earn Vanguard Merits for defeating Rikti as well as completing missions for Vanguard. These Merits can be exchanged for Costume Pieces (of the Vanguard Armor), as well as some other cool stuff. The device for purchasing these items are special crafting tables located within the Vanguard base. Vanguard Merits can not be used at other crafting tables.
• You can view Vanguard Merits earned from the Salvage window under the Special Tab.

Rikti Co-op Task Force:

The UNSC backs Vanguard for billions. With the second Rikti invasion bearing down upon us, the United Nations Security Council has essentially given Vanguard a blank check to cover the costs of fighting the Rikti, “We don’t have time to haggle over budgets,” says a senior level official in the UNSC. “Vanguard has always been about defeating the Rikti, no matter what. We fully support Lady Grey and her team.”

• Lady Grey gives out a Strike/Task Force for 8 super powered individuals with security clearance from 45 to 50.  The mission attempts to stop the Rikti before they can get a foothold in our dimension.  Be wary, the Rikti are single-minded in the pursuit of their objectives!

Take the fight to the crashed Rikti ship!

• The Rikti have erected energy pylons throughout the area surrounding their crashed ship in the Rikti War Zone. Vanguard engineers have discovered a way to detect Rikti Pylons.  To view waypoints to these pylons, check the ‘Special’ option in your map display window.
• Destroying all pylons before the Rikti can replace them, will lower the shield on the Rikti Mother Ship in the zone.
• Heroes and Villains are asked to plant explosives inside the ventilation systems of the ship to cripple the Mother Ship repair effort the Rikti have in progress.
• Once enough bombs are planted, the Master at Arms will arrive to clear out non-Rikti interlopers!
• Characters that participate with this will be rewarded with Vanguard Merits.

Rikti Villain Group Revamp

• The Rikti Villain group has undergone an art and powers revamp.
• The new art vastly upgrades the look of the Rikti and now allows us to use more animations with the Rikti soldiers. [Though I will miss the nekkid Rikti.]
• One major change is the Rikti swords now have a ranged energy weapon in them, allowing them to use both melee and ranged attacks without switching weapons.

Powers

Added support for villain archtypes for Kheldian inherent bonus powers. Here is the new help text:

• Kheldians naturally thrive off the energy and essence of their teammates. Warshades’ absorbing nature allows them to draw on the power of their teammates’ power to increase their own. Your Damage Resistance will increase for each nearby Tanker, Mastermind, Corruptor or Defender teammate. Your Damage will increase for each nearby Scrapper, Stalker, Brute or Blaster teammate. Finally each nearby Controller or Dominator teammate will grant you limited Protection from Control effects. You cannot put Enhancements in this power.
• Kheldians naturally thrive off the energy and essence of their teammates. Peacebringers’ metamorphic nature allows them to bring balance to their team. Your Damage will increase for each nearby Tanker, Mastermind, Corruptor or Defender teammate. Your Damage Resistance will increase for each nearby Scrapper, Brute, Stalker or Blaster teammate. Finally each nearby Controller or Dominator teammate will grant you limited Protection from Control effects. You cannot put Enhancements in this power.
• Jack Frost pets and Animated Stone pets should be more willing to engage in melee combat due to a change to their AI values.
• Crey Juggernauts will turn off their Personal Force Field after 15 seconds rather than leaving it on indefinitely.
• Bitter Ice Freeze Ray’s attack time has been shortened from 3.7 seconds to 2.5 seconds for both Blasters and Corruptors.

Critter Powers

• Critters with area of effect Confuse powers have had the duration of those powers greatly reduced.

Power Effects

• Graphical Effects for Ice Armor powers have been modified to improve performance by reducing redundant effects.
• Corrected an issue with Piston Boots steam effects so that they no longer pick up incorrect tinting from the costume piece.
• Stone Melee/Hurl Boulder and Super Strength/Hurl – slight tweak to improve performance.
• Minor camera shake added to some Super Strength hit effects. [Yay!]
• New Geometry and effects for the Blackwand temporary/veteran power.
• New graphical effects for Sonic Resonance.
• “Place Trap” animation will now play while flying. Animation also plays a bit faster, reducing the amount of time the player is rooted while activating.

Costumes

• New “Stealth” costume set available
• New “Exo Proto” costume set available
• New Vanguard costume set available for purchase with merits
• 39 month Veteran Reward added: Boxing costume items
• Miniskirt 1 tweaked a little
• Reorganized skirts and added new Pencil Skirt and Leather Versions. [Can always use more skirts, though it would be nice (if impractical) to have longer ones.]
• Female Dragon wings sized up a little
• Female Burned wings moved up and in a little
• Female cap reweighted to reduce clipping
• “Small padded glove” for females have a pad on both hands
• Masks fixed for full helms/Chitin \\
• Neck on full helmets reweighted to reduce clipping
• Peg leg and pirate hook now available for females [Arr!  Female pirates!]
• Tech Sleek boots available in more categories
• New Female Boot called high heel available.
• Greek letters unified and PI added
• New Bunny tail costume piece available. [Yay!]
• Female Hellenic Sandals Reweighted to fix clipping issues.
• Santa boots and heart patterns are once again available at the Tailor.
• Tin Crown hat added
• Fabo Hair style added
• Formal Hair style added
• V neck & V deep pattern added to female skin tops
• Eye Tendrils added to Tendrils/Head Costume Aura for Female models.
• Whiskers added to face detail option.
• Rocket Boots color mask improved
• Samurai belts shouldn’t disappear underwater
• Female Burned wings moved up and in a little.
• “Small padded glove” added to jackets for female. 

City Zones

• Siren’s Call: Fixed hole in the ground that allowed players to get under the map.
• Recluse’s Victory – Fixed bug that allowed some players to get outside the map.

 Badges:

• There are a number of new badges
• Coralax Gladiator badge should now correctly count all Coralax bosses toward badge progression
• Supergroup Fusion Generator badge is no longer given for time spent in PvP zones; it is now given for 750 PvP kills while in supergroup mode.  

Rewards

• Costume Piece Recipes have been moved into their own drop pool and the chance of getting one has been increased. Costume Piece Recipes will ONLY drop off of Minion-level entities. Lieutenants and higher have no chance of giving out a costume recipe. [Yay!]

Auction House

• Fixed bug that sometimes prevented the highest bid from winning an auction, or prevented the lowest offer from being sold first.

User Interface

• Added commas to Trade windows (so 1000 now appears as 1,000) [Yay!]
• Added commas to numeric displays of experience and influence/infamy when a critter is overcome.
•  Trades are now limited to 9,999,999 influence or infamy. [Not a bad number.]

Game

• Improved Arena stability. 

Supergroup Bases

• There are now teleport beacons that can be obtained to travel to the Rikti War Zone.

Inventions

• The price of Invention Enhancements, when sold through the process of a respec is now based on memorized prices, not the normal build price.
• Impervium Armor: Psionic Resistance – no longer causes a character to have a “Psi Aura” when slotted.
• Impervious Skin: Status Resistance – value reduced from 30% to 7.5% and unique status removed. Players can now slot this enhancement up to 5 times for the bonus.

 

CITY OF HEROES

 Power Effects

• Peacebringer effects are updated to improve performance
• Kheldians in Dwarf or Nova form should no longer repeatedly play the boost animation when receiving a buff from an empowerment station.

Powers

• Blaster Charged Brawl now accepts Sleep Enhancements and Sleep IO Sets.

Tasks

• Founder’s Falls – Angus McQueen no longer gives missions to fight Rikti in the Rikti Crash Site.  These missions have been updated and now count Rikti defeated in the Rikti War Zone.
• Major Richard Flagg, a NPC Terra Volta Respecification Trial contact (level 44+) has been moved out of the Rikti Crash Site (now the Rikti War Zone) and has been moved to Peregrine Island near the Portal Corp. building.

City Zones

• Faultline – Fixed hole in the ground.  More gophers!

 

CITY OF VILLAINS

Powers

• Fixed an issue with Brute Energy Punch which could cause it to generate Fury much faster than designed.
• Corruptor Sonic Resonance Liquefy now accepts damage enhancements and, as a result, may now be slotted with Targeted AoE Sets.

City Zones

• Breakout – Fixed bug that allowed some players to get past the fence into the area where Longbow and Arachnos are fighting.  [Awwww …]

Graphical Effects

• Drain Psyche effect altered slightly to improve performance.

I10 ahoy.  Watch for Falling Rikti.