Why it seems like only yesterday when I was talking about the upgrade from I3 to I4 (PvP! Body part sliders!). And here we are, a scant seven (!) years later, talking about I24:

Issue 24: Resurgence is the next major free City of Heroes Freedom™ content update. Issue 24 provides new story arcs for a variety of character levels, ongoing power and Enhancement upgrades, and continuing premier content for our VIP players. Now that the Praetorian War is over, former adversaries work shoulder to shoulder to rebuild in the aftermath. As refugees from Galaxy City and Praetoria flood the streets of Paragon City, fresh conflicts bubble to the surface and new enemies emerge, setting the stage for a coming storm.

If I said I haven’t been involved in the Praetoria War, does that make me a bad hero?

Power and Enhancement Upgrades

Blaster Upgrades:  Blasters receive a substantial increase to their damage and toughness. All Blaster secondary power sets now include a new element: Sustain. The Sustain attribute grants increased regeneration and recovery to upgrade to the following Blaster secondary powers; Touch of Fear, Blazing Aura, Chilling Embrace, Cloaking Device, Lightning Clasp, and Conserve Power. Blasters who already have these powers do not need to respec in order to benefit from Sustain. The attack range of some powerful Blaster attacks has also been doubled, while all Snipe powers can now be instantly fired under certain conditions.

My blasters will certainly enjoy this — instantsnipe (if you have a high enough to-hit bonus going) will be really keen on teams, where the build-up time for snipe powers is often difficult to make happen.

Having the short-range blasts become standard-range is pretty awesome, too. Sounds like it will be time for some respecs for Torchielle and Miss Crackle, among others.

Power Pool Customization: Players who have unlocked tailor access can now change the colors of their Ancillary, Patron, and Power pools, allowing customization of powers such as Super Speed, Hasten, and Soul Tentacles.

THANK YOU, JESUS!  Or whoever decided to prioritize this.  Assuming that I can actually choose “Minimal FX” for things like Hasten and Superspeed.

Power Pool Upgrades:  The Concealment, Fighting, Leadership, Medicine, and Presence pools have received an additional power each. They are trainable at level 14 if you own two other powers in that pool. Each power pool also has a new fifth power that can now persuade opponents to disregard a character, transform into an unrelenting berserker, or dramatically improve a team’s Endurance recovery.

Power Pools haven’t been touched since practically Day 1.  The changes that have been discussed (more details elsewhere) will also trigger some serious respecs, for all characters, I suspect.

Improved Enhancement Set Bonuses: Invention Origin Enhancement set bonuses, such as XP debt reduction and specific mesmerization/mental control resistances, have been replaced with more useful set bonuses. These new set bonuses provide more powerful resistance against a broader variety of damage.

That’s … probably good.  Though no doubt it will throw the markets into a tizzy for a month or three as people buy the new hot thing and decline to buy the old, not-quite-as-relatively-good thing.

New Invention Origin Sets: Four new Invention Origin Enhancement sets debut with Issue 24. Annihilation (targeted AoE), Unbreakable Guard (damage resistance), Reactive Defenses (defense), and Preventive Medicine (healing). These new sets all offer different and specific bonuses, such as decreasing an opponent’s resistance, increasing a character’s maximum hit points, improve resistances, and even granting an absorption shield.

More IO sets are definitely a good thing (see also, “markets in a tizzy”).

New VIP Bonuses

Martial Assault and Martial Combat (Free for VIPs): Dominators and Blasters can now combine ranged powers with melee martial arts attacks. Martial Assault combines ancient weapons with deadly physical attacks. It is available for all Dominators. Martial Combat focuses on using the energy within to perform remarkable feats. It is available for all Blasters.

As previously noted, blapper-tastic!

Actually, it should work well for a variety of purposes, as some blasters and doms just don’t need “powered” secondaries for their character concepts.  (I have several that have Energy as their secondary, simply for the “go away!” first level punch — which Martial Combat now has as well as other useful things.)

More Lore Incarnate Abilities (Free for VIPs): Level 50 Incarnates can now craft new Lore abilities that let them summon powerful members of the Banished Pantheon, Knives of Vengeance, Talons of Vengeance, or the Tsoo as allies in combat.

Still find the Level 50 Incarnate stuff confusing as hell (yes, what we need is another power / crafting system).  So no interest here, aside from thinking the above concept sounds cool.

New Incarnate Story Arc (Free for VIPs): The majority of Praetoria except for one last bit of civilization outside of the city has been destroyed. This tiny corner of civilization crumbles from constant attacks by the Devouring Earth, and its days are numbered unless someone with the power of an Incarnate fights against the forces of Hamidon! Characters who are ready for this great challenge can contact the Vanguard scientist Number Six in the Rikti War Zone.

Wait, what?

Oh, man, did I sleep through the world being destroyed again?

Have to wonder, what does this actually mean for Praetoria (as in “can I still run characters through Praetoria like before, or is that whole zone now gone?”).  I’ll have to ask the CoH G+ team on Friday …

New Tier 9 Tech Knight Costume Set (Exclusive to VIPs): Tier 9 VIP players in the Paragon Rewards program can unlock the new Tech Knight Costume Set. The Tech Knight costume set fuses cosmic energy and high-tech power, allowing players to create truly fantastic warriors for good or evil.

New costumes = always good.

New Stories and Adventures for All Levels

Kings Row in Crisis (Levels 7-20): With Galaxy City destroyed, the displaced and homeless flood into neighboring Kings Row to find shelter, work, and protection. The beleaguered Paragon Police Department already has its hands full, and the fallout is that the city’s gangs are thriving and enlarging their turf. Back Alley Brawler and the Regulators have put out a call for a new team of Heroes to stop the villainous gang members and to protect the refugees.

Good to see a new reason to go back to Kings Row.  Now if only the Hollows weren’t a ghost town …

The Giant Monster, Paladin, is also taking advantage of this chaos to try to destroy Kings Row. Paladin and his minions now rampage throughout High Park, seeking to claim it. The heroic Shining Stars stand up against Paladin’s mechanical might, but they need help from the Heroes to finish Paladin off.

Oooh … nice to see the Shining Stars mixing it up, plus some sort of way of duking it out with Paladin that doesn’t requiring finding a critical mass of heroes in KR?  Nice.

Brickstown’s New Alliances (Levels 30-50): The remnants of the Praetorian Army now work with the Vanguard in Brickstown. Forging an alliance of Praetorians and Heroes from Primal Earth, the Vanguard seeks to fight the emerging threats from both Praetoria and Primal Earth. All interested Heroes should contact Provost Marchand in Brickstown.

Hmmm. Okay, makes sense. Bricks is sort of a dumping ground at the moment, so giving it a new feel is worthwhile.  Wonder how that will work in conjunction with the Zig?

To add to that, the Praetorians are not the only issue to worry about in Brickstown. Prisoners have broken out of the Zig maximum security prison! In the new Prison Break zone event, Heroes have their hands full with stopping fugitive super-powered criminals from wreaking havoc throughout Brickstown.

Ha! Asked and answered.  This makes great sense, and sounds like it should be fun.

St. Martial’s Secrets (Levels 30-50): Arachnos has set up a portal to Praetoria with the intent to loot that devastated world. However, Villains have determined that they can slip into the war-ravaged land themselves to loot Praetoria before Arachnos does! What Villains discover in Praetoria surprises even them and may turn out to be something that helps their ongoing schemes in the Rogue Isles!

Adding to the mayhem in St. Martial’s is Family Raid, a new zone event. Longbow has discovered that the Family, a criminal organization, is holding illegal weapons throughout its casinos in St. Martial. Longbow is staging attacks to recover those weapons, but Villains with foresight can stop the attack and even steal the weapons for their own use!

Don’t have many active redside characters, but these sound like fun additional material.

All in all, a worthwhile Issue, I’d say.  Game on!

Participated in a Freedom Friday with Paragon on Google Plus today, and finally remembered to ask my favorite question.

* * *

Me: So … when will Level Pacts return? My wife and I do a lot of duoing in the game, and LPs made this a lot more fun (we could solo while the other was away, one of us could opportunistically hunt, etc., without worrying about getting out of sync with leveling).

We still have a number of toons from when LP was put in, and they function just fine. It’s just the ones before (and since) that it’s a problem with.

I understand there are some difficulties with it being abused, but surely there are some ways it could be restored on a restricted fashion. Though I’d also like to see it available at any level — I’d be willing to have my lvl 20 drop to lvl 18 to get pacted with someone at that level.
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City of Heroes Freedom: +Dave Hill : We’d really like to get level pacts working, but they’ll take some time to work out right, and we don’t have an ETA for it at the moment. Hopefully soon! I can understand your desire to have them back. We know they were really popular.

Me: +City of Heroes Freedom – Thanks, I’m glad to know they’re still on the map. Is the problem a technical one, or dealing with unintended (and abusable) consequences? I assume it’s the latter (since the existing LPs were allowed to continue), but it’s hard to believe the latter couldn’t be handled through some limits, cool-offs, etc. I’d rather have a reasonably limited way of doing it than not have it at all.

Je Saist: +Dave Hill: they were disabled, if memory serves, in order to prevent abuse of the pact-system by F2P players. There were also comments that Level Pacts were being envisioned as a VIP benefit only, and I also believe comments were made that the underlying leveling engine itself would need some work in order to isolate level-pacts to VIP’s only.

City of Heroes Freedom: +Dave Hill & +Je Saist : This is roughly correct, though I’m personally fuzzy on the details. I believe there were technical issues involved with level pacts when there were multiple tiers of players, and we need time to work these out so that a robust system can be created.

Me: Fair enough. I’m surprised it’s difficult to ID VIP (or F2P) players, but I’ve done enough development work in legacy systems to be not too surprised.

As I said, I’d settle for a less robust, basic system in the interim than one that’s as polished and powerful as we’d all like to see. But I also appreciate you guys wanting to do it once and do it right. As long as it’s on the docket, I’ll try to be patient. After all, its an excellent game even without it. 🙂

* * *

I certainly don’t know about CoX internals, but if there are “technical issues with level pacts when there were multiple tiers of players,” then simply don’t have those for the moment (if I understood completely what that means, of course) until it gets fixed.

Word is out on City of Heroes Issue 23 and the changes it brings.

The Praetorian War comes to a dramatic conclusion in Issue 23: Where Shadows Lie! The Heroes and Villains of Paragon City, still reeling from the deaths of the legendary Statesman and Sister Psyche, must rise to stop the ruthless Emperor Cole of Praetoria before his mad plans can shatter the dimensions.

New Zone: Night Ward

• A Realm of Magic: Dark forces hide in Night Ward, threatening to destroy the world. Night Ward is a Level 30-35 co-op zone where characters encounter strange magical allies and foes. This Praetorian zone is connected to First Ward, and is a realm trapped between the land of the living and the world of the dead.

I have to confess, I’ve not completed the First Ward zone stuff yet.  I’m enjoying it with our “Cow & Chicken” team, but not wildly so.

• New Mystical and Undead Enemies: Encounter the creatures of Night Ward: the Animus Arcana, sentient spells that crave power; Drudges, who seek to guide souls (living and dead) to the realm of the dead; and the Black Knights, who run the eternal prison that is the Night Ward. The powerful Arch-Villain Shadowhunter also prowls this realm with his deadly army of beasts.

Ooooh … I know what power set he took!

Blockbuster Conclusion to the Praetorian War

• The Magisterium Incarnate Trial: The dimensional war against Emperor Cole comes to a climax in the new Magisterium Incarnate Trial. You’ve defeated all of Emperor’s Cole’s lieutenants and strongholds, and will now use knowledge gained in taking down Diabolique in an epic showdown against the Well’s Champion to determine the fate of two worlds!

So … how will this change how Praetoria (and the Praetoria story arcs) all behave?  It’s one thing to pull Statesman out of Paragon … it’s quite another to pull Tyrant out of Praetoria.

Quality of Life Upgrades

• Improved Free Player Chat and Grouping: Now all players (VIP, premium, and free) can join a new serverwide Looking for Group chat channel that allows them to communicate freely with each other. Free and premium players can also now join Super Groups, regardless of their status in the Paragon Rewards program.

Yes. It’s about time.  Plus, they need to take the step off adding that channel to everyone’s coms.  Really.  Get the invite/LFT/LFM chat off of Broadcast and Help.

• Easy Portal Travel: The new Interdimensional Tunnel System makes getting from one world to another quick and easy. Get to outlying areas like Praetoria and the Shadow Shard easily with a quick dimension jump through conveniently located portals.

Once again, the devs realize that nobody likes traveling anywhere for longer than they need to.

“I remember the old days, when you’d arrive in Steel Canyon and jog downtown to level up … uphill both ways! … past level 50 mobs! … and like it!”

Kids these days.

New VIP Content and Benefits

• Signature Story Arc Series 2: “Pandora’s Box”: Both Heroes and Villains are being supercharged with new uncontrollable powers. Heroes team up with the remnants of the Freedom Phalanx to discover the secret menace behind the chaos, while Villains lay the groundwork for a new organization to rival the power of Arachnos.

The first SSA was pretty good. I look forward to more.

• New Mecha Armor Tier 9 Costume Set: The Mecha Armor costume set turns you into the sleek giant robot or high-tech warrior you’ve always dreamed of. Select from a new sword, rifle, backpack, and wings offered in this latest free costume set available only to VIP players as part of the Paragon Rewards program.
• New Chain Mail and Leather Armor Costume Set: All VIP players have access to the Chain Mail and Leather Armor costume set. Look the part of a crusading knight, yeoman archer, or a rowdy barbarian in this versatile set.

More costume pieces = good stuff.

• New Incarnate Powers: Level 50 VIP players can now unlock the Hybrid Incarnate Tree, which grants them new powers based on the core Archetypes in City of Heroes®. You can choose a style that shores up a weakness, or one that further strengthens existing abilities. The Assault Tree increases your damage, the Control Tree raises your ability to lock down foes, the Melee Tree increases your defense and status protection, and the Support Tree grants bonuses to you and your teammates.

I … guess that’s good.  We’ve done a little bit of Incarnate play with Psy-clone and Amorpha, and, damn, I really have no great desire to learn a whole new advancement/purchase mechanic.

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?

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.

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 …

Ooooh … aaaah …

Yeah, that looks like it might be a good time …

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.

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 …

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*

*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.

I actually got an invite to the Closed Beta (I presume the NDA on that is over), but only had limited time to play with it.  Now that the beta is open, some highlights to look forward to (below abridged from the official I19 page):

*     *     *

The Alpha Slot

Issue 19 unveils the long-awaited Alpha Slot*, the first part of the new Incarnate* system that gives high-level characters access to new powers and challenges. Unlocking the Alpha Slot is no easy task. Players must first learn what it means to exceed the definition of Hero or Villain to become an Incarnate. Mender Ramiel in Ouroboros guides players on this journey.

Note: you gotta have Ouroboros access.  If you don’t, you need to get it.

We did some of these missions (Psi-clone and Amorpha ride again!). They were fun enough, though it took me a while to get back into the Level 50 power set for him.

Two New Task Forces

Challenges already await new Incarnates. The Praetorians have begun their invasion of Primal Earth. Protecting Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™ from such overwhelming forces requires the greatest Heroes and Villains (as well as Rogues and Vigilantes) to work together. Two familiar faces will help in stopping the invasion: Apex and Tin Mage.

Didn’t play these, but they looked fun.

Praetoria Zone Events*

Live events in Praetoria in which your Resistance or Loyalist character can participate:

Good to add more content to Praetoria.

Fitness Pool Powers are Inherent

Fitness Pool powers are now inherent powers granted to all new and existing characters starting from Level 2. All characters will be granted Swift, Hurdle, Health, and Stamina. These powers can be slotted and will accept the appropriate Enhancements.

Existing characters with these powers selected via Pool Powers will be able to gain the powers they have not previously taken via the normal leveling process.  They will not gain access to any of the Inherent fitness powers until they Respec.

Upon using a Respec, the Fitness pool will not be selectable by the character and all 4 powers will be granted as Inherent Powers at level 2.  This prevents issues with lost enhancements or slot allocation errors.

I didn’t roll up any new toons under the Beta, so I don’t have a sense yet as to how much difference these inherents make.  I suspect they will scale down significantly, which will must mean a faster improvement curve up to where they were previously available.  Which is fine — convenient without being game-breaking.

Alternate Power Animations

Now players can customize the animation for some characters’ powers. Shoot a Psychic Blast or even launch a Fire Breath from your character’s hands. Hurl an attack from one or both hands. Select the animations and customize how a character fires off its powers at any Tailor.

The following powers have alternate animation choices:

Primary Sets: Dark Blast, Electric Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Radiation Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Sonic Attack, Mind Control.

Secondary Sets or Powers: Psionic Assault, Sonic Resonance, Icy Assault, Fiery Assault, Mental Manipulation, Energy Assault, Electricity Manipulation, Integration.

I’d love to see some alternatives to the Fire and Ice blades, personally, but these are all nice features.  I’ve never liked Fire Breath — except for the one toon (Torchielle) that used it a lot and for whom it made some sense.

Merged Monorails and Ferries: The Transit Authorities in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have made major improvements to the monorail and ferry system by merging their respective routes. All monorails can now travel to every monorail station on the Green and Yellow Line, while all ferries can now travel to every ferry station in the Rogue Isles.

This is very nice.  Being able to get to either end of Steel, regardless of where you are, or even to Atlas, even if you’ve already fired off one of the teleport powers (or if you’re not near a base) is all good.

One thing I really like about CoX (at least as a vet — I might feel different as a newbie) is that over time they have really gotten rid of the movement problem.  I remember the old days of jogging everywhere, at least until sometime in Steel.  Now, between jet packs and veteran teleports and auction house teleports and earlier access to travel powers and the enhanced trains and base teleports and Ouroborous … you can get to anywhere pretty darned quickly, pretty darned soon.

(Except the back corners of IP.  Lordy, I hate that zone.)

The other thing not mentioned here is that the trains all give you a zone level for each of the stops.  Looking for action in your level, or not sure if it’s safe yet to bop around in Talos? The trains are your guide.

*     *     *

A few other patch note items not included above:

Taking a cue from Praetoria, Nurses have been brought in to hospitals across Paragon City and the Rogue Isles to provide low-level inspiration to recently defeated players

Yes! Stock up on rezzes (or heals, or  break-frees, or whatever) after that darned defeat without having to find a contact to run back to. Huzzah!

Mobile hospital areas (similar the Hollows) have been added to Hazard and Trial zones across Paragon City and the Rogue Isles so that defeated players will respawn within the same zone

Task Force players will be infinitely grateful.

Players may now log out to character select.

• Menu -> Quit will now give the option to quit to Login Screen, Character Select, or Desktop.

Yes!  Having to login all the time to swap between toons was always silly.

Further on the monorails, etc.:

• Paragon City
  • Green and Yellow Line are now one monorail line. Players can access any zone with a monorail station from any other station. Steel Canyon and Skyway City have two stops.
  • Container ships to Striga Isle will now also connect between Talos Island and Independence Port.

A minor convenience on the container ship, but still nice.

The monorail window will now provide a notification next to a stop name if you have an available missions in that zone

The monorail line will now place missions that require players to board a train at the top of the window and sets these mission destinations off from all other stops

Both handy.

Overall, good stuff here.  I’m accumulating some stuff I want to play, esp. once NaNoWriMo is over.  I19 isn’t as huge a deal as some issues, but it’s a worthwhile enhancement to the game.

Info on the Test server here.

While not quite as whiz-bang as some expansions, I19 for CoX looks like it will have some fine features:

From the official overview page (abridged):

The Alpha Slot

Issue 19 unveils the long-awaited Alpha Slot*, the first part of the new Incarnate* system that gives high-level characters access to new powers and challenges.

[All the asterisked items require Going Rogue.  Which is kind of interesting, though I understand it from the perspective of the Praetorian activity they have tied into it.  Still, saying that you need GR in order to enhance your Level 50 will probably draw some fire.]

Unlocking the Alpha Slot is no easy task. Players must first learn what it means to exceed the definition of Hero or Villain to become an Incarnate. Mender Ramiel in Ouroboros guides players on this journey.

[From what I’ve read on the boards, there will be opportunities for soloists and small-groups (vs TF-sized groups) to do this.]

Two New Task Forces

Challenges already await new Incarnates. The Praetorians have begun their invasion of Primal Earth. Protecting Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™ from such overwhelming forces requires the greatest Heroes and Villains (as well as Rogues and Vigilantes) to work together. Two familiar faces will help in stopping the invasion: Apex and Tin Mage.

[It’s using the Praetorian invasion (great idea) that drives the GR requirement.]

New Auras

Issue 19 includes two free auras for all City of Heroes players. These auras are customizable.

Fireflies – Your character can be surrounded by glowing, tintable fireflies.

Snow – Celebrate winter and be showered by snow.

[Auras are always nice.]

Praetoria Zone Events*

Live events in Praetoria in which your Resistance or Loyalist character can participate:

[Okay, it took me a minute to realize that these are like the Events on the Hero and Villain side — Rikti invasions and Zombies and Ghost Ship and so forth. Good — Praetoria needed these.]

The Protest (Nova Praetoria): The angry citizens of Praetoria are staging a protest in Nova Praetoria. Will you join them or shut them down?

Syndicate Takedown (Imperial City): The PPD has found a cell of the Syndicate in the Agilecorp building. The two forces are at a standoff at the base of the building. If you hurry you can capture one of the Syndicate’s leaders.

The Great Escape (Neutropolis): One of the Failed Experiments has remained lucid and sane, and appears to have the ability to influence other Ghouls. Informants say he is eager to aid the Resistance in its war against the regime. Will you aid him in his escape? Or will you hunt him down now that he has escaped?

[And now for the announcement everyone’s been waiting for …]

Fitness Pool Powers are Inherent

Fitness Pool powers are now inherent powers granted to all new and existing characters starting from Level 2. All characters will be granted Swift, Hurdle, Health, and Stamina. These powers can be slotted and will accept the appropriate Enhancements.

Existing characters with these powers selected via Pool Powers will be able to gain the powers they have not previously taken via the normal leveling process.  They will not gain access to any of the Inherent fitness powers until they Respec.

Upon using a Respec, the Fitness pool will not be selectable by the character and all 4 powers will be granted as Inherent Powers at level 2.  This prevents issues with lost enhancements or slot allocation errors.

[I am guessing, of course, that everyone will get a Freespec with I19, just for this reason.

By the way, every Guide and Power Tracking Tool just shattered into a zillion pieces.

By the way, this is now TEH AWESOME.  Unless they scale back dramatically what the powers do without slotting (or maybe for level) to make up for the fact that everyone now is regenning Health and Endurance faster, running faster, and jumping further.]

Alternate Power Animations

Now players can customize the animation for some characters’ powers. Shoot a Psychic Blast or even launch a Fire Breath from your character’s hands. Hurl an attack from one or both hands. Select the animations and customize how a character fires off its powers at any Tailor.

[Another “minor” change, but still very cool. Except for my dragon character, the whole “fire breath” thing always seemed stupid.]

The following powers have alternate animation choices:

Primary Sets: Dark Blast, Electric Blast, Energy Blast, Fire Blast, Radiation Blast, Ice Blast, Psychic Blast, Sonic Attack, Mind Control.

Secondary Sets or Powers: Psionic Assault, Sonic Resonance, Icy Assault, Fiery Assault, Mental Manipulation, Energy Assault, Electricity Manipulation, Integration.

[If only we could get alternate forms for the various blades.  Never have liked the Fire blade powers.]

Primal Earth Characters Can Enter Praetoria

Non-Praetorians can journey to Praetoria* through Pocket D.

[Interesting. I wonder how the locals react.  And I guess this means that Praetorians can return.  Also, aside from touring, why would anyone go there — will there be missions that non-Praetorians can hook into, even if they are not immediately Resistance or Loyalist?  And how do they get out again (and is that route available to Praetorians)?]

More Tip and Morality Missions

All City of Heroes characters can play and enjoy more Tip missions, while City of Heroes Going Rogue™ characters can choose from more missions* that impact a character’s alignment.

Other Enhancements

New Badges: We’ve added new Exploration badges for hazard zones.

Merged Monorails and Ferries: The Transit Authorities in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have made major improvements to the monorail and ferry system by merging their respective routes. All monorails can now travel to every monorail station on the Green and Yellow Line, while all ferries can now travel to every ferry station in the Rogue Isles.

[That’s … I think that’s very cool.  Certainly, once, I would have thought it fabulous.  As it is now, though, it sort of makes any sort of street activity even less necessary than it once was, especially coupled with all the teleporting powers (Pocket D, Base Teleport, Action House teleport, the O, etc.).]

[Overall, a nice set of QoLs for I19, unless you’re dying for Level 50 TFs.  Not a lot for non-GR owners.  Not a huge amount of there there, but I’ll take it with a smile.]

One of the cool things about Praetoria is its constant propaganda war between the Loyalists (well, Cole and his government) and the Resistance.

Cole’s team goes for lots of big, Soviet-style posters festooning buildings and billboards.

The Resistance relies a lot more on graffiti and stencils down in the sewer system. I haven’t gotten as many of these as I’d like.

The propaganda art of Praetoria is not only decorative (both nicely crafted and even including some lovely textural details), but it tells a story. A serious graphic art win, so far as I’m concerned.