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mmo evolution
City Of Heroes To Unleash User-Created Content
NCsoft's City of Heroes is four years old, and having spent half a decade creating content for the superhero themed MMO, the developers are ready to hand the reigns over to you, the player. In his 'What a long, strange trip it's been' post on the game's forums, lead designer Matt Miller (Positron) reveals an upcoming feature for the game that will allow for player-created content on a level unheard of in an MMO.Similar in concept to our character creator, it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in. You'll be able to pick the map, villain group, and objectives, as well as write the dialog and any clues needed for the missions. When you are satisfied with it, you can upload it and have other players across all servers play it and rate it. Fame will come to the players whose stories rate the best overall.I'll pause while aspiring comic book writers all over the world apply a moist towelette to their nether regions. More »
city of heroes
City of Heroes Gets Optional In-Game Ads
All those billboards in City of Heroes are about to get much more familiar looking. NCsoft and Double Fusion have teamed up to start placing real world ads on their in-game billboards, the companies announced today. The good news is that the in-game advertising will be entirely opt-in, meaning that if gamers don't like it or want it they can just turn it off and it won't effect them one bit.
"City of Heroes is a key property for NCsoft and we take great care to grow and nurture our player community," said Brian Clayton, General Manager of NCsoft's Northern California studio. "We are pleased to work with Double Fusion on City of Heroes, as they have demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of our community and fundamentally understand how advertising can bring value to the players when executed gracefully, and in the appropriate context. In addition to allowing any of our players to opt-out if they so choose, their flexible technology will not only allow us to bring brand messages into the game but also provide a fun, new platform for displaying player-created materials."
NCsoft and Double Fusion make the common argument that the real world ads will add a level of realism to the game, but by allowing players to decide on their own whether that's really true they seem to be putting their money where their mouth is. NCsoft added that they will "dedicate all advertising dollars it earns to fund further game development for the online title."
I'm still not a fan of in-game advertising, but leaving the control in the hands of the players is a HUGE step forward. Dumping their earnings into further development is also a big plus.
The ads will go live sometime this summer, according to NCsoft NorCal GM Brian Clayton and the billboards can also be used to display player created content like, say, a picture of the top character in the game, which is kinda cool.
Bringing Optional In-Game Ads to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles [City of Heroes]
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cryptic studios
City of Heroes Devs Rumored To Take Over Star Trek Online
The troubled development history of Star Trek Online may have gotten a shot in the arm, now that the MMO is rumored to be in development at Cryptic Studios. While rumored cancellation of Marvel Universe Online isn't exactly the best (still unconfirmed) news for the developer, having someone work on Star Trek Online is better than no one. w00t Studios says it has anonymous sources pointing to the new home of STO, who recently sold off rights to City of Heroes to owner NCsoft, who in turn created a new subsidiary with Cryptic staffers at its core. Frankly, I'm starting the whole swirling of intellectual properties and people a bit dizzying. Someone replicate me a hypospray.
RED ALERT! CAPTAIN EMMERT TO THE BRIDGE! [w00tStudios - thanks, Mike!]
pc gaming
What is NCsoft Up To?
Lineage, City of Heroes and Guild Wars publisher is staying hush hush about its upcoming project. Rumors started circulating last week when it was noticed that NCsoft Europe was hiring and had put a buncha concept art on its website. As MMO site Massively points out, the concept art has a mystical-meet-militaristic vibe to it. NCsoft Europe is looking for a bunch of new recruits, so this could be part of the company's Sony deal to bring online games to the PS3 and the PSP. When asked what it was up to, NCsoft Europe replied, "No comment." Figures.NCsoft Europe's New Project [Videogamer.com]
charity
Be a Character in Tabula Rasa, Help Child's Play
The folks over at NCSoft have amassed quite an interesting collection of eBay auctions for Child's Play this year. The auctions, which will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Child's Play, includes signed copies of games and posters, rare finds and, the best one, having a Tabula Rasa NPC named after you.
City of Heroes Poster Signed by Dev Team Signed City of Villains Collectors Edition City of Villains Lord Recluse Statue Tabula Rasa Signed Game & Bonuses Tabula Rasa Signed Game & Bonuses Tabula Rasa NPC Named After You!
So far the auctions are up to more than $2500, but NCSoft is hopping to hit twice that figure, so get to the link below to find the auction of your choice and get to bidding/donating.
Help Child's Play [NCSoft]
clips
City of Heroes - A Message From The Future
city of heroes
NCsoft Thanks Players With CoH Goodness
Yesterday NCsoft announced the purchase of full ownership of the City of Heroes games, and now they're thanking fans for their support in a big way. Since City of Villains release, players have had to purchase both in order to play for the other team, but now NCsoft has unlocked both sides for everyone! Players who only had access to one faction from now on have both. Neat! Other incentives include a complete debt wipe after the launch of the Episode 11: A Stitch In Time update, along with a Supergroup prestige bonus of 20,000 per character, amounting to up to 3,000,000. That's relatively insane. Finally they've announced that all players named Michael Fahey get to play the game for free forever, with the exception of Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, who gets more search results in Google than I do. Okay, that last one might have been a lie, but still! NCsoft loves their City of players!
industry news
NCsoft likes City of Heroes so much, it bought the IP! Formerly the joint property of NCsoft and developer Cryptic Studios, NCsoft has assumed full ownership of the game and its villainous counterpart. As part of a push to further develop City of Heroes, the company has also announced the formation of a new studio in Mountain View California dedicated to the title, centered around key members of the Cryptic and NCsoft City teams.
NCsoft Acquires City Of Heroes, Creates New Studio
NCsoft likes City of Heroes so much, it bought the IP! Formerly the joint property of NCsoft and developer Cryptic Studios, NCsoft has assumed full ownership of the game and its villainous counterpart. As part of a push to further develop City of Heroes, the company has also announced the formation of a new studio in Mountain View California dedicated to the title, centered around key members of the Cryptic and NCsoft City teams. Matt Miller, Lead Designer on the City of Heroes project and formerly with Cryptic Studios said, "We're thrilled to be bringing the CoH franchise to the next level. And we couldn't be more pleased to be working completely under the NCsoft banner. We feel that City of Heroes' best days are in front of it."This of course leaves Cryptic free to work on their ambitious Marvel super hero MMO without having to worry about that giant conflict of interest. More »
city of heroes
NCSoft has announced the latest free expansion for the City of Heroes and City of Villains MMORPG, and along with new power sets, new inventions, and the long-awaited ability to customize your weapons to suit your character's style, guys both good and bad will get a chance to journey back through time and experience the history of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. The update will introduce the Menders of Ouroboros, a mysterious organization with the power to send characters back through time to experience epic struggles that shaped the City of universe into what it is today. As well as historical missions, the Ouroboros system will let players experience story arcs they might have missed on the first go-round, automatically powering down your character to the appropriate level. Neat! More details on Ouroboros as well as the new power sets, Dual Blades and Willpower, after a brief message from our gallery.
Time Travel Comes To Paragon City
NCSoft has announced the latest free expansion for the City of Heroes and City of Villains MMORPG, and along with new power sets, new inventions, and the long-awaited ability to customize your weapons to suit your character's style, guys both good and bad will get a chance to journey back through time and experience the history of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. The update will introduce the Menders of Ouroboros, a mysterious organization with the power to send characters back through time to experience epic struggles that shaped the City of universe into what it is today. As well as historical missions, the Ouroboros system will let players experience story arcs they might have missed on the first go-round, automatically powering down your character to the appropriate level. Neat! More details on Ouroboros as well as the new power sets, Dual Blades and Willpower, after a brief message from our gallery. 
crime
Correction's Officer Brags About Brutality On CoH Forums
One Portland Oregon corrections officer is in desperate need of correction, if his posts on the City of Heroes forums are to be believed. In a piece for the Portland Tribune, reporter Nick Bundick exposes the forum postings of David B. Thompson, which range from musings on the joy of tasering people to outright bragging about brutally beating a prisoner and then charging him for attacking him.He also wrote, "I crushed a dude's eye socket from repeatedly punching him in it, then I charged him with menacing and harassment (of me)." Trafalgar then added, "he took a plea to get away from me. He shoulda picked somebody else to try and fight."The article contains multiple links to CoH forum posts by Thompson, who reportedly only accesses the forums from his work PC, where he has posted 1,738 messages since January. More »
mmo rip
Auto Assault To Die Gruesome Death Tonight
As we reported back in June, NetDevil's vehicular combat MMO Auto Assault is closing its virtual garage doors forever. In just a few hours from now, the MMO will be nothing more than a memory for its fans. The NCsoft team promises a "wild, crazy event tonight" and hints at some nice bonuses for those who log on for one last hurrah. Some lucky Auto Assault players will even receive a "parting gift" that will include a chance to play other NCsoft titles such as Tabula Rasa and City of Heroes. Not a bad way to see off a friend.
Festivities kick off at 9 PM Central Time, ending at midnight, and are scheduled to include "all sorts of nutty things." Have fun, guys. Rest in peace, Auto Assault.
Auto Assault News [Official Site]
adapted
City of Heroes Coming To Big Screen, Small Screen
MMORPG City of Heroes looks to be next on the Hollywood chopping block. Transformers and X-Men producer Tom DeSanto has snagged the game's rights with plans to turn it into a feature film and later a television series. The movie will be set during the Rikti Invasion, which happened a few years before the game begins. As tipster Kelp Plankton points out, this makes the case for the film being based on the unrealized and cancelled third City of Heroes book. So a flick and a TV show, huh? They've doubled the odds for cruddy Heroes live-action adaptations. But, DeSanto's produced some good films, so maybe this will all work out. He's just got to find a savy director. More »
city of heroes
Happy Birthday, City of Heroes
This weekend, City of Heroes, the comic book super hero based MMO celebrated three years of saving the earth from certain destruction. The thriving community boasts over twenty four million user created characters with more than half of those reaching the game's top tier of Level 50. More »
gdc07
GDC 07: City of Heroes Issue 9
I have nothing but respect for City of Heroes lead designer Matt Miller and world designer Mellissa Bianco, who had to play opening act for the legendary Richard Garriott at NCSoft's presentation yesterday, where they were detailing the upcoming Issue 9: Breakthrough update for City of Heroes and Villains. The most compelling features included in the update are the introduction of the invention system and player auction houses to the game, adding a new layer of depth to the game that players (like me) have been clamoring for since launch. More »
city of heroes
Gallery: City of Heroes Statesman's Task Force
NCsoft has released screenshots of the new Statesman's Task Force mission to be included in the Issue 9 'Breakthrough' update. It's the CoH answer to the City of Villains Lord Recluse Strike Force, where the bad guys took down the signature good guys from the game series. Looking over these screens makes me really wish I had stuck with the game long enough to be able to enjoy the new content once it hits. Looks like the players that stuck with it are in for some truly epic encounters. More »
city of heroes
City of Heroes Update 9 Details
NCSoft Europe has announced their latest free patch, issue 9 in the continuing saga of City of Heroes / Villains. Entitled 'Breakthrough', the patch will introduce the Invention System, with which heroes and villains will be able to use recipes and salvage to create new gadgets, costume bits, powers, and more. CoH finally gets crafting! Finally something for those people who always wanted to play the Tinkerer or Forge from the X-Men.And what are marketable items without a marketplace to sell them? Also coming in the patch are player auction houses, which take the form of shops for the heroes and black-market trucks for the villains. More »
city of heroes
