City of Villains – MMO Fallout

City of Heroes Free To Play Coming

Age of Conan isn’t the only game getting in the spotlight. City of Heroes is the first big name Superhero MMO, launching in 2004 and since spawning two expansion packs, twenty “issues” (big content updates), and countless holiday events. Despite the game’s obvious decline in subscribers as it has aged, City of Heroes has managed to survive the competition of Champions Online and the recently released DC Universe Online, while maintaining its level of income.

So imagine my surprise when NCSoft announced today that City of Heroes will go free to play. Free players will have access to heroes and villains up to level 50, with 45 zones of content, 8 archetypes over two characters, and 105 power sets. The veteran rewards program is being discontinued, instead VIP players will receive points for every month they are subscribed, which can be used to purchase the rewards previously found in the veterans program. Veteran reward points will be transferred over, even if you do not subscribe.

There will be a VIP only server, although the current 15 servers will remain intact. Free players will not have access to super groups (guilds), Whisper chat, in-game mail, posting on the forums, limited auction house, and of course queue priority and VIP server access. Free players will have to purchase access to the mission architect, inventions, purchase server transfers, and will not have access to in-game customer support.

Given the success of previous game (don’t forget the 1000% increase in revenue for Champions Online), there is only one way to spell this out for NCsoft: l-o-d-s of e-m-o-n-e, and what does that spell? Loadsa money!

…Probably…

City of Heroes: One World, One World List

City of Heroes is the original-man’s super hero MMO. Since the game’s release in 2004, City of Heroes has seen the addition of two expansion packs and nineteen “issues,” with numerous content updates in between. But that’s enough pushing the game up with information we all know, on to the juicy meat center of this article:

In a recent move, NCsoft announced that they are combining the North American and European services, to create one conglomerate of players under one service. The announcement can be found here, and details what effects this will have on players. NCsoft states that this move will allow better interaction with players on both continents, as well as improving gameplay for many (as both services will use the same live and beta builds), as well as decreasing the need for players who have both European and North American accounts.

This will offer all players 15 servers to choose from, eleven located in North America and four in Europe.

City of Heroes/Villains/Rogues Says Welcome Back, Weekend!

City of Heroes may be six years old, but NCsoft is still committed to keeping the old super geezer alive. Last month saw the release of the latest full expansion pack, Going Rogue, allowing both heroes and villains alike to grey in the lines between heroism and villainy. This past April brought in Ultra Mode, the brand new higher graphics settings, and numerous other free updates.

Paragon Studios wants you to enjoy City of Heroes for all of its splendor, with a welcome back weekend, and not only do they want you to enjoy Paragon’s new ultra mode, but the team is opening up Going Rogue for the weekend. As stated on the website, Going Rogue content is only accessible up until level 14, and your powersets will become unavailable after the weekend is over if you don’t own the expansion.

The welcome back weekend begins Thursday, October 7th, and continues until Sunday, October 10th at midnight Pacific time.

Champions Online Vs City of Heroes

When Champions Online launches this September, it will be the first in a line of superhero MMO’s looking to dethrone the current, and only, contender for the genre; City of Heroes/City of Villains. As there is no timeline for the Marvel MMO, and DC Universe Online isn’t giving us anything more specific than late 2009, early 2010, Champions Online will no doubt enjoy the leg up on the competition…As it tries to get a leg up on the current competition.

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