City of Heroes
Encyclopedia
City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game
based on the superhero
comic book
genre
, developed by Cryptic Studios
and published by NCsoft
. The game was launched in North America
on April 27, 2004 and in Europe (by NCsoft Europe) on February 4, 2005 with English
, German
and French language
servers. Twenty-one free major updates for City of Heroes have been released since its launch. The newest update, "Convergence", was released on September 13, 2011.
In the game, players create super-powered player character
s that can team up with others to complete missions and fight criminals belonging to various gangs and organizations in the fictional Paragon City.
On October 31, 2005, the game's first sequel, City of Villains
(CoV), was launched, allowing players to play as supervillain
s. Initially dubbed as an "Expanshalone" by the developers (a portmanteau of an expansion pack
and stand-alone), the game did not require CoH to run, but if the user had both games, content was added to the CoH side of game play. On July 16, 2008, NCsoft merged the two games' content together, thus a player who only owned City of Heroes could now play City of Villains, and vice versa. Prior to this, a purchase was required to access either game's content, but they were linked by one account and subscription fee.
On November 6, 2007, NCsoft announced their purchase of the CoH/CoV intellectual property
and transitioned the staff from Cryptic Studios to a new location in Mountain View, CA to continue development of the game. The new studio on April 14, 2009, became Paragon Studios
, which shares credit with Cryptic Studios for the development work. This then led to City of Heroes becoming available for download on Steam, along with other NCsoft titles, on April 22, 2009.
On October 30, 2008, NCsoft announced a partnership with Transgaming Technologies
in order to bring both City of Heroes and City of Villains and all 13 expansions to Mac OS X
.
The expansion City of Heroes: Going Rogues future release was announced on May 11, 2009. The game centers on the alternate reality of Praetoria and features a new alignment system allowing players characters to shift allegiances between Heroes and Villains, giving characters access to both the Paragon City of CoH and the Rogue Isles of CoV. Paragon Studios describes this as "[exploring] the shades of gray that lay between Heroes and Villains". Going Rogue was released on August 17, 2010, with pre-purchasers able to play on August 16.
On June 20, 2011, Paragon Studios announced that they were going to switch to a hybrid subscription model called City of Heroes: Freedom, adding in a free gameplay model, as well as special models for former subscribers termed Premium Players, and current subscribers become VIP players, who will gain access to all of the content in the various upcoming game updates.
, then primary and secondary power sets, then design a unique costume. In the final character creation screen, players can optionally write a backstory or description and battle cry for their hero, as well as choose a name. The name may be changed at a later time for a one-time charge, and the description and battle cry may be changed at any time. There is an automatic check to make sure the name is exclusive on that server.
Characters may begin in an isolated tutorial
zone, or skip the tutorial and begin in an open low level zone. A character's level increases by earning experience points from defeating foes, completing missions, and exploring zones, then returning to a trainer. Benefits for rising in level include more health, more powers, more slots to allocate enhancements to powers, and larger inventories.
The primary setting of the game, Paragon City, is divided into different zones by giant energy "war walls." Especially dangerous zones called "hazard" or "trial" zones, which teem with large groups of enemies, are marked in red on the in-game map and are much more dangerous than normal zones. The villain's setting, the Rogue Isles, consists of islands connected by a network of ferries. A few zones are accessible to both heroes and villains; some are cooperative zones, while others are player versus player (PvP) zones.
Players initially move around the zones by slowly jogging or using a minor speed-increasing power such as "Sprint". As heroes grow in level and accumulate more powers, they may choose among four higher speed traveling powers: Teleportation, Super Speed, Super Jumping, and Flight.
As characters level-up, players may choose new powers from the character's primary and secondary power sets, as set during creation, or from shared power pools. The power pools contain the four travel powers and other generic, usually utilitarian, powers that fall under categories such as: Fitness, Concealment, and Leadership. In addition, as characters level up, they gain access to new costume features, including the ability to change between up to five costumes and unlockable costume parts such as capes and auras.
Missions
are obtained through various channels. Missions are typically staged on private instances accessible only to the mission holder's team by entering a door in a zone, and may require defeating a boss
, escorting NPCs, or finding a particular clue or item. The level of enemies, and number of enemies per spawn, are set according to the team size, level of the mission holder, and difficulty setting of the mission holder. Some story arcs will emerge during the missions, with mission sequences forming a larger story. Once outside of a mission, a player reappears at a door or location in a zone which is accessible to any player on the server.
For committed players, there are other types of activities are available—task forces for heroes, strike forces for villains, and trials. These activities forbid adding new members to the team once started, and so consist of a series of linked missions that must be run till completion by the same team. Certain trials reward players with an opportunity to respecify
their characters by choosing a different complement of superpowers within their selected power sets, and reallocating enhancement slots. Two types of Raids are available to Heroes and Villains: Rikti Mothership (in a shared zone for both Hero and Villain participants), and Hamidon (separate Hero and Villain locations), which encourage teamwork across multiple teams of players.
Team play is a large part of City of Heroes. Players can form supergroups
reminiscent of classic comic book
groups such as the X-Men
or Justice League of America. Also, a system called "Sidekicking/Lackeying" or "Exemplaring/Malefactoring" makes all players on the team either 1 level lower than the team leader or mission holder (if they are a lower level) or the same level (if they are a higher level). Exemplared/Malefactored characters still earn experience and have access to all powers up to 5 levels above their temporarily lower level. Characters may also make leveling pacts under which the characters receive experience points equally whether online or offline, maintaining the characters at the same level.
Other game features include auction houses and crafting inventions to make characters more powerful. The Architect release gives players the ability to construct custom mission arcs, with customized villains and layouts that can then be played by all other players. Going Rogue (an optional expansion pack) allows players to switch which side their character fights on using Tip Missions collected from defeated villains.
There are five origins a player can choose for his/her character that dictate what type of enhancements the character may use, affect which single short-ranged power they begin with (in addition to powers obtained from their primary and secondary power sets), and can influence the various villain groups that the character goes up against; these origins are Natural, Magic, Science, Mutation, and Technology.
There are five basic hero archetypes, which affect a character's power choices and team role throughout the game. Blasters are versatile damage dealers, capable of fighting at short or long range against one or many opponents. Controllers are adept at preventing enemies from moving or acting. Defenders turn the tide of battle with weakening attacks (debuffs) and ally strengthening powers (buffs). Scrappers are melee fighters with a greater chance of critical hits against tough opponents such as bosses. Tankers possess great defenses and the ability to take hits for the team.
There are also five basic villain archetypes. Brutes deal increasing damage as they attack or are themselves attacked. Corruptors can cause damage at range, with high chance for critical hits against wounded targets. Dominators assail enemies with status effects and direct damage. Masterminds summon, upgrade, and control combat pets. Stalkers are stealthy fighters, dealing critical hits when hidden or when accompanied by a team.
There are also two shapeshifting hero archetypes which are unlocked after attaining level 20 (level 50 prior to Issue 17) with a hero. Peacebringers are peaceful symbiotic aliens that have light based powers. Warshades are warlike symbiotes that are normally enemies to the Peacebringers but have reformed their evil ways. Both archetypes are capable of shapeshifting into a more offensive or more defensive form. The villain side mirrors this, with two branching villain archetypes which are unlocked after attaining level 20 (also level 50 prior to Issue 17) with a villain - both are rank-and-file soldiers for the villainous group Arachnos attempting to make a name for themselves, each with two distinct specializations.
Issue 9 brought the Invention system to the game, which allows characters to combine salvage and recipes to create various goods. Invented enhancements can provide better bonuses than normal enhancements, including set bonuses for slotting invented enhancements from the same set into the same power. Costume pieces and limited-use temporary powers can also be invented.
In addition to these, there are also collectible badges for players to obtain. Gained for performing various actions in game, such as: moving over specific places in each zone, defeating certain numbers of enemies, healing allies, and taking damage, most serve no functional purpose for players, except to provide characters with tag lines under their character names. However, some few, called "Accolades" give players access to temporary powers and permanent bonuses to health and endurance (the game's equivalent to mana or magic points) and are gained by collecting other badges.
Players also have the option of purchasing (outside of the game) additional items known as "Booster Packs", which currently include a permanent Wedding-themed expansion for costumes and emotes (actions), a 30 day Jet Pack temporary power, valkyrie themed costume items, and regular Booster Pack releases based on Player Origins available in-game (See "Updates and history" below).
in the United States
. The city itself is divided into several smaller neighborhoods that have varying villains and progressively higher levels of villains within them. The arbitrary divisions between zones are explained by the presence of "War Walls", powerful forcefields derived from alien technology which are used to defend various areas of the city. Heroes set out by dealing with low-powered street gangs in the initial zones, working their way up to fighting increasingly dangerous threats—such as organised crime, corrupt corporations, hostile aliens and supernatural terrors—even eventually entering other dimensions to fight supremely powerful villains.
In addition to the above, there is also a "Mini-Booster" pack for the purchase of an in-game jetpack for 30 days of real time. As of August 30th, 2011 Booster Packs are no longer available for sale on the NCSoft website. The individual costume pieces and powers will be sold separately in the in-game store when City of Heroes: Freedom is released.
As of August 30th, 2011 Virtual item packs are no longer available for sale on the NCSoft website. The individual costume pieces and powers are available through the in-game store.
n and Europe
an holidays and observances, starting with Halloween
in 2004, followed by a Winter
Event (eventually becoming a primarily Christmas
-themed event), and the newest holiday observance, a Valentine's Day
event. Recent changes to holiday events include the addition of a Zombie Apocalypse world event during Halloween, and a Ski Slope inside of Pocket D during the Holidays. Holiday events grant commemorative badges upon signing in during the event, and have earnable themed badges by participating in the in-game events.
n open beta of City of Heroes, entitled City of Hero , was launched on January 18, 2006. However, the game's official release was cancelled. The Korean CoH team directed its players to a coupon for an account on the US servers as compensation.
hailed the game saying "City of Heroes blows a super powered gust of fresh air into an increasingly stale sword-and-sorcery MMO world" in August 2004. PC Gamer
, Game Informer
, GameSpy
and several other industry magazines critically acclaimed City of Heroes for its foray into the superhero genre and gave the game top or near top scores across the board.
GameSpy went on to say that City of Heroes has the most flexible character creator to date of any MMORPG (in particular the costume design system allows for a huge variety of sizes, colors, clothing types and other bells and whistles) and has consistently given the update issues high marks. The launch of City of Heroes was widely reported as one of the most successful MMOG launches in the history of the industry.
Recently, praise was given from IGN
, The Escapist
, and Allakhazam
for the release of Issue 14: Architect, which added Mission Creation capabilities. Paragon Studios produced "City of Heroes: Architect Edition", and re-released the game to Retail Stores in April 2009 containing the PC and Macintosh Versions and a free choice between either Super Booster I: Cyborg or Super Booster II: Magic.
Since Issue 9, City of Heroes allows players to participate in Open Beta testing of the upcoming Issue Releases on their own Training Room Server. There is also a Closed Beta test before that which allows players who are invited specifically by the Developer Team to try out the new issues features under a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
The City of Heroes Development and Moderation Team organizes regular appearances at popular conventions to meet players face-to-face, as well as organizing Meet & Greet events of their own. They held their first annual convention, "HeroCon", in Santa Clara, CA from October 17-19th, 2008. The second annual event was held from October 23 to October 25, 2009, and attendees were given a sneak preview of the Going Rogue expansion.
, Cryptic announced on October 10, 2005 that effective October 24, 2005, accounts which had been unpaid and inactive for 90 days would have the names of any characters on the account under level 35 flagged as unreserved, allowing new players to use that name. The character itself was left untouched, and a player who lost his character's name was given the option to choose a new one. This policy was suspended on May 4, 2006, because Cryptic's data-mining had shown that very few names were being taken in this fashion anymore; Cryptic said 30 days' notice would be given prior to future changes to the name policy. On July 31, 2007, Cryptic announced that the name policy would go back into effect as of August 29, 2007, but this time, it would apply only to characters under level 6, instead of the previous 35.
ED imposed a point of sharply diminished returns on how far each individual aspect of each power could be improved. Prior to ED, a player could focus all enhancements on only one of a power's aspects and receive fully cumulative benefits. Cryptic's stated reason behind ED was "to promote the use of more different types of Enhancements in powers". Critics derided ED for its universal reduction of the maximum possible effectiveness of all characters, making it a global nerf
; that many defensive powers had now been significantly weakened for two Issues in a row, frustrating especially those who specialize in such powers and invalidated many of their existing tactics; that some powers cannot legally or usefully accept more than one type of Enhancement and thus cannot be "diversified"; that it was deceitful to enact such a severe change less than a month after officially announcing "we’ve finished making large changes to the power sets"; and that ED was too fundamental a change to implement so long after the original launch. Some, but not all, of the negative effects of Enhancement Diversification were negated with the release of the Invention system in Issue 9, allowing players to create one enhancement that affects multiple statistics at once with bonuses for a full set that would affect global (across all powers) statistics thus allowing powers to increase a given statistic beyond the point of diminishing returns, while still honoring the limits created with ED during Issue 6.
s, players must subscribe to City of Heroes by paying the publisher (NCsoft) a monthly fee to continue playing City of Heroes. Portions of the subscription costs go to supporting a full-time "live" team, which develops additional content for the game; other portions support the significant server maintenance and bandwidth costs. The subscription fee after Issue 6 covered play in either of the games in the "City of" franchise or both of them at once for the same cost, however, since merging the titles in 2008 this became a moot point as any player of one of the games could access the opposite game without purchasing it.
Continuing active subscriptions are also entitled to "Veteran Rewards". The system rewards players with costume pieces, extra powers, supergroup base items, respec opportunities, and other minor in-game perks to all characters (both hero and villain characters) on any server tied to the active subscription. Inactive accounts do not accrue time for Veteran Rewards.
Since 2009, players considering City of Heroes can sign up for a 14-day trial key without subscribing to the game, without receiving an in-game referral or using a credit card. Certain features, such as chat, trade, membership in groups, and leveling up are restricted to prevent exploitative players/groups from using trial accounts to further Real Money Trade activities that NCSoft prohibits in-game. After 14 days expire, a trial player would need to buy the game and subscribe for further months to continue their play.
As of September 2008, City of Heroes had around 124,939 subscribers in the US & Europe, according to financial reports released by NCsoft in November 2008.
On June 20, 2011, City of Heroes announced the City of Heroes: Freedom subscription model, which was implemented in September 2011. The servers are free-to-play, with limitations on what Free players can access. Players who have had subscriptions lapse will become Premium players, and will have access to everything they used to have, but will be limited to what they will access in the games' future updates unless they sign up for a VIP subscription. The VIP subscription adds free access to the Going Rogue game content, and a monthly VIP Rewards system (as opposed to the quarterly releases of the Veteran Rewards). There will also be an in-game shop where all players can purchase points to purchase expansions to the game; VIP subscribers will be given a monthly stipend of these points at no extra charge.
, was published by CDS Books (an imprint of the Perseus Publishing Group) in October 2005. The novel chronicles the back stories of the Statesman and Lord Recluse, the central iconic characters in the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises. A second novel, The Freedom Phalanx, written by Robin Laws
, was released in May 2006 and detailed the reformation of the hero team the Freedom Phalanx in the 1980s. The story centers on the fledgling heroes Positron and Synapse, but also includes Manticore, Sister Psyche, and Statesman. The book's villains include Lord Recluse, Doctor Null, Shadow Queen, and Revenant. Artist George Pérez
provides the covers for the first two novels, as well as lending his name to one of the early areas of the game itself, Pérez Park. A third novel, The Rikti War, was announced by CDS at the time the first novel was published, with an August 2006 scheduled release date. Authors Paul S. Kemp and Shane Hensley have been attached to the project at various times. The book was reportedly going to cover the epic transdimensional war between Earth and the Rikti home world, however a post on the official message boards containing a message supposedly from Kemp states that the "novel is not to be and [he] must leave it at that. "Developer Sean Michael Fish (Manticore) has recently stated that CDS will no longer be publishing books for CoH, and The Rikti War may or may not be published.
also worked with CoH to create a collectible card game
featuring characters from the game, as well as several original characters. The game's website also allows players to create a game-compliant card for their own online character. This card game is now discontinued.
to create an RPG
based on the MMORPG
. While a free preview version of the game was released, the game has been indefinitely delayed
due to the cancellation license with Fox
on their Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel roleplaying-games
. Pages on the game have since been removed from the main Eden Studios site and its discussion forums.
, had acquired the option to make movies and television shows based on the City of Heroes franchise. In February 2008, it was announced that DeSanto has indeed begun preparations for the film. A plot summary has been released detailing that the movie itself takes place during the first Rikti War.
filed a lawsuit
against City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios, publisher NCsoft, and game administrator NC Interactive (NCI), alleging that the game not only allowed, but actively promoted, the creation of characters who infringe copyrights and trademarks owned by Marvel. The suit sought unspecified damages and an injunction halting further sales and shutting down the game.
The game includes in its User agreement strong language against such activity, however. It forbids the creation of potentially infringing characters, and NCI has been known to delete or rename such characters. The User Agreement additionally holds players accountable to indemnify (reimburse) NCI and its affiliates against third-party infringement claims, and demands either a granting of sole ownership in player created content, including characters, to NCI, or a warranty that a third party owner of the rights in player created content has made such a grant. It is unclear whether this grant is an exclusive assignment
or a non-exclusive license
, however.
The defendants replied that the lawsuit was frivolous, and while many intellectual property
analysts agreed, others noted that trademark law is structured such that, if Marvel believes their marks are being infringed upon, they have little choice but to file a lawsuit, regardless of its outcome, to preserve the strength of the marks. At least one noted similarities to Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., a case in which a company that ran a flea market
was successfully sued over intellectual property
infringement because a vendor had been selling bootlegged
records at that flea market. Although Cherry Auction had not been directly selling the infringing items, the court found that it was vicariously or contributorally liable for the infringement.
Marvel subsequently admitted that some of the allegedly infringing characters cited in the complaint
had been created by Marvel's own investigators. In March 2005, the court struck those exhibits from the complaint. The court also dismissed with prejudice some of Marvel's claims. The dismissed claims included all indirect trademark infringement
counts, because Marvel had not pled
commercial use of Marvel's marks by the game's players. Commercial use is a required element of infringement under American trademark statutes.
On December 12, 2005, all remaining claims were settled under undisclosed terms. The game's operators asserted that the settlement did not require changes to the character creation engine.
Despite the recent litigation, in October 2006 Marvel Comics
selected Cryptic Studios to develop its own superhero MMORPG for Windows Vista
and Xbox Live
, titled Marvel Universe Online
. The news of the alliance led to a surprised reaction from players, but developer Matt "Positron" Miller assured fans on Cryptic's official website that development and maintenance would continue separately on both games , proved later by the complete split between City of Heroes and Cryptic Studios. Marvel Universe Online was eventually cancelled by Microsoft.
without concerns of conflict of interest.
Shortly after having acquired full ownership of the property, NCsoft granted all existing and former City of Heroes account holders access to both games (City of Heroes & City of Villains). This allowed all Hero players access to Superbases, which initially required a CoV purchase from its release in Issue 7 until Issue 10, and is no longer required as of Issue 11. Before the purchase, NCsoft allowed players with a subscription or a time card for City of Heroes to have the same access to City of Villains as well (at its lowest price point, $14.99 covered access to both titles for a month), whether or not they had purchased the other title. This is still being honored after all accounts who had only City of Heroes received access to City of Villains for free. In a July 2008 press release, NCsoft announced the successful completion of allowing all copies of City of Heroes or City of Villains to access the other game (it claimed that Single Title Retail Boxes recently purchased did not successfully unlock the other game when activated).
On April 14, 2009, NCsoft NorCal formally changed its name to Paragon Studios
to become a fully owned developer subsidiary of NCsoft
(similar to Destination Games
and ArenaNet
) dedicated to City of Heroes. Paragon Studios is credited alongside with Cryptic Studios on the website and NCsoft websites for development of the game.
for City of Heroes is the web board found at boards.cityofheroes.com. This web board is run by NCsoft themselves, and frequented by various developers
and customer service
representatives (referred to by site regulars as "red names" because their usernames are highlighted in red on their forum posts) as well as players. There are forums devoted to announcements, general issues, player guides, questions, suggestions, each archetype, each of the game servers, and other topics.
The European version of City of Heroes previously had its own separate web board, but with the forum migration to VBulletin, all players now use the same forums.
portal on its official site. When operative, any person may create a fan site and submit it to NCsoft for publication on the portal, pending review to ensure that the site meets with the guidelines for a fan site submission.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
based on the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, developed by Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios
Cryptic Studios, a wholly owned Perfect World subsidiary, is a small American massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer headquartered in Los Gatos, California.-History:...
and published by NCsoft
NCsoft
NCsoft is a South Korea-based online video game company, which has published massively multiplayer online role-playing games including Lineage, City of Heroes, Wildstar, Exteel, Guild Wars and Aion.-History:...
. The game was launched in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on April 27, 2004 and in Europe (by NCsoft Europe) on February 4, 2005 with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
servers. Twenty-one free major updates for City of Heroes have been released since its launch. The newest update, "Convergence", was released on September 13, 2011.
In the game, players create super-powered player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s that can team up with others to complete missions and fight criminals belonging to various gangs and organizations in the fictional Paragon City.
On October 31, 2005, the game's first sequel, City of Villains
City of Villains
City of Villains is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. Released on October 31, 2005 , the game is integrated with their previous release, City of Heroes...
(CoV), was launched, allowing players to play as supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s. Initially dubbed as an "Expanshalone" by the developers (a portmanteau of an expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
and stand-alone), the game did not require CoH to run, but if the user had both games, content was added to the CoH side of game play. On July 16, 2008, NCsoft merged the two games' content together, thus a player who only owned City of Heroes could now play City of Villains, and vice versa. Prior to this, a purchase was required to access either game's content, but they were linked by one account and subscription fee.
On November 6, 2007, NCsoft announced their purchase of the CoH/CoV intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and transitioned the staff from Cryptic Studios to a new location in Mountain View, CA to continue development of the game. The new studio on April 14, 2009, became Paragon Studios
Paragon Studios
Paragon Studios is a computer game developer, and wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft. Founded in November 2007 as NCsoft NorCal, the studio's remit was to further develop the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises following the acquisition of the titles by NCsoft from Cryptic Studios...
, which shares credit with Cryptic Studios for the development work. This then led to City of Heroes becoming available for download on Steam, along with other NCsoft titles, on April 22, 2009.
On October 30, 2008, NCsoft announced a partnership with Transgaming Technologies
TransGaming Technologies
TransGaming Inc. is a company specialized in video game portability technology. The company has its head office in Toronto and a research hub in Ottawa. It was founded by Gavriel State, who ran the Linux product division at the Corel Corporation...
in order to bring both City of Heroes and City of Villains and all 13 expansions to Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
.
The expansion City of Heroes: Going Rogues future release was announced on May 11, 2009. The game centers on the alternate reality of Praetoria and features a new alignment system allowing players characters to shift allegiances between Heroes and Villains, giving characters access to both the Paragon City of CoH and the Rogue Isles of CoV. Paragon Studios describes this as "[exploring] the shades of gray that lay between Heroes and Villains". Going Rogue was released on August 17, 2010, with pre-purchasers able to play on August 16.
On June 20, 2011, Paragon Studios announced that they were going to switch to a hybrid subscription model called City of Heroes: Freedom, adding in a free gameplay model, as well as special models for former subscribers termed Premium Players, and current subscribers become VIP players, who will gain access to all of the content in the various upcoming game updates.
Gameplay
Players begin by using the game's extensive character creation system to first select an archetypeCharacter class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
, then primary and secondary power sets, then design a unique costume. In the final character creation screen, players can optionally write a backstory or description and battle cry for their hero, as well as choose a name. The name may be changed at a later time for a one-time charge, and the description and battle cry may be changed at any time. There is an automatic check to make sure the name is exclusive on that server.
Characters may begin in an isolated tutorial
Tutorial
A tutorial is one method of transferring knowledge and may be used as a part of a learning process. More interactive and specific than a book or a lecture; a tutorial seeks to teach by example and supply the information to complete a certain task....
zone, or skip the tutorial and begin in an open low level zone. A character's level increases by earning experience points from defeating foes, completing missions, and exploring zones, then returning to a trainer. Benefits for rising in level include more health, more powers, more slots to allocate enhancements to powers, and larger inventories.
The primary setting of the game, Paragon City, is divided into different zones by giant energy "war walls." Especially dangerous zones called "hazard" or "trial" zones, which teem with large groups of enemies, are marked in red on the in-game map and are much more dangerous than normal zones. The villain's setting, the Rogue Isles, consists of islands connected by a network of ferries. A few zones are accessible to both heroes and villains; some are cooperative zones, while others are player versus player (PvP) zones.
Players initially move around the zones by slowly jogging or using a minor speed-increasing power such as "Sprint". As heroes grow in level and accumulate more powers, they may choose among four higher speed traveling powers: Teleportation, Super Speed, Super Jumping, and Flight.
As characters level-up, players may choose new powers from the character's primary and secondary power sets, as set during creation, or from shared power pools. The power pools contain the four travel powers and other generic, usually utilitarian, powers that fall under categories such as: Fitness, Concealment, and Leadership. In addition, as characters level up, they gain access to new costume features, including the ability to change between up to five costumes and unlockable costume parts such as capes and auras.
Missions
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
are obtained through various channels. Missions are typically staged on private instances accessible only to the mission holder's team by entering a door in a zone, and may require defeating a boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
, escorting NPCs, or finding a particular clue or item. The level of enemies, and number of enemies per spawn, are set according to the team size, level of the mission holder, and difficulty setting of the mission holder. Some story arcs will emerge during the missions, with mission sequences forming a larger story. Once outside of a mission, a player reappears at a door or location in a zone which is accessible to any player on the server.
For committed players, there are other types of activities are available—task forces for heroes, strike forces for villains, and trials. These activities forbid adding new members to the team once started, and so consist of a series of linked missions that must be run till completion by the same team. Certain trials reward players with an opportunity to respecify
Respecification
Respecification in many MMORPG titles such as Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes, and City of Villains allows a player to change the attributes of his/her character....
their characters by choosing a different complement of superpowers within their selected power sets, and reallocating enhancement slots. Two types of Raids are available to Heroes and Villains: Rikti Mothership (in a shared zone for both Hero and Villain participants), and Hamidon (separate Hero and Villain locations), which encourage teamwork across multiple teams of players.
Team play is a large part of City of Heroes. Players can form supergroups
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
reminiscent of classic comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
groups such as the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
or Justice League of America. Also, a system called "Sidekicking/Lackeying" or "Exemplaring/Malefactoring" makes all players on the team either 1 level lower than the team leader or mission holder (if they are a lower level) or the same level (if they are a higher level). Exemplared/Malefactored characters still earn experience and have access to all powers up to 5 levels above their temporarily lower level. Characters may also make leveling pacts under which the characters receive experience points equally whether online or offline, maintaining the characters at the same level.
Other game features include auction houses and crafting inventions to make characters more powerful. The Architect release gives players the ability to construct custom mission arcs, with customized villains and layouts that can then be played by all other players. Going Rogue (an optional expansion pack) allows players to switch which side their character fights on using Tip Missions collected from defeated villains.
Character creation
In character creation, the player first selects a character's origin and archetype, then primary and secondary power sets. Next, the actual avatar with its costume is created. Then the player has a choice of customizing the color and hues of his/her powers. Lastly, the player chooses a name and can optionally write a background story to add some flavor to the character as well as creating an individual battle cry.There are five origins a player can choose for his/her character that dictate what type of enhancements the character may use, affect which single short-ranged power they begin with (in addition to powers obtained from their primary and secondary power sets), and can influence the various villain groups that the character goes up against; these origins are Natural, Magic, Science, Mutation, and Technology.
There are five basic hero archetypes, which affect a character's power choices and team role throughout the game. Blasters are versatile damage dealers, capable of fighting at short or long range against one or many opponents. Controllers are adept at preventing enemies from moving or acting. Defenders turn the tide of battle with weakening attacks (debuffs) and ally strengthening powers (buffs). Scrappers are melee fighters with a greater chance of critical hits against tough opponents such as bosses. Tankers possess great defenses and the ability to take hits for the team.
There are also five basic villain archetypes. Brutes deal increasing damage as they attack or are themselves attacked. Corruptors can cause damage at range, with high chance for critical hits against wounded targets. Dominators assail enemies with status effects and direct damage. Masterminds summon, upgrade, and control combat pets. Stalkers are stealthy fighters, dealing critical hits when hidden or when accompanied by a team.
There are also two shapeshifting hero archetypes which are unlocked after attaining level 20 (level 50 prior to Issue 17) with a hero. Peacebringers are peaceful symbiotic aliens that have light based powers. Warshades are warlike symbiotes that are normally enemies to the Peacebringers but have reformed their evil ways. Both archetypes are capable of shapeshifting into a more offensive or more defensive form. The villain side mirrors this, with two branching villain archetypes which are unlocked after attaining level 20 (also level 50 prior to Issue 17) with a villain - both are rank-and-file soldiers for the villainous group Arachnos attempting to make a name for themselves, each with two distinct specializations.
Virtual rewards
Similarly to other MMORPGs, City of Heroes/Villains has various items that are rewarded within the game. However, many of these items are described as intangible or other-worldly; such as "inspirations" (temporary powerups) or "influence" (used instead of money), which are abstract ideas in the real world. "Enhancements"—slottable attribute boosts—also cover a range of ideas and items from magic enchantments to technological gadgets to training techniques. With the release of Issue 6, while in supergroup mode, a setting that can be toggled on and off, players accumulate prestige points which are used to improve the supergroup base.Issue 9 brought the Invention system to the game, which allows characters to combine salvage and recipes to create various goods. Invented enhancements can provide better bonuses than normal enhancements, including set bonuses for slotting invented enhancements from the same set into the same power. Costume pieces and limited-use temporary powers can also be invented.
In addition to these, there are also collectible badges for players to obtain. Gained for performing various actions in game, such as: moving over specific places in each zone, defeating certain numbers of enemies, healing allies, and taking damage, most serve no functional purpose for players, except to provide characters with tag lines under their character names. However, some few, called "Accolades" give players access to temporary powers and permanent bonuses to health and endurance (the game's equivalent to mana or magic points) and are gained by collecting other badges.
Players also have the option of purchasing (outside of the game) additional items known as "Booster Packs", which currently include a permanent Wedding-themed expansion for costumes and emotes (actions), a 30 day Jet Pack temporary power, valkyrie themed costume items, and regular Booster Pack releases based on Player Origins available in-game (See "Updates and history" below).
Enemies
In City of Heroes there are multiple NPC groups that players fight as part of random encounters. Many enemies are found on the streets of Paragon City, whereas others are found in specific instances or areas. There are also Giant Monsters and similar events that take place in parts of the city that are even rarer, such as Lusca the Giant Octopus in the waters of the Independence Port zone or the Ghost Ship that spawns ghostly enemies in the Talos Island and Independence Port zones.Setting
Paragon City is a fictitious city located in Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The city itself is divided into several smaller neighborhoods that have varying villains and progressively higher levels of villains within them. The arbitrary divisions between zones are explained by the presence of "War Walls", powerful forcefields derived from alien technology which are used to defend various areas of the city. Heroes set out by dealing with low-powered street gangs in the initial zones, working their way up to fighting increasingly dangerous threats—such as organised crime, corrupt corporations, hostile aliens and supernatural terrors—even eventually entering other dimensions to fight supremely powerful villains.
Updates and history
The Development Team continually expands City of Heroes with free downloadable patches/updates as well as free game expansions dubbed "Issues". All Issues were made available to both City of Heroes and (as of Issue 6) City of Villains titles throughout the lifespan of the game, improving features in both games with each release.Issues (free updates)
| Issue # | Title | Main features | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Through the Looking Glass" | Raised the level cap from 40 to 50, introduced new high level enemy groups and zones for these levels, and added a tailor feature allowing players to alter character costumes. | June 9, 2004 |
| 2 | "Shadows of the Past" | Added cape and aura costume features, respecification, badges, and new zones (one of which included a secret dance club without enemies). | September 16, 2004 |
| 3 | "A Council of War" | Introduced a new zone, replaced the Nazi-themed Fifth Column enemy group with the Council, added new giant monsters and zone events, added Peacebringers and Warshades, and added Ancillary Power Pools for characters above level 40. | January 4, 2005 |
| 4 | "Coliseum" | Introduced player versus player Player versus player Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment... (PvP) content in the form of an arena, and also added costume options such as finer tuning of body and face scale. |
May 4, 2005 |
| 5 | "A Forest of Dread" | Introduced a new folklore-themed zone, with several new associated enemy groups, as well as new powersets based on archery Archery Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity... and sonic Sound Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of... powers. |
August 31, 2005 |
| 6 | "Along Came a Spider" | Updated the game client's graphics engine, and added support for dual-core CPUs and 3D sound; it also introduced three shared PvP zones, and the ability for Super Groups to build bases. | October 27, 2005 |
| 7 | "Destiny Manifest" | Raised the level cap for villains from 40 to 50, introduced the new zone for villains of that level range, "Patron Power Pools" (the villainous counterpart to heroes' Ancillary Power Pools), "Mayhem Missions" for Villains of all levels, new power sets for new Villains, and a fourth PvP zone, "Recluse's Victory". | June 6, 2006 |
| 8 | "To Protect and Serve" | Introduced a Police Scanner for Heroes that provides repeatable missions (similar to the Villains' Newspaper) and "Safeguard Missions" (analogous to the Villains' "Mayhem Missions"), as well as a complete redesign of the Faultline zone and the Veteran Rewards system, which gives special "perks" to players based on how long their accounts have been active. A retail box was released after this update called "Good vs. Evil Edition". | November 28, 2006 |
| 9 | "Breakthrough" | Introduced the Invention system and auction houses; it also revamped the game's single raid Raid (gaming) A raid is a type of mission in a video game in which a very large number of people attempt to defeat a boss monster... encounter and opened it to Villain players as well. |
May 1, 2007 |
| 10 | "Invasion" | Replaced the old Rikti Crash Site zone with a new Rikti War Zone area, featuring a new raid encounter and cooperative play between both Heroes and Villains. The Rikti enemy group was also redesigned, and a new world event was added in which the Rikti would stage a mass invasion of a random zone. | July 24, 2007 |
| 11 | "A Stitch in Time" | Focused on time travel Time travel Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the... ; it introduced the Flashback system for accessing or repeating game content beneath a player's level. It also added customizable weapon graphics for powersets which used drawn weapons, and new power sets based on dual blade wielding and willpower. |
November 28, 2007 |
| 12 | "Midnight Hour" | Introduced new magic and mythology themed zones, including one set in ancient Rome Ancient Rome Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world.... ; the Arachnos Soldier and Arachnos Widow archetypes, and began "power proliferation" by which power sets unique to certain archetypes are made accessible to other archetypes. |
May 20, 2008 |
| 13 | "Power and Responsibility" | Added two new power-sets (Shields and Pain Domination), changes to power effects making them act differently in PvP situations, dual builds (Players can build and maintain two separate character builds on the same character), and leveling pacts (Players can level up two characters simultaneously in-game, even if one of them are offline). On January 2009, a retail box release was made of Issue 13 called "Mac Special Edition", which allowed computers running Mac OS X to play City of Heroes for the first time. | December 2, 2008 |
| 14 | "Architect" | Added a Mission Architect feature allowing players to publish and play custom mission arcs. A retail box release was made after this update called "Architect Edition", available to both PC and Mac players. | April 8, 2009 |
| 15 | "Anniversary" | Announced on April 28, the date of City of Heroes Fifth Anniversary. The update returned the Fifth Column as a enemy group in various zones and a Fifth Column centric Task Force & Strike Force. It also added Mission Architect features that didn't make the deadline for Issue #14, costume creator sets, new character faces, and the first free costume change emotes. | June 29, 2009 |
| 16 | "Power Spectrum" | Allowed players to choose the color/styles/animation paths for character power sets. This update also included more power set proliferation, added epic power pool choices, a new Sidekicking system, Level 5-24 altered to increase XP/influence rewards by 20%, minor changes to the Mission Architect, and a replacement of the difficulty adjustment system. | September 15, 2009 |
| 17 | "Dark Mirror" | An update to the graphics engine that fixed all older issues related to ATI cards, as well as added a new preset for high performance graphic cards called "Ultra Mode", several QoL updates, and a revamped Positron's Task Force. Issue 17 also permits CoH: Going Rogue preorder customers to play Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning power sets prior to the official release of Going Rogue. | April 28, 2010 |
| 18 | "Shades of Gray" | Introduces the tips system, an alternate method of getting missions via drops from foes, and opens trading between alignments and unites the Wentworth's auction house and the Black Market. Anyone with the Going Rogue expansion gets access to new power sets: Kinetic Melee and Electricity Control. This issue also re-introduces the Cathedral of Pain trial. A retail box release was made of Issue 18 called "City of Heroes: The Complete Collection". | August 16, 2010 |
| 19 | "Alpha Strike" | Issue 19 includes the first part of the new endgame changes referred to as the "Incarnate system". Issue 19 adds an Ouroboros task force that unlocks an "Alpha Slot" on Level 50 Characters. Two difficult task forces are available for characters who have gained an Alpha Slot. Changes include: Zone events in all Praetoria city maps, opening Praetoria to levels past 20, merging subways/ferries to include all destinations (across same alignment only), power animations, increased tip mission drops, mission architect enhancements, hazard zone badges, and making the Fitness Power Pool inherent to all characters. | November 30, 2010 |
| 20 | "Incarnates" | Issue 20 further expands on the Incarnate system introduced in Issue 19. It will also introduce 'leagues', massive teams of characters that can fill up to 40 different characters at a time, for anything from Rikti Mothership raids to costume contests. It introduces the BAF and Lambda Sector events in Praetoria. It gives heroes a new 20-40 task force, and villains a new 20-40 strike force. Players will also be able to sign up for incarnate trials from anywhere in the cities. | April 5, 2011 |
| 21 | "Convergence" | Issue 21 was the first free expansion under the City of Heroes: Freedom program. It added the First Ward section to the Going Rogue exclusive game content, which includes a new Giant Monster and a new Incarnate trial. A new Time Manipulation Power Set was also released, although only for VIP subscribers, as well as new costume options. In addition to these, the expansion created a new co-op tutorial for all players which will determine whether the player's character is a Hero or a Villain (similar to the Going Rogue tutorial). | September 13, 2011 |
Expansions (Paid updates)
| Expansion Title | Corresponding Issue # | Release Date | Summary (Paid features only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Villains (Standalone) | 6: Along Came a Spider | October 2005 | New Villain Player Archetypes, New Villain Character Tutorial & Villain Player Zones (Level 1-50), New Player vs. Player Zones, New Player-Created Superbase system. |
| City of Heroes: Going Rogue | 18: Shades of Gray | August 2010 | Hero/Villain side-switching capability, New Praetorian Character Tutorial & Praetorian Character Zones (Level 1-20), New Power Sets. |
- City of Villains: CoV was released in 2005 as an "Expanshalone" release, or an expansion that did not require the original City of Heroes purchase to work (i.e. stand-alone). It offered 5 new character archetypes that were, at the time, exclusive to Villain characters, new maps, and began the first PvP Zones (versus the Arena, which were instanced maps made for PvP fighting) of the game. City of Villains also was playable with the same subscription fee that paid for City of Heroes access after buying City of Villains. The retail box included 4 CD-ROMCD-ROMA CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s for installation current to Issue 6, one of four limited edition HeroClixHeroClixHeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system. Originally designed and produced by WizKids, it is now owned and marketed by NECA. Players construct teams of comic book heroes, villains, and other characters from popular video games such as Street Fighter, Gears of War, and Halo...
figures of the games' villains, a poster of a map of the Rogue Isles, and a serial code that gave access to the game and one month of game play. Also included was a code for a 30-day trial for CoH, as both games were currently separate. Since 2008 after the NCSoft acquisition of the intellectual properties, owning either City of Heroes or City of Villains unlocks both titles at no additional cost. - Going Rogue: City of Heroes: Going Rogue was released in 2010. Unlike CoV, Going Rogue is an expansion rather than an "Expanshalone" and requires the original game(s) to play. Going Rogue adds an Alignment system, which allows players to switch from Hero to Villain and adds two intermediate Alignments: Vigilante as a player progresses from Hero to Villain and Rogue as a player progresses from Villain to Hero. Players with Vigilante or Rogue characters have access to both City of Heroess Paragon City and City of Villainss Rogue Isles until they change to Hero or Villain. The expansion also adds the Praetorian Earth dimension where players can start out as neutrally aligned Praetorians (choosing any of the 10 basic Archetypes available to Heroes or Villains), either deciding to side with Emperor Cole's ruling faction and become a Loyalist or side with the Resistance; the allegiance can change as the player choses and completes missions. Praetorian players can also attack new Neutral mobsMob (computer gaming)A mob, mobile or monster is a computer-controlled non-player character in a computer game such as an MMORPG or MUD. Depending on context, all such characters in a game may be considered "mobs", or usage may be limited to hostile NPCs and/or NPCs vulnerable to attack.-Purpose of mobs:Defeating...
and will eventually be able to play a mission that will allow them to choose to be a Hero or Villain and complete gameplay in the original games. Going Rogue also grants access to four new power sets, new costume sets and auras, and introduces missions that start after defeating mobs that affect the player's Alignment.
Retail releases & special editions
- City of Heroes: Collector's Edition: Sold through stores in 2005, this included an installation DVD-ROM that had game content up to Issue 4, a poster of a map of Paragon City, a CoH/PvPPvPPvP, also known as Player vs Player, is a webcomic, written and drawn by Scott Kurtz, with around 100,000 unique visitors per day . On February 1, 2007, it became the subject of its own animated series.-Themes:...
comic book, a Statesman HeroClix figure, and a serial code that adds access to a special movement power, badge, and cape, in addition to access to the game and one month of game play. A special Hero Kit was later sold that allowed people to get all of the physical and digital content included in the Collector's Edition aside from the game installation disc. - City of Villains: Collector's Edition: Sold in stores alongside the standard game edition, this pack included an installation DVD-ROM current through issue 6, seven exclusive HeroClix figures of characters from both games, a book featuring concept artConcept artConcept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design...
for both games, a promotional card for the City of Heroes Collectible Card GameCity of Heroes Collectible Card GameThe City of Heroes Collectible Card Game is a trading card game based on the NCSoft MMORPG, City of Heroes. The card game was designed by David Williams, the designer responsible for other games such as Legend of the Five Rings. The initial product release from Alderac Entertainment Group was in...
, one of five preview decks for the CCG, a two-sided poster of the game map from the standard edition and a Heroes vs. Villains fight scene, a CoH trial serial code, and a serial code that allowed access to a special costume icon and cape, in addition to access to CoV and one month of game play. - City of Heroes: Bootleg Edition: A trial copy of City of Heroes released free of charge as a promotional copy during City of Villains. Bootleg Edition came with no special features, a 10-day demo key, and required a player to purchase a digital key for the City of Heroes or City of Villains game in order to play after the demo. Released during Issue 6, the disc allowed players to try either Heroes or Villains.
- City of Heroes & City of Villains: Good Versus Evil Edition: This retail box included an installation DVD-ROM current to Issue 7, a two-sided map of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, digital copies of issues 1 through 6 Top Cow's CoH comic book, and a "Pocket D VIP Pass" that had the serial code for access to both games, a month of free game play, special costume pieces for both Heroes and Villains, a special badge, and two special powers. This serial code was later made available digitally.
- City of Heroes: Architect Edition: This edition of the game included an installation DVD-ROM current to Issue 14 for both PC and Mac, a quick-start guide, the map from the Good Versus Evil Edition, and an activation code for the unified games, one month of free game play, and access to one of the first two Super Booster packs. A digital-only purchase later was made available for the same content.
- City of Heroes Going Rogue: Complete Collection: Released in 2010 alongside the standard version of the game, this edition includes City of Heroes, City of Villains, and adds access to unique in-game costume pieces, auras, emotes, and a unique invisibility power in addition to access to all of the content available with the standard Going Rogue game. Ordering this from GameStop included exclusive power enhancements.
Booster packs
Starting in 2008, "Booster Packs" were also released sporadically around Issue updates. Booster Packs do not function like expansions (adding content to the game), but rather add optional sets to the game's character creator and user interface, and are available on the NCsoft Store for a one-time fee. Although each of these packs are themed after their similarly named character option in the game (so far character origins and powersets), their features can be applied to any or all the characters in your account regardless of their actual origin, archetype or powers. Booster Packs that were available are:- Super Booster I: Cyborg — Adds new cyborg costume sets, character emotes that fit the cyborg theme, and a Self-Destruct prestige power which kills your player to deal large amounts of damage.
- Super Booster II: Magic — Adds new magic themed costume sets, special character costume change emotes, and a Fortune Teller prestige power which can boost (or occasionally curse) your team mates with a random temporary ability.
- Super Booster III: Superscience - Adds more costume change emotes and an enhanced tailor that allows character modifications including height, dimensions, and gender as well as costumes per each costume slot on your character.
- Super Booster IV: Martial Arts — Adds a new martial arts themed costume set, character emotes that fit the martial arts theme, special costume change emotes, and a "Ninja Run" power.
- Super Booster V: Mutant — Adds Bioluminescent and Organic Armor costume pieces, two character emotes and three costume change emotes, all fitting a mutation theme. It also added a "Secondary Mutation" power, which bestows a random temporary buff upon the user.
In addition to the above, there is also a "Mini-Booster" pack for the purchase of an in-game jetpack for 30 days of real time. As of August 30th, 2011 Booster Packs are no longer available for sale on the NCSoft website. The individual costume pieces and powers will be sold separately in the in-game store when City of Heroes: Freedom is released.
Virtual item packs
A small number of In-Game Item packs were released to allow players to gain in-game items from select box releases of the game at a lower cost than repurchasing the title at retail price. Item packs only contain the items in a Edition release, and do not come with free playtime or (in the case of expansions) the added game content that require an expansion purchase in order to use.- Good versus Evil Edition Item Pack which included a Jump Jet Travel Power, Pocket D Teleport power and special Hero/Villain themed costume sets.
- Mac Special Edition Item Pack, which included all of the costume pieces from the Valkyrie set and the Mission Transporter power.
- Going Rogue Item Pack, which included the Alpha and Omega costume sets and the Shadowy Presence power.
- Wedding Pack: A serial code first sold on Valentine's DayValentine's DaySaint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
2008 added special wedding-themed costume pieces and emotes to the game. - Party Pack: Released in late September 2010, which includes party themed character emotes.
As of August 30th, 2011 Virtual item packs are no longer available for sale on the NCSoft website. The individual costume pieces and powers are available through the in-game store.
Holiday events
The City of Heroes Development Team also initiates events based on North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an holidays and observances, starting with Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
in 2004, followed by a Winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
Event (eventually becoming a primarily Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed event), and the newest holiday observance, a Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
event. Recent changes to holiday events include the addition of a Zombie Apocalypse world event during Halloween, and a Ski Slope inside of Pocket D during the Holidays. Holiday events grant commemorative badges upon signing in during the event, and have earnable themed badges by participating in the in-game events.
Anniversary
City of Heroes grants a commemorative badge during its anniversary month of May and has often scheduled special events and surprises during May. On the game's fifth anniversary on April 28, 2009, and on the same day during the sixth anniversary for 2010, an outbreak of Giant Monsters of every type was released throughout the game in all zones for players to defeat within a 24 hour span.City of Hero
A KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n open beta of City of Heroes, entitled City of Hero , was launched on January 18, 2006. However, the game's official release was cancelled. The Korean CoH team directed its players to a coupon for an account on the US servers as compensation.
Servers
City of Heroes and City of Villains employ several servers. The servers are divided between the North American and European markets, with separate European servers with language localization for German and French speakers. The North American servers based in Dallas, Texas, while the European servers were moved from Germany to a new site in the US in November 2010.An uncommon MMO
Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
hailed the game saying "City of Heroes blows a super powered gust of fresh air into an increasingly stale sword-and-sorcery MMO world" in August 2004. PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
and several other industry magazines critically acclaimed City of Heroes for its foray into the superhero genre and gave the game top or near top scores across the board.
GameSpy went on to say that City of Heroes has the most flexible character creator to date of any MMORPG (in particular the costume design system allows for a huge variety of sizes, colors, clothing types and other bells and whistles) and has consistently given the update issues high marks. The launch of City of Heroes was widely reported as one of the most successful MMOG launches in the history of the industry.
Recently, praise was given from IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
, and Allakhazam
Allakhazam
Allakhazam's Magical Realm, part of the Zam Network, is a website providing forums, a wikibase and lookup services for several online RPGs, including Aion, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Final Fantasy XI, Free Realms, Lord of the Rings Online, Runes of Magic, Star Wars...
for the release of Issue 14: Architect, which added Mission Creation capabilities. Paragon Studios produced "City of Heroes: Architect Edition", and re-released the game to Retail Stores in April 2009 containing the PC and Macintosh Versions and a free choice between either Super Booster I: Cyborg or Super Booster II: Magic.
Accessible development community
City of Heroes offers a development team that actively communicates with its player base through in-game events (who will individually take on various in-game personas when interacting with the players), online forums, and in game interviews through media outlets. The development team will request feedback, admit mistakes and also implement player suggestions to the game. The communication level between players and developers is such that players are encouraged to send private messages about their concerns to the developers, and usually the player can expect to receive feedback as a private reply, or as a part of a news item or forum post if the concern affects a larger part of the community.Since Issue 9, City of Heroes allows players to participate in Open Beta testing of the upcoming Issue Releases on their own Training Room Server. There is also a Closed Beta test before that which allows players who are invited specifically by the Developer Team to try out the new issues features under a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
The City of Heroes Development and Moderation Team organizes regular appearances at popular conventions to meet players face-to-face, as well as organizing Meet & Greet events of their own. They held their first annual convention, "HeroCon", in Santa Clara, CA from October 17-19th, 2008. The second annual event was held from October 23 to October 25, 2009, and attendees were given a sneak preview of the Going Rogue expansion.
Casual-play
The game has received additional praise because the characters of inactive players are not deleted, even if the subscription has been canceled or inactive for an extended period of time (ex. 4 years). Some MMORPGs delete a character after a period of inactivity. In anticipation of the release of City of VillainsCity of Villains
City of Villains is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. Released on October 31, 2005 , the game is integrated with their previous release, City of Heroes...
, Cryptic announced on October 10, 2005 that effective October 24, 2005, accounts which had been unpaid and inactive for 90 days would have the names of any characters on the account under level 35 flagged as unreserved, allowing new players to use that name. The character itself was left untouched, and a player who lost his character's name was given the option to choose a new one. This policy was suspended on May 4, 2006, because Cryptic's data-mining had shown that very few names were being taken in this fashion anymore; Cryptic said 30 days' notice would be given prior to future changes to the name policy. On July 31, 2007, Cryptic announced that the name policy would go back into effect as of August 29, 2007, but this time, it would apply only to characters under level 6, instead of the previous 35.
Enhancement Diversity
A significant gameplay change called "Enhancement Diversification", or ED, was implemented in Issue 6. ED received strong negative feedback from the player community. The response thread to ED on the official City of Heroes message forum exceeded 3,500 replies in the first 36 hours, and soon after grew so large that a second thread was required due to forum software limits.ED imposed a point of sharply diminished returns on how far each individual aspect of each power could be improved. Prior to ED, a player could focus all enhancements on only one of a power's aspects and receive fully cumulative benefits. Cryptic's stated reason behind ED was "to promote the use of more different types of Enhancements in powers". Critics derided ED for its universal reduction of the maximum possible effectiveness of all characters, making it a global nerf
Nerf (computer gaming)
In video gaming a nerf is a change to a game that reduces the desirability or effectiveness of a particular game element. The term is also used as a verb for the act of making such a change...
; that many defensive powers had now been significantly weakened for two Issues in a row, frustrating especially those who specialize in such powers and invalidated many of their existing tactics; that some powers cannot legally or usefully accept more than one type of Enhancement and thus cannot be "diversified"; that it was deceitful to enact such a severe change less than a month after officially announcing "we’ve finished making large changes to the power sets"; and that ED was too fundamental a change to implement so long after the original launch. Some, but not all, of the negative effects of Enhancement Diversification were negated with the release of the Invention system in Issue 9, allowing players to create one enhancement that affects multiple statistics at once with bonuses for a full set that would affect global (across all powers) statistics thus allowing powers to increase a given statistic beyond the point of diminishing returns, while still honoring the limits created with ED during Issue 6.
Awards
- Beckett Massive Online GamerBeckett MediaBeckett Media is a privately held company. Founded in 1984 by James Beckett as Beckett Publications, the company focuses on the collectible industries, especially in the area of sports collectibles.-History:...
: Best Sci-Fi/Superhero Game of 2009 - Massively.com: Most Improved Game of 2008
- Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
: MMORPG Game of the Year 2004 - Spike TV 2004 Video Game Awards: MMORPG Game of the Year
- GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
: Game of the Month — May 2004, Editor's Choice — May 2004 - BillboardBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
2004 Digital Entertainment Conference & Awards: PC or Console Game of the Year, Multiplayer Game of the Year - Wargamer: Award for Excellence
- Games MagazineGAMES MagazineGames magazine is a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group.-History:...
: Game of the Year 2004 - Computer Games MagazineComputer Games MagazineComputer Games Magazine was a computer gaming print magazine. It was formerly Computer Games Strategy Plus, and before that, Strategy Plus, which had been founded as Games International in the UK in 1988. While its initial focus was on strategy games, it covered a wide range of game genres...
: Editor’s Choice — August 2004 Issue - Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
: Editor's Choice — August 2004 - Game InformerGame InformerGame Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
: PC Game of the Month — July 2004 Issue - Loadedinc, Hot Property Award
- Actiontrip: Editor’s Choice
- Warcry: Best Expansion — City of Villains — E3 2004
- IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
; Editor’s Choice - GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
: Game of the Month — May 2004 - GameSpy: Game of the Month — May 2004
- GameSpy: Editor’s Choice
- E3 2003 Game Critics AwardsGame Critics AwardsThe Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category. The nominees and winners of the awards are chosen by individual judges representing 35 major North...
: Best Online Multiplayer - Game Revolution Best of E3 2003: Best Online Game
Subscription
As in a few other MMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s, players must subscribe to City of Heroes by paying the publisher (NCsoft) a monthly fee to continue playing City of Heroes. Portions of the subscription costs go to supporting a full-time "live" team, which develops additional content for the game; other portions support the significant server maintenance and bandwidth costs. The subscription fee after Issue 6 covered play in either of the games in the "City of" franchise or both of them at once for the same cost, however, since merging the titles in 2008 this became a moot point as any player of one of the games could access the opposite game without purchasing it.
Continuing active subscriptions are also entitled to "Veteran Rewards". The system rewards players with costume pieces, extra powers, supergroup base items, respec opportunities, and other minor in-game perks to all characters (both hero and villain characters) on any server tied to the active subscription. Inactive accounts do not accrue time for Veteran Rewards.
Since 2009, players considering City of Heroes can sign up for a 14-day trial key without subscribing to the game, without receiving an in-game referral or using a credit card. Certain features, such as chat, trade, membership in groups, and leveling up are restricted to prevent exploitative players/groups from using trial accounts to further Real Money Trade activities that NCSoft prohibits in-game. After 14 days expire, a trial player would need to buy the game and subscribe for further months to continue their play.
As of September 2008, City of Heroes had around 124,939 subscribers in the US & Europe, according to financial reports released by NCsoft in November 2008.
On June 20, 2011, City of Heroes announced the City of Heroes: Freedom subscription model, which was implemented in September 2011. The servers are free-to-play, with limitations on what Free players can access. Players who have had subscriptions lapse will become Premium players, and will have access to everything they used to have, but will be limited to what they will access in the games' future updates unless they sign up for a VIP subscription. The VIP subscription adds free access to the Going Rogue game content, and a monthly VIP Rewards system (as opposed to the quarterly releases of the Veteran Rewards). There will also be an in-game shop where all players can purchase points to purchase expansions to the game; VIP subscribers will be given a monthly stipend of these points at no extra charge.
Novels
The first City of Heroes novel, The Web of Arachnos, by Robert WeinbergRobert Weinberg (author)
Robert Weinberg is an American author. His work spans several genres including non-fiction, science fiction, horror, and comic books.-Biography:...
, was published by CDS Books (an imprint of the Perseus Publishing Group) in October 2005. The novel chronicles the back stories of the Statesman and Lord Recluse, the central iconic characters in the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises. A second novel, The Freedom Phalanx, written by Robin Laws
Robin Laws
Robin D. Laws is a writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of a number of role-playing games and related products.-Works:Robin D...
, was released in May 2006 and detailed the reformation of the hero team the Freedom Phalanx in the 1980s. The story centers on the fledgling heroes Positron and Synapse, but also includes Manticore, Sister Psyche, and Statesman. The book's villains include Lord Recluse, Doctor Null, Shadow Queen, and Revenant. Artist George Pérez
George Pérez
George Pérez is a Puerto Rican-American writer and illustrator of comic books, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.-Biography:...
provides the covers for the first two novels, as well as lending his name to one of the early areas of the game itself, Pérez Park. A third novel, The Rikti War, was announced by CDS at the time the first novel was published, with an August 2006 scheduled release date. Authors Paul S. Kemp and Shane Hensley have been attached to the project at various times. The book was reportedly going to cover the epic transdimensional war between Earth and the Rikti home world, however a post on the official message boards containing a message supposedly from Kemp states that the "novel is not to be and [he] must leave it at that. "Developer Sean Michael Fish (Manticore) has recently stated that CDS will no longer be publishing books for CoH, and The Rikti War may or may not be published.
Comic books
To tie in with the game, NCsoft released original comic book series that featured various characters from within the games themselves. The original series by publisher Blue King featured the heroes/roommates Apex and War Witch with their neighbor Horus. The more recent series from publisher Top Cow features signature heroes and villains from both City of Heroes and City of Villains such as The Statesman, Positron, Lord Recluse, and Ghost Widow, along with scripts by well-known comic book creators Mark Waid, Troy Hickman, and Dan Jurgens. However, the Top Cow series ended with Issue 20 (July 2007), with no current plans for another new series. The official website allowed people to download the comics in PDF format roughly a month after their release in comic book stores.Collectible card game
Alderac Entertainment GroupAlderac Entertainment Group
Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California...
also worked with CoH to create a collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
featuring characters from the game, as well as several original characters. The game's website also allows players to create a game-compliant card for their own online character. This card game is now discontinued.
Role-playing game
The CoH team has also worked with Eden Studios, Inc.Eden Studios, Inc.
Eden Studios, Inc. is an award-winning American role-playing game publisher founded in 1996 by George Vasilakos, M. Alexander Jurkat, and Ed Healy. Currently run by Mr...
to create an RPG
Role-playing game (pen and paper)
A tabletop role-playing game, pen-and-paper role-playing game, or Table-talk role-playing game is a form of role-playing game in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech...
based on the MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
. While a free preview version of the game was released, the game has been indefinitely delayed
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
due to the cancellation license with Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
on their Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel roleplaying-games
Buffyverse role-playing games
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Role-playing Games are complementary, officially licensed role-playing games published by Eden Studios, Inc. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Core Rulebook was published in 2002, while the Angel Corebook followed in 2003...
. Pages on the game have since been removed from the main Eden Studios site and its discussion forums.
Movie and television
In June 2007, it was announced that the producer for the Transformers film, Tom DeSantoTom DeSanto
Tom DeSanto is an American film producer and screenwriter. DeSanto is best known for his work with long time friend Bryan Singer, especially with his contributions to the first two X-Men movies.-Education:...
, had acquired the option to make movies and television shows based on the City of Heroes franchise. In February 2008, it was announced that DeSanto has indeed begun preparations for the film. A plot summary has been released detailing that the movie itself takes place during the first Rikti War.
Suit by Marvel
In November 2004, Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
filed a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios, publisher NCsoft, and game administrator NC Interactive (NCI), alleging that the game not only allowed, but actively promoted, the creation of characters who infringe copyrights and trademarks owned by Marvel. The suit sought unspecified damages and an injunction halting further sales and shutting down the game.
The game includes in its User agreement strong language against such activity, however. It forbids the creation of potentially infringing characters, and NCI has been known to delete or rename such characters. The User Agreement additionally holds players accountable to indemnify (reimburse) NCI and its affiliates against third-party infringement claims, and demands either a granting of sole ownership in player created content, including characters, to NCI, or a warranty that a third party owner of the rights in player created content has made such a grant. It is unclear whether this grant is an exclusive assignment
Assignment (law)
An assignment is a term used with similar meanings in the law of contracts and in the law of real estate. In both instances, it encompasses the transfer of rights held by one party—the assignor—to another party—the assignee...
or a non-exclusive license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
, however.
The defendants replied that the lawsuit was frivolous, and while many intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
analysts agreed, others noted that trademark law is structured such that, if Marvel believes their marks are being infringed upon, they have little choice but to file a lawsuit, regardless of its outcome, to preserve the strength of the marks. At least one noted similarities to Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., a case in which a company that ran a flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
was successfully sued over intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
infringement because a vendor had been selling bootlegged
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
records at that flea market. Although Cherry Auction had not been directly selling the infringing items, the court found that it was vicariously or contributorally liable for the infringement.
Marvel subsequently admitted that some of the allegedly infringing characters cited in the complaint
Complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons that the filing party or parties In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties In...
had been created by Marvel's own investigators. In March 2005, the court struck those exhibits from the complaint. The court also dismissed with prejudice some of Marvel's claims. The dismissed claims included all indirect trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
counts, because Marvel had not pled
Pleading
In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement filed with a court by parties in a civil action, other than a motion...
commercial use of Marvel's marks by the game's players. Commercial use is a required element of infringement under American trademark statutes.
On December 12, 2005, all remaining claims were settled under undisclosed terms. The game's operators asserted that the settlement did not require changes to the character creation engine.
Despite the recent litigation, in October 2006 Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
selected Cryptic Studios to develop its own superhero MMORPG for Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
and Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
, titled Marvel Universe Online
Marvel Universe Online
Marvel Universe is a browser-based Massively multiplayer online game currently under developement by Gazillion Entertainment in San Mateo California. The MMOG is designed by Secret Identity Studios and will be similar to, sister game, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online...
. The news of the alliance led to a surprised reaction from players, but developer Matt "Positron" Miller assured fans on Cryptic's official website that development and maintenance would continue separately on both games , proved later by the complete split between City of Heroes and Cryptic Studios. Marvel Universe Online was eventually cancelled by Microsoft.
Acquisition and new studio
On November 6, 2007, NCsoft announced that it would assume ownership of both City of Heroes and City of Villains. As part of a push to further develop City of Heroes, the company also announced the formation of a new development studio dedicated to new titles as well as their interest in distributing and administering their future works once launched. This new team is centered on key members of the Cryptic and NCsoft City of Heroes/Villains teams who accepted the NCsoft offer to join their new studio in Northern California. The sale of the City of Heroes IP granted Cryptic Studios the freedom to work on its new superhero MMOG (at this time, a RPG/Action hybrid) Champions OnlineChampions Online
Champions Online is a free-to-play superhero-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game by former City of Heroes/Villains developer Cryptic Studios based on the Champions license. The game's rules and setting are loosely based on the HERO System ruleset...
without concerns of conflict of interest.
Shortly after having acquired full ownership of the property, NCsoft granted all existing and former City of Heroes account holders access to both games (City of Heroes & City of Villains). This allowed all Hero players access to Superbases, which initially required a CoV purchase from its release in Issue 7 until Issue 10, and is no longer required as of Issue 11. Before the purchase, NCsoft allowed players with a subscription or a time card for City of Heroes to have the same access to City of Villains as well (at its lowest price point, $14.99 covered access to both titles for a month), whether or not they had purchased the other title. This is still being honored after all accounts who had only City of Heroes received access to City of Villains for free. In a July 2008 press release, NCsoft announced the successful completion of allowing all copies of City of Heroes or City of Villains to access the other game (it claimed that Single Title Retail Boxes recently purchased did not successfully unlock the other game when activated).
On April 14, 2009, NCsoft NorCal formally changed its name to Paragon Studios
Paragon Studios
Paragon Studios is a computer game developer, and wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft. Founded in November 2007 as NCsoft NorCal, the studio's remit was to further develop the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises following the acquisition of the titles by NCsoft from Cryptic Studios...
to become a fully owned developer subsidiary of NCsoft
NCsoft
NCsoft is a South Korea-based online video game company, which has published massively multiplayer online role-playing games including Lineage, City of Heroes, Wildstar, Exteel, Guild Wars and Aion.-History:...
(similar to Destination Games
Destination Games
Destination Games was a computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. Destination was founded in Austin, Texas to develop massively multiplayer online role-playing games...
and ArenaNet
ArenaNet
ArenaNet is a computer game developer and part of NCsoft Corporation, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington...
) dedicated to City of Heroes. Paragon Studios is credited alongside with Cryptic Studios on the website and NCsoft websites for development of the game.
Communities
Many on-line communities exist for the discussion of City of Heroes. Some prominent ones include:Official forums
The official Internet forumInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
for City of Heroes is the web board found at boards.cityofheroes.com. This web board is run by NCsoft themselves, and frequented by various developers
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
and customer service
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...
representatives (referred to by site regulars as "red names" because their usernames are highlighted in red on their forum posts) as well as players. There are forums devoted to announcements, general issues, player guides, questions, suggestions, each archetype, each of the game servers, and other topics.
The European version of City of Heroes previously had its own separate web board, but with the forum migration to VBulletin, all players now use the same forums.
Supergroups
A player can join an existing Supergroup (the City of Heroes equivalent of an MMO "guild") at any level. If the player reaches Level 10 and is also a subscribed player, they may register a Supergroup of their own creation. When in a Supergroup, the player can edit his or her colors and emblem to match the group. Also, if the player is in "Supergroup Mode", the player will earn Prestige and Supergroup achievements for the group. These can be used to improve the player's group's Base as well as paying rent on said base. Originally, the game did not have bases for heroes to inhabit between battles, but with the release of City of Villains, the feature was enabled for those who owned both games. Supergroups were originally limited to 75 characters but with the 11th issue update was changed to 150 characters.Fan sites
Numerous City of Heroes fan sites exist with a wide variety of formats and purposes, including roleplaying sites and informational sites. NCsoft maintained a City of Heroes fansiteFansite
A fansite, fan site, or fanpage is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee interested in a celebrity, thing, or a particular cultural phenomenon...
portal on its official site. When operative, any person may create a fan site and submit it to NCsoft for publication on the portal, pending review to ensure that the site meets with the guidelines for a fan site submission.
General references
- City of Heroes, PRIMA Official Game Guide, Chris McCubbin and Christopher Pinckard, Prima Games (2004). ISBN 0-7615-4516-6
- City of Heroes Binder, PRIMA Official Game Guide, Eric Mylonis, Prima Games (2005), ISBN 0-7615-5205-7
- City of Heroes/City of Villains Bind, Macro & Emote Guide, "Shenanigunner" (2006–2009, updated regularly) HEROICA! website