Jun 21, 2011

Eurogamer

Superhero MMO City of Heroes is jumping on the free-to-play bandwagon later this year, publisher NCSoft has announced.

A standard monthly subscription system now called VIP Status will remain for those who want it, with a few added extras such as free Signature Story Arcs and 400 complimentary Paragon Points per month to be spent in the new Paragon Market.

Those opting to go down the freemium route will still be able to max out their character at level 50, though there are a few restrictions.

They'll be restricted from certain systems, such as alignment change, Day Jobs and Mission Architect, and won't receive any live support unless they upgrade to VIP player status.

Unlike VIPs, free players can only have two characters per account.

"Freedom is about getting more content into the hands of our players, whether they are subscribing or playing for free," explained executive producer Brian Clayton.

"To do this, we've looked at City of Heroes from the ground up and focused on three ways to enhance the experience by giving our players more choices, greater rewards and the best content we've ever produced. And for the first time ever, players can choose to enjoy more than seven years of content for free."

To mark the occasion, the game is also getting a new name City of Heroes Freedom and a new update.

Issue 21: Convergence adds in a new Power Set, two costume sets, the Underground Incarnate Trial, and the new First Ward co-op zone.

Head over to the game's official site for an FAQ on exactly how the change-over will work.

The Paragon-developed MMO first launched back in 2004. Eurogamer's City of Heroes review saw the game securing a 7/10.

Jun 21, 2011

You Don't Have to Pay for City of Heroes Anymore, Thanks to Freedom

Kotaku

Superhero MMO City of Heroes is killing its monthly fee with the advent of City of Heroes Freedom as the game transitions from subscription-based model to a new, free to play one.

Publisher NCsoft and developer Paragon Studios detail the plan to bring City of Heroes to a larger, pay-what-you-want audience today, explaining that the game known as City of Heroes will soon be known City of Heroes Freedom, that the game is forgoing the monthly fee barrier of entry but that subscribers still have a place in this superhero versus supervillain virtual world.

Players can still choose to subscribe to City of Heroes Freedom, granting them VIP status, which in turn grants paying players a long list of rewards and services. Free players can still play, but they'll need to buy certain features and upgrades piecemeal. There's a handy comparison chart right here, if you're interested.

City of Heroes Freedom launches for PC MMO players later this year, but NCsoft is encouraging subscribers to re-up (or stick with the game) to receive some goodwill awards.

As a City of Heroes outsider, this seems like a smart business move for an aging MMO, a model that we'll see more publishers follow. What say you, City of Heroes vets? How do you feel about the change?

Announcing City of Heroes Freedom and Issue 21: Convergence! [Official Site]

Jun 21, 2011

City of Heroes goes free-to-play

PC Gamer

Veteran MMO City of Heroes has announced that it will move to a free to play model later this year, coinciding with their Issue 21 update. The new model will see current subscribers known as 'VIP players' while others play for free, with micro transactions integrated through an in-game store.

Details within.

Producer Brian Clayton told PC Gamer that the team had been working towards the new model for "Well over a year at this point."

When asked how much content would be available to free players, Clayton said: "I think there are a few things we’re going to set aside for the VIP subscribers, but the majority will absolutely be available." Taking the game's famous character creator as an example he said "I believe the percentage that free players will have access to is somewhere close to 70/75% of the costume sets and costume pieces."

City of Heroes will also include a loyalty system to offer subscriber like benefits to those who do not take out a subscription but do purchase a significant amount of in game items: "And in fact I think we’re one of the few, or maybe the only, that will allow these… I call them premium players: players that sort of play a-la-carte, they pick and choose a few things that are very interesting them from the store but they don’t actually become a VIP subscriber. These folks who have purchased enough things through the store they’ll be able to sort of grow through our paragon rewards program and as they hit different tiers within that program, even though they’re not a VIP subscriber, they’ll be able to open up more of the initial limitations that are put on a free player."

Current City of Heroes subscribers will become VIP subscribers come the switch, but will begin accruing 'paragon points' from July 1st, which will be spendable in the in game store when it launches. VIP players will also get a new monthly version of the current veteran rewards system and their own server.

There will be some restrictions placed on free players though, with only two player slots and eight archetypes available. For example, while the mission architect system will be completely unlocked for VIPs, free players will have to unlock it (somehow, NCsoft declined to specify) in order to fully access it. Here's a full description of how the features break down.

Play for Free:

Play as a Hero or Villain for up to Level 50.
Play up to two characters (total).
Select from 8 character archetypes and over 100 power sets.
Play in 45 different game zones.

VIP Players:

Existing City of Heroes subscribers retain all benefits, including 12 character slots per server.
Receive 400 Paragon Points a month to use in the Paragon Market.
Experience VIP content, including the City of Heroes Going Rogue™ expansion.
Play on a VIP-only server.
Enjoy one free character transfer per month, priority queuing, and VIP customer support.

Returning City of Heroes Players:

Get everything that play-for-free players get.
Retain everything you already purchased or unlocked, including character slots, super boosters, expansions, Veteran Rewards, and Epic archetypes.

So what do you think readers? Will this shift inspire you to try out City of Heroes when the update lands?

Jun 1, 2011

Giveaway: Venture back to the 1800s with the City of Heroes Steampunk Pack!

PC Gamer

The future is so passé. Nowadays, all the cool kids go retro, decked out in inventor's goggles with dashing wardrobes, and sporting catchphrases like "Ratherrr!" and "I say, old bean!"

City of Heroes (and City of Villains, for that matter) won't let trippy anime or Rise of Legends have all the steampunk fun—they've unleashed the Steampunk Pack on the world of superpowered individuals, complete with snappy new costumes, powers, auras, and emotes. Want to see the glory of low-tech fashion for free? Read on to see how you can win the pack and join your fellow Victorian-era allies!

To enter, simply email contests@pcgamer.com with the subject line “I'm a dapper dandy, old chap!” We’ll randomly choose 15 lucky winners on this Friday, June 3rd. Now, be warned: you'll need an existing City of Heroes and City of Villains account to make use of this pack, so only enter if you already play CoH games—otherwise, you could end up winning a code you can't even use! Good luck, and remember: modern-day conveniences are for sissies. I'll take a Victorian Bike over a car any day.

May 18, 2011

City of Heroes Dragged Kicking and Screaming Into the Steampunk Age

Kotaku

Steampunk: it's everywhere you want to be, especially if the place you want to be is Paragon City circa June 1, 2011, when the City of Heroes Steampunk pack goes live.

Are you sick of Steampunk yet? There'll be nowhere in the City of Heroes or City of Villains to escape it come the first of next month. The City of Heroes Steampunk Pack is $9.99 worth of new costume parts, emotes, auras, and powers meant to transform your colorful superhero experience into a dismal wonderland of brown with beige accents.

First comes the costume pieces. The pack features more than 60 new parts including heads, hairstyles, chests, belts, legs, boots, weapons, wings, and a City of Heroes first, backpacks. All of these fanciful new accoutrements aimed at making your victor a bit more Victorian.

Along with the backpacks comes a new travel power, the Steam Jump, when you absolutely, positively have to get there with the seat of your pants soaked with water.

Capping off the rusty bronze package are a pair of new auras, Victorian Décor and the Clunker Aura, the latter of which leaves a trail of oil and gears wherever your hero or villain travels, like a strange biomechanical slug.

Strap on your goggles and try to keep your random metal bits from tearing your vintage clothing, heroes. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Apr 28, 2011

City of Heroes hits 7th anniversary, releases data on player behavior in fun infographic form

PC Gamer

42 million characters have been created in City of Heroes since it launched in 2004. Scrapper are the richest characters in-game, on average. It would take over 3,900 days to play all of the content in the game, including player-created missions.

Knowledge is power, and we just made you three parts stronger. You can thank us later. Of course, if you crave more data about City of Heroes (subsequently increasing your overall power in a general, abstract sense), you'll want to check out the infographic below. City of Heroes is turning 7 next month, and NCSoft put together this collection of data bytes about CoH's statistics and player behavior to celebrate it.

As a bonus prize, from May 3rd (next Tuesday) through May 10th, anyone that has a City of Heroes account will be able to play the game for free--no active subscription required. So if the nuggets of info intrigue you enough to want to give the game another shot, feel free to do so next week with no commitment required!

Apr 28, 2011

City of Heroes hits 7th anniversary, releases data on player behavior in fun infographic form

PC Gamer

Apr 28, 2011

Seven years of City of Heroes statistics

Eurogamer

Three long-standing NCsoft MMOs - Guild Wars, City of Heroes and Lineage II - all share the same anniversary: today.

That's what NCsoft says, but actually the US version of City of Heroes and Lineage II launched seven and six years ago yesterday, respectively.

It was only Guild Wars: Prophecies - the first GW release - that happened six years ago today.

To mark the occasion, NCsoft has gone City of Heroes statistic mad.

Did you know that since COH launch, more than 42 million characters have been created? Sadly, 60 per cent of those are Heroes, the remainder Villains. Scrappers are the most popular Fallen Hero archetypes and Brutes are the preferred Redeemed Villain archetypes.

The top five most played archetypes are Blaster, Scrapper, Tanker, Mastermind and Controller, respectively. The most popular character origin is Mutant.

The statistics show that the community mission-making tools have been an overwhelming success. Developers Cryptic Studios and now Paragon Studios have made a total of 46 Trials, Task Forces and Raids, as well as more than 1600 single or group missions. The City of Heroes community, however, has made more than 375,000 missions. Kapow!

Today, City of Heroes characters hold a combined currency total of 56 billion Influence. The richest characters are Scrappers.

Since that 2004 launch, City of Heroes has offered 20 free content releases.

City of Heroes anniversary celebrations run from today throughout May. Up until 2nd May, Booster Packs and Account Services will be halved in price. There's even some wedding attire on offer so you can celebrate with Will and Kate this weekend. You can join friends on other servers if you like. Plus, there are anniversary badges, a Vanguard pack and loyalty player emotes to mark the occasion.

Account reactivation will happen for from 3rd May to 10th May to all people who left "in good standing". Developer Paragon will host a live Ustream chat tomorrow morning/tonight at 2am UK time to sneak preview the upcoming Booster pack. Don't pretend you won't still be awake.

Guild Wars will celebrate by hosting an all-weekend party in the Shing Jea Monastery. Up until 6th May there will be games, contests, races and all sorts to entertain you. There's also to be six weeks of Guild Wars content price promotions (announced via the Guild Wars website).

There'll be additional content on offer, too, via Fluxes. These will mix-up PVP and encourage experimental character builds. Also coming: the option to use high-resolution textures in town, hard mode quests, mutual friends lists and 30 new tonics.

Lineage II celebrations weren't detailed.

Video: Guild Wars: now and then.

Apr 28, 2011

Celebrating Seven Years of City of Heroes

Kotaku

Seven years ago today, NCsoft and Cryptic Studios released City of Heroes, providing fantasy-gorged massively multiplayer online gamers a new way to waste countless hours of their lives alongside thousands of their closest friends. Let's celebrate seven years of heroes and villains with a colorful infographic and nostalgia-laden anecdotes!

I fondly remember the day City of Heroes went live. I must have spent a dozen hours camped in front of my computer, soaking in everything Cryptic Studios had created. Then I finished creating my character and moved on to the game proper. It was nice enough, but damn if that character creator didn't keep calling me back.

Seven years later more than 42 million characters have been created (some of them not mine) and 15.7 billion experience points have been earned. The game has survived a Marvel lawsuit, a studio transition, the invasion of super villains, and the release of two competing superhero MMOs, including Champions Online, a game crafted by City of Heroes' original development studio.

NCsoft and Paragon Studios has a month of special events and sales laid out for City of Heroes players to help celebrate scratching seven years of the superhero itch. Head over to the game's official website for details.