theOcho

Hey folks,

I’ve been reading over a lot of reviews of City of Heroes Going Rogue recently, and there are a few I’ve been mulling over in my head the last couple of days. One in particular is a video review called the BFF Report, and while I don’t necessarily agree with the reviewer’s insights into CoH and Going Rogue, I thought it might spark some interesting discussion here on the Message Board.

I’d like to hear your opinions. What do you think about what this reviewer has to say?

Please note that this downtime has been changed and will occur 2 hours later than the normal downtime window. The updated times are in the post above.

As always, we appreciate your patience during our downtimes.

On August 18, 2010 the Liberty Server will be coming down for emergency maintenance starting at 1PM Pacific (4PM Eastern) and expect the maintenance to last approximately 2 hours.

We thank you for your patience, and apologize for the inconvenience this may cause some of you.

This thread is to discuss the announcement found here.

Thanks,

On Thursday August 19, 2010 we will be bringing All NA and EU servers down for scheduled global maintenance. The downtime for this maintenance is from 6:00 AM Pacific / 9:00 AM Eastern / 2:00 PM British / 15:00 Central European to 8:00 AM Pacific / 11:00 AM Eastern / 4:00 PM British / 17:00 Central European.

As part of this maintenance we will be increasing the number of free transfer tokens (during the free transfer week) to 20 PER day. We will also be issuing a respec to all characters, since we gave the last one out a day earlier than we had originally announced. Make sure to use your current respec if you have a need, these don’t stack!

To discuss this announcement, please go here.

Enjoy!

Heya folks,

Update news is here. Short version is we're addressing the issue now and should be back up and running in an hour.

Thanks for your patience,

This thread is to discuss the announcement found here.

Thanks,

Hey folks,

We’re working hard on addressing the current issues and are preparing to apply a fix. As a result of this, the City of Heroes® live servers will be taken down from 4:15 Pacific/6:15pm Central/ 7:15pm Eastern/12:15am British/1:15 Central European Time for approximately an hour. This fix should not only resolve the store issues, but will allow you to assign character slots and transfer characters.

Please be aware that applying this fix will clear all transaction queues – so if you previously attempted to transfer a character that information will be lost and you will need to try your character transfer again once the issue has been resolved. Similarly, if you have tried to claim a character slot and your transaction did not go through, you will have to do so again.

Please also be aware that when the service resumes there will be a large number of transactions that will have to be processed. During this period, there may be brief delays.

We sincerely appreciate your patience while we return these systems to their normal states of functionality. If you encounter any other problems, please don’t hesitate to let us know and we’ll investigate right away!

Thanks!

To join in community discussion of this announcement, please go here.

I just wanted to stop back in and make sure that you folks know we are aware of the impact this issue has on our players and it is a top priority for us to get it fixed. I'll be working very closely with our team on this to make sure I get you information as it becomes available.

Thanks,

Hey all,

We are aware of the issues with character transfers and claiming extra character slots, and are working to resolve this issue. In order to correct the problem, we had to take down the online store link from the game. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Thank you very much for your patience,

This thread is to discuss the announcement found here.

Thanks,

This summer’s biggest super-powered MMO expansion is available today in North America and Europe. Enter the brave new world of Praetoria, an alternate universe where the line between good and evil is blurred. Battle strange new foes, wield four new power sets, and choose your character’s destiny through new story arcs and missions. For the first time ever, your Hero can fall from grace to become a Villain, while your Villain can be redeemed to become a hero. Watch the new Going Rogue launch trailer, then buy the North American version or the EU version from the NCsoft store now!

To join in the community discussion of this announcement, please go here.

Thanks,

EMpulse:
Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us for today's live Dev Q&A with the City of Heroes developers! It's an exciting time for the game right now with the impending release of the Going Rogue expansion and we're pleased to be able to take a little time to talk to you directly and answer some of your questions!

EMpulse:
Today we have with us Design Lead, Melissa "War Witch" Bianco, Lead Systems Designer, Matt "Positron" Miller, Development Producer, Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres and of course our Art Lead, David "Noble Savage" Nakayama.

Castle:
And Castle. /glares at Em

EMpulse:
I forgot to mention the fabulous Floyd "Castle" Grubb our Senior Game Designer who is also here! Sorry Floyd!

EMpulse:
Without any further delay, let's get to some of your questions! We're going to start with some that were pre-submitted by players who were unable to make today's session. Then we'll go into some sumbitted by those of you here. Away we go!


[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan : ]
With the success of GR what is next?

War Witch:
I'll get this one. Well, we've just introduced this amazing world of Praetoria so I plan on adding to that. Players are really itching for end game content, so that's already in the works under the amazingness that is Matt Miller. And, since our players love content, we plan to give them a lot more of it. I want to make sure that we continue to raise the stakes high, not only for ourselves, but for other games as well.

Positron:
We'll be unveiling more of our future plans at PAX Prime.

[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan : ]
With all the positive feedback about Going Rogue... what did you learn from the negative feedback?

War Witch:
Negative feedback can be as necessary as positive. We've received a tremendous amount of positive feedback on this expansion, which is awesome, but you're never going to get it perfect right out of the gate.

So the negative feedback as much as it pains us to hear, is what forces us to look at issues or features in a different way, maybe we missed something, maybe we didn't consider X effect on Y. To dismiss it is to miss an opportunity. Having said that, there's always going to be types of negative feedback that isn't in any way constructive so we give that kind of criticism the attention it deserves.

Castle:
The Negative Feedback is essential for the powers, missions and other design related activities. People lettings us know what they did not like is key to getting things changed and updated.

[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan : ]
What is the first thing you're going to do when Going Rogue goes live on Tuesday?

Castle:
Playing my new Praetorian!


Positron:
Well, with GR's soft-launch today, I played my Dominator and did a few Rogue tip missions

Ghost Falcon:
Once I get home, I'll be firing up my accounts and will be taking many of my Heroes to the Rogue Isles!

War Witch: I'll hang out in Nova Praetoria and listen to the response of how people see it for the first time. I did this when we launched City of Heroes in Atlas Park and again when we launched City of Villains, I skulked around Mercy Island and Port Oakes. (And yeah, I sat in Striga listening and Faultline, too!)

Noble Savage:
We built the zones w/ hundreds of players in mind of course, so I'll just be taking that in. Finally completes the picture for me, y'know?


[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan : ]
Will my L50 character be able to visit Praetoria?

War Witch:
Yes, but not right off the bat. Right now, we want to give Praetorians as pure an experience as possible and it's hard to give them that if some Paragonian or Rogue Islander shows up, breaking their immersion. So for a little while, we'll keep it Praetorian-only, then as things settle down, we'll open up the link to Primals.

[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan : ]
I've really enjoyed the Super Booster packs you have been releasing, especially the Magic and Mutant boosters. What other types of Booster Packs are you working on?

War Witch:
Dude...are these all mine? LOL So...Funny you should ask that, we'll be announcing some new Boosters by the end of August, so stay tuned. As for the next Super Booster, we're in the works on that now and you've been asking for it. As for what we'll do in the future, well, we have lots of thoughts from you guys, but now that we're done with Origins, we can do anything we want. So start thinking about what YOU want.

War Witch:
BTW... The Art Team and David "Noble Savage" has kicked **** on the latest packs.

Noble Savage:
Thanks, WW.

Ghost Falcon:
(btw, we're reviewing the many questions coming in)


[Comment From shadewe shadewe : ]
When are they going to allow costume parts from in-game villians. Like the Carnivals

War Witch:
Yay, David, that one's yours.

Noble Savage:
The philosophy going forward is to convert every villain groups parts over to players. As much as we can possibly convert.

Noble Savage:
Would like to go back and get the coolest older stuff as well. Stay tuned...

Castle:
Some of those costume parts won't actually work for players

Noble Savage:
That's why we can't get all of 'em. We'll get the VAST majority though.

[Comment From Snugglefundles Snugglefundles : ]
Will my hero lose his/her accolades when she becomes a villain?

Positron:
You will not lose your accolades, but you can only have ONE of the accolade powers at any given time. You'll automatically get the equivalent Hero accolade on your Villain when you move over.

Positron:
If we let you have both powers then that would be overpowering, and make switching be almost required

[Comment From Zack Corand Zack Corand : ]
How many times can your character switch to and from being a Hero to a Villain?

Ghost Falcon:
THere is no limit to the number of times your character switches alignments. Your character(s) can switch as many times as you want.

Positron:
As long as you put in the time

[Comment From Lokien Lokien : ]
Whats goin on for razer naga users :O !?!?!/

Ghost Falcon:
Essentially, if you have a Razer mouse, you can go into Menu-->Options and enable the Razer Naga UI setting

Ghost Falcon:
the Razer mouse buttons will duplicate powers set within the Naga Razer tray.

Ghost Falcon:
as shown in the screenshot
Monday August 16, 2010 4:18 Ghost Falcon

[Comment From Snugglefundles Snugglefundles : ]
Will the influence I have on my hero directly transfer over when he/she becomes a vilain?

Positron:
Inf. is Inf. no matter if it's Influence, Infamy, or Information, it all converts to whatever side you are on

[Comment From jackie jackie : ]
what gave you the idea of Going Rogue?

Positron:
When we made CoV we wanted the ability to side switch. Unfortunately we never had the time to do it right while we were with our former developer.
Monday August 16, 2010 4:20 Positron

Castle:
That question came up way back in COV development. We've wanted to add the functionality since then.

War Witch:
I remember that meeting. We had a meeting where we all wanted a list of things that we thought would be important and/or fun for the game. Side-switching was one of the first things to come up. To answer Matt's comment, now we've had the time and this is the result. Pretty sweet.

Ghost Falcon:
When we formed Paragon Studios/NCNC studios in 2007, we combined both City of Heroes and City of Villains into one product. Naturally, we refocused back upon the Going Rogue system as a long-term objective for our newly formed studio.
Monday August 16, 2010 4:21 Ghost Falcon

[Comment From Snugglefundles Snugglefundles : ]
What is your personal favorite AT?

Positron:
Dominator. Fire/Energy I love the access to Fire Mastery now too.

Castle:
Brute.

Ghost Falcon:
I love controllers. They can both mitigate and cause damage with holds, and mitigate damage with their buffs/debuffs
Monday August 16, 2010 4:22 Ghost Falcon

War Witch:
Defender!

Noble Savage:
Scrapper. I tend to solo b/c I keep weird hours.

[Comment From FreddieMercurysMustache FreddieMercurysMustache : ]
Will there be more zones added to Praetoria as time goes on, or is this the scope of what you wanted for it and that's it?

War Witch:
If I have any say in the matter, which I do, yes. We will add to Praetoria. It's too amazing and rich a universe to introduce it and forget about it. We've just scratched the surface on what's going on there, so I'd like players to see what else is going on.

Noble Savage:
The Art Department fully supports you in this. ;p

War Witch:
:P

[Comment From Kazuo Kiriyama Kazuo Kiriyama : ]
Does that mean we'll be granted the Accolade badge?

Positron:
Yes

EMpulse:
Hey everyone - let's try to go ahead and aim our questions specifically around Going Rogue.


Noble Savage:
If you like the lights, then yes, it is a Sliders reference--good eye, Dr. Darkspeed.

Noble Savage:
If you don't like them, then no.

[Comment From jackolantern1 jackolantern1: ]
are you gonig to go on live with other people on?

Noble Savage:
Heck, yes.

Positron:
I've been playing since noon. I stopped to do this Q&A.
Monday August 16, 2010 4:29 Positron

Castle:
I was playing during my lunch hour and will be on more tonight

Ghost Falcon:
I was also playing during my lunch hour!

War Witch:
Me, too. I've been in Praetoria since noon. (Well, except for, er, now...that is.) It's been awesome.

Praetoria has their own Pocket D, called "Studio 55" in Imperial City

War Witch:
And it does, in fact, connect to Pocket D. But only for Praetorians. RIght now, Primals can't follow them back. (And Praetorians can't leave Pocket D.)

[Comment From Oneirohero Oneirohero : ]
"For the developer formerly known as David Nakayama, what inspired you to take the mantle 'Noble Savage' and what does he mean to you now?"

Noble Savage:
I created the concept art for Noble Savage, and really enjoyed learning about his backstory in the process. When it came time to adopt a proper handle, this one made a lot of sense.

[Comment From Quietcruelty Quietcruelty : ]
In the most recent video online, a character using electric control had some electric "creatures" in front of him. Is that like a mastermind thing?

Castle:
Those are the Gremlins from the Electricity Control powerset for Dominators and Controllers.

War Witch:
Yay, one for you, Floyd.

Will Praetoria get their own giant monsters?

War Witch:
Sure!

Castle:
Mmm...Monsters!

Ghost Falcon:
we're not ready to talk more about it right now

War Witch:
I get to be Good Cop and Ghost Falcon is Bad Cop. I think I like Good Cop better.

[Comment From Prince of Fire Prince of Fire: ]
will we be seeing any new costume parts in Roing Rogue?

Noble Savage:
yeah, lots.

Noble Savage:
7 new sets in total: Praetoria Police, Resistance, Clockwork, Sport, Overguard.


Plus Alpha and Omega if you buy the Complete Collection.

[Comment From General Pyro General Pyro: ]
Is there a counterpart to Lord Recluse in Praetoria?

Positron:
Stephan Richter was killed by Marcus Cole at the Well of the Furies in the Praetorian Earth.

Positron:
But of course, we are a COMIC book game...

[Comment From Obsidius Obsidius : ]
What sort of pop culture inspirations were used in the creation of Praetoria?

Castle:
There are a TON!

Noble Savage:
One of my favs is the Resistance grafitti, esp. the Banksy-styled icons.

War Witch:
Oh man...where do we start? The sonic fencing perimeter is a reference to Lost and the signs to keep track of Resistance among you is obviously an homage to Battlestar Gallactica. Oh, I could go on...

Noble Savage:
A little like those Che Guevarra pics too.

Ghost Falcon:
Neutropolis at night....think 'Tron'

[Comment From Cybo-Wrath Cybo-Wrath : ]
Will the Complete Collection exclusives be released as a Super Booster?

Positron:
You can get the the Complete Collection pack tomorrow for $6.99.

[Comment From robdee robdee : ]
Is power customization coming to pool powers?

Positron:
We'd like to do it, just looking for the time

Ghost Falcon:
underscore "schedule permitting"....

Castle:
We talk about it frequently. It's a lot of work, so...some day.

[Comment From tomzak tomzak : ]
can heroes and villains be in the same super group?

Positron:
Not yet, but we're re-looking at how to make that happen, because we know a lot of you are asking for it. Don't want to break the game to make it happen though

[Comment From Loreleii Loreleii: ]
Will there be special inspirations available in GR that are not available in CoX?

War Witch:
Not with Going Rogue, but stay tuned...

Castle:
Super-Inspirations exist...they just aren't given out yet.

[Comment From Chase Chase : ]
can heros switch to villans? if so how do you switch?

Positron:
To switch sides, you are looking for Tip Drops when you defeat enemies. For heroes to become villains you need to do Vigilante missions from the Tips, for Villains to become Heroes you need to do Rogue missions from the Tips

[Comment From Snugglefundles Snugglefundles : ]
Will I automatically be kicked from my SG/VG whenever I switch sides?

Ghost Falcon:
Players who switch alignments will *not* be kicked from their SG/VG. However they will have restricted access to some of the services provided by their base.

[Comment From MsCats MsCats: ]
I can send inf to my new alts in pretoria?

Positron:
Yes, using the GlobalMail option

[Comment From Jeriko Jeriko: ]
If you choose to stay with your current alignment, what; if any; benefit do we receive?

Ghost Falcon:
If you re-affirm your Hero or Villain alignment, you have the ability to earn "Hero and Villain" merits. Players can then redeem those Hero / Villain Merits in Fort Trident and the Crucible for purple recipes.

[Comment From CoH Fan CoH Fan: ]
Can we get clarification on the Praetorian counterparts, please?
Have they been retconned into extremist versions of their Primal personalities, or are they still evil and just hide it better, or is there no rule at all?

War Witch:
Good question. We've been asked this before so I'm giving the official Protean answer since he's the lore guy.

The Praetorian counterparts were re-imagined with their original presentation kept in mind (we didn't want to retcon unless we had to *cough*suggestionsofinappropriatefamilialrelations hips*cough*.) (WW: That's him, not me.)

Given the direction we took with Praetoria it made sense for the overtly evil aspects to take second chair to a more morally grey persona that, as you said, is represented as an extremist version of the Primal version. However, there is no given rule to how Praetorians need to be (not all good Primals are evil Praetorians, for example.) So any direction you want to take a Praetorian character is legit given the world we created for you.

Praetoria is a complex other world, not simply an 'evil mirror world'. The aim was to provide players with a world where the line between good and evil is blurred by the conflict between absolute law and the chaos created by those willing to fight for freedom no matter the cost. (*takes a breath and stretches her fingers*)

War Witch:
(And btw, my Praetorian counterpart didn't make it. Sad face. But I have hopes.)

[Comment From CoV fan CoV fan : ]
I heard something about a doppleganger in Issue 17 can you explain that?

Positron:
Dopplegangers show up in some missions in I17, they are copies of your character, costume and powers. In GR/I18, you can use Dopplegangers in Mission Architect too!

[Comment From Metropolitan Metropolitan : ]
Complete Collection pack tomorrow for $6.99 ?? what is it?

Positron:
Complete Collection pack is the digital items from the boxed Complete Collection.

Ghost Falcon:
It contains the Alpha/Omega auras, Alpha & Omega costume sets and the Shadowy Presence power (which is a stealth based power)

[Comment From Vanden Vanden: ]
If I buy Going Rogue, how long will I be able to play in Praetoria?

War Witch:
Content, for now, goes to 20 but you can stay as long as you like.

[Comment From Navix Navix: ]
So, Are we going to run into any Praetorian versions of the Arachnos villains in Praetoria? Like Ghost Widow or Black Scorpion?

Positron:
Ghost Widow is alive and well and fighting for the Resistance under her real name of Belladonna Vetrano

EMpulse:
I'm afraid our time is up for today, everyone, but we'd like to thank you all for coming! Thanks also to our Devs for taking time out of their insane schedules to do this Q&A!

EMpulse:
For those of you who are not aware, Issue 18 plus the Market Merge is available TODAY on the live servers for your playing enjoyment! Going Rogue is also live RIGHT NOW for those of you who pre-purchased the expansion. So what are you waiting for? Go play!

Positron:
Thanks everyone, this was fun.

Ghost Falcon:
Thanks everyone!

Noble Savage:
Thanks! Seeya online.

Castle:
Thanks for coming, all.

EMpulse:
See you at the next Developer Q&A!

War Witch:
Thanks, all! That was entirely too short. Happy playing!

I'm looking into this to make sure everything goes smoothly. No worries, there will be plenty of free server transfers to go around.

This thread is to discuss the announcement found here.

Thanks,

Through the extended maintenance today (August 16th), access to Issue 18: Shades of Gray and City of Heroes: Going Rogue as well as the merged Hero and Villain Market have now been enabled on all live servers! This was done to facilitate the official launch of City of Heroes: Going Rogue tomorrow, on Tuesday, August 17 2010, and make sure it is smooth and successful. City of Heroes: Going Rogue represents some of the most exciting and innovative work ever to come from Paragon Studios and the City of Heroes team and we know you won’t be disappointed!

As a result of this “soft launch”, Going Rogue prepurchase customers will be able to experience City of Heroes: Going Rogue as of today. The universe of Praetoria is truly amazing, and you probably can't wait to log in and get started. Maybe you will want to take your existing Heroes and Villains down new and unexplored moral pathways, or perhaps you will decide that there is no deviating from your initial path and will want to create a brand new Praetorian character. The choice is yours!For those of you who pre-ordered or have yet to purchase City of Heroes: Going Rogue you will still be able to experience City of Heroes: Going Rogue tomorrow on launch day.

We hope all of you enjoy Issue 18: Shades of Gray as you join us in our most exciting adventure yet!

To discuss this announcement, please go here.

Thanks,

Hey folks

This is just a quick reminder that respecs granted through this process do not stack! So if you have a respec left from I17 or before and might be feeling the need for a respec soon, now is the time to use it! That way the respec granted with I18 will be shiny and new sitting in your tray. Something to think about with this weekend leading towards the release of Issue 18 Shades of Gray and City of Heroes Going Rogue.

Thanks,

In celebration of the impending release of Going Rogue, Massively.com is giving away 30 day CoH Jetpack codes if you tell them what you’re going to do with your jetpack once you get it. They’ll pick their favorite 20 answers and those will be the people who win! So go check it out and enter. Good luck!

Here you go folks, enjoy.

Remember it's first come first serve, so good luck at all!

This thread is for discussion of the announcement found here.

Thanks,

Imperial City is the glittering jewel in Praetoria's crown, the commercial and entertainment hub where Praetorians go to work and play. Neutropolis is an industrial district filled with Clockwork laborers, desolate warehouses, three antimatter reactors, and a few remaining refugees. After learning all the details associated with these two locales, make sure to watch the Imperial City/Neutropolis trailer to see first hand what awaits you in these amazing new City Zones!

Then, take a moment to meet super genius Praetor Berry (a.k.a. Neuron), whose fascination with Science and willingness to perform untested procedures on himself has not only gained him super-human mental and physical speed, but the reverence and respect of Emperor Cole.

To discuss this announcement, please join us in the Official Discussion thread found here.

Thanks,

This thread is for discussion of the announcement found here.

Thanks,

Going Rogue is almost here, so let’s celebrate with the next Developer Q&A! Please join us the day before GR launch on Monday, August 16th, from 4:00pm PDT to 5:00pm PDT, via Coveritlive! This Q&A is sponsored by Razer® and will have Matt “Positron” Miller, Melissa “War Witch” Bianco, Jesse “Ghost Falcon” Caceres and David “Noble Savage” Nakayama on hand to chit chat and answer your burning Going Rogue questions LIVE.

Coveritlive (http://www.coveritlive.com/), a free web-based chat service. To participate, you can visit the Going Rogue Website or our Facebook Fan Page (http://www.facebook.com/CityofHeroes). There will be a Coveritlive applet available on Monday the 16th that you can click on to join the chat. No registration is required.

If you’re unable to attend the Developer Q&A, but you have questions you’d like to ask, you can send an e-mail to rogueqa@ncsoft.com starting today and up until the Q&A begins. We’ll answer pre-submitted questions during the first half hour of the event. Afterwards, we’ll post the Q&A transcript on the City of Heroes Forum and on our Facebook Fan page.

See you there!

To join in the community discussion of this announcement, please go here.