| abstract | - Please leave this page in place for future content and Steamification BrentNewland (talk) 06:03, December 13, 2013 (UTC)
- City of Heroes was complemented and paralleled by a villainous counterpart, City of Villains. Originally, players of City of Villains assumed the role of a freshly escaped super-powered convict who may fit into a prophecy about a "destined one" whom it is said will rise to threaten even the most powerful echelons of the Rogue Isles villain factions. The two games overlapped in select areas, including PvP zones and a no-conflict nightclub in another dimension called "Pocket D". The two games, originally separate, were eventually combined, and afterwards players could make both heroes and villains. The subsequent Going Rogue expansion then allowed characters to change alignment repeatedly and expanded a mirror universe previously used as the setting for several adventure arcs into a third complete starting location. Some of CoH/CoV's most innovative features were related to character/avatar design. The games provided a truly astounding variety of appearance combinations, which grew with each new version. The power combinations were similarly impressive. The game was also the first major MMO to include user created content, in the form of its Mission Architect system and player-created story arcs. Originally, a variety of (back)story was told through the developers' adopted avatars -- known collectively as the Avengers-esque super-team Freedom Phalanx -- with the hero Statesman as their (in game and out) leader. Their evil counterparts would later be introduced in City of Villains. Known as Arachnos by name, led by Statesman's equal-but-opposite in Lord Recluse, who not only ran the organization but ruled an entire country in which it was based: the Rogue Isles (a fictional archipelago about 50 miles north of Bermuda). Statesman was originally the in-game avatar of real life senior developer Jack Emmert, who moved on and left the game in the care of Lead Developer Matt Miller (known for his avatar, Positron), who himself moved down to hands-on design work, handing the role of Lead Developer to Melissa Bianco (known for her avatar, War Witch). With an update (that also changed the game from a subscription-only to a Freemium model), most character classes (called Archetypes) became available to both sides from the start, except for the respective Epic Archetypes, described below. The tutorials for both hero and villain sides were replaced with a scenario which owed much to the Praetorian side tutorial, in which the player was guided through learning various mechanics to a "There I was" moment in the middle of a disaster, making a moral choice along the way which determined if the character was a hero or villain. Former Hero archetypes included:
* Tanker (High-defense, low-damage melee and great "aggro management" capabilities to protect allies)
* Scrapper (medium-defense, high-damage melee with a chance for double damage in a critical hit.)
* Defender (Primarily powers aiding (buff) allies or weakening (debuff) foes, backed up by medium-damage ranged attacks, defenders are among the hardest to quantify because each primary set is aimed in almost different directions ranging from the heal-tastic Empathy to the debuff kings and queens of Darkness)
* Controller (Primarily powers that hold, disorient or otherwise control opponents, backed up by buffs/debuffs)
* Blaster (High-damage ranged and high-damage melee attacks, but few defenses) There were also two "epic" hero archetypes, unlocked once one of your heroes reached level 20: Peacebringers and Warshades. The reslt of a human merging with a symbiotic alien, these had unique abilities, such as intrinsic travel powers and shapeshifting. Their power sets appeared at first fairly similar, but they tended to play very differently. Warshades played to the strengths of their teammates, while Peacebringers tended to make up for their weaknesses. Also, Peacebringers were much more self-sufficient (e.g. if you want to heal yourself, you just press the button and get healed), while Warshades needed enemies (or their bodies) to drain for their self buffs. To compensate for this the Warshade buffs scaled upward with the availability of enemies to drain. When playing Dual- or Tri-Form, Peacebringers tended to stay in one form for the duration of the fight or even the mission, while Warshades often switched forms as needed to maximize the gain from their various buffs. The powers of their respective human forms were mostly a combination of Blaster and Scrapper for the Peacebringer, and Blaster and Controller for the Warshade. Former Villain archetypes included:
* Brute (Medium-defense and medium-damage melee whose damage increased the longer they fought)
* Corruptor (Medium-damage ranged attack with "critical hits" as the enemy life is whittled down backed by buffs/debuffs)
* Dominator (Primarily enemy control with a mix of medium-damage ranged and melee attacks to back it up.)
* Stalker (Stealth-based "assassin type" with melee attacks, a Back Stab For Massive Damage, and weak defense)
* Mastermind (Commands minions or "pets" and backs them up with buffs/debuffs) Just like the heroes, there were two epic archetypes for the villains. Starting out as a member of the Arachnos faction, you could take the role of a Wolf Spider (Arachnos Soldier) or Blood Widow (Arachnos Widow). Each had two branches of development after a certain level. Wolf Spiders represented the rank and file soldiers, starting with guns while then adding cybernetic attachments or specialized tech-maces, while the Widows started out as pseudo-ninjas and could either stay as such or become a combat psychic. However, regardless of branch, you ultimately played as a damage type with some quirks (and a cool costume). The second major expansion, Going Rogue, opened a third beginning to the game, the Praetorians. Praetorian characters were able to play as any of the non-epic archetypes and started off neither good nor evil; instead they had multiple opportunities over the course of the first twenty levels to chose whether they would be a Loyalist of the tyrannical Emperor Cole or join the terrorist Resistance against him, and if they would be ehtical/noble or not in that role. It also introduced the ability to change alignment via Face Heel Turn or Heel Face Turn, allowing a hero to become a villain or vice versa as well as opening up the in-between alignments of Vigilante and Rogue. In addition to their powersets, characters also chose an origin. Outside of Peacebringer (Natural), Warshade (Science), and the Arachnos archetypes (Natural), there were no limits placed on which origin can be used with what archetype/powers. It was possible to make one of your characters' powers, say, "Assault Rifle" with Magic Origins, and it didn't make a bit of difference to your abilities. The effects of origins tended to be seen in choices of contacts and mission offers instead, although you were never "locked in" to any particular series of contacts or arcs. Later, with the revamp of the opening game this was substantially reduced, leaving choice of origin more a "flavor" element than a game mechanic. The origins were:
* Science -- Characters that got their powers via scientific means. Super serums, radiation, experiments gone wrong, experiments gone right, etc. Examples include Spider-Man, Marvel's Sandman and the Fantastic Four. In universe example: Synapse of the Freedom Phalanx.
* Mutation -- Characters born with their powers because of a quirk in their genetic makeup. Most of the characters in X-Men qualify. In universe example: Sister Psyche of the Freedom Phalanx.
* Magic -- Characters that got their abilities through mystic training or artifacts. Could also refer to characters that received their powers from a patron deity or are a magical creature. Examples include Ghost Rider, Hellboy and Doctor Strange. In universe example: Numina of the Freedom Phalanx.
* Technology -- Characters that got their powers from technology. Where Science characters have been transformed in some way to gain their powers, Technology characters gain theirs through use of power armor, alien weapons, cybernetics, et al. Examples include Iron Man, Green Lantern, Doctor Octopus and Robotman. In universe example: Positron of the Freedom Phalanx.
* Natural -- Characters who got where they are through the strenuous training of their bodies -- and also characters whose species naturally have the abilities. Examples include Superman, Batman, The Punisher, J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter and Kingpin. In universe example: Manticore of the Freedom Phalanx. Heroes defeated NPC villains and foiled the plans of various archvillains and nefarious groups out to destroy Paragon/The World/Humanity. Villains carried out missions against NPC heroes or other villain groups to please various factions and power brokers and thereby improve their standing in the underworld. Player-vs-Player combat was limited to restricted areas and is not necessary for game or level progress, although certain bonuses could be gathered by risking yourself in these areas. There have been two novels based on it, Web of Arachnos and The Freedom Phalanx, as well as two comic book series, one published by Blue King and the other by Dark Horse Comics. A movie and T.V. series based on the game were at one point in Development Hell, but are no doubt entirely dead now. City of Heroes managed to stay alive for so long despite being only a few months older than the massive World of Warcraft juggernaut largely by occupying a niche market and having a die-hard, rabidly-devoted fanbase. However, this was not sufficient to keep owners NCSoft from shutting down the game (albeit with several months' notice) in late 2012. The move came as a complete surprise to the staff of Paragon Studios, who were in the process of designing and implementing at least a year's worth of new content at the time, and who were unceremoniously canned simultaneous with the announcement of the game's impending demise. Exactly why NCSoft killed a popular, groundbreaking game that earned them in excess of US$2 million every month is unknown. The company's few "explanations" were vague and confusing; industry observers and pundits generally agreed that the move made little to no sense. Additionally, NCSoft rebuffed all efforts to buy or license the game from them, apparently preferring to lock it up and throw away the key rather than earn any kind of money on the property. One of the more interesting speculations about their motivation was that it was a combination of face-saving for the Korean company and a deliberate slap at former NCSoft executive Richard "Lord British" Garriott, who had overseen COH's creation and had just won US$32 million in damages from NCSoft in a lawsuit over how they'd forced him out of the company.
* Homing Boulders
- City of Heroes is an MMORPG computer game where players get to dress up in a variety of colorful outfits. Afraid that this might make the game a bit too fruity for the mainstream audience, Cryptic: Across: 14 Footwear for cheeky dandies around Luxembourg (9) added in some superpowers to distract people from making their costumes and actually play the damn game. City of Villains was released on October 666, 2005, allowing emo and goth stylists to express their ways in a more suitable surrounding. As well as having way cooler powers. Then for eight years, they did other things, such as: stuff, whatever, and who cares? On November 2012, City of Heroes is scheduled to be shutdown and now all the emo and goth kids are back on it playing again. Great.
- City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre. There are about 100,000 subscribers.
- thumb City of Heroes, fue un MMORPG (disponible para Windows y Mac OS X) basado en el género de tiras cómicas de superhéroes. Fue desarrollado por Cryptic Studios y publicado por NCsoft. Los jugadores creaban personajes con superpoderes que podían asociarse con otros para completar misiones y combatir a varios criminales pertenecientes a distintas pandillas y organizaciones en la ciudad ficticia llamada Paragon City y sus áreas aledañas para así acumular puntos de experiencia y aumentar de nivel.
- City of Heroes was a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) developed by Cryptic Studios and was published by NCsoft. PlayNC manages all North American operations of the game, including the game servers and player accounts.
- "City of Heroes" is the first episode of the second season, and the twenty-fourth episode overall. It aired on October 9, 2013.
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