The first (or second) paid expansion for City of Heroes was haphazardly announced this week, which might have been some email software’s fault, or a cunning plan to fail to attempt to get buzz. Either way, er… mission accomplished?

It was interesting timing, regardless, with Champions Online spinning up the rumour mill (“We might end up on PS3! We might have microtransactions! We might have cake, and eat it too!”) and NCNC Paragon Studios trying to reverse their way out of the dead-end they seem to have ended up in after cracking down on Mission Architect farmers a little too hard. (Hey, I’ve got no problem with the policy, but from a community point of view, it was a classic case of taking a dump where you eat. Or gnawing on the hand that feeds you. Choose your metaphor.)

In case you haven’t had dinner with me recently, I’ll tell you for nothing that Going Rogue has been around, in concept at least, for probably a couple of years. I certainly remember hearing about it looong before I was shown the door by NCsoft. A paid expansion was always part of the City of Heroes ‘Five Year Plan’, which started to form after the IP was finally wrestled away from Cryptic. (Apparently it helps to distract people with large piles of cash when attempting such a move.)

I seem to also recall that Going Rogue was an early title, but I’m going to keep quiet on the other potential title just in case it’s being used for something else. The other title certainly fits Going Rogue’s story, which seems to imply a big bust-up between Paragon City and an evil alternate universe. The idea of being able to switch your hero to villain and vice-versa always seemed like a good one to me, not least because it could potentially let you explore double the amount of content in the game. However, I don’t think Paragon are going to stop with just that, not by a long shot. Here’s hoping for more Archetypes, Origins and Powersets as well as new Zones and NPC groups, eh?

They certainly need to up their game, because between Champions Online, DC Universe Online and eventually Marvel Universe Online, superhero MMOs are almost going to be as ubiquitous as fantasy in the next few years. No bad thing for us consumers, but it’s going to be a bloody battle to keep what, so far, has proved to be a relatively niche audience.

I genuinely think the key to a true mass-market superhero MMO (ie, one that reaches considerably more than 200K subscribers) is going to be a combination of console-based gameplay and highly recognisable IP. That’s why right now, until we have more to go on regarding Gazillion’s Marvel project, the smart money’s got to be on DCUO. Having said that, don’t count out the PC-browser market; if Gazillion’s Marvel Super Hero Squad project can get up to Free Realms level of polish, it could become a monster hit.

Considering all this, it’s not surprising to see Cryptic suggesting they’re working on a PS3 version of Champions Online. NCsoft have also invested time and money into exploring PS3 development, although I expect you’ll see a new game announced on PS3 from them before you see anything ‘old’ being ported. And let’s be honest, even though SOE are talking confidently about a PS3 version of DCUO, they’ve acknowledged that there are large hurdles to overcome to actually make it happen – and they’re part of Sony!

Whatever happens, our choice in online superhero gaming is going to expand dramatically in the next few years, which for me, can only be a good thing. It’s going to be very interesting to see how each product differentiates itself going forward, and even more to see who ends up on top.

Last year we (as in, the Creative Concepts team within NCsoft Europe headed by me) put together a limited edition City of Heroes Sketchbook, and very happy I was about it too, as you can tell from this picture taken with the first one.

Anyway, while I know many of you who attended cons we were at (particularly Bristol ’08) probably already have a sketchbook, not many of you will have it signed by the artists whose work is inside the covers!

Well, now’s your chance to own one of ten sketchbooks that have been defaced by artists like Dave Gibbons, Doug Braithwaite, Mark Buckingham, Andie Tong, Phil Winslade, Bryan Talbot and many more! Oh also there are pictures.

All you have to do is bid on this charity auction, with all proceeds as ever going to EveryChild!

Seriously folks, this thing is lovely, with loads of sketches inside depicting the well-known signature characters from City of Heroes, including Statesman, Back Alley Brawler, Ms Liberty, Sister Psyche, Lord Recluse, Ghost Widow and more. If you don’t believe me, click the image on the right to see some thumbnails of the imagery inside.

Considering the sketchbook was only available at a few UK conventions last year, and there’s only nine of the signed ones in existence, if you’re any kind of fan of City of Heroes you should really go make a bid! It’s for charity, after all.

Stay tuned for more hot auction items including original art from the sketchbook!

Cryptic used City of Heroes’ message boards to recruit potential Beta testers for Champions Online: fact.

Am I outraged? Not really. Am I saddened? Yes, as a community professional, I’d hope a company wouldn’t need to stoop to this sort of thing. (Does Cryptic or Atari not have any money to, y’know, push the Beta through marketing and PR?) Would I do it myself, in the same position? Well… I would go after players of a rival game, certainly. That’s standard practice these days. It’s the methods employed here that are short-sighted at best, and downright stupid at worst.

I doubt there was much of a masterplan; I’d be surprised if it “Let’s go use the official CoH boards to recruit!” was suggested at any point as a serious strategy (and we’ll probably never know if it was). More likely, Cryptic employees were given a number of Beta invites to hand out, and some of them gave those to players of City of Heroes that they either knew personally, or knew by reputation. It’s easy to see how that might have gotten out of control.

That, however, is the issue: control. If you’re going to give employees (or anyone, really) Beta invites to a game, as a Community Manager (assuming they were in charge, and some quotes suggest they weren’t) then you have to set guidelines for who those keys should be given to (in the first instance) and how they should be given. Yes, these are just going to be guidelines, and there’s nothing to stop people from ignoring them. But then you can legitimately kick their butts when they do so.

If you don’t do that – well, you’re just not paying that much attention to what can go wrong…. and in my experience, anticipating disaster is a large part of the job of community management. Sure, we’re not clairvoyant, but this was a Galactus-sized PR disaster waiting to happen. You gotta watch out for those.

This was a surprise. Looks like it took place end of last week, but with my ear very much not pressed to the ground regarding these things, it’s no surprise Massively was the first I heard about it. (Also shows how much of a WoW-obsessed press we have when this took days to surface; everyone’s busy reporting the most intimate of details from the frozen north.)

Straight off, I’d have to say it’s a shame; just because it’s always a shame when someone moves on from a job that they most probably loved and enjoyed, because of internal pressure or because of a mistake they might have been able to weather. You can probably sense my ambivalence here though, and that’s simply because I didn’t know Alex (AKA Lighthouse) as well as others did. (Not to be confused with Alex AKA GhostRaptor, EU Community Team Lead, by the way.)

I did meet Alex once, a good while ago when he made a quick visit to the Brighton office to get to the know the EU team, just as he was starting in the job. He seemed enthusiastic and excited about what he was doing, and the fact that he lasted two years means he must have liked it. That he’s moved on at this point doesn’t necessarily mean he was pushed, or that he wasn’t valued, but I can’t really comment as I don’t know the situation.

I do know, however, how much developers can sometimes be swayed by an angry community, and how sometimes (just sometimes, and this may not be one of those times) that can backfire on the community managers. Remember people (and I’m talking to devs and players here) community guys aren’t always there to give you good news; sometimes they’ve got to give you the bad. Even if you don’t want to hear it.

Anyway. I’m not going to soapbox. I hope Alex lands on his feet somewhere, and soon.

As I’ve said many times in many an interview and to many people in person, City of Heroes was the reason I joined NCsoft.

In April or May 2004, I can’t recall, I was playing the game (on the US servers, natch) and enjoying it so much that I was considering starting a fansite about it, based around a twinned blog – one character based, one player based. A very good friend of mine said to me: “Instead of making all that effort for nothing, why not go and work for them instead?”

The rest is history. (Funny thing is, I never did get around to that blog idea.)

While I worked for NCsoft I never stopped playing City of Heroes (Well – not altogether), but of course I was privy to a lot of behind the scenes information. Which meant often, very little came as a complete and total surprise. (And if it did, it was often not a good surprise.)

Which is why it’s great, now, to start to look at the game from a genuine, uninformed player’s perspective again. Today the EU site is hosting a Developer Diary focusing on the Day Jobs system from Issue 13, and it makes for a very interesting read.

Secret identities are part and parcel of superheroic lore, and should ideally have been in City of Heroes from day one; the old excuse Jack Emmert would give that ‘the player is the secret identity’ never really worked for me, even when I was saying it myself to players! However, I know how hard a workable secret identity system would be to make (I’ve seen design documents for other superhero MMOs that failed to bring it to life – at least for me), so it’s good to see NCNC moving towards (perhaps) an ultimate goal by introducing Day Jobs.

I’m not going to recap what Day Jobs are – you can read the article too – but the simple hook for these is this: offline character progression and bonuses. Simply put, from Issue 13 when you logoff City of Heroes you’ll get bonus, both in terms of experience earned, and various other buffs next time you log on. In other words, it’s a great incentive to come on back.

It’s not the newest idea in the world (EVE Online was doing offline character progression a long time ago, and I believe WoW gives ‘rest bonuses’ depending on where you logout) but still, it’s great to see it in my favourite MMO.

And with new costume pieces that can make a character look like an English Lord, who wouldn’t want to start playing again?

By complete coincidence – I was looking at Aion-Welten.de, who’ve been driving traffic this way recently (Hello, Germans!) – I found a video of NCsoft Interactive’s panel presentation at Penny Arcade Expo, which is embedded below. This first part deals mostly with Aion, and is a good general overview of the game.

You’ll quickly see that this has been recorded by a fan in the audience, so excuse the quality. Come to think of it, that leads me to ask your opinion: wouldn’t you like to see this stuff recorded and presented officially through NCsoft channels?

Indeed, perhaps this is something my team should be doing (given we’re doing so much other video stuff). Hmmmm? Do let me know in comments. The more of you who want it… the more likely it’ll happen for future events.

Hint. Hint.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

To save on embeds – part 2, where Joe Morrissey talks about Issue 13 (although I’d dare say you eagle-eyed Forum users know all this already) is here… and part 4, which confusingly seems to continue from part 2, is here.

Which is nice of them. In 2004 it scored 9/10; in 2008 it scores 7. Hmmm. Here’s a sample:

I still love it. I still have more fun in that City than I ever have in World of Warcraft, or elsewhere. It’s just so instant, so immediately satisfying. A new power isn’t just a slightly better chopping action, but the ability to fly. Or to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Or to call up purple tentacles from another dimension to bind the enemy to the spot. How can you not love that? It’s cartoon, it’s comic, it’s the gaming form of those brightly coloured words that burst from Batman’s TV fighting. But it’s also a world that, I suspect, has had its day.

Not bloody yet it hasn’t.

I managed to get some time in City of Heroes the other night, a little while after Issue 12 had gone live. As I was playing I jotted down some notes; this is them cleaned up a bit.

Login. First thing that hits me is the ‘number of days offline’ statistics; a large number of my characters are really dusty, like ‘one year plus’ dusty. I know I’m bad at housework but damn. I delete a villain who never got above Level 6 immediately.

A bit embarrassed that I haven’t played some of them for a damn long time, I decide to log in a few characters just to get them the 4th anniversary badge. As I’m doing it, I realise I have characters who are the right sort of level to go explore the revamped Hollows, so pick Wolfshead – a Level 11 Archery Blaster – and head over.

Inside 10 seconds of zoning in, I’m reporting someone to our CS department for IP infringement. Remember people, we are always watching.

Run around the zone, ‘listening’ to Melissa’s dialogue and appreciating some of her little set-pieces. I love seeing NPCs use appropriate emotes – like sitting on top of bus shelters.

Have a play with some of the changes to the UI, spawning new power trays, combining Enhancements, and so on. Can’t see much use for the UI changes for me, but I will be using that Enhancements thing a lot.

I’ve still got the ‘Arrest 10 Trolls in Cherry Hills’ mission, so take out a few Trolls… then notice (thanks to the UI changing) that the mish is two below my level. Every mob around me is grey. I can’t see the hospital on the map; I’m sure it’s supposed to be there, but fat chance of me getting sent there with all these wimps around me…

Pass into a ‘Yellow Zone’ and immediately things get more serious. This is more like it! Arrows flying all around, Trolls falling like nine-pins… but wait a minute, why isn’t my mission tally dropping…?

Oh yeah. Damn. They have to be arrested in Cherry Hills. D’oh. Arrest a few greens and blues to make this worth my while, then go pwn a few of the Trolls hanging out on hilltops. As soon as I turn the mission in to David Wincott, I pick up Meg Mason as a contact.

Meg’s the new, repeatable mission contact, so I zoom on over with my Raptor Pack to check her out. I’m impressed by what I find; she’s leaning casually against a water tower, surrounded by target-able members of the Paragon PD. It’s a nice little setup that’s so much more ‘alive’ than the usual ‘lone person on a street corner’ contact setup.

To get on Meg’s good side I have to defeat a Hellion thug called Tinder – and she’s only giving me 30 minutes to do it. That raises an eyebrow; 30 minutes? Most timed missions never really push the time limit… maybe this one will. Give it to me baby!

I suddenly realise the clock is running while I’m alt-tabbing to type my notes, so haul ass with the Raptor Pack over to the mission door. The warehouse I end up in has been constructed with some loving care, which is great to see; the bad guys aren’t that much of a challenge, but I still have fun with the mish.

Half-way through, as I’m not really paying attention to my XP bar, I’m surprised to level – and really surprised by the new, improved Level Up… stuff. New sounds! Full Health and Endurance! Free Inspirations! It’s a whole new way to level… and is so ‘zingy’ that the ‘Level Up’ which forlornly appears on screen after all that’s died down almost seems like an afterthought.

In the end, the mission only takes about 10 minutes of the 30, but still – hopefully it’s a sign of shorter missions to come. We’ll see. I zip off to the new Hollows trainer (woo!) which is the Korean signature hero, Foreshadow. Always liked his look, so it’s good to see he’s not being wasted.

As I pick a new power, I notice the new ‘power details’ button. Gee. That’s a lot of detail. Can’t say I’m likely to ever need it, but hey, it’s nice to have it there… and I know some people will go nuts for it, so it’s all good. I’ve been feeling that my rate of fire with the arrows is kind of slow, so I pick the quick-loading Snap Shot, and then decide to switch characters.

Come back online as Speedstrike. Notice that five out of my eight Union characters have names that begin with ‘S’. Subconscious? Perhaps.

Speed is – as you might guess – a speedster, and also a super-jumper, which means he’s probably the most fun character to play when you just want to get around the city. The ol’ Dell doesn’t quite handle his velocity as well as it once did, to be honest, but I still enjoy touring around.

I’ve got an existing mission to go take down some Circle of Thorns, who I can take or leave as a villain group – but I never get tired of their maps. Some of the best I’ve (yet) seen in-game, and I love running around them. To my surprise when I finish, I get the Corrupter badge and a Nemesis Soldier to play with in the Arena… not that I ever go there (so sue me).

That’s it for the night; I log with a couple of ‘blips’ before I hit 33.

I think someone asked what games I’m currently playing. Eh, what the hell, it’s an easy post.

Right now my available gaming ‘platforms’ are as follows:

• Xbox 360 – I’d say this is the primary gaming box.
• Dell PC, circa 2003 – I still remember when this ran every game like butter. Not any more.
• MacBook Pro – Not running many games natively, but the web, ah…
• Nintendo DS Lite – Not doing much with this, but I do have one, so worth noting.

And what am I playing? Well, in a sort-of order pertaining to how much each one’s getting played…

Grand Theft Auto IV: Well duh. Of course. Who isn’t? I’m about 20-25% of the way through, and enjoying it a whole lot. I’d probably enjoy it a lot more with a massive HD TV, big sound system and totally understanding wife… but we can’t have everything.

I have to say when you stop and think about it, it really is just GTA again, but then it does something spectacularly wonderful or you just turn a corner and go “Holy cow, that’s the New York skyline… well sorta” or you hear something on the radio that makes you (if I must) ‘LOL’ and you remember you haven’t played GTA since 2005… and all is right in the world again.

So polished, so clever, so snarky (So, so snarky! How does Rockstar sneak this stuff past US types?) and at its best, so much bloody fun, everything else just looks like A Game by comparison. GTA IV, right now, is The Game.

City of Heroes: And I ain’t just saying that. I go in spurts with CoH – months might go by without a login (I’ve missed plenty of ‘special events’ that way) and then I’ll be playing every night. I’m back in for Issue 12 though. Have a post on that coming, but don’t get excited.

Generally speaking I’m a solo player, occasional pick-up group. I’ve been in supergroups but then I wander away from the game and find they’ve turfed me out, so I think I’m fated to stay ‘single’. By the way, I almost exclusively play on Union; no offence to Defiant types (or Americans, for that matter).

Ikariam: A free-to-play web browser game, which is nice as I can play it in odd moments at work or home. I started toying with it because I’d heard it was a bit Civ-like, but when playing it looks more like Settlers. Liking it, although I have to say it could be a bit more… dynamic. Still the relentless build-up of colonies is always an easy, seductive path to ‘just one more turn’.

Funny thing though; there are no turns. It actually all happens in real time, which is kinda cool… except when, like tonight, you push the button on a building upgrade which will take eight hours (and prevent you from doing anything else in that time).

On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One… AKA ‘the Penny Arcade game’: I’m fans of PA from waaay back (Ask me (in person) about my brush with their rising fame sometime) so I was always going to play this. It certainly helps that when you buy a key, you get Mac, PC and Linux versions at the same time! Nice. So far I’ve just played around with the demo but I’ll be getting my credit card out soon enough; it’s got Jerry’s writing, which is lovely, and Mike’s art, sooo… how can you lose.

Various 360 rentals: Recently – as my Gamertag shows – I’ve been trying out Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Assassin’s Creed. Interestingly, they’re both at their heart the same game: endless repetition of a limited range of tasks, masked by lovely presentation and shiny stuff. It shows what a jaded cynic I am that I realised this inside about an hour of playing each. It also shows what a sucker for shiny things I am, considering I stuck both in my rental queue.

Finally, I should mention before anyone bothers to snipe; yes, I play other NCsoft games, but I’m a bit limited by my PC (and now having a Mac at work). Guild Wars is still an on-off love affair, I enjoyed my fair share of Tabula Rasa, and I’ve spent time in Lineage II and Dungeon Runners as well. So there….