City of Heroes nears launch...

[WarLocke]

Things over in Paragon City are heating up. The closed beta is ramping into gear (a huge mass of invitations go out this week) and gaming websites are starting the hype machine. Things are looking good - with all the media attention it's getting, release can't be more than 3-4 months away at the most. B)

Some links for anyone who may be interested:

Official Site

Official Fora (brownie points to any old-timers that spot my handle there ;) )

Boxhead's COH Freelancer (a compilation of what is known about the game, sans NDA so far)

GameSpy's COH section

The main reason I'm posting this, though, is to let everyone know about the pre-order boxes. Basically, there are three ways to get into COH's betatest:

1) Register on the official boards before November 1st, 2003. This gets you a chance at a closed beta invite (with preference going to earlier registration dates and more board activity).

2) Win a promotional spot. There's a contest for GameSpot Complete members, and I'm sure a few others.

3) Pre-order the game and pick up a promotional box (free). Register the code in the box and you're gauranteed an invite to the open (stress-test) beta.

Since I'm not likely to get option 1 (registered in early 2003, so there's about 20,000 people ahead of me in line) and number 2 isn't an option, I went ahead and preordered the game at my local EB.

It's actually a pretty neat deal. The box contains a CD which has:

- the COH promotional trailer
- Screenshots & concept art
- a map of Paragon City
- a digital version of the promo comic given out at last year's (IIRC) E3
- oh, and it also has a Lineage II trailer

Not only that, anyone who registers an account with a preorder code gets a bonus power (the box lists it as an "exclusive in-game item"); it's just a basic Sprint with a graphical effect (and the specific effect depends on where you bought the box at), but it's a neat little bonus, I guess.

This will be the game that breaks my "no more MMORPGs" rule. Finally a non-fantasy game with fast-paced action (there are gameplay movies floating around from various trade shows, and COH combat is nothing like your basic EQ/AO/DAoC snoozefest).

Besides, I've always wanted to run around in spandex. :lol:

[AtomicKitKat]

http://www.myfreedomforce.com/index_ff2.html

The prescedent. :P

[WarLocke]

Hey, while I'm grateful for any support (since I seem to be the only person interested in COH 'round these parts), you're gonna have to explain that one.

Freedom Force was indeed a great game, though. I've played through it twice now. I even dabbled in skinning for a bit, but I don't have the hard-drive space to keep the tons of skins/meshes you can get off the net around. Holy crap, I've seen people state that they have more than a gig of space devoted to FF skins/meshes!

[Walkiry]

with all the media attention it's getting, release can't be more than 3-4 months away at the most.  B)

And so, those that forget the past are bound to repeat it. I though you still remembered the Diablo II release date(s) ;)

[LiquidDamage]

Hey, while I'm grateful for any support (since I seem to be the only person interested in COH 'round these parts)

I'm interested. Unfortunately, I am also very cynical about MMORPGs.

I may go ahead and do the preorder thing. I'll let you know if I am playing, and maybe we can hook up and pummel some villains.

[AtomicKitKat]

Hell, I mean the 3 of us already have "super" names.

Who'd wanna mess with

Liquid Damage, master of water!

Warlocke, master of magic!

and last but not least,

AtomicKitKat, nuclear master of *dragged off-stage by censors*

[LiquidDamage]

AtomicKitKat, nuclear master of *dragged off-stage by censors*

Candy bars?

[WarLocke]

And so, those that forget the past are bound to repeat it. I though you still remembered the Diablo II release date(s)

I don't think Cryptic can/will push the release date back (or at least not too far - definitely not a Blizzard-style +2 years); here's my evidence:

1) Cryptic is a relatively new/young development house: they don't have the name-recognition that Blizzard does (yet) and they can't delay their game for very long now that it's publicly known they're beta-testing before people will get disgruntled.

2) The beta seems to be going well, and by all accounts is very stable and feature-rich. There were a couple threads posted recently on the forums with footage from a trade show (CPL, but I don't know what the acronym means) that looks at least as good as DAoC did at release.

... OK, so I've only got 2 arguments. So sue me. :o

Warlocke, master of magic!

Nah, I'm not going to use my name for a character (even if it wouldn't be instantly snapped up). I'm thinking of playing a Technology origin character and roleplaying as a robot - then I could use the Cyborg Name Generator and use something like:



B)

[WarLocke]

Pointless bump.

I just wanted to show off some of my n00b art. I tried making a Micro hero - they're very popular for use in signatures and such on the COH and FF boards.

Meet Beacon:



B)

[AtomicKitKat]

Give her shades and the colour scheme of Shego from Kim Possible and you have a rough idea what AtomicKitKat the superheroine would look like.

[WarLocke]

Oh no! You're not stealing my costume, girlfriend! (?)

Oh, and what color scheme?

[AtomicKitKat]

Meh, "second-skin" catsuit in green and black. :P

[LiquidDamage]

Meet Beacon:

Is she called that because her headlights are on?

[WarLocke]

Want me to try making you a micro? I'd need to know what combination of green and black you wanted, what type of hair, etc. Probably a different pose if you wanted, but I don't know if I'm up to editing faces...

Is she called that because her headlights are on?

ROFL! No. :D

Her mutation is that she photosynthesizes light, like a plant. Her cells are like batteries, storing the energy created, which translates directly into her being tough and strong. If she produces too much energy without expending it somehow, she begins emitting it in the form of light.

Thus, she glows like a beacon; and also why she's in a full-body suit.

[AtomicKitKat]

I stink at describing versus the end result, but here goes. She's got a feline sort of grace to her, with burning green flames on her hands when she's "on" Generally uniformed in a greenish(radioactive/kryptonite green I guess) outfit, with black torso portion, gloves, and boots. Umm, hair. Black with green stripes? I dunno. I sorta made something that bore a mild resemblance to her using something called a Hero Machine.

http://www.heromachine.com/

Found the site. I'll post some more later. Too sleepy right now, since it's 7 in the morning.

[Bolty]

What, you wanna start a CoH section at the Lounge? ;)

-Bolty

[WarLocke]

Is that an offer? :lol:

Although I would think it should wait until COH is released, at least. The beta is still under an NDA as well, so we couldn't actually do much...

[LochnarITB]

then I could use the Cyborg Name Generator

I had to go get me one of them too!

[Bolty]

Is that an offer?  :lol:

All we need is:

1) an interested fan base at the Lounge
2) someone willing to really put in the time in the content area for it (harder to find than #1) long-term. I.e., not "do it for 3 months and get tired of it."

-Bolty

[WarLocke]

Well, if Liquid Damage, AtomicKitKat, and I are the total Lounge turnout, I can't see COH having its own section here.

And even if it does, I wouldn't be the person to admin it. As much as I'd like to offer, I know myself well enough to nip that idea in the bud before it ends up giving you (and me) a migraine. :(

Also, GameSpot has a new City of Heroes preview. There's some interesting tidbits, like the company-hosted webpage for every hero; that seems like an awful lot of overhead, but if they can pull it off it may turn out very cool.