J-Star interview from 2008

Here is the long-awaited interview with the Glam Bunny model-turned-crimefighter J-Star.



Bear in mind that this interview is a year old, and that the "Guardians of Might" are no more. J-Star is now with Omega 2.

By the way, this was the FIRST interview by Paragon Pundit.

Click here to read the interview (PDF File).

New Stories!

Thanks to the folks at deviantART, I now have a forum for posting the stories of the various participants in the Chronicles.

First up: the origins of Galatea Powers.



This super-powered blond bombshell was lost from a different time and different universe, but she seems to suffer from the same personal problem everywhere she goes.

Click here for the full story (PDF file).

Quick word on video posts

Anytime you see a YouTube video with an HQ button, be sure to press it. The graphics look a whole lot better when you do.

Captain Catastrophe: Team Killer

In this sixth video in the "Ask Captain Catastrophe" series, the captain is unable to continue his tour of City Hall, thanks to someone spilling more Hamidon Goo. (No, it wasn't him this time!) So he tried to answer another question from his fans, only to find that they wanted to ask him a question he wasn't willing to answer.



How does he get himself out of this predicament? You'll just have to find out.

Oh, and it looks better when you have the HQ button pressed.

5th Anniversary Video

In honor of the 5th Anniversary of City of Heroes, Samuraiko Productions released a special video showing the major events in the in-game history of Paragon City.



The characters you see are all part of the City of Heroes mythology, including the early representatives of the Freedom Phalanx and Arachnos. And before you ask "Where is Battlerock X in the Alpha and Omega Gambit?" He was thrown through a smaller portal before the explosion... and not by choice.

This is a REALLY great video, and Michelle/Samuraiko/Dark Respite spent DAYS working on it. PLEASE be sure to give her plenty of credit for it.

Five Years in the City of Heroes

It was April 28, 2004.

Paragon City was still recovering from the devastation of the Rikti Invasion of 2002 when the call went out for heroes around the world to come help rebuild the city and bring order back to it. It didn’t matter if they were new heroes or seasoned veterans. Humans, aliens, robots, mystical creatures, pure of heart or not, thousands have heeded Statesman’s call for help.

A lot has happened in those five years since.

There is still much of Paragon City that needs rebuilding, but the city is making a comeback. The Hollows, formerly known as Eastgate, have been opened as a hazard area. Where once criminals run wild, order is slowly being restored there. Faultline, formerly known as Overbrook, has gone from a hazard area into a relatively safe zone as that district rebuilds itself from its devastation. Croatoa opened up again.

The influx of heroes opened a new sport for the city, known simply as The Arena. DJ Zero opened up the extradimensional Pocket D nightclub, and later expanded it with a Tiki Lounge and seasonal ski chalet.

But the threats have magnified as well.

The Rularuu crossed over from the Shadow Shard dimension in 2004. Civil war broke out in 2005 between the factions now known as the 5^th Column and The Council, with The Council prevailing. Lord Recluse and his Arachnos forces began bringing escaped prisoners from the Zig over to his empire in the Rogue Isles, essentially turning that chain of islands into their own City of Villains.

The Rikti returned in 2007, five years after they were originally defeated by the noble sacrifices made by the Omega Team. The Vanguard ramped up their operations. The Midnight Squad came back from near-extinction. Through the Menders of Oroboros, new doors to the past and the future opened to unlock the secrets.

There have been many things since Statesman’s call was sent. Zombie Apocalypse and Snow monsters, meeting Father Time and saving Baby New Year, taking on gods and Titans, and travelling through time and to alternate realities. There was even a wedding as heroes Manticore and Sister Psyche got married.

And things are just starting.

For one day only, on April 28^th, the Fifth Anniversary of Statesman’s call for more heroes, the City of Heroes will relive the great events that have happened in the five years. Rularuu? Rikti? Zombie Apocalypse? The return of the Wedding Event and Winter Event? Holiday presents and Trick-or-Treating? The only way to find out is to be in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles from 11am EST to Midnight EST on April 28^th.

Then on April 29^th and running until May 31^st, ALL characters that log in will get a special 5^th Anniversary badge. These badges are rare and will only be issued PER CHARACTER during that time.

Also anyone who ever was a hero or villain in the past five years will be allowed to reactivate and join in the festivities from April 28th until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 3^rd.

And that’s not all. There are anniversary events going on, including two contests, a special address from Positron, visits from all of the Freedom Phalanx in the Test Universe, and already there are details on Issue 15: Anniversary, including the highly anticipated opening of the Omega Team Time Capsule! New faces, new costumes, new missions, new costume change emotes… all of that is just around the corner.

It has been a busy five years… and it can only get better from here.

NEW goodies ONLINE

We have a 2-fer today.

For those that have been interested in City of Heroes but haven't yet signed up, now is the perfect time to do so.

First, we have Issue 14 that JUST came out (and already had a few bug tweaks). It's a really popular feature, which explains why things still run slow in front of every AE building.

The folks at NCSoft have decided to go ahead and release a new version of the City of Heroes game with all of the updates included. This is called "City of Heroes: Architect Edition".

So what is the difference between this and the "Good versus Evil" edition or any of the earlier versions? Simple. With earlier versions of the game system, you had to install all of the updates before you could take part in the game. With "Architect Edition", you START with everything up to date with Issue 14, which means you only have a handful of upgrades to make. That cuts down the setup time from about two or three hours to maybe 30 minutes tops.

Also, this is a hybrid version, which means PC AND Mac users can load and run this system. You get both Heroes AND Villains AND the Architect... AND the other goody included.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, you can buy this online AND at your local electronics store.

Then there is the other goody...

"Super Booster II: Magic" - as promised, the second specialty add-on to the City of Heroes and City of Villains is now active, and I have to say that the features are all that they promised and then some.

Now here's the treat: if you buy the "Architect Edition", you will get an activation code for EITHER "Super Booster II: Magic" or the earlier "Super Booster: Cyborg". I don't know why they would make you pick between one or the other, but personally, I would suggest sticking with the Magic motif. There's a lot more goodies involved.

Oh, if you want to see how the new costumes look, here's one of the Chronicles characters with her recent "makeover"..



And to think... the 5-year Anniversary is still just a few days away... Makes you wonder what they'll do to celebrate that.

Super Booster Pack II announced

The hits just keep on coming from NCSoft for both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

Fresh from the release of "Issue 14: Architect", we now have news on the newest Super Booster Pack.

The previous SBP was "Cyborg" and gave specific costume themes, emotes, and a special "Self-Destruct" power.

This one, however, will top it.

"Super Booster II: Magic" will be available on April 14th 2009. This is an in-game booster pack that will give players magic-themed goodies.

Costumes:
Hats, chest, pants, gloves, boots, and magic robe pieces for women. Hats, hood, skull mask, wizard beard, high collar cape mantle, boots, and jackets for men.






And here I thought the wedding pack lingerie was hot!



Then add to that...
Mystic Fortune Power:
Ever wanted to have your fortune read in game? With the Mystic Fortune power players will be able to offer to read each other’s fortunes. Having your fortune read gives a power buff based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and can give a positive or negative effect on that character for the next 20 minutes.

And then the BEST add-on...

Costume Change Emotes:
Characters with multiple costume slots unlocked will also have an exciting new way of customizing their characters; costume change emotes! Super Booster II: Magic includes 4 costume change emotes these emotes activate when characters switch their costumes, and are selectable in the costume change interface.

Heroes and Villains add new costume slots at levels 20, 30, or 40... OR by earning one by getting all four special Halloween Costume pieces and delivering them to a special witch either in Croatoa (Heroes) or Nerva Archipelago (Villains). You have to have more than one costume slot for this ability to be activated.

This is one of the most requested add-ons, so if you're a serious game-player, you NEED to have this!

"SBP2: Magic" can be bought online at the NCSoft store or it comes free with the purchase of "City of Heroes: Architect Edition" (Coming soon!)

City Hall - Part 1

The good Captain gives you a tour of City Hall and introduces you to some of the hard-working people there.



Don't worry, there will be a part 2 to this.

Fourth Video

The latest from Captain Catastrophe is up and running.

This time around some background questions get answered about Paragon City.

Third Video

This video was actually up for a while now, but with all of the fuss about I14, it sorta got lost.

If you were wondering what Captain Catastrophe did to end up with community service, THIS explains it...

Issue 14 - The Movie!

NC Soft finally ditched that whole "Captain Amazing" thing and cranked out a really GOOD promo for Issue 14. This should give you a taste of what the Mission Architect really does and why it's so popular.

Issue 14 is LIVE!

Issue 14: Architect is now LIVE in the City of Heroes and City of Villains.

Mostly.

As of this posting time they are still having problems in the Freedom Universe, so that is still inaccessible.

(Update: Freedom Universe is back up and running.)

The key component here is the Mission Architect, providing for the first-time ever actual player-generated game content. The level of detail involved with this project, being able to design multi-level storylines with original characters and dialogue, is absolutely amazing.

Kudos to NC Soft and the developers for pulling this off.

And stay tuned for the first Chronicle mission story:
"The Legacy of Battlerock X"

i14 Live Date Announced!

Paragon City and Rogue Island residents take heed! The tentative release date for Issue 14: Architect has been given!

CoH/CoV message board administrator Ex Libris provided the tentative live date while informing members of one of the key features in I14, namely the new "Super Leader" position for supergroups.

Issue 14: Architect is expected to go live on Wed April 8th.(This date is subject to change up to and including the last possible second).

The position "Super Leader" gives more player control over a supergroup, as there can be only one "Super Leader" at any given time, while normal leadership positions can be shared. This will be an automatic assignment, with the position going to the last "Leader" in that rank to log out when it goes live, but it can be passed over to another leader.

Current leaders in the Chronicles expected to be promoted (by server, blue = hero, red=villain):

Omega 2 (Justice - blue): Battlerock X
LexieTech Incorporated (Justice - red): Lexie Lothora
Scorned by Fate (Champion - red): Sad Nice Guy
Faction for a Better Tomorrow (Champion - red): Reverend NeoCon
Noble Champions (Champion - blue): Thunderwrath
Guardians of the Dawn (Guardian - blue): Captain Paragonna
Libra Order (Virtue - red): Tainted Eve

For more information about Issue 14, visit the Paragon Wiki site.

And stay tuned for news of the first mission arc of the Chronicles -
"The Legacy of Battlerock X"