Seven Stars of Super

You ever hear the phrase "Membership has its privileges?"

Well for City of Heroes subscribers, you're about to find out!

This year marks the seventh anniversary of the MMO. As such, Paragon Studios and NCSoft have a little reward for those of you who stick with the game for a few months.

For those with active and paid-for accounts from February 1st until April 18th, you will be getting...

A special Seven Stars chest emblem for you to add to all characters.

A special seven-star badge called The Constant.

A special emote called "Loyalty" that will display seven stars around you as a symbol showing your morality alignment appears below you.

And the Vanguard Booster Pack, an exclusive Booster Pack that will unlock many of the Vanguard costume features, including weapons, the special Vanguard Sigil costume-change emote, and an exclusive non-combat Vanguard hardsuit pet. (Think of it as a little robotic mascot, only the kind that doesn't get into slapstick trouble like the cartoon versions.)

It should be pointed out that all of the Vanguard features right now require you to reach Security Level 35 and then take part in NUMEROUS Vanguard missions, defeating countless Rikti forces before getting enough Vanguard Merits to purchase these items. With the Vanguard Pack, you'll be getting all of these things at Level 1, without needing to take out so much as a Rikti Monkey... which is good because they REEK! Have you ever had to fight off a Rikti Monkey? They are horrid! They are just living, breathing, perpetual fart machines! They have more methane in each one of them than a whole HERD of cows. But I digress...

Did I forget to mention that all of this will be given FREE? All you have to do is have a subscription active from February 1st until April 18th, and then on April 28th (the 7th Anniversary of the MMO launch) the items will be unlocked and activated for you account. Considering how earlier "booster" packs run from $8-$10 (and the more recent ones are overpriced for what they provide), this is a really great deal for Heroes, Villains, Rogues, Vigilantes, and Praetorians.

So if you are still on the fence about signing up, now is the time to do it, because the after February 1st you'll be out of luck.

Double XP Weekend

With the Winter Event expiring soon, the last weekend of the event will also be going out with a Double-XP bang!


The Double XP weekend will be going on starting 12noon, Thursday, January 27th until 3am, Monday, February 1st (EST).

This will be your opportunity to get in all of the goodies at the Ski Chalet and the presents in Paragon City, Rogue Isles, and Praetoria. And if you feel you need to get a few last digs in on Lord Winter - because he's an annoying monster - then this is your last chance to do it for ten more months.

The Holiday Season Goes On And On...

You know some people are super-fixated on seasonal schedules? They expect the holiday decorations up NO EARLIER than Thanksgiving Day and have them down NO LATER than January First.

Then you have the business world... that can't WAIT to get their holiday stuff up and on the shelves earlier and earlier in the year.

Well, the inverse is now true in the City of Heroes universe, with the Winter Event - complete with the Ski Chalet, presents, Baby New Year, and the Winter Hoarde - being extended until 2:59am EST on January 31st.

So if you haven't gotten all your seasonal goodies, or got frustrated taking on Lady Winter, now's the change to remedy that.

Oh, by the way... the nice/nasty halo auras have now been fixed. They no longer require you to take the aura missions at level 30 before using them. You can use them once you earn them.