City of Heroes

Did You Know?

• The game used 'inf' (influence, infamy, or information) as currency instead of money.
• Issue 9 introduced the Invention system, allowing characters to combine salvaged items and recipes to create enhancements, costume pieces, and temporary powers.
• Enemies included Giant Monsters such as Lusca the giant octopus in Independence Port and the Ghost of Scrapyard on Sharkhead Isle.

Production history

In 2000, writer Rick Dakan and Michael Lewis founded Cryptic Studios, whose first project was City of Heroes, an idea Dakan claimed to have originated. On October 31, 2005, the stand-alone expansion City of Villains launched, allowing players to play as supervillains; it did not require City of Heroes to run, but owning both added content to the Hero side. On July 16, 2008, NCSoft merged the two games' content, so owning either title unlocked both. NCSoft purchased the intellectual property on November 6, 2007, transitioning staff from Cryptic Studios to a new location in Mountain View, California. The new studio, named Paragon Studios on April 14, 2009, shared credit with Cryptic for development. City of Heroes became available on Steam on April 22, 2009. On October 30, 2008, NCSoft partnered with Transgaming Technologies to bring the games to Mac OS X. The Going Rogue expansion, announced on May 11, 2009, introduced the alternate reality of Praetoria and a new alignment system, releasing on August 17, 2010. On June 20, 2011, Paragon Studios announced a hybrid subscription model called City of Heroes: Freedom, adding free-to-play options with tiers for Premium and VIP players.

Gameplay

Players created a character to enter the virtual world and progress by earning experience points from defeating foes, completing missions, and exploring zones, then returning to NPC Trainers to level up. Leveling granted more health, powers, enhancement slots, and inventory space for inspirations and salvage. Defeat at zero health could be reversed by items, ally powers, or teleportation to hospitals; after level 10, defeat incurred Experience Debt that slowed further gains. The setting comprised Paragon City for heroes and the Rogue Isles for villains, divided into zones accessed via transportation systems. Hazard or Trial zones, marked in red, contained larger enemy groups and were more dangerous. Villain zones were connected by ferries and helicopters, while hero zones were separated by energy War Walls and linked by a light-rail Metropolitan Transport system. Some zones were cooperative or PvP; Praetoria lacked War Walls. Movement initially involved jogging or a minor speed power, with later options including Teleportation, Super Speed, Super Jumping, and Flight.

Character creation

Character creation began with selecting an origin and archetype, then primary and secondary power sets, followed by designing the avatar and costume, customizing power colors, and finally choosing a name with an optional background story and battle cry. The five origins—Natural, Magic, Science, Mutation, and Technology—determined enhancement types, a starting short-ranged power, and which enemy groups the character faced. A special Incarnate origin existed for NPCs, and the Incarnate System added powers after difficult missions. The five basic hero archetypes were Blasters (versatile damage dealers with low health), Controllers (status effect specialists with pet summons), Defenders (debuff and buff supporters), Scrappers (melee fighters with critical hits), and Tankers (defensive tanks with aggro control).

Updates and history

The development team expanded City of Heroes with free downloadable patches and expansions called Issues, available to both City of Heroes and City of Villains from Issue 6 onward. City of Villains, released in 2005 as a stand-alone expansion, introduced five new villain archetypes, new maps, and the first PvP Zones, and shared the same subscription fee. Its retail box included four CD-ROMs, a limited edition HeroClix figure, a poster, and a serial code for the game and one month of play, plus a 30-day trial for City of Heroes. After NCSoft's 2008 acquisition, owning either title unlocked both at no extra cost.