City of Heroes

My new computer is due to be delivered today! I’ll be at work, of course, but maybe I can finally find their delivery center and pick it up afterward. My hope and fervent dream is that this will be the computer powerful enough to run Lord of the Rings Online…. Anyway. A couple of weeks ago, Paragon Studios introduced the Make Your Own Farm Mission (aka Architect) system, where players could find a badge they wanted to gain, and find the perfect mission among the thousands created for this purpose to gain that badge, or that level, or whatever they liked. Experience with similar level creators in such obscure games as Diablo, Diablo II and LittleBig Planet wasn’t clue enough that many players would use their new powers to create and play custom missions to benefit their characters. ...

Yes, this is the Daily Blogroll MY OWN BLOG didn’t want you to see! I’m kinda tired of Free Realms. Not the game; heck, considering my computer now refuses to run Lord of the Rings Online for long, I’ve been spending most of my gaming time in Free Realms. Beau is having fun playing. Pete at Dragonchasers took a 75 degree turn and went from being marginal about the game to a fan in just three short days. Syp of Bio Break is still dubious, but what does he care – his wife is Tinker Bell! ...

I’ve renamed the Web Log to the Daily Blogroll, just because I like the name better. Also, in the Shameless Self Promotion dept, look for the last Adventures in Monopoly scheduled for later today. There’ll be more adventures with Dire Bear, Scottie and Car, when they have another story to tell. It’s server merge time in EQ2 again. This time, the US PvP servers Nagafen and Venekor (RP) will merge after Fan Faire in June. Most PvP players seem okay with it, but some are taking it really hard. ...

As near as I can tell, nearly 900 people came to this blog yesterday just to name the Marleybone builder turtle in Wizard 101. That’s fantastic! There’s still a bunch of time left, and as long as the contest is going, there’s going to be a big button over there on the right leading to the post since, this being a blog, stuff scrolls off the front page almost immediately, and the Name the Turtles contest is already buried under THIS post, and a long, long comic about two hobbits discussing how cool a X Files MMO would totally be. ...

Welcome to the Sunday Web Log! When’s the new EverQuest server coming? The rumor mill has it that the 51/50 server – new characters start off at level 51 with 50 AAs – is in the bag. Others assume that SOE will be opening a new progression server, and have reactivated their accounts in order to start over. As near as I can tell, nothing has been announced yet, but it seems likely that we’ll be able to play on the new server, whatever kind it is, in June. Oh, and EQ players? You voted two frogs in as Mr. and Miss Norrath of 2009? I mean, grats to Kannak and Molleah but … frogs? ...

Last night was one of those kinds of nights where you’re trying to pass a kidney stone, drinking gallons and gallons of water, and you know, it would be a really nice time to KILL. SOMETHING. Trying some of those City of Heroes Architect player-created mission arcs on the test server sounded just about right, so Kasul and I headed there to see what trouble we could cause. My level 21 ninja/ice mastermind had finally been copied, so we weren’t going to have to do missions at level 1. Kanad made a new character, and I chose him as my lackey so we could both take somewhat higher level missions. ...

It’s the wave of the future. No, it’s not the wave of the future. Handing the level making tools to the players is the wave of the past, and it’s made game after game stick around for years past the “sell by” date. Half Life, Warcraft III, Unreal 2… It doesn’t take a genius to see that tapping the boundless enthusiasm and creativity of your players can be a good thing. ...

I was teleporting around Cap du Diablo and this story came to me, pretty much exactly as it is here. Sometimes they just come like that, fully formed, and then it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together. Enjoy :)

Name: Mad Money Power: Mad Money uses his infamy and notoriety to manipulate the financial markets of the Rogue Isles. Once a lowly hedge fund manager, the Complicit Netherworld Broadcasting Corporation recruited him and now use his powers for their own nefarious ends. Weaknesses: He wilts in the face of laughter. Supergroup affiliation: Minion and sometimes spokesman for the Complicit Netherworld Broadcasting Corporation. Kasul and I finished up our missions in Mercy Island last night and headed in to Port Oakes. Port Oakes is where the game world expands – you get the newspaper missions, the mayhem missions, teams are easily available at a wide range of levels. Leveling to eight wasn’t too hard. I’d had a date with Thomas, the Friendly Necromancer to do the second half of the assault on Malistaire’s Lair in Wizard 101, so i ducked out for a few minutes to save Dragonspyre, again, from the reawakened Dragon Titan. Kasul had to work today, so he decided to head to bed. ...

There’s maybe two MMOs that I have played where the newbie grounds are always full of people. One is World of Warcraft – when I played, there were always people around the newbie grounds. The other is City of Heroes. It’s going to be getting a lot busier, what with Issue 14 bringing along the Architect system, where people can make their own adversaries and mission arcs and then publish them for everyone to play. The spotlight of buzz will once again focus on this always innovative game. ...