City of Heroes

MMORPG

A massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft.

Since 1931, when a prodigal son returned with the powers of an ancient god and called himself Statesman, Paragon City has been the centrr of the super-powered hero universe. Through efforts of Statesman who joined him in the war against tyranny and crime, Paragon City truly became a beacon and inspiration for heroes world-wide. A true city of heroes. All that came to a disastrous halt on May 23, 2002 when aliens known as Rikti invaded earth and began a war of mass extermination. Every major city in the world was attacked, but none were more devastated than Paragon City . It was here thousands of heroes and civilians made their last stand. It was on the ruined battlefield legends died and were created. After months of desperate fighting and incredible sacrifice, the Rikti were stopped-though not entirely defeated. In the end, of all the great super-powered heroes who called Paragon City home, only eight survived. Total casualty figures remain unknown, though low estimates placed them in tens of thousands. In the aftermath of the war, Paragon City , like much of the cities of the world, was in ruins. With most of the city's heroes dead or missing, crime and corruption seized the opportunity to fill a hero-less vacuum. Gangs of criminals-some reemerging from decades of hiding, many new and horrifying in methods-began to take control of the city's war torn zones. Amidst this sudden influx of lawlessness, Statesman made a call to the world's surviving and newly found heroes: "Come to Paragon City 's aid!"

In the game, players create superhero player characters who can team up with others to fight various villains in Paragon City and its surrounding areas. Heroes must fight members of various gangs and organizations and complete quests given to them by Non-player characters (NPCs) in order to accumulate experience points (or "XP") and increase their level.

In both City of Heroes and City of Villains, there are various zones within Paragon City and the Rogue Islands. Within each zone there are various villain groups that attack/harass the citizens of each, more so City of Heroes.

Paragon City (City of Heroes Specific) including: Atlas Park, Boomtown ("Baumton"), Brickstown, Cascade Archipelago, The Chantry, Crey’s Folly ("Venice") Croatoa ("Salamanca"), "Dark" Astoria, Eden ("Woodvale"), Faultline ("Overbrook"), Firebase Zulu, Founders’ Falls , Galaxy City, The Hive ("Portal Corp Facility"), The Hollows ("Eastgate"), Independence Port, Kings Row, Outbreak, Peregrine Island, Perez Park, Rikti Crash Site ("White Planes"), Skyway City,, Steel Canyon, The Storm Palace, Striga Island, Talos Island, Terra Volta

Rogue Islands (City of Villains Specific), Cap au Diable, Grandville, Mercy Island, Nerva Archipelago, Port Oakes, Sharkhead Isle, St. Martial, Zigursky Penitentiary ("Breakout")

In Between Zones, Bloody Bay, Pocket D, Recluse's Victory, Siren’s Call, Warburg

Paragon City, the City of Heroes setting place, and the Rogue Isles, the City of Villains locale, are full of organizations players must confront. Ranging from local street gangs, such as the Skulls and the Hellions, to a vast series of world-threatening organizations, such as the Council (formerly 5th Column), Nemesis, Crey, the Rikti, and the Circle of Thorns.

Atlas Park is the City Zone at the heart of Paragon City. No landmark exemplifies the heroic nature of City of Heroes more than the statue of the fallen hero, Atlas, that stands in front of City Hall. Atlas was one of the first heroes to respond to the Nazi sneak attack against Paragon City on December 7th, 1941. Almost single-handedly, Atlas kept the German attackers from a foothold past Independence Port. It cost him his life, but he held his ground until the Freedom Phalanx arrived.

Galaxy City is perhaps best known for its tributes to fallen heroes. Several breathtaking statues are found scattered throughout the district, reminding the residents of those who gave so much of themselves for the people of the city. The sculptures are all dedicated to heroes who made the area their home, and include Wayland, a self-proclaimed descendant of a Norse hero; Cassiopeia, the lovely psionicist; and M-1, born and raised Matthew Barnes in Equinox, who enlisted during World War II and joined the 1st Hero Brigade.

Back in the 1970s, with traffic congestion in Paragon City reaching major headache levels, the solution seemed obvious: build upwards! Create graceful sweeping highways! Take the pressure off surface streets by moving traffic above the city on high-spanning bridges. As a result, Skyway City - the big highway in the sky - was born.

Origins
When creating a character, a player must choose the origin of his character's powers. However, the origin of a hero has little effect on gameplay. It determines which of five origin specific powers they can be granted, who the player's early NPC contacts are, what type of enhancements they can use, and what titles they can choose from at level 25. Natural — Natural heroes train themselves to surpass normal human limits. It's also possible that a Natural isn't human at all, and their "powers" are simply their own natural abilities, like an alien who is part of a race who all have the same powers. Superman from DC Comics and The Punisher from Marvel Comics are both examples of this. Mutation — Mutant heroes have unique genetic structures that they are born with. Cyclops (and every other member) of the X-Men and some of the DC meta-humans fall under this class like Fire from the Justice League. Science — Science heroes gained their powers as the result of a scientific process, intentional or otherwise: e.g. Radiation exposure in a test lab. The Flash from DC and Spider-Man from Marvel are both examples. Technology — Technology heroes often have no true powers as such, but instead use an array of advanced devices. Iron Man from Marvel Comics and Cyborg from DC are examples of this origin. Magic — Magic heroes gain their powers from a Supernatural source. Doctor Strange from Marvel and John Constantine from DC reside in this category.

The full-color comic is distributed by Diamond Comic Distributors Inc., produced by Top Cow Productions, featuring such talents as Mark Waid (X-Men, Hunter-Killer, Flash, JLA, Ruse, Fantastic Four, Kingdom Come, Empire) and artist David Nakayama (Proximity Effect, a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, and a Wizard art contest winner). Top Cow's creative team will be bringing to life the super-powered heroes and villains that make up the City of Heroes® massively multiplayer online world.

In 2004 it was suggested that Gaming has economic value too, even if it is virtual. Analysis of how long people spend in the games and what they do there has shown that game-playing has a significant economic value too. According to the analysis this gaming activity has a gross economic impact equivalent to the GDP of the Southern African nation of Namibia.

http://www.cityofheroes.com/

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