City of Heroes: Issue 6: “Along Came a Spider”
While I sit here waiting for this new expansion to download, I figured I might as well write about it.
This issue, among other things, allows interaction with characters from City of Villians
Issue 6: “Along Came a Spider”
Some of the main features include:
All New PVP Zones!
Along with the player-vs.-player action in each of these new zones, players may also choose to partake in hazardous missions; the risks are higher in these zones but well worth the effort!
Bloody Bay
Hero vs. Villain
Minimum character level to enter: 15
Scientists are looking for fragments of the meteor that destroyed the island of Bloody Bay. These valuable pieces, they believe, hold the answers to the mysteries of the Shivan.
Siren?s Call
Hero vs. Villain
Minimum character level to enter: 20
A major breach in the Paragon City War Wall has created a beachhead for a villain invasion. Join the forces of the Freedom Corps in battles waged against villains and Arachnos troops to defend the city!
Warburg
Free-For-All Battles
Minimum character level to enter: 30
Players investigate the subterranean Web Complex searching for the codes that enable the launch of a powerful weapons satellite system. Successful missions reward players with temporary powers like the ability to call down a missile strike from space!
Gladiator Battles ? Arena (only)
An entirely new way to game has come to Paragon City! Located throughout the city are all new Gladiator Badges. Once players earn their badge(s), they may enter the Arenas to compete in Gladiator Battles. The badges themselves have the unique ability to transform into controllable minions within the Arenas. Compete against other Gladiator teams for ultimate bragging rights!
Super Group Improvements
All new rankings and permission systems enhance the management and membership of Super Groups. This includes special badges only obtainable by Super Group members. In conjunction with the launch of City of Villains, the City of Heroes Super Group members will have the ability to collect Salvage and earn Prestige that counts toward the construction of their Super Group?s base. NOTE: Players must own City of Villains to actually build a base.
Graphical Improvements
The world of Paragon City will become even more dazzling as a series of graphical improvements are applied on a citywide scale! From water diffraction to bloom effects and depth of field enhancements, the Heroes? world has never looked better!
New Technical Enhancements
With Issue 6, City of Heroes supports 3D sound and Dual Core CPU technology.
Quality of Life
Drop-down menus will be found in the Character Creation UI. Players will now have 20 letters to use in naming their characters. Player-to-player trading and pet management will now be quicker and easier.
More specific details about the changes in game mechanics can be found in the patch notes here
NEWSARAMA – BUY IDENTITY CRISIS, GET THE ARCHER’S QUEST FREE
NEWSARAMA – BUY IDENTITY CRISIS, GET THE ARCHER’S QUEST FREE
BUY IDENTITY CRISIS, GET THE ARCHER’S QUEST FREE
Though the offer has been up in ?stealth mode? at www.bradmeltzer.com , DC Comics has opted to make the offer known far and wide ? that is, if you buy Identity Crisis, you can get a free copy of Meltzer?s collected Green Arrow run, The Archer?s Quest.
Click here for a pdf of the offer and requirements, and here for a jpeg.
NEWSARAMA.COM: INFINITE CRISIS #2 GEORGE P?REZ COVER PREVIEW
BIG SPOILERS!!!
NEWSARAMA.COM: INFINITE CRISIS #2 GEORGE P?REZ COVER PREVIEW
:-O
City of Heroes: City of Villains goes Gold!
Might be a while before I get on this bandwagon, we are still recovering from our vacation bills 
City of Heroes: City of Villains goes Gold!
City of Villains goes Gold!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Evildoers everywhere rejoice as City of Villains goes gold! Get ready to unleash your inner villain in the anticipated stand-alone sequel to City of Heroes.
The game will be on retail shelves October 31st with a two-day head start for pre-order customers! Click here to read more.
Back in business!!
Filed under: Administrative, Random Thoughts and Information
My webhost had a hardware failure almost two weeks ago and after many trouble tickets with minor issues, Tales of the Longbox is back in business.
I am sure the three or four of you that read this site missed us terribly. 
More to come after I get done writing my latest column from WindowsSecrets.com that is due tomorrow night.
Later…
City of Heroes: No additional monthly fee to play City of Villains!
Great Googly Moogly!!!
City of Heroes: No additional monthly fee to play City of Villains!
No additional monthly fee to play City of Villains!
Thursday, October 6, 2005
NCsoft has unveiled its single subscription rate for City of Villains and City of Heroes players! Subscribers to City of Villains and City of Heroes will have only a single subscription fee of $14.99 per month to have full access to both games. Read more about this exciting pricing plan here.
Here is what is in the Standard and Collector’s Edition games:
Standard Edition
- A CD-ROM version of City of Villains?
- One exclusive HeroClix? figure
- One exclusive City of Heroes? collector card from Alderac Entertainment Group
- Two-sided poster featuring: Villains vs. Heroes battle scene and Rogue Isles ancient map
- First Month of Play Included*
- Plus Game Trials and Other Offers
Collector’s Edition
- A DVD version of City of Villains?
- Collector?s exclusive in-game items
- Seven limited edition HeroClix? figures
- Art Collection Book from both sides of the law
- A preview deck of the City of Heroes? collectible card game from Alderac Entertainment Group
- One exclusive City of Heroes? collector card from Alderac Entertainment Group
- Two-sided poster featuring: Villains vs. Heroes battle scene and Rogue Isles? ancient map
- First Month of Play Included*
- Plus Game Trials and Other Offers
*Valid Credit Card or Game Time Card required to activate included time
Update: 6:26pm
More info from the COH message boards
Character Slots
City of Heroes and City of Villains will share the same universe and, therefore, they must coexist on the same servers. Many of the existing (and yet-to-be-released) features and zones within City of Heroes and City of Villains require that heroes and villains be able to interact fully. This means that players will manage their heroes and villains from the same menu interface.People with only City of Heroes or City of Villains will have the normal eight character slots per server, those with both games will use a new interface with twelve character slots. Those twelve slots will accommodate both heroes and villains (so if players choose to, they can fill all twelve with heroes or with villains).
Some things just bring a smile to your face…
Some things just bring a smile to your face…
From the new Common Malware Enumeraton (CME) website?s ?Other Documents? section:
CME Initiative’s Open Letter on SANS Internet Storm Center
An open letter from an anti-virus customer (that was me, by the way) to anti-virus vendors was posted to the SANS Internet Storm Center calling for the vendors to solicit the help of a neutral 3rd party like SANS or US-CERT to help solve the malware identification problem. The CME Team drafted a response that was co-signed by MITRE’s CME Team, US-CERT/DHS representatives, and the vendors participating on the CME Preliminary Editorial Board. The response letter was posted by the SANS Internet Storm Center on November 23, 2004 at http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?date=2004-11-23.
(Go ahead and see for yourself)
Nice to be remembered 
Monitor Duty: The story of Manos
Oh the glory of Manos. I have seen this little gem, and I was forever changed. This movie was so bad that it made every movie I watched after it Oscar material for several months afterward. The MST3K version was the only way I could survive the experience, I doubt that anyone could even watch the original
If you haven’t seen it, it is just one of those things you just have to do. If your brain can withstand the awesome horribleness, you can get through just about anything.
Monitor Duty: The story of Manos
The story of Manos
Next year will be the 40th Anniversary of the movie “MANOS” The Hands of Fate (and that IS the correct punctuation). The Agony Booth directed me to a wonderful article from the 30th Anniversary, “The Hand That Time Forgot” by Richard Brandt. Brandt also has a follow-up article, “Growing Up Manos,” which recounts the movie from the perspective of the badly-dubbed little girl.
