Paragon Studios is ramping up the PR machine with today's revelation of what will occur in Issue 23: Where Shadows Lie for City of Heroes players.

Here's some of what players will find in Issue 23:

• Powerful Storytelling: Featuring the blockbuster conclusion to a storyline that’s been more than two years in the making, Issue 23 gives players the chance to finish the Praetorian War that started with the game’s last major expansion, Going Rogue, while also picking up the pieces left by the death of the iconic heroes Statesman and Sister Psyche.

• New Content: Join the fight against Emperor Cole of Praetoria in Night Ward, a completely new zone trapped between realms, offering mid-level characters all-new challenges and enemies to overcome. Meanwhile, max level heroes and villains can put an end to the Praetorian War in the Magesterium Incarnate Trial, featuring never before seen challenges and powerful bosses.

• New Features and Benefits: Both free and VIP players will enjoy a variety of features and perks, ranging from improved fast travel options to striking new costume sets.

I love CoH, but the last thing it needs is another zone. And I'm tired of missing out on the story just because I don't raid. Solo/small teamers are players, too! And MORE fast travel? Travel in CoH is already trivial and they're going to make it even moreso? Well, okay I guess! Stil a solid game but geeze, I feel like I'm in a marriage where my spouse and I are slowly growing apart.

One thing I have always said that is forever true, you will never be able to succesfully mix RP and raiding. It just doesn't work. It never has. Honestly everytime I hear the dreaded R word, I can't help but lose some amount of respect for the game on that basis alone. While I realize that there are some people that like that sort of content, it's still inappropriate and fundamentally wrong. You wouldn't invite 20 or so people over to your house to go kill a dragon in a game of D&D. All of the original MMO's spent more time putting the RP in the RPG and thus there was no raiding either as a result. I'd love to see the story myself too, but I dislike raiding because I tend to look at RPG's as they are. I have tried raiding to see if I could find any enjoyment in the content despite how I feel regarding it. It felt tedious to me and as if someone was trying to take a round block and shove it into a square hole.

As long as my former heroes/villains are locked because I need to buy archetypes, I ain't coming back.

Your former chracters are unlockable by simply clicking on the unlock icon next to it. You do not have to buy archetypes that you had before. You do have to buy new archetypes that you didn't have before Freedom.

In reference to raiding, I feel your pain. The alternative to this that they have is the Signature Story Arcs which I believe is a very cool concept. Also, the Mission Architect has a pretty much limitless supply of original stories if you're willing to put in the time to actually write a good story. The problem is that most people use it for farming which goes to show the utter lack of creativity when it comes to players who are basically Ritalin impaired folks who look at reading as an arduouos task.

Tabletop RPG will always have certain advantages over MMORPGs, the most marked being familiarity with players, totally original storylines, custom PC subplots, and a simply more immersive RP experience. The problem with MMORPGs is that most people leave out the RPG part. Raids can be a great RP experience but you need the right mix of people and that is near nigh impossible to find. You'd have to be hooked up with several RP guilds in order to have the experience you're looking for.

Originally posted by Servant-XII

Your former chracters are unlockable by simply clicking on the unlock icon next to it. You do not have to buy archetypes that you had before. You do have to buy new archetypes that you didn't have before Freedom.

 

I think he means the one-time payment non-subscribers need to make in order to unlock peacebringers, warshades, controllers, and masterminds (assuming you don't have enough paragon rewards to unlock them already).  *shrug* That's his decision.

Between the lvl 50 content almost requiring you to grind out the trials, and the game going "Free" I'm growing more annoyed day after day.  It's tought to find quality RP anymore.  Add that to the fustration of paying extra for things that used to be free with a subscription. (Costumes and powersets.)   I just feel like it's just another game being lost in the pile.  Adding Zones is funny too.  Why not fix or update the useless empty ones first?