NCsoft has announced that City of Heroes and City of Villains have now been fully integrated and are the same game, meaning that players who previously had access to only one of the games now have access to both.

There is a reason for the rejoicing in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. It is official – NCsoft has completely merged the two games into one game universe. All current subscribers who only had one of the games (City of Heroes or City of Villains) now have access to the features of both games. Additionally, all City of Heroes and City of Villains games for sale at retail or online will grant access to both games.

This is the final step needed in preparing the IP for future projects, to be announced later this year. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have always been a part of the same game universe. When City of Villains launched in 2005 as a stand-alone game, it did not launch with an extra subscription fee, so there has always been this feeling that they are closely related. What’s different here is that NCsoft has taken down the barrier where players had to have a City of Villains serial code to make a villain, and vice versa. Now, it doesn’t matter if you bought Heroes or Villains, you can make characters from either faction and experience their unique game content. Additionally, Heroes now have access to base building, which was previously only available if you had purchased City of Villains.

“In setting the stage for our upcoming plans for the IP, we felt the time was right to truly consolidate the City of Heroes and City of Villains universe,” said Brian Clayton, General Manager and Executive Producer. “We have removed all restrictions that were created when City of Villains launched in order to make way for some really cool content and features we have in the pipeline. This is an evolution of the IP that lays the foundation for what’s to come.”

The most recent game update, Issue 12: Midnight Hour, launched in May and included a wealth of features, including a new Greek and Roman inspired zone, Villain Epic Archetypes, Powerset Proliferation, as well as more character slots so that players can try out the new character powers and Archetypes.

 “We know that character variety is one of our greatest strengths and that’s why our players love to create new characters” said Matt Miller, Lead Designer. “Even former players who reactivate will be pleasantly surprised to see new open character slots waiting for them.”

Uniting the City of Heroes universe enables the development team to focus on other features slated to come in future installments. Improvements to Supergroup Bases and raids, an offline character reward system, and the previously revealed Mission Maker are just some of the systems that will see the benefits of a unified City of Heroes game.

Read more about City of Heroes here.

now only if NCsoft would come out with a Station Pass plan...

Now I'm curious to see how this will impact their future plans.

And MMORPG.com will have to adapt.

Originally posted by mxmissile

now only if NCsoft would come out with a Station Pass plan...

It's only a matter of time -- account billing is already under one roof and the launcher keeps all of the their games updated and accessible from one spot.

I think it's awesome. Can't wait to see what they have to announce later this year! It sounds pretty interesting, especially if a merger of the two games is needed in order for it to happen. Intriguing..

Being that I only have CoH, I think this is wonderful news. I'll have to resub again sometime, just to try out the Villians and bases. Right now I am playing DDO, and I am so close to reaching 1750 favor and I have yet to experience all of the content, so I am content with staying with DDO. But this is definitely good news and gives me one more reason to resub, especially since I have been thinking about that game a lot lately.

The funny thing is this actually happened over a year ago, not sure why it's just now being announced. As far as what they are announcing this year they are probably talking about the mission/Taskforce creator they are launching. You will be able to make your own missions with whatever layout and mobs you like and play it. You will also be able to upload it for others to play.

Originally posted by ambushbug

The funny thing is this actually happened over a year ago, not sure why it's just now being announced. As far as what they are announcing this year they are probably talking about the mission/Taskforce creator they are launching. You will be able to make your own missions with whatever layout and mobs you like and play it. You will also be able to upload it for others to play.

Did you read the article? They said that they have now fully completed the merge, meaning that whilst this may have been happening some time ago, it is now complete. They also say that the Mission/Taskforce creator is one of the things they're talking about in there too.

Originally posted by ambushbug

The funny thing is this actually happened over a year ago, not sure why it's just now being announced.

well.. sorta. What happened last year was any *ACTIVE* accounts that had one or the other got both. And it was a one day shot. But, new boxes still had to purchase both.

Now, regardless of buying which box, you get access to everything.

CoH is an awesome game, but honestly it's going to have a hard time surviving against DC Heroes and Champions online.

Hmm.. now that they have milked us for money on both sides - they decide to finally merge. Who wins in the end? Did they even consider rewarding the people who had paid for both expansions independently when they decided to merge?

Originally posted by todeswulf

CoH is an awesome game, but honestly it's going to have a hard time surviving against DC Heroes and Champions online.

I agree.

Most likely they will lose good amount of subs once these games release (especially Champion Online).

Most old games merge the original game plus expansions into a single package eventually.

Its usually cheaper and you only have to store one box and disks.  For a game like Everquest that has a lot of expansions, this results in big savings and saves a lot of physical storage space.  My pile of game boxes for Everquest was about 2 feet high when I left the game a few years ago, and several of the expansions were digital download.Reinstalling the game (original plus over 6 expansions) on a new pc was a major pain.

This is a good thing for consumers and probably means nothing as far as changing the actual game.

Originally posted by ssnautilus

Hmm.. now that they have milked us for money on both sides - they decide to finally merge. Who wins in the end? Did they even consider rewarding the people who had paid for both expansions independently when they decided to merge?

Sure! You get all those nifty Pre-Order and Collector's Edition extras as Veteran Rewards. It looks to me like the COH team is running out of steam. I guess that's what happens when you're really not pushed to come up with anything new for so long. I've got a stack of NCSoft timecards I could use, but I'm not even interested anymore.

Originally posted by LordDraekon

Originally posted by ssnautilus

Hmm.. now that they have milked us for money on both sides - they decide to finally merge. Who wins in the end? Did they even consider rewarding the people who had paid for both expansions independently when they decided to merge?

 

Sure! You get all those nifty Pre-Order and Collector's Edition extras as Veteran Rewards. It looks to me like the COH team is running out of steam. I guess that's what happens when you're really not pushed to come up with anything new for so long. I've got a stack of NCSoft timecards I could use, but I'm not even interested anymore.

Actually they started giving those Preorder perks as vet rewards... they're OUT OF JUICE... they're canibalising their reward content.

I dislike that everything NCsoft does is a constant PR spin.,  veteran rewards program included, and I really think their money would be better spent hiring a few more developers to add more selling points to the game rather than stocking the PR department.

I mean come on.. look at how they run their development cycle.  They make some vague announcement on future content, put a feedback thread up on it, and get like 50 pages of speculation on what the actual changes will be.  Talk about dog and pony show, and they treat it like it's national security secrets that can't be leaked until the last moment when the curtain is drawn.  Annoys the crap out of me how they communicate with the players.

Then we come to the veteran rewards program.  I started playing with CoV, had no desire to be a chaotic good tard in tights, still don't.  I remember when I had first grouped with someone who had the Nemesis Staff Reward, and I thought it was really cool.  I asked what archetype uses a staff, and they told me it was a 33 month reward.  Wow was I steamed at that.  I had just unlocked my year reward, and couldn't believe how much better it was starting new characters with the extra attack.. now add in two, even three with the recent announcement.

You can do business however you want, I don't have to pay you a cent if I disapprove.  I pay for a game, and I expect access to all the content.  What SWG and EQ2 does with veterans rewards is far different.. they offer fluff, and junk to make you house look pretty.  Ok the three year reward in EQ2 is rather nice, and the homing beacon in SWG is very cool,  but it no where near the level that CoX goes to limit the starting options a character has in that game who didn't start from launch. 

Anyways, sorry for the rant.

Originally posted by ambushbug

The funny thing is this actually happened over a year ago, not sure why it's just now being announced. As far as what they are announcing this year they are probably talking about the mission/Taskforce creator they are launching. You will be able to make your own missions with whatever layout and mobs you like and play it. You will also be able to upload it for others to play.

I was wondering, I've had both for so long and I never bought cov.  They just gave it to me, and I still never play it.

Originally posted by ssnautilus

Hmm.. now that they have milked us for money on both sides - they decide to finally merge. Who wins in the end? Did they even consider rewarding the people who had paid for both expansions independently when they decided to merge?

Do they plan on letting all the stores know for when people decide to buy both thinking they need to? Are they planning to take the combo packs off the shelves as well or lowering the price for those to that of a single game? I can see some angry people up ahead when they buy both and then learn they didn't need to.

My can people only complain...NCsoft decide to give those who only own one half the other half, yet people will find something to make noise about.

Prices drop, it's a fact of life. If I buy a World of Warcraft box now, I'll pay much less for it than I did back when I first got it. Now NCsoft decide to give a large portion of their community something for free, yet those who bought bought complain. Why should you get rewarded when you had access to the content for far longer than those who only got it free now? That already should be your money's worth.

On top of it all, the combined edition is in fact a heck of a lot cheaper (at least over here) than the seperate versions. You get extra in-game items among other things with the combined version too.

The CoX dev team has released alot more content over the years than many other MMOs have. Do they charge for it? No. I can think of many companies that would have in fact made us pay seperate monthly fees for CoH and CoV.

I, for one, don't think I'll be picking up Champions Online, simply because of the graphics style. It doesn't suite me at all - way too cartooney. Aren't Cryptik, the developers of CoX making Champions Online anyway?

Originally posted by Zorvan

Do they plan on letting all the stores know for when people decide to buy both thinking they need to? Are they planning to take the combo packs off the shelves as well or lowering the price for those to that of a single game? I can see some angry people up ahead when they buy both and then learn they didn't need to.

This is twice i've seen this. COX has only published the merged boxes for almost 2 years now.

Originally posted by bverji

Originally posted by Zorvan

Do they plan on letting all the stores know for when people decide to buy both thinking they need to? Are they planning to take the combo packs off the shelves as well or lowering the price for those to that of a single game? I can see some angry people up ahead when they buy both and then learn they didn't need to.

 

This is twice i've seen this. COX has only published the merged boxes for almost 2 years now.

Well then how the hell is this news if they've already had it done for two years?

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by bverji

Originally posted by Zorvan

Do they plan on letting all the stores know for when people decide to buy both thinking they need to? Are they planning to take the combo packs off the shelves as well or lowering the price for those to that of a single game? I can see some angry people up ahead when they buy both and then learn they didn't need to.

 

This is twice i've seen this. COX has only published the merged boxes for almost 2 years now.

 

Well then how the hell is this news if they've already had it done for two years?

Like someone said before...now everyone who has played before has their accounts updated.
 

Amazing NCSoft gives people something free and there is still whining and bitching. 

If you buy the Good vs Evil edition you still get the ingame bonuses.  If you buy just CoH you can play CoV too, just don't get the bonus goodies.

As for Champions and DC Online I doubt it's going to be the death of CoX.  When DAoC came out people were talking about the death of EQ1.  Well EQ1 servers are still up to this day.  Will they take a sub hit?  Probably.  It really depends on if both games can deliver on the sales pitch they are hyping up.  That being in Champions your hero having an npc "nemesis" that will harass you throughout your heroic career and in DC Online the fact you can go up against Batman, Superman, etc.

Right now they are still in development, so CoX has nothing to worry about.