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(More customer reviews)Ok, there's already numerous reviews up explaining all the wonders of player created content and all the amazing things you can do with the latest update. I want to mention a few things that don't always get enough coverage.
First of all, YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY THIS DISK if you just want to be able to play with the mission creator. You can get by just as well by buying one of the out of date expansions if you can find one for cheap (Game Stop was recently selling CoV Collectors Editions for a whopping $5.00, a bargain for the Heroclix figures alone, plus it comes with the game, an art book, and a month of free game time). If you already play the game or get the game via any other source (including the $20.00 Target game cards that come with a 30 Jet Pack), you will still be able to play with the Mission Architect system and design your own missions, story arcs, and custom villains.
So you might ask now, "Well why would I buy this then?" Simple... It comes with an up to date patch of the game. If you've ever had to download and patch an MMO that's been up and running for a couple years, you know that that can take hours or even DAYS depending on your internet speed. With the DVD that comes with this purchase (yes, it's a DVD, so you need a DVD drive to take advantage of this feature) you can install or reinstall the game much faster than downloading or even installing from an older disk and patching. That's pretty handy all by itself.
Another great advantage to it is the bonus costumes. Over the past year or so, the CoH team has taken to offering "Super Booster Packs" which are small premium expansions. It started with "The Wedding Pack" which included some very nice bridal and formal wear costume pieces and some matrimonial character emotes (like being able to throw rice). It was a niche product for a small percentage of the players that wanted those costume pieces, but the company claimed it generated enough extra revenue to allow them to put more resources into providing part of a free content update earlier. Because of this success, every few months they have released an additional premium upgrade that includes very high quality costume pieces, emotes, and a temp power that all fit a central theme. The last one was the Cyborg pack, and it was very popular. Along with the release of the Mission Architect system they have released the Magic themed Super Booster Pack, which includes some excellent Victorian style coats and cloaks, witches hats, High Collared Shoulder Capes/cloaks, and a nifty "fortune telling" power that allows you to generate a random buff for an ally.
Under normal circumstances, these Super Booster Packs cost $9.99 (plus applicable taxes) and could only be purchased online through the NC Soft Online Store. For some folks this isn't a problem, but for others who don't have a credit card or paypal access (or people living in certain nations) it was impossible to buy these upgrades. With the purchase of this edition of the game however, you also get access to your choice of the Cyborg Pack or the Magic Pack.
This is a great deal to start off with just because of the cost. When you add the free month of game time (normally $14.99) to the Booster Pack price ($9.99), this edition is a Five dollar savings! (possibly a couple bucks more depending on whether you pay tax on internet purchases in your region. I have to pay tax on my purchases from the online store, but not from Amazon, so I save almost 8 dollars overall by buying on Amazon as long as I can get something else at the same time to qualify for Super Saver Free Shipping). Also, if you don't have either booster pack yet, you can buy two copies of this edition, and use one activation code for each booster pack. The free game time you receive continues to add up so it won't be wasted!
One last thing about the Architect system itself... If you're at all like me, you may use the City of Heroes character creation system to build dozens or even hundreds of different characters just for the sake of creativity. Before, we were limited to just building characters in one of the 12 slots available on each server, and if we ran out of slots we sometimes had to erase an existing character in order to create a new one, even if we just wanted to build a character based on some concept rather than actually playing it though the whole game. With the Mission Architects ability to create custom characters to include in the missions you write, you can now make an unlimited number of characters (well, there is theoretically a limit since each character file is saved locally on your hard drive and takes up 5-10k of space, but if you have half a gig of free space, you'll probably never be able to make that many characters), and you don't have to level them up to try out special costume options likes capes, auras, or even Vanguard & Roman costume pieces. So now those of us suffering from "creative overflow" can build alts to our heart's content without having to sacrifice established characters in the game to do it!
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City of Heroes Architect EditionBreaking New Ground with Mission Architect Introducing user created content. City of Heroes is pushing the MMO genre forward, allowing players to design their own missions and story arcs to share with the entire City of Heroes community. Using an intuitive interface similar to the game's detailed character creator, players can create missions from the ground up. Players will determine details ranging from environments, mission objectives, and enemies, to written fiction and character dialogue; giving their stories nearly infinite depth and personalization. Now every player can be an Architect. City of Heroes City of Heroes is a new kind of massive multiplayer online game. If you've ever wanted to defend your city from evildoers as a mighty superhero, now's your chance. Choose your powers, join a team and go online for tremendous role-playing action. You'll also have to watch your Fame meter -- the higher your reputation gets, the more bonuses and rewards you'll get. Team up with other players online, to form new superhero groups and take down the bad guys more effectively. City of Villains City of Villains is the standalone sequel to critically acclaimed MMORPG City of Heroes. Using a staggering assortment of new powers, abilities, and customization options, players can now experience sinister game play from the other side of the mask. With diabolical craft and guile, players forge new super-powered villain characters in an attempt to dominate the world. Heroes and authorities of Paragon City will do all in their power to thwart these evil plans of destruction. It will take a supreme effort for true domination. Key Game Features:
A copy of both City of Heroes and it's counterpart, Cityof Villains, access to the innovative Mission Architect, and yourchoice between two exclusive in-game item packs, the Cyborg Pack orthe Magic Pack.
Special online play rate for both City of Heroes and Cityof Villains*.
First month of play included.
Includes 13 free major content updates.
Win/Mac support.
Mission Architect features.
Create Stories - Present your story to other players in the game through the story title, description, and character dialogue.Stories can be as short as a single mission and as long as five.
Create Characters - Use existing characters from City of Heroes lore or create your own characters from scratch using the costumecreator and a robust powers selection interface. Create individual characters which can be used as enemies, allies and contacts or createwhole enemy groups to fill your missions.
Write Dialogue - Every character that you place into a story or mission has its own dialogue. Whether it's the contact that directscharacters to their mission, the hostages that you rescue, or the enemies that you must defeat, they all speak through text bubblesat various points during your encounters.
Define Objectives - Defend, collect, defeat, destroy, rescue, and more. Mission architects can string objectives together makingmissions as simple or complex as desired, using up to a current maximum of 25 objectives per mission.
Use Advanced Options - For characters and missions select alignment, placement, difficulty, animations, behavior and more. Everymission objective has multiple advanced options, allowing you to truly customize how you want your story to play out.
Test and Iterate Before Publishing - Take as much time as you want to create your content and test it by yourself or with others.Once your masterpiece is complete, you can Publish it for other players to enjoy and rate.
Sort Stories and Search for Key Criteria - Players can use the Mission Browser to sort published stories by rating, date, length,and title, or search for content using key words like the character who created them or the subject matter within the stories.
Hall of Fame - Stories that have achieved a critical combination of high player ratings and number of views will be elevated into Hall of Fame status and will be listed under the Hall of Fame section.
Developer's Choice - Stories that are hand-picked by the developer will be deemed Developer's Choice and listed within theDeveloper's Choice section.
System Requirements: *Players can play both City of Heroes and City of Villains (included in the Anniversary Edition) for the single subscription fee (approximately $15 per month).
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