Issue 18

The features discussed here may be implemented in future issues and are subject to change before release.

Overview

Issue 18, Shades of Gray, will be a major revision to City of Heroes and City of Villains, which will accompany the Going Rogue expansion.

Confirmed Content

Tips System

• The Tips System gives players a new way to find missions. During play, foes Level 20 or higher may drop notes or clues, or offer information. These Tips start new mission arcs, allowing characters to face new opponents and challenges--and perhaps even change their destiny.
  • Ghost Falcon went on to clarify in the discussion thread

    Customers who do not choose to upgrade with the Going Rogue expansion will be able to do "Tip" missions, but will not be able to switch their alignments.
    As mentioned in the ViDoc videos, characters have to do a number of "Tip" missions before they can get a "Morality" mission. The "Morality" mission is the determining mission that changes your alignment, and is only available to players who purchase the Going Rogue expansion.

One Auction House for All

• Players of all alignments, whether they are Heroes, Villains, Vigilantes, or Rogues, can now use any Wentworth's Consignment House or Black Market venue.

Trading Between Alignments

• Heroes and Villains can now trade Inspirations in co-op zones. Players can even mail certain items to their own characters using the global email system.

Mission Architect Additions

• With the inclusion of doppelgangers, your character can now fight against himself or herself!

New Hardware Support

• City of Heroes now supports Alienware AlienFX®.

Cathedral of Pain

• Issue 18: Shades of Gray reintroduces the long-awaited Cathedral of Pain Trial. The Cathedral of Pain is the name of one of the strongholds of Ruularu the Ravager{{{1}}}{{{2}}}, a cosmic entity with unimaginable powers. Inside the heavily defended Cathedral of Pain, Ruularu{{{1}}}{{{2}}} is attempting to pierce the barrier between his realm and our reality. If he succeeds, Ruularu{{{1}}}{{{2}}} gains ultimate power, and our dimension will be obliterated.
• Only you and your allies can stop Ruularu{{{1}}}{{{2}}}.
• The Cathedral of Pain is one of the most challenging trials in City of Heroes. Up to 24 Level 50 characters can work together to take down the Soldiers of Ruularu, Psionic Resonators, and ultimately an aspect of Ruularu{{{1}}}{{{2}}} himself. You have only one hour to complete your mission.

• If your group manages to stop Ruularu's{{{1}}}{{{2}}} insane scheme, your courage will be rewarded! You can earn Merit Rewards, or even earn a rare badge to celebrate this epic victory. But be on guard--Ruularu{{{1}}}{{{2}}} will return.

Historical

In an initail announcement by War Witch, the following items were announced[1], and an FAQ was posted[2].

• Heroes and villains will be able to trade and gift each other in Co-Op zones. This specifically excludes PvP Zones.
• Players can Global Email inf and most items to their characters regardless of alignment (some restrictions apply)
• The Consignment House will be merged, allowing all characters to trade freely between each other on the markets. Naturally, a character is still restricted to their faction's market (i.e. Wentworths for heroes and Black Market for villains). When the merge occurs, all bids and unsold items will be returned to the player to be reclaimed.
• Influence and infamy will be renamed inf on character ID cards.

Note that it hasn't been specifically noted that these are Issue 18 changes and not Going Rogue changes, but it doesn't make sense for the developers to create a function to allow only players with Going Rogue to trade freely between factions; thus, it is assumed to be an update to the core game outside of the expansion.

There is no other confirmed content yet. It is even possible that for those who do not purchase Going Rogue, there will be no new content at all. However, it is likely that any universal changes made to the game, such as an update to the Graphic User Interface, will be available to all players, even those who don't purchase Going Rogue.

It is presumed that this issue will be similar to Issue 6: Along Came a Spider, which was released to coincide with the boxed, commercial expansion, City of Villains. Those who did not buy the box had access to new PvP zones and gladiators.

The developers at PAX East have confirmed that the Issue after Going Rogue is Issue 19. And the Issue before Going Rogue is Issue 17. This means that there must be an Issue 18 that will accompany Going Rogue.

Notes

Release date will be concurrent with Going Rogue, on August 17, 2010.

External Links

• Official Feature Update
• Market Merge FAQ on the Official Forums