City of Heroes: Through the Years Part I: From Heroes to Villains

City of Heroes: Through the Years Part I: From Heroes to Villains By Cecil AdkinsCecil Adkins is a fiction writer and covers MMORPGs for Examiner.com. He is an active player of City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and several other MMOs. He can be found on the web at www.ceciladkins.com.

City of Heroes: Through the Years Part II: Tough Times

It was something of an aberration among MMOs. Until City of Heroes was released on April 28th, 2004, most MMOs – and nearly every one that could be considered at all "successful" – had been based in a more or less traditional fantasy genre (EVE Online is a rare exception to this). Why it was this way is a matter of some debate, but despite more and more non-fantasy MMOs in recent years, developers of new MMOs still tend to favor fantasy settings. The majority of the "big" MMOs since the release of City of Heroes have been fantasy games – Guild Wars, Lineage II, Aion, The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and, of course, the most popular MMO of all time, World of Warcraft.

Developed by Cryptic Studios, which had been formed to bring to life Rick Dakan's vision of a superhero MMO, and published by NCSoft, a South Korean company that had seen a lot of success with its Lineage fantasy MMO, City of Heroes broke new ground, both in terms of its genre and its insane level of character customization. Although never approaching the massive subscriber base of World of Warcraft (or even the aging Everquest), City of Heroes was a moderate success when compared to most MMOs, peaking at about 200,000 subscriptions shortly after the release of its "standalone expansion" City of Villains in 2005.

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Just like most MMOs, City of Heroes has been under constant development, with most of its additional content being provided to subscribers at no additional charge. Some things are such a big aspect of the current game that it's hard to remember what the game was like without them, or hard to believe they weren't there all along. In this article, and in the next couple, we'll take a stroll down memory lane and look at the changes that City of Heroes has gone through over the years, as the game approaches its sixth anniversary. It should be stated that I am a big fan of the City of Heroes franchise, and my feelings for the game may come through in these articles. Those looking for an unbiased account of the game's history may wish to look elsewhere.

2004

Released five months before World of Warcraft, which would go on to redefine the meaning of "successful MMO," City of Heroes wowed players and the gaming media with its innovations. Winning several 2004 "Game of the Year"-type awards from various gaming magazines and websites, the game attracted comments such as this one from Computer Gaming World: "City of Heroes blows a super powered gust of fresh air into an increasingly stale sword-and-sorcery MMO world." The game launched with the most detailed character creator ever seen in an MMORPG, as well as game mechanics rarely (or never) seen before. Sidekicking allowed characters of various levels to play together, and instanced missions negated much of the traditional spawn camping seen in other games.

Before 2004 was over, the game would see several major updates, both to content and to game balance. The infamous "Purple Patch" made it so fighting enemies several levels higher than your character was much more difficult. Issue 1: Through the Looking Glass was released just over two months after initial release, and raised the level cap from 40 to 50. Issue 1 also introduced the Peregrine Island zone, the ability to have multiple costumes, and new mission mechanics (5th Column and Circle of Thorn prisons, outdoor mission maps). Issue 2: A Shadow of the Past came out in September, and introduced many important game mechanics such as badges, capes, respecification, and exemplaring ("reverse sidekicking"). Issue 2 also featured the first appearance of the Hollows and Shadow Shard zones.

In October, the first Halloween Event took place, featuring trick or treating, new (mostly re-skinned) enemy groups, and special event badges. The Halloween Event has returned every year since, except for 2005, and was the beginning of the City of Heroes holiday-themed events.

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Subscription numbers within the first few months of game release were around 170,000, but dropped to just under 125,000 by the end of the first year. An initial drop off of subscribers can be expected with any MMO, and the release of World of Warcraft in November probably didn't help that number any. The game would rebound in a big way during its second year, however.