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Issue 13 Reannounced
September 25, 2008; Dark Insanity
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So apparently Issue 13 was just too damn big for a single issue.
What? Well, Issue 13: Architect has been split into two issues, and been rechristened Issue 13: Power and Responsibility, while the next issue is now Issue 14: Architect. This is because the main selling point of i13, the Mission Architect, has been pushed over to Issue 14.
Why? Because the devs did not anticipate how big a deal it would be to put your own characters (as in people with custom costumes and powers) into your missions; they were not planning to add this feature until after Issue 13 and the original, basic Mission Architect hit. So they'll be releasing everything else that was going into Issue 13 as the new Issue 13: Power and Responsibility, and then the much more customizable Mission Architect in Issue 14: Architect in early 2009.
Oh, and speaking of everything else that was going to be released in Issue 13: the rest of the features (or at least more of them?) were finally announced. In addition to the Shield and Pain Dominance powersets, and the Day Job stuff, and whatever, they're also adding in a new Leveling Pact system, Multi-Builds, separate PvE and PvP balancing, and they'll be repricing SG bases.
First off: Leveling Pacts. Basically, any two character that are below level 5 can enter in a "leveling pact," where both characters will always have the same experience. Like, if one guy logs off, or is on another team, or is just sitting around doing nothing, they will both earn experience as long as one of them is. Which is insane!! But yet awesome. I think it really might encourage some more dual-accounts, as you could basically be playing one account, but leveling up two of your characters at the same time. Or you can just have and your friend running a concept duo and not have to worry about your levels getting separated. Oh, and Pohsyb answered a lot of the common questions about this here, by the way, so you might want to check that out.
What was the next thing? Oh, right: Multi-builds! This, my friends, will be spectacular. After i13, you will be able to set up two entirely different builds, with different powers, slots, and enhancements, and be able to switch back and forth between them by visiting any trainer. Oh my goodness. This is great for team/solo builds, PvP/PvE builds, or for powerset combinations with potential for very diverse builds, you can now have the best of both worlds. Think about the potential for Kheldians! Hold on, I need to go clean up the mess I made in my pants.
The last couple of things include a rebalancing of powers for both PvE and PvP, which is something that has been asked about but always been deemed "impossible" in the past. Also apparently SG bases are getting a new pricing system, which I'm actually really excited to hear about, mostly considering that I'm the Justice Strike Force's primary base designer. Most likely things will be cheaper than they currently are, which means a bigger base for us with the money will better getting as a refund. The last thing is the ability for villains to respec out of their Patron Power Pools, which is something that should have been in there since they were released, honestly.
So Issue 13 is still looking to be a pretty nifty issue. Granted, there's not really too much stuff for real content, other then some new Cimerora missions. But Shields will be fun times, multi-builds will take some planning to set up as well as let a lot of people experience (the newly balanced) PvP without screwing up their PvE-oriented 'toon, and I'll have fun tinkering around with the base again. Even if they're not actually adding anything new to the bases, which have been untouched since City of Villains was released. But I digress.
The beta shouldn't be too far off, and I'll definitely looking forward to any new information on the, uh, new stuff.
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Cyborg Pack Released
September 17, 2008; Dark Insanity
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So yesterday the first "Super Booster" was released, the Cyborg Pack, which is now available for $9.99 at the PlayNC store.
If you purchase it, you get a new Cyborg costume set, three new emotes, four "combat auras," and a new self-destruct power.
The Cyborg costume set looks alright, and it gives you a new set of tech stuff to build your costumes out of. Basically it's just a new full-body armor set, like Enforcer was (which was awesome, yes). Got some android-looking arms, as well. The other new costume stuff is the new "combat auras." These work like regular auras, but instead of being active all the time, they are only active while in combat mode; while in a ready stance or while fighting (basically any time where a sword-wielding individual would have drawn his sword out is combat mode). There's three different types of eye-lasers, which shoots out a laser in front of your eye like the tech bow, and a HUD. The HUD aura actually looks really cool, as in combat it puts this holographic screen in front of your toon's face. Really cool, and might be the thing that makes me buy the pack, honestly.
The three new emotes consist of a "power down" emote that ends with your character slumped over, a "power up" emote that bring your character back to life from it's powered down stance, and, of course, the robot dance. Yes, the robot dance. You know the one.
The last thing is the new power, self-destruct. It gets put on all of your toons the same way the veteran reward powers do, so that you have it on all of your past, present, and future characters. But anyway, after activating the power a 10 second countdown timer starts, and you character gets gradually covered in more and more electricity, sparks, and fire, the screen starts shaking, and then you explode in a bunch of flames, leaving scorch marks on the ground where you recently stood. Your body actually disappears, though if you use a rez your body reappears out of nowhere. The coolest thing I have seen is a video of someone using self-destruct, exploding in a ball of fire and ash, then using Rise of the Phoenix to bring themself back to life through fire and ash. That's just cool.
The Cyborg Pack doesn't look like too bad a deal, then. I'll probably buy it myself eventually, mostly for the costume parts and the auras. Self-destruct is nifty, sure, but not really all that useful, especially if you could be interrupted while using it (though I'm not sure if you can be). Mostly I'm really interested to see what the next few "Super Boosters" will bring. Maybe finally some robes, staffs, or some other kinds of arcane costume parts, which would be really awesome. We have a definite lack of magic-looking items, at least when compared to our tech selection. So I'll be looking forward to any announcements on the next pack.
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