Steady's Gaming Blog

There has been some news about City of Heroes, Going Rogue in the past few weeks. Of course they have let us know how much it is going to cost. It will cost $29.99 for the normal expansion and $39.99 for the collector’s addition. They released details about the next free expansion, Issue 17: Dark Mirrors and Going Rogue. The big news is the new ultra mode, a graphics update. Which honestly does not do much for me; I am not one of those graphics people that think my computer world has to look like the real world. Positron has posted a video card shopping guide on the COH forums, so check it out to see if you will be able to run ultra mode. In a nutshell, I do not play games for the graphics, but some people do, so this will be nice. Also looks like the normal expansion stuff, new powers sets, costumes, and of course new badges. What would a City of Heroes expansion be without a few new badges?

War Witch has been making the rounds with people like Top Ten Hammer, and Becketts Massive Online Gamer. I am not seeing a lot of information here. Yes, there will be two more power sets, and a new zone, you can switch sides, all well and good, but not something I am sure I want to pay for. We just went through this with Champions, unless I am getting a level cap raise, or some killer end game content, why would I pay good more for a few new zones, and powers. Yes I can switch sides, but is that worth $29.99, what am I going to do once I switch, run stuff I have already ran? City of Heroes has always been one of my favorite games, and I hope they are going to give me more then I am seeing here, because if they don’t, I am not sure if I will be Going Rogue. I don’t want to be one of those grumpy gaming bloggers, but the MMO world is getting crowded, and I have to send my kids to college soon, so I am being a bit pickier about where I spend my gaming dollars.

Finally it is time for one of the best weekends of the year. Double XP weekend starts Thrusday, March 4th until Sunday, March 7th. Also if you have an inactive account, you can play free of charge all weekend. So if you are looking for someone to run with, check out the Combat Engineers, on the Freedom, Virtue and Justice servers, or the Dark Combat Engineers on the Freedom Server, if you are playing villains.

City of Heroes is really making it hard on me. They are having another double xp weekend. They usually only have two double xp weekends a year, one in January, and another in August. It is a pretty big deal that they are having another one. They are really making it nice, because it is going start on Thursday, instead of Friday. So everyone will get an extra day of double XP. I am guessing that we will see more of these double XP events in the future. I wonder if a double xp is not something we will see soon.

So why are they having an extra double xp weekend? First, it does not take a mathematician to figure out that the server population as a whole, is down. Issue 16 did not bring a lot of people back to the game. Pretty simple math, less people subscribing, NCsoft makes less money. So a double xp weekend that allows anyone who has an inactive account, to come back and play the game, is a good thing. Hopefully, a few of them will like what they see, and start paying for the game again. Second, since issues 16 has killed off almost all farming (finally), they are going to have to throw people a bone once in awhile. Double xp is a nice way to allow people to speed up the leveling process.

Personally I am enjoying the current state of the game. I can usually start a good team using the new super side kicking system. I no longer had to put up with farm spam, or people asking me to fill. The players left playing the game, are good knowledgeable players, not AE farm babies, who do not even know how to get out of Atlas (no longer farmers) Park.

I do not think I will marathon this double xp weekend like I usually do. I am getting old, four days is a bit too much for me. Second, when I told my wife that this weekend is yet another double xp weekend, I the got “the look.” When I told her it started on Thursday, I got “the eye roll.”

So here are the details on double xp weekend and account reactivation. If you are an old moonbaser, or combat engineers, make sure and drop me an in-game hello. I will be running teams as much as I can.

City of Heroes double xp and account reactivation weekend

The worst part of Double XP weekend is waiting for it to start. This is just a reminder, it starts at 10:59 CST. All of my Supergroups will be running teams as much as we can on the Freedom and Liberty servers. If you are looking for a team, just search for Steady to see what I am up to. Join one of my groups, and get on vent, that is were the action will be.

A few tips,

Freedom will turn grey at some point in the day, usually by late afternoon, so get on a character, and stay on it.

Stay out of Farmers(Atlas) Park if you can, the lag in that zone with all the farmers in AE will slow that zone to a crawl, especially on Freedom.

Can’t get on Freedom, run on Liberty(or any small server)

Farming is lame, get out and play the game. A team of eight running on a high level of difficutly, working together, will be more fun, less boring, and get you a lot of XP. This is a great chance for people to get away from what is killing this game, farming.

Run regular missions if you can. Still not sure if AE arcs will give double XP, or not. Even if they do, they do not give mission ending bonus XP, which on Double XP weekend is killer.

Start a team, join a team, the more people on your team, the more XP you earn.

Find a wife like mine, that takes the day off from work, and brings you one of those large QT, Code Red Mountain Dews at 7:30 in the morning like mine did.

Everyone have a great gaming day, remember have fun, it is just a game…

Woot, the best weekend of the summer is here. City of heroes next Double XP weekend……

Save The Date – Next Double XP Weekend July 31st- August 2nd!

We know you’ve been waiting to hear so that you can meticulously craft your plan of attack! So go ahead – take off work, ignore all of your other responsibilities and stock up on easily grab-able snacks and beverages – we won’t tell anyone! Just make sure to save the date because the next City of Heroes® Double XP weekend will begin Friday, July 31st 2009, at 8:59am PST (11:59am EST) and concludes Sunday, August 2nd 2009, 8:59pm PST (11:59pm EST). Don’t miss out!

City of Heroes Double XP Weekend is like Christmas in January for City of Heroes Players. It is 60 hours of pure gaming, at twice the speed. So with that in mind, here is my handy Double XP Weekend guide.

Pre Double XP Weekend (before 11:00 am, on Friday).

1. Go to the grocery store and stock up on food. Keep it simple, and fast. Anything that goes in the microwave is a plus. Do not read the labels; we do not care about fat, calories or food content. All we care about is how fast can it be cooked. This is not a weekend for lean cuisine, or weight watchers. We need energy, and food is the best source of energy we are going to have. Exercise on Monday if you must.

Drinks, I am old school, coffee and Mountain Dew. I stay away from those energy drinks, I am old. Energy drinks will send me into cardiac arrest. The only thing I want to be arresting is villains.

2. Significant others, and Spouses. Make sure they know it is Double XP weekend. Set the ground rules before it starts. My wife is a veteran; she knows that it is a lost cause to even attempt to get me to do anything. She is a saint, and allows me to play this silly game on double XP weekend with out any trouble at all. In fact she has taken that Friday off from work before to facilitate my madness. That being said, she does have a few rules. First, I have to make an appearance at least once a day at the dining room table to eat a meal. I usually make it supper, by then I need a bit of a break. Second, I have to take a shower sometime Sunday morning and change clothes at least once…..

3. Check out your equipment and have back-ups. Go to that storage box you have of old mice , keyboards, controllers and headsets. Make sure you have a back-up, in case something breaks. We have no time to be running to the store. Pay particular attention to headsets, they are going to be on your head for like 18 hours a day.

4. Sleep on Thursday before the big event; it is going to be a long day. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

1. Have a plan, this is serious business. Have a clear goal for each toon you want to play, and follow it. Don’t run off with a lvl 50 toon to help that farmer. It is double xp weekend; do not do anything that is not getting you XP.

2. Stay hydrated, drink plenty of fluids. Eat every couple of hours. Junk food is your friend.

3. Sleep a couple of hours a night. It will do you no good on Sunday if your vision is blurred and you have computer elbow.

4. Teaming is your friend. Get on a team of eight, crank up the difficulty as high as the group can handle it, and go to town. Farming is for sissies, we are real gamers, we have not use for farming……

5. Stay away from lower level Task Forces. It is Double XP weekend, nothing like reaching the level cap of a Task Force, with seven or eight missions left on the Task Force. Remeber the Golden Rule. Don’t do anything that is not getting you XP, we only have 72 hours, do not waste it.

Post Double XP Weekend

1. It is over, 11:00p.m. on Sunday, gloom sets in, no more double XP for another six months. Go to bed.

2. Monday morning get up and go outside, get some fresh air, you need it. Buy a present for your significant other. In my case it is a box of chocolates for my wife. Expensive chocolates, not the cheap stuff. The women has spent 72 hours listening to me on vent, discuss the finer points of tanking, pulling, and power enhancements. She has earned a box of expensive chocolate…..