Somebody screwed up today and game me access to the forums. Bad for them, lucky for you. I donÂ’t know how long they will let me have it so IÂ’ll abuse it as long as I can.

Well Issue 10 is right around the corner and this tread is about to hit 5000 posts. So far I have gathered that you guys want everything ever made throughout time and beyond. DonÂ’t worry; IÂ’m working on it my little faithful meat sacks. I have some bad news though, Ian was eaten. ThatÂ’s right, we got hungry one day so we ate him. He was just sitting there look all tasty and such, so we just started chowing down on him. You should have seen the look on his face, it was delicious. Anyway Ian isnÂ’t working on CoXtream-to-the-MAX-o-rama anymore. He will live on in our hearts, clogging our arteries and such.

There is going to be 5 brand new costumes sets for you to wear plus some miscellaneous stuff I have thrown in. All of the new stuff has come off of this thread so I hope you like them. Please remember how you get them is not up to me, I just make the costumes. Here are some clues to the new stuff Ex, St, Ro, Je, Bo, Va.

Did you like the Samurai stuff? Cryptic studios flew me out to Alabama for 7 months to train as a samurai, just so I could make the costume set as accurate as possible. While in Alabama my sensei; Dale, put me through several long hours of hard training. Sensei Dale threw pool balls at me to improve agility, he would put out cigarettes on me while I sleep to toughen my senses and to keep me aware of my surroundings. During the night Sensei Dale would make me hunt night crawlers to sell in the bait shop the next morning. I thought that Sensei Dale would give me a bonsai tree to help with patients and concentration, but Sensei Dale is wise beyond his years he showed me a better way; moonshining (we sold that in the bait shop too). While I never saw any female samurai I did see plenty of pigs. Bacon is the corner stone of every samurai diet. We ate bacon with every meal and It gave me the chance to become one with the animals of this great land they call Alabama. After 7 intense months with Sensei Dale he finally bestowed upon me the title of “Samurai.” End of story.

I might still sneak some costume stuff in for everyone, but only if you are well behaved. I got Santa keeping tabs on you.

Please remember:
The shorter your post is the more I like reading those.
Picture links! Picture links! Picture links!
Wash behind your ears, your mother taught you better than that
This is a suggestion thread, not a discussion thread
DonÂ’t sign and quote each other, I donÂ’t give two poops

The game, launched in March last year in Korea, had been expected to follow the success of NCSoft's hugely popular "Lineage," but recent figures have shown that average daily users number only around 300.

"City of Angel" will be shut down on July 11, according to industry sources.

Today came word that another massively multiplayer online role-playing game will be headed for the big screen. According to today's Variety, producer Tom DeSanto has acquired the rights to NCsoft and Cryptic Studios' City of Heroes. According to the trade, he was interested in the 2004 game because it and its 2005 sequel City of Villains pit superheroes against aliens and offer a ready-made stable of characters.

Issue 9 is an enormous expansion, even when it may not seem like it by just looking at the official page's description of its features. It is indeed a breakthrough; in that it reformulates the way that players look at their characters and whatever plans they had for them. If the game seemed shallow in the general critic's opinion, this breakthrough should make him or her hesitate because, as of now, it has one of the deepest character creator utilities in MMO's, and I'm not talking only about costumes. It is also a breakthrough because it finally adds some more well-deserved "end-game" content to both Heroes and Villains; and although their duration as new attractions might not be long, they certainly add to the rest of a very good game which has increasingly become larger and larger, which in this case, fortunately, also means better and better.

For the first time, we're proud to announce that CRYPTIC AR Lite will be released as a free 'learning' rig at www.CrypticStudios.com. Unlike other free rigs, CRYPTIC AR Lite is not an approximation of production tools, but the very tools currently being used to produce next-gen game visuals at Cryptic. This will allow aspiring game animators to familiarize themselves with the very same tools they'll be using in a production environment. Up until now, there have been a variety of film oriented rigs available, but game oriented rigs have been mostly a mystery.

• Issue 9 at the official site
• Positron Interview @ MMORPG
• New Paragon Times featuring Statesman's Task Force

NCsoft is proud to introduce the new City of Heroes and City of Villains referral program! This program enables current players to email 10-day trial codes to friends. If one of their friends buys a standard account and pays for one month of subscription to City of Heroes or City of Villains, the referring player will be automatically credited with one month of free game time!

Players will receive one month of credit for each friend successfully recruited. Players can invite their friends through their Account Management page on www.plaync.com. Note, referred friends must apply their purchased serial code to their free trial account in order to guarantee referral credit time to the referrer.

It's been a few months since we introduced the Stratics Toolbar to the network, so I thought I'd take a closer look at exactly what it does, and how it can improve your Stratics experience.

Ok, I'm sure many of you have had bad experiences with toolbars in the past; there are enough dodgy ones out there to make even the most hardened surfer cringe. But, before you go rushing for the garlic and holy water, at least hear me out.

What it does:

One-click access to the entire Stratics Network:Using the magic (yes, there is such a thing) Stratics menu in the middle of the toolbar you can get instant access to every part of the Stratics Network. Sites, portals, forums, interviews, IRC, it's all there in one easy-to-use menu.

RSS feed & StraticsCast Player: Use the embedded streaming audio player to listen to the latest Stratics podcasts from WoW, UO and, of course, the flagship StraticsCast hosted by yours truly. Plus, you can get the latest podcast patchnotes via the RSS feed button. But there's more... You don't just have to listen to what we want, you can choose from hundreds of pre-selected online stations, add your own station, or add your own MP3s from your music folder.

Search:What self-respecting toolbar doesn't have a search box these days? Well, ours is no different, so you can Google all the latest MMO news. You can also search eBay, encyclopedia, dictionary, news, images, stocks, weather and shopping. Whatever you're looking for can be found from our toolbar.

Email notifier:Stay up-to-date with your email using the email notifier. Compatible with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and POP3.

Popup Blocker, Cache & History Cleaner: Stay safe while you surf with the in-built security features.

What it doesn't:

The Stratics Toolbar is pefectly safe and well behaved. Yeah, I'm sure you have heard that one before, but when have we ever let you down in the past?

• It will NOT hijack your browser or searches.
• It will NOT spy on you or your browsing habits.
• It will NOT install malicious software or other naughtiness.
• It will NOT share your email address.
• It will NOT send any identifiable information about you to anyone.
• It will NOT prevent you from uninstalling it or leave crap on your PC if you do.
• It will NOT try and sleep with your partner while your back is turned.
• It will NOT feed your pets for you.

The ONLY information collected from the toolbar (no, wait, don't run!) is anonymous statistical data used to tell us which features of the toolbar are used and how often. Firefox users can turn this feature off if they wish.

So, there you have it, an in-depth look at what we hope will become an integral part of the Stratics Network. We'll understand if you're still sceptical, but we hope you'll at least give the toolbar a try. You never know, you might actually like it.

We're always looking for ways to improve the Stratics Toolbar, so if you have any suggestions then please get in touch.

(Do not get the Stratics Toolbar wet. Do not expose it to direct sunlight. And under no circumstances should you ever feed the Stratics Toolbar after midnight.)

The Hamidon was once a zealous scientist named Hamidon Pasilima. Using hideous dark magic and his own genetic genius, he transformed himself into the god-like monster that would spawn the Devouring Earth and threaten the entire world. Time and again, hundreds of heroes from Paragon City have banded together to defeat the Hamidon whenever it arises.

When we first created Hamidon, we started by making a trial that was, for all intents and purposes, impossible, save for one strategy designed by Geko, our lead powers and critters designer. Because the Hamidon would spawn a Mitochondria bodyguard for every character in the cytoplasm when reduced to 50% (and 25%) health, Geko’s plan involved the players coordinating their tactics so only a minimum number of characters were actually inside the cytoplasm, effectively reducing the re-spawn to a manageable level. Also, since the Mitos were immobile, characters could perform a multi-pronged assault so that when the Mito re-spawn occurred, they could force the Mitos to spawn on one side of the Hamidon, leaving one side undefended.

Social groups are certainly an important aspect of MMOs. Your guild, corporation, crew, team, or whatever you call them, really help the lifespan of an MMO. Jack pointed out that many people leave MMOs because their friends leave the game. Knowing this fact, developers continue to push content and achievement type rewards for players. When what really keeps players in the game is their friends.

Jack pointed out some really good ideas to reward players for creating a better social environment in a game. People who bring in new players, found guilds, help other players level up or craft are very valuable people to an MMO. They are really driving the game play experience for others. When you build an MMO, you essentially are building a world for people to interact in. When players really give back to the game community, it is something that should be rewarded. They are helping make your world better for other players.

NCsoft has announced it will be adding crafting to City of Heroes / Villains by introducing a new Invention System, which will allow players to equip user-created items to enhance a character's super powers.

"We tried to think of new, exciting things that enhancements could bring to the game," said lead designer Scott Miller.

GameSpot: Could you give us a brief overview of the invention system in City of Heroes/Villains? How does it work, and what can players make?

Matt Miller: We designed the invention system to create a whole new level of activities for players who are looking to do things like collect, craft, buy, and sell. But we didn't want to require our existing players to change the way that they play City of Heroes or City of Villains. Many of our players love the uncomplicated and straightforward systems of the current game. We wanted to add to that, expanding what people can do. We feel that the invention system satisfies both of these needs.

So, players will be able to craft enhancements, as well as costume pieces and temporary powers. Players collect the "salvage" needed to make these items through normal gameplay. Then, they use the salvage as ingredients to make these items. This invention process is done by players at the tool centers in the "universities" in the game, or by setting up the tools necessary for inventing in their supergroup's base.

Of course, not everything that can be made is readily apparent. A wide array of things can be invented from the knowledge available at universities. But there are also recipes that can only be found by defeating enemies or accomplishing missions. These recipes are used to make powerful enhancements that can improve your character in ways beyond just the norm.

Ever since City of Heroes launched, Jack "Statesman" Emmert has been interested in adding an "out of combat" system to the game...something that gives players gameplay outside of the typical combat scenarios that City of Heroes has to offer. Originally this was going to be a Skill System, where you could train up in various skills and accomplish tasks during missions that would otherwise be unavailable to your character. We went through about six versions of this system, ranging everywhere from a "card game" style where you completed skill objectives using your Skill Deck, to something nearly identical to the combat system with "Skilling" objective objects, to defeat its "Idea Points".

In the end, we were not happy with any of those systems, and shelved them all. Fast forward a few more months and our out-of-combat idea moved towards crafting. With the Base System in City of Villains being implemented we were able to take another look at these things, and the basic system of collecting Salvage to make objects took hold. Instead of creating a base object for your Supergroup's base, however, you'd make Enhancements, temporary powers, etc.

dwightsteel: What has been ironed out so far in terms of the I9 Inventions system? We’ve heard the response of "you can create any reward", but are there any specifics you can offer? Maybe we can have a small taste in terms of what we can expect to see, or just something a little more specific than what we've been getting?

Jack Emmert: A player could potentially make any temporary power, Inspiration, Enhancement or costume piece…That’s what the potential of the Invention system is. Right now, my favorite part is never worrying about expiring Enhancements. I’d hate to level up only to find out that all of my Enhancements needed upgrading. Sigh. Well, the Invention system now gives everyone pretty easy to make Enhancements that circumvent this.