Last week’s ferocious thunderstorms at NCsoft Europe’s headquarters in Brighton resulted in a power cut that left the office in complete darkness for several long minutes. When lighting had been restored once again, we discovered a shocking truth - this had been no ordinary storm… it had the stench of crime all over it.

The surge of energy, whatever the source, had caused our entire Marketing team to disappear without a trace… a whole department, vanished. Whoever was behind this strike was privy to insider information; they knew we were on the verge of launching a Good vs. Evil Combined Edition advertising campaign. Instead, we’re left with a blank canvas and a gaping hole in the office… we need your help!

We’re looking for a winning ad concept to appear in the January edition of games™, on sale November 30th. To be in with a chance, you need to put pen (or pencil or crayon) to paper and come up with an idea that promotes the Good vs. Evil Combined Edition and appeals to potential new players of City of Heroes/City of Villains. The winning concept goes to print, it’s that simple.

Don’t worry if you can’t draw (neither can many of us here) what we’re looking for is a strong idea which will work well in print. You can write a description of the ad, scribble a few stickmen or go all out with some artwork - we’ll be working with the winner to create the final ad, so just give it your best shot!

The brief

Be creative! We’re looking for an original concept, so no ‘borrowing’ from other sources, please. Try and think about what makes City of Heroes/City of Villains a great experience for you, and then try to communicate that to other people.

Here’s what we’re after. We want an advert that;

• Promotes the Good vs. Evil Combined Edition
• Incorporates both City of Heroes and City of Villains logos, in unaltered forms (download from here)
• Incorporates both heroes and villains in any imagery
• Uses a minimum of two signature characters (one hero, one villain) - get a list of heroes here, and a list of villains here
• Does all the above in one A4 page!

Whatever you know about City of Heroes or City of Villains you’re free to include; details on previous Issues, details about player vs. player, Mayhem Missions, Task Forces, the costume creator, sidekicks and exemplars, the history of the Rogue Isles… there’s a massive amount of stuff you can choose from, but remember not to make your ad too crowded - it needs to stand out in the pages of the magazine.

The final ad will be housed within a template that includes a copyright notice, NCsoft, Cryptic and PEGI logos, so you don’t have to worry about them. Download an example of this template here. This zip contains both black and white versions of the template, and in PDF and PSD flavours (to open these files you’ll need Adobe Reader or Adobe Photoshop respectively).

Specs: full colour, single A4 page, portrait orientation. No special printing processes will be used to create the ad.

Note: Due to legal reasons, entries will be accepted from residents of the United Kingdom only. The deadline is looming, so get those thinking caps on and entries in!

The prizes

Not only will your work be immortalised forever more in print, we will also have it framed and signed (optional) by the whole team (except Marketing, unless we find them in time). You and a friend (parent or guardian for under 18s) will also be invited to join us at Memorabilia 2006 (25-26 November), the UK’s longest running and most established event for fans of movies, cult TV, comics, video games, sport and music. We’ll get you both there, put you up in a hotel and generally treat you like royals - you’ll get to hang around with the NCsoft Europe crew, meet some of our Draw the World Together artists and have a one-off sketch done of your game character…

/takes a deep breath

...but wait, it doesn’t end there! You’ll also be treated to a year’s game time, a copy of the Good vs. Evil Combined Edition, a Lord Recluse statue, a Statesman statue, a Ms. Liberty mini-standee, a Ghost Widow mini-standee, a City of Heroes bag and just about anything else we can swipe from the (now non-existent) Marketing team.

We’ll also credit the valiant efforts of five Honourable Mentions, each of whom will receive a copy of either Guild Wars Nightfall (no monthly subscription fees), Lineage II or Auto Assault (the last two come with a month’s game time included, the first has no monthly subscription fee).

To enter

There is no restriction to the number of entries submitted. In addition, we encourage you to get together with your fellow players and work together (please be sure to acknowledge all parties involved in the concept), although you’ll have to share the prizes, so please bear that in mind! There are two ways to submit your work:

By email
Send an email to with the subject line “Create an Ad Competition” and include the following information in the body of the email:

1. Your real name (first/last)
2. Your location (city, county/province, country)
3. Preferred email address where we can notify you, should you be a winner
4. Your ad concept entry (one per email). This can be text only or attached as a JPEG image (max 500Kb)

By post
Print your ad concept on a sheet of paper no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches or 210×297 mm, and submit to:

City of Heroes “Create an Ad Competition”
NCsoft Europe Ltd.
Mocatta House, Trafalgar Place
Brighton, BN14DU
United Kingdom

Clearly mark the back of the print with your first and last name, your email address, and your full mailing address.

Official rules and conditions

Originality: Entries must be the creation of the contestant and cannot be taken from any other source. Your submission must not infringe on any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or is libellous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law.

Deadline: All entries must be received by Tuesday, 7th November, 2006. Posted entries should be postmarked no later than Friday, 3rd November, 2006.

Eligibility (exclusions): Employees of Cryptic Studios, NCsoft Europe Ltd. and NCsoft Corporation (collectively, “Sponsor), and each of their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies and members of the immediate families (defined as parents, children, siblings and spouse, regardless of where they reside) or households of such employees are not eligible.

Eligibility (location): Entries will be accepted from residents of the United Kingdom only. Please watch out for similar competitions in other European territories.

Prizes: The winning advertising concept will be featured in a UK national games magazine, a print of which will be framed and signed (optional) by the European City of Heroes community team.

Grand Prize (x1)

• Winning concept appearing in games™
• Signed and framed advertising artwork, signed by the European team (optional) - £40.00
• Travel expenses for two people to Memorabilia 2006 (Birmingham) - up to £100.00
• Hotel accommodation for two people for one night (25-26 November) - £150.00
• One-off character sketch by a Draw the World Together artist - £20.00
• A copy of City of Heroes Good vs. Evil Edition - £14.99
• A year’s game time - £89.98
• A Lord Recluse statue - £15.00
• A Statesman statue - £15.00
• A Ms. Liberty mini-standee - £2.50
• A Ghost Widow mini-standee - £2.50
• A City of Heroes bag - £4.00

Estimated value: £453.97

* A parent or guardian should accompany the winner if he/she is under the age of 18.

Honourable Mentions (x5)

• A copy of either standard edition Guild Wars Nightfall, Lineage II or Auto Assault - £19.99 - £29.99

Estimate value: £19.99 - £29.99

Judging: Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, style, originality and presentation. The winner will be notified via email and announced on the City of Heroes and City of Villains websites along with their winning concept no later than Friday, 10th November. Judges will be comprised of members of NCsoft Europe staff. The decisions of the judges will be final.

By entering the City of Heroes and City of Villains “Create an Ad Competition”, (a) you agree to all of the terms and conditions of these Official rules and conditions, (b) you warrant that your entry is your own original work and that it does not violate any rights of any third party, (c) you assign and agree to assign to NCsoft Europe all rights, title and interest, including, without limitation, copyright, in or to your entry, and (d) if required in your country of residence, you will sign a release giving rights for the work to NCsoft Europe. Entries become the property of NCsoft Europe and will not be returned.

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