Tuesday, 31 October marks the one year anniversary of City of Villains. Launched on Halloween of 2005, City of Villains finally answered one of the players’ top requests - to be the bad guy. To commemorate this first annual milestone, we conducted our own Q&A with Cryptic Lead Designer Matt ‘Positron’ Miller…

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!

Our Veteran Rewards page has been updated with full details of the last year’s worth of rewards, covering the 27, 30, 33 and 36 month ‘milestones’! Click here to take a look.

You can find out more about the Veteran Rewards program that will be introduced with Issue #8: To Protect and Serve in our Veteran Rewards Feature Update, and get an overview of the other features of the next major update to City of Heroes and City of Villains in the Issue #8 Feature Update.

Following the Scissors on a Paper tournament on Defiant on Tuesday, last night saw Union’s Pocket D packed with the brave, the proud and the foolhardy, all eager for their shot at fame, fortune and Rock, Paper, Scissors glory.

Held in check by DJ Zero, the vile Crater was on his best behaviour as he oversaw a fast and furious competition that pitted heroes and villains against each other in a series of increasingly tense matches. Although more restrained that their Defiant counterparts when it came to the trash talking, the Union competitors more than matched them when it came to split-second timing and high pressure decisions.

As the tournament entered its third hour, the initial 64 competitors had been whittled down to a mere 16 battle-hardened warriors. Less than 45 minutes later, a victor emerged when Jumanjionic took down Fuddeh 4 games to 2 in the final!

Having won the tournament, he then had the choice of whether or not to face Crater in a special exhibition match…

For many players of City of Heroes and City of Villains, creating our own heroes and villains is one of the most enjoyable and satisfying aspects of the game. As mentioned in the End User License Agreement (EULA) for both games, though, there are several important rules governing player-created characters, particularly their names.

We’ve done our best to make the EULA as clear as possible (within the restrictions of a legal document), but there remains a degree of confusion and misunderstanding about this subject. This new FAQ is intended to clarify the rules regarding character names in City of Heroes and City of Villains. 

Under the watchful eyes of DJ Zero, 64 of Defiant’s most valiant heroes and deadly villains met last night in the titanic clash of skill, wit and old fashioned luck that was Scissors on a Paper, the second Rock, Paper, Scissors Open Tournament!

Fists were shaken, split-second decisions were made and trash talk was, erm, talked as the brave competitors faced off over two-and-a-half hours of high pressure Rock, Paper, Scissors competition of the highest level. When the dust settled and the screaming faded, only one competitor remained - the sinister Count Maledictus, who beat Daylight Warrior by 4 games to 2 in a nail-biting final.

Read on to learn how the Count fared against RPS Grand Master Bridger…

It’s that time of year again, and the spooks and spectres have made their way out of Croatoa and into Paragon City - and, for the first time, the Rogue Isles! During this time both Heroes and Villains are able to ‘Trick or Treat’ at most doors in most zones. Trick or Treating involves simply clicking the door and receiving a ‘Trick’ (a nasty spawn of Halloween themed critters), or a ‘Treat’. Treats can be medium or large inspirations, a special temporary power, or a piece of special Halloween Salvage!

Read on for some important details about the Halloween Event…

Ever feel like some of your fellow players are speaking another language? Not sure what DPS is, or what’s the difference between a Click Power and a Toggle Power? The new Glossary in our Game Guide section is here to help.

If you can’t find a term that you don’t understand, or have suggestions for others that we should add, post them to this thread on the official message boards.

Evolution Radio has posted a collection of recent interviews with members of Cryptic Studios and NCsoft Europe, all of which were recorded at last weekend’s player meet in Brighton. Evolution Radio covered the event which ran from midday on Saturday afternoon, and saw players from across the country attending in order to compete in contests, meet the devs, hang out with their usually virtual friends and celebrate the launch of the Good vs. Evil edition of City of Heroes and City of Villains.

Members from the popular online radio station conducted face to face interviews with Bridger, Rockjaw and mystery special guest: Melissa ‘War Witch’ Bianco, who flew in from the Cryptic Studios HQ in the United States especially for the occasion. You can download all three interviews from the Evolution Radio site and read more feedback from the event on the forums.

As always, stay tuned to this site for information on future events and player meets!

Your hands are lethal weapons capable of crushing foe with a single, deadly blow from your digits. Each fist, a finely tuned machine from which any enemy would choose to flee than come into bone-crunching contact with. For all the action your battle-gnarled knuckles have seen however, there is one challenge that few can boast to have come out unscathed… Scissors on a Paper, coming to a nightclub near you.

Once again, the mighty forces will join in Pocket D to sort the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff and the champs from the chumps. You want a chance to prove your worth? Read on…

Even in a city where many citizens dress up in costumes to do battle with mystical threats on a daily basis, Halloween is a special time of year. While Paragon City’s Halloween holiday was dampened last year by renewed hostilities from the Rogue Isles, this year’s October events look to be even more promising than before, with record numbers of citizens all over the city ready to welcome trick-or-treaters of all ages.

However, a dark shadow has fallen over the festivities. Word has spread from the shadowed land of Croatoa that strange things are headed south to spoil the holiday with their own evil celebrations. With the location of the Malleus Mundi still a mystery following its disappearance last year, it’s feared that new creatures might appear on the city streets. There have already been rumors that the Unseelie court may be sending fiends to paragon City to join the vampires and werewolves that stalk the night on All Hallows Eve. Now there have even been sightings of the fearsome giant Jack-in-Irons striding south to join the Pumpkin King.

To combat this dark tide, Croatoa’s Ravenwing Cabal has offered to help by encouraging heroes not only to fight these dangers, but also to enjoy the holiday. Heroes are encouraged to look for Ravenwing Cabal member Annah in Croatoa to learn more once the Halloween festivities begin. There are rumors that a rogue member of the Cabal called “Granny Beldam” has plans to offer the same encouragements to villains from somewhere in the Nerva Archipelago. It remains to be seen how the villains of the Rogue Isles will react, despite Lord Recluse’s orders for mandatory Halloween cheer among the populace.

We’re pleased to announce that the in-game items from the new Good vs. Evil Combined Edition of City of Heroes and City of Villains are now available to existing City of Heroes and Villains players via the PlayNC.com website.

These in-game items include the Jump Jet Prestige Power, the ‘Pocket D’ VIP Card Teleport Power, and exclusive hero and villain costumes. The In-Game Items Pack is available for £5.99/€8.99.

Read on for full details and how to purchase the Good vs. Evil In-Game Items Pack…

In celebration of the new Good vs. Evil Combined Edition of City of Heroes and City of Villains, we are reactivating all inactive accounts for the weekend. If your City of Heroes or Villains account is currently inactive, you’ll be able to log into the game any time between now and 8:59pm BST on Sunday, 8 October for free!

Your hero and villain characters will be waiting just as you left them, ready for new adventures.

All inactive players should receive an email with details, but if any of your friends are former players, make sure you let them know that they can come back for the weekend for no charge.