We're coming into October and for the City of Heroes and City of Villains games, that has always meant big changes. Halloween events are an annual staple of the game, save the year they introduced the Villains game, released around that time. Now we have that to look forward to, with the mysterious Issue 11 beyond.
Halloween event provides the only way thus far to earn that 5th costume, thru the obtaining of the 4 masks, and turning them in at Croatoa. It also allows us a large number of Holiday badges, moreso than any of the other holiday events. I expect to see the last of last years masks make their way to the Black Market and Wentworths in the next couple weeks. I'd keep an eye on them -- the prices could fluctuate WILDLY, and you might make a COOL deal if you get it at the right time. Of course farming THIS year's event for a bunch of masks you can hold onto for a couple months and then sell them at a PROFIT isn't a bad idea either. They are supposed to have NEW rewards this year -- including some temporary powers that completely change you in to other characters -- presumably you could look like A banished pantheon mage, or a Freakshow tank. Not like the Chameleon suit -- this is a COMPLETE change of your model. Apparently so good, it won't work in zones where that type is native. Apparently they don't want a bunch of psuedo Freakshows to lay in wait in Bloody Bay and then ambush people. Regardless, a few weeks around Halloween should be a GREAT time for screenshots -- Action and otherwise... Will the Rikti code that made those mixed level unsidekicked mobs possible in any zone be included on the Halloween or Christmas event be utilized? One can only hope -- I kind of liked it.
I've already got one SG wanting to do a Halloween party event -- I expect to see MORE of that as the time approaches, especially for the more active groups.
Issue 11 has the new wallpaper available on the CITY website --- A stylized snake, in an edgy infinity symbol 8 -eating its own tail. IT doesn't really fit either of the two main mystical groups --- Circle of Thorns/Orenbega hasn't used any snake emblems that I can recall. The symbol is made out of wood, which seems to be more in line with the Banished Pantheon masks, drums, and totems. But it looks more Norse to me-- European. Not the island zombie theme of the Pantheon. Could they be bringing back the original Orenbega? Or is this another NEW faction for the game. If so, for what levels will they be involved?
The recent issue of the Paragon Times seems to be talking about the spread of the Infected or Stricken beyond the Outbreak zone. Now we have seen them OCCASIONALLY in Galaxy City and Atlas Park, hiding on the outskirts, amid crates near shield walls. So they have gotten out. Villains see them all the time in Mercy Island. But the article seems to suggest they spread FAR More widely, that several existing contacts died ages ago, that the Arachnos breakout at the Zig never happened. This sounds like a TOTAL revamped timeline, and doesn't to me sing out mystical forces. Could this new faction be behind the plague to start with? If it had mystical origins, science might be the wrong way to attack it.
But does this make Issue 11 a link to a FAILED timeline where things went markedly different? Perhaps we'll have Portal corp style missions to that world to help out, possibly at much EARLIER Levels? It wouldn't take much to change a building door into another Portal Corp office -- placing one in Atlas Park, Galaxy City, Steel Canyon , Talos Island and such. Especially if that universe was bleeding infecteds over here, or some other faction. A reborn Fifth Column? Given the German origin, it would put it the most in line with the wallpaper design somewhat.
Another possiblity is a time loop of some kind -- possibly the significance of the infinity loop. Perhaps if the failure of a faction in the future created it in our present, ala the Terminator movies.
Check out the forum pages for lots of rumors and discussions of this nature. It is amazing how much debate has occurred thanks to a simple design that has shown up on wallpapers (and a Dev's T-Shirt at a convention - so I heard). But WHAT, WHO, and WHY remain onlin in the realm of rumors at the moment. Needless to say this gives us a LOT to look forward to for the rest of the year. I'd expect Issue 11 shortly before Thanksgiving, somewhere midway between the Halloween event and the Christmas event.
