State of the Game

Overview

At various points in City of Heroes' development, the producers at Cryptic Studios and Paragon Studios gave general updates as to the state of the game, including looks back at where it had been and the direction it was headed. These letters typically coincided with major milestones or on the anniversary of City of Heroes' launch. This article groups these announcements for easy reference, summarizes their content, and provides links to the original postings.

Outlining the Architect

Originally posted on August 26, 2008, Matt "Positron" Miller revealed the primary feature list for Issue 13, and went into some of the features in depth.

Issue 13: Too big for one update!

Originally posted on September 25, 2008, Matt "Positron" Miller announced that, because of the overwhelming response, Mission Architect would be split from Issue 13 into its own update in Issue 14.

Issue 13 Open Beta

Originally posted on November 6, 2008, Matt "Positron" Miller announced that Issue 13 had gone into open beta on the Test Server, and went into further detail on the various new and updated features.

Issue 14 Follow-Up

Originally posted on April 17, 2009, Matt "Positron" Miller commented on the astounding response given to Issue 14 with 3800 story arcs being submitted in the first 24 hours, and over 20,000 arcs published one week after launch.

5 Year Anniversary Address

Originally posted on April 28, 2009, Matt "Positron" Miller shared his excitement over the fifth anniversary celebration events, and teased at new content coming with Issue 15.

6 Year Anniversary Address

Originally posted on April 28, 2010, Melissa "War Witch" Bianco presented her first Anniversary address with highlights of the newly-released Issue 17 and thanks to the community for their loyalty and passion.

Going Rogue Launch

Originally posted on August 17, 2010, Melissa "War Witch" Bianco shared her and the development team's enthusiasm and excitement on the launch day of Going Rogue.

January Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on January 10, 2011, Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres introduced Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz as the new Producer for City of Heroes, who then introduced the monthly series of Producer's Letters with the reassurance that the Community is the most important aspect of City of Heroes.

February Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on February 9, 2011, Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz addressed some of the feedback from the previous letter about the new Incarnate System coming in Issue 20.

March Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on March 30, 2011, this letter looked back at the great time had at PAX East in Boston, and appreciated the feedback received from players regarding potential identity collision challenges presented by Global Server Access.

April Producer's Letter and Anniversary Address (2011)

Originally posted on April 28, 2011, Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz reflects on the previous seven years of development for City of Heroes, how things have changed during that time, and a preview of things to come in Issue 21 and beyond.

A City of Heroes Retrospective - Part I

Originally posted on May 4, 2011, the developers reflected on what their favorite CoH issue was, and what it was like to develop it.

A City of Heroes Retrospective - Part II

Originally posted on May 11, 2011, the developers told us about their favorite CoH video, their most memorable moments at Meet & Greets and Conventions, as well as what they did on the day City of Heroes launched all those years ago!

A City of Heroes Retrospective - Part III

Originally posted on May 20, 2011, the developers shared their favorite things about Paragon Studios and some of the pranks that punctuated life in the City of Heroes team.

May Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on May 31, 2011, this letter explained some of the decisions that go into balancing the need to add new content to the game versus replacing or updating existing content.

What is City of Heroes Freedom?

Originally posted on June 20, 2011, Brian Clayton gave some explanation behind the reasons why City of Heroes Freedom is what it is, why the change is being made now, and what can be expected in the future.

June Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on June 22, 2011, this letter detailed the underlying structure changes that happened over the last year to make the transition to City of Heroes Freedom possible, as well as recommitting support to the game community to give them more quality content for years to come.

Designing Freedom

Originally posted on June 22, 2011, by Matt "Positron" Miller, this letter revealed the secret that he'd been hiding for several months, and explained many of the overriding decisions that went into City of Heroes Freedom's production.

August Producer's Letter (2011)

Originally posted on August 31, 2011, on the eve of City of Heroes Freedom's launch, this letter laid out some of the changes players could expect in the transition to a new game model, while still keeping in the tradition of providing more new content on a regular basis.

Issue 22 Producer's Letter

Originally posted on March 1, 2012, Melissa "War Witch" Bianco shares her thoughts on her recent promotion to Producer, as well as new features coming in Issue 22 and beyond.

City of Heroes Anniversary Address (2012)

Originally posted on April 25, 2012, Matt "Positron" Miller gave his perspective on the creation and launch of the game, and tantalizing glimpses into what the future may bring.

8 Years of City of Heroes - The Successful Journey Continues

Originally posted on April 27, 2012, General Manager Brian "Crosscheck" Clayton gives some history about the birth of City of Heroes, as well as some amazing current statistics.