City of Heroes Game Card

The front of a Game Card

The back of a Game Card

Overview

A Game Card is a new disc-less edition of City of Heroes / City of Villains that can be purchased in real-life, brick-and-mortar stores. Game Cards currently sell for US$20. With the Game Card you get:

• To own the game of City of Heroes / City of Villains (that is, both Cities or factions).
• A Serial Code that is used on the PlayNC master account to either...
  • Create (ADD) a new City of Heroes / City of Villains account to your Master PlayNC account (and then follow the directions to download the client to your computer);
  • UPGRADE a trial version of the game to a fully functioning and owned version; or,
  • UPGRADE an existing full account to add an extra 30 days of game time and to gain access to the 30-day Jet Pack.
• One month free game play time.
• a Jet Pack available to all characters on that account (even from level 1) that expires after 30 days of real time (from the moment you apply the serial code to a game account).

Notes

• The Game Card is the only edition of the game that can stack on the same account. For example, if you added the City of Heroes DVD Collector's Edition to your game account, you can not add the City of Heroes DVD Collector's Edition again. You can add only one of each edition to a game account with the exception of this Game Card which can be added over and over again.
• The Jet Pack timer does not stack if you add another Game Card serial code on top of another one before the first one's 30 days run out. If into 15 days of the first Game Card you add another, you will not get 45 days of the Jet Pack, but only 30 from that point on. So, if you already have the Jet Pack from one Game Card it would be wise to let the first Card's 30 days expire before adding the next Game Card.
• The Jet Pack is a model that was previously only available on the now defunct Korean version of the game, City of Hero.

Confusion with Time Cards

The Game Card can be easily confused with a Time Card. Time Cards are a way to pay the regular US$15 per month fee for playing City of Heroes / City of Villains (after you purchase the game), especially for those who do not have or do not want to use a credit card to pay. When you buy a Time Card you then go into the PlayNC Master Account and choose the NCSoft game account you want to pay with a Time Card and then chose Apply Game Time Card.

Since the Game Card serial code can be applied as an UPGRADE to a game account over and over again, and since the Game Card gives you a free month with the purchase of the game, then one could theoretically use the Game Card like a Time Card and pay for your account by UPGRADING your game account with Game Cards over and over again.

If you use the Game Card in this fashion (in place of a Time Card), you wind up paying an extra US$5 a month more than you would with the Time Card. However, while the use of Game Card costs more, you do get the use of the one-month Jet Pack on all your game account's characters every month you UPGRADE with the Game Card.

Confusion with Good v. Evil Edition

It has been known for players to confuse the Game Card with the Good Versus Evil Edition. That is because:

• The Game Card comes with a 30-day Jet Pack and the Good Versus Evil Edition comes with a permanent Jump Pack.
• The Game Card is disc-less and the Good Versus Evil Edition in-game contents (such as the Jump Pack) can be purchased as an online upgrade to one's game account without a disc.
• The Game Card is a purchase of both factions of the game (City of Heroes and City of Villains) and the Good Versus Evil Edition was the first combined faction edition of the game.

But, they are, in fact, two separate editions of the game. Both editions can be purchased and stacked on each other which means that one would get the permanent Jump Pack and the 30-day Jet Pack.

References

• PlayNC Web Page concerning the Game Card

• Announcement of the Game Card in the City of Heroes forums.

• Press Release concerning the Game Card.