Developer Diaries
Overview
Developer Diaries (or "Dev Diaries") were a commonly-used format for the developers of City of Heroes to introduce, explain, and provide behind-the-scenes information on new features which were soon to be added to the game. Some of these were posted on the official City of Heroes Web site, but many were also used as publicity tools on third-party gaming Web sites.
Alternately, game review Web sites frequently contacted Cryptic Studios and Paragon Studios for exclusive Q&A Interviews. These were often simple questionnaires that were submitted and replied to via e-mail, but other times were actual face-to-face interviews at conventions or in the studio offices.
This article gives a list of the various Dev Diaries, interviews, and reviews published during the development of City of Heroes, as well as when and where they appeared, and who wrote them.
Dev Diaries
Subject / Title |
Author |
Source |
Date |
Official Announcement |
Third-Party Content |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 1 | Jack Emmert |
IGN |
July 23, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 2 | Jack Emmert |
IGN |
August 20, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 3 | Jack Emmert |
IGN |
September 17, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 4 | Jack Emmert |
IGN |
October 15, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 5 | Jack Emmert |
IGN |
November 12, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 6 | Jeremy Gaffney |
IGN |
December 10, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 7 | Brian Clayton |
IGN |
January 7, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 8 | Tosh Toida, QA Lead |
IGN |
February 4, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Diary, Vol. 9 | Michael Lewis |
IGN |
March 3, 2004 |
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Issue 12: The Midnight Hour and Me | Massively |
May 1, 2008 |
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"Stretching the Genre: Creating Cimerora" | Ken Morse, Senior Art Lead |
Ten Ton Hammer |
May 19, 2008 |
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Issue 13 New Missions | Ten Ton Hammer |
October 29, 2008 |
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"A Circle of Fifths" -- Designing the 5th Anniversary Task Forces |
Ten Ton Hammer |
May 27, 2009 |
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"A Paragon of Customization" -- Character Customization in Issue 15 |
Massively Ten Ton Hammer |
June 9, 2009 |
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Power Set Proliferation | Ten Ton Hammer |
August 14, 2009 |
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Going Rogue ViDoc #1: Prelude to Going Rogue | YouTube |
June 1, 2010 |
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"How John Woo Inspired My Gun Fu" (Dual Pistols) | Nelson Tam |
Massively |
June 1, 2010 |
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The Making Of: Super Booster V: Mutant | PC Gamer |
June 24, 2010 |
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Going Rogue ViDoc #2: Between Good and Evil | YouTube |
June 29, 2010 |
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Going Rogue ViDoc #3: The Consequence of Power | YouTube |
July 27, 2010 |
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"Be Water, My Friend" -- How We Made Kinetic Melee | PC Gamer |
July 29, 2010 |
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"Electric Slide" (Electric Control) | PC Gamer |
August 5, 2010 |
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Going Rogue ViDoc #4: Brave New World | YouTube |
August 11, 2010 |
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The Alignment System | Shawn "Pit" Pitman |
Massively |
September 25, 2010 |
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Going Rogue: New power sets, new enemies, new problems | Massively |
October 20, 2010 |
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Issue 19 Task Forces | Massively |
October 27, 2010 |
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"Challenging the Gods" (Incarnates) | Massively |
November 11, 2010 |
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Designing the expanded Incarnate trees | Massively |
March 24, 2011 |
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Designing the task forces for Issue 20 | Massively |
March 31, 2011 |
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Issue 21: First Ward Concept Art | Gilbert "El Topo" Martinez |
PC Gamer |
August 16, 2011 |
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Issue 21: Giant Monsters | Gilbert "El Topo" Martinez |
PC Gamer |
August 16, 2011 |
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Issue 21: Rogues Gallery | Gilbert "El Topo" Martinez |
PC Gamer |
September 8, 2011 |
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Signature Story Arc ViDoc #1: Who Will Die | YouTube |
September 30, 2011 |
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Signature Story Arc ViDoc #2: The Heroes of the Freedom Phalanx | YouTube |
January 3, 2012 |
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Signature Story Arc ViDoc #3: The Freedom Phalanx | YouTube |
January 12, 2012 |
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Issue 22: Designing Dilemma Diabolique | Chris "Baryonyx" Behrens |
PC Gamer |
February 22, 2012 |
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Issue 22: Balancing story and combat in Bloody Bay | Cord "Think Tank" Carney |
PC Gamer |
February 28, 2012 |
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Issue 22: Designing Darkness Control | PC Gamer |
March 9, 2012 |
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Design insights from the Magisterium Trial | Massively |
May 31, 2012 |
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Life after Statesman -- The aftermath of a major lore change | PC Gamer |
June 1, 2012 |
Q&A Interviews and Reviews
Subject / Title |
Interviewee |
Source |
Date |
Official Announcement |
Third-Party Content |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cryptic Studios Introduction | N/A |
IGN |
November 2, 2000 |
||
City of Heroes Announcement | N/A |
IGN |
September 26, 2001 |
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City of Heroes | GameSpot |
October 8, 2001 |
|||
City of Heroes | ESCmag |
December 17, 2001 |
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City of Heroes | IGN |
January 3, 2002 |
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E3 2002 Preview | N/A |
IGN |
May 24, 2002 |
||
City of Heroes | Rick Dakan |
GamersClick |
May 29, 2002 |
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Community Relations | Aura Manning |
Stratics |
October, 2002 |
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City of Heroes | Michael Lewis |
The Adrenaline Vault |
February 10, 2003 |
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City of Heroes Preview Part 2 | Michael Lewis |
HomeLAN |
March 12, 2004 |
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Powers Development | Al Rivera |
Boomtown |
April 14, 2004 |
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City of Heroes vs. The Competitors | Michael Lewis |
FileFront |
April 20, 2004 |
Link (Page 1 only)
| |
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
Games Domain |
April 30, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Review | N/A |
GamersPulse |
May 3, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Review | N/A |
GameSpot |
May 5, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
ESCmag |
May 11, 2004 |
||
City of Villains | Chris Julian |
IGN |
May 13, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
IGN |
May 28, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
GameSpy |
May 30, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
The Gamers' Temple |
May 30, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
ActionTrip |
June 3, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
Gaming Nexus |
June 3, 2004 |
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Issue 1 | IGN |
June 9, 2004 |
|||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
GamerzAlliance |
June 14, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
The Adrenaline Vault |
June 16, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes and Issue 1 | Chris Julian |
HomeLAN |
June 28, 2004 |
||
City of Heroes Review | N/A |
Worthplaying |
July 3, 2004 |
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City of Heroes and Issue 1 | GameDAILY |
July 12, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Review | N/A |
1UP |
July 27, 2004 |
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Issue 2 Preview | N/A |
GameSpy |
July 30, 2004 |
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City of Heroes | Unknown Devs |
GamerGod |
July 31, 2004 |
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City of Heroes | The Armchair Empire |
August 2, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Review | N/A |
Boomtown |
August 9, 2004 |
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Issue 2 | Kevin Sullivan |
GameSpy |
August 19, 2004 |
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Capes | GameSpy |
August 20, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Review | N/A |
GamesFirst |
August 25, 2004 |
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City of Heroes | MMO Radio / GameAmp |
August 26, 2004 |
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City of Heroes Wrap Report | IGN |
August 30, 2004 |
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City of Heroes and City of Villains | IGN |
September 27, 2004 |
Link (Login required)
| ||
Issue 3 | Experience Gaming |
January 13, 2005 |
Link (Page 1 only)
| ||
City of Villains | N/A |
IGN |
May 25, 2005 |
Link (Login required)
| |
City of Heroes Collectible Card Game | David Williams |
IGN |
June 6, 2005 |
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Alternative Revenue Models | IGN |
January 24, 2007 |
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Combining City of Heroes and City of Villains | IGN |
September 19, 2008 |
|||
Issue 13 | Brian Clayton Matt "Positron" Miller |
Ten Ton Hammer |
September 26, 2008 |
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"The Line Between Good and Evil" | Ten Ton Hammer |
November 12, 2008 |
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City of Heroes Universe Revisited | N/A |
Ten Ton Hammer |
November 28, 2008 |
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City of Heroes "First Impression" Redux | N/A |
Ten Ton Hammer |
December 5, 2008 |
||
City of Heroes Architect Edition Preview | N/A |
Ten Ton Hammer |
March 2, 2009 |
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Issue 14 | Ten Ton Hammer |
March 2, 2009 |
|||
Mission Architect Review | N/A |
Ten Ton Hammer |
March 20, 2009 |
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Fifth Anniversary | Ten Ton Hammer |
April 28, 2009 |
|||
Issue 16 and Going Rogue | Ten Ton Hammer |
July 30, 2009 |
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City of Heroes - Here to Stay! | Gamesource |
August 18, 2008 |
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Going Rogue | Ten Ton Hammer |
September 18, 2009 |
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Mission Architect | The MMO Gamer |
January 10, 2010 |
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Going Rogue | Ten Ton Hammer |
February 22, 2010 |
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Praetoria | Ten Ton Hammer |
Apr 2, 2010 |
|||
Going Rogue | Ten Ton Hammer Live |
May 2, 2010 |
|||
Going Rogue Preview | N/A |
IGN |
July 16, 2010 |
||
Going Rogue Preview | N/A |
Ten Ton Hammer |
July 28, 2010 |
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Going Rogue Music | Jason Graves |
The MMO Gamer |
September 18, 2010 |
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"Looking Back and Forging Ahead" | Ten Ton Hammer |
January 11, 2011 |
|||
City of Heroes Freedom | Ten Ton Hammer |
July 26, 2011 |
|||
City of Heroes Freedom | N/A |
PC Gamer |
November 27, 2011 |