City of Heroes

City of Heroes was the superhero themed massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Cryptic Studios and Paragons Studios. Published by NCSoft, it was originally released in North America in 2004 and EU in 2005. The game was the first superhero MMORPG that was not tied to a major IP and ran until 2012. City of Heroes was available for the Microsoft Windows and macOS platforms. The game is currently available as City of Heroes: Homecoming, run by fans, although NCSoft has not made any official statement since 2019.

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The Players and Daily login numbers are estimations based on subscriber numbers and online sentiment.

City of Heroes is a superhero MMORPG set in the fictional location of Paragon City. The world of City of Heroes involved playing with the familiar tropes of the superhero genre. Although Paragon City was the base setting, there are various areas ranging from the mundane to the alien and the supernatural.

At the heart of the City of Heroes gameplay experience is the ability to create superhero characters. Players select from one of five basic archetypes (Blaster, Controller, Defender, Scrapper, and Tanker) which represent their roles and determine their passive and active abilities. With the City of Villains expansion, players could also create supervillain archetypes such as the Brute, Corruptor, Dominator, Mastermind, and Stalker. Players also select an origin for their character, which can be Magic, Natural, Mutation, Science, or Technology.

One of the most entertaining elements in City of Heroes is the customization of character appearances. There are many options available for customizing the avatar's looks, height, body type, and costume parts. Aside from the basic options, players can unlock more customization options, such as acquiring the cape mission on reaching level 20.

Player characters in City of Heroes gain levels from 1 to 50,which unlock new powers, power pools, and inspirations. They can also collect badges, unlock costumes, gain temporary and special Patron powers through accomplishing missions and quests. Missions can be acquired from Contacts. City of Heroes Contacts can be found in any zone, though some are locked depending on the character's level and origin.

City of Heroes has many gameplay options for pursuing missions, including solo play and in parties, as well as forming Super Groups. Super Groups lets characters gain other benefits not available for solo gaming, including creating their own Base. Bases are funded by Prestige and can be customized to have decorative and useful features, such as workshops and teleport options.