Known as Arachnos by name, led by Statesman's equal-but-opposite in Lord Recluse, who not only ran the organization but ruled an entire country in which it was based: the Rogue Isles (a fictional archipelago about 50 miles north of Bermuda). Their evil counterparts would later be introduced in City of Villains. Originally, a variety of (back)story was told through the developers' adopted avatars-known collectively as the Avengers-esque super-team the Freedom Phalanx-with the hero Statesman as their (in-game and out) leader. The game was also the first major MMO to include user created content, in the form of its Mission Architect system and player-created story arcs. The power combinations were similarly impressive. The games provide a truly astounding variety of appearance combinations, which grew with each new version. Some of CoH/CoV's most innovative features are related to character/avatar design. The subsequent Going Rogue expansion then allowed characters to change alignment repeatedly and expanded a mirror universe previously used as the setting for several adventure arcs into a third complete starting location.

The two games, originally separate, were eventually combined, and afterwards players could make both heroes and villains. The two games overlap in select areas, including PvP zones and a no-conflict nightclub in another dimension called 'Pocket D'. Originally, players of City of Villains assumed the role of a freshly escaped super-powered convict who may fit into a prophecy about a 'destined one' whom it is said will rise to threaten even the most powerful echelons of the Rogue Isles villain factions. Players take on the role of one of many fledgling heroes surging to fill the void left in the wake of several heroes fallen in defense of the earth during the aforementioned 'Rikti' alien invasion.Ĭity of Heroes is complemented and paralleled by a villainous counterpart, City of Villains. Set in and around Paragon City, a fictional Rhode Island metropolis still recovering after a thwarted but still disastrous Alien Invasion, it superbly reproduces the flavor and feel of the superheroic genre. City of Heroes is the formerly-defunct Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game based on comic-book style superheroes.

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