A couple days ago, we had a post detailing some speculation on what City of Heroes: Going Rogue meant for NCsoft West, City of Heroes, and the future of the entire branch of the company. Ryan James, director of corporate communications for NCsoft, took the time to issue a direct response to us regarding that post. We also got an opportunity to ask him a few questions regarding NCsoft's current and future direction, which helps provide some context and some behind-the-scenes information to offset the speculative nature of the aforementioned post.

The official response is as follows:

"We wanted to respond to your post from November 2 on City of Heroes and clarify a few points for you and your readers. In short, the piece offers a rather sensationalist view of NCsoft West and our success thus far.

We're very proud of what we've accomplished here in the West – we have several major MMO franchises, including City of Heroes, Lineage and Guild Wars. And our newest addition to the NCsoft portfolio, Aion, has just seen a very successful launch here in the West. As you point out, we have had to make some tough portfolio decisions, but this is very much par for the course for any major game publisher today. That being said, we remain extremely proud of the Paragon team's accomplishments with the City of Heroes franchise. City of Heroes is still the world's most popular super-powered hero MMO. Even with an increasingly crowded landscape, City of Heroes remains the gold standard for comic book-inspired MMOs – it has stood the test of time and we're excited to be bringing Going Rogue to players next year.

As you note, the author of Vicarious Existence is indeed 'alarmist' in his assessment of NCsoft West and our future. We couldn't agree more. On the contrary, we're optimistic about our future."

Following the statement, Mr. James took the opportunity to answer a few questions about the company's game portfolio and future plans. Take a look at the questions and responses after the break.

At the six-year mark, City of Heroes is still moving forward, with City of Heroes: Going Rogue targeted for release in the second quarter of 2010. It's certainly not the oldest game to receive an expansion, but Vicarious Existence has an interesting point to be made: exactly how much is riding on the success of this expansion? In true heroic sense, it may well be the fate of NCsoft West and of NCsoft's entire western presence in the market.

It's no secret that NCsoft West has had a difficult time in the market, with the first rumbles having been made clear with the sad tale of Auto Assault. And it's hardly necessary to dredge up painful memories about the games that have also gone the way of the dodo. But as the post points out, there's not nearly as much revenue coming in from the western branch of the company as they'd like, even with the success Aion has been having in the marketplace. (If that sounds cynical or as if it's expecting too much money, Adam Martin has an excellent explanation of why NCsoft could and would be so draconic about profits.) To be fair, the post is a bit alarmist, but it does posit that there could be a great deal of trouble on the horizon for City of Heroes -- and perhaps the whole studio -- based on the performance of the expansion. And even if the idle speculation is wrong, it certainly does put you in the right mood for the expansion, doesn't it?

Sean "Dr. Aeon" McCann is the newest member of the City of Heroes team, having wowed Paragon with his recent outstanding work on Mission Architect. We got a chance to congratulate Dr. Aeon directly, and took the opportunity to talk with him about his new position. He gives us a look at how he made the leap from player to team member, how he's settling in to his new role, and all about the fun of working on Mission Architect.

Follow along after the jump for a look into the "greatest mind the world has ever known."

Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they'll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

• Final Fantasy XI - Harvest Festival
• City of Heroes - The Deadly Apocalypse
• EverQuest II - Nights of the Dead
• Fallen Earth - Days of the Dead
• Warhammer Online - Daemon Moon Rising
• Aion - Harvest Revel
• Guild Wars - The Mad King's Revelry
• Runes of Magic - Pumpkin Festival
• Lineage - Cavern of Chaos
• Lineage II - Spooks and Scarecrows
• Age of Conan - Nights of Lost Souls
• EverQuest - The Haunting of Norrath
• Legends of Norrath - Brraaaaaainss!
• Star Wars Galaxies - Galactic Moon Festival
• Exteel - Hey, sweet! Paint!
• Free Realms - Super Spooktacular
• Champions Online - Blood Moon

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there's any one in particular you're dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you're not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

City of Heroes teased fans for most of October, promising big information on Going Rogue for those attending HeroCon, and they didn't disappoint. The welcome address last Saturday lived up to expectations in a big way. The community relations team presented nearly an hour of information, screenshots, and video covering the high points of Going Rogue.

They began with the all-important process of transforming your hero to a villain, or vice versa. Rather than pushing a button or purchasing the transformation from the store, players will be able to stay in character and experience the fall from grace or redemption of their character as they work through a series of moral missions.

New powersets (Demon Summoning and Dual Pistols), signature characters and enemy groups were introduced to the crowd, as well as some cool new costume pieces. An extensive look at Praetoria came in the form of a first look at the eye-popping graphics upgrade as well.

All of the exciting new information begs the big question: When? Going Rogue is aiming for a release in Q2 2010, with beta coming in five waves in early 2010. After seeing the information from Hero-Con, we're as excited as you are for this expansion and will be letting you know as soon as more specific information is available. For the time being, check out the City of Heroes forums for an extensive (and impressive) rundown of all the current Going Rogue information.

Hero-Con begins in just a few days, and it's time to start planning what you're going to do while you're there. The full event schedule, as well as a list of panels and workshops was released on the official site yesterday.

Fans can kick off the event Friday with Board Games and Bevs With the Devs, then enjoy the rest of the weekend as well: participate in the live mission event as well as the costume and trivia contests, get a sneak peek at Going Rogue, and do some shopping.

The panel and workshop schedule is guaranteed to force some tough choices. Everything is covered, from breaking into the industry to art design to game mechanics. On the lighter side, there are panels on player-run activities, a look at some Going Rogue characters, and several more that promise fun. Whatever your interest, Hero-Con seems to offer a panel for it.

If you've not purchased tickets yet, they are still available -- check the official site for more details.

With Hero-Con less than a week away, Paragon Studios and NCSoft look to be living up to their promise of a bigger and better Hero-Con this year. They've promised closed beta keys for the upcoming City of Heroes expansion Going Rogue to all attendees, and even created a mission arc in-game that ties into the convention. They've also been hinting at some great activities at the convention, and yesterday they gave us all the information we've been waiting for.

It's a fan convention near Halloween, so nobody should be surprised to hear there's a costume contest Saturday night after the banquet dinner. Five winners will be chosen, and they just ask that you leave any realistic (i.e. dangerous) weapons at home, and skip the costumes that are trademarked outside the CoH universe. There will also be trivia challenges running throughout the day on Saturday -- 30-minute qualifiers leading up to an on stage trivia competition between the six highest scoring qualifiers.

The big fun, however, looks to be the live mission. Teams of eight will compete in a series of missions to be the first to find the 10 keys of the M.A.G.I. vault. You and your team (make your own PUG joke here) can sign up at the registration area on Friday.

Good luck, have fun!

Facing off against legions of werewolves and zombies is certainly not out of the ordinary for a character in City of Heroes... but facing off against hordes of them in alliance with Jack-O-Lanterns, Eidolons, and Shivans can only mean one thing. The annual Halloween event is kicking off once again, with both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles feeling the effects and summoning their residents to defend their homes. This year, however, a new wrinkle has been added.

Every so often, a Haunted Sigil will appear, which is the cue for nearby heroes and villains to smash it and prepare for wave after wave of relentless foes to retaliate. Lest you wonder why you'd do such a thing (aside from instinct for heroes and general misdirected aggression for villains), when all of the enemies have been dispatched, a "ghoulish surprise" is promised for the successful defenders. The event will also feature badges, special temporary costumes, and various other enjoyable nuggets for anyone looking to enjoy a bit of holiday-themed mayhem. City of Heroes players visit Ravenwing Cabbal's Annah or Granny Beldam in Croatoa or Nerva Archipelago, respectively, to learn more about the year's festivities, and look forward to the event running from October 20th to November 3rd.

Today's October 13, and that means it's time for a mission full of awesome! Do you have what it takes to aid the great Captain Dynamic? Can you handle working along side the LOLBAT, the superhero with the power of internet memes? Or, would you prefer working to help a civilian find some super powers?

It's your choice as of today, when three guest author missions are unleashed into the Architect Entertainment systems. Stories by Rooster Teeth Productions (continuing their Captain Dynamic character), Scott Kurtz from the webcomic PvP (the writer behind LOLBAT), and Bill Willingham (the writer behind Irena Faust and her quest for magic) are all available for your consideration and play time.

If you spend some time in Architect Entertainment today, be sure to drop your opinions on the three new missions down below in our comment box. Inquiring minds want to know how the missions are!

No, not those two, we're not touching that question. We're talking about the two Superhero MMOs: old favorite City of Heroes and newcomer Champions Online. Are you wondering how the two compare and which one comes out ahead overall? Big Download wanted to know too, and did us the favor of lining these two up side-by-side to find out.

Since character customization is a huge feature in both games, Big Download started there. CO's character creator has the advantage here, in that it's built on the model that CoH used, and can be seen as a new and improved version. Big Download named it the winner here for its superior, more flexible editor.

Ok, so perhaps our title isn't as catchy as Heroes season one, but beyond that, there's still a convention (and a time stream) that needs your help!

City of Heroes has put up their Hero-Con mission arc, "How To Save A Convention," and they need well armed heroes to go and put a stop to a villain that threatens time itself! While this mission line will probably be a lot of fun for all City of Heroes players, it will have a particularly strong meaning for anyone attending Hero-Con this year. The mission line supposedly ties into the live mission that will be going on at the convention (and it also hints at a big announcement being made at Hero-Con this year), so pay close attention to all of the details presented!

If you're looking for the mission, you can find it stored with the many other missions at Architect Entertainment.

Back in August, Paragon Studios and NCSoft revealed that they were expanding HeroCon into a two day event, and offering plenty of physical and virtual gifts to attendees.

Now, Paragon Studios has sweetened the deal even more by announcing that attendance at HeroCon will guarantee access to the closed beta of Going Rogue, the upcoming alternate universe expansion for City of Heroes. Registered participants of HeroCon just need to be at the Doubletree Hotel during event registration to fill out a Going Rogue Non-Disclosure Agreement. (Of course, the usual rules apply: you need to have an active CoH game account, be a US resident, over 18, and must not work for a competitor or any of its affiliates.)

Tickets for HeroCon can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets, and a full list of events (which includes a first look at exclusive content from Going Rogue) can be found at the official site for City of Heroes.

It's a whole new spectrum of experience, like a rainbow! Sorry, we felt the need to say that somewhere in this short article. But to celebrate the release of Issue 16: Power Spectrum to City of Heroes, all accounts are being reactivated and all heroes and villains will be netting themselves double experience this weekend. Plus, if you were a little short on spending money, influence/infamy is doubled this weekend as well.

So, if you were a City of Heroes/Villains subscriber in the past, this weekend is your chance to re-download the game and check out the cool new additions like Architect and Power Spectrum. Customizable power colors! Finally!

The "weekend" begins next Thursday (October 8th) at 12 PM ET (9 AM PT) and will continue until 3 AM ET on Monday (Midnight on Sunday, if you're of the Pacific Time persuasion.)

No doubt it's Champions Online that seems to be getting the superhero MMO headlines of late in the gaming press, both for the new title's release and for some of the issues they've had in relation to that launch. But competition is generally a good thing from a gamer's perspective, and City of Heroes is also stepping up their game, particularly in regards to the Mission Architect.

When the devs introduced the Mission Architect to City of Heroes, it was their first step towards embracing player-generated content and adding new dimensions to the game experience. They've announced that the next step with Mission Architect is to have a Guest Author Program where "comic book notables try their hand at mission design." NCsoft says the program will "invite influential writers and aspiring game or story designers" to collaborate with the City of Heroes devs and bring these missions into the game.