When you have two million words worth of Eastern fantasy adventure to translate – and make accessible – to English-speaking gamers, where the hell do you start? The NCSoft team sounds off on the monumental task of localizing a game like Aion.

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WC: First of all, would you care to introduce yourselves?

Marti: Marti McKenna, Creative Writing Lead and game industry vet.

Fran: I’m Fran Stewart. I’ve only been paid to write for a little while, but I’ve always been a storyteller.

Dave: I’m David Noonan. In a previous life, I played Dungeons & Dragons for a living.

Bridget: Bridget McKenna here. Science Fiction and Fantasy writer and editor, been doing this computer games stuff for about 21 years.

Robin: I’m Robin MacPherson. I’m the fledgling of the team.

Janna: I’m Janna Silverstein. I’ve been a professional science fiction and fantasy editor and writer for longer than I care to admit.

Stacey: I’m Stacey Janssen. I’m a writer and the Editor-in-Chief for an online SF magazine.

Jess: I’m Jess Downs, the walking encyclopedia of Aion.

Conor: Agh, I’m Conor Sheehy, the guy who got to pick last on the colour front. And yes, that’s “colour”. Been a writer for NCsoft for a year and a half now, and recently moved from our Brighton office to Seattle!

Daneen: I’m Daneen McDermott, an eleven year veteran of the gaming industry. And Conor, I prefer “ultimate” not last – that makes you penultimate, by the way.

Conor: Sweet. Penultimate kinda works as a compliment for a writer. I just hope Scott doesn’t come back and ruin everything. Or Erik.

Erik: I’m Erik Bear, son of the science fiction writer Greg Bear, first time writing in the gaming industry.

City of Heroes/City of Villains, the super hero MMO developed by Paragon and published by NCsoft, has received another free content update, named Issue 15: Anniversary, which brings in new features, missions and customization tools for the niche MMO that has been going for five years now.

Comic books have played an important part in a lot of people’s lives, especially for gamers, who have been offered a wide variety of titles based on popular comic book characters. From Marvel, DC or any other comics company, the market is filled with them.
But NCsoft, the publisher of titles such as Guild Wars or Lineage, has decided to offer players the ability to create their own characters based in the comic book universe, through the launch of its City of Heroes Massively Multiplayer Online Game. The title enjoyed a great deal of popularity through the intricate character creator system, which allowed players to customize every little detail about their in-game hero, and is available for both the PC and Mac users.

SEATTLE, Dec. 3, 2008—NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) today announced the next free update to its highly successful comic-book inspired MMO, City of Heroes®. The release of Issue 13: Power and Responsibility introduces several innovative features to the MMO genre. Macintosh players won’t be left out as open beta testing for the new Mac version of City of Heroes is just around the corner.

Issue 13: Power and Responsibility unveils some pioneering features to the MMO genre. Multiple builds is a character customization option and delivers the ability to have two different build-outs for each character. This offers enormous flexibility for players who can now switch back and forth between their two character builds, depending upon the task ahead of them, by visiting contacts in game.

Pact leveling is a new innovation for MMOs. This system allows two friends to enter their characters into a pact before level five, and have their XP permanently in sync, regardless of how much each character is online. This way when they play together they will always be the same level. It’s similar in concept to City of Heroes‘ already popular Sidekick feature which allows players on different levels to play together.

Also City of Heroes‘ new Day Job feature offers a way for players to progress their characters in the game even when they are logged out of the game. In addition to providing an XP rest bonus to all characters, specific Day Jobs are determined by where you log out of the game. There’s an associated Day Job at many key locations in Paragon City™ or the Rogue Isles™. Once characters have accumulated the required amount of time for each Day Job, they are rewarded with the appropriate Day Job Badge, increasing their “earnings” for that job. Multiple Badges can be combined to unlock Accolades and the ability to accumulate additional new rewards.

Other features released in Issue 13 include the new Shields and Pain Domination Power Sets, new Cimerora mission content, the Merit Rewards System, Villains Patron Power Respec, Supergroup Base Repricing, and player versus player (PvP) powers rebalancing, paving the way for new PvP features to come.

“We are proud of the innovations that are going into Issue 13,” said Senior Lead Designer Matt Miller. “Ultimately our goal was to give players more interesting ways to play the game and more ways to play together with friends. Issue 13’s new content, systems, and quality of life improvements should do just that.”

Players can apply for the upcoming Mac Open Beta by visiting http://www.cityofheroes.com/macbeta.

The City of Heroes Mac Special Edition digital product will be sold at the PlayNC store and at GameTreeOnline. The City of Heroes “Good Versus Evil Edition” PC game pack may be purchased at retailers across North America or through digital download at the PlayNC Store. Both products include the complete City of Heroes and City of Villains® games, as well as a set of exclusive bonus items. Customers receive the first month of play free and both games can be played for the single monthly subscription price of $14.99.

City of Heroes is rated “T” for Teen. For more information about City of Heroes go to http://www.cityofheroes.com.

About NCsoft
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, Korea, is the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, including the critically acclaimed Lineage®, Guild Wars® and City of Heroes® franchises. NCsoft West is a division of NCsoft which holds operating responsibilities for North America, Europe, South America and Australia/New Zealand. More information can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.

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NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, PlayNC, Lineage, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Paragon City, Rogue Isles and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.