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 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. It also opened up paths for Heroes and Villains to change alignment. The two games, originally separate subscriptions, were eventually combined, allowing players who hadn't bought CoV to make villain characters, and vice-versa.Īn expansion titled Going Rogue was released in 2010, and introduced a Graying Morality storyline set in the Mirror Universe Praetoria. The two games overlap in select areas, including PvP zones and a no-conflict nightclub in another dimension called "Pocket D". Players of City of Villains assume 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. It was complemented and paralleled by a villainous counterpart, City of Villains. Players would 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. Set in and around Paragon City, a fictional Rhode Island metropolis still recovering after a thwarted but still disastrous Alien Invasion, it superbly reproduced the flavor and feel of the superhero genre and was one of the first multiplayer games, and even one of the first computer RPGs period, to really get superheroes "right". City of Heroes is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game developed by Cryptic Studios based on comic-book style superheroes.