Avatea

Welcome to the Official City of Heroes® Message Board! We hope you enjoy your time here discussing the game and getting to know your fellow gamers.

The primary function of this message board is to provide an area for constructive player interaction and also to submit feedback to the development and publishing teams behind City of Heroes.

Please keep in mind that this is a board solely dedicated to City of Heroes and City of Villains®. We would like to keep this board City of Heroes and/or City of Villains specific, and therefore encourage you to participate in other message boards available on the Internet should you wish to participate in non-game or other game related discussions.

We have created the following list of message board rules and guidelines to keep this an enjoyable environment for us all. Violations of these guidelines may result in your removal from this message board and/or potential suspension (or permanent closure), of your City of Heroes and/or City of Villains game account.

The following are the Rules and Regulations of the City of Heroes/City of Villains forums.

1. You must have an active City of Heroes/Villains game account to post on our forums

Your forum account is linked to your game account. If you are suspended or banned from the game, you will not be able to post on the forums. As such, you are responsible to follow not only the forum Rules of Conduct but also the City of Heroes User Agreement (North American and European) and Rules of Conduct (North American and European) you agree to when you enter the game. If you are suspended from the message boards, your game account will be reviewed and you may be subject to a ban from the game, as well.

2. Abuse and disrespectful behavior are not tolerated.

The purpose of the forum is to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas. Occasionally, conflicts may arise when people voice opinions. Be courteous when disagreeing with others. Debating the opinion is appropriate, however criticism against the originator of the opinion is not allowed. Disrespect can be construed as flaming, trolling, harassing, profanity, abusive language or abbreviations, personal attacks, racial, religious, ethnic, sexual slurs, or similar behavior/language.

This applies to “public” threads, private messages, visitor messages on user profiles, reputation comments and calendar notes.

• Flaming is defined as posts which are designed to personally berate or insult another.
• Trolling is defined as deliberately posting derogatory, inflammatory comments/threads in order to bait other users into responding. Trolling or accusing someone of being a troll is also a form of trolling and is not permitted.
• Posts similar to “Moderator Notified” or “Needs thread lock” are discouraged, as these types of posts are a form of trolling. If a thread is in violation of the forum rules, use the notify moderator button or PM a moderator directly.
• Personal attacks include, but are not limited to insulting a poster directly:
  
  Example: “You are stupid, you suck, and you should [censored].”

The above are non-exhaustive examples of behavior that is not tolerated on the forums. Directly attacking another poster will result in a warning. If the behavior persists, further consequences may be enacted against your account in our sole discretion.

3. No posting of personal information

Please respect the privacy of other City of Heroes/Villains players and do not give out personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, etc.

4. Private communication between Customer Support, NCsoft Europe Ltd., (“NCsoft”) members, moderators and administrators of the forum and the forum users is not to be made public on these forums or by any other venue.

You are not permitted to publicize any private correspondence (including petitions, email or PM correspondence, in game chat logs, etc.) received from any of the aforementioned without permission. As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on the forum. Such matters shall remain private between NCsoft and the user. Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging. Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on the forum. If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, feel free to contact a moderator to discuss it.

5. Non-Constructive posts are prohibited.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of non-constructive posts. As a rule, non-constructive posting is not permitted:

• Spam - this is considered to be repetitive posting of the same topic or text or nonsensical posts that have no substance and are often designed to annoy other forum users.
• Bumping posts in order to keep them near the top of the list is also prohibited. Likewise, the use of "/signed" posts are discouraged in that it doesn’t engender constructive discussion.
• Do not create threads/posts to “petition” or “lobby” for game features, additions, changes, or other issues. You may post suggestions and/or ideas to the boards, but you may not create a ‘petition’ for others to sign. This is bumping in disguise and will not be allowed. Lobbying is continually bringing up the same topic repeatedly in numerous different threads or as an off-topic post in official threads to get developer attention. This form of posting is not permitted.
• Pyramid quoting - this is a response to a forum thread which contains the quotes of four or more previous posters, sometimes with additional spaces added unnecessarily.
• Cross posting - As a courtesy to others before beginning a new thread, please look to see if an active thread on that topic has already been established using the Search feature. If so, place your comments there instead. Multiple threads on the same subject clutter up the forum needlessly and many good ideas may be lost. Use the Search link to keep discussions about one topic to one thread only.
• Negative feedback can be very useful, provided that it is presented in a civil, factual manner. Tell us what you don't like and why and how you feel it could be improved. Posts that are insulting and rude may be deleted, no matter how valid the ideas behind them may be.
• A rant is a post which is long-winded, redundant and filled with angry, non-constructive comments. A free exchange of ideas is essential to building a strong sense of community and helpful in the development of the game, but rants are disruptive and incite flaming and trolling. Please post your thoughts in a concise, clear manner and avoid going off on rambling tangents.
• "NERF X!" threads are removed for much the same reason as "I'm leaving" threads. They can turn into threads with little or no constructive information.
• Thread necromancy - Necro-posting is responding to an old discussion thread and is a form of thread ‘bumping’. If you wish to discuss a considerably older topic, create a new post and link to the older discussion.
• False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a player’s real-life death may result in a ban of both your forum account and your game account.
• Threads that make threats or use other combative language are not allowed. If you ask a question on the board, be aware that questions on our boards are most commonly answered by the community. Demands for answers from NCsoft are not permitted, however we may often address some questions and concerns with an official topic. In the event of legitimate emergencies, or other unprecedented scenarios, we will endeavor to provide comments, even if it is only to state that there is no officially available information.

6. Do not post about exploits.

Exploits should be reported through the proper method by filing a report at the NCsoft Support page (North American and European). Issues discovered while playing on the Training Room test servers should be noted in the Training Room forum (North American and European). Discussions about unverified problems in the game can cause unnecessary panic in the community. When there is an issue the community needs to be aware of, we will make an official statement about it.

7. Impersonating another forum user, moderator, volunteer, administrator or NCsoft employee is strictly prohibited.

You are expressly forbidden from impersonating anyone else, including those named above, on the forum or in the game, even in jest. This may be grounds for permanent loss of your NCsoft® account.

8. Compare/Contrast and Off-topic threads.

All of these forums fall under the general topic of City of Heroes. However, we do allow a wider variety of discussion topics in the Comic and Hero/Villain Culture form and on the server forums. Non disruptive off topic discussion in those forums fits with the community of posters who frequent them. Compare or contrast threads about MMO games that typically result in flame wars of dissenting viewpoints are not permitted, however constructive discussion about MMO games is allowed at the discretion of NCsoft in the above mentioned Comic and Hero/Villain Culture forum. Likewise, political, religious, real world topics or any non City of Heroes topics that are volatile or disruptive are discouraged and can be removed at our discretion.

9. You may not post advertisements.

Advertising on these forums is prohibited, specifically posts that advertise a transaction for real money or any posts that discuss an action prohibited by the User Agreement (North American and European).

10. Avoid using profanity.

Profanity in any form is prohibited. Using any means to bypass the profanity filter (for example: partial masking, such as asterisks or punctuation marks) is prohibited.

11. No proxy posting; no account hopping to evade suspension.

Posting on behalf of a suspended user is not allowed. Working around a ban through other people’s accounts, trial or secondary accounts to continue posting is also prohibited and may incur an extension of a current ban. You are personally responsible for your conduct on the forums. If you create a new account to continue posting because another account was suspended, any forum and/or game accounts involved will be permanently suspended. Forum and/or game bans apply to a person, not specifically an account. Threads designed to announce, appeal or contest a forum or game banning decision on behalf of a third party will also be removed without notice

12. No Legal Action threads.

Using the forums or PMs for encouraging, promoting, endorsing, or inciting any kind of legal action against anyone is strictly prohibited. Such content will be removed, and the author's posting privileges may be permanently suspended as a result.

13. Official Threads

Official threads are a thread started by a City of Heroes/City of Villains representative for the discussion of a specific topic. These may have special instructions in the original post. Please review the original post and follow any instructions given. Furthermore, if there is an Official Thread about a topic, please do not post other threads about this topic. Instead, post your comments only in the official thread.

14. Posting Sensitive Information covered by a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) or Beta Testing Agreement.

Please do not post any information on these boards that refers to or is information covered by a game’s NDA or any other NDA or is proprietary information of any party. Any information about a game or third party covered by an NDA or Beta Testing Agreement that is posted will be removed and the poster may be banned from the forum. Furthermore - if the post(s) is relating to an NCsoft game beta, the post(s) will be removed, and your account of the NCsoft beta of which you broke the Beta Testing Agreement may be closed.

15. Player Generated Content

We do not host screenshots, signature pictures, or other images on this message board. You are more than welcome to link to images hosted in other places, as long as they are of an appropriate and non-offensive nature and/or do not otherwise infringe the intellectual property rights of any party. Below is a list of examples of what is not permitted.

• Images which are: sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive; obscene or contain vulgar language; images that illustrate/show illegal activity.
• Avatar icons are allowed as long as the images are below 20kb in size. Avatars that are overly annoying, disruptive or in NCsoft's sole discretion found to be in poor taste will be removed. Users should select an avatar that reflects their character in the game or is made from a screenshot from the game in which the avatar can be found.
• Links to images that are inappropriate will be removed and your forum account may be shut down.
• Words that would be censored by our bad word filter are not allowed in images either.
• Copyrighted, proprietary images, trade marks as well as images that do not belong to you (i.e. photographs or artwork which are used without permission of the creator) are also forbidden.
• Signature Images are allowed, however they must be limited to 600x120 pixels AND less than 150kb

16. Zero Tolerance Policy

Immediate suspension or bans from the forum can result from any of the following: the posting of pornography; discriminatory remarks which are sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive; excessive obscene or vulgar language; posts which discuss or illustrate illegal activity; providing links to sites that contain any of the aforementioned.

17. Proprietary forums

The City of Heroes/City of Villains Message Forums are private message forums administered by NCsoft. All message board content is allowed at the discretion of NCsoft. NCsoft reserves the right to remove any message board content at will without notice for any reason at its discretion.

18. Copyright

We will respond to clear notices of alleged copyright, trade mark or other intellectual property rights infringement. For more information, please visit our Copyright page.

19. Suspension and Termination

NCsoft shall determine, in its sole discretion, whether there has been a breach of these Rules and Regulations. When a breach of these Rules and Regulations has occurred, NCsoft may take such action as it deems appropriate.

Failure to comply with these Rules and Regulations shall constitute a material breach of the City of Heroes User Agreement (North American and European) and Rules of Conduct (North American and European) upon which you are permitted to use the forum, and may result in NCsoft taking all or any of the following actions:

• Resetting of your Reputation points to "0" (zero) if you abuse the Reputation system.
• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your NCsoft account and/or right to use the forum;
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to the forum;
• Modify any posting or material uploaded by you to the forum;
• Issue of a warning to you by NCsoft;
• Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach;
• Further legal action against you;
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as NCsoft reasonably feels is necessary.

NCsoft excludes its liability for: (a) any action taken in response to breaches of these Rules and Regulations. The responses described in these Rules and are not limited, and NCsoft may take any other action it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate; (b) any loss or damage arising from the use of the forum by you; (c) any content posted or uploaded by users of the forum which shall include, without limitation, any liability for offensive and/or defamatory posts.

20. Changes to these Rules and Regulations

NCsoft may revise these Rules and Regulations at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes NCsoft makes, as they are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in these Rules and Regulations may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on the NCsoft site.

__________________
Support Centre for our English European players
Support Centre for our North American players
Plateforme d'assistance pour les francophones
Support-Center für deutschsprachige Spieler

Avatea

WHAT IS THE TEST SERVER?

The Test Server is your chance to preview upcoming changes and updates and provide feedback to the developers.

The test server is set up specifically for the testing of updates *before* they are incorporated into the game itself. Players can login, preview/test the planned new features, fixes, changes, tweaks and offer up bug reports or suggestions.

How does a test server differ from a “live” server?

Due to the nature and purpose of a test server, the operative word to keep in mind is “temporary.”

· Content and characters could be wiped at anytime as game specific updates and changes are published, tested and removed.

· Players can expect lower levels of support, since the bulk of this service is centered around our live servers.

· Normal bug reporting and petitions will be handled a bit differently, as all issues need to be given more time for in-depth study, review and reproduction.

HOW TO ACCESS THE TRAINING ROOM TEST SERVER WITH A PC

In order to access the test server with a PC, you will need to download and install a second copy of the game. This second copy will patch up the test files to your PC. The steps for this process are outlined below.

1. Locate the file 'CohUpdater.exe'. If the game was installed to the default folder then look for: 'C:\Program Files\City of Heroes'. Do not create a shortcut for the desktop shortcut. To do this, you will have to locate the City of Heroes folder.

2. After you locate the City of Heroes folder, you will need to create a new shortcut to the cohupdater.exe file in the City of Heroes folder. To create a shortcut, right click on the file you wish to create a shortcut for. You can then select an option Create Shortcut which will then create the shortcut.

3. Right click on the new shortcut and open the Properties option.

4. In the Target window, add the following flag to the end of the line:

[space]-test

Do NOT add the word [space] to the Target. The example shown is intended to visually represent a single keystroke of the space bar, and should not be interpreted literally. An example of the correct use of the Flag is listed below.

The finished selection should look like this after you add the flag:

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -test

Below are possible incorrect additions of the flag to add the test client. The selection should NOT look like this:

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe"-test

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater-test.exe"

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe-test"

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe"[SPACE]-test

Also, this line in the shortcut can take multiple arguments. That is to say, if you have multiple things you want to tell the game when it launches like -test and -compatiblecursors 1 you just tag them all on the end, like:

"C:\Program Files\City of Heroes\CohUpdater.exe" -test -compatiblecursors 1

5. Run the shortcut.

The first time you run the shortcut, you will be asked whether you want to install the test client to the default directory. Choose Yes if you want to install it there, or choose No if you want to choose a different directory. We strongly recommended that you install the test client to a different location than your normal game client.

HOW TO ACCESS THE TRAINING ROOM TEST SERVER WITH A MACINTOSH

In order to access the test server with a Macintosh computer, you will need to download and install a second copy of the game. This second copy will patch up the test files to your Macintosh. The steps for this process are outlined below.

1. Download the Macintosh Test Client Installer from http://download.cityofheroes.com/Tes..._Server_US.dmg to your Desktop

2. Double-click on the MAC_CoH_Test_Server_US.dmg file to mount "City of Heroes" onto your Desktop.

3. Double-click the "City of Heroes" mounted drive so that a window with the "City Of Heroes" icon and "Applications" Folder icon appears.

4. Drag the "City of Heroes" icon onto the "Applications" Folder icon.

5. Open your Applications Folder and click on the City of Heroes icon to complete your installation.

HOW TO COPY CHARACTERS TO THE TRAINING ROOM TEST SERVER

After the client installs, you will need to copy a character over to the test server. To do this, go to this URL:

https://secure.cityofheroes.com/cgi-bin/coh_transfer.pl

Use your City of Heroes login name and password to login.

After you login, you will be able to select the server and character you wish to copy to the test server. It will take several moments, but the character will copy. At this point you will be able to play the test server.

NOTE - Those who have just restarted their accounts may experience a delay or wait of 24-48 hours to be able to copy a character to the test server.

After you copy your character to the test server, you should be able to play the test client. Before you can play however, you will have to run the new shortcut you created to the cohupdater (for PC) or Mac CoH Test client.

On a PC computer, you can copy the shortcut you created to the desktop by dragging and dropping it from the "City of Heroes" folder to the desktop.

On a Mac computer, you can create an alias to the "City of Heroes" application within the Applications Folder and copy it to your Desktop.

You will have to run this shortcut each time you wish to use the test server. Enjoy playing!

__________________
Support Centre for our English European players
Support Centre for our North American players
Plateforme d'assistance pour les francophones
Support-Center für deutschsprachige Spieler

Avatea

Greetings Heroes and Villains,

We would like to remind our players to be on the lookout for phishing emails and links to websites that appear to be from NCsoft (like http://ncsoftinternational.tk/ or www.secure-ncsoft-zone.com for instance) and ask for your personal and account information. All such communications should be looked at with a skeptical eye and any asking you specifically for your password and/or special question information are NOT from us (and therefore, might be a scam). We never ask our players for this information and recommend that you never give it out to anyone. We also recommend that you not reveal your email address in either your profile or signature on the boards as it makes it much easier for you to be targeted by those attempting to phish information from you.

If you experience anything like this, please feel free to contact us at cohmoderation@ncsoft.com with the specifics so that we may look into the situation. Thank you very much for your cooperation - we appreciate your assistance regarding this matter!

~The City of Heroes Team~

__________________
Support Centre for our English European players
Support Centre for our North American players
Plateforme d'assistance pour les francophones
Support-Center für deutschsprachige Spieler