NCsoft has announced details on the upcoming Issue 8 expansion for City of Heroes and City of Villains. Titled “To Protect and Serve”, the expansion is heavy on the changes and additions to the Heroes game. On the other side of the coin the last expansion, Issue 7: Destiny Manifest, put a great deal of focus on the villainous side:

Details released on new City of Heroes and City of Villains expansion coming later this year

CITY OF HEROES ISSUE 8: “To Protect and Serve”

Issue 8: To Protect and Serve, the eighth free expansion since the launch of City of Heroes® in April 2004, introduces a host of innovative features, gameplay improvements and player programs. Issue 7: Destiny Manifest allowed villains to wreak havoc in the PvP zone Recluse’s Victory and physics-filled Mayhem Missions. Now it’s the Heroes’ turn to take back the streets!

Safeguard Missions (Heroes only)

Vandals are creating mayhem and destroying Paragon City while high profile villains are attempting major bank heists! Emergency broadcasts from the new Police Band scanners (see below) call Heroes to action, resulting in a frantic new twist on Mayhem Missions. Heroes must stop the mayhem (in massively destructive versions of Paragon City zones) and prevent the heists from occurring.

Police Band (Heroes only)

Offering similar functionality to the Newspaper Missions in City of Villains®, new Police contacts throughout various Hero zones grant Heroes Police Band access, opening a plethora of new missions and rewards.

Pocket D Arenas (Heroes and Villains)

For the first time, Heroes and Villains can officially battle each other using Arena kiosks set within the neutral ground of the Pocket D nightclub.

Faultline Reborn (Heroes only)

Faultline transforms from a hazard zone to a city zone! Paragon City’s Measure X has passed, reconstruction of Faultline has begun, and the effort has revealed some major surprises.

Veteran Rewards Program (Heroes and Villains)

Launching together with Issue 8, the Veteran Rewards Program retroactively* rewards City of Heroes and City of Villains players for their past active playing time. Specifically, for each increment of three months played, players will unlock special costumes, powers, badges, and more! The program is retroactive by player account and rewards will be applicable to all characters within each respective account.

*This means time that players have already played counts towards their rewards!

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