It’s been over two years since City of Heroes was first released in the US, and a lot’s changed in the world of Paragon City. In its latest ‘State of the Game’ article, GameSpy takes a look at how the world’s first comic book MMO has evolved and grown, and considers what the future may hold:

Fortunately for the City of… community, neither NCsoft nor Cryptic has been sitting on their superpowered duffs for the last two years. City of Heroes has undergone a significant evolution since its launch, with several “Issues” adding new content and features, culminating in the successful launch of a companion product, City of Villains, in October 2005.

You can read the full State of the Game: City of Heroes/Villains article at GameSpy.

Just a reminder that NCsoft Europe will be at the London Film & Comic Con this weekend. Pop along and join us for fun, games and the chance to win some exclusive prizes - including statues of both Statesman and his nemesis, Lord Recluse!

You’ll also be able to chat to both Rockjaw, myself and members of the community teams for Guild Wars and Auto Assault, try out our latest and upcoming games on eight shiny PCs, get your photo taken with the spooky Ghost Widow, grab some free swag, and meet your fellow heroes and villains.

Tickets for are available on the door on both Saturday and Sunday, so come along and say hello. For full details and information about the rest of the show - including the impressive list of famous guests who’ll be wandering about - see the London Film & Comic Con website.

This year’s Player’s Choice Awards in the US saw the American City of Heroes and City of Villains community vote Legion of Valour as the best Supergroup and Fallen Legion as best Villain Group. Amazingly, both SGs were set up and run by the same player, Tony Ellerd, who has now been interviewed by GameDaily.

Ellerd answers questions about himself, his background, how the Legion groups came to be, and why he thinks they’ve stood the test of time, among others:

We’ve been going strong for two years because we are a family. We’ve been through marriages, divorces, births, deployments, new jobs, lost jobs and grieved with members over deaths in their families. Many of us are on a first name basis and I’ve spent a pile of money on long distance phone calls. Behind the masks are players who have become real friends.

You can read the full interview here - and if you’d like to let your fellow European players know more about your own Supergroup, be sure to submit an entry for our upcoming Supergroup Spotlight feature.

No, Doctor Vahzilok hasn’t run out of cadavers - GameDaily and GameZone have published new bits for their Casual PvP Guide and Spirals of Fate story, respectively.

The third part of the Casual PvP Guide from GameDaily takes a close look at each of the Archetypes in City of Heroes and City of Villains, discussing their strengths and weaknesses in player versus player combat. You can hone your skills by clicking here.

Meanwhile, the first part of Chapter 2 of Spirals of Fate, the serialised work of fiction set in the world of City of Heroes and City of Villains can be found on GameZone by clicking here.

If you’re based in the north of the UK, or just fancy a trip to Scotland, start making plans to head over to Glasgow on Saturday 5 August, where Quilla and several others are organising a get-together for players of City of Heroes and Villains.

For more information - and to let everyone know you’ll be coming - check the Glasgow Meet thread on the official message boards, where the plans are being made.

Not content with just news, previews and reviews of City of Heroes and City of Villains, Michael Lafferty and Matthew Eberle of GameZone have been so inspired by the world of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles that they’re writing a work of serial fiction set there.

The first three episodes of Spirals of Fate, which make up the first chapter of the story, are available now, and you can read them all over at GameZone:

Spirals of Fate: Chapter One - Part One
Spirals of Fate: Chapter One - Part Two
Spirals of Fate: Chapter One - Part Three

Taking on your fellow players in Player versus Player (PvP) combat can be great fun and very satisfying, but it can also be rather intimidating for the beginner. If you’d like to give PvP a try - or would like to improve your skills for the occasional foray into the PvP zones without having to dedicate yourself (and your character) to the task - the Casual PvP Guide at GameDaily may be just what you’ve been looking for.

The first two sections of this five-part guide are available now. Part 1 gives a general overview of casual PvP and the most important gameplay concepts and powers. In Part 2, the focus shifts to an overview of the four PvP zones - Bloody Bay, Siren’s Call, Warburg and the high level Recluse’s Victory, introduced in Issue #7: Destiny Manifest.

The third part of the guide will be taking a closer look at the different Archetypes and their strengths and weaknesses in PvP in City of Heroes, and we’ll let you know as soon as it arrives.

Heroes beware! Longbow operatives are reporting that Arachnos has begun a new recruitment drive, aiming to entice 3,000 new villains to join their ever-growing ranks. For full details of this exclusive offer from Eurogamer, see the City of Villains site.

Split Infinity Radio recently held its first annual ceremony for their new ‘Wasabi Awards’, which recognise the very best the world of online gaming has to offer, and City of Heroes and Villains won no less than eight of the categories on offer!

In addition to the overall ‘Best Game’, between them City of Heroes and Villains picked up ‘Best Graphics’, ‘Best Community’, ‘Best Gameplay’, ‘Roleplayer’s Choice’, ‘Newbie’s Choice’, ‘Best Newcomer’ and last but by no means least, ‘Best Storyline’.

A summary can be found on the front page of the SIRadio site, with an edited podcast of the awards on its way soon.

Following the release of Issue #7: Destiny Manifest, Gamespy has taken a fresh look at City of Heroes and Villains. Find out more over on the City of Villains site.

Feel like taking advantage of the weather to get together with your in-game friends and burn meat in a heroic fashion? Then head over to Kettering this Saturday, 17 June, where P14273059 and some others are organising a CoX BBQ from around 4pm.

For full details, see this thread on the official message boards - and don’t forget the potato salad.

Feel like a break after a tough week of fighting evil and keeping Paragon City safe from crime? The Legion Supreme Supergroup is hosting an evening of fun, games and dancing in Pocket D on the Defiant server this Friday (9 June), from 7PM BST.

There’ll be no less than three costume competitions, live coverage and tunes from Evolution Radio, and plenty of opportunities to put aside your differences, kick back and relax with both your fellow heroes and villains.

For more details, check out the flyer and the thread on the Defiant - Heroes board, and get the weekend off to a suitably funky start.

CoHComics.com, the City of Heroes and Villains fansite that hosts player-created comics, is nearing its 100th submission - and to celebrate this milestone in the site’s history, they’re offering one lucky contributor the chance to have their comic bound and printed by comiXpress.

Full details of the competition are available at the CoH Comics Century announcement on CoHComics.com

That’s right, as explained in yesterday’s Issue #7 release announcement, we’ve reactivated all inactivate City of Heroes and Villains accounts for five days, completely free of charge.

If you haven’t played City of Heroes or Villains for a while, and fancy taking a look at Issue #7: Destiny Manifest for yourself, you’ll be able to login to the game any time between now and 5am on Sunday 11 June and try it out. Your previous characters will be ready and waiting for you.

We have sent notifications to all our inactive players who have chosen to accept emails from NCsoft on their PlayNC Master Account, but make sure you tell any former players you may know about this exclusive offer - and encourage them to sign-up to our emails to take advantage of any future offers (see the full Issue #7 announcement for details of how to do this).

We hope you all enjoy your return to the world of City of Heroes and City of Villains!

To celebrate the launch of Issue #7: Destiny Manifest, Prima Games and NCsoft have decided to make the Issue #7 Update for their City of Heroes and City of Villains Strategy Guides available to our players as a free download!

Written in conjunction with Jack ‘Statesman’ Emmert and the rest of the Cryptic Studios team, the new update is packed with inside information on all aspects of Issue #7, from details of the many new powers to the secrets of Mayhem Missions and more.

Click here to download the guide completely free from Prima Games!

Please note that the update is in PDF format. You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader from Adobe.com.