Hero-Con may be over, but discussion surrounding the upcoming Going Rogue expansion is in full swing on the event's forums. A user on the forums has been collecting all of the information that was released about the expansion during the convention, and it looks like Paragon Studios is currently targeting a release in the second quarter of 2010. The beta will begin in waves starting early next year.

The post contains a wealth of information, from the new factions and powersets to details on the alignment system that will have both heroes and villains questioning their moral codes. Going Rogue will even include an optional ultra graphics mode that will improve shadows, reflections and water. Check out the full post after the jump, which was compiled by City of Heroes forum user Orion Star EU.

For more information on Going Rogue, you can watch the Hero-Con opening ceremony keynote on YouTube. Part one is the introduction, part two contains Matt "Positron" Miller's discussion about the expansion, and part three is a Q&A session.

Release / Beta info

Release is currently targeted for Q2 2010, with beta starting early 2010.

Beta waves:

• Friends & Family
• Hero Con attendees
• 5 year veterans
• Loyalty Program participants
• People who pre-order Going Rogue

Quote:

Quote: New Factions The Praetorian Guard These are the Preatorians you may have already met in game: The opposites of the signature heroes They are all receiving a graphical update The Praetorian Clockwork Appearance: Sleek, Robotic, Overly shiny These are the 'serving race', and act as maintenance for Cole's Empire Supposedly created by Anti Matter and Neuron (Praetorian Positron and Synapse) There's at least one giant Clockwork (think DE GM size) They are passive until you attack them, no matter what level you/they are Their costume pieces will be unlockable The Seers Appearance: Sleek, smooth, creamy silver They float around and make sure everyone is behaving appropriatley! Also known as 'Mother Mayhem's Psychic Friend Network' All female 'What's wrong with letting Seers read your thoughts? Just DON'T have bad thoughts.' - Marcian Tobay May be the Praetorian Fortunatas (?) The Resistance Appearance: Gritty Steampunk They are a group of super powered renegades fighting against Cole's regime They are a career path for players who start in Praetoria that will lead them to becoming a heroy They are led by the Praetorian Calvin Scott (Who the Seers have been unable to locate) Also in their ranks is the Preatorian Belladona Vetrano - Better known as Ghost Widow on Primal Earth May be the Praetorian version of the Freakshow (?) The Praetorian Police Department Appearance: Like the Paragon police, but a bit more regal/imperial looking They are the first line of defense against The Resistance Super Powered beings 'Volunteer' to be indoctrinated by the PPD, however, only 10% of them survive They are also a career path for players who start in Praetoria, but this will lead them to becoming a villain The Syndicate Appearance: Yakuza, Cyberpunk, Black colours, Jackets, Multiracial They are one, huge group of organized criminals They have super powered shotguns (?) They have Motorcycles (?) The Carnival of Light They exist, and are in Going Rogue; That's all we know They are the Praetorian version of the Carnival of Shadows (Praetorian?) Devouring Earth They have control over much of the planet due to widespread use of nukes (?) They are the Praetorian version of the Devouring Earth

Quote:

Quote: Ultra Graphics Mode Ultra Graphics Mode is a new, OPTIONAL mode that allows you to turn on a whole host of new, awesome graphical improvements. Some of these are: Reflections: Real time, environmental reflections on all shiny surfaces including glass, metal, water. This includes shiny elements on a character costume, such as a goggles and armor. Reflections warp to the shape of the reflective surface. Glass windows will have imperfections which give realistic image distortions. Shadows: Real time dynamic shadows that change with the time of day. Real time realistic shadows of everything in the environment, including all toons and critter that show a true projection of their shapes. Ambient Occlusion: Shadows are not one shade value -- they dynamically get lighter and fuzzier near light sources and they get darker in deeper corners and holes. Objects in the shadows get darker and harder to see. Water: Angle-sensitive reflection and transparency: When viewed from on oblique angle, water surfaces are reflective; when viewed from above, the reflectivity diminishes and one can see into the water (at least at shallow depths). Shadows: Distorted shadows are cast onto the surface of the water and onto the floor of a water basin (at least at shallow depths). (Thanks to Zombie Man for these detailed explanations) And some other info: Minimum specs will remain relatively the same Preatoria was build with Ultra Mode in mind, but it is not required to play in Praetoria Will be available throughout the rest of the CoH universe as well It will all work on ATI cards, infact, the demo at Hero Con was run on an ATI card Nvidia 3D vision is coming...soon™ (Apparently the Nvidia rep said March?)

Quote:

Quote: New Powersets Dual Pistols For Blasters, Defenders, and Corruptors. The doves seen in the Hero Con keynote video are a Hero Con exclusive easter egg, and will NOT be in the final game. Four types of bullets that change 30% of the damage dealt and the secondary effect: Regular (100% Lethal dmg) Incendiary (70% Lethal dmg/30% Fire dmg + DoT) Cryo (70% Lethal dmg/30% Cold dmg + Speed debuff) Chemical (70% Lethal dmg/30% Toxic dmg + Debuff of some sort(TBC)) Possible powers: Epic PBAoE: Character spins around firing bullets in all directions. Best animation EVAR. (Comparable to: Psi Shockwave w/ a longer animation (Psionic Assault)) Cone attack: Character shoots bullets at all opponents in front of him. (Comparable to: Empty Clips (Thugs)) Targeted AoE (?): Character fires explosive rounds into the air that then shower down onto the opponents. (Comparable to: Rain of Fire (Fire Blast)) Single Target Short: Player fires a single shot at his target (Comparable to: Pistols (Thugs)) Single Target Long: Player fires two shots at his target (Comparable to: Dual Weild (Thugs)) Change Ammo: Cycles between all 4 ammo types, instant/fast recharge (Comparable to: Nothing. It's just that awesome) Demon Summoning For Masterminds only. Your personal weapon is a Fire Whip. Your pets' tails will sway. The pets all have the same general look: Red, demonic, with skeleton masks/heads. Possible powers (NOTE: All speculation, nothing has been confirmed): Summon Tier 1: Summons 3 small, demonic rat like creatures. (Comparable to: Call Genin (Ninjas)) Summon Tier 2: Summons 2 demonic gorilla like creatures. (Comparable to: Call Jounin (Ninjas)) Summon Tier 3: Summons a huge demonic gorilla of d (Comparable to: Oni (Ninjas)) Upgrade 1: Upgrades your demon pets to give them additional abilities (Comparable to: Train Ninjas (Ninjas)) Upgrade 2: Upgrades your demon pets to give them better additional abilities (Comparable to: Kuzi In Zen (Ninjas)) 1-3 Whip attacks of some sort: Attacks your opponent with a whip (Comparable to: ???)

Quote:

Quote: Going Rogue System It is not a 'light switch' or '$30 charge', it is an actual change you will experience over time. The scale of Good - Evil is: Hero - Vigilante/Rogue - Villain Heroes can: Access Paragon City and Praetoria Access Wentworths Vigilantes can: Access Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, and Praetoria Access Wentworths Rogues can: Access Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, and Praetoria Access the Black Market Villains can: Access the Rogue Isles and Praetoria Access the Black Market You change your morality by completing special 'Morale' arcs in Preatoria: Redeeming Villains will become Rogues, and will then become Heros Falling Heroes will become Vigilantes, and will then become Villains There will be Morale arcs available level X and above available in Praetoria (X is still to be determined). Most badges will change their name, and some will change their art, when you change faction. You cannot obtain two copies of each accolade power. Heroes and Villains who do not falter (switch sides) may be awarded with additional perks. Heroes can go all the way to a being a Villain, and then all the way back again, and vice versa with Villains > Heroes.

Quote:

Quote: Praetoria Environment No War Walls Civilians actually interact with each other and the environment: They sit on benches They talk to each other They drink coffee with each other However, in the video, they seemed to be blissfully unaware of the small skirmish happening right in front of them Tyrant's Tower can be seen from almost anywhere due to his epicness One of the areas is called 'Nouveau Praetoria', Nouveau meaning 'New' in french, as it is the newest part of Praetoria. It's all so freakin' shiny! Every building has it's own name and backstory Every mission is assigned to it's specific location for a reason Back story Emperor Cole sees himself as the savior of the world Cole's Empire is not the only nation on Praetorian Earth Praetoria only has 4 working days a week - Menial tasks are left to the Clockwork McArthur got to use his nukes, alot Cole did something to the Korean War in Praetorian Eath There are no crimes or accidents (Until you arrive...) The police are 'only there to help', and take up 30% of the city's budget 'We drive your cars! You don't need firearms!' - Marcian Tobay 'What's wrong with letting Seers read your thoughts? Just DON'T have bad thoughts.' - Marcian Tobay 'We reward strength in Praetoia. If you don't like your boss, kill him. If he died, he never deserved the job.' - Marcian Tobay 'I felt fear, then forgot what fear was. Thanks, Seers!' - Marcian Tobay The Carnival of Light are there. That is all. Nemesis is a 'nobody' on Praetorian Earth - We have the crazy one aparently Info from Fuzun: Quote: Originally Posted by Fuzun OK now for Praetoria. I'm summing up all of the invivudal things into a narative rather than just a brain dump. The history of Praetoring was written from the moment of Stefan Richter's birth and Marcus Cole's birth. They noted that slight changes to the character's life early one lead to major changes to the world later one. Macrus Cole of Praetorian Earth is very similar to Marcus Cole of Primal Earth. Their motivations are very similar. They are much more alike then different. But their methods different drastically. The mustard gas exposure and hunt for a cure is pretty much the same on both Earths. But the events a the Well of the Furies happened much differently. We don't know why, but Marcus Cole killed Stefan Richter. Another branching point was the Korean War. Combat was very different on the two earth. It's ended much differently on Praetorian Earth than what's know on Primal Earth. Macrus Cole made a bi difference on the Korean War. The only really two effective weapons were Powers and Nuclear weapons. It's well know that on out Earth and Primal Earth that General McAurther wanted to use nukes in Korea. Well he did use in Korea on Praetorian Earth. Marcus Cole really didn't like that at all. It went against his ideals of trying to protect people. It's probaly a big factor towards his path of taking over. Also the world governments of Praetorian Earth are very careless towards the Earth and it's environment. This caused a zealous scientist by the name of Hamidon Pasilima to unless his creation, The Devoured Earth, upon the Earth (much earlier than on Primal Earth). The Devoured Earth ravaged the entire Praetorian Earth. Marcus Cole was asked by the people of Praetorian Earth to save them. Emporer Cole was determined to do that and more. He was going to save the people from themselves once and for all. So he took power and created Praetoria was a safe haven for humanity against the ravages and forces unleashed on the planet. There is no want or need in Praetorian. Basic necessities of life are provided for water, food, shelter. There is no manual labour. All of those tasks are performed by the Clockwork which work and exist among the populace. There is no crime nor discontent due to the due to the Seers and Praetorian Guard on every corner. Due to the increase amount of leisure time available, the arts and sciences have greatly advance to new levels. Praetoria is the ultimate Meritocracy. You can choice not to do anything at all for a "living" as everything is povided for your. But if you want you can advance in sociterty to a position of power. If you can should the burden for something, you are allowed to do so are long as your able able. If you can show you can do a better job than you boss, you get to replace him. Emperor Cole has Praetorians (might be wrong name, memory is failing me ATM) which are his right hand people which run the day to day operations of Praetorian. They are the best of best at what they do. We know them are the Praetorian counter parts of the many Primal Earth NPC heroes. Maurader is know as Praetorians White. He oversees the Power's division. Any super powered individual is a member of the Power's division. ... ANY super powered individual is a member of the Powers Division, if they can make it through the indoctrination program (10% pass rate). Certain members of the Powers division might be assigned duty "overseas". Those invidiuals never seems every come back or even send back messages to home. They must be very busy serving Praetoria. The Praetorian government even graciously offers to send family and friends "overseas" to see those inviduals. Funny things those famly and friends are so glad to see the powered invidual they aren't even seen or heard from again in Praetoria. Touble makers for society just disapparent to prevent the disruption of the social harmony. Chimera knows that's individuals are going to disappear before they know. Chimera leads the clandestine and secret division of the Praetoria government. I presume he's also reponsible for Intelligence gather as well. The Syndicate is the super organized remnants of the original organized crime organizations which got crushed...hard. The biggest problem and major goal they have is to remain hidden. They Seers are all seeing. So the Syndicate obviously has discovered methods to remain hidden. The Resisance is lead by Calvin Scott. He's got a obvious beef with Mother Mayhem because she is still mind-ridding Calvin's wife Aurora Borealis. He's an effective leader for the Resistance because his hidden from the Seers. They cannot location/find him. Marcus Cole is know as Emperor Cole by the peoples of Praetorian Earth. Tyrant is who he is when he dons him armor and comes to Primal Earth. Emperor Cole is his "day job". Similarly Cole's Praetorian Lieutenants are know by different names in their day jobs of running Praetoria. Maurader is who Praetorian White is when he dons his fighting clothing and goes off to rend people limb from limb. Mother Mayhem heards the Seer division. They are truely the thought police. The Praetorian Police and Seers are on every street corner. They made sure there are nor dissident thoughts to disturb the harmony of Praetoria. In talking with John Hegner, the main writer for Praetoria his direction in his writing is how much are you willing to pay for piece of mine and a comfortable life. He says the stuff that you are willing to do starts off small. But it will continue to snowball are you along. He wants stuff that player's characters do so evenually snowball so much they get uncomfortable doing them. (I made the comparison to the missions of red side contact Pithers. Those missions really make be feel bad when I do them Thats'a good'a writing). Also they are taking all they've learned about mission designs to date. When you get sent to a missions door, it will be a specific building with specific signage. The building will have a specific purpose and it will make sense on the setting of the city it's in. AS the devs put it the bulding will have it's own underlying story, and the reason for placing the mission in that building will make sense. So if the building is is gang X's terriority, the mission will be popluated with gang X and not gang Y. That's all of my brain dump for now. I'm sure I've missed some things, but I'll update things as they come to me.

Quote:

Quote: Starting in Praetoria New characters can start in Praetoria instead of Paragon City or he Rogue Isles These characters can side with the Resistance (Rebel / Hero) or the Preatorian Police Department (Loyalist / Villain) Once they reach level 20 (or before?), they can choose to go to Paragon City and be a Hero, or go to the Rogue Isles and be a villain, even if they chose to side with the opposite faction in Praetoria You can choose any of the base 10 Hero or Villain archetypes, but not any of the Epic (Kheldian/Arachnos) archetypes

Quote:

Quote: Misc Info Mercedes Lacky and Troy Hickman Architect Entertainment guest author arcs coming soon Someone asked Positron about MM customization; He turned to Marketing, who said 'we cannot answer'  They have Base Raid ideas/tech, but not full, and no ETA No word on the new high-level content - More information on that in the months leading up to beta More Cimerora/Coming Storm content coming The next Super Booster is ninja related Upcoming feature: You do not have to log out to switch character Upcoming feature (confirmed for I17): Enemies/Objectives will be marked on the mission map when 90% of the enemies have been defeated Upcoming feature: Enhancement prices will be standardized across all vendors/contacts Upcoming feature: Electricity Control for Controllers (And possibly Dominatiors)

Sources / Thanks to:
Marcian Tobay's twitter feed
Vangelus' video
Fuzun's galleries
Darminiam's gallery
Various other people from twitter
Posts in this thread