The Coalition looking for Answers

Our sources report that street criminals and supervillains alike are on high alert. Apparently the vigilante group known as The Coalition is supremely focused in search of leads pointing them in direction of the "Elemental Killer". Three members of the supergroup The Elementals, have already fallen and no one knows if the remaining members are targets as well. The Coalition, usually confined to Gotham, are reportedly storming the streets of both cities in search of information. Numerous informants have been "roughed up" and the supervillains Golgothan, Hollowman, Zero K, Atom Smasher and Lx were among many that were found bound and gagged, for authorities.

Interview with The Madman, by Lois Lane

It has been days now since what scientists are calling a “Magnetic Energy Vortex” appeared outside the Area 51 base, recon images taken hours later showed Super Villain Atomic Theory was apparently behind the attack. However surprisingly, exactly 24 hours after the incident Atomic Theory requested an audience with this reporter, needless to say I was apprehensive at first however the people need to know who is behind the attack, the run up to the interview and the interview itself is as follows:

HIVE Operation Foiled

During the mid-afternoon of Wednesday, sources say several superheroes disrupted a HIVE operation in downtown Metropolis. While the swift appearance of dozens of superheroes was enough to contain the event, sources inside STAR Labs tell us that this incident may have a lot to do with the sudden appearance of costumed heroes en masse as of late. (continued on page 5)

Atomic Detonation near Area 51?

Sources now tell us that three days ago, military personal outside Area 51 stood in shock and awe as a nearby light erupted from the ground and into space. Many scientists near the base said the damage caused was too great to be just “light” and suggested that it may have been a “Magnetic Energy Vortex”. Several soldiers were injured as nearby vehicles began to fly towards the beam of light knocking them unconscious; one onlooker had this to say: 

Elemental Leader Infinity MURDERED!

Apparently a killer is hunting The Elementals.

Despite being guarded inside a safehouse and having two super-powered protectors, Infinity, leader of the besieged supergroup, was found murdered last night, minutes after an experimental toxin was allegedly pumped into the safehouse's ventilation system. Both members of the JLA who were guarding him were treated for exposure to the toxin and released. (continued on page 2)

The Paladin under JLA Surveillance?

In a recent interview with sources inside the JLA, it has been divulged that The Paladin is being monitored by elements inside the Justice League, following his battle with the Church of Blood last weekend. The source was quoted as saying: (continued on page 8)

Battle Atop WayneTech!

One Hero. One Villain. One Winner.

As of late, Heroes and Villains have been battling for territory, honor, and bragging rights. Tonight was no different, as an unidentified villain attempted to launch an attack on local heroes from the top of the Old WayneTech Building.

Metropolis' New Guardian Angel: Code Blue

Earlier today, Metropolis General Hospital found itself in a state of near-chaos as patients in the new Lex Luthor Research Wing were terrorized by Doctor Psycho. (continued on page 12)

"Blazing Blur" Beats Down Prince Ulgo

"This is Cat Grant, Star Reporter at the Daily Planet reporting the latest and greatest news in Metropolis. Today we had a showdown of epic proportions in Little Bohemia between the oversized hulking mass of monkey identified as Prince Ulgo and a new young hero referred to by the public as The Blazing Blur! It is rumored that Prince Ulgo has joined Grodd in his genetic assault on Metropolis. Eyewitnesses claim that Prince Ulgo had been on a rampage on the Queensland board walk before climbing up a building with a couple college students in hand roaring to the top of his lungs like something out of movie! Before they knew it The Blazing Blur had sped up the side of the building and landed flying knee kick right in Ulgo’s throat. Here’s an eye witness report from police rookie cop John Sprague." 

Super Race disrupts Metropolitan District

Reports coming in today suggest some manner of super-powered race had taken place across the districts of Metropolis. An unidentified number of super-powered individuals where spotted speeding around various locations across Metropolis. Local eyewitness Henry Brownstone stated: (continued on page 3)

Beta Impressions: Omega Black

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with forum poster Omega Black about his Beat experience so   far. Use the link below for the interview.

Fiery Wren, GCPD and Robin raid Joker Hideout

Earlier this evening, Fiery Wren of F.L.A.G. assisted Robin, the Boy Wonder, and Gotham City Police in the apprehension of Dr. Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.  Dr. Quinzel was barricaded in the “Fun House” at Amusement Mile, the now defunct and decrepit amusement park in Gotham City.  Fiery Wren provided these details:

Deathstroke Defeated?

Late last night on Gotham's East End, GCPD officers were called to investigate a series of disturbances over at "Monarch Playing Cards". When they arrived at the scene, they were greeted to arrested Joker Clowns and deactivated "J1N1" androids, The Joker's newest force on the streets. (continued on page 11)

Batman released from Hospital

Sources revealed that The Dark Knight was released from the secure wing of Gotham General Hospital a few days ago. His injuries were apparently not as bad as initially feared. Due to fears in the superhero community after the killings of Destra and The PeaceKeeper of The Elementals, rumor has it that Batman was guarded by no less than four "masks" at all times in addition to a small police presence. Batman was not available for comment.

Deacon Cleared of Excessive Force Charges

In light of all the bad news that's been going on with the Elementals and Wolf Knight going missing, there is a piece of gold in all that mud. On Dec 23rd, The Joker facilitated an elaborate escape plan for his injured female partner, Harley Quinn, despite the best efforts of the GCPD. A dozen civilians and police officers were injured and at least 7 of them were killed during the breakout. Law enforcement chased the couple to the abandoned Oliver Toy Factory on the north side of Gotham were a 12 hour long stand-off ensued. (continued on page 3)

Editorial: Maybe They Got What They Deserved...

It's me again folks. James Gadney is here to say what most of you are thinking but are too afraid to say. Today, I want to talk about the recent string of revelations of some so-called super heroes' identities. I think the Washington Post did exactly what the ethics of journalism demands that they we as journalists should do when presented with information such as that which was printed. (continued on page 12)

Elementals Duo MURDERED!

In a stunning development no one expected, Sarah Smith and Dwight Toler, both members of the Elemental's superteam that had their identities compromised just last week, were found murdered. Elemental's spokesmen confirmed the two were in hiding at a safehouse in Metropolis after their true identities were revealed a little over a week ago. Several hero teams have spoken out not only about the unfortunate turn of events, but of the actions of several media outlets that may have contributed to the circumstances. Superman chimed in early, "Free Speech let us down today, its important that great power always be tempered with great wisdom." The other members of the Supergroup, were apparently distraught, but Infinity vowed to bring the killer to justice. "There isn't anywhere on earth he or she can go to hide from us." the team leader stated. He also added that "The media shares some responsibility in this, your hands aren't clean--not for a minute."

Addonexus' Impressions

1.      
Recently we sat down with frequent DCUO Source poster se_gul and got some of his thoughts on playing in the closed beta version of DCUO. Use the link below for the entire interview.

The Elementals Respond to "heinous, deplorable act."

The long-time leader of The Elementals, Infinity, appeared on the Today Show and responded to the alleged leaking of the true identities of two members of his super-team.

Arcane Battle Downtown!

Downtown was the sight of a truly terrifying battle late on Christmas Eve. The Paladin, a currently unaffiliated hero, was in the process of stopping a ritual by the Church of Blood. What was meant to be a simple hostage rescue became a full blown conflict when Brother Blood and a sizable group of Demons arrived to intervene. The end result was numerous casualties, both cultist and civilian, with The Paladin leaving the battlefield with a fair few wounds of his own.

Interview: Frostress

Who could be better on the Christmas issue of SuperHeroHype than the Queen of Ice, herself? Read on for our interview with the superheroine Frostress. Find out why she left the Justice Legion, what she thinks of many of the "newer" superheroes and how The Vanguardians are going to deal with that Braniac ship floating above Metropolis.

Another Hero's Identity Revealed!

For the second time in two days, a member of The Elementals has had their secret identity revealed. The Peacekeeper, who's been a group member for over five years, apparently had this verifiable documents revealing his identity to the Washington Post as well.  Critics in the superhero community are up in arms and privacy groups are calling the resignation of the editor who allowed both stories to run.

Elementals representatives have yet to comment, and we still haven't heard from any of the actual members. Is this an attempt to disparage the group? How can these individuals maintain a normal lifestyle after some of the events of the past few days? We'll provide more details as they become available.

Wolf-Knight gone missing?

Apparently one of the members of The Wild Knights is currently accounted for. Sources tell us that a member of law enforcement who has regular contact with the hero Wolf Knight, hasn't seen or heard from him in weeks. Some are fearing the worst. A police officer who refused to go on the record, commented yesterday evening. "When these masks goes missing, there's always the thought that we'll find them floating in a river or in a dumpster or something. You just never know with those guys."

Superheroine Secret Identity Revealed!

In an unprecedented move by forces unknown, the super-heroine Destra (seen here on the cover of SuperHeroHype two years ago) of the long-time hero group The Elementals has been compromised. Forty-eight Hours ago, a package containing verifiable information concerning her true identity was sent to the Washington Post. While many are questioning the ethics behind their decision, the paper decided to put the information on their front page. While the paper sold more than 4 million copies in 3 hours and their website hits surged, superhero rights groups are outraged. The Elementals have not yet commented on their website or through their representatives. (continued on page 3)

Atomic Theory sends Pirate Broadcast

Yesterday The villain Atomic Theory sent a broadcast onto the airwaves that superceded normal programming in both Gotham and Metropolis. See page seven for a transcript of his threat to the heroes of earth.

Beta Impressions: Lady Abigail

The Beginning

At the very first time I won the VIP beta key in the Unlimited Forums, I was so pumped to finally get a shot at playing the game. At that time, there was nothing going on except the rumors of Beta for the VIP people to start. This was back in August when they pushed beta back due to more polishing withing the Friends and Family beta.  It wasn't until sometime after October when I finally got in and began my testing. I will break things down a bit on my overall experience with the game in little bits.

PS3 Patch Impressions

Okay ladies and gents. Patch 1.03 is live and I'm sure that by now, most of us, if not all of us, has had a chance to play DC Universe Online since then. The patch was pretty big for the most part weighing in at a healthy 3GB and you can definitely see why it was so hefty. I'll touch on some of the more common concerns people had in a list-type fashion for the purposes of easy reading:

User Interview: Fringe

Recently we sat down with the creator of Fringe for a few opinions on his character and of DCUO. He shared a few of his beliefs with us.

"Aren't they all just vigilantes? These heroes aren't government sanctioned. What's the difference between a vigilante and a hero? A bigger budget? At the end of the day they both make the same mistake, they help people."
--Fringe

DCUO to release in January?

Numerous reports form across the web and indications from numerous retailers seem to point to a 1/11/11 release date for DCUO.While nothing has been confirmed yet, this is GREAT news. Most people expected a delay until 1st Qtr 2011 to be much later in the quarter, but it appears as if this may have been anything but the truth.

PS3 Patch LIVE

Good news, true believers the PS3 patch is a reality. The download appears to be 122 MB in size and so should not take long to download. UPDATE: The secondary download is pretty large. So the total download time looks to be 2.5 hours. Hopefully, it resolves many of the gameplay "fixes" many felt needed to be addressed. Feel free to leave your impressions in the comments based on whether you felt the patch correctly addresses the things that were lacking. In closing, a big shout to the team at SOE for patching the Beta 2 weeks after it was released. YOU GUYS ROCK! the patch notes are below.

User Interview: Justice

A few weeks ago, the man behind Justice sat down for us for an interview on the state of DCUO pre-release. He had some pretty interesting opinions. read below for the details.

Suggestion: Remove Gliding

Now don't misunderstand us, while we totally the ability to glide should be an option, we believe it should be something you should have to spend a skill/power point on not to mention have some sort of equipment like a cape or mini-wings even. It just doesn't fit with many character and from the Immersion standpoint it hurts the game. Contrary to popular belief, not all superheroes can fly (or want to) and in-game gliding is essentially flying without any lift.This isn't game-ending by any stretch, but giving every character the ability to fly just isn't a good idea.

!BREAKING NEWS! Vigilante Deacon Gunned Down

Last night around 11pm, sources tell us that Deacon the Hunter and his female companion Stormbringer, formerly known as Thunderstorm, were in the midst of stopping a band of rogue Scarecrow goons who were trying to salvage some of the parts from the criminal's fear gas foggers that had recently been destroyed by a small but powerful group of heroes.

User Interview: Black Azure

 Not so long ago, we had the opportunity to sit down with the creator of Black Azure. The topics we discussed ranged from what DC Comics he preferred, who Black Azure's rivals are and what he never played City of Heroes. Read below for the entire interview.

Suggestion: Increase Group Sizes

While we've loved 97% of what we've seen in The Beta, there is a small percentage that we'd like to see made a little more "user friendly". Case in point: Group Sizes. In a nutshell, a four person limit is just too small. There are many Leagues/Teams that have larger numbers and a 4-man limit to a party simply isn't enough. In all honesty, an 8-man group size is probably more appropriate. While this is still Beta and this size may have been solely for testing, we can't take the chance that something like this may not be addressed so we had to be certain to highlight it.

F.L.A.G. Operatives assist in Scarecrow capture

F.L.A.G. operative Osprey and his sidekick, Fiery Wren, assisted Batwoman in arresting the Scarecrow in Gotham's expansive sewers earlier this evening. After investigating the whereabouts of Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow, the F.L.A.G. pair found Batwoman already in his clutches. (continued on page 8)

A Government Sponsored Hero Team?

Sources inside the Department of Defense have confirmed that the U.S. Government may finally have some superheroes on their payroll. While we cannot confirm these allegations as of yet, the implications are certainly policy-changing. What would happen to vigilante and non-sanctioned "masks" if a government-sponsored team is successful? Would they be forced to disband? Forced to join a government-sanctioned team? Could these government agents be deployed overseas to assist with US Interests overseas? Our researchers have already reached out to Soldier, the alleged leader of the F.L.A.G. team and you'll know details as soon as we secure them.

Introducing: Events

Greetings DCUO Community,

We were brainstorming last night on what new elements the Daily Planet blog could incorporate and we think we might have the best one yet. EVENTS.

Doctor Fate and Lady Immolatasia Quell Chaos In Tomorrow District

The Sentinels of Magic and Doctor Fate were aided yesterday afternoon by the mysterious Lady Immolatasia, a newcomer into the streets of Metropolis and powerful sorceress. The heroes responded to a distress call in Historic District, when it was reported that the spell-wielding goddess, Circe, stole the Crown of Nyx, a priceless and dangerous Grecian artifact.

Arcane Energies decimate section of Chinatown

A quiet evening in the Metropolis section of Chinatown was interrupted by a fierce conflict between the forces of Felix Faust and the superhero known as Cleric. While no innocents were killed, seven people were reportedly injured and the property damage was reported to be in the tens of millions. Before leaving the area, Cleric reportedly turned to onlookers and confidently said: "The name's Cleric, Think of me as your guardian angel." strange..but true. Reporting for The Daily Planet, this is Susan Klein.

PS3 Patch Forthcoming

According to the Official Facebook Page, many prayers have been answered. The powers-that-be have paid close attention to many of our concerns and feedback and are incorporating numerous "fixes" that address popular issues. hopefully our PC brethren will be getting an update soon as well. Read on for the patch details:

Reprisal for Batman? (an Editorial)

In the early hours of the morning after Gotham's Dark Knight was put out of action, the super-hero community was in a fever pitch about what transpired. Many people have quietly wondered why Batman has (continued on page 6)

Missile Strike takes out Braniac Forces: Mid-Knight Involved?

While the constant presence of the Braniac ship that appeared over Gotham over a month ago and the constant conflict in the city is a sight many are used to, yesterday morning the conflict escalated to unprecedented levels. A missile strike devastated the area near Wayne Manor and destroyed a large amount of the robotic henchmen in that area. Wayne Enterprises has still not been reached for comment concerning the property damage but apparently there was no loss of life. (continued on page 3)

F.L.A.G. Operatives take down Giganta!

 -Metropolis-

Super-villainess Giganta was recently defeated by F.L.A.G. members Choppy McChopchop, Ghost Dance and F.L.A.G. leader Soldier. While out on patrol Choppy was contacted by none other than Wonder Woman, and asked for help from her.

Coalition Beta Key Giveaway!

Here's a free beta key promotion being sponsored by Deacon, Force, Thunderstorm, Enforcer and the rest of The Coalition.

Who is..The Hornet?

He scours the dark alleys of Gotham at night in search of criminals and apparently has put such a big dent into the activities of organized crime that there's a hefty price on his head. This mysterious Gotham vigilante has caught the attention of criminals, media and of his peers in the short time that he's been patrolling Gotham's streets. We'll continue to provide updates as they arrive.

Impressions Interview: Lady Immolatasia

Recently we had the pleasure of finding out what Lady Immolatasia, a long-time MMO player, RPer and stalwart over at the DCUO-Unlimited website, about The Closed Beta. We got a lengthy, educated and refershing view of a game many feel like is an MMO-changer. 

"The beta, so far, has been just phenomenal, and I’m very glad I got the chance to partake in it. As a long time City of Heroes/Champions player, it stands up and carries forward the tradition of strong combat, super hero lore and excitement, and captures the conflict in a new and thrilling way."
--Lady Immolatasia

Batman Severely Injured

Sources inside the GCPD revealed that Batman was severely injured during a conflict with Joker yesterday evening. While several of his henchmen were apprehended, The Joker escaped. Our reporters briefly intercepted a GCPD cruiser that transported the legendary costumed hero to Gotham General late yesterday evening. The vigilante Force, of The Coalition, briefly spoke to reporters as many heroes arrived for an impromptu vigil. "He'll pull through, but we're here praying for him. He's been this city's savior longer than anyone here. I was there when he went down and now i'm just here to show my support."  Now? The public holds its collective breath as we wait for any updates from the medical staff.

Lunar Ray Breaks up Gotham Drug Ring

In today's news Lunar Ray popular charter member of The PeaceKeepers broke up a Gotham drug ring. Our sources tell us that the drugs were the property of the Gotham Underworld and that reportedly the villain Bane was somehow involved. Lunar Ray could not be reached for comment after the Gotham Special Crimes Division apprehended the suspects at the scene.