City of Heroes - Virtual Rewards

Virtual Rewards

Similarly to other MMORPGs, City of Heroes/Villains has various items that are rewarded within the game. However, many of these items are described as intangible or other-worldly; such as "inspirations" (temporary powerups) or "influence" (used instead of money), which are abstract ideas in the real world. "Enhancements"—slottable attribute boosts—also cover a range of ideas and items from magic enchantments to technological gadgets to training techniques. With the release of Issue 6, while in supergroup mode, a setting that can be toggled on and off, players accumulate prestige points which are used to improve the supergroup base.

Issue 9 brought the Invention system to the game, which allows characters to combine salvage and recipes to create various goods. Invented enhancements can provide better bonuses than normal enhancements, including set bonuses for slotting invented enhancements from the same set into the same power. Costume pieces and limited-use temporary powers can also be invented.

In addition to these, there are also collectible badges for players to obtain. Gained for performing various actions in game, such as: moving over specific places in each zone, defeating certain numbers of enemies, healing allies, and taking damage, most serve no functional purpose for players, except to provide characters with tag lines under their character names. However, some few, called "Accolades" give players access to temporary powers and permanent bonuses to health and endurance (the game's equivalent to mana or magic points) and are gained by collecting other badges.

Players also have the option of purchasing (outside of the game) additional items known as "Booster Packs", which currently include a permanent Wedding-themed expansion for costumes and emotes (actions), a 30 day Jet Pack temporary power, valkyrie themed costume items, and regular Booster Pack releases based on Player Origins available in-game (See "Updates and history" below).