As we've reported, the second annual Hero-Con event will be held from Oct. 24-25 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, Calif. In order to give fans more informations as the City of Heroes convention approaches, Paragon Studios has launched the official Hero-Con Web site. You can use the site to buy your tickets for $79 each and book your room at the Doubletree for the discounted rate of $89 a night.

The site has a section for Hero-Con's schedule of events that currently says "coming soon," as well as a FAQ page. You can read the full FAQ after the jump and head over to the official Hero-Con forum to discuss the convention.

The Mission Architect system in City of Heroes allows players to create their own in-game stories, but it also opens up the possibility for professional writers to share their tales with players. NCsoft and Paragon Studios announced today they are launching a guest author program and have already tapped Scott Kurtz, the creator of the PvP Web comic, and Rooster Teeth, the masterminds behind "Red vs. Blue," to bring their stories to life in City of Heroes.

Kurtz is already working on missions for LolBat, while Rooster Teeth will focus on bringing Captain Dynamic and The Great Face to life. Kurtz and Rooster Teeth's Joel Heyman will talk about their experiences in the guest author program during a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. You can read the full announcement below.

It was announced today that the Penny Arcade Expo has completely sold out, but gamers who were lucky enough to already get their badges have a ton of MMO excitement waiting for them in Seattle from Sept. 4-6, or you can keep an eye on ZAM.com for all our PAX news.

We've already reported there will be a playable Star Trek Online demo on the floor and CCP will showcase EVE Online at the convention, but that's only a taste of what's in store at this year's expo. Keep reading after the jump for just some of the other games you can expect to see on the floor at PAX 2009.

The open beta for Issue 16: Power Spectrum is under way, so jump onto the North American Training Room Test Server if you'd like to see what it's like to customize the colors of your powers. If you don't know how to access the test server, here's the instructions.

Once you've tried out Issue 16, you can talk about it with fellow testers in the official feedback, bugs and chatter and discussion forums. You can also check out our gallery for screenshots of the color customization options in action.

The second annual Hero-Con event is scheduled to be held from Oct. 24-25 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, Calif., and the event promises to provide you with numerous festivities to attend while meeting up with your fellow City of Heroes players.

Last year's convention was a one-day event, but it's been extended this year to include two days of activities. From panels and contests to a banquet dinner and community address by Matt "Positron" Miller, Paragon Studios promises fun for all at Hero-Con. There will even be giveaways, a goody bag and in-game rewards offered at the convention.

Tickets cost $79 and can be bought through Brown Paper Tickets. Attendees can also enjoy a special Doubletree San Jose room rate of $89 dollars a night. More information can be found below.

Apparently the team over at NCsoft and Paragon Studios have been working very hard on City of Heroes, as they have released issue 16 of their Dev Diary, titled "Overcoming the Impossible - Powers Customization in Issue 16." In the diary entry, Matt "Positron" Miller talks about just how long the team has been trying to implement some form of customizable powers system, as well as talking about the obstacles that the team encountered along the way. I'm particularly impressed with the fact that the team started earnestly working on these customizable powers in the spring of 2008! Either way, you can check out a bunch of screenshots over at Kotaku, and you can read the full dev diary entry below!

Do you have a hero or villain who needs to level up quick? Then take advantage of the double XP event that is currently being held in City of Heroes this weekend! The event ends tomorrow, Aug. 2, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, so you still have time to use this opportunity to move through the ranks.

If you decide to take a break from leveling, check out the new City of Heroes forums that were just launched. The North American and European forums have merged, and new features include visitor messaging, calendars, and social networking options. You can visit the official forums here.

With the release of Champions Online for the PC only a month away, comparisons to City of Heroes are going to be made. If you're only going to play one of these two superhero games (until, of course, the DC and Marvel MMOs are launched), which one will it be? Well, MMOsite has published an opinion piece by Cecil Adkins, an active City of Heroes and World of Warcraft player, that suggests City of Heroes has nothing to worry about from its upcoming competition.

Adkins lists five reasons why City of Heroes will be able to take on Champions Online. He says Cryptic Studios, the Champions developer that originally developed City of Heroes, hasn't learned much from CoH. For example, CoH has instanced missions, while Champions' missions are open-world. Adkins also doesn't believe Champions will succeed on the Xbox 360 and thinks the game can't compete with CoH's five years of content. He's not impressed with Champions' graphics, either.

To be fair, MMOsite will have an article in the future explaining why City of Heroes might have something to worry about when Champions Online launches. What do you think?

Do you want to participate in the beta for the Going Rogue expansion or get some free play time in City of Heroes? Well, both of these options are possible if you show your loyalty to the game. Paragon Studios has kicked off a new program that will get you Going Rogue beta access and exclusive loyalty badges if you maintain an active account from Aug. 15 to Nov. 15.

According to the announcement, access to the beta will be granted using a three-tier system. The first tier will be comprised of veterans with 60+ months of played time; the second tier is for players who utilize this new loyalty program; and the third tier is for users who pre-order Going Rogue.

In addition, if you purchase 6 months of game account time between now and Nov. 15, you'll get a seventh month free. If you sign up for a year, you'll get two months free. You can read more about the loyalty program and free game time offer below.

As we reported last week, the upcoming Issue 16: Power Spectrum will let players customize the colors of their powers. NCsoft and Paragon Studios have just released five screenshots that demonstrate this new ability, and we have them available for your viewing pleasure in our City of Heroes gallery.

If you check out the screenshots, you'll see a Blaster with gold Electric power, a Controller/Dominator whose Fire Imps match her costume color, and a Tank with green Ice Armor. There's also two shots that provide a first look at the enhanced character creator, and the amount of color variations you can come up with for your characters certainly looks impressive. So check out our gallery and let us know what you think of the ehanced customization coming in Issue 16.