NC soft has announced that City of Heroes fans will be getting a sneak peak into Issue 20 with the Lambda Sector Incarnate Trial. The Incarnate Trial will require every bit of skill you have in order to master it, and the best thing is, members of the Paragon Studio team will be on deck to run it with you! Remember to meet the team in Pocket D first where they will be starting things off by randomly giving away costume codes including Animal Pack codes and Rikti Mentalist costumes.

The dates to remember are:

• Tuesday March 1st, from 8:00 PM GMT / 21:00 CET until 10:00 PM GMT / 23:00 CET European Training Room
• Thursday March 3rd, from 8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST until approximately 11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PST North American Beta Server

Not enough Issue 20 news? Then don't forget to check out the latest issue of The Intrepid Informer in which Art Lead Gilbert Martinez discusses the process of bringing the new Floating Fortress zone to life. Check out screen shots and original concept art from the process of building an entire zone out of stolen ships!

When it comes to MMO genres, there's always a 'titan' of the industry that newcomers are aiming to topple. While most would consider Blizzard's World of Warcraft to be the undisputed king of all, there have been a few games that managed to carve out their own niche thrones within specific MMO genres, like EVE Online, with its dominance of the sci-fi and sandbox MMO industry.

Of course, some industry leaders are easier to take on than others, and perhaps the most exciting 'industry battle' that has been taking place over the past few months has been the struggle for dominance of the superhero MMO market. It's between old-time veteran City of Heroes as they hold the line against their brother-in-spirit, Champions Online and, more recently, DC Universe Online. Interestingly, however, while most believed that either CO or DCUO would take the undisputed lead, CoH has done an impressive job of competing. I decided to venture into the world of City of Heroes to see what it is that's kept this 7-year-old game relevant against these two heavyweight challengers.

Paragon Studios recently announced that City of Heroes Producer Jesse "Ghost Falcon" Caceres would be moving to a different position at the studio, and with that announcement also came the introduction of the game's new producer, Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz. Immediately following the introduction, Birkholz came busting out the door with some of his plans for the future of City of Heroes.

Now, with DC Universe Online already out on the market and tons of new MMOs on the way, Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom decided to sit down with Birkholz to talk about how City of Heroes plans to compete in the market, as well as some of his views on the MMO industry in general. The new producer also reflects on the game's seventh anniversary, which will be celebrated in April.

Check out the interview after the jump, and keep an eye out for Pwyff's adventures in City of Heroes later this week!

The folks over at City of Heroes are getting ready for the release of the new Animal Pack on February 23. To celebrate, the community team will be paying a visit to every single City of Heroes live server and handing out free codes for the new pack! The giveaways will take place on Friday, February 18. The team posted:

"As usual, the party's in Pocket D under the watchful and playful eye of DJ Zero! Come dressed in your wildest fit-for-the-jungle / safari-fabulous outfit and who knows, you may leave with an Animal Pack code on the spot!"

Worried you won't make it to the event? You'll still have a chance to get a code as the team will also be handing out codes via Twitter, Facebook and the CoH Forums. For more details on the giveaways check out the official City of Heroes site.

The City of Heroes team will be hosting an Issue 20 preview event on the North American Beta server tomorrow, Jan. 16, at 4 p.m. PST. Get a sneak peek at the Incarnate Trial: the Behavioral Adjustment Facility and play with members of the Paragon Studios dev team!

Check out the announcement for information on how to install the North American beta client. You can also browse through the patch notes and various feedback threads for more information.

It's time for another round of Producer's letters to come barreling 'round the corner, and this time around Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz is doing the honors as City of Heroes' new Producer. Within this edition of Nate's Producer's Letter, he carefully goes over the new Incarnate Trial system which is coming to City of Heroes. From what he's been saying, it seems like these Incarnate Trials will be something of a more casual approach to CoH's endgame, as not everybody has the time to plunk down hours on end for their activities. If the incarnate trials are something that you're looking forward to, be sure to check this out to get a solid understanding of where the team is coming from when it comes to this new endgame content.

It's always fascinating to hear of the development process that goes behind some of our favorite games' big changes, and this time is no different, as the people behind City of Heroes have just introduced a brand new article series, titled "The Intrepid Informer." Within, the plan is to focus almost entirely on developer discussions at Paragon Studios, to shed some light on some of the key development decisions that go on behind the scenes, as well as just talking with the developers themselves to see what their stance is like on certain key MMO subjects. All in all, it looks like there will be a ton of information contained within each "Intrepid Informer," so be sure to keep an eye out for the next article to come next month!

NCsoft has announced that a new Animal Pack for City of Heroes is going on sale February 23. The pack features new costume parts and patterns, emotes, auras and a beastly new travel power. The pack will sell for $9.99.

For more images of what's to come in the CoH Animal Pack check out our screenshot gallery! Also, watch the new Animal Pack trailer after the jump!

Back in January City of Heroes announced that to celebrate hitting the 7-year milestone they will be offering special rewards for players. To avoid leaving anyone out, the team over at CoH has decided to enact a grace period to enable more users to receive the rewards!

"'Hey, what good are rewards if everyone can't get a shot at them?' So because some of you might not have seen Tuesday's announcement or received our City of Heroes newsletter, we've set up a grace period of two weeks, which means the loyalty program will officially start on FEBRUARY 14, 2011. Players who keep an unbroken subscription from February 14 (12:01 am EST) to April 18 (11:59 pm EST) will now earn the Seven Years of Super Rewards...rewards!"

So head over now to start up your City of Heroes account and get in on some really super rewards!

It looks like Aion players aren't the only ones getting compensation from NCsoft this weekend. Following some recent server crashes, the City of Heroes team has decided to reopen the ski chalet and ski slopes in Pocket D. The winter festivites kicked off today and will continue through Feb. 8.

Just as a reminder, the Spring Fling event will begin in City of Heroes on Feb. 10 and run through March 6. Hit the slopes this weekend and then prepare to unlock costume pieces, earn badges and enjoy temporary powers!