Following last year’s attempt by the villains of the Rogue Isles to invade Siren’s Call on the Defiant server, Trix_Shots is organising a heroic offensive at 7pm GMT this Friday, 22 December.

If you want to help your fellow heroes reclaim the shores of Paragon from Arachnos, check out the thread on the message boards.

Trix_Shots is also interested in hearing from any Union heroes who’d like to help organise a similar event on their server, so drop him a Private Message on the boards if you’re interested.

As the new year approaches, why not give your PC a heroic look for 2007 with our brand new Ms. Liberty wallpaper? Available in a variety of sizes to suit all PCs, from a 800 x 600 up to 1600 x 1200, you can download Paragon’s favourite daughter from our Wallpapers section now.

On the other hand, if villainy is more to your tastes, be sure to check out the new Ghost Widow wallpaper over at the City of Villains website.

We’re pleased to announce that the winner of the Creative Genius competition for November is Blackdove, for both proposing and completing the ’Artist Challenge‘ as an alternative to National Novel Writing Month for those who prefer to draw things than write about them.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo 2006, the combination of City of Heroes-inspired novels and the great response to Blackdove’s challenge made this one of the toughest months ever to pick a Creative Genius. On the writing side, FloatingFatMan’s The Diary came within a whisker of winning, while Blackdove faced stiff competition in the Artist Challenge from Swissy. A special mention must also go to _Max_, for being crazy enough to attempt both a novel and the Challenge. In fact, pretty much everyone nominated for November’s award is well worth checking out, so take a look.

In the end, though, as Sean Connery once said, there can be only one. So congratulations to Blackdove, who is now the proud owner of a ‘Creative Genius’ title on the official message boards and 60 days of free game time!

The Creative Genius competition is a monthly contest held on the Creative board. For more details, see the The Creative Board and Creative Genius thread on the official message boards. The Nominations for December’s Creative Genius will be opened on the Creative board at the start of the new year, so there’s plenty of time to post your submissions!

In the meantime, here are a few more of Blackdove’s pictures…

Ever since we returned from Memorabilia at the end of November, our very own AutobahnParker has been slaving away over a hot PC and the hours of footage he shot with his nifty little digital video contraption.

The result is the Memorabilia video that can now be found on the Movies page in our Media section. Just the thing if you couldn’t make it along to see the NCsoft Europe roadshow and want to see some of what you missed, or if you did come and want to relive the weekend. Either way, go watch it now, or Ms. Liberty and Ghost Widow will be unhappy. And you don’t want them to be unhappy, do you?

Winter is blowing in across the bay to Paragon City and settling on the Rogue Isles like an icy blanket. New presents and threats await both heroes and villains this holiday season.

By simply logging in and visiting Paragon City or the Rogue Isles between 14 December and 2 January, your character will receive the Cold Front badge, a Fuzzy Earmuffs costume piece (so you can look stylish and keep warm while patrolling the streets or committing nefarious deeds), and the Holiday Spirit Temporary Power, which grants 24 hours of Debt Protection.

You’ll also receive the Holiday Cheer Temporary Power - a real gift of giving. By targeting another player and using Holiday Cheer, you’ll award them a Mystery Gift - which could turn out to be a sack of Influence, Infamy or Prestige, a Temporary Power, or maybe even a very recognizable hat.

But that’s not all…

To mark the holiday season, Evolution Radio wants City of Heroes and Villains players to write a Christmas carol inspired by their exploits in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

One lucky winner will receive a limited edition Statesman statue and hear their song performed by the Evo DJ of their choice, while the runner-up will walk away with a City of Villains mouse mat signed by Cryptic Studio’s very own War Witch.

The closing date is this Friday, so get scribbling and head over to the Evolution Radio competition page quick!

Joining Boomtown in celebrating the release of the Good vs. Evil Combined Edition and Issue #8: To Protect and Serve, two more sites have 14-day free trials of City of Heroes and Villains up for grabs.

TotalVideogames.com has 3,000 free trial codes to give away. Just go to the front page of the site and click on the ‘3,000 Serial Key Giveaway!!!’ button to the left of the main image.

Meanwhile, at IGN UK there are another 5,000 trail codes ready and waiting. Click here for more details.

We look forward to seeing you in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles soon!

Peace and goodwill to all men? Not on Union this Christmas, it seems. Instead, heroes and villains will be marking the holidays by smacking each other around at some player organised events.

On 20 December at 7pm GMT, Scotlands_Bru is holding Last Santa Standing! Head over to Pocket D to enter a Santa costume competition, then use the newly installed Arena terminals to duke it out in true Kris ‘Crusher’ Kringle style.

If that’s not enough festive fun, Thundorn is throwing an Xmas Battle Royale on 23 December at 7pm GMT. Once again, interested heroes and villains should head over to Pocket D before entering the Arena using the terminals there.

If you feel like getting in some PvP practise, don’t forget about the Warburg Weekly Raids organised by Coston. Just the thing to hone those PvP skills before the holidays!