Frequently Asked Questions

Jimmy · September 1, 2019

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: October 1st, 2024

1 - I'm new here! What is Homecoming? Can I play City of Heroes™ now?

Welcome! Homecoming is an officially-licensed City of Heroes server, and yes, you can play right now!

Head over to the Getting Started page for information on creating an account and downloading the game. Take a look through our main FAQ for answers to common queries, and be sure to join our Discord (discord.gg/cityofheroes) for news and server status updates. See you in the city!

For more information on the license, check out the license announcement and license FAQ.

2 - How do I register an account?

Create a Forum Account here. This is the account that you will use to log into the website.
Create a Game Account here. This is the account that you will use to log into the game.

3 - I just made an account but I can't log in to the game, help!

See step 2 above.

4 - How do I install the game on Windows?

Download the Homecoming Launcher.
Follow the setup instructions and choose an installation directory.

5 - How do I install the game on OS X?

Download Island Rum here.
Install the game in whatever directory you want
Island Rum should automagically download the client once you start it, but note that your download may be slow at peak times.
Once Island Rum has finished updating, ensure that "Homecoming" is selected, and then click "Play".

6 - Help! I still can’t get the game running 😞
Please read through the extended setup guide here. If you are an OS X user and are still having trouble please read through the steps listed here and here.

7 - Are there any rules and policies I should read?

Yes! Please read the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.

8 - How can I stay up to date with the latest news and server status updates?

Please join our Discord for the latest updates: discord.gg/cityofheroes

9 - What are the "Beta" and "Prerelease" options?
Have a read through the Beta FAQ for more info on our testing environments.

10 - Which shard should I play on?

If you are in Europe, we highly recommend you play on Reunion as it’s physically located in Germany - the rest of the shards are in Canada.

If you’re into roleplaying we recommend you take up residence on Everlasting (the unofficial RP shard), and if you’re into PvP you should try your luck on Indomitable (the unofficial PvP shard). Alternatively, Torchbearer and Excelsior both have a good mix of different types of players on them.

11 - Can I transfer my characters between shards?
Yes! You can transfer your characters between shards at any time, up to a maximum of 5 transfers every 3 days.

12 - When are the regular maintenance windows?
The regular maintenance window is between 12:00 and 14:00 UTC every Tuesday. Occasionally maintenance will occur outside these times if we are deploying an update or we encounter unforeseen technical issues.

13 - When do the weekly strike targets change?
The Weekly Strike Targets rotate at 04:00 UTC every Monday morning. You must complete the Strike Target before it rotates in order to receive the additional rewards. The one-off reward (Double Reward Merits + Notice of the Well or bonus XP) can only be earned once per character, per week, even if there’s more than one Strike Target.

Please see this thread for for more information, or go to https://cohhc.gg/wst for the full schedule.

14 - Will GMs restore or grant missing influence, enhancements or items that I should have earned or have otherwise lost?
We are a volunteer team that works to strive to do what is best for everyone as a whole – and our small team can’t always treat each individual case with the equality they deserve. We also don’t have the resources to validate the claims authenticity.

As we cannot verify previous ownership of these, we are not awarding any lost merits, influence, or enhancements - however, most instances of mysterious disappearances result in reappearance within 24-48 hours. This also applies to emails that were erroneously sent to the wrong recipient.

15 - Will GMs award a badge that I should have earned?
Currently all badges in game are awarding correctly. Our policy is not to award any badges unless they are unavailable to get in the game.

16 - Will GMs restore deleted characters?
Generally we do not as the tool for doing so is unreliable, but under extenuating circumstances (and if is requested quickly enough) we may be able to restore a character.

17 - Can I rename my character?
You can rename your character on the character select screen as many times as you would like.

18 - Can I change my global handle?
You can! Click Menu > Change Global Handle. Please note you can only change your handle once.

If you have used your single handle rename token you can request another by sending a support ticket. Please note that additional tokens will be granted sparingly, so please ensure you have a good reason if requesting another.

19 - How do I report a bug?
Please post a report in the Bug Reports forum. If you think the bug is exploitable, please submit a support ticket (see “How do I request support?” below)

20 - How do I make a suggestion?
Please post in the Suggestion & Feedback forum.

21 - How do I request support?
Type /petition or navigate to Menu > Support in-game to submit a support ticket, or do it through the forum here.

22 - Can I donate money to Homecoming?
Sometimes. We open our donation rounds on the last Saturday of each month, generally around 19:00 UTC, and only take in as much money as we require to pay our bills for the next month. This means that the donation window closes relatively quickly, so you will need to be quick!

Please see the Finances & Donations FAQ for more info, and the Finances & Donations forum for a record of previous donation rounds.

23 - Will Homecoming be developing new content?
Yes, and there already is new content!

A new Archetype, the Sentinel
Several new powersets, including Storm Blast, Electrical Affinity, Radiation Assault and Plant Manipulation
New stories and missions, including the Dr. Aeon Strike Force, Market Crash Task Force and Freaklok story arcs

We have also made some changes to create a stable foundation for future development, such as porting the client to 64-bit.

24 - Can I donate content to Homecoming?

Unfortunately, due to ownership/rights issues, it's not really possible for us to accept anything made by anyone outside the dev team. You are welcome to apply to join the dev team here.

25 - What is this name release policy I've heard about? Is it in effect yet?

The name release policy is in effect as of November 1st, 2024. Here's how it works:

Characters will be flagged as ‘inactive’ when the following time thresholds are met:
- Level 1-5 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 30 days
- Level 6-49 characters will be flagged as inactive if they have not been played in the last 365 days
- Level 50 characters will never be flagged as inactive
When a character is flagged as inactive they are not immediately renamed. Instead, their name is simply no longer locked. This allows another player to create a character with that name, at which point the original character will be renamed.
This flag will be visible on the character select screen. You can remove the inactive flag from a character at any time simply by logging them in.