Login:  Password:   Remember?  
Show Quick Gamelist
Games:396  Guilds:1,969
Members:1,132,670  Online:0
Guests:0  Posts:3,080,575
Paragon Studios | http://www.cityofvillains.com
RPG | Genre:Super-Hero | Status:Final  | Publisher:NCSoft | Has PVP:Yes
Distribution:Retail | Retail Price:$19.99 | Pay Type:SubscriptionBUY IT
Desktop Client | System Req: PC 

City of Villains: Interview with Jack Emmert

Jack Emmert, aka The Statesman, took the time to answer our questions submited just before the game's launch. City of Villains hit shelves on Monday.

By Laura Genender on November 02, 2005

Cryptic Studios discusses the game and the lead up to its Monday release

Jack Emmert, aka "The Statesman", is the Creative Director at Cryptic Studios. On Monday, his company released their sophomore title City of Villains, a sequel/expansion to City of Heroes. Just prior to launch, Staff Writer Laura Genender had a chance to submit some questions to him. Here is what he had to say:

MMORPG.com:At what level will Villains and Heroes start to interact?
Jack Emmert:

In the PvP zones, the earliest that player heroes and villains can face off against each other is level 15. Theoretically, a player can take part in a base raid from level 1, but more realistically people join active Super Groups at level 10.

MMORPG.com:How will PvP match-ups work server wise? Will the City of Villain servers match up with City of Heroes servers, or can you PvP anyone from any server?
Jack Emmert:

The servers for City of Heroes and City of Villains are exactly the same. A villain on the server Triumph can fight a hero on the server Triumph in the PvP zones.

MMORPG.com:How about names? Can there potentially be a hero and a villain with the same name?
Jack Emmert:

No – the name list is shared. However, we’ve extended the character name limit from 15 characters to 20 in order to give more flexibility and options. We’ve also cleaned out a lot of names from accounts that are no longer active.

MMORPG.com:What’s to stop a Mastermind from parking near a group of blue or green enemies, putting their summons on follow, and going semi-AFK while their character power levels?
Jack Emmert:

As any good Mastermind will tell you, there’s a little more to managing their minions than point and click. Every minion has its strengths and weaknesses. Plus, a Mastermind needs to keep his lackeys buffed up constantly.

MMORPG.com:Is there a Warshade/Peacebringer equivalent in City of Villains? Will there be?
Jack Emmert:

There is not right now. We do have plans on extending Kheldians into City of Villains and adding Epic Archetypes to both games.

MMORPG.com:What sort of costume goodies are you planning to add for City of Villains in the future?
Jack Emmert:

We’re planning on adding trenchcoats to both games…eventually. Many other things to come in the future as well.

 advertisement 
MMORPG.com:How many new instanced zone looks did you add?
Jack Emmert:

We retextured all of our old instanced maps and added a brand new set – Arachnos. Players will also be entering missions maps through brand new lobbies and other transition pieces.

MMORPG.com:How do the Gladiator badges work?
Jack Emmert:

Gladiator badges unlock different critters a player can summon in our new “pet” arena. In this battle, two players command hordes of mobs that battle to the death. At the moment, these creatures are drawn from City of Villains lore; these include the mysterious Coralax, the arcane Hordelings, and the countless Arachnos troop types. We’ll be adding more in the future. Some Gladiator badges are earned by defeating certain types of mobs, visiting different places in the world or winning matches in the Arena.

MMORPG.com:Between when City of Villains went gold and launch, what were the major hurdles in the time between for the development team to overcome?
Jack Emmert:

Eliminating the little bugs – typos, unpolished missions, etc.

MMORPG.com:What kinds of perks will the Objects of Power give?
Jack Emmert:

Items of Power boost a Super Group’s damage, increases their XP gain, etc.

Thank you to Jack for taking the time.

If you would like to comment on this Q&A, please do so here. Also, with City of Villains now on our released list, you can give it your review here.

More City of Villains Features:

City of Villains - Re-Review Review added on Thursday July 16
City of Villains - Starting A Life of Villainy Guide added on Monday May 18
City of Villains - Issue 7: PvP Preview Preview added on Friday June 02
City of Villains - E3 2006 Look Forward Preview added on Thursday May 11
City of Villains - Patron Powers: Black Scorpion Interview added on Thursday May 04

More Interviews:

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - Looking Back on 1.3.2 Interview added on Friday November 06
Bright Shadow - First Introductory Q&A Interview added on Friday November 06
Torchlight - Discussing the Torchlight MMO Interview added on Wednesday November 04
Lord of the Rings Online - Siege of Mirkwood Interview Interview added on Wednesday November 04
General - MAINGEAR Hardware Interview Interview added on Monday November 02

More Features:

Player Perspectives - Every Man's Greed Column added on Friday November 06
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning - Looking Back on 1.3.2 Interview added on Friday November 06
Free Realms - Becoming a Soccer Star System Focu added on Friday November 06
Bright Shadow - First Introductory Q&A Interview added on Friday November 06
Jon Wood - New WoW Pets and the Boy Who Cried Wolf Column added on Thursday November 05
Our Rating
7.8
User Rating: 8.2
Popular Features:
The List : Top 10 MMOs Since WoW Column added on Tuesday October 13
World of Warcraft changed the MMO landscape on November 23rd, 2004, but 174 MMOs have... Read More
The List : Five Scariest MMO Launches Column added on Friday October 30
In honor of Halloween this weekend, we count down five of the scariest MMO launches... Read More
The List : Five Under the Radar MMOs Column added on Tuesday November 03
MMORPG.com's Jon Wood takes over this list this week, taking a look at five MMOs... Read More
The List : Five IPs to Bring in a New Demographic Column added on Tuesday October 20
In this week's list, Jon Wood looks at five IPs that, by taking the focus... Read More
Star Trek Online : Exclusive Screenshots, Part Three Media added on Tuesday November 03
Cryptic provides us with three exclusive peeks at Star Trek Online. This week we get... Read More
Latest News:
City of Villains : CoV Re-Review Reported on Jul 16, 2009
Lisa Krebs takes a look at the darker side of City of Heroes with this... Read More
City of Villains : Starting A Life of Villainy Reported on May 18, 2009
MMORPG.com City of Heroes Correspondent Dana O'Shea writes this look at starting life as a... Read More
City of Villains : Veteran Rewards Reported on Jul 09, 2008
NCsoft has announced new 51 Month and 54 month veteran awards for players of City... Read More
City of Villains : New Screenshots Reported on Jun 14, 2007
Seven new images depicting scenes from Issue 10: Invasion, the recently announced City of Heroes... Read More
City of Villains : 14 Day Free Trial Offer! Reported on May 04, 2007
MMORPG.com is very pleased to announce that we have teamed up with NCSoft to bring... Read More

Advertisement