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City of Heroes Previews: Issue 16 Hands-On Preview
MMORPG.com's Carl Cascone writes this preview of Paragon Studios' upcoming Issue 16 release for their popular superhero MMO, City of Heroes.
By Carl Cascone on August 20, 2009
City of Heroes remains the champion of character and player customization. Players can customize their characters right down to the levels of accessories, and with a little time and creativity, players can create exactly the characters they envision. Whether a player wants to play a masked crusader from the old four color days of the Golden Age, a mage from the pages of sword and sorcery, or the ever popular tropes from Manga and Japanese animation, the character creator from City of Heroes can oblige. Customization is not limited to character creation, as players can create their own canon or non-canon related stories and missions for other players to enjoy. The release of the long awaited Issue 16 will increase this customization even further. Powers will now be fully customizable , and each player will have increased control over standard City of Heroes missions. Matt Miller (Positron) Senior Lead Designer, Bruce Harlick (Horatio) Lead Designer, and Adam King, City of Heroes Brand Manager were kind enough to give MMORPG.com a tour of Issue 16 Paragon City, and showcase some of the projected new features.
A trip through Paragon City is never complete without a visit to the tailor, and it is here that the most impressive feature of issue 16 will be found. Though the tour took place in the tailor shop of Steel Canyon, all options will be available upon character creation. Several issues ago, the characters that use weapons were treated to a new level of customization. Now all of the game's powers will receive customizable features.
Power Customization is an elegant process of added palettes to each power. Some powers will give the player a choice between a dark palette or a bright palette, and some powers will have only one palette because they are able to have a tint of color. A player does not have to pick a trend for each power set, he can have powers within a power set of both the bright and dark palettes. If a player is happy with the appearance of powers from the other issues, they will simply choose the legacy setting of the power and will not have to touch the other palettes; it will be as if the power was never customized.
Obviously new characters do not start with every power of a given set, but this does not mean a character has to make a trip to the tailor every time they achieve a new power, sinking even more of their hard earned influence. During character creation, once the powers are chosen, the player is brought to the costume customization menu just as before. Choosing a tab for powers will bring up a screen with tabs already familiar from the costume customization. Here the player will be able to choose the color scheme for each power in the character's primary and secondary power sets that will be achieved over the character's career.
;)
As an example, if a player chooses to play a Fire Controller with fire control and thermal radiation, they will be able to choose the color scheme of the Fire Imps (pets) at character creation; long before they will ever actually achieve the power (which is the highest level power for that power set). The player for the Fire Controller will have three options as follows: Legacy, which is the default and looks exactly like the power from previous issues, Bright Fire, and Dark Fire. Both the Bright and Dark fire palettes will allow the player to select two colors from the diverse shades available. If a player decided they wanted to have Earth Control instead of Fire Control, they would find that there is only one palette available called Color Tintable. This palette will still give the player a choice of two shades from which to choose. Some powers will follow the trend of the Fire Control and have the Bright or Dark palette, and some powers will have the single Color Tintable, it all depends on the power sets that are chosen. If down the line a player decides they want to change a color scheme for a power, they will be able to get a power makeover at the tailor. As always, fees will apply.
Issue 16 will also improve on the Epic Power Pools. Each archetype is getting an additional power set in their epic power pool, and each power set is getting an additional power so that there will be five powers from which to choose. Using the scrapper as an example: Blaze Mastery was a power set added to the Epic Power Pool which will include the powers Ring of Fire, Char, Fire Blast, Melt Armor, and Fireball. In addition the Body Mastery power set had the power Physical Perfection added for a total of five powers.
;)
Mission difficulty is undergoing a makeover as well in Paragon City. Individual players now have control over what to expect in a mission. Just as before, players will be able to choose the level difference of critters they face (up to +4 character level), but with this issue they can choose whether or not to fight bosses in missions. Furthermore, they can choose whether the server assigns missions to the character as if they a single character or more, up to treating the character as a team of eight. All of these sliders are independent of each other. A player can choose to have missions of up to the +4 difficulty, yet they will not give bosses. Conversely they can choose critters of lower levels but face bosses within the mission. There is also a choice of whether to treat Archvillains like Elite Bosses.
As a test, a Broadsword/Invulnerability scrapper was brought into a standard mission. He faced the standard group of enemies for a solo mission at mission difficulty +1 character level, and successfully finished the mission. Then the difficulty slider was set to treat him as a team of eight. The scrapper, named Duke Mournblade went into the mission solo but faced enemies as if he was an eight man team. This would be glorious for experience points if not for the fact that poor Duke Mournblade could not last through the first mob of Tech ops, Sappers, Blades of Artemis, and Hercules Titans.
The third major change in Issue 16 will be the sidekicking system. What is being coined as SuperSidekicking will solve the problem of lower level characters finding mentors on teams. The idea is that Supersidekicking will allow for much more flexibility in team building. The procedure is simple, where all characters of the team are sidekicked to the mission character, who does not necessarily have to be the team leader. Each character on the team will be one level lower than the character that is performing a mission for a contact. When higher level characters are brought to lower level missions they will still get experience awards. Lower level characters will be able to travel into zones from which they were previously restricted while on the team. This supersidekicking will make it easier for characters to find good teams without being left behind because they are either too high or too low in level. There are tabs in the options menu which will allow players to choose how much they are willing to be leveled in supersidekick mode.
;)
Architect Entertainment also will receive some improvements with Issue 16. Some AE missions will fall under the category of Developer Choice Missions. These missions will embody those elements the developers feel make excellent missions, and will be deemed outstanding by the developers. In Developer Choice Missions, the players will be able to select whether the rewards dropped are salvage and enhancements, or AE tickets. Developers Choice Missions are always chosen by the developers, but there is a Hall of Fame category for AE missions which are completely player chosen. The Hall of Fame will make it much easier for the favorite missions to be found.
The supersidekicking system will apply to all AE missions, which will help to curb some of the abuse with XP gains for which the AE system is famous. The developers are aware of some of the abusive power leveling techniques used in AE missions and are taking steps to curb them where possible and prudent.
Overall, the changes in Issue 16 are largely positive. The addition of power customization will make the character creator capable of exercising player's creativity even more than it had previously. The mission difficulty will allow players to tweak how they play whether in solo mode or team playing. Super Sidekicking is no doubt the point in issue 16 which will have the most affect on game play, and thus far it looks like a positive change. If these changes prove successful Issue 16 will be a great prologue to the Going Rogue expansion.
This game just gets better and better. Team with anyone else, regardless of level. Customize the look of your powers, customize your missions. No MMO on the market offers this level of control.
except the other cryptic superhero mmo :P
except the other cryptic superhero mmo :P
The other one? The one that does not let you create your own missions? The one that doesn't let you set your missions at various levels of difficulty? The one that doesn't let you set them for anywhere from a team of one through eight? The one that doesn't auto sidekick your friends regardless of their level so that you can always team together? Right, that one.
except the other cryptic superhero mmo :P
Unless I'm remembering wrong, the only member of the original Cryptic team who left CoH was Jack Emmert after he sold the game to NCSoft. Most, if not all, of the game development staff stayed to work for Paragon. From where I'm sitting, it looks like Mr. Emmert scampered off with a trunkload of ideas the CoH devs were already working on, things, I might add, that we were told could not be implemented in the game.
It's interesting that Jack was always so deathly afraid of the "Tank Mage" concept, even when the game was strictly PvE. It looks like he got over that when work started on
Marvel UniverseChampions Online.The other one? The one that does not let you create your own missions? The one that doesn't let you set your missions at various levels of difficulty? The one that doesn't let you set them for anywhere from a team of one through eight? The one that doesn't auto sidekick your friends regardless of their level so that you can always team together? Right, that one.
actually it does do the last one...
And since most missions are outdoors (in my experiences) it's a bit harder to set "world difficulty"
The other one? The one that does not let you create your own missions? The one that doesn't let you set your missions at various levels of difficulty? The one that doesn't let you set them for anywhere from a team of one through eight? The one that doesn't auto sidekick your friends regardless of their level so that you can always team together? Right, that one.
A lot of those features CoH didn't have at launch. In my opinion, the mission architect is what really destroyed the game. That's why a lot of us left. There is also a sidekicking ability in CO.
give it some time, I love the AE, hell i have 8 story arc published and with a number of plays all of them rated 4 stars. Sure Ae was abused, but that's the nature of the beast. Gives 300,000 popsicles and i GARETEE you a small percentage ofthem will find out how to make 5 more free.
The article mentions improvements to Architect Entertainment in Issue 16. It'd be nice to know what those are, since the paragraph that talks about AE:
doesn't contain any new information whatsoever. Everything in that paragraph has existed since Issue 14, except for the ability to choose between tickets and regular rewards, which came in Issue 15. No Issue 16 stuff there at all.
Congrats on the title. Truth is i had a aplication waiting for issue 16 to hit for a CoH Correspodent as well. I was going to do in depth runs and reviews of each archtype...oh well guess i do a CO Correspondent :p
Thanks. But it looks like they have more than one Correspondent for several games, so just because I got the "position" doesn't mean they won't give it to you as well. :)
well then I'll hang onto my Ultimate Archetype guides for 16 to hit then and give it a shot. Whose case scanario I got something to post on the forums in the Guides section
It all looks good -- hopefully the mission team is still adding some bit of content too though...
The other one? The one that does not let you create your own missions? The one that doesn't let you set your missions at various levels of difficulty? The one that doesn't let you set them for anywhere from a team of one through eight? The one that doesn't auto sidekick your friends regardless of their level so that you can always team together? Right, that one.
How could you set difficulties when most of Champion's Online's quests are not even limited to only instanced missions?
Actually, if you didn't notice, COX's new sidekick idea were stolen from Champions Online.
Yes, the one that have open world questing systems along with public quests and instanced missions. The one that allow players to have a greater customization of their powers, and actually let the players to try them all out before picking them, The one that offer more travel powers with better animations and does not require a player to grind till level 14 to get them. The one that could allow players to customize their stat points, gears, power ranks upgrade, and power benefits upgrade. The one that doesn't require everyone to waste additional two powers before getting Stamina at level 20 or with any travel powers. The one that is filled with interact able objects in game, like the entire world is a giant Mayhem mission in COX.
IMO to sum it up, the one that has less limitations, better graphics, more powers, better animations, and faster game play.
To make it clear, I am not a die hard fan of Champions Online, I think COX was and still is a good game, but thats honestly how I felt about Champions Online during open beta. I just can't stand COX's fan boy making stuff up that's not true.
I'm very excited that I'll finally be able to change the appearance of my Spines Scrapper. To be honest, having giant bananas bursting out of my skin really didn't fit in with my character design.
I like CoH way more than the CO beta... nice to see that it keeps improving. :)
Hey, have they fixed the issue 13 PvP mess yet? In other words are your powers still suppressed, disabled or diminished in the PvP zones? I kinda liked actually using the powers I earned, and the crafted enhancements I slotted in them.
The other one? The one that does not let you create your own missions? The one that doesn't let you set your missions at various levels of difficulty? The one that doesn't let you set them for anywhere from a team of one through eight? The one that doesn't auto sidekick your friends regardless of their level so that you can always team together? Right, that one.
How could you set difficulties when most of Champion's Online's quests are not even limited to only instanced missions?
Actually, if you didn't notice, COX's new sidekick idea were stolen from Champions Online.
Yes, the one that have open world questing systems along with public quests and instanced missions. The one that allow players to have a greater customization of their powers, and actually let the players to try them all out before picking them, The one that offer more travel powers with better animations and does not require a player to grind till level 14 to get them. The one that could allow players to customize their stat points, gears, power ranks upgrade, and power benefits upgrade. The one that doesn't require everyone to waste additional two powers before getting Stamina at level 20 or with any travel powers. The one that is filled with interact able objects in game, like the entire world is a giant Mayhem mission in COX.
IMO to sum it up, the one that has less limitations, better graphics, more powers, better animations, and faster game play.
To make it clear, I am not a die hard fan of Champions Online, I think COX was and still is a good game, but thats honestly how I felt about Champions Online during open beta. I just can't stand COX's fan boy making stuff up that's not true.
I don't like contradicting anyone, but here are some pertinent facts:
1) The idea of power customisation was floated a year ago in the Paragon Studios offices, so it's not 'stolen' from CO. And the depth of customisation far outweighs that of CO. CO allows a limited number of emanation points and color tinting. That's all. CoX is offering the brightness, color, tinting and in some cases the animation choices for powers. Emanations aren't there yet, but they may be in i16, noone knows just yet.
2)CO has alternate animations, not necessarily better ones. Yes, they give you the option to have travel powers at level five, but level 15 in CoH is pretty much the equivalent, and you forget the temporary powers that are the stopgap between them.
3) The stat point system in CO is very open to min/maxing and abuse and is no more complex than CoX's slotting system. All CO characters MUST start with a ranged power, so how is that a more open system? Additionally, CO stamina system is entirely dependent on the attack to charge larger attack cycle, no more or less arbitrary than CoX's stamina system. However, CoX's attacks can lead with the more powerful attack, whereas CO does not give the player this option.
4) You're right, CO does have destructible objects and terrain....which originated in CoX. It's vastly unfair to make the comparison to a game that is older and would have to rewrite significant game code to make the environment interactive.
CO has as many limitations, marginally better graphics with more requirements, less variety in customisation, and a DIFFERENT gameplay style than CoX. Your 'examples' are somewhat biased.
S.
Hell, people have been asking for Power Customization since CoH was going to be loosely based on the FUZION RPG System. . . Of course, one of the parents of FUZION is the HERO System. Where Champions was created. So, I guess what I'm saying is.. it's about time. I'm excited about this.
So at a time when the common pnp hero games were DCH, MSH, HU, Champions (Hero), GURPS Supers, M&M.... Champions allowed the most complex customization of all the games. For many folks, the Hero system was just too damn complicated to be any fun when compared to the other systems.
It is kind of sad to see it reduced to Champions Online, which looks dumbed down compared even to the original MSH game.
That CoX continues to improve upon itself with the various issues speaks well of the game over the years. CO is just a waste of an IP.
I'm sure CO is going to copy or improve things that CoX is doing and vice versa. Since a lot of people that worked on CoX are now working on CO that's to be expected. As to which game will be "better" well we have to wait and see when CO goes live. Everything else is speculation, as what sounds good on paper may not be good in practice.
So at a time when the common pnp hero games were DCH, MSH, HU, Champions (Hero), GURPS Supers, M&M.... Champions allowed the most complex customization of all the games. For many folks, the Hero system was just too damn complicated to be any fun when compared to the other systems.
It is kind of sad to see it reduced to Champions Online, which looks dumbed down compared even to the original MSH game.
That CoX continues to improve upon itself with the various issues speaks well of the game over the years. CO is just a waste of an IP.
Actually, the complexity and level of customization is the "selling point" for the Hero System. You can make characters and play games that you never could in a whiny Vampire game. Hell, there's even more potential for customization than in AD&D! It's a measuring-stick. You must be -- this smart in order to play this game. Not so much about nerd-peen as it is about not wanting a complete moron showing up at a convention table and being dominant with a character named, "Homey The Clown". [Semi-True story]
nothing new in the article.Seems to be more of a defensive stance against the not named gorilla in the room..Champions Online. Which after palying COH for years and now planing Champions Online..They have as much in common as they do diffrences
This next Issue has definitely grabbed my attention: mission difficulty control. I and my best friend created a hero duo that can overcome any mission on the game that does not rely on firepower - all the content simply got boring, we could win everything too easily! Now we might have to break a sweat for harder missions :)
And the SuperSK will be one of the best ideas implemented in CoX ever - it may well encourage more players to take on the role of leader and form more teams.
Still, I'd like to reinforce that I still see the game as being über repetitive - a little more variety over "get into instace, kill all and/or click the shiny" would be more than appreciated.
I don't like contradicting anyone, but here are some pertinent facts:
1) The idea of power customisation was floated a year ago in the Paragon Studios offices, so it's not 'stolen' from CO. And the depth of customisation far outweighs that of CO. CO allows a limited number of emanation points and color tinting. That's all. CoX is offering the brightness, color, tinting and in some cases the animation choices for powers. Emanations aren't there yet, but they may be in i16, noone knows just yet.
This is true, but CoH didn't have any power customization at first release, and CO did. Also keep in mind that CO has the character stance options that can change how they walk. It's limited to only a few now, but we can expect that to change.
2)CO has alternate animations, not necessarily better ones. Yes, they give you the option to have travel powers at level five, but level 15 in CoH is pretty much the equivalent, and you forget the temporary powers that are the stopgap between them.
The alternate animations aren't necessarily worse, either. As far as level 15 in CoX being the same as being level 5 in CO, I don't remember being level 15 when I left CoX's tutorial zone. The temporary travel powers you mention merely provide limited function, and do nothing to actually let you have the character you thought up when you made it. I'd also like to point out that CO doesn't make you choose between putting powers into a 'travel power set' to unlock them or getting something else you wanted.
3) The stat point system in CO is very open to min/maxing and abuse and is no more complex than CoX's slotting system. All CO characters MUST start with a ranged power, so how is that a more open system? Additionally, CO stamina system is entirely dependent on the attack to charge larger attack cycle, no more or less arbitrary than CoX's stamina system. However, CoX's attacks can lead with the more powerful attack, whereas CO does not give the player this option.
I agree with the stat system being no more complex than the slotting system, but people also min/max slots in CoH. Min/maxing does not equal abuse. As far as CO characters MUST having a range power, I don't remember my Might character having a ranged attack for a long time, aside from picking up cars and throwing them, and he was a good character too. However, each of the origins in CoX has a temporary power that's a ranged attack that is forced upon you. As far as being able to lead with the powerful attack, it depends on how high your CO's Equilibrium is and how much you decide to power up or maintain that powerful attack, which I don't think any CoX powers allow you to do.
4) You're right, CO does have destructible objects and terrain....which originated in CoX. It's vastly unfair to make the comparison to a game that is older and would have to rewrite significant game code to make the environment interactive.
Why is it unfair? If the destructible object mechanics in one game are better than another, then that's fact. Before an argument over which game has better ones, here's a rundown: CoX has objects in some instances that, if you hit them, will break eventually. CO has objects everywhere that you can break, pick up, and use as a melee weapon or ranged weapon. What you're saying basically amount to this conversation:
"Hey, we took the Old Thing and made it Better!"
"Woah, there! The Old Thing did that first! It's not as good, but we should use it because the Old Thing has been here longer!"
CO has as many limitations, marginally better graphics with more requirements, less variety in customisation, and a DIFFERENT gameplay style than CoX. Your 'examples' are somewhat biased.
As many limitations? If you mean on character creation, then that's wrong, simply from power choice alone. As far as "marginally" better graphics, all you have to do is look at the character models. The hands aren't perpetually fused lumps, when I hit a character in melee, his jaw waggles from the blow, and all of the terrain and zones are different and unique (as opposed to city, office, cave, city, office, cave "Oh the Hollows are kinda neat" city, office cave). CO is different from CoX, but that doesn't make it worse.
EDIT: I'd like to point out that I also am exited for issue 16, and I hope it does something about the AE problem.