NCsoft has published a Q&A which answers a few questions about making the numbers behind the combat system in City of Heroes public.

Q: Can you tell us about yourself and what you do on the City of Heroes dev team?

A: My name is CW and I’m a programmer on the City of Heroes/City of Villains development team. I’ve been working on (or near) the team for the last five years. I implemented most of the original user interface (U.I.) and I’m currently a general gameplay programmer.

Q: Please give us an overview of this new feature.

A: Well, we basically integrated some “tools” into the in-game U.I. which display the numbers behind the game’s combats systems. The Combat Attributes Window lists all the important attributes of the player and shows their current value. It also shows the source and contribution of buffs. The Combat Monitor Window is a lightweight window that can unobtrusively be left up all the time (unlike the Combat Attributes Window), so you can watch selected buffs change during combat. Additionally, more information can be found through buff icons that show their actual effects on the player, and in the combat log where hit rolls have been added.

Read more here.