City of Villains

City of Villains Designer David "Zeb" Cook quized in part one of three

Over the next three Wednesdays, we'll be talking to David "Zeb" Cook at Cryptic Studios about the upcoming MMORPG sequel City of Villains.

This week we also feature two exclusive screenshots.

There are several ways to have missions in the new areas. CoV players will sometimes have contacts who send them on special instanced missions in Paragon City, so they can be in hero territory but at the same time not introduce disruptive PvP play. As we introduce new content for CoH, there is always the possibility of being sent on similar missions in the Rogue Isles. This would not be a case of needing to have CoV. In addition there will also be hero and villain missions set in the PvP zones.

There are hospitals, although they are certainly less charming than those found in CoH. As an overall, we've worked to give the Rogue Isles a harsher look. The world is gritty, unpleasant and dangerous as befits a villainous stronghold. There is more action on the street -- gun battle and beatdowns -- along with interfering heroes active in the corners and back alleys. The whole world is grimier.

We've added a lot of touches on top of this. Costume changes are handled by the Facemaker at a less than savory location. There are brokers who provide you with info about interesting things going on in town. There are new types of missions including bank robberies. There are casinos and nightclubs. All in all it's not a bright shining place.

Well, let’s just say that it's an idea we've toyed with. We'll just have to see what the future brings.

Of course. One of the benefits of having a base is showing it off. If the supergroup allows it, players will be able to invite friends into their base. These are meant to be places to gather and socialize in addition to providing game functions.

Let's just say the artists who were responsible for the CoH costume choices have been creating new costume looks especially for villains. There are a lot of new pieces that will only be available to City of Heroes players. The great thing about villains is that their costume choices tend to have even broader range -- from the monstrous to the seductive.

Let them know what you think by casting your vote on their hype meter.