Cryptic Studios has posted a dev blog where they look at the design process of an MMO, and re-examine the role of character archetypes in Champions Online.

No game design is perfect. There are so many factors that go into the design of a video game, especially a massively-multiplayer role-playing game, that hitting on a perfect design from the start is nearly impossible. There are unforeseen elements that crop up from the interactions of dozens of game systems over a huge amount of game content. There are technical budget limitations that force designers to make decisions on how to evaluate whether to make game features simpler or cutting them entirely. As game implementation proceeds over the course of months and years, the initial game design may evolve into something quite different than original conception.

The initial game design is largely based on a game design vision, IP considerations, industry trends, and budget. The design process is shepherded by the creative officer of a company and the respective design leads, with additional consideration by company directors, investors, publishers, marketers, etc. Decades worth of game design experience go into the initial game designs for a project as it goes through much iteration of conceptual design, analysis, and buyoff from all parties involved.

Read more here.

A recent visit over to the Cryptic Studios "Current Openings" page tells us that there are a number of new jobs available in many fields not only for Champions Online but for other, unannounced, projects as well.

We're looking for the best, whether you are a proven industry veteran or a new college grad who wants to break into the business. If you want to work on cutting-edge technology and designs centered around making games easy to build and fun to play, then this is place for you. You won’t be surprised to know we’re looking for top-notch programmers and artists, but you might be surprised to find we’re also interested in engineering, economics, linguistics and philosophy majors. And if you have experience in quality assurance, production customer service or marketing, check out the many opportunities in our publishing department.

Check out jobs in: Art, Design, Operations, Production, Programming or Publishing here.

Cryptic Studios has added a profile of Justiciar, a Canadian super hero with ice themed abilities, to their ever growing roster of characters in Champions Online.

David Burrell had it all – good looks, intelligence, athletic ability, and a family fortune that could pay for a life of privilege and comfort that most people only dream of.

But none of that mattered to David – he'd rather be climbing a mountain than standing atop the pillars of the business world. Drawn to a life of adventure in the great outdoors, he gave up his place in the family corporation to climb the mountains he loved, and found joy and peace among the snowy peaks.

David was climbing Mount Assiniboine with a friend when an ice sheet gave way. David plunged more than fifty feet, landing on a ledge and breaking his back. Paralyzed and helpless, David begged for death. Instead, he was rescued, but in addition to his other injuries David lost a leg and a hand to hypothermia.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has published another edition of Ask Cryptic, where they answer community questions about their upcoming superhero MMO, Champions Online.

You ask, we answer! Thanks to Arkayne, Continuum and BraiNEateR for taking time out of their busy schedules to drop some info about characteristics, Canada, neighborhood design and the costume creator!

Will there be characteristics such as Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, etc? (Gerebrand)

Arkayne (Lead Designer): Hey Gerebrand! We plan to have characteristics in the game that represent different aspects of your character. We are still working out the details of how exactly those characteristics affect your character and by what degree, but we plan to allow players to spend points to modify those characteristics as they progress in the game – it is part of our goal for "complete customization" of characters.

Will there be bosses like Hamidon that will require a large group of heroes using specific tactics to defeat? (Lokana)

Arkayne: Yes there are, Lokana! Right now we are implementing an ancient evil northern god in Canada called Kigatilik who is summoned into the world by his shamanic minion Tilingkoot. Kigatilik has ice demon-hounds, frost powers and a nasty "Curse of Kigatilik" which requires teams of players to react VERY carefully and quickly. It takes focused player coordination to avoid the worst of his offensive abilities, defeat his minions and take down Kigatilik himself. We have bosses like this spread throughout the game so players will have plenty of opportunities for daring heroics on a massive scale!

Read more here.

MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh has been attending the ION conference in Seattle. Her first article is an interview with Cryptic Studios' Community Manager Victor Wachter about their upcoming game, Champions Online.

Cryptic Studios has stirred the waters recently with a few announcements. They announced that they had sold their City of Heroes/Villains game to NCSoft, they had ceased development of Marvel Universe Online and they announced a new game in development, Champions Online.

I finally caught up with Victor Wachter, Community Manager for Cryptic Studios, here at the 2008 ION Games Conference in Seattle and I pried what information I could out of him.

“Lock, stock and barrel?” I asked of their sale of City of Heroes/Villains. “Pretty much,” he confirmed. “We sold them the game together with the development team. That was part of the deal, that they hired the CoH/CoV development team.”

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted an internal interview with Michael Henry, Champions Online's Audio Manager.

Two weeks of guys named Michael – learn more about Michael Henry, audio manager for Champions Online!

Q: What do you do on Champions Online?
A: I am the audio lead on the project. My audio partner-in-crime Joe Lyford and I are responsible for all of the sounds in the game.

Q: How long have you been in the gaming industry, and what did you do before working on Champions Online?
A: I've been working with games for 12 years. (Has it really been that long?) Prior to that, I spent about 10 years working for a company in Chicago that was involved in commercial music production for TV, radio and film.

One day I was contacted by a headhunter looking to fill a composer/sound designer position at Viacom New Media, and I thought: "Why not? This would be a great way to marry my interests in audio, music and technology." So I made the leap, and I've never regretted it.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted an internal interview with Michael McCarry, one of the programmers on Champions Online.

Learn more about Michael McCarry, one of the programmers working on Champions Online!

Q: What do you do as a programmer on Champions Online?
A: My primary role is to work on the powers and advancement systems for Champions Online. What this means is that I implement all the features and equations for how certain powers affect players, as well as making it possible for the designers to use these features to make our game.

Q: What is your typical workday like?
A: Most of my day is spent coding. In the mornings I usually do things like update my work log and check for any meetings that are coming up throughout the day. I'll leave my desk a couple of times each day to give designers a hand with whatever they're working on. I eat lunch every day with a group of other programmers, and at 3:30 p.m., it's time for foosball in the Cryptic game room with the usual crowd.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios will be attending several shows in the coming months and they want to hear from their fans about who at Cryptic they want to see, and what they want them them to talk about.

We've already announced that we will be attending GenCon and PAX.

But that's not all. We're making arrangements for panels and presentations at conventions and gatherings, and we want to know what you want to see.

Who from Cryptic do you want to meet? What do you want to hear us talk about? What are you interested in? What do you want to know more about?

It's convention customization. So help us tailor our presentations so you get what you want!

Read more here.

The Champions Online official site has been updated with another edition of Ask Cryptic, where Cryptic Studios answers questions about their upcoming super hero MMO.

When you say that any character can pick any powers the phrase "jack of many master of none" comes to mind. My question is if I choose a power outside of my "archetype" (for lack of a better word) will it just be a waste of points because I'll be spending at a premium to get a substandard version of a power? Or will my brick's fire blast be just as good as the energy projector's? (Shofu)

Arkayne: Good question, Shofu. Choosing an "archetype" gives you bonuses with certain categories of powers, not just powers listed under your archetype. For example, if you choose Brick as your focus, any defensive powers you choose are more effective because you're a Brick. Using your fire blast example, Bricks are just as effective as Mentalists when it comes to fire blasts, but Energy Projectors gain a bonus when using them because that's their focus.

The best way to look at it is that a player can select any power framework – they just get bonuses with certain types of powers depending on what type of archetypical hero they choose to be. Bricks are better at soaking up damage, Energy Projectors and Martial Artists are better at dishing out damage, etc. That doesn't mean Bricks never take offensive powers or Energy Projectors never take defensive powers – just that a player can't be the best at everything.

Read more here.

The folks at Cryptic Studios have posted another installment of their series of developer profiles with an interview with Nellie "Domesticon" Hughes, a content designer for Champions Online.

Today we get answers to a few questions from Nellie "Domesticon" Hughes, one of the content designers for Champions Online:

Q: What do you do on Champions Online?
A: I'm a content designer, which means I put the missions together and populate the zones.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now, I'm working on the framework for a set of neighborhood missions and working with the environment artist to create playspaces that fit the neighborhood's fiction and spawn groups.

Q: How long have you worked in gaming, and what did you do before working on Champions Online?
A: I've worked in the gaming industry for two-and-a-half years. I came to Cryptic after graduating from college, and I've been here ever since. My first game was City of Villains, and after that launched I worked on the expansions for it.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted a profile of Zeke Sparkes, lead content designer for Champions Online.

Learn more about Zeke Sparkes, the lead content designer for Champions Online:

Q: What do you do as the lead content designer for Champions Online?
A: I lead a team of awesome designers that are tasked with planning and implementing the persistent and instanced content for the game. That includes designing big outdoor zones, smaller interior game maps, critter AI and behaviors, scripting missions, populating maps with spawns and hooking up events.

It usually starts with us talking with our writer, John Layman, about what types of things and stories should be going on in a particular area of the game. Then we sit down and sketch out a map of the physical play space and what we want to populate it with. After that, we work closely with art to make sure they can take what we're planning and make it look good without working 120-hour weeks for two years straight. Depending on what the chunk of content is, we'll either provide a quick white box in game for the artists, or work with them directly to make a more detailed white box. At that point, the team starts placing scripts, missions and spawns down on the map, while art turns it into a snazzy looking environment. Afterwards we clean things up to match the final art and then we play it, play it, play it, play it, and play it some more to make sure everything feels good and is fun.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has released some new wallpapers for their upcoming superhero MMO, Champion Online.

Customize your desktop with Champions Online wallpapers!

Our first wallpaper release (Defender and Doctor Destroyer) is now an available download on the media section of our web site. And because you asked for it, we've added additional sizes for widescreen monitors!

Starting today, we also have wallpapers of Menton and Ironclad! Add a fiendish mental mastermind or an armored alien hero to your computer now!

Download them here!

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios recently posted an article on the Champions Online official site which details how a talented and driven individual can break into the exciting world of game design. Today we're pleased to reproduce the article the article on this site.

This is the first of a two-part series about the field of game design. This first article talks about how to break the wall and get into game design. The second part will detail a bit about how design works from the inside.

At one point or another, most people who play games have probably at least entertained the thought of getting into game design professionally. Game design isn't like law or medicine though – there's no bar or exam to pass, so how exactly does one break into the field?

The most important thing to realize about breaking into game design is that it is very much subject to the laws of supply and demand. There are very few game design jobs of any sort available, and there are a whole lot of people who want to be designers. And many of the people applying for the few open game design positions are not strangers to the industry, either. In addition to people in areas like QA or CSR, it is not uncommon to see programmers or artists want to switch fields.

Different developers will have different biases and be looking for different things, but there are ways you can better position yourself to dramatically improve your chances of breaking in to the industry.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has answered anopther round of questions from fans of Champions online, Cryptic's Superhero MMO which is currently in development.

You asked, we answer! Today we cover more about villains, zombies and a hint at characters.

Do you think that with all the feedback, input, suggestions, speculations, questions and everything else that you've seen on your forums as of now, the community would be very pleased with the game? Or the game as it is right now? Or the game you imagine it to be in the distant future? (MeSoSollyWan)

Jackalope: I certainly hope people will be pleased! I know I love playing the game. But I think what people would be most pleased with is how much we listen to the community. I can give a very recent example. Last Q&A, we all but eliminated the possibility of customizing your animations. We had looked at it long ago, and frankly the feature was incredibly time intensive. After seeing the community responses, we huddled up and rethought the feature. Is there a way we could do this without sacrificing other elements of the game? That's produced an ongoing discussion between software, art and design. I can't promise you that we'll be able to get the feature in for release, or even how soon we could get in after release, but I can tell you that the community response really made an impression.

Read more here.

Crpytic has released another edition of "Meet the Team", this time introducing Geoff Tuffli, a combat systems designer for Chapions Online.

Today we get to learn a little more about Geoff "Heretic" Tuffli, combat systems designer for Champions Online:

Q: What do you do as a combat systems designer on Champions Online?
A: The combat systems team is responsible for most aspects of player character development as well as the vast majority of abilities, effects or powers that affect any character or critter in the game. We are responsible for the moment-to-moment gameplay feel of the game.

Check it out here.

Cryptic Studios has revealed Menton the most powerful human mentalist, and one of the villains of their upcoming superhero MMO, Champions Online.

For centuries, the Medinas have been one of Spain's wealthiest, most prominent families, with blood ties to royalty and an open invitation to Europe's most exclusive social events. What the European glitterati do not know, however, is that shortly after the end of World War II the Medina family pledged its loyalty and obedience to Albert Zerstoiten, the fiendish mastermind known as Doctor Destroyer.

When Destroyer recognized latent psionic potential in the twin children of Pacorro Medina, he demanded that the children be turned over to him. The Medinas complied, and for the next ten years the lives of Alejandro Medina and his sister Isabella were a whirlwind of studies, tests, experimental treatments and painful surgical procedures.

Doctor Destroyer's ruthless research was a success. Isabella became a powerful psionic. But for reasons even Destroyer could not explain, Alejandro became much, much more. His formidable powers are greater than any other human mentalist.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted an interview with John Layman, one of the Writers for Champions Online, where he talks about his work on Champions Online, his past experience, and more.

Today we get to talk with John Layman, the writer of Champions Online:

Q: What do you do as the Champions Online writer?
A: I come up with many, if not most, of the missions, as well as figuring out the big picture "overplots" for various neighborhood maps and the game's overall story. A lot of this involves coordinating with Jack Emmert and making sure the stories match his vision and his ideas, and talking things over with Steven Long at Hero Games to make sure that stories effectively utilize existing Champions lore whenever possible. I work with designers to get the missions into the game and provide them with villain and henchmen dialogue and mission-giver text and flavor. It's a job that provides a great deal of variety and opportunities to write in different tones and styles, a challenge which I enjoy.

Q: How long have you been working in the gaming industry, and what did you do before working on Champions Online?
A: I've been at Cryptic for about nine months now. Before that, I did freelance writing for games for about three years, but as a freelancer I was more on the periphery of the game industry than actually in it. I don't know the game industry like other people at Cryptic do, but get the sense that Cryptic is a very different environment than most game companies. As a comic book writer, I was able to sit on my couch in my underwear all day and type on my laptop. Sometimes I get into my cubicle at Cryptic and strip down to my underwear in order to work, and so far nobody has said a word.

Read more here.

On Friday, Cryptic Studios posted another edition of Ask Cryptic, where they answered fan questions about instances, custom powers, and various other Champions Online topics.  Today we're pleased to reproduce those questions and answers here.

Jackalope, Arkayne and Heretic are back and answering more player questions on everything from upgrades to balance issues in Champions Online:  

For those unfamiliar with Champions PnP, will the game interface be one that is intuitive and easily understood, or will we need to read through all sorts of source material to understand how to make a character effective? (French)

Jackalope: We definitely want people to make a hero and play without any prior knowledge of the Champions RPG or the HERO System. We have a saying (well, I keep saying it) – "zero to hero in no time flat." I want people to be able to get into the game and have fun as quickly as possible.

However, we are adding lots more knobs for people to play with, as opposed to our previous titles. We do adopt a lot of the Hero Games elements in character creation, but players don't need to crunch numbers in order to make their character.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted a Q&A with their own Shayne Herrera, art development director at Cryptic Studios, where he discusses his job and his work on Champions Online.

Our series of Q&As with members of the team creating Champions Online continues with Shayne Herrera, art development director for Cryptic Studios.

Q: What do you do as art development director?
A: As the art development director I oversee all of the art that is created at Cryptic Studios, whether it is for our web sites or the entire Champions Online universe. I am lucky enough to work with the most talented art team in the business. And with their skill and talent, we are creating amazing new worlds with interesting characters.

Read more here.