Champions Online Interview

I recently had a chance to ask Bill Roper, the Design Director and Executive Produce of Champions Online, a few questions about the upcoming superhero MMO.  You can find the Champions Online interview below.

Q1) Since this is a super-hero game, will players be able to have a side kick?

The side-kicking system in Champions Online allows younger, less experienced heroes to temporarily increase the effective levels of their powers to be able to adventure with a more experienced hero. Conversely, those superheroes with greater powers can “tone things down” to play on an even level with their less-powerful friends.

Q2) How soon will players get their travel abilities?

Heroes gain their first travel power at level 5, right after helping resolve the crisis in Millennium City. In order to allow for more flexibility in character design and role-playing, heroes have the chance to gain a second travel power becomes available at level 35!

Q3) If I make a melee character without a flying ability, will I be screwed in PvP when fighting someone that can fly and has a ranged attack?

We’re doing a lot of balancing right now to avoid just this sort of issue. Melee classes have attacks they can use at range (such as ripping up hunks of the ground to throw at enemies) – most of which knock their target out of their travel powers. This is especially nasty when used against a flying opponent.

Q4) How will teleporting work in combat, PvP and PvE. Seems like a very powerful power.

All of the travel powers are powerful in their own right, so every travel power has what we call “gears” associated with it. Heroes move fastest when they are completely out of combat, slower when being attacked but trying to escape, and slowest when actively participating in combat. Teleport has limitation on how far you can teleport and how frequently based on which of these “gears” the hero is in.

Q5) How will XP be divided amongst healers, tanks and DPS character? Will it be based off the amount of damage done only?

We not only track the amount of damage done and damage taken by a hero, but we also track how many points of damage a hero heals – both on themselves and on others. We make sure that proper credit is given to supportive heroes in both PvE and PvP in this regarding, making the choice of playing a hero that focuses on aiding others just as rewarding.

Q6) Since you get to create your own Nemesis, why wouldn’t I just create a really weak one?

The powers for your Nemesis are drawn from defined, balanced power sets. This ensures that players can’t “game” the system and make a weak arch-enemy. Nemesis is designed to be the biggest challenge a single hero can face, so we want the villain you create to live up to that standard.

Q7) Can other players participate in my nemesis fights or is that strictly solo?

You can invite your friends and allies into any Nemesis mission you have. This is one of the reasons we’re excited that Nemesis is the first of our ways to allow players to generate their own content. We also are going to be expanding the Nemesis system in the future to accommodate multiple Nemeses on a map, which will completely kick things up a notch!

Q8) In PvP, Tournament of Champions, B.A.S.H and Apocalypse, can I join these events using the PvP queue?

Absolutely! The queue system is designed to allow players to get in line to jump into PvP while still adventuring and saving the day until another Hero Game is ready to go.

Q9) Why can’t I be a villain?

We wanted to focus on the heroic side of things with the launch of the game. The missions, interactions of citizens, and so forth are all directed to your being a hero. There are so many stories to be told, justices to be upheld, and worlds to be saved that we’re excited to bring those chances for good to life. We do let you design a villainous foe with the Nemesis system, and some day we might even delve into the darker side of superheroes.

Q10) If I’m a superhero, why do I need to craft things? I’m already super.

Not every hero has powers that come from within. Many have lots of wonderful toys they use to fight crime. This is just the type of hero that will be crafting new goodies in the Arms school of crafting, which also has non-physical elements such as fighting styles. And our crafting system goes far beyond the creation of just physical items like guns and armor. There is the Science school where things like mutagens and serums and nano-bots are created. Mystical crafters design new spells or arcane artifacts. We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort to allow players to experience crafting while staying true to whatever the concept of their hero is.