Power customization teased at for City of Heroes
Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Patches, News items
We've always operated under the assumption that City of Heroes was designed in such a way that power customization would be very difficult. So a recent forum post hinting by lead designer Matt "Positron" Miller showing that it's apparently happening makes this news all the more interesting.
Of course, all we get are a couple screenshots of purple and blue imps to tease us, but then again what else do you really need to know right now? Well okay, we suppose you could know how colorization works and if it's something that's done only during character creation or at any time while playing. It would also be nice to know the extent that powers could be customized, too.
We'll just have to wait until July to hear more about Issue 16. So until then, dream about City of Heroes in whatever color you like -- even made up ones!
Of course, all we get are a couple screenshots of purple and blue imps to tease us, but then again what else do you really need to know right now? Well okay, we suppose you could know how colorization works and if it's something that's done only during character creation or at any time while playing. It would also be nice to know the extent that powers could be customized, too.
We'll just have to wait until July to hear more about Issue 16. So until then, dream about City of Heroes in whatever color you like -- even made up ones!


















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zan said on 6:00PM 6-23-2009
I admire the efforts to stay competitive and adaptive, but this is usually when companies or products that are old and have a newer competing product coming to market fall behind and die out, when they start copying and playing catch up instead of innovating on their own. I just don't believe the City of franchise will survive the wave of new hero MMOs. They waited too long to really do something new with their product (the architect chapter notwithstanding) IMHO.
Reply
Lemmo said on 11:02AM 6-24-2009
You can't make a refutable argument and put the glaring exception in a parenthetical throw-away comment. You basically just said they waited too long to innovate, except for all those innovations they made. CoX now is a generation ahead from the Issue 9 fare from a year and a half ago.
Sure, City of Heroes will die out as new games come out, this is the way of things. But with an MMO, you can't scrap what exists and replace it, you have to expand on what you have or the game loses identity and you get a Star Wars Galaxies scenario. The greater gaming population has already made up their mind on if City of Heroes is worth playing or not. The goal now is to continue to entertain your base, and keep people coming back for more.
It's easy to overlook that the original EverQuest is still running after all this time. There's no rule that says this MMO needs to be unplugged in the next five years, and five years is a long time for a fully staffed development team to come up with some pretty cool new things, established gameplay notwithstanding.
Personally, I cancelled my CoX account this week. But I'll turn it back on for Going Rogue, just to see what's happening next.
wolfsterne said on 6:03PM 6-23-2009
Heh CoX isn't going gently into that good night it is using the same Engine CO is using...so whatever Cryptic can do so can they.
Reply
primetime said on 6:38PM 6-23-2009
Boring.
When I first read that Champions Online was going to allow something like this, I didn't see a reason behind it. They say that it keeps people from getting bored by seeing the same 10 people casting the same 10 red fireball attacks, but I don't think it really solves the problem. People will just see the same fireball attack in different colors.
CoH adding a similar ability to change skill color doesn't make the idea any better second time around.
Reply
Lemmo said on 11:07AM 6-24-2009
This 'feature' is like a divorced couple arguing over the silverware. Jack Emmert didn't want players changing power colors in City of Heroes, because "heals should be green" and so forth, so they claimed it was a programming matter. Jack moves on and makes his new game, smart enough not to make the same mistake twice, touts it as a feature. Matt Miller, free to do what he wants with "his" game now, goes out of his way to implement the feature, just to put a little egg on Jack's face.
It's the nature of competition, I suppose.
Lichbane said on 7:05PM 6-23-2009
Love the idea. It's just a shame it didn't happen when CoX was still newer and shinier.
Now if this and mission creation was picked up by a "DDO 2" we could have proper online DM'ed adventures along with personalised spells and items .... just like the old tabletop game. Hmmmmmm ........
Reply
Stark1 said on 2:57AM 6-24-2009
I agree with others. One this isn't a big deal and CoH should have implemented it earlier. They had 5 years to implement this and I doubt we will see Issue 16 before the end of this year. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice Quality of Life addition but Cryptic is better off for having it implemented from the beginning. I don't see how CoH customization will even touch what Cryptic offers. And that is because they are using a modified Cryptic engine, wolfsterne. It is NOT the same engine.
CoH should follow DDO and go F2P.
Reply
aliasi.stonebender said on 9:54AM 6-25-2009
Eh, for the folks who care more about concepts than phat lewts - which is a pretty big portion of the CoH player base these days - it's a BIG DEAL.
Finally your Green Lantern can have green energy blasts. Finally your bloody vampire of blood can have red-tinged 'dark' attacks. that kind of thing.
Reply