SDCC 09: City of Heroes devs on the future of player-created content
by James Egan 
Jul 26th 2009 at 4:00PM
Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Massively Interviews
This week marked the annual pilgrimage to Comic-Con International in San Diego for the comics and gaming faithful, and a number of superhero MMO developers were there as well to whip the fanboys (and girls) into a frenzy. When you think about it, comic conventions are as big for superhero games as other events like E3 and PAX. Massively was on the ground at SDCC this year and among the games we took a look at was, not surprisingly, City of Heroes.
We caught up with City of Heroes game designers Joe Morrissey and Matt "Positron" Miller who shared with us a bit about how things have changed in the game in recent months, and gave us some info about the content and features on the way in Issue 16: Power Spectrum.
Morrissey had a lot to tell us about the Mission Architect system that's injected copious amounts of player-created content into City of Heroes, roughly 50,000 mission arcs at last count. The system, innovative as it is, has had its fair share of troubles in a relatively short lifespan thus far. In fact, it's forced the developers to reduce farming of Rewards and XP through the outright removal of many Architect badges in City of Heroes.
That balance is an ongoing effort, and Morrissey likened their approach to these problems as going in with a scalpel rather than a hammer (although he joked that the hammer seems like it might be appropriate at times). He said, "I want to first cut away with the scalpel to see where the problems are coming from. I really think a player should be able to make a map with a bunch of guys on it, and go and fight them, without it being an issue." But there are a number of balancing issues which they'll need to watch as the game moves forward.
This shouldn't paint a negative picture though, and Morrissey commented that he's continually surprised at what the players have come up with using Mission Architect. He said, "Just the other day I Dev Choice-d another arc. The guy did something with a mission and at first I didn't know how he did it. He had a boss whose minions come out and fight you, but you can't attack the boss, he remains blue to you. I was like, 'How did he...?!' And it took me a second to figure it out. And that's why we did it right? It lets them tell stories that we wouldn't have come up with."
Miller spoke to us about the coming addition of power customization to City of Heroes. The game is often cited as a great example of offering choice with character creation, tailoring an avatar to the specific look you want, but -- as Miller put it -- until recently "every power blast looked the same." The devs felt this was something that they wouldn't be able to change, as extending the game's customization to powers would involve a major reworking of the existing systems.
That's going to change in Issue 16, however, and it's clear that NCsoft has provided a substantial amount of funding that has allowed Paragon Studios to implement this new level of customization. Once they reacquired full rights, NCsoft heavily re-invested in City of Heroes and the work on power customization actually began back when Issue 13 was in development. Miller said, "We went through and re-engineered every power to take two colors, a primary and secondary color."
In keeping with the rest of the game's character creation system, it will let you preview how the effects will look and easily let you undo any choices you make while you're fiddling around. Plus you'll be able to apply that look to individual powers or across a power set. These all seem to be welcome features added to the game, but a question they're frequently asked is, "Will existing players be able to go back and use this?" Sure, the devs stated. It'll be as simple as visiting a tailor and tweaking the look of your power emanations.
We took this a step further and asked if putting more tools in the players' hands, essentially letting players do what they want in the game setting, is the overall design direction City of Heroes is taking. According to Morrissey, "Player-created content is like the Holy Grail of MMOs. You want players to feel invested in an MMO and nothing makes you feel more invested than having your own creations seen and, in the case of the Mission Architect, played by others."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ScytheNoire said on 5:29PM 7-26-2009
Their future plan is to take the player created work and then sell it for their own profit. It would fit their business model nicely.
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wolfsterne said on 6:59PM 7-26-2009
Meanwhile Champions Online is poised to Bitch slap them into an alternate reality. As I'm playing the CO beta I think back to COX latest attempts to be competitive and laugh my ass off.....I guess this will be the month that my CoX account gets mothballed for good.
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Sam said on 9:43PM 7-26-2009
If you're in the beta then you know its pretty different than COH. Liking or disliking COH will have nothing to do if you like or dislike CO. I'm *not* liking the CO beta myself, and can't see myself switching over.
Not saying its a bad game at all; its just so different its going to be more a personal taste issue than anything else. As is, while there are some great things about it, its way too much like a traditional MMO in some regards for my liking.
Brian! said on 12:27AM 7-27-2009
A lot of people are saying their experience in CO beta had been bad. It is the only game this summer that I wish I had a key for, as I am a subscriber with CoX since it hit the shelves.
I hope I like it. I am not thrilled hearing that more people than not don't.
I was sort of hoping their versions of Public Quests would rock too. But I hear so little about them, I wonder...
Sam said on 4:11AM 7-27-2009
I think a lot of people have a hard time with separating their personal taste from assessing quality, and honestly the most vocal people are complainers. On top of that, I'm sure more than a few folks went in with pre-conceived notions of what it should be like, how it should play, etc. CO was supposed to be this "perfect" game in their minds, everything they wanted from COH, and when they didn't get it (COH 2.0) they might've been a bit put out, negatively affecting their ability to objectively judge the game.
For me I see a lot of quality and things to like; it just doesn't suit me. I'm a big fighting game fan, and am used to evaluating good/bad independently of my personal tastes for characters, engines, etc. I think what I've played is good, but its just not my cup of tea.
By all means - look forward to trying CO and judge for yourself. Keep trying to get into the beta; you never know. I'm sure they'll do stress-tests and have other promotions. See if you can encourage people you know and enjoy playing to try also. A big thing for me is teaming; I hate PUGs, only play with friends. I *know* that will change CO for me, but since my friends aren't in the beta (and some have no desire to play CO because of Jack, are more interested in DCUO, or just love COH to bits), I won't get to experience it that way.
And I'm sure you know this, but stay away from the official forums. Polarizing cess-pools, those things :P
Stark1 said on 12:51PM 7-27-2009
Well said, Sam.
mysecretid said on 7:03PM 7-26-2009
I stopped playing City of Heroes/Villains a while back after playing avidly since launch, and this article reflects why.
So much emphasis has been placed on tweaks and player enablement, while the game-world itself hasn't been significantly expanded since City of Villains released.
Sure, we get bits and pieces (the Ouroboros "Ancient Rome" thing), but the game at large was getting so that I knew every rock and tree, in every zone of City of Heroes, by its first name.
The game world as a whole needs to grow and expand, I think. It's overdue, in my opinion.
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java.scholl said on 7:32PM 7-26-2009
I agree wholeheartedly that it's time for the game to expand....totally agree with mysecretid.
I play Lord of the Rings Online, and one thing I love about it, is that there is significant changes and enhancements to the game world every 4 months. NCsoft needs to do the same thing, if they're going to compete, and charge us a monthly fee that doesn't do any significant changes, beyond changing colors on a superpower.
As for the Arch, I've had lots of fun creating, but the trouble is, is that you don't really know how everything works, until you get a team to play your own mission. Maybe I'm missing something about the Arch system like an interface thing, but there should be a 'god-mode' that allows you to make sure your mission inside and out plays as you want. As it stands, I can't solo my own made mission, and therefore can't know for sure if it's decent or not.
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steve said on 8:26PM 7-26-2009
im not sure but i think they just put god mode in for testing i think it was I15 but not for sure.
i agree while i love what they are doing between the sudden (as in what pos said then had to clarify) banhammer that went on and no new story content my account is on hold.
Btw although that was for farmers the way things went down was just bad for them. they claimed that they where in a press black out and that gave people time to gank the system.
but anyways that a post for a different post, while i like what they have done i will wait for I17/ going rogue before i decide if i come back or not.
Artevoi said on 8:49PM 7-26-2009
It's a dead game in a deader genre.
I've seen the a few Architect storyarcs, and they are all literally the same thing, just with different intro/outro text. Not really all that innovative. And the vast majority of MMO players are illiterate anyway.
(Of course, I'm biased. I'm still bitter over TR, and more so over the Aion/Gameguard nonsense.)
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Budokan said on 11:03AM 7-27-2009
CO is a very very very different game than CoX. It was addressed in the above posts, but I will reiterate. The gameplay in CO is VERY VERY VERY different than City's.
Is it a superhero MMO? Yes
Does it therefore share a lot of concepts and settings as CoX? Of course.
The similarities end there.
CO is attempting to differentiate and seperate themselves from CoX in every concievable way.
In the end, what this means is: if you are a big fan of the superhero/comic game genre, a fan of well made MMOs, or even just a fan of CoX, you should do yourself a HUGE favor and give CO a shot, you will be very pleasantly surprised.
And before some troll flames "he's just a Cryptic thug propogating the forums with tripe", no I don't work for Cryptic. This is just my honest opinion.
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Sam said on 5:18AM 7-29-2009
Absolutely. Even if you end up not liking the game, you'll likely find a feature or three you'll want in COH or DCUO whenever its released. Just play the game with an open mind, don't expect COH 2.0 (or whatever else), and try to appreciate it for what it is :)
Davy said on 11:19AM 7-27-2009
I'm very much looking forward to this feature. Customization was about the only thing CO will offer that excited me (the graphics in CO in particular just bug me to death), and with more customization coming in CoH, I'll be waiting a while before checking out CO, giving them time to work through the inevitable first few months/year of bugs.
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UnSub said on 11:48AM 7-27-2009
I have to agree with people above who are disappointed with the amount of new story and zone content CoH/V is releasing. Power customisation is fantastic, but its also very late to the game. Two years ago it would have mattered a lot more.
Ultimately I want more content to experience and play through. There are numerous zones in CoH that are empty of players and need a refit. CoV needs more zones period. There are a number of story lines and content pieces the devs have mentioned but never got around to implementing or finishing off. More powers are great, as is the ability to change their colour, but what about something new to use them in?
Plus after the impact of MA / AE farming I can't believe the devs are going to implement difficulty options that will allow characters to solo maps filled with max-sized mob spawns. It's pretty obvious how that's going to go.
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Gel said on 4:00PM 7-27-2009
What City Of Heroes needs to do next is a massive re-write of the graphics in the client. It looks dated, and needs a shot in the arm. It's amazing that WoW can take their same engine and create new content that looks amazing and different, but City Of Heroes always looks the same no matter what they do.
The whole tile based idea is great, but they just don't have enough variety, and quite often the missions are confusing mazes of corridors/tunnels/halls that make absolutely no sense.
And you spend a LOT of time playing missions. I think CoX is the most feature complete MMORPG on the market today, but those graphics and the repetition of its Tile Based Design concept needs to be addressed.
It seems that this is perhaps the most expensive thing to change though, the whole look of the game. But..if they did that I think the game can see a massive resurgence.
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