October 24, 2008

Matt Miller chats about Issue 13 for City of Heroes
By Michael Lafferty

"We’ve added so much to the game since our original launch, saying that it has evolved is a huge understatement."

City of Heroes and City of Villains (otherwise known as CoX) is one of those massively multiplayer online gaming experiences that need to be experienced. With a couple of upcoming superhero-based MMOs looming around the corner, the good folks behind the game are gearing up for Issue 13, which promises to make the experience more robust.

For the uninitiated, CoX takes place in an alternate city where superheroes and supervillains vie for control. Tossed into the mix are a variety of evil NPCs, each holding turf in the city. Part of what the next free update will include is the opportunity to have "day jobs." What does that mean for the franchise. Well, GZ wanted to know and we turned to NCsoft and Matt Miller, lead designer on the game, for answers.

Question: What was the idea behind offering day jobs for the heroes?

Matt: During the planning phase for Issue 13 we were brainstorming about different systems we’d like to put into the game that could give it a whole new dimension of gameplay. At one point we decided it would be cool to offer rewards for logging out from specific locations. The more we thought about it, the more we thought players would like it because it puts more rewards into their hands, so we went forward with it and created a robust system with a large variety of Day Jobs and associated rewards. Overall, the player reaction has been great. They want more already!

Q: How exactly will this work and what will it mean in the overall concept of the game? As in, what impact will day job badges and accolades have on the gameplay, if any?

Matt: Your character will definitely get bonuses for logging out in specific locations; these range from bonuses on mission completions, to extra Experience Points, to discounts at the Tailor or Wentworths.

Q: What was the impetus behind the “on patrol” feature?

Matt: On patrol is the default Day Job for players who don’t log out from one of the specific Day Job locations. We wanted to make sure everyone got some type of reward, even if they didn’t have the time to get to a specific location before logging out.

Q: Tell us about the new powersets and changes to the existing sets? Will Issue 13 offer something for everyone?

Matt: That’s a great question for our senior designer, Floyd Grubb. Floyd, take it away!

FG: Issue 13 offers two new powersets for players to use: Shields, a defensive powerset for Brutes, Scrappers and Tankers, and Pain Domination, a buff/debuff powerset available to Corruptors and Masterminds. The Shields set is being made primarily in response to hero player requests to fulfill a character theme, while Pain Domination is being made in response to villain player requests for a “villainous version of the Empathy” powerset.

Additionally, the powers team has continued working on existing powers and powersets to help provide a more balanced play experience for a variety of characters. Some of the major changes here include a large re-engineering of the Kheldian Peacebringer and Warshade archetype characters, additions and modifications to the Invulnerability and Energy Aura powersets, as well as a major change to the way defensive Toggle powers are handled in general.

Q: What other little goodies are you packing into Issue 13 that maybe you have not talked about yet?

Matt: We’ve done a lot of quality of life features, like revamping the Badge UI, or tweaking the locations of some NPCs. A good chunk of time was spent setting up this year’s Halloween event, and that is taking place on the Live servers right now! This year’s Holiday event features some new “ski runs” for players to try out in Pocket D.

Q: How have you seen the community change and grow over the course of the game, and how much input does it have on how the game is modified?

Matt: We’ve seen the community mature into a knowledgeable, outspoken, community who really will let us know where we stand. If we do something they like, they let us know. If we do something they don’t like, they will let us know that as well, and usually in a constructive way. We like working out issues with the community, and listening to their solutions. A lot of the ideas on powers and PvP we implemented in Issue 13 came directly from player feedback.

Q: CoH/V will be facing some competition in the coming months from other titles that will be attempting to hone in on the community and MMO genre. With most MMOs that means a drop in the community for a bit, as players go to check out the other games, then some come back in. Does this concern you and are you planning to evolve the game along new lines to counter this? Or would you prefer to not talk about that as this juncture?

Matt: We view competition as a great thing. It’s nice for us and the players that we have almost five years of constant updates and new systems, and most new games will have a challenge competing with that amount of content out the gate.

But most importantly, having competition pushes us to look at our own game and see how we can improve City of Heroes and stay competitive. You’re going to see a lot more features that we thought we’d never be able implement over the next year or so. NCsoft has given us a tremendous amount of support and we think that these features (and others) are critical to keep our leadership position in the MMO market. In this way, the upcoming competition only makes us better as a team and as a product.

Q: In the years since you first hit the streets, what do you think has been the biggest change to take place in Paragon City in terms of game development? And how has the perspective of the dev team changed because of it?

Matt: We’ve added so much to the game since our original launch, saying that it has evolved is a huge understatement. I think one of the biggest additions was the Invention System. It really changed the way that the game was played, for the better, in my opinion. As developers it has been a priority to make sure that we continually support the Invention System in multiple ways, with new recipes, and new ways to use the core crafting system (like the new Reward Merits).

Q: After all these years in release, what is your favorite class to play?

Matt: I love my Dominator, but the Blaster and Mastermind will always be close to my heart, because those are the Archetypes I leveled during the betas of CoH and CoV.

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