Article:
Champions Online - Exclusive Q&A Session with Bill Roper

Exclusive Interview with Bill Roper, Champions Online

Alltern8 had an exclusive 10 Q&A Session with Cryptics Studio's - Design Director

1. What was different in writing an MMO which was Comic based rather than fantasy based?

Players have some very specific desires from the Superhero genre than fantasy or sci-fi. Individuality, or having the ability to make a unique and iconic character, is at the top of the list. Also staying very true to the genre in terms of story-telling, setting, world immersion, and allowing heroes to be truly heroic are major considerations. Anything and everything we can do to let our players create the hero they envision and then save the world is what we focus on.

2. Can you play the bad guys as well as the good guys

We don’t currently allow you to play as a villain, although we do allow you to CREATE your ultimate arch-enemy using our Nemesis system. Players use the same powerful creation tools they use to build their hero to design the look, power set, personality, minions (and their attacks) of their Nemesis. Heroes then follow a special Nemesis storyline where they try to thwart the plans of and capture their arch-enemy to throw them in Stronghold, the super villain prison in the Desert.

3. What level of personalisation options can you have for your characters

The core essence of the Champions game mechanic and universe is customization. Being able to create the hero that you envision is more than using our amazing costume creator with literally hundreds of thousands of possible combinations. Players can take customization to the next level by using and combining all of the powers in the game as opposed to being locked down to a single class or theme. They can even choose the emanation point of many powers, meaning that force bolts don’t just have to come from their hero’s fist. They could come from the eyes, or chest, or palm for example. This personalization continues through putting different advantages on powers, choosing talents for your hero, and what type of upgrades you equip to enhance or alter their abilities and powers. All of this is designed to allow players to truly create the hero they envision.

4. How will the game get “delivered” e.g. disc, download, streaming service etc

We’ll be using both traditional distribution methods by putting boxes on shelves in stores, but we’re also going to allow players to download the game through a digital distribution system.

5. Is it single player based or can groups of friends join missions?

We’ve designed the game to be fun and exciting for players whether they like to go it alone or play with a team.  Character progression is very mission-based, meaning that there should be little to no grinding required to get to the initial level cap whether or not you play solo or with friends. With over 900 missions there’s an amazing amount of story to go through and things to accomplish.

While players can get to the level cap playing alone, there are some incredibly fun places designed specifically for teams of 5, and others for 20 or more heroes. Some of these are Lairs which are challenging instance-based missions crafted for five heroes and are really exciting to play through. We also have open missions set in the persistent world that can take up to 20 heroes to defeat.

The Nemesis system is also designed to be a solo or shared experience, which means the