Champions Online Interview



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Randy Mosiondz, lead designer Champions Online discusses what we can expect from the new MMO title from Cryptic and how it differs to their already successful City brand.

With Champions Online you compete against your own creation, the “City of” brand, a MMO that is still thriving under the supervision of NCsoft. How does it feel?

The MMO space is pretty big and the super-hero genre in it is under-represented compared to the number of fantasy MMOs there are out there. Considering the growing popularity of super-hero movies and comics in popular culture, isn’t there room for two super-hero MMOs? We’re proud of the work we did on City of Heroes but we want to provide a different experience for players in Champions Online. We feel they really are two different types of games.


What do you feel will really make the difference with Champions Online?

Where City of Heroes is much more of an “old-school” style MMO with long recharges on powers and more static missions, Champions Online is much more action-oriented with dynamic and varied environments. As part of the comic-book “action” push for Champions Online we are using a powers system that focus on constant action, reaction, and movement. Players are constantly building up with smaller endurance-building attacks that allow them to unleash their power attacks.

The persistent and instanced environments in Champions Online are widely varied and we have built have plenty of interaction with hazards, destructible terrain, and objects you can weaponise and throw. And of course the amount of visual and functional customisations for characters in Champions Online is without a doubt the most extensive in MMOs to date!


Do you think bringing action into the game might broaden the possibilities of gameplay, or are we definitively stuck with the 5 bases of MMO : tank, dps, buff/debuff, Crowd control and heal?

No matter what you do players will always refer to these base terms since they are a common vocabulary established in MMOspeak! However, Cryptic wanted to break the old paradigm by introducing an effectively non-class powers systems in Champions Online.

Players can choose the types of functional powers they want and essentially build their own class over time. If you want to want a tank-style character who has healing powers, you can do that. If you want to make a crowd control-type character with ranged DPS you can do that. Any permutation is possible, so it effectively eliminates the old MMO paradigms. In Champions Online you can be the type of hero you want to be!


What can we expect in term of physics when it comes to superpowers? Will you use any kind of physic engine to create new kinds of effects? For example, let’s imagine a tank with some power over gravity which could produce some sort of black hole effect, mobs getting attracted to him and getting stuck to him while he can move anywhere he wants. Is it too early to see this kind of technology in MMO?

We’ve actually got a number of powers that utilise exactly the type of physics functionality you describe! For example, you can create a dark rift that draws mobs towards it, causing more damage the closer they get to it. Or you can have a fire power that creates an area of effect fire with a power modifier that pulls mobs into the flames. Or you can snare a mob with a chain and pull him towards you. Or have a force blast that knocks mobs away from you. Movement and positioning is a big part of the game so we wanted to build powers to support it.


Type of damage and vulnerabilities are often part of RPG, but as often with no real impact on the gameplay. How important will be the manipulation of different damage types in Champion Online and how vulnerable can you get against one type of damage (the kind 'I can manage' or 'Flee for your life!”?

We’ve got a number of different damage types in Champions Online for both attacks and resistances. There’s everything from physical damage types such as slashing or piercing damage to paranormal damage types such as ego or magic damage. We’re still working on our system for weaknesses but at a very basic level if your character takes a vulnerability you’ll have to be careful and defensive in combat but you shouldn’t have to flee for your life!


Let's talk about the background. Concerning the Champions License, what kind of freedom of creation do you have? Will you only use the rich background of Champions, or are you willing/allowed to create stuff, heroes, villains, places, at will?

Cryptic Studios owns the Champions intellectual property so we have freedom to do what we want to fit our vision of the world and characters and what makes a good MMORPG. However, Champions as a pen-and-paper RPG has been around since the early 1980s and has developed a rich and colorful background. There are a lot of good ideas in there already so it’ll be awhile before we need to make completely new material.