CoX is going to be contending with other supers MMO's including one that has gotten a lot of hype lately and two others licensed by the two big comic book companies. CoX has a lot to offer and has been adding wonderful mechanical / gameplay content (note: mission architect and, if anything near what's been promised, the going rogue expansion), but I think it will need to add some "sizzle" to all that "steak" in order to keep up. Thus, no matter what else happens, "It's time for a CoX graphics makeover!" Specifically:
1. Improve the game engine. It's time. The engine and graphics need an overhaul. Everquest did this at least twice, which kept many people playing that game for a long time. And when this happens, they can fix the varoius graphical errors, omissions and haven't-gotten-around-to's that are starting to make the game feel, well, 5 years old ....
2. Stances. It's also long overdue that not all heroes stand with chest puffed and fists on their belts. A simple collection of stance emotes (crouched, leaning, hunched, etc...) or something along these lines could go a long way in this direction with relatively minimal effort. You don't need to imitate any other game that's coming out, but you do need to somehow address that posture speaks as much about a character as costume, and that in a game with so many costume options, there are none for stance or posture (even if only while static).
3. Minor Costume Enhancements. (a) Auras for weapons. (b) Scabbards, holsters and quivers. (b) Full shoulder and glove options for characters with sleveless jackets (an oversight, I suppose, but still shameful if this was just a miss in the attention-to-detail department ... if the garment has no sleeves, there will be no iterference with the full panoply of shoulder and glove graphics). (d) Scour the forums and you will find many many more, some off the wall, but quite a few entirely reasonable and no longer justifiably put off by "well gosh that's a lotta programming hours and extra art assets." Again: 5 years ... it's time.
4. Voices. It's time to bring the game to life and add some auditory texture. An intro / outro vocalization, actual voiceover for certain contacts / vendors / trainers / missions / task or strikeforces, etc.
My point: none of these changes really improve gameplay much, if at all. But they are nevertheless critical to keeping the game up to date and enjoyable. The "sizzle" is an important part of the whole experience and while "sizzle" without steak is a horrible thing (cough, Age of Conan, cough), CoX has some real meat to it. It's just time to season it some more.
