What was said though?!
I need details..JUICY DETAILS!!!
Details you fool! Details! 
This space is intentionally left blank.
Damn it man! Tell us THINGS! THINGS!
Certain or not, WE MUST KNOW EVERYTHING YOU HEARD!!
Or did they make you sign a NDA before talking to them? DAMN THEIR LAWYERS!!! 
[ QUOTE ]
Certain or not, WE MUST KNOW EVERYTHING YOU HEARD!!
Or did they make you sign a NDA before talking to them? DAMN THEIR LAWYERS!!!
[/ QUOTE ]
There's an NDA? *slips it out* oops 
This space is intentionally left blank.
Heh, sorry I didn't post much - I was really tired.
The one thing that stood out to me as really odd/strange was that there is only one, yes one, animator at Cryptic. That means all of the animations in the game were all done by the same person. No wonder they don't have time to make new powersets! Katana and Martial Arts should feel really special for getting new animations.
David "Zeb" Cook (Lord Recluse) has some cool stuff to say about CoV Contacts. Basically they're not like CoH Contacts that say "hey, there's this problem. You want to solve it?" Instead they're going to be more proactive. One of the guys there (not Zeb) said "think more powerful villian or underworld gangster that you'd better keep happy or else).
Villians are getting minions to boss around. I almost did a back flip when I was told this. Oooh, my own private army to smack heroes around with! Zeb told me they're still working on exactly how to have villians enter Paragon City and "create" missions for PvP against heroes. I had no good ideas for him, maybe one of you do (not that he asked for ideas mind you).
Statesman said several parts of the UI are under scrutiny and are in need of being improved. For exmample Issue #4 has point-n-click travel. They didn't have the Arena available for me to try, so I didn't test any of that stuff.
I did test the new "stand alone" hero creator. Ooh boy is it powerful. The new costume options are great and one of the girls there said there are a few more options going in now, more in Issue 5 (probably) and a lot more in CoV. The Asian outfits are cool, very cool. The new suit and jacket options are things I've been waiting for since Closed Beta. Femal avatars got a lot of new clothing options. A while new skirt catagory and a bunch of new shoe styles. They also got some new hair styles. Oh, yeah the over sized Japanese socks are in there. Rejoince, those of you who were begging to get them.
You can shrink/enlarge every part of your body via a cool little slider system. The face has (I think) 7 areas that can be adjusted. From eye size, to cheek bones, chin size, to over all head width and height. All 7 features can be sclaed in x, y, and/or z directions. I believe we'll not be seeing to heroes with the same face anymore.
No new capes. No new aruas. You can do emotes while in the editor so you can see what your hero looks like sitting, doing jumping jacks, dancing, etc.
I asked about how PvP a lot. I'm sad to say Statesman said it was "off the record" meaning I cannot tell you much, but I can say that they're really thought in through and no AT is going to "suck". Several of the people there said Radiation Defenders and Tankers are "really nasty". Statesman said, and I quote "it's not that other sets are underpowered, it's that Invuln is, well, a bit over the top". That was in reference to PvP in particular. They system for Taunt and Controller sounds cool, I'll have to see it in action to really understand how it works exactly - I think you'll all be please. They took last Thrusday as a company to do massive PvP events and managed over 150 heroes going at it in a free-for-all. The QA girl there said "with no noticable lag, too bad we didn't have more people - beta will be intresting."
I asked about Pistols and a Street Fighting power sets. Statesman confirmed "yup", so they're comming. He did say CoV is taking time away from developing those powersets so we probably won't see them anytime soon. But, I've been following City of Heroes and Cryptic since before NCsoft was in the picture and they always say "not anytime soon" and we've gotten things within months, so... 
Finally, I did get one piece of info that made me happy, but will make a lot of people really whiny. I was told they're looking for a "semblance of balance, but we're not looking for absolute balance." So, when PvP hits and you Empathy Defender are crying foul because you can't win a single match 1-vs-1 too damn bad. Stop crying "nerf" and make a PvP hero already.
OK, well I was there for slightly over two hours so I'm sure there's stuff I'm just forgetting to mention. Ask questions and I'll be happy to tell you the answer if I can and I know.
Fantastic stuff Pax! God bless you!
And what's this about a Stand-alone hero creator? Does that mean offline?
It all sounds great. Nice work.
[ QUOTE ]
Fantastic stuff Pax! God bless you!
And what's this about a Stand-alone hero creator? Does that mean offline?
It all sounds great. Nice work.
[/ QUOTE ]
Dunno, they sure had a lot of cables running around. I'm assuming they had a psudo-server or something in their little curtained off area. They did keep telling me that "it's the stand alone version" because I kept saying "hey, I found a bug...". I wonder if I hold some kind of record for /bug reports.
What? No stars?! 
Man, I'm never getting off of 2.
Any more details on how Taunt is setup to work in PvP as well as point and click travel - aside from what has already been said.
Phantom Rose: Ill / Kin / Psi
Soleau: Ice / Icy / Ice / Core: Ice / Fire / Pyre / Wind / Eclipse / Flare / Corona
---------------
Solo Space
[ QUOTE ]
Any more details on how Taunt is setup to work in PvP as well as point and click travel - aside from what has already been said.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually yes, Statesman told me how it works and it's cool, but he also asked me to not share details on it yet with the greater community. Sorry. 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Any more details on how Taunt is setup to work in PvP as well as point and click travel - aside from what has already been said.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually yes, Statesman told me how it works and it's cool, but he also asked me to not share details on it yet with the greater community. Sorry.
[/ QUOTE ]
Damn your sense of decency!
Good report - thanks!
Gave you a fiver, but too much time in any AT forum section is a recipe for being forum 1-shotted.
Excellent post Pax!
Can't wait now to have 150+ heroes going all out
This space is intentionally left blank.
I was there too on Friday. I haven't been able to say much because I've been cooped up at work to post anything. And I wasn't sure if I was allowed to say much. But I figure, that if other people are, then I might as well contribute what I learned too. I'll just paste what I wrote on my SG's forum on Friday.
-----Start-----
I work in the downtown San Francisco area and WonderCon was being held sorta nearby, so I took an early and extended lunch to hop over and see how he was doing.
First thing I did was introduce myself to him, and got a kick that we had simliar names. I brought my regular copy of CoH (Yes, I have the Special Edition too), and, per my request, he signed the cover from Jack to me, and the inside from Statesman to Night Siren
I asked him a little bit about Issue 4, and he dropped some tidbits to me. I didn't press him too hard because I really enjoyed talking to the guy.
-jetpacks in the Arena (to help balance vs. fliers???)
-setting up rules before a fight (ie: no travel powers)
-and they had a 16 vs 16 fight at Cyptic that went along pretty smoothly.
-costume 4 options included Kung Fu style shirt. Also, kitten or panda as a female shoulder clothing option
We talked about the game industry and MMO's in general. And my boss was a designer for Jack as well. Boring stuff.
Jack is a reeeeeeeallllllly cool guy and he made sure to hook me up with CoH and CoV (yes, CoV) shirts, as well as a bumper sticker. ("I'm not a hero, but I play one online"). I didn't want to take up too much of his time, because I know he had Statesy stuff to do. And I had to get back to work.
As we stepped away from me to look at the players at the kiosks (all were busy, by the way...), he leaned over to me and said "Issue 4's coming really soon".
-----End-----
"really soon"...whatever that means
I also talked with an NCSoft rep who told me when they were shooting for. I don't know if I can repeat that though, sorry.
Although, it may be before we are all "fools"
[ QUOTE ]
-jetpacks in the Arena (to help balance vs. fliers???)
[/ QUOTE ]
Sweeeet! My Web Grenade will be even MORE useful! BWAHAHA!
Apparently the fliers that were given out at the convention were saying a March release. Frankly I can't see it getting much sooner than that. I expect it'll be on the TC before the end of this month though and spend 2-3 weeks in playtesting.
[ QUOTE ]
I asked about Pistols ... power sets. Statesman confirmed "yup", so they're comming.
[/ QUOTE ]
Was this in referrence to scrappers at all?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I asked about Pistols ... power sets. Statesman confirmed "yup", so they're comming.
[/ QUOTE ]
Was this in referrence to scrappers at all?
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, yes it was.
[ QUOTE ]
You can shrink/enlarge every part of your body via a cool little slider system. The face has (I think) 7 areas that can be adjusted. From eye size, to cheek bones, chin size, to over all head width and height. All 7 features can be sclaed in x, y, and/or z directions. I believe we'll not be seeing to heroes with the same face anymore.
[/ QUOTE ]
How about Eye/Eyebrow color?
*Goes back to lvling his Rad/Rad Defender*
I've already imagined the carnage a whole team of Rad heroes will cause.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
-jetpacks in the Arena (to help balance vs. fliers???)
[/ QUOTE ]
Sweeeet! My Web Grenade will be even MORE useful! BWAHAHA!
[/ QUOTE ]
There goes my advantage...
Time to get Air Superiority
Ah man, I have a feeling my Invuln tank is going to get nerfed for PVP befoer I even get a chance to use him Just kiddin' I want a nice fair competion.
Great to hear. I'm not really a convention going type dude, but I'd love to meet the Cryptic staff in person sometime.
And for the love of God, HIRE THE ONE ANIMATOR SOME HELP. He kicks butt, but my Lord he's just ONE MAN. No wonder we never see him on the forums
You assume he's a man.
It's just as likely he's a giant, mechanical, robotic, animating machine.
[ QUOTE ]
You assume he's a man.
It's just as likely he's a giant, mechanical, robotic, animating machine.
[/ QUOTE ]
Now I REALLY want to meet him/it!
[ QUOTE ]
You assume he's a man.
It's just as likely he's a giant, mechanical, robotic, animating machine.
[/ QUOTE ]
All hail the great "Mechanimator"!
And five stars to the OP, you deserve no less.. ^^
Just got back from WonderCon in San Francisco. Got to meet Statesman, Lord Recluse, and some other people who are working on CoV and CoH. All very cool, all very nice and talkative. I think I spoke with Statesman the longest (but of course). They had all kinds of info on CoV and what they're working on in CoH. Of course, all of it was appended by "but things change, so we're not 100% sure".
.
I really wanted to say thanks to Jack, Zeb, and the other who probably want to remain nameless until CoV is live
Anybody else hit WonderCon? I can't have been the only one.
PS.
Jack does read the boards. He was doing it while he was there - I noticed that he reads without logging in though, could explain why I never seem him marked as logged in.