Discussion: Positron and Castle on Warcry.com
By
Anti_Proton,
Posted on: 2008-04-21 14:58 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Good stuff in that interview 
Although there's not a lot of new news, the "branching content" quip is interesting for possibilities with future missions.
Edit: I think they reversed the quips for Bane Spiders and Crab Spiders.
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
[ QUOTE ]
traditional RPG branching tree dialogue
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not quite sure what this means, can someone clarify this for me?
[ QUOTE ]
He's also excited about the addition of traditional RPG branching tree dialogue, something they didn't have in City of Heroes until this Issue and will now begin to use quite a bit.
"In this issue it's just the test bed for it, we got the tech late into the development process so we were not able to use it everywhere we wanted to," said Miller.
This allows them to put options into conversations or theoretically do things like present players with situations like which wire to cut when diffusing a bomb. It sounds simple, but it makes their options as mission designers much greater.
Miller could not - however - comment on whether they plan to go back over old content and backwards integrate this technology.
[/ QUOTE ]
ZOMG YAY
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
traditional RPG branching tree dialogue
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not quite sure what this means, can someone clarify this for me?
[/ QUOTE ]
It means now, instead of having the option to decline a mission that's offered to you, your contact will now insist, "Oh, but you must!" until you accept of course.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
City of Heroes: Exclusive Interview With Matt Miller & Floyd Grubb
by Dana Massey, 21 Apr 2008 3:26 pm
[ QUOTE ]
Now fully settled into their NorCal office, NCsoft is hard at work on the expansion of both the City of Heroes/Villains game and the team that supports it. The publisher turned developer of the original super-hero MMO has taken to the ground fast and we spoke to Lead Designer Matt Miller and Senior Designer Floyd Grubb about the transition, Issue 12 and more.
.
"We thought it was going to be a tougher transition than it was," said Miller of the switch from Cryptic's leadership to NCsoft's. "We kind of hit the ground running once we got into the new studio"
.
As NCsoft NorCal is exclusively focused on all things City of, they had promised to dedicate more resources to it. For example, when they release new elements of micro-content, such as a recent wedding pack, the money they make off it is put right back into the game's expansion and development.
.
This tighter focus and increased budget has allowed them to do some of the things they always wanted to do, but never could quite fit into a past issue. The main one for Issue 12 is Epic Villain Archetypes.
.
"It's something we've always wanted to do ever since we released City of Villains," explained Miller, who served in a similar capacity at Cryptic. "They would usually be the first thing on the cutting room floor because they're not accessible to all the players."
.
And it's true. This is largely content for level characters in the Villains half of the game only, but it balances things out between the Heroes - who've had their own Epic Archetypes for quite some time - and the Villains. Miller directly credited the proceeds from that wedding pack they released for making Epic Villain Archetypes possible.
.
The expansion unlocks the Blood Widow and Wolf Spider archetypes for all villains. They first specialize at mid-career, with the Blood Widows being a lighter, martial arts driven choice and the Wolf Spiders being the heavier, shock-trooper types.
.
For those who go down the Wolf Spider route, they have the choice between Crab Spider and Bane Spider at level 24.
.
"This is the first archetype that we've designed that halfway through their career they get to choose what path they're going to go down," Grubb told us.
.
The Crab Spiders have some pet and stealth tools to go with their melee arsenal, while the Bane Spider takes the warrior thing to an even further degree.
.
On the other side of the career tree, those who go down the Blood Widow path get to choose between Night Widow and Fortunata.
.
Night Widows use stealth ability and mental blasts to go with their inanate martial arts skills to destroy their enemies.
.
The Fortunata combine their offense with control abilities, to create a mind-powerful hybrid.
.
Ultimately, Miller and Grubb wanted to see a parity between the Villains and Heroes in the end-game and this expansion provides both sides with an even playing field as far as epic archetypes of their high level characters are concerned.
.
Aside from the other major features of Issue 12, Miller pointed out that the team has spent a fair amount of time on basic and long requested quality of life improvements, particularly in the user interface.
.
With a game that has been around for over three years, things begin to crop up and one of their programmers had a laundry list of things he'd always wanted to fix or add, but never had a chance. They set him loose and in Issue 12, the players will get to see what he's done.
.
"[We're] making the game a lot easier for players to manipulate on their end," Miller explained. He also talked about little tweaks, like for example a temporary boost when a player levels up. Now, they get a bonus and truly get to feel the surge of power that rushes through everyone after they hear that level up tune.
.
He's also excited about the addition of traditional RPG branching tree dialogue, something they didn't have in City of Heroes until this Issue and will now begin to use quite a bit.
.
"In this issue it's just the test bed for it, we got the tech late into the development process so we were not able to use it everywhere we wanted to," said Miller.
.
This allows them to put options into conversations or theoretically do things like present players with situations like which wire to cut when diffusing a bomb. It sounds simple, but it makes their options as mission designers much greater.
.
Miller could not - however - comment on whether they plan to go back over old content and backwards integrate this technology.
.
Along with the renewed focus on City of, NCsoft has also undertaken a number of new initiatives within the game. Traditionally, they have always released small bites of content for players to buy and enjoy if they so choose and that has continued after the transition.
.
They also recently announced a decision to add optional advertising to the game. This worries some fans, but seems to make sense in a more contemporary/Sci-Fi setting that City of offers.
.
"It's actually been received very well," said Miller of their announcement. "We wanted to make sure that we affected our user experience as little as possible."
.
As such, they first plan to integrate it only on logical places, such as the billboards that decorate the cities of City of Heroes and Villains. They also have their art director hard at work with potential advertisers to ensure that every advertisement that enters the game fits with the setting and style.
.
If that's not enough, players can simply go into their interface and turn off all advertisements. No penalties, no questions asked. Obviously, Miller hopes they leave them on - it helps fund the game's continued expansion and development - but he doesn't have an interest in forcing players to be subjected to something they didn't sign up for.
.
Issue 12 is currently in Beta, in advance of its roll-out on the live City of Villains and Heroes servers.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
He's also excited about the addition of traditional RPG branching tree dialogue, something they didn't have in City of Heroes until this Issue and will now begin to use quite a bit.
"In this issue it's just the test bed for it, we got the tech late into the development process so we were not able to use it everywhere we wanted to," said Miller.
This allows them to put options into conversations or theoretically do things like present players with situations like which wire to cut when diffusing a bomb. It sounds simple, but it makes their options as mission designers much greater.
Miller could not - however - comment on whether they plan to go back over old content and backwards integrate this technology.
[/ QUOTE ]
ZOMG YAY
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
[/ QUOTE ]
EvilGeko, does your work use Astaro Internet Security/Surf Protection?
Traditional RPG branching tree dialogue?!??!
I am seriously geeking out here - thats something I've been wishing for a long time. And yes, I'm serious! I love it when there are choices, consequences and divergences.
Can't wait to see what you do with the new tech!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
traditional RPG branching tree dialogue
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not quite sure what this means, can someone clarify this for me?
[/ QUOTE ]
It means now, instead of having the option to decline a mission that's offered to you, your contact will now insist, "Oh, but you must!" until you accept of course.
[/ QUOTE ]
oh i get it thnx for the reply
This will be interesting if, say, you fail a mish in LRSF, and see what happens...
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
traditional RPG branching tree dialogue
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not quite sure what this means, can someone clarify this for me?
[/ QUOTE ]
it means you get to choose in essence what you character says to the npcs like multiple responses you can choose will pop up picking one will direct the conversation in a certain way prehaps leading to more choices so the choices you make actually will affect how your conversation plays out with the npcs. I hope that helps sorry if i just confused anyone more.
[ QUOTE ]
This allows them to put options into conversations or theoretically do things like present players with situations like which wire to cut when diffusing a bomb.
[/ QUOTE ]
No thanks to this for me. It would mean I actually had to read mission briefings 
The Inspiration Maker's Guide [i12] UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
A Flash in the Dark: The Electric/Ninjitsu Stalker [i23]
Kheldian Inspiration Macros UPDATED with POPMENUS and Movement Binds!
Guide to the Katana~Ninja Blade/Electric [i23]
VEATs after Branching = Brutes/Stalkers or Wannabe Doms. 
...Nothing unique or Team-specialized at all about them.
Whoever thought this would "Shore Up" "End-Game" for CoV vs CoH doesn't seem to understand why stacking Buffs/Debuffs > Villains, and APP's > PPP's. AND Stealthing = LOL, fail b/c Positron keeps trying to nerf it. Either this interviewer doesn't know crap about asking the RIGHT questions... or we just spent the last month getting our hopes up for nothing
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ultimately, Miller and Grubb wanted to see a parity between the Villains and Heroes in the end-game and this expansion provides both sides with an even playing field as far as epic archetypes of their high level characters are concerned."
"The Crab Spiders have some pet and stealth tools to go with their melee arsenal, while the Bane Spider takes the warrior thing to an even further degree."
Looks like Crabs still get the Disrupters.
*wonders if "some" means other pets too*
Poison Pill
Yes! to the RPG branching style dialog! I've been wanting this for a while now. Now I really can't wait for Issue 12.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ultimately, Miller and Grubb wanted to see a parity between the Villains and Heroes in the end-game and this expansion provides both sides with an even playing field as far as epic archetypes of their high level characters are concerned."
"The Crab Spiders have some pet and stealth tools to go with their melee arsenal, while the Bane Spider takes the warrior thing to an even further degree."
Looks like Crabs still get the Disrupters.
*wonders if "some" means other pets too*
Poison Pill
[/ QUOTE ]
Given that none of the Crabs in game have "stealth tools" that we've seen, but Banes do (at least in Placate), I'm guessing they switched the words around on accident. Which would imply that Banes still have the pets and Crabs don't.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
He's also excited about the addition of traditional RPG branching tree dialogue, something they didn't have in City of Heroes until this Issue and will now begin to use quite a bit.
"In this issue it's just the test bed for it, we got the tech late into the development process so we were not able to use it everywhere we wanted to," said Miller.
This allows them to put options into conversations or theoretically do things like present players with situations like which wire to cut when diffusing a bomb. It sounds simple, but it makes their options as mission designers much greater.
Miller could not - however - comment on whether they plan to go back over old content and backwards integrate this technology.
[/ QUOTE ]
ZOMG YAY
[/ QUOTE ]
That was the highlight for me too. Zounds! I want into beta now! 
I'm guessing they're using it for some of the new Roman stuff. Wow. 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ultimately, Miller and Grubb wanted to see a parity between the Villains and Heroes in the end-game and this expansion provides both sides with an even playing field as far as epic archetypes of their high level characters are concerned."
"The Crab Spiders have some pet and stealth tools to go with their melee arsenal, while the Bane Spider takes the warrior thing to an even further degree."
Looks like Crabs still get the Disrupters.
*wonders if "some" means other pets too*
Poison Pill
[/ QUOTE ]
Given that none of the Crabs in game have "stealth tools" that we've seen, but Banes do (at least in Placate), I'm guessing they switched the words around on accident. Which would imply that Banes still have the pets and Crabs don't.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't be the first time one of the Warcry writers demonstrated a staggering Lack of knowledge about whatever the hell they're asking for....
QR
The branching dialogue sounds awesome! IMHO that's gonna add heaps to the game. For example, the mish where you can either let Dr. Aeon's true identity come out or squash the reporters, you could actually choose! And there could be real consequences. That's what makes the stories somewhat unengaging for me, the fact that some you can't choose, and the ones that you can, there's no consequences. This sounds really kool.
And I think VEATs are gonna be very team orientated from seeing their secondaries. It'll be interesting to see what they play like
GOD bless,
Shem
The branching dialogue options sound interesting, to say the least. I'll wait to see how it shows up in the new zones to see what they actually do with it. If they go back and spruce up old content with it, though, there's a couple villain contacts I can think of who need some more dialogue choices...
Arc #41077 - The Men of State
Arc #48845 - Operation: Dirty Snowball
[ QUOTE ]
Yes! to the RPG branching style dialog! I've been wanting this for a while now. Now I really can't wait for Issue 12.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wow.. I get more excited about i12 as the days go by!
Thanks for the update LH.
-Stygian
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Major points for those of us behind blockers please anyone?
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ultimately, Miller and Grubb wanted to see a parity between the Villains and Heroes in the end-game and this expansion provides both sides with an even playing field as far as epic archetypes of their high level characters are concerned."
"The Crab Spiders have some pet and stealth tools to go with their melee arsenal, while the Bane Spider takes the warrior thing to an even further degree."
Looks like Crabs still get the Disrupters.
*wonders if "some" means other pets too*
Poison Pill
[/ QUOTE ]
Given that none of the Crabs in game have "stealth tools" that we've seen, but Banes do (at least in Placate), I'm guessing they switched the words around on accident. Which would imply that Banes still have the pets and Crabs don't.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't be the first time one of the Warcry writers demonstrated a staggering Lack of knowledge about whatever the hell they're asking for....
[/ QUOTE ]
Heh, it's like the pot and the kettle
This branching dialogue tree fill me with hope that one day, I can tell Hardcase where he can put his "heavy firepower" before I do it for him while causing mayhem in St. Martial one day.
In the Arena of Logic, I fight unarmed.
Branching dialogue.
Nice.
Please use this thread to discuss the below announcement.
Senior Lead Designer Matt "Positron" Miller and Powers Designer Floyd "Castle" Grubb sit down with Warcry.com to talk about City of Heroes, Issue 12: Midnight Hour and other topics.
Click here to read the Interview.
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.