Pose Questions to the Lead Writer, Joe Morrissey!
By
asarius,
Posted on: 2008-04-30 14:13 in Developers' Corner
As Lead Writer and Keeper of the Bible, I'm certain every story has to pass your desk first.
My question is this: who are on your writing team and which of those people were responsible for the brilliant Vernon von Grun arc and the hilarious Television arc (from which I have stolen my signature?)
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MArc #123195 - Ch6 1.1 - Under White Plains
MArc #202989 - Ch6 1.2 - The Summoning Dark
I've been wondering for the longest time. How excatly do the player's characters fit into the 'main' story? Are we just B-Rate heroes or something?
The other question pertains to a certian question of mine from an alternate timeline of Hitler winning WWII. Would that be coshure with the whole portal corp or is there something there that'd make it impossible to do?
Putting Posi's comments aside about fan created mishes (because that is a long way off I would presume)...Would you ever be willing to run a player based contest where they themselves could help write a COH storyline and bring it into development?
"I don't wonda what Rose is like in RL, I just imagine she is a catgurl an' wish I could cyb0r wit her. "
- the legendary J-man
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Hi Joe,
Ever since Issue 7 was announced, with its level 40-50 villain content, I had been looking forward to seeing the Praetorians on the villain side. I thought it would be fascinating to see just what happened to the Praetorian versions of the signature villains. Unfortunately, they weren't included in that issue and still haven't been in any issue since. Are there any plans to add a Praetorian arc into the villain side?
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Hi Joe,
Ever since Issue 7 was announced, with its level 40-50 villain content, I had been looking forward to seeing the Praetorians on the villain side. I thought it would be fascinating to see just what happened to the Praetorian versions of the signature villains. Unfortunately, they weren't included in that issue and still haven't been in any issue since. Are there any plans to add a Praetorian arc into the villain side?
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I think, in order to do that, they'd have to delve more into Recluse's version of the portal technology. It seems, however, that his focus was more on time travel than alternate dimensions, though. Even still, this would be interesting.
We do know, from hero side missions, that Countess Crey is good in some alternate reality and that there is a "Carnival of Light". I wonder was Arachnos is like on Prawetorian Earth... the last refuge of peace and civilization, perhaps???
Regarding the Devouring Earth...
Are the various rocks, trees, fungus, etc., sentient creatures with independent thought (while following the teachings of Hamidon), or are they just puppets, controlled (and spoken through) by Hami? The Devoured seem to have their own minds, but it's hard to tell with the other members.
Speaking of Devoured, once turned into one, are you pretty much stuck in that form? Or is there a way to return to normal? Some of them volunteered for the transformation, true, but most of the ones we meet certainly did not (and I can think of an arc, or two, that involved forced Devoured-ness).
And regarding Hamidon himself... how coherent is he? Can he hold an intelligent conversation with a player (through Clues or speech balloons, of course), or is he so super-obsessed with his overall mission of, well, devouring the Earth, that he'll be a random assortment of memories, repeating old catchphrases from his days of being an eco-extremist scientist? <_<
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How are Hero 2 and Hero Missus?
Would you want to see fan based story suggestions or do you need to keep up a high wall to prevent accusations of 'stealing' ideas?
What part of the story bible did you find confusing or incomplete or contradictory and you had to reorganize and fill-in?
How often are you collaborating with Manticore?
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When I grow up I want to be a writer, or to be more specific: I want to be you. Do you have room/patience to take on a sidekick/intern?
For Joe Morrissey:
1) What inspired you to work with a Roman theme in i12? Did you try to base it on a specific period? What was most difficult about writing stories set in the distant past, as opposed to contemporary ones?
2) Do you have a favorite faction (e.g. Council, Malta, Legacy Chain, etc.)? If so, what is it and why?
3) Do you prefer creating new stories with the existing factions and elements or creating entirely new factions?
4) What are the most important differences between writing a story arc and creating other kinds of fiction? Do you find it difficult to create a coherent story when you know nothing about the protagonist, the player hero or villain that will play through it?
5) Is it all really a Nemesis plot, or is that just what Nemesis wants us to think? 
***
For Pepcat:
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And regarding Hamidon himself... how coherent is he? Can he hold an intelligent conversation with a player (through Clues or speech balloons, of course), or is he so super-obsessed with his overall mission of, well, devouring the Earth, that he'll be a random assortment of memories, repeating old catchphrases from his days of being an eco-extremist scientist? <_<
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Ooh, ooh, I can answer this one. There's a high-level villain arc, give out by Tavish Bell (I believe), in which Hamidon communicates telepathically through one of his organelles. He thinks pretty coherently, for a misanthropic unicellular monster. I imagine the "original" Hami is much the same. Also, remember that he was able to write or dictate a coherent letter to Tanya Tyler. In my second Kid Eros comic, "Echo and Narcissus," to be posted someplace as soon as a hosting site is available, Hamidon also has the ability to "speak" through any Devouring Earth creature. There's no precedent or basis for this whatsoever; I just thought it sounded neat.
"Bombarding the CoH/V fora with verbosity since January, 2006"
Djinniman, level 50 inv/fire tanker, on Victory
-and 40 others on various servers
A CoH Comic: Kid Eros in "One Light"
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Regarding the Devouring Earth... Are the various rocks, trees, fungus, etc., sentient creatures with independent thought (while following the teachings of Hamidon), or are they just puppets, controlled (and spoken through) by Hami?
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Oooh, mark me down as wanting an answer to that one, too, because the mission writers don't seem to have been consistent about it. In some missions, DE creatures don't make any vocalizations. In others, they grunt and howl. But in some missions, they seem to be able to talk -- and unless Dr. Pasilima's as crazy as the Clockwork King, it can't be all puppetry, because in some missions, they argue with each other. Given Dr. Pasilima's mission, I would assume that only the Devoured and Greater Devoured are capable of sentient thought, and maybe not even much of them. What does the story bible say, though?
how possible will it be to let the tanker throw his primary weapon i.e. Hammer, Mace if you look Marvel does not have the rights to throwing a hammer as you see in norse mythology thor always threw his hammer so for the sake of all tanks with weapons let us throw them
Hello the biggest question on my mind is will the new zone being added with issue 12 (35-50) follow the footsteps of the Rikti War Zone in being a co-op zone for both heroes and villains.
As a wanna be writer, I have to ask, where do you, as a writer, draw your inspiration from for the stories?
As a player. will we ever get to see more on the formation on the Omega Squad or anything along those lines?
Thanks in advance. 
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How much of a bribe would it take to get ahold of that story bible for a day or so?
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We'll pass the hat around. Name your price.
Will there ever be a low level story arc (levels 1-5) involving ms Liberty? It would be great to have a starter story similair to the high level Statesman arc.
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Will there ever be a low level story arc (levels 1-5) involving ms Liberty? It would be great to have a starter story similair to the high level Statesman arc.
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I dont think that'll happen at that low a level you're not important enough for them to notice. Hell she doesn't even move when there's a mob of rikti surrounding her during the invasion. i doubt she has the kindness to show the lowbie the ropes.
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How much of a bribe would it take to get ahold of that story bible for a day or so?
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We'll pass the hat around. Name your price.
[/ QUOTE ]I'll second that! >.>
To Hero 1:
You said in your first post (commenting on the I11 trailer), that you'd love to use that voice actor more, but (paraphrasing) "That would mean more Lord... uh... Mender Silos".
Are we actually going to be seeing a reduction in the usage of the Prussian Prince of Automatons? 
I love Nemesis, and having the great mastermind behind a million and a half schemes just vanish when his future self shows up would be disappointing.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
City of Heroes is noted for its highly adaptable character creation. Does the variety of player content affect how you design game content? In other words, how do you write for characters who could be zombies, mutants, aliens, or robots?
1. PvP currently requires a great deal of coordination and player initiative making pickup group PvP very rare. For instance, if a villian group moves into Siren's Call, how do heroes even know about it or know that PvP is taking place in that zone? Are there any plans to implement a queue'ing system similar to World of Warcraft's battlegrounds? Something that informs players that PvP is going on, aids the formation of pickup groups, and guarantees a somewhat fair fight with even teams?
2. Are there any plans to add new world zones to the game? This game is 4 years old but the game has hardly expanded outside the original game zones.
3. Are there any plans to add new "office graphics" to the game. Some of us have been playing in the same offices for four years now.
4. Are there any plans to add a trial that allows villains to become heroes or heroes to become villians?
5. A lot of people don't feel that content is added to the game quick enough to justify paying a steady subscription fee. When a new issue is released, they subscribe for a month to play through it then cancel for 5 months while they wait for the next issue. Are there any plans to increase the rate of expansion of this game and allow it to compete head to head with games like World of Warcraft?
Stepping into Manticore's shoes: are you consciously trying to emulate what he had going on, or heading in your own direction?
In terms of ultimate veto, is it you or Posi that decides what storyline the next Issue will be based on: whether Reichsman or the Banished Panthon will be the focus, for instance.
Now that Flashback will allow us to go back to previous adventures, will more current content be phased out and replaced to move the story forward?
As a writer for CoX, define "evil".
As a writer for CoX, define "villain".
Do you have clearance to change anything in the Story Bible? If so, have actions of the players resulted in any changes through you or Manticore?
There is a general perception that the player supers in CoX are less powerful than the Marvel or DC heavy hitters. As a story writer, how do they measure up, and how do you try to show that in stories?
On that note: Thor versus Captain Marvel versus Statesman?
Iron Man versus Hardware versus Positron?
Kevin Matchstick versus the Honoree?
Name 3 comic books you have read.
Is MY character the one that has done all of these singular tasks in Paragon (defeated Doctor Vahzilok, etc)?
Do you have a specific plan as far as releasing more backstory lore on the website such as faction/villain backgrounders?
What would you do with a CoX movie or TV series?
If the Honoree is King Arthur, then won't he have to save England from himself if the Rikti threaten it?
Please name one villain faction that exists in the world that we players haven't heard about yet.
Story Arcs I created:
Every Rose: (#17702) Villainous vs Legacy Chain. Forget Arachnos, join the CoT!
Cosplay Madness!: (#3643) Neutral vs Custom Foes. Heroes at a pop culture convention!
Kiss Hello Goodbye: (#156389) Heroic vs Custom Foes. Film Noir/Hardboiled detective adventure!
Will the City of Heroes story line continue with the predominant Greek themes and motifs? Will more ancient Greek stories and philosophies be integrated into new characters and NPC groups?
Will the Tsoo ever get more content? Maybe they can get their own TF eventually where more asian themed characters can take the fight to the mystically powered ninja?
Thanks for giving us the awesome content so far! 
For the love of all that's holy... would it be too much to ask if we could get the rest of the Enemy backgrounds on the website (ex. Nemesis, Soldiers of Rularuu and Banished Pantheon) and even updated info on the old one's. If a major organ donation is required let me know.
Z
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1. PvP currently requires a great deal of coordination and player initiative making pickup group PvP very rare. For instance, if a villian group moves into Siren's Call, how do heroes even know about it or know that PvP is taking place in that zone? Are there any plans to implement a queue'ing system similar to World of Warcraft's battlegrounds? Something that informs players that PvP is going on, aids the formation of pickup groups, and guarantees a somewhat fair fight with even teams?
2. Are there any plans to add new world zones to the game? This game is 4 years old but the game has hardly expanded outside the original game zones.
3. Are there any plans to add new "office graphics" to the game. Some of us have been playing in the same offices for four years now.
4. Are there any plans to add a trial that allows villains to become heroes or heroes to become villians?
5. A lot of people don't feel that content is added to the game quick enough to justify paying a steady subscription fee. When a new issue is released, they subscribe for a month to play through it then cancel for 5 months while they wait for the next issue. Are there any plans to increase the rate of expansion of this game and allow it to compete head to head with games like World of Warcraft?
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This, uh, isn't quite what he does. He writes the story.
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how possible will it be to let the tanker throw his primary weapon i.e. Hammer, Mace if you look Marvel does not have the rights to throwing a hammer as you see in norse mythology thor always threw his hammer so for the sake of all tanks with weapons let us throw them
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Wrong thread, this should be addressed to Castle/BAB as it's a power/animation question.
Are you prepared if you want to take the story line of COH/V into radical directions? Such as under the seas, or into space? Maybe into the savage jungles with hidden secrets? Perhaps create a story line and story specifcally for the "Mysterious Orient" or story lines in china/japan/korea/etc? It would be nice to fill out the story for the three prominently asian heroes we have. (One of which hangs out in faultline)
x Jeremy M.
Global Handle: @JeremyM
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