New Boomtown.com Interview with Posi

Finally, more info. The key to getting more people isn't by withholding info on new ventures.

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Pretty weak interview.

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Well, when they ask about things he can't talk about yet, what do you expect?

Kind of reminds me of an interview during the first Gulf war where some of the reporters didn't get a clue (not saying that about the Boomtown person.)

"So, where are the troops going?"
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."
"So how many troops are there?"
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."
"So will you be attacking..."
*exasperated looking general, speaking more slowly*
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."

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Oh don't for a second believe the reporters were clueless. They are hoping for a slip of the tongue by asking it another way. This includes the Boomtown person. Had Matt slipped something it would be an exclusive little bit for this to post.

--Rad

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Can Posi just NOT do the interview next time and save us all the time to read:
"no comment"
"I can't talk about that yet"
"we'll make an announcement about that soon"\
"no we're not working on that at the moment as theres more interesting things i can't talk about right now that we are working on. but i can't talk about them."

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Now, how many forum threads would THAT generate?
=P

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Pretty weak interview.

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Well, when they ask about things he can't talk about yet, what do you expect?

Kind of reminds me of an interview during the first Gulf war where some of the reporters didn't get a clue (not saying that about the Boomtown person.)

"So, where are the troops going?"
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."
"So how many troops are there?"
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."
"So will you be attacking..."
*exasperated looking general, speaking more slowly*
"For security reasons, I can't talk about ongoing or planned operations."

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Oh don't for a second believe the reporters were clueless. They are hoping for a slip of the tongue by asking it another way. This includes the Boomtown person. Had Matt slipped something it would be an exclusive little bit for this to post.

--Rad

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Oh, I know. I just found the reaction of the general (or whoever it was, it's obviously been a while) amusing.

Plus, as far as Posi's interview... don't forget, despite being lead, development *is* segmented. He may not actually KNOW a specific status right then to say anything, even if he could.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Is the Boomtown site down for everyone at this point?

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Crap. Anyone managed to copy this interview? Link won't work for me.

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Here you go!

"City of Heroes Issue 15 interview
The superhero MMO's Senior Lead Designer gives us the insight on Issue 15 and beyond.

The latest expansion for City of Heroes, titled Issue 15 "Anniversary", is about to be released. The expansion will focus on improving the much-heralded Mission Architect that allows players to create their own missions and stories and it introduces a new task force as well as a new strike force. This happens just two months before a rival superhero MMO (Champions Online) hits the market, and on top of that the first paid expansion - Going Rogue - has been announced for City of Heroes.

We've had the chance to ask Senior Lead Designer Matt Miller (AKA Positron) about all this and more. It seems times have never been busier in the super hero business.

Boomtown: Hi, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Matt Miller: Hi, I am Matt Miller, and I’m the Senior Lead Designer on City of Heroes.

Boomtown: Issue 14 was a landmark in City of Heroes history, due to the Mission Architect system. In comparison Issue 15 seems a bit small. Can you explain the background for releasing another – and in comparison – small issue shortly after Issue 14?
Matt Miller: Issue 14 was an extremely large and intense undertaking, which to no one’s surprise took a lot of time and resources. We definitely wanted to release something new as close as possible to our fifth anniversary which explains the timing of Issue 15. In order to make our near-anniversary goal we pushed some features that would have been in Issue 15 out to other issues. That said, there is real value in this Issue as well, so be sure to check it out.

Boomtown: In your own opinion what will be the main feature of Issue 15?
Matt Miller: I think the villain Strike Force which frees Reichsman is the star of the issue.

Boomtown: Where are you trying to steer Mission Architect with the new features?
Matt Miller: We want players to be able to tell the stories they want to tell, and we want players to be able to easily find the stories that they like to play. All the new features in Mission Architect apply to one or both of those tenants. One of the main elements we’re bringing to the table for Architect is the use of key phrases. Players and authors alike will be able to tag stories with key phrases that they feel best define what the story is about. They will then be able to search for arcs that contain these phrases. For example, you can tag and/or search for an arc with the phrases of ”Solo Friendly, Comedy and Canon Related Story.”

Boomtown: Issue 15 comes with two task/strike forces – can you give us some insight to what they contain and what the goal with the two TF/SFs were?
Matt Miller: First off we didn’t want a “Co-op” Task/Strike Force. My goal was to give the villains a Strike Force where they get a pay day, and that the hero version was not simply the same story from the hero side. I think we succeeded, and the Hero Task Force plays as kind of a “sequel” to the Villain one. And the first time you play the Strike Force you do get a large sum of Infamy added to your villain’s bank account!

Boomtown: Looking forward the first paid expansion has been announced – Going Rogue. Please explain to our readers what the new expansion will bring.
Matt Miller: I can’t release much information yet. Hopefully the name alone, Going Rogue, provides a good foreshadowing to what the game will encompass. But among other things there will be new zones, the ability to switch a hero to a villain and vice versa, and difficult tasks for level 50 characters to do that make them more powerful.

Boomtown: Free Issues expanding the game continuously has always been one of City of Heroes trademarks. Why was it decided to release Going Rogue as a paid expansion?
Matt Miller: Scope. Going Rogue is well beyond what we could normally do in the scope of a free update. We will continue to provide our players value in the form of future Issues, but Going Rogue is going to feature a breadth of new game content that warrants expansion pack-style treatment.

Boomtown: How will the going Rogue system work?
Matt Miller: That is something we’ll have to keep in touch about! We’ll release more information on Going Rogue at a later date.

Boomtown: How expansive is the feature – can you take a brute, convert him to hero and then play in the actual hero zones like Atlas Park – including all your enhancements, powers and infamy?
Matt Miller: Again, I don’t want to get too deep into the specifics of Going Rogue just yet, but the short answer is yes, you can be a Heroic Brute. More details forthcoming.

Boomtown: The trailer showed an intriguing costume on Maelstrom with a glowing chest piece. Does this mean that the costume creator will see new features such as glowing/animated pieces?
Matt Miller: We haven’t fully scoped out the player costume pieces available with Going Rogue yet.

Boomtown: Is Praetoria one or several zones?
Matt Miller: Praetoria is several zones. I can expand on that in the future.

Boomtown: In the 5 years City of Heroes has been on the market, we’ve seen many new powersets. However, we haven’t seen a new major travel power. Is that due to an engine limitation or is that a design decision? After all superhero lore is full of various travel styles.
Matt Miller: We’ve designed and back-burnered several new travel powers over the past 5 years. It seems that there has always been something more broad to do with that development time. Someday! We have a lot of other work to do that our players are going to love.

Boomtown: A rival superhero MMO is just around the corner while City of Heroes has been online for five years. How do you view the arrival of competition and how will you respond to a new engine that is obviously going to raise the bar in the genre?
Matt Miller: I think if you are talking about raising the graphics bar in MMOs you should be looking at games like Aion. If you are talking about the comic-book inspired genre, I can tell you that that we are working on something we think will keep City of Heroes on par or better than our competition.
As for content, these new games need to remember that they are not competing against what City of Heroes was at launch, but the five years of content and systems that we have added to the game since. Everything from playable Villains to the Invention System to Badges to Pact Leveling and the innovtive Mission Architect system are examples of features that we’ve added over the past five years that have enhanced and grown an already solid game. Moreover, we’ve got an amazing community that only comes with time and experience which is key to the player experience, especially in a MMO."

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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Is the Boomtown site down for everyone at this point?

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Nope, coming up fine here. Even opened in another browser to make sure I'm not looking at a cached copy.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Heh, your inbox is full Dark_Respite, so I'll say thanks here.

I don't see why everyone's complaining about the lack of information. Why would you want more now, seeing that Going Rogue won't be released for a long time? If we had all the information, it would seem like an even longer wait before it comes out.

Right now, I'm content with the fact that I'm going to be able to bring my Dom over to heroes at some point.

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I don't see why everyone's complaining about the lack of information. Why would you want more now, seeing that Going Rogue won't be released for a long time? If we had all the information, it would seem like an even longer wait before it comes out.

Right now, I'm content with the fact that I'm going to be able to bring my Dom over to heroes at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]Less info means the less we care.

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I don't see why everyone's complaining about the lack of information. Why would you want more now, seeing that Going Rogue won't be released for a long time? If we had all the information, it would seem like an even longer wait before it comes out.

Right now, I'm content with the fact that I'm going to be able to bring my Dom over to heroes at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]Less info means the less we care.

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They'll release more info as it gets closer to release. Releasing everything now means they'll get a good bit of attention now then no one will care for 6 months - 18 months (or more)!

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

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I don't see why everyone's complaining about the lack of information. Why would you want more now, seeing that Going Rogue won't be released for a long time? If we had all the information, it would seem like an even longer wait before it comes out.

Right now, I'm content with the fact that I'm going to be able to bring my Dom over to heroes at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]Less info means the less we care.

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They'll release more info as it gets closer to release. Releasing everything now means they'll get a good bit of attention now then no one will care for 6 months - 18 months (or more)!

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Yeah, basically.

If they don't know exactly when it's coming out. It's better not to say anything until they're more sure. If they say it will have X in it. Everyone goes bananas with joy. But if X takes another 6+ months. All that excitement? Gone.

You know what they use that excitement for? Selling the product.

It's good to warm up the car before you go out. But not the day before you go out. That just wastes fuel.

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sounds awesome! Unfortunately it does appear more and more that Going Rogue isn't coming until next year, bummer that.

~MM

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It's just the end of June now. Six months left in the year, they've been working on this for how long now? Long enough to get some preliminary screenshots, mention that I16 is not the same as Going Rogue and some of the plans involved...


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It really doesn't take long at all to be able to get early screenshots going. Plenty of games have screenshots released 2 or more years before the game itself ever comes out.

I would be shocked if this expansion is released in the same year it was announced, considering how late in the year the announcement was.

For all the complainers about the "lack of information" in the interview:

Every question posed to Positron at herocon '08 that he responded "no comment" to has become (or is in the process of becoming) reality.

CoH for Mac, Going Rogue, Color Customization, etc.

Chances are that the "no comments" are a way of not giving the competition the heads up on what's planned. It's now a competitive market. No sense in giving away all your secrets just to have someone else rush it into a competing game.

Also, City of Villains was announced in 2004... a year before it became a reality. Going Rogue should be no different. It's their way of saying, "We're finally able to do what you wanted... just stick around a bit longer."

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For all the complainers about the "lack of information" in the interview:

Every question posed to Positron at herocon '08 that he responded "no comment" to has become (or is in the process of becoming) reality.

CoH for Mac, Going Rogue, Color Customization, etc.

Chances are that the "no comments" are a way of not giving the competition the heads up on what's planned. It's now a competitive market. No sense in giving away all your secrets just to have someone else rush it into a competing game.

Also, City of Villains was announced in 2004... a year before it became a reality. Going Rogue should be no different. It's their way of saying, "We're finally able to do what you wanted... just stick around a bit longer."

[/ QUOTE ]That's a stupid reason. CoX people are getting paranoid by CO. The reason why anyone in a game business says "no comment" is because it is too far off to confirm and it may change.

You have to realize, each herocon "no comment" was met with a chuckle and the comment. Even the Going Rogue comment was met with Positron turning to look at the rest of the dev team, leaning into his mic and saying, "no comment."

It's not a maliscious "no comment." It's more of a humorous one because they don't want to spoil the surprise.

And you think people are unjustified in getting paranoid about CO? Well, considering that the company that originally created CoH is now in the process of creating a competing game, promised everything that CoH players wanted in this game, then had their own Dev. team try to recruit players away from CoH by coming to these forums and PM'ing people here and in game... you think that everything is hunky dorey in gamesville?

Products that have competition are more beneficial for... dun dun dun.. the PLAYERS!

So, if you think that it's a stupid reason to say no comment... well, you create a product, I'll make the same thing and I'll offer the consumers the stuff that you say can't be done to your product. Even if I can't offer what I promise, it still makes news because I can claim that I can out-do your product.

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You have to realize, each herocon "no comment" was met with a chuckle and the comment. Even the Going Rogue comment was met with Positron turning to look at the rest of the dev team, leaning into his mic and saying, "no comment."

It's not a maliscious "no comment." It's more of a humorous one because they don't want to spoil the surprise.

And you think people are unjustified in getting paranoid about CO? Well, considering that the company that originally created CoH is now in the process of creating a competing game, promised everything that CoH players wanted in this game, then had their own Dev. team try to recruit players away from CoH by coming to these forums and PM'ing people here and in game... you think that everything is hunky dorey in gamesville?

Products that have competition are more beneficial for... dun dun dun.. the PLAYERS!

So, if you think that it's a stupid reason to say no comment... well, you create a product, I'll make the same thing and I'll offer the consumers the stuff that you say can't be done to your product. Even if I can't offer what I promise, it still makes news because I can claim that I can out-do your product.

[/ QUOTE ]What's to stop the rival company to copy it after it has been announced at a later date? The CoH Vault is a good example of where a "no comment" would have worked.

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sounds awesome! Unfortunately it does appear more and more that Going Rogue isn't coming until next year, bummer that.

~MM

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It's just the end of June now. Six months left in the year, they've been working on this for how long now? Long enough to get some preliminary screenshots, mention that I16 is not the same as Going Rogue and some of the plans involved...

Other than chronic pessimism, I see nothing to say it's *not* going to be sometime this year. Late this year? I'd believe that, sure.

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This issue has been cooking since Issue 6 at the latest.

I expect to see it fall or Winter.

-Rachel-

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Hey I hope you two are right, I'm hoping for a holiday release, just my glowing optimism has dimmed somewhat from recent statements. Maybe I'm just reading to much into things.

~MM

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For all the complainers about the "lack of information" in the interview:

Every question posed to Positron at herocon '08 that he responded "no comment" to has become (or is in the process of becoming) reality.

CoH for Mac, Going Rogue, Color Customization, etc.

Chances are that the "no comments" are a way of not giving the competition the heads up on what's planned. It's now a competitive market. No sense in giving away all your secrets just to have someone else rush it into a competing game.

Also, City of Villains was announced in 2004... a year before it became a reality. Going Rogue should be no different. It's their way of saying, "We're finally able to do what you wanted... just stick around a bit longer."

[/ QUOTE ]That's a stupid reason. CoX people are getting paranoid by CO. The reason why anyone in a game business says "no comment" is because it is too far off to confirm and it may change.

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I am not paranoid of CO. I don't understand why ANYONE would be.
City of Heroes has survived the likes of Prototype and InFamous... Why would CO even dent us? Really?

City of Heroes has been competing with WOW for 5 years... WOW for Christs sake...

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sounds awesome! Unfortunately it does appear more and more that Going Rogue isn't coming until next year, bummer that.

~MM

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It's just the end of June now. Six months left in the year, they've been working on this for how long now? Long enough to get some preliminary screenshots, mention that I16 is not the same as Going Rogue and some of the plans involved...

Other than chronic pessimism, I see nothing to say it's *not* going to be sometime this year. Late this year? I'd believe that, sure.

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This issue has been cooking since Issue 6 at the latest.

I expect to see it fall or Winter.

-Rachel-

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Hey I hope you two are right, I'm hoping for a holiday release, just my glowing optimism has dimmed somewhat from recent statements. Maybe I'm just reading to much into things.

~MM

[/ QUOTE ]Going Rogue was definitely not in the making I6 or before. CoV wasn't even out of the door for them to think about side switching. I bet they mulled over the idea about it these past few years, but I bet the expansion itself didn't really start to form until about a year ago at most. I doubt we will see it this year and I'm not very optimistic of it even coming out by the second quarter of next year.

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CoV wasn't even out of the door for them to think about side switching.

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Actually, they were discussing side switching in CoV Beta. They even had some plans for the redemption/corruption path to involve the descision whether or not to kill a rogue Longbow agent. Though, I am sure that has long since changed.

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For all the complainers about the "lack of information" in the interview:

Every question posed to Positron at herocon '08 that he responded "no comment" to has become (or is in the process of becoming) reality.

CoH for Mac, Going Rogue, Color Customization, etc.

Chances are that the "no comments" are a way of not giving the competition the heads up on what's planned. It's now a competitive market. No sense in giving away all your secrets just to have someone else rush it into a competing game.

Also, City of Villains was announced in 2004... a year before it became a reality. Going Rogue should be no different. It's their way of saying, "We're finally able to do what you wanted... just stick around a bit longer."

[/ QUOTE ]That's a stupid reason. CoX people are getting paranoid by CO. The reason why anyone in a game business says "no comment" is because it is too far off to confirm and it may change.

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I am not paranoid of CO. I don't understand why ANYONE would be.
City of Heroes has survived the likes of Prototype and InFamous... Why would CO even dent us? Really?

City of Heroes has been competing with WOW for 5 years... WOW for Christs sake...

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Well, Prototype and inFamous aren't MMOs and WoW is a Fantasy MMO not a Super Hero MMO...

Just sayin'...

Not that I think that CO will destroy CoH or anything.

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For all the complainers about the "lack of information" in the interview:

Every question posed to Positron at herocon '08 that he responded "no comment" to has become (or is in the process of becoming) reality.

CoH for Mac, Going Rogue, Color Customization, etc.

Chances are that the "no comments" are a way of not giving the competition the heads up on what's planned. It's now a competitive market. No sense in giving away all your secrets just to have someone else rush it into a competing game.

Also, City of Villains was announced in 2004... a year before it became a reality. Going Rogue should be no different. It's their way of saying, "We're finally able to do what you wanted... just stick around a bit longer."

[/ QUOTE ]That's a stupid reason. CoX people are getting paranoid by CO. The reason why anyone in a game business says "no comment" is because it is too far off to confirm and it may change.

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I am not paranoid of CO. I don't understand why ANYONE would be.
City of Heroes has survived the likes of Prototype and InFamous... Why would CO even dent us? Really?

City of Heroes has been competing with WOW for 5 years... WOW for Christs sake...

[/ QUOTE ]Prototype and inFamous will never be direct competition and you thinking that is proof of your paranoia. CO is another superhero mmorpg for the computer. The other two games are action-adventure sandbox games on different consoles with no real long term plans for future updates excluding sequels. We have not been competing with WoW at all because we never even tried to (not a bad thing). CoX panders to the superhero and comic book fans, while WoW panders to the swords and sorcery people. They have about 12 million active accounts, while we hang on to, what, 100,000? Less? P_P, I've noticed that you believe that if you believe it in your mind, it somehow warps reality to your thought.

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CoV wasn't even out of the door for them to think about side switching.

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Actually, they were discussing side switching in CoV Beta. They even had some plans for the redemption/corruption path to involve the descision whether or not to kill a rogue Longbow agent. Though, I am sure that has long since changed.

[/ QUOTE ]I wish I played the CoV beta more. I do remember ice brutes though.

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...and difficult tasks for level 50 characters to do that make them more powerful.

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this is the comment that concerns me somewhat. how will this be available to everyone if it is part of a paid expanssion? and before you say everyone will buy it, you can't be certain about that.

also if the game is suppossed to be balanced, how will this affect it? will they nerf anything or ramp everything up to make up for the imbalances this will cause?

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As for content, these new games need to remember that they are not competing against what City of Heroes was at launch, but the five years of content and systems that we have added to the game since. Everything from playable Villains to the Invention System to Badges to Pact Leveling and the innovtive Mission Architect system are examples of features that we’ve added over the past five years that have enhanced and grown an already solid game.

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as for this comment, does he really think that other superhero MMO's are trying to compete with something from 5 yr's ago?

this interview seems like it caught them off gaurd. i'm sure it didn't help that GR was announced way to early to try to take away the negative attitude about AE. just my thoughts.