Discussion - Positron Discusses Issue 16 on MMORPG.com!

With Issue 16: Powers Spectrum on the horizon, Lead Designer Matt “Positron” Miller discusses power customization and how it came to fruition. Check out what Matt has to say about bringing a much desired feature to life in this Developer Diary on MMORPG

Interesting article.

Not often that the mods get scooped.

But I guess that's what happens when you have a bunch of rabid players wanting info on I-16.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Great article and an excellent way of giving kudos to those that worked so hard on this.

My personal favorite line in the article was:

Can't wait to see this live. I have a hero from back in I-1 when power customization was just a pipe dream that has been waiting at level 14 just for this. I think I may park my characters at the tailor now so they'll have plenty of discount tickets for release.

(yes, yes, I know its not that expensive, but hey, who doesn't like a discount?)

The devs had to keep their mouths shut for a year? And longer? My extreme sympathies to you. Whenever I've bought a surprise gift for my wife that I knew she would flip over once she got it, it would be all I could do to keep a straight face. Actually keeping the secret required a physical effort on my part.

No one gets paid enough for that. Wow.

I recently purchased the SuperScience pack in order to change the body type/size of existing alts. I only used this on 2 alts (changing from Giant to "normal" Male). This made a really big difference in my enjoyment of those 2 characters, as their new size now better reflects their background/costume/powers.

I think I'll view Power Customization the same way. On the majority of my alts, I'll be perfectly happy with the default options and not even think twice about altering colors. However, on a few characters, this option may make all the difference in a character becoming a "favorite" vs. one I may consider deleting.

Thanks to the Developers for coming up with this feature. It's a great idea that most of us will appreciate and use on at least a semi-regular basis. I'm glad to see that, 5 years in, we're not only getting new features added to this game, but some really incredible and fun new ways of playing. Great job!

Wow...only 10 responses to work PvP in there....someone's slacking.


Anyhoo...thanks for sharing the thoughts, Posi. Helps us get some perspective on time when the Devs say things are gonna take a while.

Good to see it will be per costume as well. Nice to see they are going the distance.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

It sure will be fun, technicolor fun, when I16 goes live! Over a year of secrecy, that's how important it is to not tip your hand to this group of players, can you imagine the forum discussions if this had have been announced then!

Looking forward to the feature, several of my toons will be fine-tuned for color once this hits live. Thanks Devs!

I'm jumping for joy! xD when i first heard about i16 I was happy that we were going to be able to change our power colors but in general...I didn't think they would allow us to change every single power and to that costume slot as well...man o man this is so sweet.

Thanks so much CoH team

-Sardan*"There's always new stuff in the pipeline they can't talk about."

Makes you wonder what else they got behind those closed doors :O!!

You know, I don't think I've ever really thanked the dev team for anything, or even shared the appreciation I have for what they do for I always thought that since it was their job, and not their passion to do this kind of stuff... But now as I read the article and see all the people thanking them and such... I too will extend my hand n saying thanks guys for the hard work, dedication, n time that you kind folk have put into setting up what is the greatest MMOG of the super powers genre.

And I'm not so sure that the ach, patr, n pool powers didn't get the color treatment as well....

This is a good example of how perserverance pays off. Myself and several others have asked for this since the game launched. It really should have been a no-brainer that people would want to be able to customize how thier powers would look. When I first started playing I was actually surprised that we we couldn't change the powers' colors. Kudos to the devs for finally deciding to take the time to do this, and kudos to those that kept bringing it up and thereby showing the devs how badly wanted this feature was in spite of a segment of the forum posters raking them over the coals whenever someone would suggest it.

Count me in as another one giving the devs massive Kudos on this one as well!
For the longest time I have had no desire to play a spines scrapper, due to the repulsive look of the powerset. Now I can't wait to make one and turn it loose. I'm also exited about the proliferated powersets, I sense an electric scrapper or two in my future as well.

And power customization? Woo Freaking Hoo! I've got several characters who will be using this for sure!

I'm excited about this issue, not only for what it offers, but what it opens the door to.

- Possible alternate animations for more power sets. At this point, I think even NEW animations are possible, considering the size of their team now.

- New auras and costume colors. It's been suggested I think (by players, not devs), that with the new palettes for some powers, there needs to be an expanded costume palette to match. And while it might not have been suggested yet, I hope the devs can borrow some of the fx from powers to use as auras. For example, as a fire blaster, your hands light on fire when you press an attack, even if there's no enemy near by. If we could keep that on at all times, it would be awesome.

Yeah, I'm really starting to wonder what ELSE is coming in another year that they can't even hint about right now. Hmmm....

I call total merger to a SERVERLESS SYSTEM!!!!! You heard it here first folks!