Discussion: Gamasutra interviews Matt Miller and Nate Birkholz
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2011-06-17 15:04 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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Grind? | The new endgame, however, fills "a perceived need. It was something lacking in our current content." |
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| Like any good MMO developer, Miller turned to the forums, not to the competition. |
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
As expected with the site it's posted on theres not mutch info here. However it is an interesting read if your into game development.
You guys are putting out a lot press this week. What are you up to?
...
/em narrow eyes
/em evil glare
Captain Den'Rath 53* Merk/Traps MM, Rivona 50Energy Blast/Time Cor,Victoria Von Heilwig 53* Dual Pistols/Traps Cor, Crab Spider Webguard 53* SOA, Accela 53* Bot/FF MM,Valkyrie's Executor 53* Broadsword/Shield Def Scrap. On FREEDOM! @Knight Of Bronze
"Hypocrisy, the human inherent." "Let not this work be wasted, apply yourself always."
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Incarnates Ascend should be hitting the Test server next week, and the Live servers the week after.|
Originally Posted by Bronze Knight
As expected with the site it's posted on theres not mutch info here. However it is an interesting read if your into game development.
You guys are putting out a lot press this week. What are you up to? ... /em narrow eyes /em evil glare |
After that is the ramp up to Issue 21. I suspect that we will get some info on Issue 21 in the first half of July.
I was pretty intrigued by Nate's comment at the end of the article about how they want to keep the game growing, and that he sees the revamping of older content as "a kind of spiritual growth." I'm wondering if this is a hint that we will see some of the older content updated to modern standards sometime in the next few issues.
New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
needs moar resources for Paragon Studios?
is that what the players been saying?
...
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
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Originally Posted by Dante
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!???
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You said you wanted to live with out fear. I wish there had been an easier way... but there wasn't.
Captain Den'Rath 53* Merk/Traps MM, Rivona 50Energy Blast/Time Cor,Victoria Von Heilwig 53* Dual Pistols/Traps Cor, Crab Spider Webguard 53* SOA, Accela 53* Bot/FF MM,Valkyrie's Executor 53* Broadsword/Shield Def Scrap. On FREEDOM! @Knight Of Bronze
"Hypocrisy, the human inherent." "Let not this work be wasted, apply yourself always."
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the players have been wanting very specific things such as the power pools being customizable, and those things require resources that PS doesnt currently have to dedicate considering they are always working on new issues.
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Originally Posted by MrHassenpheffer
needs moar resources for Paragon Studios?
is that what the players been saying? ... |
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It's what they didn't say at the end of that...|
Originally Posted by Dante
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!???
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"We turned to the forums. After laughing heartily at those wanting fixes for long-time issues and forgotten systems like AE (good work, farmers, getting your fire farm into the HOF!) PVP and base editing, we decided to write more stuff in for the well. Now Fusionette's your only hope for not being Well-Zombied."
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Yeah, I kinda stopped short of saying "what on earth did we say to get this endgame" but I feel I've been bashing it a little too much lately. However, it does make me wonder about that theory of how AE proved players love grinding the same content over and over and over... |
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
It's what they didn't say at the end of that...
"We turned to the forums. After laughing heartily at those wanting fixes for long-time issues and forgotten systems like AE (good work, farmers, getting your fire farm into the HOF!) PVP and base editing, we decided to write more stuff in for the well. Now Fusionette's your only hope for not being Well-Zombied." |
But some love for any of those things Bill listed would be great IMHO.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
It's what they didn't say at the end of that...
"We turned to the forums. After laughing heartily at those wanting fixes for long-time issues and forgotten systems like PVP" |
Yea, use limited resources to work on a nearly dead portion of the game. Mandate....
.
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Way to ignore the other systems listed. ALL of which have needed attention for quite some time. |
Originally Posted by Acemace
Yea, use limited resources to work on a nearly dead portion of the game. Mandate....
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/golfclap
Reverse issue 13 and all PVP changes since then and it will be popular again, simples 
As for the other stuff... pff would be stupid to just repost things I and everyone else have said already *shrug*
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We said what needed to be said |
Originally Posted by Dante
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!???
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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I'm pretty sure something's hitting something next week, but its hard to say if that has anything to do with the Gamasutra interview, which seemed to be more of a general piece than one focusing at all on I20.5. It was actually interesting that they didn't even mention the Galaxy City/Meteor thingy, which means its something marketing didn't want them to hype much. I guess that means whatever it is will be something that has more relevance for the existing players than something non-players will care all that much about.
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Originally Posted by Lightfoot
Incarnates Ascend should be hitting the Test server next week, and the Live servers the week after.
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[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
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Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
Way to ignore the other systems listed. ALL of which have needed attention for quite some time.
/golfclap |
My commonsense was momentarily blinded by the inclusion of pvp on your list.
/burp
Please consider this constructive criticism, because I love your game. But these articles you guys do for these game sites are not very good. I appreciate the work all your designers have done for the game, but more focus on the work and less on the workers would be more effective in selling your product. Talk more about what your game is going to be offering in the near future and stop being so terrified about releasing useful info that might actually lure players in to play this game.
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"Now who can argue with THAT? I think we're all indebted to Matt and Nate for clearly stating what needed to be said. I am particularly glad that these lovely children are here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic developer gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age."|
Originally Posted by Dante
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!???
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Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
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I'm still tickled that PVPers seem to think that this will fix everything.
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Originally Posted by Killerkitty
Reverse issue 13 and all PVP changes since then and it will be popular again, simples
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Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093
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Originally Posted by Nethergoat
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!
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I wonder if Matt realizes City of ISN'T the only MMO that does this. Guild [Bleep!] is still adding things and developing and they're chest high in development of [Bleep!] Wars 2.
| Keeping an audience engaged over such a long period of time is obviously a challenge. How has City of Heroes done it? "When it comes to like the secret sauce as to how we've been so successful for over seven years now, I think it's because we've never stopped innovating and we've never stopped developing," |
Click here to find all the All Things Art Threads!
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.
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^ I honestly cannot agree with this...enough.|
Originally Posted by Dante
Grind?
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!??? |
Have you guys listened to ANY of the dislike for the current incarnate system? Or, rather, the dislike that came after the alpha slot? Because the alpha slot WORKED. It worked very very well. And then came the Trail grinding...
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Ok, Matt, when did YOU sell your soul to the MMO Grind Gods? | "It does need to be difficult. It does need to be hard. But it really needs to be a time reward mentality. How much time is invested, of yours, should determine the reward you get out of it. The more time, the better reward, right? Because your time is valuable." |
Because while the risk/reward mantra has always been true, and justifiably so, the above just reads of...well, heck if I know. Market spiel, most likely...
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| "I wanted to make our game better. I wanted to listen to our players. What were our players asking for?" |
Nate gives me hope, though;
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| "We want to be a game that's constantly growing, and the more time we spend re-doing old content is growth in a maybe more spiritual sense." |
I hope so...
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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You can blame EvilGeko. |
Originally Posted by Dante
Oh my gods! What did we say!? What did we SAY!!!??? |
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
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They've been hinting about that for weeks now |
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Actual revamping? Finally? Dare I even dare to anticipate we'll finally see the old, terrible quality blueside stuff fixed to Post-GR levels? Will we finally see mobs re-done in HD?
I hope so... |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
A blue side revamp and red side tweaks would make me really happy.
Red side content is good but can be better.
Blue side is awful and need to be reorganizated and upgraded.
GR stuff is just too awesome. Short experience but zones are beatiful, contacts have personality, arcs are awesome and well writen.
We need that level of quality blue and red side too.
What I would do?
Contatcs:
Reorganizate contacts. There are too many, to many filler missions and non trascendent. Keep just the important arcs, 4 or 5 missions, all in the contact zone, and give XP and merits as arc finished reward, just like in GR.
Upgrade old low res citizens and contacts with new ones made with the CC, like "some" of the new citizens added in GR. Erase the data of the old ones for complete, please. They hurting my eyes.
(Azuria, City representative, Im looking at you)
Zones:
Upgrade visuals in zones. Minor tweaks in textures, with higher res, like Praetoria. More reflections in environments and windows, like the AE building.
I think is a big different for new players that go to blue side after GR for first time, its like... WOW what happened to the game? I time travelled to 1999? Big different in graphics and story telling, mobs, etc...
I hope theres a big upgrade coming.
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I'm not a big pvp'er, but I think what they are saying, and I agree, is that reverting the changes they made in i13 will improve the situation dramatically, not 'fix everything'. There simply is no disputing the fact at this point that the changes in i13 made the pvp game dramatically worse. |
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
I'm still tickled that PVPers seem to think that this will fix everything.
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The saddest part is that it should have been realized by the devs that this would be the result after the massive and clear negative feedback the changes received before, during and after implementation.
At some point the devs should swallow their pride, admit the changes were a mistake, and rectify them. The easiest way to do so would be to simply do away with the i13 changes.
What I don't understand is why non-pvp players constantly rail against this idea when it wouldn't take much if any resources away from the regular game, and wouldn't impact them much, if at all. And more importantly, such a change would probably lure some old players back into the game, which benefits the game and every player who plays it.
Gamasutra chatted with lead systems designer Matt "Positron" Miller and lead producer Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz in a recap of City of Heroes' seven years of filling the MMO space with the best super-powered massively multiplayer game out there.
From the earliest days when Positron used to write the XP tables himself, to today with the Incarnate endgame, read the Gamasutra interview, "After Seven Years, City Of Heroes Still Flies," for a great look at the ideas and design behind seven years of content.