Champions Online Interviews
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The first is with Jack Emmert on Alltern8:
Champions Online is, of course, based on the Champions role-playing game, which despite having an ardent fanbase isn't as well established as certain other comic book mythologies. What was behind the decision to use the Champions property, and how did it impact your approach to designing the game's virtual world?
Champions is to paper and pencil RPG's what Marvel and DC are to comic books. Champions has been around since 1981 and consequently is filled with great storylines. What makes Champions so appealing, in fact, is that the Champions Universe has changed over the years. Marvel and DC are pretty static mythologies; Spider-Man will always be Peter Parker, Clark Kent is always going to be Superman, etc. In Champions, there have been huge changes in characters and in the universe itself. For us, that fact makes Champions an even better fit for MMORPG: after all, MMO's change and evolve over time.
Another very important point in Champions is that because it was a pen and paper RPG, the players have always been the most important part of the game background. In licensed properties, players can never make that much of a difference. After all, can a player be better than Superman? More powerful than the Hulk? In Champions, all of this is possible.
And the other is a transcript of a live Q&A with Bill Roper on Eurogamer:
In City of Heroes you were able to beat 10 minions at once, like a superhero should. And this is something Star Wars: The Old Republic wants to infuse from the getgo. But after the launch day patch I feel weedy, like Superman near Kryptonite, and I struggle to best three baddies of similar power. Is that right? Shouldn't I feel more super?
Bill Roper: Well, I certainly feel more super than having to try and kill one rat at a time with a stick that has a nail in it, so I suppose it depends on your perspective. It also depends on the powers you've chose for your character. With my Might-based character, I regularly take on four-to-six henchmen and feel awesome doing it.
This is also something we're going to continue to look at as we have more and more data. Right now the game feels good for the majority of players as they can take on full encounter groups of villains. And being a superhero is more than just how many people you can beat up at one time.
I know I felt very heroic pulling citizens from beneath rubble or helping save Millennium City from an alien invasion - and that was within the first five levels of the game!
