Interview with LoreHound

trailturtle

Our friends at LoreHound did an interview with Russell Williams, our studio director and one of the minds behind Champions Online. They talked about Steel Crusade, what makes Champions special, and community feedback.

Go check it out!

chaoswolf820

"we don’t discuss our coming features publically because we like to be flexible based on player feedback"

That seems... counterintuitive.

Wouldn't it be easier to adjust things based on recieved feedback as something progresses, rather than keep it under wraps and only ask for opinions after it's been developed? Not to namedrop too much, but that is how Blizzard does their testing for WoW, and, well, considering they're twice as old as CO and still going strong, I'd say theyre doing something right.

tigerofcachtice

Hi guys, great job getting the news out. The MMO realm is saturated with information now, trying to get any games journalist to write about what you want them to write is like trying to herd kittens. It was a huge challenge, well done.

If anything, I think you sold yourselves short. You've achieved much more than you stated.

Champions Online has been out for quite a while now, and there are doubtless many players who have left the game, or never given it a try at all. If given the chance to sit down with any of them, what would you say? Why should a player consider returning to the game now or giving it a try if they never have before?

In addition to what you said very well, you could mention you DID sit down with players, with evidence:

You sat down with players, got their votes, worked alongside them and produced actual content designed by their vision. This was a bold move, greatly appreciated, not many other games can boast that. It also adds a human interest element.

I know it's not new to us, but it may be new to former players and ones who've yet to try CO.

Is there anything Steel Crusade is bringing to the game that you’re particularly looking forward to?

You raised 3 great points: a more serious tone, Project Clockwork, the Gateway space station.

But you achieved much more that that. It's about taking players to the extremes, into the Inner Space of the human body and the Outer Space of...outer space. Case in point is the new game mechanic: fighting in Zero Gravity.

It's not the 1st time I've seen Zero-G in a video game, but is the 1st time I seen it in an MMO. Our Superstrength and Flight powers do something different than expected, giving them a fresh take, adapting to something new.

The broader theme is it's a new experience, to CO, to perhaps MMOs, that may intrigue players.

Will you go into a bit of detail about the Reawakened Automaton? I’ve seen it described as more focused, but what kind of playstyle is it more focused on?

You spoke well about what you focused on, with details, but there's a lot you expanded on.

The Automaton Archetype was just the start, the tip of the iceberg. It's also about the Rocket Punch, powers for A.I./robots/etc. Then the costume unlocks: TV heads, Fire Extinguisher arms, in fact, the Toaster head is what intrigued me most.

In what other game can I make a Badass Little Toaster...and use him to blow stuff up?

So it's not just about what you focused on, but what you expanded on: new player character possibilities.

---

I feel your current communication approach is to underpromise so you can overdeliver, which is understandable.

But you have delivered, and you'll continue to deliver, so it's time to let people know. Even if the journalist didn't ask the question directly, I reckon he wants to hear about your broader vision, and so does his readers, your key audience.

No need to hold back. If people don't know, then they can't appreciate what you've achieved.

crypticarmsman

I think it's nice to be doing interviews and publicizing CO, but come on:

The depth of content. This is a game that has been running for five years, and we have been building onto it continuously for all that time, so it has a huge number of missions, villains, vehicles, locations, and powers to explore. Plus, we’ve been tuning and refining the game while paying close attention to player feedback, so new players will have a much more polished experience, and we have new features to provide additional depth for long time veteran players, such as the Reawakened Automaton.

Seriously? How could anyone involved with CO state the bolded portion with a straight face?

The last real mission addition prior to Steel Crusade was in July of 2013 with the 'Fatal Error/Cybermind" missions; and in the space of the last year some quick 'Rampage' instances. The first (and only) 'Comic Series patched in 2011; and the last 'UNTIL Field Report' (aka 'A State of the Game' type post)still sits as the latest thread in that Forum dated 7/20/2012 (link)

So yeah:

This is a game that has been running for five years, and we have been building onto it continuously for all that time

Please, can I have what this guy at Cryptic North is smoking? It must be AMAZING!

[I only hope that maybe content will trickle in faster going forward; and it's not another year (or longer) before we see another set of missions available on the Space Station Hub; but given Cryptic's past performance with the pace CO content additions, I'm not holding my breath.]

The real sad thing is I honestly do still like this game; but it's been one step away from true 'maintenance mode' for so long, I doubt things will change with regard to CO content updates.

sterga

It's Cryptic's job to cheer-lead for Cryptic games and focus on positive things. It's up to player to be cynical and pessimistic at all times.

xydaxyda

This article makes me excited for the future.

decorumfriends

chaoswolf820 is seeing the Art of the Interview:

"we don’t discuss our coming features publically because we like to be flexible based on player feedback"

That seems... counterintuitive.

Wouldn't it be easier to adjust things based on recieved feedback as something progresses, rather than keep it under wraps and only ask for opinions after it's been developed? Not to namedrop too much, but that is how Blizzard does their testing for WoW, and, well, considering they're twice as old as CO and still going strong, I'd say theyre doing something right.

Heh, I just took it to be "interview-speak" for "we don't tell you until we're pretty sure we're not going to screw it all up, and then have everyone pissed that it didn't come out."

Pretty fluffy interview over-all. Nice (as mentioned by someone earlier) Company Man buff job.

toooldforthis

The transmutation of the truth into PR fluff that doesn't reflect reality is par for the course for what's likely a paid placement interview like this, so whatever.

What concerns me far more was a comment TT had made during his twitch stream that he was selling the director on some of the 'development' that the director didn't understand.

If you combine that with the interview and presume Williams is the gentleman in question, what rings an alarm bell is that the near-delusional quotes could just be typical PR and spin - or far more worrisome, that they could stem from that he's been so uninvolved and unaware of what's going on with the game that he's just parroting what he's been told.

That in turn would indicate precisely why the game has floundered once GC was reassigned. Not that GC didn't do some just insanely bad things and plan even worse, but at least he had a coherent vision as to where he was trying to take the game. Based on this interview, it's not at all clear Williams does.