Champions Online developer interview: Randy Mosiondz talks content

Champions Online is a superhero-based MMORPG being developed by Cryptic Studios, the same people that brought us City of Heroes. So what's going to be new and different about Champions Online? Well, first off, it's driven by a points-based character system, which is a fancy way of saying there won't be classes or archetypes -- you'll simply choose what powers you want for your superhero.

And based on the quick email Q&A I had with Randy Mosiondz, the Lead Designer for Champions Online responsible for giving us the epic content that will make us feel like true heroes, the game will have a more more open environment than City of Heroes. MMORPGs have become very quest-centric in recent years, and Champions Online hopes to break the mold by creating a more open and adventure-friendly environment.

Here's the full Champions Online interview with Randy:

The underwater area of Lemuria was recently revealed and it looks pretty fantastic. What sort of unique dangers will players face while fighting underwater? Will there be any powers specific to being underwater?

There are many dangers that face heroes that dare the ocean depths of Lemuria! It's home to the Lemurians, an ancient race of reptilian shape-changers who seek to conquer the surface world. They have at their command various minions and creations made from their arcane technology with the most deadly being the Mandragolore, a massive super-weapon created to destroy whole continents!

Playing in Lemuria presents some unique gameplay challenges since everyone possesses full 3-D movement capabilities as they swim through the environment. When you're moving around you have to constantly by on guard for enemies who can attack from above and below. Luckily, some powers heroes have are modified for use underwater to help you in these situations. For example, heroes who can command animals on land can now command sea creatures!

Will other areas support the ability to go underwater? For example, if the player is being chased by a radiation-breathing beast in Monster Island, will they be able to dive off a cliff and hide in an underwater cave?

We have a few other areas in the game with water areas. Monster Island is surrounded by ocean, Millennium City is right next to the Detroit River, and there are various smaller areas like ghost pirate caves that are partially or fully submerged. We hope to expand this even more as we create more updates to the Champions Online universe!

Even beyond Lemuria, Champions Online has a wide variety of fun environments to explore from Millennium City to Monster Island to even going to the Moon. What are some of your favorite areas? What can players expect to see that they just won't see from other MMOs?

There are lots of great gameplay environments so it's hard to narrow it down to just one! I think one of my favorites is a villain stronghold known as Teleios's Tower found in northwest Canada. There the mad super-scientist known as Teleios is trying to clone the perfect life form and so his entire facility is filled with his creations from his experiments from bio-engineered cyborg velociraptors to massive psionic brains!

One of the things we tried to do differently from other MMOs is make the environments very reactive, especially in the case of fights against super-villains. We make good use of environmental hazards and destructible objects, something you simply don't see as much of in traditional MMOs. How many MMOs can you pick up a truck with your super-strength or telekinesis and chuck it at the bad guy? In Champions Online you definitely can!

As MMOs have evolved, they've become very quest-centric. Rather than choosing a place to explore and just going out and kicking the crap out of stuff, players seem a bit forced into questing because the rewards are just so much better. Will Champions Online focus mainly on quests and missions, or will there be some sort of balance between questing and just going out and finding your own adventure?

We're looking at more of a balanced approach when it comes to guided gameplay and exploration. While there's a number of the traditional quest-givers such as a police officer looking to help bring a villain to justice you'll also find a lot of heroic adventure simply by exploring the world. You might come across some lost hikers being threatened by strange monsters in Canada or in the midst of taking down some super-powered gangs you might find a clue to one of their nefarious plots.

You have your roots in writing for pen and paper games. What is the biggest difference between writing for that type of RPG and creating content for an MMO?

With pen and paper role-playing games you are building a world that is played at any one time by a small group of players who are adjudicated by a games master. You can create fairly complex yet focused storylines since you're dealing with a small controlled group of players and you have someone on hand to deal with consequences of player actions and the impact on the larger story. And of course the only limit to character actions and story direction is the player's imaginations!

With MMO content you are dealing with a massive group of players who play independently or in teams within a shared world build on a set resource budget. You can still have fairly complex stories but it's tricky to deal with lasting consequences based on individual or small group actions since a lot of the content needs to "reset" for other players to play through it. As MMOs evolve we'll likely be seeing more elements which give players the sense of lasting accomplishment and story advancement -- that's one of Cryptic's goals!

Read more about Champions Online at the official website

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