The Ultimate Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #53: Named Bosses

[DougGraves]

How important to you is it for missions or arcs to have named bosses and bosses with unique looks and powersets?

 

Is a generic boss figure with a unique name fine?

 

Does having the boss have a unique costume make a significant difference (do you even notice)?

 

Does the boss having unique powers (but still being a boss, not an EB or AV) make a significant difference (do you even notice)?

[SeraphimKensai]

I think it lends to more compelling storytelling to have a uniquely named boss and even more so when they have unique design features. That said a lot of a generic named boss missions use a standard template and name bank to designate a named boss in something like a radio/paper mission. Actually creating unique design features for a named boss does take some development time that could otherwise be allocated elsewhere, so it comes down to design philosophy and priority.

 

As an aside, thanks for running this one. I had initially used the word ultimate in my last post to indicate the last of my series, but it can be reused with another definition similar to how Marvel did the Ultimate Universe to reimagine a lot of their characters, which seems fitting for a MMO about superheroes.

 

Thanks again.

[Neiska]

Personally, I care more about the map type. I strongly dislike sewers and caves, the ceiling is too low, and there are far too many S turns. When it gets multi-layered its just so much hassle to navigate.

[Healix]

Doesn't matter to me as long as I can hand him his rump

 

[BurtHutt]

A huge pet peeve of mine is not having a unique boss. Not only does it seem lazy to me, it's not as interesting. If the boss is the same as the rest ...it's lame. Sure, I get this for the lower tier bosses when they wear street/gang gear and so on. But not for supers!

 

I don't know how many times my teams have ripped through mobs and didn't even see/notice the boss was in the pile.

 

I also think it'd be cool if the load screens were pics of the mission's big bads. This was part of my AE idea - have teams also submit a pic of the boss as a load screen (as long as it was high quality etc).

 

Anyway, not every mission needs a unique looking boss but most do! 

[DougGraves]

I like named bosses if the goal is to defeat a boss.  I don't want them randomly in missions to find a glowie.  I'd like to make them special.

 

I don't need or necessarily want custom named boss looks if bosses stand out.  The big clockwork bosses are obvious, so a custom one would be cool but not necessary.

 

But for groups where the boss is normal size and looks basically the same as the others, it would be nice to make them stand out so you know you  are fighting the big bad.

 

I don't think custom powers really matter.  Since you wouldn't want to make them more powerful than a normal boss, changing their powers would not matter that much.

[Tobogon]

On 11/9/2023 at 11:52 PM, DougGraves said:

How important to you is it for missions or arcs to have named bosses and bosses with unique looks and powersets?

Arcs more than missions.

I dont expect a 5 minute Skulls mission to have a unique boss look and powerset.

Named bosses are cool though.

On 11/9/2023 at 11:52 PM, DougGraves said:

 

Is a generic boss figure with a unique name fine?

100% fine

On 11/9/2023 at 11:52 PM, DougGraves said:

 

Does having the boss have a unique costume make a significant difference (do you even notice)?

Only in long arcs.

If after 12 missions I expect something a little better than a Bone Daddy

On 11/9/2023 at 11:52 PM, DougGraves said:

 

Does the boss having unique powers (but still being a boss, not an EB or AV) make a significant difference (do you even notice)?

The more involved and longer the mission/arc the bigger the difference it makes