20th Anniversary Q&A - Question Submission Thread

[Tumerboy]

Go hunt.  Kill skulls.

[Chance Jackson]

Considering that the Dark Astoria revamp arc had you forcibly teleport into the zone where a cosmic horror scenario is playing out where the zone was being sacrificed to a dark god,  certain missions had you fighting in the guts of said god, the zone was introduced at around the same time as Titan Weapons along with other elements I have to ask was the Manga Berserk at all an inspiration for that Issue? If not what were the influences?

[Shocktacular]

Why wasn't an Echo: Mercy Island zone added to Ouroboros after Mercy Island was re-done? An Echo: Atlas Park was added and the new version isn't as different from the old as with Mercy Island. Red-side deserves some love, too!

[Prestidigitator]

(if it hasn't been asked already...)

 

Q for All:  Do you have accounts / regularly play on Homecoming? (no doxing!) - and if so what AT ...and why do you play?

[Dagonos1]

can we recup old account with our champ ?

[MrAxe]

A question for everyone.

 

How did you feel about Enhancement Diversification? What was the general opinion surrounding it? Were you worried about any backlash?

Edited April 28 by MrAxe

[ZorkNemesis]

Apologies if this has been already asked but I do wonder if there were any plans to rehabilitate Boomtown in a similar vein to Faultline and if so what direction was it going to go in?  I recall there was at least one mission in Villains where you wrecked a reconstruction site and nowadays it looks like the Council became entrenched following the Praetorian conflicts.  Would there have been a case where some of the city zone was rebuilt while the rest ended up as a major Council operation following the loss suffered at Striga?

[Panthonca7034]

First and foremost, I appreciate 100% all the hard work that went into the development and creation of City of Heroes, and to be able to ask the original devs some questions, and will try to keep them as simple as possible.

 

Question 1 (Lore Question for Melissa Bianco/War Witch)

 

During Issue 20 and later, in First Ward, when the spirit of War Witch is resurrected into the physical body of Sorceress Serene after the defeat of Lamashtu; was this supposed to be the official resurrection of War Witch in the storyline? And was this what War Witch (the character) was alluding to when she told Hernando (Apex) in the end of CoH Comics BK Studios Issue #12? Quote "War Witch: Take heart Hernando, in time a new War Witch will look to you for guidance..."

 

Question 2 (News of the return of CoH in the form of Homecoming, all original devs welcome to answer)

 

What was your reaction when you found out that CoH would be returning in the form of Homecoming, that there was still both a strong following of the game and there still remains a solid fan base?

Edited April 29 by Panthonca7034
typo, clarification

[Xenotunak]

When will we get Tops with Skin for Men?

[Seldom]

To War Witch or any of the game dev folks:
I'm always interested in "What If's". What was the biggest game change that was considered, even developed, but eventually shelved or scrapped, and why?

To any of the powers folks:
I love the vast number of combinations, playstyles, and 'builds' available for characters. That said, there are still some that players found ways to optimize to greater potential. I've always wondered about the internal conversations versus the community discussions. What powersets gave you the most balance conundrums, or came up most in discussions of new sets as a something you were wary of repeating?

To the art folks:

We know the game from 2004 came with several system/platform limitations. Were there any things you'd really wanted as far as effects, animations, or designs, but couldn't just due to tech of the time?

 

[CraterLabs]

This probably falls under "Writers" but might also be a "Powers" question, but...

 

1) Sister Psyche mentions that she doesn't necessarily see herself as a Mutant so much as she sees herself as a Psychic, and other places in the game talk about different origins rising, fading away, or getting folded into other categories over time. In the general "story" of the game world, would a hypothetical "Psion Origin" character be limited to the psychic power sets? Or would they have the run of anything just like all the other origins? (I suppose a Psychic Assault Rifle or Psychic Street Justice isn't any less weird than a Science Ninja Mastermind or a Tech Sorcery user, heh).

 

2) Were there plans for other possible "emergent" origins out there? I almost get the vibe that the Devouring Earth is trying to brute force their way into Nature being an origin, with how they seem content to use anything from magic to mutagen.

 

And unrelated to those two, here's one for the designers...

 

3) Would the "True Rikti" have appeared more or less like the Rikti we know and fear, or would they have looked even more alien?

[Night of Dragons]

First, like so many others, I wanna say thank you for a truly amazing game and all the work that went into it. And for coming back 20 years later to answer our crazy questions. Truly an honor.

 

My question is about Kheldians and Battalion. I adore the Kheldians. I have such a weakness for energy aliens and symbiotic bonds. So you might imagine how horrified I was to learn that the Kheldians are all but extinct in the future. The plot point of Battalion using a sentient race as fuel is an amazing reveal and I'm all for it, but it also broke my heart. So the question is: Do or would our efforts to fight and stop Battalion, either when they invade directly or through Ouroboros, change that fate? Do the Kheldians survive thanks to our heroic/villainous actions? What was planned as the end state of the race? Especially since players can play as Kheldian bonded people, I feel like there's a vested interest in that story route. 

 

As an aside, what does Battalion do for fuel once the Kheldians are all consumed? I kinda got a read from the little story we hear about it, Twilight Son's comments mainly, that not only are the Kheldians all claimed by Battalion, but that they are largely all burned already? Makes me wonder what state Battalion would be in if that is accurate.

 

Thanks again! Truly love CoX and am endlessly happy it was made and continues to exist.

[brw316]

On behalf of the City of Heroes Rebirth Team and our players, I would like to thank the Homecoming Team for providing the community with this unique opportunity to speak to our beloved rednames of old.

 

Each of you has gained valuable insight into creating and managing experiences for  players across the world over the years. What nuggets of wisdom and advice can you pass on to all of the volunteer artists, writers, designers, programmers, QA, and community relation teams that steward this universe that you created?

[Dev7on]

Hello, former Paragon Studios dev team! I missed you! I hope all of you are doing well! This a question for all of you: What was your favorite project you guys worked on in the past? What would the Moonbase look like? You guys mentioned a Moonbase in the upcoming future until you know what. I also wanted to know about the Battalion arc that never came to light if you guys are allowed to answer that. I also remember that Scirocco and Ice Mistral became heroes now. What would that affect the LRSF and who will replace the Ice Mistral SF? Red Widow? 

[Dying Eagle]

Is the data from the original CoH stored and preserved anywhere? 
 

After going through this experience, how do you feel about MMO game preservation?
 

Especially once a game is going out of popularity, a core fan base still wants to remain, even though the game may not be profitable for the parent company anymore. This is a huge dilemma in the future not only with CoH, but all MMOs. 
 

Lastly, Would it ever be possible to access our old heroes and villains made on Live and transfer them into Homecoming? 

[Ryuko Matoi]

multiple questions

 

first question for programming heroes maybe?

 

would it be possible to implement gamepad support still? i heard there was plans to bring cox to consoles before it was shut down, might that work be salvaged? even if its just movement and camera control?

 

second question for story heroes

 

the city of Praetoria... where in the world is it? roughly? like state wise..

 

also not a question but thank you for the one of the greatest games I've even been a part of. it had a huge impact on me.

Edited April 30 by Ryuko Matoi

[Marshal Valor]

This is a question for Manticore.

 

I remember on live you mentioned that their was a lore bible that mapped out the story of the game and where it was heading. The first reference of this that I recall was when the Council overthrew most of the 5th Column and their was an outrage that ensued. You mentioned that this was always part of the plan for the story. Is there any chance that said bible could be passed on to the Homecoming team if they do not already have it? I have been playing CoH since it was in beta and love this game. I would really love to see the rest of the story. It's very well done.

[Best]

For the devs:

Are there any major easter eggs on the level of the Grandville dev dungeon that have yet to be discovered (or publicly discovered at least)? (I know about the hidden message in the Invention tutorial text as well, though that isn't on the wiki)

[CraterLabs]

For the Writers...

 

1) Is the outbreak drug from the original tutorial meant to be the same as the Lost virus, just in its earliest stages? Is that why The Lost had it when The Radio asked redside players to steal it? Or did The Lost just have it with a plan to use it in some other mutagenic scheme? (Also, just to clarify: The Radio mission where you steal it happens *after* the Outbreak tutorial, right? Some readings suggest that it happens before, indicating that the redside player might be the cause of the Outbreak, but the Radio saying the drug was "causing an outbreak" sounds like that event's already happened)

 

For Tunnel Rat or other power design folks...

 

2) There's a pretty nifty elegance to the Time Manipulation powers with the spinning circles going along with clock face designs, were there similar synergies planned to upcoming powers when the game's work had to stop so suddenly?

 

For the Designers or possibly the Writers...

 

3) We hear a lot about The Devouring Earth in ways that makes it sound almost more like a typical comic book supervillain group, infiltrating energy drink companies to spread mutagen, dealing with the Council to get Quantum Ray Guns to help deal with the influx of Peacebringer and Warshade heroes, using magic to summon evil spirits like Defiler, and things like that. Most of their missions just boiled down to "stop the giant plant creatures", though. Would we have ever seen more of the human proxies that the Devouring Earth works through, or were they mostly taken off the table since it's challenging to put non-powered villains into stories (though not impossible, as the Dirge Of Chaos story demonstrated)?

 

4) Can you tell us anything about Mihenra, the warlord from the land of the dead who rose in Baumton? Would he have tried coming back in the wake of Mot's defeat since there was a power vacuum caused in the "god of death" domain after that wrapped up, or was his historical footnote story wrapped up in full before the game even started?

[Herotu]

There is a picture of 50Cent (the rapper) in the game files. Was that your doing?

[Neal Stanifer]

What are the chances we can expect new Malta Group storylines, perhaps delving into the group's past and current leadership?

[Sleepy Kitty]

>.> these are more general questions, and kinda don't go together but... well, anyone who can and willing to answer them would be greatly appreciated.

 

1) Incarnate powers tier 4 and 5.... Genesis, Mind, and Vitae... Not sure where my notes got to since we weren't suppose to publish info on them till they launched and then never did but..

I recall one was going to be the next set of summon-able pets (sounded at the time like it would be the smaller mobs this time, minions and maybe a lieutenant, and more they increased in quantity than quality?), another attack power, and 1-4 slots that could be put anywhere (up to 7 slots on a power!) for more enhancements (7 slot brawl ftw!). Its been along time so, decent chance I'm miss remembering important bits so... is this info right? which was going to which power name? and had Omega been descended on yet? (and where any of them going to use the incarnate shard materials again rather than the threads? those things really had no use after alpha slot)

 

1b) >.> was asked to include this bit.. does the code for these incarnate powers still exist, or did they end up among the stuff lost during sun-setting?

 

2) The many faces of Nemesis... I've heard some interesting and crazy theories about various Multiversal Nemesis over the years... DJ Zero is the Nemesis from his dimensions... Praetorian Nemesis was actually who Praetorian Hamidon was... (o.o seriously.. portal mission with Nemesis Hami, this needs to be done!).. Are any of these actually true? And where there any more planned Nemesesi?

 

3) Revamping portal corp and Shadow Shard. Obviously, the SS TFs needed work, but as awesome as the shard was, it was missing quite a lot of things and was never finished. We have lots of lore areas we never see, and despite NPCs talking about ruins and such, they never appear. Where there any plans to ever finish/revamp it to where it should be? Along those same lines, while portal corp missions have a lot of interesting sounding location worlds you go to, most of them where just one of 2 or 3 boomtown maps, with either a boss to kill, or a blinkie to click.

 

4) Time Travel. When the midnighter's club's ice and flame pillar was added and crimoria gone to, there was some talk about there being more future destinations (though it might have largely been Jack Emmert doing said talking). Where there any planned and never worked on? or worked on abit then reused for things like Praetoria? Since things like the moon, space station and shuttle got started and nixed a couple times, it would be interesting to hear about other intended locations and time... and what Requiem was ultimately up to.

 

 

 

that's it for now, Thanks a ton and hope you guys have been doing great in the intervening years!

Edited April 30 by Sleepy Kitty

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

To the team, but particularly the mighty Melissa The War Witch... a question in two parts.

 

...what's your favourite joke or Easter Egg in the game, and are there any still to find after all this time?

[Player2]

To everybody in general...

 

1. If you had the opportunity to add anything (that was actually feasible) before the shutdown, whether it be new powers, content, or even just little details, what's that one main thing that you would have liked to do?  Have you seen the game in its current state under the Homecoming team? Have you considered volunteering some developer time and/or wisdom to the current team?
2. If the game had gone on longer instead of being shut down, what signature hero/archvillain would have been killed off next?  We lost Statesman and Sister Psyche, and it felt like there could have been more coming.
3. Signature Heroes had Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators, not to mention later addition of the W.I.S.D.O.M. characters and The Shining Stars...  were there any plans to add more to Lord Recluse's retinue?

Edited April 30 by Player2

[Player2]

One more question, for the Powers Team:

 

With time and experience behind you, how would you fix Regeneration now to make it both balanced with other damage mitigation power sets but also stand out from its heir/replacement, Willpower?