Interview with a Hero
Jack Emmert, better known in game as Statesman, gave a long interview with IGN about the game and its future. The upcoming patch looks cool and the City of Villains expansion looks to have to really interesting stuff lined up.
I really like CoH. The last MMOG that made me want to stay home and play was Earth and Beyond. CoH is better than that. I’ll definately stick around for the first content patch and for as long as it is fun to play. EnB ended up being 6 months before becoming tedious. CoH is a literal blast to play in groups so it may actually last longer!
And its refreshing to see a game designer be so candid in his answers. The less marketing speak, the better.
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Be careful JP – I loved Star Wars: Galaxies in the beginning yet I didn’t last 6 months.
A recent article in CGW referred to MMO games as the ‘bad girlfriend’ of gaming – they are high maintenence, prone to wild changes, and ultimately actually enjoyable to stop playing (something about hitting yourself in the head with a hammer comes to mind.)
I too am really enjoying CoH and I can’t wait for the new things coming in the next couple of weeks, but I’m not prepared to say that this one will stand the test of time yet – we’ll see!
The thing is with me – any game that I enjoy is worth it to me. I feel my time in SWG gave me perspective on what I don’t like about MMORPGS, and showed me some new things that I think work really well. I feel that if developers listen and really show involvement in the world – people will see satisfaction. Is COH perfect? No – its fun and I will play as long as it stays that way. Will WOW be the next big thing? I don’t know – it has some great features, but again it still breaks down at the level EQ fails sometimes. But again it aint done yet so I cannot say it will fail there for me.
Just a few thoughts of my own here – I have not read the article and I don’t want to. I am not following the various fan sites anymore and I build my own opinion as I play the game. I sometimes think that I was jaded when I started doing that in EQ – looking for the “best” gear and “best” this and that. Same thing with DAOC and then SWG – the end result was an experience that turned sour. For COH, I am playing when I can and doing that for fun with my friends… Its not about making level 10 – its about killing that next boss and finishing the mission.
Just my feelings here…
The good thing about CoH is that there really isn’t any one way to do something. Without loot and such, the driving force behind many gamers is gone. That’s why I like it. My main toon is the guy I wanted to play and I gave him the powers I wanted to have. I didn’t read up on what the ‘best’ tanker is. I think that’s part of what makes CoH fun. I wouldn’t necessarily call this article a fan article. Its really about where CoH is going and what gamers can expect. From that perspective, its really informative and I think it shows NCSoft’s commitment to listening to the community.
I too liked SWG, for about 1 1/2 months, then it became a grind and not fun. I’m not saying CoH will be great for a long period of time, but it does seem to have some staying power. And being able to play a few hours a week, while still advancing, does a lot towards alleviating any burnout that may occur. We’ll see. And I think the MMOGs will really take off in this house once Aaron is old enough to get involved. He, and Jarrod, always comes to watch me when I play and I know I can get him hooked. My evil plan is working, mwuahahahahaha!
The best fun I have in CoH is when there’s a huge group of mobs and we have a pretty big group and it’s all hell breaking loose. Everyone is teetering on death, but we somehow pull through (Nic Drywall knocking foes around, notwithstanding)…
When noone is around, I feel the grind… but then it allows me to have some alone time to clear some xp bubbles, so that when we group up, it puts me over the threshold unto that next level.
I still wish that CoH is more skill-based like SWG. The delination of levels is still making me count XP points. I rather see my power increase with use like SWG did… that, to me, is still the best model…
I agree with all the comments above. There are fun things about CoH that just keep on coming – I really like all the various mobs and their types of fighting. Each one has different strengths and weaknesses – and it’s cool to try to take advantage of those.
I can also see the game as a grind sometimes – but I’m not anywhere near the frustration I was with EQ at the end.
The sidekick system is something all MMO should have – it’s awesome to be able to play with my friends without regard to their level or mine. I’m convinced that other games will copy it because it makes so much sense.
The pocket dungeons are flat out awesome. It almost makes me want to try EQ & LDON (but then I rememeber that being in a pocket dungeon killing rats will still be killing rats.)
The lack of loot is really interesting. Oh sure, I did get a DO (that I could use!) from a mission last time and that was cool. I’ve heard that there are high-end SO’s that improve 2 stats (such as recharge reductions and accuracy improvements.) But the fact that they are handed out automatically is just cool. And the fact that you can’t redo a mission to farm it or camp it is great.
Sometimes it does become a grind – but then I just quit. It’s nice to be able to come in and leave so quickly.
To me, this game is best experienced as a group. You get XP faster, you get loot faster, you move through missions faster. I did 2 missions last night, took me just over an hour, and I got roughly half-way to 15. It took me that long because my guy is an endurance eater so I have to wait in between battles to recover. In our group, it would have been much fast, with more enemies and lots more Nazi-lookalike killing!