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NCsoft: Customization, tights separate City of Heroes from competition

As more publishers continue to enter the ever-crowded MMO market, it's become increasingly difficult for some titles (even those with heat vision and a magnetic colon) to remain relevant. Joystiq recently unmasked Matt "Positron" Miller, and spoke to the senior designer for NCsoft NorCal at length about the company's plans for both City of Heroes and Villains. Specifically, we touched on what NCsoft is doing to separate its super-powered MMO duo from the competition, something he said the company is currently "stressing."

"City of Heroes still has one of the best character customization systems ever made," boasted Miller. "It seems that a lot of new MMOs are stuck in the 'gear = looks' paradigm that games like Everquest and Ultima established. City of Heroes offers billions (no exaggeration) of possible costume combinations right from level 1." Take that, gear.

Look for our complete interview with Miller on Monday, where he opens up on a number of other topics, from next week's Issue 13 update to microtransactions and what took so long to find capes to fit users on the Mac.