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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Between the lines of PAX
I think that the first year of PAX East spoiled me for any and all future City of Heroes panels. At the time Paragon Studios held that panel, there was a new expansion due out in that marvelous sweet spot when it's just far enough away that a lot of questions are unanswered but not so far away that we can't be told all of the cool parts. Every panel since then has had a bit less to share, but really, that's kind of the nature of the beast. Until we get expansion number three on deck, we aren't going to have another panel with that much information and that many surprises unloaded all at once. Still, another part of my brain can't help but feel as if the most interesting part of this year's presence for City of Heroes wasn't the panel itself but the other elements surrounding the panel. (Considering that I already wrote up what happened there, this may also serve a stunningly convenient purpose for writing a column about the convention.) There's certainly no hints of a big revelation around the corner, but there were little elements hither and yon that piqued my interest for various reasons.
NYCC 2010: The City of Heroes Issue 19 panel
It's the end of the convention season, and City of Heroes fans on the East Coast managed to get one last treat -- another chance with the development team that had long been anchored firmly on the other side of the country. The team's panel in March at PAX East saw the revelation of several new facts about the game, including the first announcement of Kinetic Melee and Electric Control, and the panel that closes out the year at New York Comic Con contained several interesting new facts as well. Melissa Bianco, David Nakayama, and Jesse Caceres were all in attendance, with the panel overseen by community representative Tia Parurahi. With Going Rogue having been out for nearly two months, this panel focused on the upcoming Issue 19 and what the changes mean for the game, as well as how much the development team is ramping up production to improve the game all around.
Paragon Studios spills the secrets of success
In a day and age when brand-new MMOs can run into serious trouble within the first few months following launch, it's remarkable to consider that City of Heroes has endured the test of time, studio transitions and competition, and still be running strong in the grand old year of 2010. Recently, the folks at Paragon Studios sat down with Gamasutra to celebrate CoH's six-year milestone, and pontificate on why the title succeeded when others failed. Senior producer Jesse Caceres and art lead David Nakayama shared particular pride in how CoH has grown and adapted over the years. One of the examples they cite is their recent "Ultra Mode" upgrade to the graphics engine, which allows players to pump up the pretty visuals that would've been all but impossible in 2004. Another reason for their success, according to the pair, is that the team worked hard to provide gamers with play choices, such as the ability to roll a villain or to create their own adventures through the Mission Architect system. Caceres has an additional idea regarding the game's longevity: its community. "I don't know if it's just the nature of our game or what, but our community is very mature... I think that kind of back-and-forth and that discourse that we have with our player base is one of the reasons why we have such a dedicated following." You can read the full interview and glean all of Paragon Studios' secrets at Gamasutra.
Reminder: City of Heroes developer chat today
They've got an anniversary coming up, but no one can accuse the team over at Paragon Studios of resting on their laurels. The studio responsible for City of Heroes is hard at work on the next major content update, several anniversary celebrations, and they're still stopping to reach out to their fans. In not very much time at all, it will be time for a live chat with the development team of City of Heroes via their forumspring.me page. A few fans submitted questions to us, and we passed along three of them to the development team -- but that doesn't mean that there's no chance of getting other questions to reach their ears. So hurry on over to the City of Heroes question submission page, fire off the best question you can think of (after enabling JavaScript if you've got it turned off), and keep your eyes peeled for all of the answers. With Melissa Bianco, Matt Miller, Jesse Caceres, and David Nakayama all fielding the questions, there's sure to be some interesting information to be had.
City of Heroes hosting a live Q&A with developers
If you missed out on PAX East, you missed the chance to twist the ear of the development team for City of Heroes. (And other things, probably.) Or, at least, you missed your chance for a little while. Because the team is giving the fans another shot at connecting with them live, even if it's not in person. Using the forumspring.me tool, which has been steadily growing in popularity over the past several months, players will be able to ask questions of the development team and have them answered in more-or-less real time. The actual session will take place on April 23rd between 4 and 5 PM PST (7-8 PM EST). Melissa Bianco, Matt Miller, David Nakayama, and Jesse Caceres will all be in attendance, the same team from the PAX East panel and the brain trust behind the newest content additions. If you can't or don't want to take part in the actual questioning, the highlights will be addressed on the game's official Facebook fan page. It's an excellent chance for City of Heroes players to get answers to their most urgent questions, so mark the date on your calendar.
PAX East 2010: City of Heroes panel reveals many things
Unpacking the City of Heroes panel at PAX East is a big deal: there were huge amounts of information being thrown around, and a lot of new pieces of information to process. For that matter, there was far more than anyone expected, with information about the full spread of new issues up to Issue 19 and the reveal of Matt "Positron" Miller's heretofore unrevealed new endgame system. The panel as a whole featured a huge breadth of information about the game from concept into the future, and was filled with people long before the official start time, with fans vocally professing their adoration for the team the whole way through. We had the good fortune to be front and center at the theatre, and once we started taking notes we didn't really stop until the event was over. At the panel were lead designer Melissa Bianco, former lead designer and current lead system designer Matt Miller, art lead David Nakayama, and development producer Jesse Caceres. They opened off with a discussion of the game's history from launch back in 2004 to the present. The changeover from Cryptic to Paragon Studios was discussed in brief, mentioning that four of the major launch employees (Miller, Bianco, CW Bennet, and Brian Clayton) were still with Paragon even after the change.
