Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

New games always spawn a plethora of questions from eager community members and Champions Online is no different. Cryptic Studios has combed through the forums and selected a group of questions that have been answered by the developers. Ten Ton Hammer has posted the article for your reading pleasure (the original article can be found here.

Just how "level-ly" are CO levels going to be? Is my progression from level 1 to level 50 going to look like a progression from an 8-year old Robin (as sidekick to Bats) to any of the incarnations of Superman? Or will I still be able to recognizable at level 50 as still the same basic character as he was at level 1? (Captain-Spith)

Arkayne (lead designer): There will be a definite progression from low- to high-powered hero. Characters start off with a few starting powers and gain more powers and more customization options throughout the course of the game. This differs a bit from the Champions tabletop game where players start off with moderate to high-power and have marginal increases over time. We felt our constant power advancement model in Champions Online would be more appealing to players since they can always look forward to expanding and personalizing their suite of super-powers.

Will damage and defense numbers be published to the players (power X does Y damage, and Power A resists B amount) or will the CoX model of broad generalities (high, medium and low) be published? (whistlelock)

Arkayne: We definitely want to show more raw numbers to the players, whistlelock. We realize that some players want to tweak their characters as much as they can and showing them the fine details allows them to do this. Min-maxers of the world rejoice!

You mentioned in a previous Ask Cryptic that playing as a "d/buff" hero would be a viable build in CO .... will that also be true for "mez" heroes? Can I specialize in Mez-type powers? (GhostHack)

Arkayne: You bet, GhostHack! There are some great mesmerism powers available that allow you to become the ultimate mentalist!

I want to know about Knockback (KB) – which is a very key combat element in the PnP Champions game, and I want to know how and to what degree it's going to be integrated into CO. (circeus)

Heretic (lead powers designer): Knockback will be an integral part of the Champions Online gameplay experience. We are carefully considering the practical implications of this as well – for example, no melee character wants their enemies to be knocked out of their melee range as a matter of course, though there may be situational points where this may be desirable. We are working to accommodate both considerations, along with many others.

Will we have different back options than just capes and wings? (i.e. jetpacks, quivers, sword holsters, etc). (Jags_Powar)

Absinthe (lead character artist): We will have capes, wings, horns, spines and backpacks (which include jetpacks, etc.). We are still finalizing the details on whether or not we can get your weapons to display on your back all the time. But don’t worry – there will be plenty to choose from!

Will there be emotes and if so, can we get cool dance moves like they have over on that World of Wonderful Dance Emotes game that so many people play? (princenasir)

Absinthe: There will be emotes, and we will certainly be trying to get a large variety of fun ones in there. Personally, I want to do the worm!