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Ten Ton Hammer: On that note, the open power set system feels a lot like a skill-based game in that you can make a character that can perform one function really well - almost to the detriment of other areas.  Is that something that players of Champions Online should really do?  If a guild wanted a healer or a tank, should players do that or does it take away from the pleasure of the game?

Bill Roper:  That really is the real strength of the system; the fact that we are able to do that to provide this broad-based feel and play for the game.  Which I think is really great.  It's not unbalancing to do those things but it is nice that you can get on both sides of the fence. The challenge to us comes in making sure that we're making that work correctly.

Ten Ton Hammer: Supernatural kind of feels like a gadgeteering power set, because there is a lot of different stuff in there.  Is that something that happened because - kinda like gadgeteering - you needed lump all these different powers together or is there some overarching theme to them being there?

Bill Roper:  I think that it does in some ways serve that similarity to gadgeteering where there are a lot of different things that we want to do there.  Just the concept of supernaturals seems to really fit across the whole idea.  The theme is the same as gadgeteering where you can have a supernatural background and focus on this or that being able to be kind of a catch all.  I think that's pretty accurate.

Ten Ton Hammer: In this interview we have the magic theme going on; what kind of stuff have you thought about for the future with other power sets where you might introduce magic elements?  For example, you have a darkness power set; are you ever going to consider maybe a divine power set where people are calling upon divine magics or Norse magics?

Bill Roper: Sure, I think that's totally possible.  We have some divine powers that are in there right now, but I think that there are also other ways that we could do it.  Something like a plant-based, almost more Druidic sort of set. We could take a lot of these different power sets and put them into a magical feel.  Definitely part of what we try to do is to know what players want specifically and then provide that very specific sorcery set and things like that.  I think that we're able to do some really fun stuff in that regard with other power sets.

Ten Ton Hammer:  Do you have any personal favorite powers out of those three power sets that you might want to tell the fans about?  Everyone wants to hear about the specific powers so do you have a favorite one off the top of your head?

Bill Roper: I've played darkness the most, about 18 hours with a custom build and everything.  It's really funny that I happen to have just made a sorcerer so I want to go through the game with the sorcery set because I haven't played a lot of that.  The different power circles in the end mechanic are something I really want to play with.  They also have some different pet classes in sorcery.

Ten Ton Hammer:  Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?

Bill Roper:  We've got a lot of really cool stuff coming up for our beta players.  We've got some really good ideas off of the boards for some different stuff.  We are continuing to look at and listen to what our beta players are saying.  One of the cool things we are working on right now is the "Danger Room" so when players purchase powers they can actually try them out. They will have a place where they can go in, get their power, try it out, and if it isn't what you thought it was it's really cheap to put it back.  We haven't seen it done in any other MMO where you can basically try before you buy.

We thank Bill for taking the time to talk with us about these powersets.  Check back soon at Ten Ton Hammer for more Champions Online coverage!