This release also introduces a new merit system; can you talk about the new system and what players can expect from the system?
The merit system allows players to have better control over what rewards they are receiving for playing the game. If they are looking for a specific Enhancement, they can get it by earning and using Merits instead of constantly farming content for rolls on specific random tables to get the one they want. Now the need for farming goes out the window, as players are rewarded with merits across the board in several different areas.
The leveling pact system sounds pretty cool as it will allow those who play with friends to stay at the same system, it also seems like it could be abused by people. Why did you decide to roll this feature out and what are you doing to prevent people from abusing the system?
We are always looking for more ways for you to play City of Heroes with your friends, as that is one of the biggest attractions MMO’s have over single-player games. Sidekicking was a good example of this, but even that had its limits. The leveling pact allows two characters to always be at the same level, no matter what, and that’s a feature I am sure a LOT of MMO players have been wishing for, for quite some time.
We are aware of the potential of abuse, and we do have checks in place. I won’t go into specifics, for obvious reasons, but suffice it to say that we are aware of the potential for abuse and are going to be vigilant about stopping it.
In every content update there's an important feature that gets lost in the shuffle, what is that feature for this issue?
I think the alterations we’ve made to the Epic and Patron powers have really been overlooked. We made a lot of changes here, including the ability to switch your Patron pool at-will during a respec, bringing it on par with the Hero Ancillary Power Pools. That and a great deal of data mining and information gathering went into making unpopular power choices more viable, hoping to spread out what a typical player can expect out of characters who take such pools.
What's next for City of Heroes? Can you give us a hint about what to expect in Issue 14?
Issue 14 is all about the Mission Architect. Issue 15 will bring us back into some more story-driven content. That’s all I can say for now about that though!
We'd like to thank Matt for taking the time to talk to us as well as Steve (4-2,3-2) and Lila for helping to setup the interview.
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