Dev Chat Transcript Answers Blood Moon Questions
Cryptic held a Champions Online dev chat yesterday that focused on the Blood Moon Halloween event, which kicks off on Oct. 27. To start things off, Executive Producer Bill Roper said the team is "looking into having ways for players to experience or unlock some of the Blood Moon events at other times of the year."
Roper also said they may make the Blood Moon costume pieces available in the C-Store once the event ends if there's enough demand from players. In addition, you can expect Takofanes to show up again, possibly as a high-level villain in his lair. With the addition of the PvP zombie map and the Celestial power set, it certainly looks like the ramifications of this Halloween event will be felt in Champions Online for quite some time.
The dev team answered a ton of questions during the one-hour chat, so keep reading after the jump for the full transcript.
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[16:34] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Hello! |
| [16:34] <+Cryptic_antiproton> join #cochat to keep talking. :) |
| [16:35] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Welcome to this week's Devchat! |
| [16:35] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Let's all introduce ourselves, as usual. |
| [16:35] <~Cryptic_Daeke> I'm David "Daeke" Bass, Community Rep Extraordinaire. |
| [16:35] <+Chronomancer> Greetings everyone! Bill Roper here, EP on the game. |
| [16:36] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> Hey there, I'm Randy "Arkayne" Mosiondz, Lead Designer. |
| [16:36] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> Konichiwa; I'm Brian Urbanek, aka "Balseraph", Systems Designer for Champion Online |
| [16:36] <+Cryptic_antiproton> Hi all, Cormac "AntiProton" Russell, Rewards System Designer for CO. |
| [16:36] <~Cryptic_Daeke> This time around, our focus is (initially, at least) on Blood Moon. You can type "/join #COquestions" if you have questions to ask during chat, or "/join #COchat" if you want to talk during the chat. |
| [16:37] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Let's get started! |
| [16:37] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Aquarian> Is this event planned to repeat yearly? |
| [16:38] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Arkayne's browser crashed :P |
| [16:38] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> If we do it again, we'll likely switch things up a little, mainly to keep things interesting, to incorporate new game features, and most importantly to provide more of what the players want to see. |
| [16:38] <+Chronomancer> We're also looking into having ways for players to experience or unlock some of the Blood Moon events at other times of the year. |
| [16:39] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <SharpeRifle> Will the open missions and instances for the 13 undead heroes be theoretically soloable? |
| [16:39] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> The open missions are VERY difficult and team oriented; a high-level player with tailored powers built around survivability might be able to do it, but it's best to work with other players to defeat the threats. The missions inside the crypt instances are a more for small teams; they can potentionally be soloable if you have a strong power build or you go int |
| [16:39] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> go into them when you are a higher level than the instance. |
| [16:40] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <hurpderpa> Will the Bloodmoon PvP perks be account-wide on unlock, and if not, is there an ETA on making perk unlocks account-wide? I get the feeling that soon I'm going to be missing out on event-only costume unlocks that I would really like for future characters. |
| [16:40] <+Chronomancer> We're unlocking the Celestial powerset as a special bonus to heroes who free the souls of all 13 zombie heroes. In terms of costume pieces, you do need to unlock the Perks on a per-character basis, like other costume unlocks. |
| [16:41] <+Chronomancer> Blood Moon also introduces the technology to ulock something on your character (such as the Celestial set) for your entire account. We'll be using this new piece of tech to allow players to unlock costume pieces account wide so they can make level 1 characters with those cool perk-related costumes they get! |
| [16:41] <+Chronomancer> Finally, if there's a lot of demand for it, we may make the event-specific costume pieces available in the C-Store once Blood Moon ends. |
| [16:41] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Agathorn> For people who are completionists and crazy about getting all the perks, but not PvPers, how hard will it be to get the PvP related perks in Blood Moon? |
| [16:41] <~Cryptic_Daeke> (Lucid couldn't be here, but he wrote this answer for you:) |
| [16:42] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Now, now. If you want the perks, you have to work for them! |
| [16:42] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Honestly, though, the PvP perks are probably a little easier to get than the existing PvP perks if you're not a hardcore PvP player, because both maps feature uneven teams--it's easier to score kills if you have lots of help. Be persistent and work with other players! |
| [16:42] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Dardove> Once Bloodmoon is done what are the chances of seeing a more permanent open pvp like that is featured in it? |
| [16:43] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> We've been discussing some ideas of how we'd implement an open PvP system, but there's no firm plans made for this yet. The main thing is that we'd like to make something seperate from the PvE play; not everyone likes PvP, and we don't want PvE players to feel put off by it. |
| [16:43] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Remember, if you have questions to ask, go to #COquestions and ask your question in chat. Or if you just want to talk, join #COchat. |
| [16:44] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Aronis> Is there anything you wanted to get into the Event, that in the end didn't make it? |
| [16:44] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> We were originally going to put an infection mechanic on the zombies as well so you could rise again as a zombie hero, but we ended up cutting that aspect. We didn't really want to overuse the infection mechanic as it is already featured in the werewolf event and the Zombie Apocalypse PvP map, plus we wanted to keep the major parts of the event (Takofanes and |
| [16:44] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> (Takofanes and the 13 Undead Heroes) exclusively PvE. |
| [16:45] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Aronis> When will we be a able to see the Blood Moon Trailer? |
| [16:45] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Very soon! We're putting the finishing touches up on the video as we speak, and you should be able to see it by the end of the week. |
| [16:46] <~COquestionbot> <ProfessorWalsh> First Question: With the upcoming release of Blood Moon a lot of testers find themselves concerned with some unresolved balance issues within the powers. Some of them, we have been assured, will be in several patches. Is there any concern that these abilities will cause issues with the emphasis of the PVP (and PVE) elements of Blood Moon? |
| [16:46] <+Chronomancer> We are going to be making several balance passes over the next couple of months, and we've done a few that will ship with Blood Moon. Most of the events are designed to take several heroes to complete, so this means you'll want to coordinate to complete the missions and get the perks. |
| [16:47] <+Chronomancer> Also, the BITE event was designed specifically to be a balanced PvP style game so any power imbalances aren't a factor. |
| [16:48] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Aronis> Will Takofanes only be a Event Villain or will he stay permanently? |
| [16:48] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> Takofanes is a major character in the Champions universe, and one of the most powerful. The Blood Moon event heralds his return and you can expect him to show up again, possibly as a very high level villain in his lair. |
| [16:49] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> With the addition of the Celestial set, healing and healing aggro is something that's taken center stage with us, and that we've been debating, working with, and tweaking rather extensively. First, let me say that we've been testing it "in the field"; the whole systems team running five mans, and trying to have a designated tank holding aggro, |
| [16:49] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> designated healer, and designated DPS. This is what you'll be getting with Bloodmoon: first, the aggro generated by healing across a group of enemies is significantly reduced. Second, the special threat generating advantages are improved. |
| [16:50] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> The single target taunt (Crippling Challenge) actually works exactly the same way, but we discovered that the wording wasn't clear, and was causing people to not use it to full effect; the new description should, hopefully, allow it to be used more effectively. |
| [16:50] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> The multi target aggro enhancer advantage (Challenging Strikes) has been significantly improved. In addition to always increasing the threat the attack generates, it additionally puts a small damage debuff on all of the targets, and if used on an attack with a cooldown (such as Might's Thunderclap) it will additionally deal a moderate amount of aggro |
| [16:50] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> over time for a length of time equal to the attack's recharge. |
| [16:50] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> Here's what isn't changing: enemies that HAVEN'T been damaged will still be immediately drawn to people spamming heals. However, pulling them back OFF of the healer with DPS, taunts, and aggro generation mechanics should be much, much easier. Dedicated healers in our tests do fine when their tanks and dps are on the ball and cooperate. |
| [16:50] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> That being said, PLEASE... get on the PTS, poke at it, hammer on it, and let us know what you think. We want support play to be exciting and require strategy, and you WILL grab some aggro some times, but we want it to be a lot more fun and approachable than it is now. |
| [16:51] <~COquestionbot> <Grimmace> How about an all Foxbat event for April Fools? |
| [16:51] <+Chronomancer> Done. ;)! |
| [16:51] <~COquestionbot> <Avaeras> What is the design philosophy behind deciding which items/character bonuses/cosmetic features are accessible or earned in-game, which are sold through the real-money C-store alongside the monthly subscription, and which are available through both? And what factors influence your decision on whether future costume pieces will be added to the characte |
| [16:52] <~COquestionbot> character creator or placed on the C-store for sale? |
| [16:52] <+Cryptic_antiproton> Anything that has a meaningful in game effect will have an in game equivalent. It may not be precisely the same, but if we make an Upgrade that gives +100 Con and +20 Dex in the C-Store, we'll have ways in game to earn something with equivalent stats. The most likely thing to get in the C-Store is cosmetic stuff, and account/character oriented stuff, like ret |
| [16:52] <+Cryptic_antiproton> like retcons, costumes, etc.. |
| [16:53] <+Cryptic_antiproton> As far as what cosmetic stuff like costumes goes in, |
| [16:54] <+Cryptic_antiproton> we've got additional artist time to make stuff specifically to add to the C Store, and it doesn't come at the cost of what our Live team is able to make for the regular release schedule. |
| [16:54] <~COquestionbot> <Lojo> How will 'Shadow Form' work with the new Celestial spells? Will it have an effect on the heals? |
| [16:54] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> Quite well, thank you. The offensive powers of Celestial will be boosted by Shadowform, because they are Dimensional damage. It will not boost the set's heals, however. That being said, the Celestial set's OWN passive will increase both the damage and the healing done by all powers in the set (though not increase damage as much as Shadow Form) |
| [16:55] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Lord_Xomic> Having tested several parts of Blood Moon during the play test (ie Zombie Apoc and werewolving/hunting) I'm curious if you have any plans to introduce non-event versions of those things, for all year around play. |
| [16:55] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> Zombie Apocalypse is going to persist as a PvP scenario after Blood Moon is over. The other events may show up on special occasions, and if the player demand is high, we may make the feature a permanent ongoing part of the game. |
| [16:55] <~COquestionbot> <Dradiin> Can we get an update on the Xbox version of CO, my son wants to playthe game but only if its released for his 360. |
| [16:56] <+Chronomancer> We're still working on the Xbox 360 version, with the emphasis right now being on making the controller work great (this is a boon to PC users, as well), overall UI enhancements for the console, and graphics performance. |
| [16:56] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Nydirech> Will the Final Timer on the Open mish be 2 hours as it was on PST? |
| [16:57] <~Cryptic_Daeke> (I think he meant PTS) |
| [16:57] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> Yup. Keep in mind that there are multiple instances of Millennium City, so if you're looking for a particular hero you can switch between instances to find the one you need. |
| [16:58] <~COquestionbot> <PimpWilly> Blood Moon is the first content pack that's been released since launch, just in time for halloween... are there any other Content packs in the works right now for the future? |
| [16:59] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> We're already working on new content for the next several months. In addition to general story arcs throughout the game, next month we have something for Nemesis, then a winter event, then a major content update in early 2010. |
| [16:59] <~COquestionbot> <Makasuro> Question: I've noticed that I can not trade crafted devices with my friends, is this intentional? |
| [17:00] <+Cryptic_antiproton> Yes. There will be non BOP Devices too, but the initial ones are all currently BOP. |
| [17:01] <+Cryptic_antiproton> And it is possible for things that are currently BOP to get tagged BOE eventually too, though I need to fix some of the egregiously overpowered ones before we open them up to that level. ;) |
| [17:02] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Remember, if you have questions to ask, go to #COquestions and ask your question in chat. Or if you just want to talk, join #COchat. |
| [17:02] <~Cryptic_Daeke> <Aronis> Is there a chance to start as Zombie right from the beginning in Zombie Apocalypse? It may sound stupid, but it is more fun on their side. |
| [17:02] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> Yes! There's a small chance to start as a zombie everytime you start the Zombie Apocalypse PvP map. |
| [17:03] <~COquestionbot> <Shadow-Fire> What if anythign is being done about knockback, knockdown, knock towards, knock up spam caused by some powers, Lash with netor hammer being the one that jumps to mind right now as the worst and most abused kb advantage. |
| [17:03] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> Knocks: So, right now, there IS a small amount of knock resistance that gets applied when most knocks hit you. However, the nature of the resistance is that rather than nothing happening, you get "repelled" instead of "knocked". When you're repelled, you can still move and take actions, which you can't do when you're knocked, so it's definately an |
| [17:03] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> improvement (and, of course, you COULD just stat for strength...). We have some plans to implement a few new powers or add functionality to existing powers that further reduce knockback or let you instantly "recover" from it in mid knock and gain a brief window of immunity to it, but that's not going to be happening for Bloodmoon, unfortunately. |
| [17:04] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> With regards to the specific power you mentioned, I'll double check that it's properly grating the diminishing returns protection. |
| [17:04] <+Cryptic_Balseraph> *granting |
| [17:04] <~COquestionbot> <DoctorZ> Will we see any live 'guest appearances' by heroes villians from the CO universe anytime soon? |
| [17:05] <~COquestionbot> We seem to have lost Chronomancer. |
| [17:05] <~COquestionbot> *elevator music* |
| [17:05] <+Cryptic_antiproton> hey, that's no bot! |
| [17:06] <~COquestionbot> Welcome back :) |
| [17:06] <+Chronomancer> Thanks! |
| [17:06] <+Chronomancer> Errant timeslip there... |
| [17:06] <+Chronomancer> Oh yes. In fact, rumor has it that the mighty Foxbat may be making an appearance in the next few days because, you know, Millennium City is HIS city. We'll also be featuring more of our signature heroes and villains in upcoming content releases. |
| [17:07] <~COquestionbot> <ShadowDrakken> Question: is Powerhouse going to be fixed so we can observe PvP matches again? this whole teleport to private instance thing has made it impossible to PvP test powers or watch said PvP tests. |
| [17:08] <+Chronomancer> It isn't *impossible* to test PvP now inside the powerhouse, now. You just need to team wirth someone to go into the PvP testing room first. That being said, we know that players want easier access and the ability to observe PvP testing, so we'll get the construction crews looking at another potential remodel. |
| [17:08] <~COquestionbot> <CountBleck> With Takofanes coming about, what are the odds that we'll see some more options for 'Undead' Costumes? |
| [17:08] <~COquestionbot> <CountBleck> With Takofanes coming about, what are the odds that we'll see some more options for 'Undead' Costumes? |
| [17:09] <+Cryptic_antiproton> There are some costume unlocks for zombie parts in Blood Moon. :) |
| [17:09] <~COquestionbot> <ShadowDrakken> Where's our in-game way to earn respecs is what I wanna know? |
| [17:10] <+Chronomancer> You can currently earn resources to retcon your character, so you do have an in-game method to attain this. We're also getting tech in the very near future that will allow us to unlock a free character slot and a free retcon when a character hits level 40. This is all coming from the technology we got to unlock the Celestial set! |
| [17:12] <+Cryptic_antiproton> Nope, the cool rare drops are meant to be exactly that. However, the broken item on Mr. Zombie has higher demand than a low level drop warrants, due to the things that were broken about it. The extra growth it wasn't meant to have is now limited (there is a bug with it reapplying), and we fixed the durations so that it no longer overpowers every single active |
| [17:12] <+Cryptic_antiproton> defense power. |
| [17:13] <+Cryptic_antiproton> In general we tried to make there be fun Devices to get in game as cool extras, we don't want you camping Mr. Zombie for 8 hours and messing up folks who need it for a quest. So there is a decent chance we'll move it to another critter |
| [17:13] <+Cryptic_antiproton> so that 40s trying to grab something they want as a toy don't go and grief lowbies who are trying to work a quest chain. |
| [17:13] <~COquestionbot> <WilhelmScream> Is there any chance that we'll see a wider availability of the promo Destroyer action figure? Its original release was unannounced, after all, and everything since has basically been a luck and timing grab. |
| [17:14] <~Cryptic_Daeke> So, the Retro Destroyer Action Figure was originally meant to be a PAX-exclusive figure, but due to some distribution issues, we weren't able to give it out much during PAX. |
| [17:15] <~Cryptic_Daeke> We've turned it into a contest prize, and we'll continue to distribute it over Twitter, IRC, Facebook, the forums, etc. It's not meant to be in wide distribution, you've got to earn it :) |
| [17:15] <~Cryptic_Daeke> That being said, though, stick around to the end if you want a chance to win one! |
| [17:15] <~COquestionbot> <WebGuest65> Is there any chance of some interesting changes/upgrades to acrobat travel power? I was hoping for, if not running up walls and parkour, at least the ability to get a leap or two off of vertical surfaces? |
| [17:16] <+Chronomancer> .That was a HUGE dream of ours prior to shipping, but it takes a massive amount of animation time and technology we just don't quite have right now. Its on our long-term wish list, so don't be surprised if you see it sometime down the road. |
| [17:16] <~COquestionbot> <Svenn> Is there any chance of cross-nemesis missions where multiple players Nemeses team up for a mission, perhaps with several nemeses from your SuperGroup? What about random encounter with other players Nemeses, perhaps just from your Super Group? |
| [17:17] <+Chronomancer> Interesting that you should mention that! This is the focus of our next HUGE repeatble Lair. Five Heores. Five Nemeses. And the most important question... Who's powerful enough to bring them all together? |
| [17:19] <~COquestionbot> <Dradiin> Question: are new costume pieces only going to come from unlocks or c-store purchases ?? or can we expect to see mroe pieces added to the current stock avail at creation ? |
| [17:20] <+Chronomancer> Absolutely! We'll continue to make free costume pieces that can be earned through perks or are rare drops. We're also working on creating and publishing a list of ALL the costume pieces you can get for free in the game right now for the website. We also don't take any time away from our art team to make C Store items - it is a seperate resource. |
| [17:21] <+Chronomancer> As for how you'll get them, most are unlocks, but we will also add things to the character creator as well. |
| [17:21] <+Cryptic_antiproton> I do my best to steal as many from the Art team as I can for rewards for game activities... ;) |
| [17:22] <~COquestionbot> <Makasuro> Question: It seems that defensive powers have taken precedence over offensive passives, while I have been successful with my offensive passive, are there any plans to buff them to be on par with their defensive counterparts? |
| [17:23] <+Cryptic_antiproton> The balancing of the offensive and defensive passives is something we actively work on. |
| [17:23] <+Cryptic_antiproton> The intent is that they should be roughly comparable, so you can be successful with either choice. |
| [17:23] <+Cryptic_antiproton> having said that, they ARE situational, there will be times and circumstances where one or the other will be better |
| [17:24] <+Cryptic_antiproton> some are more suited to group play, some to solo, some work better against crowds of weak critters, some are more effective against single tough opponents. Some will work better depending on choices of stats, your Upgrades, etc. |
| [17:24] <~COquestionbot> <ShadowDrakken> Question: when are the rest of the powersets going to make it onto the website, and when are the existing ones on the website goign to be updated with their pictures and current info? |
| [17:25] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Initially, those were intended to be teases before launch of the power sets, however things were changing so fast that it became impossible to keep updated. So we have something even better planned: |
| [17:25] <~Cryptic_Daeke> A database of all missions, powers, and perks in the game, accessible from the website, and automatically updated as things change in-game. |
| [17:26] <~Cryptic_Daeke> It's not ready for public consumption yet, but I've taken a look at it and it's awesome. |
| [17:26] <~COquestionbot> <VengeanceZero> while champions is hurting for PVE content why is the only content after blood moon sticking from this event PVP oriented and when can we see New and exciting perma pve content for players to play through? |
| [17:27] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> While the PvE events in Blood Moon are fairly extensive (13 open missions and instanced Crypts and a confrontation with Takofanes' Deathlords), we want to keep them special for the event. We are going to adding in new non-Blood Moon story arcs into the game when the Blood Moon event goes live, and will continue to do so over the next few months. |
| [17:27] <~Cryptic_Daeke> And with that, our time's up! Let's give out an action figure, shall we? |
| [17:28] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Here's how this will work. I'll unmute the channel, Arkayne will present the question, and the first person to post the answer in chat will win! |
| [17:28] <+Cryptic_antiproton> ... Chronomancer is looking at shoes on the web right now... It figures. |
| [17:28] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Ready? |
| [17:29] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> This is going to be a tougher one... |
| [17:29] <+Cryptic_Arkayne> While there have been many costumed heroes in the history of the Champions universe, who was responsible for triggering the event which caused the creation of the modern "super" hero? |
| [17:32] <Scarlyng> Erich Hessler |
| [17:32] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Scarlyng wins! |
| [17:32] <+Cryptic_antiproton> swee |
| [17:32] <+Cryptic_antiproton> sweet |
| [17:32] <+Chronomancer> WebGuest01 Was it Spring Heeled Jack!!! Spring Heeled Jack!!! --- AWESOME Victorian reference |
| [17:32] <Scarlyng> wooot |
| [17:32] <~Cryptic_Daeke> And Erich Hessler was more commonly known as? |
| [17:33] <+Cryptic_antiproton> were you going through sourcebooks Scarlyng? :) |
| [17:33] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Okay, okay, it's over! |
| [17:33] <Scarlyng> Der Totenkopf |
| [17:33] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Scarlyng wins a Retro Destroyer action figure. |
| [17:34] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Thank you, everyone, for showing up to the devchat! |
| [17:34] <~Cryptic_Daeke> We'll see you next time, on Heroes. |
| [17:34] <~Cryptic_Daeke> Oh, wait, I mean Champions. |
Tags: ChampionsOnline, News