Interview: Champions Online's Bill Roper

Atomic has a chat with Bill Roper, Cryptic Studio's Design Director and Producer for the upcoming MMO Champions Online.

David Hollingworth: Champions Online obviously makes use of the Champions pen and paper roleplaying license. How close have the devs stuck to the feel and mechanics of that license?

Bill Roper: The core of the original system is being able to make whatever hero you can imagine. It's an incredibly deep and flexible system from which we've been able to use many of these core ideas of the original RPG (statistics, power sets, talents, etc.) in Champions Online while also making the changes necessary to create an MMO. The spirit and many mechanics of the paper-and-pencil version of the game are definitely alive and well within our game, but with an eye towards what needs to be different to fit the expectations and needs of MMO players.

Also, the vast majority of the heroes, villains, and setting in Champions Online are directly from the paper and pencil game. We've done a lot of rework in terms of updating and altering certain looks and powers to better fit the MMO genre, but we're in constant contact and communication with the table top RPG team to ensure a very cohesive crossover between the two systems

DH: Since Cryptic worked on City of Heroes, what's being done on Champions to set it aside as a wholly different property?

BR: Champions has been around since 1981. We literally have decades of the world, characters, and game mechanics that have been played and refined by hundreds of thousands of players at our disposal. The Champions universe is every bit as rich and detailed as any you'd see from traditional comics, with the added advantage of it being a game from the very beginning. That means we're going to be very different in many of the core world ways with a MUCH richer setting.

From a game play perspective, I think there are some major areas that make us different:

Breaking Free of the City
While heroes commonly have their roots in major cities, they also go to the ends of the Earth to fight for justice. From the frozen tundra of Canada to the wilds of Monster Island to the irradiated wastes of the Desert to the undersea kingdom of Lemuria, heroes can explore and fight in more varied locations than ever before. And, of course, they can always return to the biggest, brightest, and most dangerous metropolis in the world - Millennium City.

Customization
From the look of your hero to what powers and how they function are all up to you. This is an amazing leap beyond what players are able to do in City of Heroes / Villains and is designed to bring four-color comics to life. Whatever hero you envision, we work to make real in the Champions universe.

Nemesis
Just as you can make the hero of your imagination, you can also create their arch-enemy - their Nemesis. Using the same in-depth tools, the ultimate villain can be crafted by the player. And this isn't just the costume and thematic power set, but also the personality and minions of your Nemesis. The ultimate challenge is the one you make for yourself.

PVP
In the Champions Universe, heroes go up against each other to test their abilities, prepare for extreme situations, and compete in what is known as The Hero Games. These are basically different contests designed to allow superheroes to go up against each other in a competitive fashion. From team battles to end-of-the world scenarios to open free-for-alls, the Hero Games act like a danger room mixed with elements of professional wrestling and extreme sports. Currently, we're shooting for three types of PvP play in the Hero Games:

1. Tournament of Champions
This is team-based combat within a defined arena. Teams of heroes can rise to top of the leader-board rankings and gain both acclaim and rewards for their efforts. The Tournament started as underground events between desperate and unsavory individuals with super powers. Recent times have seen the Tournament of Champions become a sanctioned event that is televised and followed by millions of eager fans around the world.

2. B.A.S.H.
This free-for-all affair takes place in a condemned section of the Westside district of Millennium City. While not as pristine an event as the Tournament of Champions, it does have a bevy of followers who track the winners and losers (and offer rewards) with just as mush fervor. It also has the beneficial side effect of making street crime non-existent in that part of the city.

3. Apocalypse
These are special scenarios devised to push superheroes to their limits in extreme situations. The current setting is within a simulated Stronghold prison where some heroes take on the roles of assisting the prison guards and others are trying to break out. This prepares all those involved to either quell a prison uprising or shake free unjust shackles should the prison ever fall into the wrong hands.