On November 30, 2012, City of Heroes, my favorite MMO and among favorite games period, was shut down. It was an upsetting day, for quite a few reasons. The game that had pushed me through college, the game that had led to me meeting my friends and eventually forming GreatForge Studios, the game that had inspired me to become a game designer was gone. The developers at Paragon Studios, who were some of the most talented, most friendly, and most openly communicative I had ever seen, were scattered.
But possibly the most dismaying is that future designers will have lost one of the best object lessons in game design they could have had.
City of Heroes pioneered several brilliant ideas in the MMO industry, primarily due to its focus on playability. Sidekicking, and its upgrade to Super Sidekicking, made teaming between players of different levels easy. Travel powers and other travel methods made traversing the city easy. The Mission Architect let players create their own stories and share them with the world.
Those are the most obvious things that made City of Heroes stand out, but it's the little things that I'll miss most. Thanks to fantastic animations and sound effects, powers had a weight to them that most MMO combat doesn't seem to grasp. Every power, even the wimpiest of blasts, felt like had impact. With the comprehensive toolkits spread around, every archetype was useful while none was necessary. No Tanker on your team? The Controller's lockdown potential and the Defender's debuff capabilities can keep the team safe. No Blaster to nuke mobs? Everybody can contribute damage to the team.
I won't be able to point out City of Heroes and all of its successes and flaws to the generation of game designers, and that's what saddens me the most.
No comments:
Post a Comment