Does using superheroes as avatars actually change the gameplay significantly from fantasy MMO titles?
Jack Emmert: At every level we wanted to create a different experience from every other MMO. Our goal was not to steal customers from other MMOs but to create new customers for City of Heroes straight away. Because it’s a superhero game we don’t have items like shields and so on that improve your stats. Your inventory, such as it is, entirely revolves around boosting a player’s previous powers, as opposed to a game that demands you get the latest magic sword or whatever so that you can continue to progress. Also, the mechanics of City of Heroes ensure that the player is fighting many opponents at once rather than a solitary enemy. We had to balance the AI totally differently to the kind of game where you’ve got 3 or 4 players battling a unicorn or a deer or whatever. The whole superhero thing really seems to have tapped into a rich vein of feeling among gamers. What is it about superheroes that appeals so much? Jack Emmert: We consciously created the universe of City of Heroes to be a
