Champions Online - Bill Roper's Column

After all those interviews PR machine Bill Roper has even more to say about Champions Online. This time its for his first editorial in the games own newspaper where he has a weekly column.

Some games are more fully a direct competitor with WoW than others. Warhammer Online was always going to be a more direct competitor to WoW than Champions Online. It's a fantasy setting. It's got orcs. It's got dwarves. To a certain degree, it feels similar to WoW. Conan was a competitor because it's a fantasy setting. You've got fjords and shields and magic spells and rogues and wizards. You've got core fantasy components and very similar mechanics in terms of combat, how many guys you're fighting at one time.

Champions Online has a very different focus. Perhaps the biggest difference is the customization that is available which is such a core element of the superhero genre. In a classic fantasy, MMO progress is all item driven - you're going up in levels so you can get the next level of loot, but when you get to the level cap, every warrior or character class looks the same because they've all gone out and there and won the same loot.

So all their equipment looks exactly the same. The difference in their character is going to be whether they're a big brawny guy or maybe a smaller guy. It's going to be a silhouette but every piece of gear they have is probably going to be the same. My top end fighter looks just like everybody else's top end fighter.

In a game like Champions Online it's about being able to create an iconic character. That's something really unique and makes it a very different type of game. Of course I want to be finding gear and equipment and items and costume pieces and these things that I can use to make my character better. But I can create an iconic look for my character and if I never want to change it I never have to. I am able to equip these different upgrades and elect not to show them off so that my character looks the same as when I created him or her.