Comments on: They Are The Champions Online: Jack Emmert

By: Pushlittlekart

Pushlittlekart — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:24:24 +0000

Kommisar, you may have forgotten that for every four people putting together a lego castle, one internet retard will have more fun smashing it down.

By: Alphadean

Alphadean — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:21:13 +0000

I just want to know how, you know that Jack Emmert took credit for others people’s work. Did take credit for some of your work. Are you a disgruntled former employee. I love how people start making unfounded statements. The man must have some talent, cause he sure as hell is still working in the industry and trying to make a difference…what are you doing to make MMO’s better, different and innovative.

By: Kommissar Nicko

Kommissar Nicko — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:01:06 +0000

Here’s a shot in the dark: the “actiony” end to the MMO is just now emerging because people are more prepared to plunk down for the bandwidth. Part of what makes WoW manageable is the fact that there is a) no collision mapping, and b) range / facing are the sole spacial relationships two combatants have with one another. Even so, a good latency in WoW is roughly 200 ms, which is chump change compared to the 25-75 ms that most HL: Source shooters ask for.

What I’m really interested in is what Emmert mentioned about user-generated content. I’ve actually retroactively begun enjoying pen-and-paper RPGs, having become somewhat frustrated with computer RPGs; when you’re role-playing across the table, you get some personal license, not just with your character, but with the game itself. Sure, the GM runs the game, but to some degree, the players run the GM as well, and fill in some of the creative space. I’d really like to see an MMO do that, even if it starts in cheesy ways, like jamming together a collection of odds and ends that are pre-designed to allow players to “create,” like Lego. Lego is still a creative toy, even if you’re using bricks that someone else made to fit together in certain ways. This can be for buildings (Shack of Sleeping 10) or weapons (Vorpal Blade of the Bandit -1).

By: DSX

DSX — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:53:45 +0000

I like his sentiments on trying to grow past stat vs. stat conflict. Reminds me of the Myth series and how wise positioning, unit and group tactics could turn the tide of what you thought was an impossible battle.

Translating that into a MMORPG though would pretty much just mean endless kiting of a mob or a Tomb Raider-esque series of sequenced moves to survive each encounter. Not any sort of real spontaneous tactics.

I don’t think ingenuity and reflexes can survive in a massive multiplayer world because you just can’t expect everyone to figure it out and progress.

Games like spore hopefully will break into new ground there, where user-generated content becomes the tactic, and survivability becomes dependent on cooperative planning between your char, party, and any elements in the environment you can manipulate.

By: Sssshhh

Sssshhh — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:38:29 +0000

@Shon:

“Jack is the first MMO Dev I’ve encountered that treated the fans as fellow fans and not as a resource to be abused.”

HA. You really drunk the Kool-Aid on that one. CoH has improved immeasurably since Emmert walked from it, and it’s no surprise. The guy couldn’t design a straight line with a slide rule, and he’s taken the credit for other’s work all the way along the line. I expect he’ll continue to do same for Champions.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:33:17 +0000

I will say that user-created content, (sort of), has been the single greatest driving force behind MUDs. It’s also been one of the big differences between MMOs and their inspiration – pretty much every MUD I ever played would periodically elevate players to the “wizard” or “immortal” class, where they could begin designing areas and encounters. Most of them had very few “staff” people who were actually involved with the hosting or physical appurtenances of the MUD…almost everyone had been a player at one time, or knew a staffer from elsewhere online. I don’t think unrestricted player content adds much (just look at Second Life), but selecting genuine talents to help contribute could be very positive. (Much like Valve’s been grabbing successful modders and game programming student teams.)

By: elias

elias — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:47:40 +0000

@roBurky: make the filename “champions2-2.jpg” and you can see the shot.

By: Shon

Shon — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:42:30 +0000

Jack is the first MMO Dev I’ve encountered that treated the fans as fellow fans and not as a resource to be abused. His involvement with the City of Heroes community was one of the best parts about playing the game.

I say this as a huge City of Heroes fan, but my biggest concern about Champions Online is that it will be a remake of CoH with a Champions setting. I would really like to see how they anwser that concern.

By: roBurky

roBurky — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:41:38 +0000

The first image link doesn’t work.