http://boards.cityofheroe...mp;bodyprev=#Post11836781
Quote: Since Hero 1 is on a well deserved holiday today, and D&D Tiny Adventures on Facebook is acting up again, I think I will take this
opportunity to address several of the issues that came up from the PAX information.
First off the fact that you are building "newspaper missions" is patently NOT TRUE. Newspaper missions are randomized text with a random mission
map with a single objective needed to complete it.
Mission Architect is whatever text you enter, on the specific map you call (and we have over 1000 different maps in the game), with AT LEAST one objective,
but more likely more, with the ability to have allied NPCs (you want to rescue Statesman in the beginning of the map and have him fight WITH you the rest of
the way? Done). There are even some objective types going into mission maker that we didn't even have access to AS DEVELOPERS until Issue 12. There are
over 100 different things you can customize in the story arc, and most of those have multiple choices to pick from.
Yes, you will not be able to custom build a character and have them appear. Primarily this is because of the way the AI handles powers. Some powers simply
don't work when in the hands of the AI (Mastermind summoning is one example). One of our goals is to put the ability to take an existing Enemy Boss, and
change their costume to one you design. Since those powers and AI have all been pre-programmed this can be done without involving ringing Castle up at 2am to
debug the AI on the guy in your custom mission. While this is a stretch goal for launch, we want to get this ability into your hands as soon as possible.
You WILL get XP and Inf. during Mission Architect missions. I don't believe we ever said you wouldn't. We only said that you won't get it at the
same rate as normal-developer-designed content. Why? Well we have all sorts of COOL stuff coming for you in upcoming issues that doesn't involve Mission
Architect and we'd like you to try that out too (rewarding you for doing so).
You get to choose what contact gives out your Story Arc, picking from a list of all the available contacts in the game. Eventually you'll have the same
"customization" options as the custom bosses.
As for your limited number of Story Arcs. You will have a limited number of PUBLISHED Arcs, you can have TONS of unpublished arcs you are working on, that
are not ready for prime-time. If one of your arcs gets enough positive feedback to get into the Hall of Fame, it "graduates" from being one of your
published arcs, freeing up that slot for you to put something else in.
We are WELL AWARE of the customer service issues involved in the content of the missions. We have all seen the Spore Creature Creator, and we know the TTD
ratio on player created content in measured in nanoseconds. We have thought of a LOT of the angles already. Publishing a mission, getting a high rating, then
pulling it down and changing the text to something inappropriate is something we take VERY seriously.
All of the above information is what could have been gotten by people attending PAX, and I am putting it here so you all have a better understanding of the
system and our intentions with it.
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Positron
Lead Designer, City of Heroes