Community-Built COH Style MMORPG

[Aviticus Gladius]

@agentq, I've worked in the commercial and indie game industry for a long time. A technical demonstration is in no way bound by some moniker stating, "All features must be present in the demo." Have you ever seen Valve's tech demos or CryTek's tech demos? Most of them only show graphical capabilities; most show environments and shaders with no gameplay elements at all. Here is a bit of proof to demolish your "very personal" definition of "tech demo":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG29MX1DKhY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTC2T_kBYCg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaSwK5AjRKg

Most of these engines flagship titles have multiplayer or come with multiplayer support out of the box. However, it's not shown in any of these videos, nor is logging in and creating an account. Tech refers to "technical", which could realistically cover anything from advanced shader rendering to something as small as a block moving across a 2D plane. We are currently putting together start to finish gameplay videos of both Project Gorgon and Legends of Etherell, but those aren't at a point where we are ready to show to the public. Both games are undergoing visual upgrades and/or programmatic changes. And in regards to shortcomings, every game, company, and individual experiences shortcomings of some nature; shortcomings don't define the value or potential of a product profitability or sentimental worth haha (such a primitive thought). I helped fund Wildman on Kickstarter, a game developed by Gas Powered Games; a company that made 2 of the games that inspired the leveling/progress system in my game [Dungeon Siege I/Dungeon Siege II]. It was unsuccessful in its funding efforts after the plug was pulled today. Do you really think that makes their company or the product worthless? It's pretty sad that people have started to feel that a company's success or value are dependent on the results of a crowd funding platform.

You appear to be missing a massive majority of what I post or you're trying too hard at your failed attempts to compromise the validity of my posts. Asking if any of the games were playable, when a link to a playable version of the title was included with the text "Game Build" annotated right above it. And never did I say anything about "being aware of massively". I said I spent a lot of time in the MMORPG.com forums; those are two completely different websites. There are thousands of MMORPG sites that I'm "unaware" of and that happened to have been one of them until I just looked it up. I don't even visit MMORPG.com religiously, just a lot more than the average gamer. Neither title is getting massive press either you're grossly exaggerating; I talked to the 24 other members my super group today and only one said, "I've heard of some Phoenix Project that is set to be a successor to CoH". The other 23 members were completely unaware of either title and they spend a lot of time playing DCUO and CO. You'd think someone would have mentioned it with all the discussions going on regarding CoH being taken down. But, somehow only one person out of a group of 26 was aware of these rather popular project... until I said something??? That shows that they aren't getting enough press, not that there getting a lot!

Lastly, though I agree everyone is entitled to their opinion, I also feel that there is a difference between voicing your opinion and aimlessly attempting to thwart someone's efforts. You represent less that .0001% of the CoH community scattered across the internet. I have no personal stake in this matter aside from insuring the continuity of a game I love. Our company also retains no earnings from third-party products nor do we wish to. Feel free to contact the executive members of the Phoenix Project, and they will tell you the only thing our company asks for is 20% of the final revenue share and that is all contractually obligated covering future server fees and website development costs; essentially it all goes back to the network. Whatever isn't required to prolong the forward continuity of their products are returned to the project leaders to handle it however they see fit. With Legends of Etherell, I chose to divide it into equal shares and give it to members of the development team as bonuses. We don't ask for any of their crowd funding assets either, that is all the responsibility of the company's lead executive or the project's leader.

Our company doesn't operate like most. We are genuine individuals, with a heavy emphasis on our communities, because we founded our company due to the fact that each of us were tired of being that "1 person" in the community that corporations could care less about. Our "vigiliance" is not wavered by any of your comments, so we continue our forward progress as we always have. I'm also glad to not be a good "good salesman", I'd have to be a salesman man first. You're obviously no good anything you attempt to do either, so please bring something valuable to the threat with some type of credibility or just don't bring anything.

[Tiberian Fiend]

Allow me to split the knot of wheter or not Aviticus Gladius is a veteran CoHer or not by speaking in the language we're all most familiar:

Aviticus, which nerf did you hate the most, and why?

[Rotten Luck]

I also have my doubts about your group Aviticus.  I'm giving you a fair shot but won't be putting any funding to any projects until I see some demos.  The other two projects have been posting concept art and other details about their operations.

Now not that I am saying I doubt your word I wouldn't have signed up to your forum if I did have such doubts.  But as I said you are coming into the game a few months late.  Being the late starter not only do you have to produce something but also have to catch up.  This is why I said working with one of the other projects might be best.  They already have the community support, lore, and basics.  Your coming into this after the gloom has set in and we are now in a slow simmer.

The community hasn't given up, but now we know it's a wait and see game.  In this condition we are being more careful before jumping off tall buildings.

Lets look at it this way.  We are your investors, we will donate to the Plan Z that we believe in.  We will offer Lore Ideas and Characters.  However Now with 3 maybe 4 Plan Z programs that investing power running dry.  Alright you told us your Company background and such.  But what is your vision. 

Yes, yes a spiritual successor to City of heroes.  Just like the other Plan Z goals.  Work with the Community... again all the Plan Z projects are community driven.  We see that those words mean a lot in different ways to others.  So what does it mean to you.  As the spear head to Plan Z: Valiance what would be produced would be influenced by You.  So in order to help you out here are some questions.

1.) What do you see as needed in a Spiritual Successor to City or Heroes?
2.) What do you feel needs to be changed to bring a Superhero MMO into the modern gaming level?
3.) What type of environmental are you aiming for?  This is a big one for CoH, CO, and DC all have different feels some are more realistic others cartoon like quality.
4.) Will your aim be more Mission, gameplay focus or Roleplay focused?   

[Nightmarer]

After having joined Valiance forums, I've also have seen a few discouraging signs here and there that seem dubious, however, if Valiance turns out to be a valid substitute for CoH, I'll welcome it wholeheartedly. Same goes for any other Plan Z projects.-

[Ironwolf]

Yes, after the initial blush, it appears that this "studio" has never published a game.

If I am incorrect please point me to where it can be purchased. Please also let us know who the other devs are? Do you have a list of who would be assigned to this game?

This looks like a possible money grab at a group who are desperately seeking a lifeline. I can tell you if this is what you are doing - you made a rather large mistake.

[TargetOne]

With regard to the various discussions of what does and does not constitute a "spiritual successor" to CoH, and how closely any of these projects aspire to be one, I'd like to say this:

A "spiritual successor" would by default feel like CoH  across a wide range of playing styles... similar (if not identical) mechanics, control schemes, keyboard layouts, powers, effects, mob behavior, and so on. The main change would be to the IP: game title, city zones, iconic heroes, villains/villain groups, and so on. (Not to mention any specific CoH gameplay features NCSoft might have actually patented.)

But in my opinion, just because a "Plan Z" game plays and feels like a "spiritual successor" by default does not in any way mean it cannot expand upon the superhero MMO concept. Note the words "by default"... out-of-the-box (or modem) gameplay would closely emulate CoH, but there can be all kinds of "optional" expansions upon the core gameplay for those who want something more. "Plan Z" developers finally have a chance to throw off the shackles of CoH's limitations and create a game with incredible breadth and depth.

For example, CoH was limited to the "archetype"/"power-set" model. Yes, you could customize your builds to some degree by choosing among several powersets and power pools, and which powers within a set/pool you took, but the game still hamstrung you into needing to choose (and, further, you couldn't just take the powers you wanted right away within a set/pool, you had to take certain lower-level powers first). Which is why I'd want any "Plan Z" game to incorporate a true free-form character build capability, alongside whatever archetypes and powersets make it into the game. And that free-form feature ought to be flexible enough to handle ANY player's "dream build", without unnecessary restrictions.

Another example: CoH gave us supergroup/villaingroup bases, with some pretty good variety in base objects and flexibility in how to place/combine them, but it was rather difficult to work with at times and took a lot of practice to get right (not to mention, having to use base items for purposes they were never intended for in order to achieve certain "looks", like multiple floors). "Plan Z" could limit itself to that, sure, but why? Why not add individual player bases/hideouts/lairs, like Champions, only with better customization? And make the base editing system much easier to work with, like DCUO? And incorporate options to allow placement of raised floors, interior walls, false ceilings, and multiple levels without jumping through hoops?

I guess that, in my mind, there's no reason why a "Plan Z" game can't be both a "spiritual successor to CoH" AND something much greater.

Mind you, the initial game release probably OUGHT to mimic CoH closely, at least gameplay-wise, for the sake of speeding development time (we want our City back NAO!!!). But the devs ought to put in enough hooks and extensions to allow for easy expansion of gameplay in the near-future, along with the free-form character builds and easier-to-use base editor as mentioned above (they're pretty much a "must-have" in this day and age).

Some other thoughts about what I'd like in a CoH successor, "spiritual" or otherwise (note that a lot of these are related to roleplaying, since that's what I miss the most about CoH):

• Powers and combat that makes me feel "heroic" (or villainous) from the get-go. It may mean making some powers a bit over-powered, but I at least want to at least feel like I can lay waste to all enemies that cross my path.
• Optional enhancements to powers, obtained through item drops, mission rewards, and crafting, so we can fiddle with our powers' effectiveness. (But please, give them meaningful names. In CoH I always found it very hard to remember which enhancements affected which attributes; the names and icons were no help, and the color-coding often hard to distinguish. At the very least, "Plan Z"'s enhancements ought to state their effect alongside their name at all points in the UI.)
• The ability to play both heroes and villains, as well as morally-ambiguous characters. However, this needs a better system than CoH's "Hero/Villain/Rogue/Vigilante" setup. (I'd like a greater range of steps between "hero" and "villain", for one thing, as well as missions designed for the intermediaries. Which missions are available to you should depend on how close to one extreme or the other you are.) And all of it should take place in the SAME zones no matter what the character's alignment. No more segregating the villains into a separate ghetto!
• Incredible variety of animated emotes. At least as many as CoH had, if not even more. And most should be available to all players, not locked behind the paywalls of a cash shop.
• Word balloons for both general chat and custom /emote text, along with select other channels. In Champions I'm finding it incredibly difficult to follow conversations, or to keep track of who says what, as only "local" text appears in balloons. I keep having to watch the chat log for speech made using /emote text. (One further improvement: a slider that lets us set how nearby other characters have to be before their local/emote speech even appears in either word balloons OR the chat log. Or maybe just "fade out" the word balloons for more distant conversations. This would make it a LOT easier to follow a private conversation without having to "hear" stuff being said a hundred feet away.)
• Hotkey access to "battle cries" (or generalized text macros, if you will), for those characters who just have to shout out something before wading into battle. it would be nice to incorporate certain emotes into these hotkeys as well.
• Customizability! Body styles/sizes, costume part variety, costume coloration, sliders to tweak every body/face proportion, a variety of base facial/skin textures (I hate how "generic" the faces all look in Champions... we ought to have both multiple textures to choose from, like CoH, AND tweakable facial proportions like CO), selectable power effects and power colorizing, customizable travel powers, and on and on...
• Character models that are more well-proportioned, idealized, and less comical  than Champions.
• For the love of God, "walk" and "run" animations that don't look goofy. (All animations, really, but especially walk and run.) CoH nailed this, Champions fails!

And that's just off the top of my head...

[JaguarX]

Yeah.

Well proportioned but realistic. Meaning ability to create average joe sizes. Seems that games have something against fat people although there are a few pudgy heroes and villians hanging around. And of course fingers. The mitten look is soooo outdated.

Also I did like the mission and story arc separation in COH although I wish there was more of an indicator of which one was storyarc and which one useless mission. Although having a bunch of fluff missions in storyarcs is an old COH standby, (not so much villians or rogues though), yeah tone down the fluff useless missions.

A bit more end in the early levels would be nice.

Less dependence of luck, (hit rolls, dodge, drops, etc.) It seemed the luckier a player is the more powerful they are able to become. But that is small beans. More importantly though, I dont think everything should be monopolized by the player economy like in many games, nor majority of it. Everything should be able to bought one way or another from an NPC instead of having to either wait for the farmers to fill up the market or hoping to get lucky yourself for a specific gear. Although I do like the non-hit roll or worrying about acc system in CO but dont think it would work in COX successor as SR was one of the stand-bys that people seemed to liked and dont think it would be good to get rid of it even though I hate the hit roll system. If COX wasa movie it would be a boring one watching a hero and villian whiffing away at each other.


Speaking of farmers. COX seemed split personality on this subject, farmers. On one hand it seemed to be frowned upon on the other they kept getting blatant gift drops that they should have known was dead easy to exploit by farmers. I hope the successor either leave the farmers be or do something about it instead of acting schizo about farmers, choose once and for all.


And dont forget about people that may not be social ninja gurus. Aka, a successor shouldnt be all team based nor should teaming have that much more incentive especially in the way of xp than soloing. I think teaming can be incentive by gear. Bigger the mobs better the gear drops. Not merely just more. Thus bigger the team bigger the drops and all teammates get drops. I dont think any game do that but would be nice and good incentive for teaming instead of the same person getting the purples over and over while the same person get Pacing of the Turtle each time. Kind of turn a person off from even bothering teaming. Especially with "Oh it's easy to make money off the market!" Yeah when ya get purple drops like it's nothing while on the same team and doing the same thing keep getting crappy drops it's not so easy.

And a little bit of PVP too. Preferable like prior to i-13, but at the same time though, think the assigned mods should not be laxed with unruly behavior as they was in COX, which seemed to be PVP downfall in the end and loss of many people. And a bad taste of PVP in many people's mouth. Then the i13 changes was just a mercy kill to pvp when all it took wasa little more moderation instead of seemingly encouraging griefing behavior. Yes, even within COX community I seen some people get the business from other players that make WoW players look like saints and not a single person doing a anything about it. If there is not enough mod man power or dont care about griefers and other people who make it a point to run any newe player away from pvp, then there is no point in implementing it, also it should be in the beginning or really not at all. That way everyone is new but even as the game ages, it should welcome new players to try out pvp instead of pvp being known as the arm pit of society in the game.

[Nightmarer]

With regard to the various discussions of what does and does not constitute a "spiritual successor" to CoH, and how closely any of these projects aspire to be one, I'd like to say this:

A "spiritual successor" would by default feel like CoH  across a wide range of playing styles... similar (if not identical) mechanics, control schemes, keyboard layouts, powers, effects, mob behavior, and so on. The main change would be to the IP: game title, city zones, iconic heroes, villains/villain groups, and so on. (Not to mention any specific CoH gameplay features NCSoft might have actually patented.)

But in my opinion, just because a "Plan Z" game plays and feels like a "spiritual successor" by default does not in any way mean it cannot expand upon the superhero MMO concept. Note the words "by default"... out-of-the-box (or modem) gameplay would closely emulate CoH, but there can be all kinds of "optional" expansions upon the core gameplay for those who want something more. "Plan Z" developers finally have a chance to throw off the shackles of CoH's limitations and create a game with incredible breadth and depth.

For example, CoH was limited to the "archetype"/"power-set" model. Yes, you could customize your builds to some degree by choosing among several powersets and power pools, and which powers within a set/pool you took, but the game still hamstrung you into needing to choose (and, further, you couldn't just take the powers you wanted right away within a set/pool, you had to take certain lower-level powers first). Which is why I'd want any "Plan Z" game to incorporate a true free-form character build capability, alongside whatever archetypes and powersets make it into the game. And that free-form feature ought to be flexible enough to handle ANY player's "dream build", without unnecessary restrictions.

So far, I don't think anyone has questioned the validity of what constitutes a CoH spiritual successor. I don't think the ability to expand upon the superhero MMO concept has been questioned  either, however, I for one (and only speaking for myself of course) know that I've lost all interest in the Phoenix Project precisely because I've seen too much interest in the "freeform" concept.

I know I'm not going to touch any game that allows freeform concept Super Heroes even if every single person on Earth swears it's the true and only "CoH spiritual successor". As I said, I don't think the concept of spiritual succession has been questioned on either project. On my particular case, I'm looking for either CoH back or something close enough to my liking, if I just wanted a superhero MMO with an expanded concept, there are a couple out there and another one in the making and Project Z would be just other studios developing other MMOs.

[JaguarX]

So far, I don't think anyone has questioned the validity of what constitutes a CoH spiritual successor. I don't think the ability to expand upon the superhero MMO concept has been questioned  either, however, I for one (and only speaking for myself of course) know that I've lost all interest in the Phoenix Project precisely because I've seen too much interest in the "freeform" concept.

I know I'm not going to touch any game that allows freeform concept Super Heroes even if every single person on Earth swears it's the true and only "CoH spiritual successor". As I said, I don't think the concept of spiritual succession has been questioned on either project. On my particular case, I'm looking for either CoH back or something close enough to my liking, if I just wanted a superhero MMO with an expanded concept, there are a couple out there and another one in the making and Project Z would be just other studios developing other MMOs.

yeah, the definition of "COH spiritual successor" is hard to pin down, especially without the IP and the various definition of spiritual successor wand what people want in that game. Which why I think it's great to have more than one. But in the the end, each is just another studio developing another MMO, but hopefully finally a super hero MMO where the developers are able to or choose to take their time with development and nit just thowing half-baked fix it later oh wait cant fix it need people on the fanatasy game. God forbid a fantasy game is releases half finished as it's considered sub standard but for super hero MMO it's the standard? I hope between the four projects maybe five maybe three, one of them break that standard once and for all.

[Golden Girl]

Just a little digging a little below the surface here shows a major truth, competence and honesty deficit - which has been confirmed by talking to the Phoenix Project.

My advice is to avoid this.

[JaguarX]

Well just like anything I'll check it out for myself and go from there. Not that I dont trust project phoniex people or the likes, thye may be trying to poke holes to kill competition early. Or thye might truely be concerned. While the little stuff even project phoenix have shown, it's still not concrete indicator of anymore towrads completition then the other freelance people that have come through here.

[Nightmarer]

Well just like anything I'll check it out for myself and go from there. Not that I dont trust project phoniex people or the likes, thye may be trying to poke holes to kill competition early. Or thye might truely be concerned. While the little stuff even project phoenix have shown, it's still not concrete indicator of anymore towrads completition then the other freelance people that have come through here.

True, at this stage all projects are equally valid, once they deliver a game, the players will decide which one is more valid and I personally don't care if whatever freelancer claims to have played CoH from the very day one of alpha testing or even he invented the whole game, all that matters to me is to have either CoH back or a valid substitute.

If by a community driven game they mean they want constructive feedback from the CoH gaming community (being CoH spiritual successors and all that) they can bet their firstborn that any such project will be drowned in constructive feedback (and probably the non constructive kind too but comes with the territory I guess) however, if by a community driven game they mean they want my money, they will surely have it in the form of payment when they deliver a playable and purcheasable game. This comes with an added benefit, see, they can keep having my money in the form of monthly fee and ingame store purchases for as long as their game keeps me interested.

[Triplash]

Just a little digging a little below the surface here shows a major truth, competence and honesty deficit - which has been confirmed by talking to the Phoenix Project.

My advice is to avoid this.

Well, I for one have never in my life given anybody more than $20 without first seeing proof that they're trustworthy. In this case, that means at a bare minimum he'd have to at some point provide a working demo client, playable by at least a select (known and trusted) few among this community. In my opinion giving a substantial amount of money to somebody is not even a consideration until that level of evidence is provided.

For that matter, the same goes for the two Plan Z projects as well. I do believe in the people working on them, in both cases. I trust you guys, and I can wait for that proof, but I will need to see it before anyone gets cash out of me. Faith and blind faith are not the same thing. This guy gets the same answer as anyone else who might ever ask me for money... prove you deserve it.

In the meantime, if he wants to start giving us something a little more concrete to examine than just pleasant words, well that would certainly make him look more credible than he does right now. Sweet talk only gets ya so far.

[Golden Girl]

For that matter, the same goes for the two Plan Z projects as well. I do believe in the people working on them, in both cases. I trust you guys, and I can wait for that proof, but I will need to see it before anyone gets cash out of me. Faith and blind faith are not the same thing. This guy gets the same answer as anyone else who might ever ask me for money... prove you deserve it.

The way HaV is set up, it techncially doesn't need crowdfunding to succeeed.

[Thunder Glove]

For example, CoH was limited to the "archetype"/"power-set" model. Yes, you could customize your builds to some degree by choosing among several powersets and power pools, and which powers within a set/pool you took, but the game still hamstrung you into needing to choose (and, further, you couldn't just take the powers you wanted right away within a set/pool, you had to take certain lower-level powers first). Which is why I'd want any "Plan Z" game to incorporate a true free-form character build capability, alongside whatever archetypes and powersets make it into the game. And that free-form feature ought to be flexible enough to handle ANY player's "dream build", without unnecessary restrictions.

And, see, I liked the Archetype/Powerset limitations, because it gave my characters a theme.  As I said in another topic around here somewhere, I had a fully freeform character on CO, and it just felt like a horrible mish-mash of conflicting concepts, because the individual powersets were so unbalanced that you had to dip into random things.  My main Brute on CoH had two powersets that the majority of his key powers came from, one Epic powerset, and a few powers from Flight and Fighting.  My attempt to recreate that Brute on CO required dipping into no fewer than six different frameworks just to recreate what that Brute had in his Primary and Secondary, and those powersets were all over the map (two were pure technology, one was pure magic, one involved harnessing my character's chi power; some used Str for damage while some used Ego, so my attack power wasn't that great, either).  There was no cohesion at all, and no way to get cohesion, because the powers I wanted didn't exist in the Frameworks I wanted to focus on.

Maybe if Freeform were an option, it'd be okay, but I definitely want CoH's Archetype/Powerset system first and foremost.

Which brings me to a more general concern about any attempt at a "spiritual successor": everyone liked different things about CoH, and everyone wanted different things improved, and any "spiritual successor" is going to disappoint people - both for sticking too closely to CoH's style and for not sticking to it closely enough.

[Golden Girl]

A freeform power system goes against the comic book genre on a fundamental level - the majority of comic book characters are defined by their power sets, which extends to their names and their outfits.

[JaguarX]

There are ups and down with set archtypes vs freeform. I prefer freeform and I think at one point the achytypes at one point were just powers assigned to the hero in comic lore and people chose to follow that example. I mean to me there isnt much difference between a character I made that is a brute and another one that is the same. Even in comic book lore, there are varities of power combinations that have not been explored by any MMO. Most including COx basically stick with the most famous basics. Tanks only mostly have melee besides a few rocks thrown (Superman/Hulk like) but take hell of a lot of damage. Fighters scrappers usually have little less hp but hit hard and can be hit hard (wolverine). Controllers/dominators(Jean Gray). Blasters (Gun toting comic charcter who name is on tip of tongue but cant think off now.) and so on. But for example, it would be hard in COX to create a toon like Cable or anything that have combination outside the usual. Say, just because someone use range powers doesnt mean they should be squish. Or cant kick to save their lives. in CO I feel that finally I am able to actually create a toon outside the usual superman/hulk/jean gray/other famous super hero clones with different clothes. I can create a gunslinger that is actually tough as nails. Or I can make a melee based toon that isnt afraid to shoot a person if needed like an actual police officer. Those options allow me to create a new toon and experiment with combinations that have not been thought of or not common. Some wont work well for everyone but in the end somewhere even in the early 30s someone decided that invul went with melee in a freeform type which eventually became archtype industry standard and Superman was born. I'm tired of making Superman clones that just wear a different outfit. I'm happy now with the freedom.

But with freedom also comes more chance to bolo depending on what aperson is looking for.

But if archtypes should be used, they definately should be extended beyond the usual mix. There are dozens of comic book characters in the X-man realm alone that dont have the usual archtype set up that COX offered. Basically comic book realm is freeform, especially in the likes of everything from The Blob, Green Lantern, Storm, Juggi., Cyclops, professor x, Magneto, toad, sabertooth, cable, bishop, iron man, war machine, thor, dr doom, the punisher (vig. who uses gun but by no means a squish), Blade and the thousands that I havent mentioned. Many here will fit the generic archetype that is offered in most MMOs and many do not. To me freeform is the freedom to truely something I can call mine. One of the reasons why when my toons in COX became lost during closing, I didnt even really care. They was merely all limited by the archtypes. In CO, I can call them truely my creations down to power choices. Sometime I actually pick two sets of powers that are opposite and clunky if the personality of the character I'm creating calls for it. Others prefer range but if opponet get close they smash them. Some use various forms of powers in defensive ways, some use darkness and love sucking the lifeforce out of people but have no qualms about taking an axe to their opponents veins to help with bloodflow, while others use their mind to protect themselves but weild a huge weapon. Some build their own mechs stuff so operation is not fluid thus sometimes must use kicks and punches to defend themselves. And etc. freedom to create my own. Now that i tasted tha tfreedom, I'm not partaking in any game where my heroes are pigeon holed into set archtypes because that is the achtypes the most popular comic people made in the 40s-70s said is supposed to be hero powers and nothing outside that line is allowed or not "comic book" like. Especially when hundreds of comic creations dont fit the popular archtype that is commonly quoted and have been the sole choices in COX.

[Triplash]

The way HaV is set up, it techncially doesn't need crowdfunding to succeeed.

Well optional or not, if the proof's there and I believe what I see, I'm willing to help out. And if I like what I see I'll help out even more. Since I don't have any of the skills needed, it's pretty much down to cash.

A freeform power system goes against the comic book genre on a fundamental level - the majority of comic book characters are defined by their power sets, which extends to their names and their outfits.

See, I agree with this take on it. If I had my preference I'd keep powersets. However, I am also intrigued by the ability to supplement such powersets with a small number of unrelated abilities. I always thought of power pools and epic power pools that way, as complete abnormalities in relation to the basic character. Powerset-wise, there was no call for my DM/Regen scrapper to have laser beam eyes... but she still did. And I loved it. If I made a freeform character that's likely how I'd do it; 90% of the powers relating to a theme, with a few "tricks up the sleeve" just for coolness.

If freeform is optional, I'll try it. And I might love it. But if it's not in the game at all, I wouldn't miss it. Powersets always worked fine for me.

[Golden Girl]

If I had my preference I'd keep powersets. However, I am also intrigued by the ability to supplement such powersets with a small number of unrelated abilities.

In that case, you'll like the HaV power system ;)

[Nightmarer]

In that case, you'll like the HaV power system ;)

Pity you had to choose the Hero engine.-