Marvel Heroes: your questions answered

Gazillion's Director of Community Stephen Reid answers some of the Shacknews community's questions on Marvel Heroes.

June 21, 2013 1:00 PM

The Marvel Universe is a dangerous place, with supervillains absconding with limitless tesseracts of immeasurable power, hate groups with genocidal intentions, and ninjas--lots of ninjas. The Shacknews community has eagerly jumped into Marvel Heroes, the first major MMO based on the long-time line of comic books. I reached out to several members of the Shacknews community who were among the most active in the Marvel Heroes threads. After picking their brains for questions, I sent them off to Gazillion and Director of Community Stephen Reid came back with answers. Rauol Duke, Degenerate, sigpro: Are there currently plans for super teams? If so, would they be able to get bases, team bonuses, team uniforms, etc.? We've built the very first version of our supergroup system, and it's going in the game very soon now. It's basic and we'll build on it. The funny thing about supergroups for us is that we've already used some of the Marvel Universe's most iconic locations for our social hubs – Avengers Tower, Xavier's School, the SHIELD Helicarrier, etc. So bases would be interesting. Perhaps an instanced copy of one of those locations? Or something else entirely? Team bonuses could be a possibility, but team uniforms will probably just rely on your own choice of costumes. We're trying to make as many as we can from as many eras as possible. Rauol Duke, Degenerate: What's on the docket, in terms of future storylines? Will future storylines correspond with upcoming Marvel universe-wide events, like Infinity and Age of Ultron? Along these lines, will players encounter Galactus at some point in a future update? We're hoping to tie-in with some Marvel events in some way, although we're not sure which ones… just yet. We are talking with Marvel about their future movie plans, which tend to be announced a lot further in advance than the comics, giving us more time to make content! As for Galactus, well, if you like the idea of fighting a giant foot…. pancake humper: How did you decide on enemy density? That is to ask, how did you determine how many enemies could appear on-screen at one time? There were lots of factors–-partially performance reasons, partially gameplay. We want you to feel you're taking on serious odds, so we wanted to include a lot of bad guys. We also like the action RPG feeling of laying waste to plenty of 'popcorn' mobs, too. At the same time, with all of the hero powers and effects, we didn't want to overcrowd the scene too much, too often. This doesn't even touch on the density of spawns in a massively multiplayer zone. Wolfanoz: Will it be possible at some point to play as one of the Marvel villains, whether as part of a future storyline or a future expansion? We've always said this would be fun! The real question is, what would you do as a villain? With a few rare exceptions, Marvel Comics has generally been about heroes. Villains tend to be antagonists, coming up with schemes that heroes then thwart. It might not be fun to rob a bank and have the heroes come and defeat you. We can certainly see some obvious places villains could go. PvP, for example. tashtego, AltZero, Rauol Duke: What's in the future, in terms of costumes? Will future updates include more new costumes, heroes, or stories inspired by the recent Marvel NOW stories, like Age of Ultron or Avengers vs. X-Men? All of the above! We actually just met recently to talk about our next wave of costumes, and we have some fun ideas from the past and present of the Marvel Universe. We want every hero to have a diverse range of looks to choose from, so we're searching far and wide for the most iconic and most interesting looks we can find. And of course, more heroes and storylines are planned too!

The new supergroup system is coming soon

Rauol Duke: Is there a possibility of a console port, similar to what PlanetSide 2 and DC Universe Online are planning for the PS4? Never say never, but right now our only plans are for a Mac version after the dust has settled on our PC launch. Rauol Duke: Is there anything particularly unexpected or surprising that you observed from players during the beta? Maybe their commitment. We were always surprised and happy to see how much they were playing and how much they were continuing to replay the game. That was very helpful when it came to getting feedback! Nerdsbeware: What went into the character selection process? How did you decide on the initial slate of playable heroes? Were there any personal favorites of the dev team or any characters that the team wanted in, but didn't make the cut for one reason or another? There are always favorites and many hard-fought cage matches occurred to get the final list! We started with an initial list of over 100 characters that we wanted to get into the game, but over time that list shrank as we expanded the gameplay possibilities of every character. There's a huge number of factors that goes into choosing a character, including their popularity, community demand, their powers, potential alternate looks for them and so on. There are no hard and fast rules for who should go in – even if a character is really wanted by the community, that doesn't mean for sure they'll go in if we think they won't contribute much to the game, gameplay wise. At least, that's how we're thinking now. Ask us again in a year!

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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June 21, 2013 1:00 PM

Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Marvel Heroes: your questions answered.

Gazillion's Director of Community Stephen Reid answers some of the Shacknews community's questions on Marvel Heroes.
- David Craddock
  
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  June 21, 2013 1:09 PM
  
  Ozzie: "Is there anything particularly unexpected or surprising..." repeats as the answer to this question. :)
  - Clasifyd
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:12 PM
    
    I just assumed he was being a smart ass. ha ha
  - OzzieMejia
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:20 PM
    
    Fixed! Thanks!
- Clasifyd
  
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  June 21, 2013 1:12 PM
  
  So, has anyone got a hero to drop in the last week or so that we haven't had any full threads about the game?
  - OzzieMejia
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:20 PM
    
    Still no drops on my end.
  - AltZero
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:23 PM
    
    Still Nothing! No hero or costume drops for me :(
  - bob3578
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:28 PM
    
    I had daredevil drop within the first 5 minutes of me playing, nothing since then though.
    - cltcprd
      
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      June 21, 2013 1:34 PM
      
      actual drop or quest reward?
      - bob3578
        
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        June 21, 2013 3:11 PM
        
        Now that I think of it, I think it was the same as harvord. Box.
  - uuneter
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:48 PM
    
    No hero or costume drops for me.
  - VictoriouSecret
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:16 PM
    
    Nah. I beat the game and hit 30 with one character, think I'm done now.
  - Degenerate
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:18 PM
    
    I had DareDevil drop for me this morning off a regular mob in Fort Stryker
    - Degenerate
      
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      June 21, 2013 2:27 PM
      
      and apparently I'll be going back through Fort Stryker again this evening because theyre rolling back game data to midnight :(
      
      https://forum.marvelheroes.com/showthread.php/38743-Game-servers-coming-down-for-maintenance-fix
      - Degenerate
        
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        June 21, 2013 2:28 PM
        
        which also means that technically no, I have never gotten a hero drop. :|
        
        Zatric
        
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        June 21, 2013 4:02 PM
        
        Fort Stryker is where I found the majority of my character drops in the beta too, prolly found 6 total and 4 of those were at Fort Stryker.
  - Bruzilla
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:25 PM
    
    A friend of mine got a Scarlet Witch costume the other day, and I saw some guy boasting in the chat about getting a Thor hero drop.
  - [deleted] 1710678874
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:30 PM
    
    [deleted]
  - Earl Greigh
    
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    June 21, 2013 3:11 PM
    
    Got Storm last night at Fort Stryker.
  - f4lln
    
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    June 21, 2013 4:56 PM
    
    3 heros dropped last night, one for me and one for each of the two guys ive been playing with. i has cable drop in the Taskmaster Daily, one buddy got black widow in the the same daily, and the other guy got capt to drop in i think doc oct daily.
    
    so they are dropping. we just got to the dailies yesterday. so.
    
    still no costumes.
  - graah
    
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    June 21, 2013 5:14 PM
    
    3 for me. Thing off of limbo trash, Black Widow off of limbo trash and also Ms. Marvel off of limbo trash, all 3 in the space of about a week and a half.
  - kek
    
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    June 21, 2013 5:44 PM
    
    I got a Hawkeye costume to drop while playing Hawkeye. I got to 27 and kind of got the itch to play my free hero that dropped from Doom.
    
    I got Daredevil and I think he's really fun to play and ended up sticking with him until 24 or so. I really hope they add Nightcrawler as a playable character. He's always been a favorite of mine.
  - aethyr
    
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    June 21, 2013 5:57 PM
    
    Nope, beat the game as daredevil and did all the green terminal missions.
- Rauol Duke
  
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  June 21, 2013 1:31 PM
  
  I ask the hard hitting questions. Degenerate needs to get off my reporter nuts.
  - sigpro
    
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    June 21, 2013 1:46 PM
    
    Man I had way better questions that I wanted answered than what was printed. I feel slighted.
    - Rauol Duke
      
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      June 21, 2013 1:52 PM
      
      Ozzie told me your questions were, and I quote, "Hella stupid."
      - hamachi
        
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        June 21, 2013 2:00 PM
        
        Lol.
- mobab
  
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  June 21, 2013 1:58 PM
  
  Makes me want to play.
  - Degenerate
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:17 PM
    
    servers are down right now :(
    - NastyNorman
      
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      June 21, 2013 5:09 PM
      
      ETA 8pm Pacific. I downloaded it an hour ago excited to try it and this!
    - Bull
      
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      June 21, 2013 5:10 PM
      
      Really? I was about to try it for the first time.
      - Degenerate
        
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        June 21, 2013 5:14 PM
        
        go ahead and install it via steam while you wait :)
        
        Bull
        
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        June 22, 2013 5:10 AM
        
        I had it all downloaded and patched and ready to go for last night. :( hopefully ill get a chance to try today.
- baron calamity
  
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  June 21, 2013 2:08 PM
  
  I wish there were more heroes and costumes.. I wouldn't mind paying so long as it was a character I want to play in a decent costume.
  - [deleted] 512828367
    
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    June 21, 2013 2:54 PM
    
    [deleted]
    - Earl Greigh
      
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      June 21, 2013 3:13 PM
      
      I agree that playing as who you want really makes it that much better. I spent about $20 for Cap and a costume. $20 seems like a decent entry fee for what I've played so far.
      - bob3578
        
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        June 21, 2013 6:05 PM
        
        Cap looks good, I've been thinking of getting Hulk since he got a buff and he seems to be in the same price point i think.
        
        Degenerate
        
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        June 21, 2013 6:11 PM
        
        I'm enjoying Thor a good bit.
        
        [deleted] 512828367
        
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        June 21, 2013 6:17 PM
        
        [deleted]
- Sgt_Boomstick
  
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  June 21, 2013 4:44 PM
  
  ooh cool. I'm loving this game so far.
- [deleted] 1710678874
  
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  June 21, 2013 5:06 PM
  
  [deleted]
  - Degenerate
    
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    June 21, 2013 5:13 PM
    
    right now theyre planning on 8 PM PDT :(
    - f4lln
      
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      June 21, 2013 5:16 PM
      
      where are people seeing this?! the status screen says 5pm pdt...which has come and gone...but i dont see the 8pm pdt update.
      
      ill never get maintenance on friday night lol. why didnt they do this shit last night or during the day.
      - Degenerate
        
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        June 21, 2013 5:37 PM
        
        https://forum.marvelheroes.com/showthread.php/38743-Game-servers-coming-down-for-maintenance-fix
      - Degenerate
        
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        June 21, 2013 5:38 PM
        
        they didnt plan on doing it. Something in last nights patch broke stuff :(
        
        graah
        
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        June 21, 2013 7:25 PM
        
        Based on the notes it sounds like the compensation people were getting in the form of a free fortune card somehow resulted in duping of said free fortune card, probably resulting in lots of people opening tons of cards for ridiculous ammounts of free stuff that they shouldn't have.
        
        sneakyalmond
        
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        June 21, 2013 10:35 PM
        
        lol
  - Degenerate
    
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    June 21, 2013 8:21 PM
    
    Coming back up now with bonus xp granted for the rest of the weekend :)