At the beginning of November, Cryptic Studios' Design Director and Executive Producer Bill Roper was kind enough to take some time to answer a few of our burning Champions Online questions. Some of the answers are a bit dated as we were hoping for better timing with the release of the website, and we apologize to Mr. Roper and the crew at Cryptic Studios for the late release. In any case, there's still some great information that we're happy to share with our readers.

Check out the Champions Online Q&A after the break!

Remnant Gaming News: What new features have been added to Champions Online since launch and especially for Blood Moon content which is now live and playable by subscribers?

Bill Roper: We’ve been working non-stop since the game launched, addressing issues and adding new content. We’ve added game play mechanics, new mission chains, enhanced the functionality of the power house, increased the efficacy of several powers, made mission sharing easier and more meaningful, put in both single player and group content, added new PvP maps, and generally addressed issues and desires expressed by our community. We’ve just concluded our big Blood Moon event, and we have plans for more fun in both November and December.

RGN: Will the Blood Moon content end on November 10th when the official Halloween festivities on Champions Online is over, or will the dead still roam Detroit from now on?

BR: The Zombie Apocalypse map will continue to be a part of the PvP offerings, and we’re going to be bringing back the Dawn of the Undead Dead Heroes missions on a recurrent basis. We like introducing a mix of new ongoing content as well as things you’ll only see once a year.

RGN: The new Celestial Powers which have been added to the game is an interesting twist on things. Can you explain how they will work for those gamers who left Champions Online and cannot experience them first hand?

BR: The Celestial powers are designed as a dual purpose power set. This means that they have different effects on allies than they do enemies. We wanted to give these new powers a lot of flexibility in use while allowing players to build heroes with a real focus on healing. A complete breakdown of the Celestial set can be found at http://www.champions-online.com/node/594383

RGN: Champions Online players have been asking for more scenario based Player versus Player maps. Zombie Apocalypse is one such map that has been talked about. Are there more maps in the works that you can talk about?

BR: We haven’t started designing the next scenario-based map, but they’re some of our favorites, as well. We have a couple of really fun ideas we’re looking into the technology for, and if we can pull them off, they’ll be really unique. I don’t want to talk about them before we know we can do them, but the hope is that we can introduce new play styles, options, into PvP on a regular schedule.

RGN: There was some concern from gamers at launch regarding the apparent lack of quests and content. Can you tell how Cryptic has been addressing these concerns?

BR: The first thing we focused on was adding in recurrent mission lines to fill in the gaps we had in the 18-21 range and 31-34 range. We’ve also introduced “Crossover Missions” that allow anyone to help anyone else on a mission with specific experience and resource rewards for doing so. Currently there shouldn’t be any reason that players need to “grind” to get to the level cap, but we recognize that players want alternate ways to gain the required experience. Moving forward, we’re going to introduce game systems that greatly increase the missions that players can get, and we’ll offer them in all-new ways.

RGN: Can you let us know about what is coming next for Champions Online content wise? Perhaps an evil Santa and his Elves scenario? Where if you lose you become milk and cookies? I would love to see that for a potential Christmas content release.

BR: We have a huge 5-hero Lair that combines both the UNITY and Nemesis systems coming in November, and a special Winter Event planned for December that is based around a new play mechanic that lets players of all levels fight side-by-side. We’re also working on a TON of balance changes – mainly increases – to powers. The current update on our Public Test Shard has a lot of tuning and tweaks, mission fixes, and even some new technology for faster zone loading.

RGN: The much talked about and speculated Xbox 360 version has been on many gamers hot list but it seems to be almost a faded dream. Can you tell us the status of the console version?

BR: The Xbox 360 version is far from faded! We’re doing a lot of work on the console version of the game right now with a separate team from the PC group focusing on the controller scheme, console UI, and overall graphics performance. The Xbox 360 version will also have the benefit of launching with all the additional content we’ve created and balancing we’re doing since the PC launch.

RGN: Blood Moon was a free content expansion, is the plan for future content releases to be free or has that yet to be decided upon?

BR: The upcoming content slated for November and December is going to be free. We think that providing updates to the game is a part of what players get for their subscription.

RGN: What does the future hold for Champions Online and its subscribers?

BR: Continued hard work from the team to make the game better and better by providing more content and addressing the issues. We spend a lot of time with our community, and are dedicated to addressing their needs and interests as best and as quickly as we can. It’s a lot to juggle, but it’s what we have to do.

We'd like to thank Bill Roper and the crew at Champions Online!