Ship of Heroes - Could This Be the City of Heroes Successor We’ve Been Hoping For? - MMORPG.com

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Ship of Heroes - Could This Be the City of Heroes Successor We’ve Been Hoping For? - MMORPG.com

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Heroic Games CEO Casey McGeever for a tour of Ship of Heroes. Ship of Heroes is one of several MMO projects that popped up to try and fill the void left by NCSoft’s shutdown of City of Heroes back in 2012. As someone still pining for a new superhero MMO to call home, I was eager to learn more about what the team was working on.

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Amathe

I can't say enough how excited I am about this game. I'm not expecting it to be the Next Big Thing. But for those of us pining for City of Heroes, I believe it will meet that need and pleasantly surprise quite a few new people as well.

Awesome article.

BillMurphy

It's really coming along nicely, and with a small as heck team.

Sovrath

Mars_Orbital said:

Still on a ship. why doesn't their super powers destroy the "ship" ?

because it would kill them?

maskedweasel

Big fan of super hero games, this one just doesn't appeal to me much yet.  Would help if they changed the name. 

Just change ship to galaxy, and I'd probably be 30% more interested. 

Show me something more than an alpha demo and I'd be 60% more interested.  

(interest percentages are estimated, prices and participation may vary, void where prohibited) 

koldmiser

I have held out hope that one day they would bring back City of Heroes. I've been keeping a close eye on this. Can't wait.

Ayurox

I had low hopes on this project but the more I see the more the evolution of the game is noticeable in such a short time !!! Wish I backed it on kickstarter...

syltmacka

without reading, does it all take place on a ship? how claustrophobic.

GladDog

The ship levels are 1.25 miles (~1.9km) in diameter. That is bigger than CoH's Atlas Park or Galaxy City.

@maskedweasel I suggested the name Galaxy of Heroes to Consultant. I am on board for Ship of Heroes, but I liked that name enough that I thought it worth mentioning to him.

Sovrath

Torval said:

Instead of trying to see how it can't happen, try to use your imagination a little and figure out how it could work. There is plenty of prior art to help you along.

Oh Torval ...

While you may "think" this would be an easy thing, especially for people who immerse themselves in all sorts of fantastical games, whether it be fantasy (of all types) super heroes, Science Fiction or even Science fantasy, apparently it's not! For no discernible reason!

Over the past few years I've noticed all sorts of people who for some reason need everything that is "not real" explained for them. Instead of just coming up with their own reasons or just accepting that "it is".

But it's like watching movies/TV with my ex. She needs to have information metered out throughout the shows and it has to make sense.

If I had a dime for every time I said "it's ok as it will be explained in a bit ... we're not supposed to know yet!"

maskedweasel

GladDog said:

The ship levels are 1.25 miles (~1.9km) in diameter. That is bigger than CoH's Atlas Park or Galaxy City.

@maskedweasel I suggested the name Galaxy of Heroes to Consultant. I am on board for Ship of Heroes, but I liked that name enough that I thought it worth mentioning to him.

Get'in to change it!  I think the name is just too confusing, and a little strange currently, I hope he takes your advice. 

Samhael

"Galaxy of Heroes" is a mobile game -- that EA Star Wars one, if i remember correctly. I don't think Heroic Games wants to share a name with a crappy game like that even if Electronic Arts wouldn't sue.

Jyiiga

Am I the only one that thinks the setting for this game is just bizarre as hell?

BruceYee

The name or the game taking place on a ship doesn't bother me at all. If you look at it in a different way maybe they will eventually get off the ship to go to new worlds/future content.

DavodtheTutt

I don't have a problem with the "ship" part, although I wonder if they could do something entirely different with the name. Like.... "Valiance"... Oh... well, something like that. "Superheroes In Space!" No.

Anyway, I hope they don't take this "versatility" aspect too far. Like "balancing," or catering to people who want to solo (IT'S A MMORPG, PEOPLE! IF YOU WANT TO SOLO THERE ARE TONS OF GAMES YOU CAN PLAY BY YOURSELF) if you take it too far you end up like all the other games -- doesn't really matter what you play, there's not that much difference, really.

One of the major things I miss about CoH was feeling that my character had a special role to play on a team, seeing the differences work together -- blaster sniping from a distance, tank drawing the aggro, controller holding back the reinforcements, scrapper whittling the mobs down, defender healing or filling in the gaps....

Golden-Ace

Ship of Heroes has given me new hope. I had lost faith in the other spiritual successors to CoH. and No other current Super Hero Game comes close to CoH. but SoH brought back my optimism for a CoH successor big time.

wingood

SoH is looking real promising. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for this one.

AxeMaster

I too, am really excited for SoH. Love the creativity of a ship city - and expansion/patch possibilities are vast. Come out to contribute on the official forums, dudes! www.shipofheroes.com/forum

esc-joconnor

Torval said:

In science fiction there have been spaceships the size of planets. In the game Traveller there are artificial planets of all types.

In the movie Valerian and the City of the Thousand Planets the spaceship starts out as the ISS on earth and grows to a massively ginormous hub with factions and territories. It has all those situations and, in the context of fantastic science fiction, they seem plausible.

Instead of trying to see how it can't happen, try to use your imagination a little and figure out how it could work. There is plenty of prior art to help you along.

A mega city floating through space opens up a lot of content options a single planet (especially a parallel earth) won't. There could be other planets and bases to visit, other mega stations, spatial anomalies, Star Trek tie-ins (just kidding). It feels like a less restrictive setting choice to me.

I don't think the problem is to do with it being on a ship. The name just doesn't sound good. And there is nothing in the art they are creating to make it seem like a fantastic flying space city. Their central Arch looks pretty "meh" as well. This is what you get when you have a game made without an innovative artist or marketer.
I really think Valiance, SoH and the CoT should all stop what they are doing and make one game together.

Pinkachu

I've been keeping an eye on City of Titans for a very long time but I'll check this out. Will it have similar base building? I miss that the most. Our base was amazing.

KnightFalz

Mars_Orbital said:

Still on a ship. why doesn't their super powers destroy the "ship" ?

Super hero physics.

The damage of powers and what and how they affect are defined by the needs of the story. The ship won't be destroyed, or even damaged, unless the story requires it, just as the cities super heroes normally occupy aren't routinely leveled by the titanic conflicts within them.

Contrivance... the cornerstone of comics.

maskedweasel

KnightFalz said:

Mars_Orbital said:

Still on a ship. why doesn't their super powers destroy the "ship" ?

Super hero physics.

The damage of powers and what and how they affect are defined by the needs of the story. The ship won't be destroyed, or even damaged, unless the story requires it, just as the cities super heroes normally occupy aren't routinely leveled by the titanic conflicts within them.

Contrivance... the cornerstone of comics.

In comics and shows, quite often cities take a lot of damage though.

MadFrenchie

Marvel also explored that idea in their movie releases.  Civil War dealt with those themes specifically.

Wraithone

Mars_Orbital said:

Still on a ship. why doesn't their super powers destroy the "ship" ?

Because thats not in the script? ^^

Golden-Ace

Mars_Orbital said:

Still on a ship. why doesn't their super powers destroy the "ship" ?

Because the ship is huge! it's nearly a mile and a quarter in diameter and over 20 miles long.

TeamUp

I am excited about the potential of this game. Super Heroes in space. The small team plans on expanding the game off the ship eventually, which is what really excites me. I am apprehensive about it being such a small team, but I guess that would help with quality control, and money of course.