Just sitting at a table with Jack Emmert can be exhausting. We had come to GenCon 2008 to get a look at Cryptic Studios' Champions Online, an MMO based on the long-running paper-and-pencil RPG. While we were there, we'd get a chance to sit down with Cryptic's Chief Creative Officer to discuss the game. What we weren't prepared for was just how seriously the man is committed to the project and how that intensity translates into a passion that had its own seat at our table. Champions Online is apparently not just about superheroes. "This is about defining a world and creating a universe," he said as we sat down to begin our discussion.

The Death of Captain Marvel

Champions Online, of course, is not the studio's first foray into the superhero genre. The team cut its teeth on the well-received City of Heroes/City of Villains MMO (since sold off to NCSoft). After removing itself from that franchise, Cryptic then went into business with Marvel on the ill-fated Marvel Universe Online. When that deal feel through, the team barely missed a step, throwing out all of the assets they had created for the game and turning the core technology of the Cryptic engine into Champions Online.

Emmert believes that despite having to dump the art assets that made up Marvel Universe Online, none of the effort that was put into that game was wasted in either a practical or a design sense. From a practical standpoint, the team was able to fashion their proprietary Cryptic engine into what Emmert believes is an exceptional gameplay experience. Indeed, while many of the gameplay systems had to be tweaked to accommodate the new Champions Online design paradigm, the solidity of the underlying technology (which is also being used for Star Trek Online) stems in large part from the challenges of building a game to the strictures of licensed IP.


If there are any regrets over the death of Marvel Universe Online, Emmert certainly doesn't show them. He calls Cryptic's former partners "great to work with" and clearly doesn't wish to dwell on the past. His enthusiasm now is reserved for Champions Online and Champions itself. When Cryptic decided to continue with its superhero game it seemed like either a well-planned corporate fandango or cosmic happenstance that the Champions paper-and-pencil IP was available.

According to Emmert, "(Champions) brings a well-established fanbase and is recognized by gamers as a quality title. It's been around since 1981 and even old school gamers who never played it are aware of it. That awareness is valuable." Cryptic actually went further than just asking for Champions, though. It bought the whole IP outright, actually licensing it back to its creator Hero Games in order to continue producing paper-and-pencil RPG products.

The Mistakes of Heroes

While not dwelling on the past, Emmert believes that it would be foolish for the Champions Online team to not learn from it. As such, he's not shy about pulling examples of both successes and mistakes that he believes have ultimately benefited Champions Online. "I was really surprised at the way people latched onto the costume creator in City of Heroes," he says. If anything Emmert is understating the case. The character-customization systems in City of Heroes is still cited as one of the best in any MMO ever made. Players would often spend hours getting their characters just right and there were frequent player-sponsored events in the game in which players would simply congregate to have "fashion shows" displaying the latest costume design produced by a combination of clever players and the powerful customization tool.