Strange Corruption in Design Values and Odd Experiences during Playtest!
While playtesting the beta for City of Villains, I noticed that many of the graphical and gameplay bugs that appeared in early iterations of City of Heroes would also appear in this game, as if they had not simply ported the gameplay from their latest City of Heroes build over to City of Villains. It was almost as if the designers were pretending to test the game, as if they were making a game of beta-testing. That would've been all well and good if the end result was a good and solid game, but the end result was not a good and solid game. It might just be that Cruptic, the designers of this game, view their jobs as simple-minded games and ignore consumer wants for intelligently wrought entertainment.
Also, as I have noticed in City of Heroes, the design team of Cryptic has not sought to modify their game to the utmost potential of their ability. The gameplay in City of Heroes suffers from simplicity rather than benefitting from simplicity, and has all the appeal of a game that might run as a background function with only occasional player interaction on a super-powered character roster. For example, while it's been suggested on the corporate bulletin boards that the MMO of City of Heroes and City of Villains permit more simulation of daily life of heroes and villains outside battle, that hero and villain factions be given a life of their own and operate as if on a game board, that players be permitted larger effect on the game world and more variety of gameplay, this has had little effect on the design team.
Instead, the design team pretends to be busy balancing this game, something that is easily done with all the game's simplicity and pretense otherwise is a vicious attempt to stave off genuine improvement. Often the design team will report they are rebalancing the game but this time could be better spent in constructing new areas, new powers, new missions and bimonthly events as well as concieving and putting into being new gameplay. All of this does not take a handful of seasons, despite the pretense of most MMO design teams that it would take years to incorporate larger improvements. I can say this with all certainitude because even unpaid game designers working with private campaigns online and offline can achieve the non-graphical gameplay that takes these paid designers years, and most of this gameplay would fit perfectly into the presently existing graphical representation.
All in all, it appears as if someone just wants money from the consumers in exchange for their diaherretic substances. I can assert that I find this present byplay without entertainment and prefer well-crafted games that entertain me directly instead of being forced to witness grand stupidity and feeling the need to correct it.
As to graphics and sound, this game still offers redundant and unappealing super-power representation, redundant and unattractive music, as well as few opportunities to enjoy unexpected and pleasant alternatives to these. It's all drudgery and redundance. Buy a single-player game instead.