Meta’s Verse: CoH Anniversary Interview -Dechs

Questions by: Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

Answers by: Dechs Kaison, Resident Superhero

 

 

 

We’re coming up to the 8th anniversary of the launch of City of Heroes. And to celebrate this awesome monument OnRPG is talking to you! Well, maybe not you but people like you. The fans of the game. Leading up to the anniversary I will be interviewing people from all around the City of Heroes community. Finding out more about them, what it is they love and what they want to see. My first interview was with Dechs Kaison who has been around a while and made quite the name. Dechs is active on the official City of Heroes forums as well as makes guides for the community. His name just seems to pop up all the time! So I personally was looking forward to sitting down for a few minutes to find out more about the person behind the mask.

 

 

What is your name, age and location in the world?

 

My name is Dechs, and online I prefer to use the fictitious last name Kaison. I’m 26 and live in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

 

What MMO experience do you have?

 

I’ve played Star Wars Galaxies, Lineage II, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and League of Legends.

 

 

When did you start playing CoH?

 

I played for about a year when the game first came out in 2004, but didn’t start playing again until after I had finished college in late 2009 and have been playing non-stop ever since.

 

 

What was it that made you want to try CoH?

 

Initially, I was a kid who wanted to wear tights and beat up bad guys. The second time I got into it was pretty much the same reason. I remembered having fun beating up the bad guys, but I found a ton of new things to enjoy that I didn’t really appreciate before. Those things are roleplaying, the community itself, and learning how to apply my math and maximize the potential of my characters.

 

 

What server(s) do you play on?

 

I started on Pinnacle. The return trip to the game has me on Virtue mostly, but I occasionally meet some friends on Freedom.

 

 

Which AT is your favorite?

 

Hands down, it’s the Warshade. This AT is far and away the most enjoyable thing I have ever played across other games even. The breadth of ability and the unique style of play of the AT are the main selling points, but I also find the art of the effects to be beautiful. The Warshade can tank, can control, and can deal a ton of damage.

 

 

What/Who is your main?

 

As much as I enjoy playing my warshade, my main character is still Dechs Kaison, a Bots/Traps Mastermind. This is more due to how the character acts than he plays. He has the most connections with other characters and he runs his own company within the game, a hospital of sorts.

 

 

What is your playstyle?

 

I prefer to play characters that can handle themselves in just about any situation. That way, when I’m leading a team, I can invite whoever I want to the team and we all beat up the bad guys. I won’t have to worry whether we can accomplish the task because I could probably do it myself given enough time. If nothing else, I can at least be the tank that doesn’t die while my friends beat up the bad guys safely.

 

 

What feature in the game is your favorite?

 

The fact that your appearance is not tied to your performance. I can make a character look as badass and unique as I want without tying that look to how he plays.

 

 

What is your favorite TF/Trial?

 

The Barracuda Strike Force, and all for the very final fight. If you’re not familiar with it, the game presents your team with a giant bag of hitpoints for a boss and what would seem to be endless ambushes. Wave after wave of Nazi forces throw themselves at you while you get to tear them to shreds. That kind of chaos is just the kind of fun I play this game for. I get to feel like that one superhero standing against an entire army.

 

 

Are you in a SG? What kind of group are they?

 

I’m in a few. Most of them are roleplaying groups, heroes/villains with a common cause or at least a common club. My characters on freedom are in theme SGs. One is all kheldians (Peacebringers and Warshades) and the other is all Masterminds.

 

 

What is your favorite thing that has come out on the market?

 

Honestly, it’s something that I don’t use at all, but the enhancements. I like that the store has started selling the IOs that are out of reach for the more casual players. I want everyone to be able to enjoy their characters the way I do, and if selling IOs puts more people in range of that, then I’m all for it. This is not a competitive game, so better players just means I get better teammates.

 

A close second favorite would be how the costume pieces have been broken out and sold separate from the bundles. There are many costume pieces I like, but I didn’t find worth buying the super pack or the bundle for because most of the stuff I wouldn’t have used.

 

 

What would you like to see CoH come out with?

 

I’d like to see even less segregation between heroes and villains, particularly a way for heroes to visit villain bases. I’d also like to see the two versions of Ouroboros merged somehow.

 

Outside of that, I always want to see more powersets and costumes to allow for a greater breadth of concepts.

 

 

Do you have a favorite dev? Why are they your favorite?

 

Arbiter Hawk, for the recent part he played communicating with the kheldian players. Peacebringers had some very big shortfalls that we worked to expose and suggest fixes for. He listened and did an excellent job addressing the issues.

 

 

Do you use any of the community run resources?

 

All the bloody time. I can’t imagine spending all the time it would take to do pen and paper math to get my characters where I want them without MIDS hero designer. Paragonwiki is another excellent resource I turn to every time I need to remember where to get badges. Vidiotmaps is another resource I constantly turn to for information.

 

I also try to be one of those community run resources. I do a much smaller part, of course, providing guides to particular powersets and ATs.

 

 

What is your favorite location in CoH? Why?

 

This feels like dodging the question, but I’d have to say “Supergroup bases.” It’s about the customization again. I’ve been to Egypt, I’ve been underwater, in a space station, a club, a fortress, a crowded street, a toy store and a hospital.

 

 

What has kept you interested in CoH for all this time?

 

The community is number one. These are my friends that I play with. Nothing about not seeing their real faces makes them any less real to me.

 

Number two would be that I simply enjoy bringing a world of hurt to a ton of bad guys. The game may be pretty simple, but that’s half the beauty of it. You can make a character that is just about anything you want, with any sort of powers, and fight endless hordes of things that make you feel awesome.

 

Number three is that they keep adding new ways to beat those bad guys up and new bad guys to beat up.

 

 

Where do you see CoH going in the future?

 

I see it continuing to do what it does best, which is broaden what it allows players to do with their characters. They’re adding more endgame trials and new powers, but at the end of the day, I believe the goal is to allow even more customization of our characters. Allowing us to bring to light more detailed and more specific character concepts.

 

 

I would like to say a big thank you to Dechs for being my first victim…I mean interviewee. Come back next week when I interview a player who has been around since before the game even went live!