Gaminggroove: Where did you get idea to go with the super hero route? How did the design phase begin?

City of Heroes: Two childhood friends, Rick Dakan and Michael Lewis, had an idea for a brand new type of MMORPG. They saw the success of fantasy games, but both thought that superheroes were a natural fit for the burgeoning medium. When Michael Lewis sold his video chip company, he provided the angel investment to found Cryptic Studios. Rick Dakan asked his frequent co-author, Jack Emmert to join Cryptic because of Jack's immense comic book knowledge. Michael got Rick in touch with a trio of ex-Atari developers: Bruce Rogers, Matt Harvey & Cameron Petty. Those three had been shopping around a technology demo for a sci fi MMP, but hadn't seen much luck. The five decided to join their efforts and to create City of Heroes.