City of Heroes/Villains Interview

The folks at Eurogamer were able to track down Cryptic Studios' Jack Emmert for a quick Q&A about City of Heroes and City of Villains. A snippet, as usual:
Q: CoH/V stand out for their immediate, arcade action, rather than opting for the 'second life' elements in other MMOs. How much was this an inevitability of the design, and how much a conscious decision to offer something different?

A: Superheroes and villains are all about action and combat - so yes, it was a conscious decision! We knew that part of our game had to come first and foremost. Players don't want to role-play a normal life in City of Heroes/Villains - they can already do that when they're not at their keyboards. I'll quibble a little with your assertion, if only because City of Villains introduced base building in the franchise. Super Groups building bases are about as "second life" as you can get in a game that's all about comic book heroes and villains.