I play City of Heroes sporadically--I've had it since a month after it came out, but it's been almost a year since the last time. I definitely like it better than Everquest/WoW, which I don't play any more. I will be back to CoH sooner or later.
There are levels and character classes, but the way powers work makes for much greater flexibility and differentiation among characters than I saw in EQ or WoW. You can have two scrappers (hand to hand combat fighters) of the same level who are totally different in the way they're played.
When I was last playing actively, I had a character (Obsidian Heart) in The Legendary. She participated in several Task Forces, which are a series of related missions performed by a set group. They run fairly long. However, you can contribute to a supergroup even if you never play with any other members just by staying in supergroup mode at all times so that you earn prestige (money for supergroups), and by donating unneeded loot.
How involved combat is depends a lot on your powers. I'd say at a minimum it will be at the "stringing combos" levels--that's how it is for my energy blaster. Obsidian Heart's powers are a bit of everything (straight attacks, attacks that heal her, attacks that terrorize enemies, attacks that hold, etc.), so playing her effectively is much more complicated. I've dabbled with a storm defender, and that was even more intricate. And that's without even getting into the ways different powers interact in a group.
So yes, in my opinion it's worth it. ;-)
There are levels and character classes, but the way powers work makes for much greater flexibility and differentiation among characters than I saw in EQ or WoW. You can have two scrappers (hand to hand combat fighters) of the same level who are totally different in the way they're played.
When I was last playing actively, I had a character (Obsidian Heart) in The Legendary. She participated in several Task Forces, which are a series of related missions performed by a set group. They run fairly long. However, you can contribute to a supergroup even if you never play with any other members just by staying in supergroup mode at all times so that you earn prestige (money for supergroups), and by donating unneeded loot.
How involved combat is depends a lot on your powers. I'd say at a minimum it will be at the "stringing combos" levels--that's how it is for my energy blaster. Obsidian Heart's powers are a bit of everything (straight attacks, attacks that heal her, attacks that terrorize enemies, attacks that hold, etc.), so playing her effectively is much more complicated. I've dabbled with a storm defender, and that was even more intricate. And that's without even getting into the ways different powers interact in a group.
So yes, in my opinion it's worth it. ;-)