The Digital Continuum: Champions Online needs...
Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Champions Online
Champions Online is a fun game, but it still needs work like any recently released MMO. Some of these needs are purely subjective on my part, but others are definitely a necessity. The way I see it, if Cryptic can work these changes in before the end of the year they're well on their way to keeping my subscription into the far, far future.
To improve its tutorial
Simply put, the current tutorial is unsatisfactory and one of the biggest contributors to difficulty frustrations. Why? I guarantee 99% the player base is skipping past those walls of text because the last thing they want to do after finally creating their character is read a bunch of instructional material. The tutorials should be dynamic, they should make players want to invest their attention.
I have three friends playing the game right now, and all of them don't fully understand the game in its entirety. This has severely impacted their ability to enjoy the game on a long term basis, and that's a serious problem.
My suggestion would be to add a new mission that taught players the different types of critters. I've spoken with people who honestly didn't think there was much different between a henchmen and a villain -- or even a master villain. Another way to inform people that these guys are different would be to give their health bar a noticeably more ornate frame. Nothing says, "I'm a big scary monster, rargh!" than a fancy frame.
Bring back the original Jet Boots
In beta, Jet Boots were a very fun travel power because they allowed you to charge their travel speed by pressing the shift key. It was possible to over-charge the boots, resulting in a nasty tumble that could potentially spell your doom, but it was a ton of fun. Later on, that feature was removed and the power simply became a toggle that auto-shifted on its own while you had it on.
Just make it an advantage, and poof, problem solved. If that's not an option, then at least do something to bring it back because I loved traveling around with that version of the power.

Keep up the pace
With content already coming in October, we're off to a great start. But there's always the future to think about. The first thing that needs to hit after Blood Moon is that new tutorial, which should be followed (or accompanied) by some new 30-40 content. Next, I'd love to see guild housing of some variety. Finally there's always new powers, and personally it would be great if Cryptic fleshed out some of the existing power frameworks -- Archery comes immediately to mind.
I'd also really like to see Power Armor's Wrist Blasters power get palms as a emanation point, because I'm an Iron Man nerd and shooting from my wrists just doesn't cut it.
Watch its tight wire show
Balance, balance, balance; always the topic at hand with Champions Online. It's still something of an issue even after a recent patch toned down critter damage. That change certainly helped, but I think the biggest factor here is that tutorial. I guess this is kind of cheating, but I really do feel like it's just that important to the game.
I also wouldn't mind seeing some more costumes and unlocks for PvP play added, but to me that seems somewhat less important than getting everything else implemented beforehand. Then again, I'm happy with playing PvE content until I hit the late 30s anyhow.
But ultimately, what this game needs (and already has, mind you) is a loyal following. So far, Cryptic has done nothing but prove they care and they're listening and so long as that keeps up, I'm sure my future features will be about more about wants than needs.
To improve its tutorial
Simply put, the current tutorial is unsatisfactory and one of the biggest contributors to difficulty frustrations. Why? I guarantee 99% the player base is skipping past those walls of text because the last thing they want to do after finally creating their character is read a bunch of instructional material. The tutorials should be dynamic, they should make players want to invest their attention.
I have three friends playing the game right now, and all of them don't fully understand the game in its entirety. This has severely impacted their ability to enjoy the game on a long term basis, and that's a serious problem.
My suggestion would be to add a new mission that taught players the different types of critters. I've spoken with people who honestly didn't think there was much different between a henchmen and a villain -- or even a master villain. Another way to inform people that these guys are different would be to give their health bar a noticeably more ornate frame. Nothing says, "I'm a big scary monster, rargh!" than a fancy frame.
Bring back the original Jet Boots
In beta, Jet Boots were a very fun travel power because they allowed you to charge their travel speed by pressing the shift key. It was possible to over-charge the boots, resulting in a nasty tumble that could potentially spell your doom, but it was a ton of fun. Later on, that feature was removed and the power simply became a toggle that auto-shifted on its own while you had it on.
Just make it an advantage, and poof, problem solved. If that's not an option, then at least do something to bring it back because I loved traveling around with that version of the power.

With content already coming in October, we're off to a great start. But there's always the future to think about. The first thing that needs to hit after Blood Moon is that new tutorial, which should be followed (or accompanied) by some new 30-40 content. Next, I'd love to see guild housing of some variety. Finally there's always new powers, and personally it would be great if Cryptic fleshed out some of the existing power frameworks -- Archery comes immediately to mind.
I'd also really like to see Power Armor's Wrist Blasters power get palms as a emanation point, because I'm an Iron Man nerd and shooting from my wrists just doesn't cut it.
Watch its tight wire show
Balance, balance, balance; always the topic at hand with Champions Online. It's still something of an issue even after a recent patch toned down critter damage. That change certainly helped, but I think the biggest factor here is that tutorial. I guess this is kind of cheating, but I really do feel like it's just that important to the game.
I also wouldn't mind seeing some more costumes and unlocks for PvP play added, but to me that seems somewhat less important than getting everything else implemented beforehand. Then again, I'm happy with playing PvE content until I hit the late 30s anyhow.
But ultimately, what this game needs (and already has, mind you) is a loyal following. So far, Cryptic has done nothing but prove they care and they're listening and so long as that keeps up, I'm sure my future features will be about more about wants than needs.




















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
derella said on 12:09PM 9-28-2009
More than anything, I think Champions needs more missions. I have two main characters at the moment -- one at level 28, the other 31. Both have hit minor content gaps in the 22-24 range(ie: ran out of even-level missions while still needing a bubble or 2 of XP). My level 31 character has run out of even-level missions, and isn't even half way through her level.
Even at low levels, there is very little leeway when it comes to quests... You basically have to do them all in order to have enough XP, which means that every alt you make has to do every single quest as well. It's not like other MMOs where you can roll a different race and have a whole new experience.
Reply
Brandon said on 12:38PM 9-28-2009
I can think of at least a couple of repeatable missions to do at that level range in Canada. I also keep getting spammed by Socrates to go to MC and do some random missions. The content is most assuredly there, though I'm sure you would prefer another type of mission.
bassmodel said on 1:53PM 9-28-2009
i'll agree on this front. part of the beauty of WoW, even at launch, was that you and a friend could play levels 1-30 and not share a single quest due to the variety, number and geographical separation of available quests. champions simply lacks a lot of this diversity until the later levels. i've had to do just about every quest available in any zone, and at any given level, just to ding consistently without grinding.
Psychotic Storm said on 12:25PM 9-28-2009
I agree with the emanation points, I will build a new PA suit and I am thinking of either having force or psi as energy builder in order it emanates from the hands.
enabling to change the energy builder type in munitions would be nice too, pistols then magically appearing assault rifle is not really good, I would rather have an assault rifle as an energy builder option (as skin not as effectiveness).
Reply
danarchy said on 12:42PM 9-28-2009
I agree about the quests, oh god do I agree! I understand that they didnt want people "Street Sweeping" baddies to level, and I support the quest type mmo's, but making quests the ONLY way to level and then not provided enough by a margin of like 30% is silly. They need to up the kill xp by quite a bit, make it slower than questing but not so slow its a complete waste of time.
And on that note some days I just want to smash faces, I don't want to wait in line for a courier spawn or whatever. It would be really nice if there was a payoff for it!
Reply
CCon99 said on 12:54PM 9-28-2009
Especially at later levels when you run out of missions at particular levels. I've ran out of missions at 3 different post level 30 levels and there isn't much else to do that doesn't feel like a terrible grind.
brendon said on 1:06PM 9-28-2009
rather than more missions, the games needs something to do other than missions. the lairs need to be adjusted in terms of difficulty, and passive defense/offense need looking at. "aggro" needs to be fixed for grouping, it just doesn't work. my fire form character can just stand there and do literally nothing in lairs and will get and keep aggro from any mobs pulled, once i have aggro, i need to heal myself which further solidifies my position on the hate list, eventually i die due to no actual forced taunt ability for tanks.
Reply
Adam Gillespie said on 5:13PM 9-29-2009
there are plenty of increased and force attack me agro spells etc there all in the advantages area and ive seen at least 2 i could use on my arcane build as it is
Kaphik said on 1:51PM 9-28-2009
The thing I believe CO needs to have in place before the six month mark is more content, both for leveling and endgame. Some variety in missions would be nice, stuff where we feel like we are actually saving the world instead of just killing bag guys.
I suggested on the forums an idea for a dynamic nemesis lair awhile back. Basically a group mission for three to five people, where the bosses are random nemeses picked from the members of the group. Basically someone gets the mission then forms the team. Once the mission is shared, everyone gets the mission to go to the lair, a random one will do, and at that point the game selects the random enemies. If it's three people, there would be six, four gets eight, five gets 10. Some parts you would have to fight two or three of your nemeses at the same time, again depending on group size. I think this would be a fun way to add some sort of variety to the usual villain fights, plus it gives people a chance to see the nemesis of another player.
Content and the few bugs still in game should take a priority over PvP balance. People don't quite understand that t5he PvP in the game is supposed to be a fun sport between heroes, since we're all on the same side. The rewards for PvP should be nice, but not nearly as nice as the tope end PvE gear. That's not the focus of the game.
Other than that, I'm pretty happy with Champions Online.
Reply
primetime said on 4:10PM 9-28-2009
That sounds very cool! Maybe even have it possible to transfer Nemesis to other players after completing these missions?
If you think about comics, Doctor Doom started out as a villain for the Fantastic Four, but has been fought by the Avengers, the Hulk, and others since then. This is easier to see in DC Comics.
bluemeep said on 2:21PM 9-28-2009
It's rough being an altaholic right now with the number of missions being on the low side like this. A body can only mash notes between two warrior gang members so many times. I'm hoping there's a push for more random instanced content ala City of Heroes or more varied zones that we can work through instead of the same A-B-C progression.
Reply
PeterD said on 2:33PM 9-28-2009
It's also rough being an alt-oholic when you're limited to 8 character slots, and without multiple servers that 8 is a hard cap. When you fill all 8 slots you get a note about purchasing more character slots at the store, but the only thing you can buy at the store right now are the stupid minipets :p
LancerX92 said on 2:26PM 9-28-2009
I agree with most of what has been said. My thing is they really need end game content. I believe during the Dev Q&A they had a few weeks back, they were asked what do you do when you hit 40. Their answer PVP, Crafting, and Nemesis missions. Gee sounds like fun. Already had a guy hit 40 in my SG yesterday and after 2 hours he says "really not a lot to do once you hit 40".
Right now I am 22 on my second toon and I am running around the zones hoping to get door quests to fill the gapes. More missions or raise the xp in missions. But then again if there is no end content why would they rush people to 40?
They need some sort of guide book other then the 2 page how to install booklet that came with the game. I am not sure if they finally put one online but atleast something that fully explains the stat system and what power is based on what stat. Half the time I am looking at the power and it says nothing about what stat it uses to determine how much damage it does or how much it heals for.
Would like to see perk reward carry over to alts so that they can use the costume items when making a new one.
Jet boots are fine, the beta version was annoying.
The game is on the right track just think Atari rushed it out by about 6 months. Seems like a lot of the patches now are patches they intended on putting in before it went live. So luckly this month is the free month because it feels like a beta to me.
All my friends have quit the game so far but hopefully they give it a try in like 6 months to see if there have been improvements. I am giving it until 40 or Blood moon to see what they have planned.
Reply
PeterD said on 2:30PM 9-28-2009
I agree with most of your points. I think another thing they really really need to detail better is the way many powers in the game work -- if you've had no previous exposure to CO but had played other MMOs, you'd have no reason to even TRY to hold down a power hotkey to charge or maintain it, you'd just tap the button and then wonder why that power sucked so bad.
I would really like to see them return some of the superhero-ness of the game. Many builds can have difficulty fighting 3 henchmen at once in the post launch day patch world. That, quite simply, sucks. Henchmen are completely worthless xp, they should not be a challenge to heroes at all. They should exist as roadblocks that slow the hero down as he/she plows through them, not enemies that can actually take them down.
Content is the biggest issue though. I'm only level 20, but I'm already having to mostly do level 21-22 missions because I've burned through everything else. Obviously sooner or later I'm going to run out of missions. Rather than adding more and more missions (although that's good too) I'd like to see more repeatable content in the form of single player and group lairs.
Icons on the mini-map need a lot of enhancement. If you've played the game before and know where the auction house is (you do know there's an AH right? Nobody is using it, so I'm not sure about that) you can find it easily enough. But if you don't know where it is, good luck finding it on the map. If you don't even know it exists, there's no indication in game at all to send you looking for it. There are a lot of locations like this, that have useful services for players that aren't marked on the map in any way.
Finally, I think the whole perk system needs some serious work. My level 20 has piles and piles of perk points, but I can't seem to find anything to do with them. The perk vendors I've found in MC don't sell anything he can buy, even though most 'rewards' only cost 25-50 perk points!
Reply
Aganazer said on 2:47PM 9-28-2009
The latest patch on the test server sounds great. It should mostly cover the low 30's content gap.
My biggest wish for CO right now is some attention for the weak and underused powers. Cryptic seems quick to nerf the overpowered powers which is good, but they are slack about fixing the terribly weak powers. There are some very interesting powers I'd like to use, but they are severely underpowered at the moment.
I hope that a LOT more content is added over the next few months. It will be very telling of how Cryptic will handle this game once we see how much content is included in the Blood Moon content expansion. If its only a couple missions and a couple instances then I don't know how long I will be able to continue playing CO.
Beyond content we could use another tier of powers. Some strong capstone types of powers would help flesh out the power sets and hopefully bring each of them together into a cohesive and unique theme.
Many of the existing "Help a Citizen" and SOCRATES email missions need a face lift. Those bland instances were fine 5 years ago in CoX but they can do better now. Some interaction like we saw in Project Awakening and later instances would bring CO to a whole new level.
Reply
primetime said on 4:07PM 9-28-2009
Being that the game is close to a month old, I feel the game is doing well.
There are things that need to be worked on as time goes on, of course.
The tutorial doesn't seem like the biggest problem to me. It takes less than an hour, and you move onto the Canada/Desert Crisis Zones.
The skill trees need a lot of work. The skill trees and frameworks are such a big part of the game, and it ruins the game to have certain trees and frameworks with a higher quantity and/or quality of skills than other trees and frameworks. Cryptic is adding another skill tree with the first event later this month, but I really feel like they need to perfect their current trees/frameworks before trying to add more content.
Look at what is happening with WAR. New content isn't needed, fixes to old content is.
Any comparisons to WoW are moot. WoW is a fantasy MMO. Of course they are going to have different lore settings and such. CO is a superhero game. Most superheroes hang out around cities. There is not much you can do about that. I like the desert, and look forward to any moon/space settings.
Reply
sugewise said on 4:36PM 9-28-2009
I have to disagree about the tutorial, i think it is well done. No reason to hold people's hands through things, you get basically all the info you need for starting. Don't like reading? well, tough crits.
Reply
Rich said on 4:39PM 9-28-2009
One of the mission things they should implentment is filler missions that were along the lines of the MxO's missions. Sure they were repetive, but for filling in gaps it works.
Contacts offer a standard type of mission "Rescue", "Escort" Whatever, then its all randomly generated location (since there is a fair amount of instancing it works) and baddies based off the people on the mission's level. Make them short and simple, don't give as much XP as a "standard story mission" but more than just grinding.
I think it could work since there always baddies out there doing something dastardly and not every fight should be against a major menace.
Reply
bluemeep said on 9:50PM 9-28-2009
Word is that they're adding things like that in the next month, along with additional costume slots. Luckily I haven't hit that wall yet (lifetimer), but it's coming up for me quickly.
Reply
bluemeep said on 9:51PM 9-28-2009
Whoops, new post instead of a reply.