Champions Online offers free weekend during Blood Moon
by Rubi Bayer 
Oct 24th 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Super-hero, Events, in-game, News items, Champions Online
The official site asks you "Hate zombies? Abhor mummies? Detest the dreaded undead? Like to play MMOs for free? You could be the one. You could be the Champion we need!" It's probably safe to say that most of us meet the criteria, especially that last one. A free weekend combined with the ongoing buzz about Champions Online should be all of the reason you need to try it out if you haven't yet. The free weekend begins Friday, October 30th and runs until Monday, November 2nd. (If only employers had such a generous definition of "weekend") Since the Blood Moon event begins on the 27th, you'll get to experience that along with the rest of the game.
Visit the official site to sign up, download, and log in.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Juelz said on 8:45PM 10-24-2009
What an excellent way to get players to try your game, I've been debating if CO was worth trying, but I didn't want to spedn $35 and be disappointed.
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Halldorr said on 9:46PM 10-24-2009
Wasn't real keen on closed beta but may give it a try next weekend to see how it's going.
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Broken Bottle said on 1:07PM 10-25-2009
I was surprised to see this mail. I was in the open beta and subscribed for the first month. My crappy video card, launch bugs, and a lack of low level content made me decide to just play for the month. I got a new card and have kept an eye on news related to CO. Things seemed like they were going better so I signed on for another month last night. I can see why they're offering free play for the weekend of Bloodmoon. The game doesn't seem to be retaining players well. The interesting thing about not have separate servers is that you can easily judge how many people are still playing the game based on the number of shards for a given zone and the game is VERY empty compared to the month of September. The first month of an MMO's like should be extra busy with people trying out the game but there are, by my best guess, a third as many shards as there was last month. The game's launch wasn't nearly as rosey as they've depicted here but I didn't think *that* many people left. They're trying to entice people to come back and give it another try and it looks like they need to pretty badly. They've clearly smoothed a few things out but that hasn't helped the lack of content. Reintroducing the game with Blood Moon is a good idea but it had better be a pretty sweet update because you can't reintroduce an MMO every 8 weeks and expect people to keep coming back.
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Wjowski said on 12:03AM 10-25-2009
Smart move for a niche game in a niche market.
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Arcadian said on 12:05AM 10-25-2009
Laughable.
Not even AoC gave away a free weekend this fast. The subscription retention numbers for this game must be abysmal.
Considering lag and login issues prevented many people from playing at all on Saturday and it took them a good 6-8 hours to even detect the problem, what makes anyone think CO will even have the servers be up for Blood Moon?
Not me. Cryptic has washed their hands of this one and have already moved on to Star Trek. PvP is a joke, there's almost no post-40 content, and an entire zone, the underwater area of Lemuria, has such atrocious lag and rubberbanding that it's unplayable for 90% of the population...what's left of it, that is. Nearly two months into the game and only 4 out of the 5 zones are playable. That's unacceptable.
Blood Moon is going to be a disaster. Supposedly there's a "winter event" that ol' Roper and Co. have planned, I expect it to be equally lousy (ice monsters and probably a new power set, that's it) and the major content upgrade in early 2010...well, will anyone still be around for that?
Atari's got to be thinking about pulling the plug. I forsee the winter event being equally disastrous, and the post-holiday sales in January aren't going to meet Atari's numbers. I call it 50-50 that those bad numbers turn into the big early 2010 content patch getting delayed until summer, and that'll be it for CO.
I've seen this roller coaster before. Might be better to jump off before it crashes.
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Omega2k3 said on 12:23AM 10-25-2009
QQ
Halldorr said on 12:30AM 10-25-2009
I know for myself, I was hoping for CoH 2 but got something much different. And I hate the sharded system.
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CCon99 said on 2:15AM 10-25-2009
Yeah, I really hope they learned from CO and don't use that shard BS for STO. It's such a pain forming groups and organizing guild events with so few people allowed in a single shard instance.
Angel said on 2:53AM 10-25-2009
and Omega2k3 said above
"QQ"
Vulturion said on 7:11AM 10-25-2009
Are there any EU servers yet* - a free trial is tempting but with my geography & hardware the beta performance was abominable for me?
If there are EU servers now, I'm a definite yes - if not, not really worth the download and precious Halloween weekend gaming time.
*Yeah, I know "no 'servers' just shards etc." - but whatever set-up they're running it's using big ol' machines, so I don't care about the terminology I just want to know if any of these big ol' machines are located outside the US now.
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Psychotic Storm said on 7:33AM 10-25-2009
I read something about EU proxy servers, didn't gave much attention thought because I am in EU and didn't have any lag problems.
Psychotic Storm said on 7:17AM 10-25-2009
a logical marketing decision, so typical that raising the above negative comments looks odd.
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Broken Bottle said on 1:17PM 10-25-2009
It's only logical if the game is doing so poorly that they need to make it as pain free as possible to get those early adopters back for a 2nd look. The game launched big and then fell hard because of the bugs and last minute changes. Word of mouth quickly did a 180 degree turn on them, from highly positive to highly negative, and they need to correct that. Let's be realistic. MMOs have a certain inertia that starts before launch. WOW opened big and got bigger. CoH opened to mediocre numbers and remained that way. MMOs that don't correct the flaws perceived by players VERY quickly after launch don't recover well. If they keep releasing compelling extras on the C Store to generate extra revenue, CO could probably make a decent profit on a smallish number of dedicated players but if they want the population to grow they must reverse the negative word of mouth.
dudemanjac said on 9:11PM 10-25-2009
Because I think Arcadian needs to be coutered by someone who is a little more level headed and honest, I'll step up and say that he is not being completely on the level. The simple fact that he says it is unplayable by 90% of the populace tells me that he has an agenda. And I'm sure Cryptic has "washed it's hands" of a game that is under two months old. Really, try to make a compelling arguement and believe will find it much easier to buy your silliness.
Let me give an honest assessment.
1) I'm lvl 30 and have yet to run out of content once. There was a brief moment in my 20's that the missions were one or two lvls above me, but in thisgame that is not an issue. I still was able to solo most of those missions if not all.
2) I never had a problem finding a group when I really wanted to. And I'm talking middle of a weekday. Yes, it would be nice if you could somehow talk to all the shards at once when making a group. I have on occasion had to go to another shard to complete the group. But honestly, I have yet to really try the LFG tools except for in beta in my teens.
3) They added new content already, and with blood moon there will be even more content. They are adding a a new powerset to give people the dedicated healing that they ask for (despite the fact that a dedicated healer was already possible if you tried).
I can't comment on the supposed ruberbanding issues in Lemuria. Is it everyone? Is it some? Is it a few and then a lot od ne'er-do-wells jump on to it as a reason to complain? I also don't know what happens when you hit 40. I here there is no end game, but I'm not really sure what that means because that's as far as anyone has gone to explain high level content. Do you hit 40 and there are no missions? Are there repeatable missions? Are there raids? I really don't know. And if you are someone who is going to buy the game and get you free month of play to find out, go for it. It costs less than an xbox game and if you don't like it you're hardly out.
I love it though.
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Arcadian said on 11:03AM 10-25-2009
Keep voting down the truth guys, that'll make the game better!
As to your responses:
1) You're level 30. The major content gaps are at level 32-35 (Lemuria quests being largely unplayable) and 38+ (you'll run out of quest content at the end because you will do anything to skip Lemuria.) I'll tell you what. Go do the Lemurian Crisis once you hit 32. Get back to us on how that goes for you.
2) Finding a group is not the problem. It's lack of anything to do with that group. At least street sweeping or Architect is an option in COX when you're out of quests.
3) What's the point of a dedicated healing powerset unless you plan to make the game artificially difficult by nerfing all the game's other powers?
4) There's no endgame. UNITY missions are broken. You can get a couple of them daily, but the rewards are pitifully small that is if you can even complete the bloody things. Eventually you'll get enough endgame currency to gain passage to the two endgame instances, Mandragalore and the Lava Temple. The Lava Temple endboss is pretty much broken. Still.
That's it. That's your endgame right now. Two instances, one broken. The Omega crafting system is still not implemented, there's no supergroup stuff to deal with, and there's nothing to do but roll another alt.
Welcome to Champions of Tortage.
Psychotic Storm said on 11:29AM 10-25-2009
@ Arcadian
since when what you say is "the truth" ?
Anyway I have yet to see the content gap and I am at the levels you say, I might encounter it, thought new missions to counter it have been readied so I might miss it.
Endgame is not what I care at the moment many alts to level to worry about it but that might be just me because well endgame is something I never cared much about in other MMO too.
a minor comment about your (2), are you really comparing a game that was out two months with one that is out a few years already?
Arcadian said on 12:23PM 10-25-2009
Oh? Lagmuria isn't a rubberbanding nightmare? The Lava Temple isn't a buggy mess? UNITY Merits just fall out of the sky and it's easy to get great equipment with them? Crafting really is useful?
Lying about all gains me...what, exactly?
Whereas you clearly have the regrets of a lifetime sub purchase to assuage, apparently...
Psychotic Storm said on 4:52AM 10-26-2009
I haven't gone to Lemuria so far, I am happily progressing in Monster Island and I was 32 before I needed to go to crisis and still have some content to finish outside MI.
Crafting is something everyone would agree needs attention, but its basic concept is good, nevertheless its only a two month old game and I can wait for it to be upgraded, for example TR crafting was pathetic until they made that marvel of crafting that blessed us the last 4-6 months of its life.
and yes since I haven't hit 40 I cannot comment on the so called "end content" but I don't care that much for it right now, once I hit 40, if there is not much to do, I'll start levelling my alts, the major content expansion of early 2010 is bound to happen sooner than I finish levelling alts.
understand that, because you think in a particular way, it is not necessary that everyone does so, so no people disagreeing with your opinion are not lying or trying to hide the truth, just people who have a different perspective than you.
You have some issues with the game, I find it enjoyable, what I commented is that you are not "the truth" you are only an individual voicing his opinion and I as are others, do not share this particular opinion.
Pingles said on 12:05PM 10-25-2009
I think from now on I will not be buying boxed games.
Much cheaper to wait for these free trial weekends and then subscribe.
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Darkthunder said on 12:05PM 10-25-2009
The stupid thing about this offer is: What about those who signed up on a lifetime subscription of the game? (I pity the fool). What benefit is this to them, with an additional free weekend?
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