Filed under: Champions Online

The Daily Grind: Are you still playing a September MMO?

by Brooke Pilley Nov 6th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Aion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Fallen Earth, New titles, The Daily Grind, Champions Online

September 2009 saw the release of Champions Online, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited (an older MMO going F2P), Fallen Earth, and Aion. This was easily the busiest month for MMOs in recent memory and we're sure many of you at least picked up one of them to try out. We're curious to know if you're still playing a September MMO just over a month later. If so or if not, why?

No MMO in the history of MMOs has experienced a perfectly smooth launch and these September titles were no exception. Did the action-packed combat of CO pull you in or did the lack of content push you away? Were you awed by DDO-EU's polished suite of tools or annoyed by the limitations put on free accounts? Was Fallen Earth's post-apocalyptic setting a breath of fresh air or did you choke on a mouthful of radioactive bugs? Did the beauty and smoothness of Aion make your heart beat faster or did its grind and bot infestation crush your soul? Just how impressed were you with September's crop of new MMOs?

Champions Online's Bill Roper talks about the future of CO

by Rubi Bayer Nov 5th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Interviews, News items, Champions Online

Bill Roper is the Executive Producer and Design Director for Champions Online, and he sat down with Techulous this week for a talk about how things are going for the game so far and what he sees in its future.

He talked about about the players, their feedback, and what's been happening in Champions Online so far, then Techulous got down to the big question: what's next?

Champions Online has big plans for the next few months, including some new content for all levels of players. He mentioned the two brand new mission chains for levels 18-21, and promised different development paths for new heroes as well as more endgame content for higher level players in the future.

Roper wrapped up the interview with some interesting information on what to watch for in the future: "We have a lot of things in the pipeline, including a new Nemesis-centric lair in November, a Winter Event in December, and something really big in the first part of 2010."

It sounds like Cryptic isn't finished adding to Champions Online by a long shot - you can read the full interview here.

Anti-Aliased: It pays to be paranoid

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 5th 2009 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Champions Online, Anti-Aliased

Blame Shawn Schuster. No, really, it's applicable this time and I'm not just pulling your leg.

Many of you were wondering why we hadn't talked about the Champions Online failures this past weekend -- The "Blood Moon Blunder." Well, it was because pretty much the second we started getting reports from you guys about the client not working on Steam, or subscribing players complaining of the lag that the servers had over the weekend, Shawn turned to me, slapped the story on my desk and said, "All yours for Anti-Aliased."

And I sat there, smiled, and politely responded, "Oh crap. This is going to drive them all up the wall even further than last week's article. I'll do it."

So was the Champions free weekend a failure? Absolutely, but not for the reasons you may think. Come on, follow me after the break, and we'll go into yet another (and hopefully the last for a while) opinion column on Champions.

A look behind the systems of Champions Online

by Kyle Horner Nov 5th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Super-hero, News items, Champions Online

If you're good with numbers or would like to obtain some understanding of Champions Online's various systems, then this new systems dev blog is right up your alley. There's plenty of math happening here, so when you start to feel confused don't worry so much -- you're not alone.

Actually, the basics of what systems designer Brian Urbanek discusses aren't too convoluted. At least, the part where he explains the percentages of what influences a character's power isn't too bad. As it turns out, equipment makes up for 42.5% of your overall power, while talents take up 15%, "base" is 2.5% and super stats fill the rest at 40%. What that essentially means, is that your leveling choices in super stats and talents (which effect stats as well) make up a large part of where your character excels. This is all shortly followed by equipment, but creates a slightly bigger focus on how you design your superhero.

Soon Brian will be discussing combat, which is sure to be a hot topic within the Champions Online community. Until then, we're going to re-read this first entry in the hope that someday we can grok it.

One Shots: Glad they're on our side

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 3rd 2009 at 2:05PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Screenshots, One Shots, Champions Online

It's always disquieting when you smack up against a giant boss who is ready to tear your face off and feed it to you at their earliest opportunity. Thankfully for Ranter, who captured this super-sized pair in Champions Online, these weren't bosses but instead other players. We can only be glad for him, as this now means he's got some enormous help for missions - assuming they can get to the mission without destroying everything, anyway. Ranter writes: When they said Champions Online was growing, they weren't kidding! Players have discovered an ability to grow in size...

All MMOs from big to small to ones with big characters are welcome. Just email your screenshots in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post them here and give you the credit.

Gallery: One Shots

Massively wishes you a happy Halloween

by Alex Ziebart Oct 31st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Aion, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Exteel, Free Realms, Champions Online, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they'll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there's any one in particular you're dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you're not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Gallery: Halloween 2009

Anti-Aliased: I like walking into towering infernos (like the Champions Online C-Store)

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 29th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Champions Online, Anti-Aliased

Yes everyone, it's one of those articles. I promised you guys way back before the launch of Champions Online that I would talk about the C-Store when it finally came out. Well, it finally came out last week, and you guys certainly had a lot to say on the matter.

To many, this is just another bad move on the part of Cryptic. However, according to the general MMO population, every move that Cryptic has made has been a bad move. (Yes Kdolo, Sakura Park, we heard you the last 50 times.) If I took every comment people told me about Champions Online as truth, then I'd think it was a buggy, unplayable mess that's powered by unsympathetic robots who want to do nothing more than suck all of the cash out of your wallet.

Unfortunately for the naysayers, I actually play Champions Online. And, like I did before, I'm going to give my honest opinions on this next move from Cryptic.

A heroic million inhabit Champions Online

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 29th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, New titles, News items, Champions Online

It would seem that spandex hasn't gone out of style in the MMO world. Kotaku is reporting that Cryptic Studios told them that one million superheroes have been created in Champions Online to date. That's a lot of different heroic concepts, costumes, and back-stories! What's even more fun when you think about it? That means there are a million nemeses running around in there too. Cryptic has created a veritable cornucopia of comic-book evil.

In a quick survey of the team here at Massively, the average seems to be hovering at 4 characters per Champions Online account. If our completely unscientific average is anywhere near accurate, that would put Champions Online in the neighborhood of approximately 250,000 accounts, which certainly isn't bad for having launched recently. With all the crime still out there on Millennium City streets, though, we hope those heroes will get to work -- there are still a lot more bad guys to beat down!

Blood Moon releases, hints of future content for Champions Online

by Kyle Horner Oct 28th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Patches, News items, Champions Online

Blood Moon is out and Cryptic is ensuring everyone knows all about what's being offered in the first free content update / seasonal event in their newest State of the Game address. First and foremost is the news that Cryptic will be keeping their promise of people being able to earn things like retcons and additional characters slots simply by playing the game. You can still buy this for cold hard- er, Cryptic Points, but it's not the only path to acquiring said bonuses.

Also, remember those new costume pieces we told you about? They're real, and really free, too -- along with a handful of other new pieces that came with the update. In addition to the pieces everyone gets from patching, there are new unlocks earned by playing Blood Moon content.

One Shots: We all float down here

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 27th 2009 at 2:10PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Screenshots, One Shots, Champions Online

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try - you just can't save all the civilians. That said, it's not every day that they wind up floating, either. This particular strange corpse shot was sent to us by Drazat, who captured this image in Champions Online while looking around a submarine for people to help. A great image for this spooky time of year, we think.

If you've found something bizarre on your travels in MMO territory, why not grab a screenshot and send it in to us! Just email it to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description of what we're seeing in the image. We'll post it out here for everyone to share in a moment of communal weirdness.

Gallery: One Shots

Champions Online gives away a free retcon

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 27th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Server downtime, News items, Champions Online

Retcons are valuable things in Champions Online, and they are used only with care, as their effects can be far-reaching and are assured to be constant for quite some time. (This marks a major point of divergence between Champions Online and most current comic books, but we'll leave that to one side for the time being.) So it's a bit significant when Cryptic announces that everyone will be getting a free retcon on October 27th, just in time for the Blood Moon event to kick off in full swing.

Cryptic's official explanation is that the free retcon comes as a result of server troubles over the weekend, and is their little way of extending an olive branch to the community. It does come with a bit of a caveat, however -- if you've been banking up your previous free retcon in anticipation of needing it later, they won't stack. You just get the one free.

But that's not such a big issue, when you get right down to it -- you can use the retcon if you need it, and start enjoying the zombie-smashing fun. And if you aren't already playing, perhaps now is a fine time to mention that there's a free weekend starting on Friday?

Champions Online Blood Moon launch trailer

by Kyle Horner Oct 27th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Trailers, Patches, News items, Champions Online

With Blood Moon dropping tomorrow, it should be an exciting day for Champions Online players. Until then, however, you can watch this brand new trailer detailing all the new content available with the patch. We're pretty pleased with everything we saw, especially the level of zombies shuffling about, ready for players to pummel them into zombgoo. Also: Fighting undead reincarnates of classic Champions tabletop heroes and then descending into an evil portal to free their souls looks like a whole heap of fun.

We do have one beef with the content, and that's the location of the Zombie Apocalypse map: Canada. Has anyone over at Cryptic read World War Z? If they had, then it would've been obvious that setting a zombie map in the one place where the creature's lack of blood flow causes them to freeze over incredibly easily is a bad choice -- we're nitpicking here, though.

Check out the video after the break.

Cryptic talks Blood Moon in dev chat

by Rubi Bayer Oct 26th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, News items, Champions Online

Last week's Champions Online dev chat was all about Blood Moon, and Cryptic had a great team on hand to answer questions. Community Rep David "Daeke" Bass, Executive Producer Bill Roper, Lead Designer Randy "Arkayne" Mosiondz, Systems Designer Brian "Balseraph" Urbanek, and Rewards System Designer Cormac "AntiProton" Russell made up the group and ensured that someone would be able to answer pretty much any questions players could throw at them.

Player interest covered a wide range, from game mechanics and balance to some fun "what if" questions (all-Foxbat April Fool's event, anyone?). The dev team got a chance to discuss some skills and balance issues that have been on everyone's mind. Overall, players apparently like what they see, because there were several requests for more of the same: fans wanted to know if the Blood Moon event would be repeated next year, if Blood Moon content and characters would continue to be available after Halloween, and if more events were in the works.

The dev chat team did a great job answering questions and having fun with CO players -- check out the full transcript here.

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

Player response has been great since the launch of Champions Online September 1st, and Blood Moon generated even more excitement. If you haven't tried it yet, Cryptic Studios is aiming to change that in the same way so many games do: give you a little bit free to draw you in. Next weekend, you can give the game a try during their free Blood Moon Weekend.

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.

Cast your vote, new content poll for Champions Online

by Kyle Horner Oct 22nd 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, News items, Champions Online

The first time Cryptic held a poll for Champions Online, it related to what kind of zone players would like to see. This time, the developer is curious to find out what level ranges its players are most interested in for new content. We're aware that most players feel like the 40+ sections of the game are in need of content, and usually the late game areas tend to get the most love when it comes to content updates. Still, it never hurts to give a little love to the middle-levels, either.

As cool as this is of the developer to do, it's important to note that the poll's outcomes aren't a guarantee. This poll is merely a guide for Cryptic to use in future content decisions. Nevertheless, if you're invested in the game at all, you really want to get in on this vote while the getting is good. We're sure many of you have your own impassioned opinions on which level spreads need the most content love.