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The Daily Grind: Careful where you point that thing
There are parts of the game that you look at it without a great deal of affection. They're bland but functional, the sort of thing that doesn't show up in pre-release screenshots for obvious reasons. Then there are the parts that you look at that could curdle milk based solely on the visuals. They bring you to a state of Lovecraftian horrible knowledge about the hideous true nature of the universe. Maybe something has been modeled to be something particularly ugly, or perhaps it's a combination of poor polygon counts and bad choices in terms of color. In creator-heavy games such as City of Heroes and Champions Online, you might wind up with a character whose calculated appearance is eye-searing. What's universal is that they are so ugly that even if you're used to playing games with unskinned conglomerates of polygons, they strike you as downright hideous. What have you seen in your favorite game that made you just recoil in shock, horror, and possibly disgust? Was it a badly-designed model, or something that was meant to be horrific and succeeded far too well? Did you take screenshots to prove how nauseating it was, or did you just get away and never look back?
The Daily Grind: Still interested in console MMOs?
The headline says it all. After all this time and so many promised (and never-delivered) console versions of games like Age of Conan and Champions Online, are you still interested in playing console MMOs? With Square Enix's track record, we can feel safe in assuming Final Fantasy XIV is coming to the PlayStation 3 -- and probably the Xbox 360, eventually -- but beyond that nobody else has managed to pull it off. Some developers have claimed all the red tape from Sony and Microsoft makes patching far too problematic, which makes sense except that Free Realms is a Sony Online Entertainment product that still hasn't seen its promised console version, either. So maybe there's more to the problem than patching hurdles. So, we wouldn't blame any of you for feeling a huge sense of disinterest when you hear a developer speak about a console version of their upcoming PC MMO. But is that how any of you actually feel?
Champions Online expansion is now free
A lot of upset has been swirling around the Champions Online community lately. Much of it has been due to the announcement of a paid zone expansion and implementation of a "Kitchen Sink" patch that was pushed out too soon. In an effort to heal wounds and correct mistakes, Cryptic has released a new State of the Game targeted at addressing player concerns. There are a couple big things to take away from this news. For one, the expansion is now completely free. It's also now known as Champions Online - Revelation and is due out in mid-March 2010. New play areas, new powers, new rewards, and greater challenges are all promised by Cryptic. Expect a tidal wave of screenshots, videos, interviews and sweet juicy information in the coming weeks. The other big change is the way in which the Champions Online team is interacting with the community. They're adding a bevy of new features and community events -- like a Cryptic Studios Supergroup in-game -- that should help open up the lines of communication and hopefully add some much needed transparency to the game.%Gallery-85070%
One Shots: Oops, sorry
One of the things that we love in superhero MMOs like Champions Online is the sheer creativity that people employ in coming up with their costumes. We know we spend hours stuck in the character creator. Then, just when you think you've got a great looking costume; someone whips by in some combination that will either elicit envy -- or baffled amusement. Today, we have a Champions Online screenshot that apparently edged more towards the amused side of things (although we're not entirely certain why) from CorayThan. He writes in to tell us more about it: I met Cylon-Man (a.k.a. Flame Runner) while running around killing irradiated humans. I thought his costume was so hilarious I just had to do a photo shoot! I chased him for about 5 minutes taking all the screen shots I could. Then, in the middle of my screen-shot UI-less frenzy, I saw him yell, "help!" He'd pulled about 6 mobs at once. Sadly for him, they got revenge for their fallen comrade before I could put my UI back up and help him out. He thought it was pretty funny when I apologized for letting him die because I was too busy taking screen shots.One Shots is all about what you're doing as players, but we can't post your screenshots if you don't send them in! All you have to do to take part is to email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what's in the screenshot. We'll post it out here, and give you the credit. %Gallery-9798%
Star Trek Online reaches one million accounts
If it's not too dated, you can feel free to do the Dr. Evil voice as you read the announcement in your head. Star Trek Online has reached one million registered accounts, an impressive milestone for any game. The announcement follows in the vein of Cryptic's announcement that players had created over one million characters in Champions Online, which was also an impressive milestone... well, until you started to do the math and ask why they were counting the number of characters created rather than players. There are similar questions to be asked about the latest Star Trek Online announcement, if you're the suspicious type. In short, we don't know the criteria that is being used to get the figure being thrown around. One million accounts could refer to open beta and head start accounts, or it could refer to everyone registered on the forums, even if they've long since stopped posting. It's an odd metric to use. Still, it's a sign of how strong the IP of Star Trek still is after all these years, and as one of the few major launches planned for the year it's bound to attract quite a bit of attention. Congratulations to Cryptic, and here's hoping that those million accounts stick with the game after a few months. Enter the Star Trek universe with Cryptic Studios' Star Trek Online. From hands on reviews of the early levels and space combat, through noob questions and developer interviews, we've got everything you need to know about the game trekkies are dying for. Check out Massively's Star Trek Online page for the latest!
The Daily Grind: What IP do you want to see as an MMO?
There are certainly a lot of intellectual properties out there that would make for an excellent MMO. Running down the list of major games currently running shows no shortage of games based on popular franchises -- Star Trek Online, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Champions Online -- and the trend shows no sign of slowing. But there are other franchises that could conceivably make a number of people happy -- Transformers, The Dark Tower, Doctor Who, Mass Effect, Babylon 5, and so on ad infinitum. Of course, there are licenses that are unlikely to ever be adapted for MMOs, either because their heyday of popularity has passed or because they're just not in quite the right market. Still, we can dream, and in our heads we might have an idea for the world's best MMO based off of Macross. What intellectual property would you love to have a chance to play as an MMO? Do you think there's a chance it might happen, or are you fairly certain that it's just going to remain an idle fantasy?
The Daily Grind: How do you like side applications?
If you're playing World of Warcraft, increasingly, you have options available to keep you playing the game even if you're logged off. With several apps running off the Armory and the recent announcement of a planned Auction House access feature as a premium, there's almost no reason to log in at all. Unless you want to level up, quest, roleplay, raid, PvP, explore... okay, there's plenty of reason to log in, but there are more options than ever to let you handle matters inside the game while not even close to your computer. It's not unprecedented by any means, as both Fallen Earth (coming soon) and Champions Online also offer applications for the iPhone to help take care of the game's management functions while you're away from your computer. With the continued advent of more functional mobile devices and more robust web environments through services such as Facebook, games can offload many of the more tedious bits of gameplay into applications players just run through quickly on a break at their day job. What do you think of the increasing trend? Are you happy to have the option to take care of administrative tasks when not near your computer, or do you see it as intrusive and unnecessary?
Community manager Daeke leaves Cryptic, Stormshade to replace him
Today, Cryptic_Stormshade confirmed what the Champions Online community was speculating on since the early morning hours -- that Cryptic_Daeke, the Champions Online community manager, has parted ways with Cryptic Studios. David "Daeke" Bass's leaving comes amidst heavy fire from the community on Cryptic's most recent endeavor, the addition of Vibora Bay in Champions Online. Daeke was the first member of the Cryptic staff to acknowledge that Vibora Bay would be a piece of paid content, and not a free patch to the game. The switch in community managers is sudden and unexpected, leaving many in the Champions Online community wondering if this event and Vibora Bay's announcement are somehow related. Stormshade, however, has declined to speak any further on Daeke's departure, simply stating, "Daeke has moved on to other things. We wish him the best of luck wherever that path takes him." Stormshade has now stepped away from Star Trek Online to become the new CM for Champions. We here at Massively would also like to take the time to wish Daeke the best and luck with whatever he pursues next.
PvP with the Champions Online Cryptic Corps
It stands to reason that the people who make their living creating MMOs love to play them, and the Champions Online team is ready to do just that by logging some PvP time in their game. The Cryptic Corps will be taking a break to queue up for PvP this Friday from 3-5 PM PST. What they're planning on doing is still a mystery, but they'll announce it in game in plenty of time for you to get prepared. Break out your best level 40 characters and see if you can successfully take on the Cryptic Corps. They're going to make it worth your while, too. If you beat Cryptic's team, of course you'll get bragging rights, but they'll award you a special forum title as well. No word yet on what the title is, so feel free to pass the time making guesses or suggestions. Good luck, and have fun!
The return of 'Ask Cryptic' for Champions Online
Ask Cryptic is finally back for the Champions Online community. In the past. the feature regularly allowed a Q&A style of communication between curious or concerned players and the developers at Cryptic working on the game. Unfortunately, once Champions Online launched the feature fell by the wayside, at least until now. If you would like to submit some questions (be they about Vibora Bay or other topics) there's only two simple rules given by Cryptic: Any topic is fair game. Questions must be written in a respectful tone. Seems pretty reasonable, no? Head over to this thread on the official forums to post your questions -- just remember you'll need an official forum account to gain access. We look forward to seeing the results of your questions, which you can be sure to find right here on Massively.
Star Trek Online's State of the Game: The first patch
According to the latest State of the Game from Cryptic, Star Trek Online's first update will be surprisingly hefty. "The first update is going to have more PvP, Klingon exploration content, more ground fleet actions, more ship costume pieces, more playable species, and then some," says the executive producer Craig Zinkievich. Of course, that's only a small piece of the rather titillating article outlining the current plan for the first few months of updates. The future holds new Federation episodes, deep space encounters, Borg exploration clusters, quality-of-life updates, daily missions and an encounter with the Borg Queen. Cryptic teases at what they're calling "Raid-i-sodes" or high-end episodes requiring a five-person party to pull out all the stops for a win. The first of these will see players heading off against the Borg Queen, and we're quite excited to learn more in the coming months.
Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay
It's an awkward time for Champions Online. After the last State of the Game post by Chronomancer, things were looking up. The latest patch was slated to fix Lemuria (colloquially known as Lagmuria, due to the extreme system hiccups), add more power to various power frameworks, nemesis changes, the addition of team looting, and changes to the crafting system. Furthermore, the same State of the Game post announced that Champions would be getting its first expansion -- Vibora Bay. However, with the deployment of the "kitchen sink" patch, most gamers have experienced more lag in all zones, some characters are locked in Lemuria, unable to log in, and there are issues with the crafting systems. If all of that wasn't bad enough, Cryptic Daeke has confirmed that Vibora Bay will be a "paid expansion" which will add more content for levels 37 to 40 -- a move which has sent many members of the community into what can only be described as "a frothing rage."
Being in it for the money
We might fight a lot of enemies in our MMOs, but a number of players will agree that there's one enemy that is bigger than anything else: the company that makes the game. Blizzard, Square-Enix, Funcom, Bioware -- according to this branch of the playerbase, they don't care at all about the people playing their game. All they're concerned about is making money. They just want to get your money by any means necessary. However, the people who claim that say that like it's a bad thing. Nobody ever smiles and says "boy, I'm sure glad Sony Online Entertainment is in this for the money." Oddly enough, when you start to think about it, the fact of the matter is that it's not only transparent that these companies are in it for the money, it's a good thing. We should be happy that most of these companies are there to get our money by any means necessary.
The elusive breed of the console MMO
Much like the Loch Ness Monster, the console MMO is a rarely-seen creature which nevertheless has captured the imagination of many. (Unlike the monster, console MMOs are not admitted hoaxes perpetuated by willing disbelief and a lakeside town's need for tourist revenue.) We've yet to see much progress made toward console MMOs, despite the huge available market (see also: China) and the increasingly robust hardware of consoles. Even more notable is the fact we've already seen publishers promising the game for consoles without it happening, with Age of Conan and Champions Online being the biggest offenders. What's the problem? Syp recently asked and tried to answer this very question, noting that most of the problems come from the console hardware, both its short lifespan and lack of several input devices. Still, it hasn't stopped many from playing and enjoying Final Fantasy XI on the Playstation 2, nor does Sqare-Enix seem worried about placing Final Fantasy XIV on a console. The lifespan of consoles can also be somewhat elastic -- almost anyone who plays console games holds on to their systems longer than their market lifespan. Gordon at We Fly Spitfires believes it may be a split in audience, since computers are more ubiquitous than consoles -- but computers capable of serious gaming are far less common than the PS2. Whether a hardware issue or one of audiience, the breed remains elusive, though the subject of far fewer undewater searches and TV specials than the aforementioned lake monster.
Resolutions from all across the industry
2009 isn't so far over the horizon that we can't still be looking back and finalizing our resolutions for the new year. In some ways, it's even better to wait this long to make a few resolutions (as the most common one made after New Year's Eve celebrations involves never drinking that much again in one night). Ten Ton Hammer had an interesting take on the practice, though -- they asked a number of developers what their resolutions are for the next 365 days. (Well, okay, slightly less now.) The resolutions range from the personal to the public, the serious to the silly. Champions Online's Bill Roper resolves to play more games, David Allen of Alganon resolves to fix bugs and improve visibility, Fallen Earth's intern Sombat Southivorarat resolves to not accidentally delete the game's Facebook fan page again. It's not going to give huge insights into the upcoming patches for several games, but it's good to remember that there are people behind our favorite games, and interesting to see what their personal goals are -- both in and out of the game. If you're so inclined, take a look, although you might want to look away before you reach CCP Nathan's resolution. Just a friendly tip.
One Shots: Come to the dark side
With an in-depth character creator and the ability to group up with friends quickly and easily, it's kind of a no-brainer that Champions Online was one of our staff favorites for Best Capacity for Role-Play in the 2009 Massively awards. Of course, being based on an excellent pen & paper background certainly doesn't hurt as well! Today's great Champions Online One Shots comes to us from Steve B. who writes in: This is [a] shot of my Hero Kurotsuchi sitting in Shadow Destroyer's throne after completing the new Nemesis Confrontation content that launched [recently]. Maybe he's thinking of taking his place?If you're a role-player in an MMO, we'd love to hear about your recent adventures. Just snag a screenshot relevant to your tale and send that in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and your story. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit. %Gallery-9798%
The Daily Grind: Ruining the blank canvas
It's the start of the new year, and that means you've got a huge number of days stretching out before you in which you can do almost anything, at least once you recover from your hangover. It's a sea of infinite possibilities, which is a good thing... for some people. Sometimes, when you roll the dice and you can be almost anything, you wind up... well, with a large man with freakish hands wearing a scarf and what appear to be cannibalized Gundam shoulders. We're not sure either. Since we have a sea of choice ahead of us for the new year, we're wondering how you approach games and situations where you have a wide variety of options. Games like Champions Online and City of Heroes give us a wealth of options in character creation, and games such as Fallen Earth let us build our characters in myriad ways as we level up. Do you build your character based on outside information, or do you try and make a decent guess at reasonably synergistic abilities? Or do you just pick things at random and hope it forms a cohesive whole in the end?
Champions Online announces screenshot contest winners
A few weeks ago, Champions Online put out the call for your best festively-themed screenshots in their Winter Screenshot Contest. They began this by saying that winter was "almost here" to which one reader replied that he'd spent 30 minutes defrosting his car and winter is not "almost" here, it "is" here. So now that winter has arrived, Cryptic was ready to see the community's take on it. Whether it be a peaceful snowy scene or a raucous holiday celebration, they wanted to see your favorite shots. The response was very enthusiastic -- the submission thread hit fourteen pages in nine days, and Cryptic announced the five lucky winners of the contest on Tuesday. The submissions ran the gamut from quiet and peaceful to loud and celebratory to funny. Each of the winners will receive a code for an in-game Retro Destroyer action figure. All of the submissions can be seen on the forum thread, while the five winning screenshots can be viewed here. Congratulations to the winners!
Steam offers up a bunch of great last-minute MMO deals
Been looking for a last-minute gift for the MMO fiend in your life, but stuck for ideas? Or perhaps you have lots of ideas, but cash is tight this year. Well, if you said "yes" to either of the above, you'll want to head over to the Steam store and check out their MMO specials. With discounts ranging from 10% off all the way up to 80% off, you can net some crazy excellent deals on games from old to new. Some of the titles up for grab over on Steam are: EverQuest II Rise of Kunark starter pack or The Shadow Odyssey for $4.99 each EVE Online for $5.00 City of Heroes for $9.99 Champions Online for $10.19 Final Fantasy XI for $11.00 Global Agenda for $44.99 Aion for $44.99 As a matter of fact, the only MMOs not currently on sale over at Steam are CrimeCraft and Warhammer Online, which we thought was kind of interesting. That said, demand is insanely high (as you can imagine) so the Steam store is getting hammered right now. With deals like this, along with other spectacular non-MMO titles (like we aren't all game junkies) to choose from, this may well prove to be the easiest, fastest, and most fun shopping you do this season. You know, barring that whole "slow webserver as everyone stampedes for cheap games" thing. Alternately, you could ask for Steam credit as a last-minute gift, since the sale will be on until January 3rd.[Thanks, Ferno!]
The Daily Grind: Are unlimited trials more tempting?
Free trials can be... stressful. We recently even had a piece about trying to make the most of the limited time in them, if the point must be stressed. That's no doubt the reason why several companies have begun moving away from unlimited access for a brief time, and started to spread their trials out for as long as the player wishes. Warhammer Online, Champions Online, Free Realms, and Alganon all allow players a chance to try a limited portion of the game for as long as they want. And for someone without a lot of time, it's a perfect way to expand your window of playtime. Of course, if you've got plenty of time to devote to the trial, it's a bit obnoxious to hit a hard limit before having really gotten to explore the meat of the game at all. For some players, the fact that they're giving away the starting area or first few levels tends to imply they're not good enough to pay for in the first place. Do you find unlimited free trials more tempting or less than the traditional model? Or do you see it as a sign that the game is in trouble or otherwise undesirable?
