co
Latest
Champions Online's On Alert launches, we interview Rob Overmeyer
There's been a big buzz for the latest update to Champions Online. The entire game is undergoing a significant overhaul for the newest expansion, On Alert, which has just gone live today. The developers are adding in talent trees for player heroes as well as a dramatic overhaul of the way equipment works. We sat down with Rob Overmeyer, executive producer for Champions, and asked him a few questions about the update and what it will mean for Millennium City's superhero population. Naturally, he had a lot to say!
Cryptic answers Champions Online Questionite questions in latest dev blog
Unobtainium? Forget it. Vibranium? Old hat. Eludium? So passé. Champions Online's next update, Champions On Alert, will introduce a new element that will put the absurd naming convention of all these fictional substances to shame. The element in question is known as Questionite, and it will be the latest in-game currency available to CO players. The new currency will be used to procure "high level gear, Top Tier Costume Pieces and other special items like Travel Power Skins." The newest Champions Online dev blog addresses some common question(ite)s pertaining to the new currency. Questionite can be acquired through a variety of in-game methods, all of which are listed on the blog. The substance can also be bought from other players in exchange for Cryptic points (and of course, this also means that players can sell their Questionite to other players for Cryptic Points), which provides players who don't want to part with their hard-earned real-world cash an avenue through which to acquire C-Store exclusive items. It's certainly an interesting system, to say the least, so Champions players would do well to head on over to the official blog post and check out the full details.
Champions Online cuts the craft in favor of the mod scene
Whether or not you're fond of Champions Online, you probably don't like the game's crafting system. Almost no one does, and apparently not even the developers have been terribly pleased with it. That's why the game is putting that system aside and replacing it with a new system. The Mod and Fusion system will work more along the lines of gear slotting as found in other MMOs. Certain gear comes with slots for Mods, and by combining Mods via Fusion, you can produce more powerful enhancements. The old crafting skills, meanwhile, tie into the new method of fusing Mods by helping you create stronger Mods and harvest new ones. Extant crafters will also be integrated into the new system; all existing crafted benefits will stay in place (although new ones won't be available), and the crafting-specific travel powers and bags will be moved to other vendors. It's a pretty radical reinvention of the game's current dynamic, but it will hopefully make the game a bit more fun for crafters and non-crafters alike.
Grab, smash, and burst: Champions Online summarizes Alerts
Champions Online's upcoming Alert system seems to be the perfect solution to Captain Immediate Gratification's urges. In the push of a few buttons, a primed and ready superhero can dive right into team vs. villain action. Executive Producer Rob Overmeyer writes an after-report of the Alert system from its recent stay on the public test server. His post provides a great overview and how-to guide of the system, starting with its three basic variations: GRAB Alerts (stopping villains from doing crime), SMASH Alerts (all-out brawls), and BURST Alerts (unstable environments necessitating instant action). Within the three versions of Alerts, all sorts of crazy events can occur. Players' nemeses may appear, and classic villains may team up to fight you. There are also specific rewards based on the Alert tackled; for example, Champions will give resources for GRAB Alerts and modifications for BURST Alerts. "Alerts are a great platform to offer a ton of gameplay with loads of variety," Overmeyer writes. "We're really excited to launch Alerts, and to see the feature grow with Champs over time."
Champions Online previews the new Specialization system
Whether or not you're a fan of Champions Online, you have to admit that the game gives players a lot of options in customizing a character. But apparently the designers felt a need to add another layer of customization, hence the upcoming Specialization System. A preview of the system has been posted, giving players a chance to look at the various combinations that will shape your improved abilities, whether you're playing with an Archetype or a freeform character. Each character will gain access to three different trees to spend Specialization points; the first tree at level 10 based off of your primary Super Stat. The two subsequent trees are unlocked at level 20 and 30; these trees are predetermined for Archetypes and can be freely selected for freeform characters. Each tree offers a number of benefits for given roles, allowing a great deal of flexibility in creating a character build that suits what you like to do best.
Champions Online rolling out Role and Stat changes
Like many MMOs, Champions Online is at its heart a game of numbers. Your character type focuses on certain stats, and you want to make those stats go higher. But sometimes the way those stats work together is a bit less than intuitive in the live game, hence some recent changes to Super Stats and regular stats on the test servers. The biggest change assigns one primary and two secondary, rather than two Super Stats, to players, which alleviates the current problems with Super Stats (certain pairs of Super Stats work poorly together and are poorly represented in itemization). Individual stats have also seen some tweaks: Strength is no longer hard-capped for melee damage, Presence has had its threat component removed and a soft-cap introduced, Ego is now solely a ranged stat, and Dexterity has seen improvements to its critical benefits. Roles are also being balanced differently, giving more consistent stat benefits that are more in line with what players in a given role will actually need to do. It's a pretty sweeping set of changes, but the end goal is to give Champions Online players a more straightforward numbers game to play.
No subtlety to Champions Online's SMASH Alerts, just straight-up brawling
The most basic superhero stories are pretty simple -- a villain is attacking the city and the hero has to go stop him or her. That's the spirit behind the new SMASH Alerts coming to the Champions Online test realm, quick instances that pit players against signature villains in a straight-up brawl. The villain may or may not have any minions, but the real test is to see if the heroes can knock out the villain within the time limit. Players will notice that the new Alert system also has gained a new minimap icon and improved queue functionality, allowing you to sign up for a quick and dirty brawl with your nemesis of choice from anywhere. There are also new team-up GRAB Alerts available for testing against paired villains, which should give every hero a chance to pop in and beat the living daylights out of a villain up to no good. And, really, isn't that all you can ask from a superhero game?
Champions Online puts out Alerts for heroes
Executive Producer Rob Overmeyer is beating the drums about the "big goals" for Champions Online's next update. Possibly one of the biggest of these goals is the addition of the Grab Alerts system, and in a new dev diary, Overmeyer outlines how these will work. Grab Alerts are small team instances designed to allow players to get into exciting scenarios without a lot of waiting. Each Alert centers around a super-villain who's up to no good -- such as a heist or kidnapping -- and challenges players to thwart the evil-doer's efforts. Overmeyer promises that it will take just "two clicks" to get into an Alert, as the system will team up like-minded heroes automatically and then toss them into the instance. Alerts will be shuffled around on a regular basis as to keep things fresh, so players will need to check the Alert Rotator to see which ones are available. If a player is looking for a specific reward that's tied to a certain Alert, the Rotator will help him or her find it. Overmeyer promises a wide range of rewards including costumes, gear, and bonuses.
The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons
Chillin' in the clink. Spending time in stoney lonesome. Thrown into the slammer. Checking in to the big house. Doing (perfect) 10 to life in the hole. Learning the ropes in juvie. Prison: The only fun thing about it is the slang that people have come up to describe it. And while you may never actually want to spend any time in the crowbar hotel in real life, chances are you've already done so in MMOs. Jails are an ever-popular locale in online gaming, and they almost always deal with an epidemic of escaped -- yet still milling around casually -- prisoners. So in today's Perfect Ten, we talked to the warden and got you a special glimpse into pixelated pokeys, if only to scare you straight. No more exploits and bots for you, young man or woman!
Champions Online 'ambitiously' re-itemizing the game
As the groundhog pops up to see his shadow, so too do the devs of Champions Online pop up with their monthly UNTIL Field Report, dishing out the plans and proposed future updates for the game. This month's report is rather lengthy and kicks off with a promise about upcoming "ambitious" re-itemization of all items and rewards in Champions. Currently in testing and on deck for the near future is a '90s Iron Age costume set, alerts, zone balancing, and a look at why them women folk walk so dang funny (apparently arms and legs are moving out of sync on female characters). Players also have a new travel power -- Distortion Acrobatics -- and specialization trees to look forward to. There's also some good information in the report as to why some features and concerns have yet to move from low to high priority, such as the "lukewarm" feedback of team duels and the difficulties of balancing XP gifting. As the next update for Champions Online nears, Cryptic promises a more in-depth series of dev diaries detailing the changes.
Behind the Mask: The real state of the game
Although Champions Online's most recent State of the Game has been out for a while, I sort of avoided talking about it in previous editions of Behind the Mask. The main reason was because I really wanted to cover the new powersets. However, that doesn't mean I don't have any comments on it. If you look at the history of the State of the Game and Ask Cryptic entries, they fluctuate quite a bit between good information and annoying PR. The January SOTG was full of annoying PR, and it bothered me greatly. It felt dishonest. I saw a lot of hype on little things that no one wanted and very little on what people really wanted. This week, I'm going to talk about the real state of the game: where CO is and where it needs to go. I'll also talk about some of the future stuff that Robobo mentioned in the SOTG. Is it good or bad? We'll see!
Behind the Mask: Throwing stones at their glass houses
This week on Behind the Mask, we're going to take an in-depth look at Champions Online's new Earth powerset. It took me quite a while to review Wind, and Earth is relatively new. Why the time disparity? The real answer is that I looked at Wind long before last week, but I didn't really find anything fun or exciting at a first look. Earth is a lot different. Earth has a lot of potential for combining powers between the set; it can Stagger enemies and then exploit that Stagger for damage or bonus effects. Because a lot of the Earth tricks eat your Stagger stacks, you have to choose between keeping Stagger on your targets for the debuff or eating it for the bonus power effects. On top of that, it has the first viable Brick archetype heal, making the Mountain the second reliable Archetype tank. Earth is a lot of fun.
Party tonight, for tomorrow we fly: Champions celebrates its F2P anniversary
A year after making the switch to decaf, er, free-to-play, Champions Online is livelier than ever. To celebrate the super-powered boost that F2P gave, Cryptic Studios is hosting special events both in and out of the game. From today through the end of the month, players can enjoy a hefty 20% discount on anything in the C-Store (excluding grab bags). So if you've been eying that special outfit or archetype, now might be the time to nab it. If you're not looking to spend any money but don't mind partying with the stars, there's plenty of fun to go around. For the rest of the anniversary event, characters can fly through the levels due to a double XP boost at their backs, courtesy of Witchcraft. Another hero, The Mountain, will be selling Halloween and Winter Gift Bags with in-game currency. Mr. The Mountain also has a special mission for those who want to earn his trademarked Mountain Costume pieces.
Champions Online looks back to look forward in January State of the Game
It's a new year, and many game studios are stating their revolutions for the coming months. Cryptic Studios is joining that club with Champions Online's first State of the Game post for 2012. Rob Overmeyer, the game's Executive Producer, takes some time to reminisce on CO's progress throughout 2011, which included the title's jump to a F2P business model as well as a number of content updates. After that little stroll down memory lane, Overmeyer gives players a glimpse of the future as he addresses the features of the game's next major update. These include an entirely overhauled itemization system, a new enhancement system, alerts, and more. For the complete details, click through the link below to Champions Online's January 2012 State of the Game.
Behind the Mask: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody
Champions Online released two powersets recently, and I finally got time to sit down and crunch numbers on the new Wind powers. Wind has been live for a few weeks now, and the Squall archetype uses its powers to push enemies around the battlefield and rock the damage charts. Wind has been one of the most frequently requested powersets since Heavy Weapons hit the game, and I was excited to play around with the set. Does the Wind powerset meet the expectations players had for it? This week on Behind the Mask, I set out to find the answer to that question.
Choose My Adventure: The sequel!
When I was halfway through my tenure on Choose My Adventure, I had already made it clear that I wanted to come back around for another pass. After all, I had a grand time in Warhammer Online, and I wanted to see what would happen with another run through the gauntlet. I hadn't expected it would be quite so soon, but here we are: It's time for a sequel adventure. And as we all know, sequels have to be bigger. They have to be louder. And they need a bigger budget. We've got nine games listed past the cut, all candidates for my play for the next several weeks. Some of these games are returning old favorites, and some of them are new to the cut, but all of them should provide for some interesting adventures. So check out the descriptions, make your vote before 11:59 p.m. EST on January 21st, and tune in next week when we kick this sequel off properly.
MV Guide: January 16-22, 2012
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively TV. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During our streamed events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, streaming is subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's on this week's schedule!
Bill Roper looking to partner with Korean companies for more MMO development
You may remember Bill Roper from Diablo. Or, more likely, you remember him from Hellgate: London and Champions Online, probably with emotions that are somewhat less than fond. Several months ago, he was appointed the Vice President of Disney Interactive Media Group, and it looks like Roper is continuing down a path he's walked many times before. As he oversees the production of games based on Marvel properties, he's also looking for partners to start developing an MMO. Specifically, Roper is looking for a partner company in South Korea to work on co-development for several titles, which include MMOs. The obvious benefit for the Korean company would be increased visibility of licensed properties, with Roper hoping that a visit to the nation will produce a better way of developing new games. No word yet on whether or not anyone is interested in the offer, but there's probably no shortage of gamers made apprehensive by anything involving Bill Roper and a new online game.
Behind the Mask: The dangers of roleplaying as an outlet
Recently, I've run into some troubling developments while roleplaying in Champions Online. I've encountered quite a few "troll characters" who seem designed soley to irritate and annoy other people. The characters in question are often played by otherwise-good roleplayers, which makes me wonder: Why would someone do this? This is as much a topic for Storyboard as it is for Behind the Mask, but because it is very common among Champions Online roleplayers, I feel it deserves extra consideration. This article isn't going to finger-point at bad roleplayers and say why they're wrong. Rather, the point of this column is to inform good roleplayers about elements of RP that can quickly ruin people's fun.
Some Assembly Required: A virtual world roundup
If you are perusing this column, chances are you are a fan of virtual worlds and the sandbox genre. Join the club! (Dues will be due on the third Tuesday.) The aspect that compels many aficionados to delve into a game is the ability to make an impact on the world in some small respect instead of making them into Hive Member 1593072 running a static, predetermined gauntlet. How that impact is accomplished, however, varies; there are multiple features that can facilitate it, and which ones are considered most important depends on the player. With the loss of one of the best sandbox games just last month, some players may be feeling a void. Others still are looking/hoping for the "ultimate" sandbox that contains nearly every virtual world feature. Certainly, there are some upcoming games that make some drool-worthy promises, but what about playing something now? There are actually games out on the market that have at least one aspect of the genre, if not more. To start off the new year, Some Assembly Required looks at some of the top features of virtual worlds and lists games that incorporate these features. While this list isn't exhaustive (considering the sheer number of games when you include all of the smaller free-to-play titles, I'd run out of column space!), it is a comprehensive enough overview to point you toward some games worth playing that perhaps you hadn't considered before.
