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Blood Moon event running in Champions Online
Why are you still alive in Champions Online when everyone else is dead? Because you follow the rules. Rule number one -- cardio. The ones without travel powers are the first to go. Rule number two -- double-tap. You never know when someone's going to claim the other zombie you want to kill, after all. Yes, the Blood Moon is rising once again, and that means a few days of zombie-killing fun for the heroes of Millennium City. Running for the first time since the game's free-to-play conversion, the event is currently open and will run until 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday. The full outline of the event lists all of the rewards open to players who take part in thwarting the onslaught of undead, werewolves, and other dark magic. Champions Online players can log in and start enjoying the madness right away, and of course the game's business model means anyone can jump in for a bit of event fun.
Behind the Mask: The numbers are coming
Last week threw a bit of a wrench in my plans. I intended to interview a very prominent member of the Champions Online community for this column, but I was sidelined by the flu and some dental work. This delay means that things must be pushed back and shuffled around while some old ideas will come to the fore. This week, I decided to cover a controversial topic: Inertial Dampening Field. However, IDF affects player survivability in a very particular way, and in my 40-plus weeks of writing about Champions, I've neglected to cover one basic thing: how defense actually works. If you don't know how defense, dodge, and linear damage reduction work in tandem, it's hard to understand just how powerful IDF can be. I think this week's column would be very valuable to a lot of players, but it is pretty complicated, and the math involved will throw a lot of people off. I'll cover the nitty-gritty math and the rules of thumb, but if you're casual, this is going to be hard to swallow. Like my guide on gear (and the more recent forum post), this is one of those things most people will have to read a few times. As a side advantage, much of this information can be transferred to Star Trek Online, since it uses similar defense mechanics. If you don't want to worry too much about the specifics, hit the jump and scroll to the bottom, where I'll sum up all the essentials.
Behind the Mask: Semper Fidelis
This week on Behind the Mask, we're going to discuss the Soldier, Champions Online's modern weapons expert. The Soldier is a step down from the proposed Marine Archetype in that it only has eight weeks of basic training, unlike the Marine's 13.5 weeks, and the quality of a Soldier's training and discipline is inferior in almost every respect. The proposed Marine Archetype includes two powers at level 1: Beatdown and Assault Rifle. The Marine's Beatdown has a 100% chance of putting an opponent into a blood choke on hit, while his Assault Rifle fires three-round bursts and kills the enemy instantly. The Marine also uses the "Hard Charger" role, which gives it infinite energy and infinite health. After all, Marines never quit and Marines never die. These elements are balanced by the Marine-exclusive Navy travel power, which gets the Marines to where they need to go within three to five weeks, most of the time. The Soldier is just inferior in every respect to a battle-hardened Marine, but these weekend warriors have enough training to hold their own with undisciplined civillian heroes and their fancy tights.
Champions Online's Chris Matz talks on F2P changes, PvP, and the future of CO
Every MMO design team has a wizard turning balance knobs and experimenting with the magical formulas to make gameplay both fun and challenging. On the Champions Online team, that wizard is Chris Matz, better known as Ame on the CO forums. He's one of the more active developers on the boards, keeping a strong hand on the pulse of the player community to get a feel for what the players think about new gameplay changes. Recently we got to sit down and have a chat with Chris, and he leveled with us on everything from the new heavy weapons powerset to the uses of Teleportation in PvP to the upcoming Void Archetype, which will be hitting the live CO servers next week. Hit the jump to read the full scoop!
Behind the Mask: Fixing the glass cannons
There's a sharp divide between the Champions Online that I play and the Champions Online played by the majority of the readers here at Massively. I play the heavily customized, freeform game -- and even among freeform players, I am aggressive in my builds. I avoid T0 blasts like the plague (although Two-Gun Mojo is pretty good), and I pick my powers with the sole intention of avoiding waste. Most of you guys play F2P now, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. All of the Archetypes are viable, especially in team situations. In general, they can't quite compete with a polished freeform character, but they're not dead spots in a lair, and they work surprisingly well when teamed up with freeform supermen (and women). Solo, it's a slightly different story. Of the current 10 Archetypes, most solo wonderfully, easily meeting the challenges present in the Normal difficulty game. That leaves three... and all share one similarity: They use the Avenger role. The Silver Avengers (not to be confused with the in-game organization of the same name) are very capable Archetypes. I've mentioned in the past that Inferno is one of the strongest, and to wit, all three Avengers absolutely roll through most content, especially on teams. Outside of teams, the three Avengers are so squishy that they suffer a bit when taking on the big baddies -- Master Villains and Super Villains. This week, I sought to find out the answer: Can Silver Avengers solo?
Behind the Mask: Making concessions for roleplayers
There's been almost universally positive feedback for Champions Online since the Free For All expansion launched. Although there has been some criticism of the C-Store prices increasing (bad!), the vast majority of changes in F2P have been positive. In many ways, it's been sort of a new genesis for the game, and I feel as if it's overcome a lot of the negative press present at its launch. But not everything about F2P has been positive, and while I put a small amount of blame on the devs (especially since I brought up the issue with Poz in an interview), much of the trouble was really inevitable. The problem in question is RP griefing. Champions has a large, robust roleplaying community.The center of roleplaying in CO is Club Caprice, and Caprice is currently under siege by unruly heroes lifting and throwing chairs around, spamming powers that destroy nearby tables or chairs, and being disruptive using the in-game chat. As one friend said, "Everyone who has thrown a chair in here has been under level 20, in a F2P Archetype, and wearing a lame costume."
Behind the Mask: I want to be with this game forever and ever
One of the saddest days for me was Tuesday -- the day Champions Online launched its Free for All expansion and went free-to-play. I was mostly sad because I didn't get to log in; people have been telling me about 15+ instances of Millennium City and having a blast teaming up with all the new faces. I even got to talk to Poz on the Massively Speaking podcast about how in the first few hours of F2P, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the launch went off with only a minor hiccup when the servers had some minor maintenance a few hours in. While I waited for Cryptic's CS department to look at my account issues, I got to thinking about how much it would suck to lose access to my free-form characters, to which until now I've had unlimited access for as long as the game continues to live. My lifetime account for CO sure is cool. There are a lot of criticisms about CO's F2P model and even more about lifetime accounts. Way back when they were first being offered, there were a lot of arguments that CO wouldn't last the 13 months or so it would take to pay it off. Now people are claiming that Cryptic is trying to steal more money by offering lifetime subs again. Why is a lifetime account worth it? Hit the jump and let's find out.
Everything you need to know about Champions F2P
It's no secret that Champions Online is rolling out with its free-to-play update tomorrow. In addition to everything offered for free members, there's just a ton of new stuff. While this patch isn't quite Revelations in terms of content, it is one of the biggest full expansions Champions has seen. Whether you're a returning player giving CO another shot, a new player checking out all the free stuff, or a current player itching for a rundown of all the added features, we've got you covered. With this full review of all of CO's latest features, you'll be well-equipped to start your new adventures in Millennium City and beyond.
Behind the Mask: I request a do-over
Respecs in most games are a way to change the focus of your character or a a tool to remove bad character choices. They generally cost a lump sum for a full reset of all of a character's skill or talent points. In Champions Online, respecs are a little different. They cost a small amount of resources to remove individual powers, and that amount scales up as your hero gains levels and gets new powers. The most recent powers are still fairly inexpensive to remove, but powers selected very early in your character's career cost an arm and a leg to replace. We can use respecs in much the same way as we can in other games; a full reset of your character's abilities costs an absurd amount of money, but you do earn enough money during a character's lifetime to get a couple at key points. At level 40, you also earn a full respec, and full retcon tokens (which reset all powers, talents, and advantages) can always be picked up in the C-Store. However, CO's respec system leaves a lot of room for exciting abuses if you're willing to explore them a little bit. Like most of anything nested deep within the gameplay of Champions, it's a little confusing. Hopefully we can clear up some of that.
Behind the Mask: What Archetypes really need
One of the main draws of Champions Online is character customization. Costume creation is one part of that, while open power selection is another. The two elements allow players to make heroes that truly feel unique. No two Champions look the same, and while it's very possible for two different heroes to play similarly, there are enough ways to express yourself in the system that creating a truly unique hero is a simple matter. As we near the big launch of F2P, I can't help but be stuck on the idea of Archetypes. Having a hero fixed into a particular power build seems contrary to the nature of CO, and when those builds are inferior to Custom characters built for the exact same things, well... let's just say a lot of people, including many of you readers here at Massively, don't see eye-to-eye with the Archetype design decision. Naturally, I have my own ideas. Restricting F2P players in some way to encourage premium subscriptions is definitely something Cryptic should do, but there are quite a number of reasons why the existing path is... just a bad idea.
Star Trek Online and Champions Online both unveil a surfeit of new information
Revealing the date for Champions Online's free-to-play conversion was apparently just the tip of the iceberg for the two MMOs run by Cryptic Studios. Champions Online has been graced with an updated FAQ regarding the business model transition, explaining in more detail exactly what options will be locked to non-paying players (all costume options are open, for example). The game has also unveiled a fansite kit for players looking to spread their love of the game to others, no doubt to help get more people interested in the free version. Star Trek Online, on the other hand, doesn't have a change in model in the cards at the moment. What it does have is a newly updated list of feature episodes, giving players a look at the content that will be emerging on the live servers around the end of the month. The development team has also published a new Engineering Report, complete with the usual detailed breakdown of what's in the works, including a small look to the one-year anniversary of Star Trek Online.
Behind the Mask: The art of costume contests
Costume contests are just part of the culture of Champions Online. When a game has huge potential for character customization, celebrating that aspect seems like a natural conclusion. Costume contests also provide an interesting method of wealth distribution; rich players tend to hold costume contests that anyone, even low-level heroes, can win. It's truly a level playing field. The real problem: Is it really? I've judged numerous costume contests, and they all end up with the same problems. Hivemind voting and kingmaking are real problems when it comes to fair treatment of potential candidates. Also, friendships between judges or contestants can create a sort of community bias that keeps a deserving hero from winning. I'm definitely not going to talk about costume design, but I can discuss how to create a judging and voting system that lends to fairer selection of winners. In the end, costume judging is subjective, but these methods avoid some of the big pitfalls in costume voting.
Behind the Mask: Those good old (PvP) days
Well, the holidays were a bit tight on my time, so for those of you who did send me messages regarding our hoped-for Andrith (and maybe Mandragalore) runs were probably a little disappointed that we couldn't find the time to run them last week. I'm still trying to get a run going before the end of the holiday event (on the 4th), so if you're interested in the boss-kissing perk, let me know! This week, I'm going to reminisce about the development of Champions Online, but with a twist -- I'll be talking about only the PvP changes and the changes that indirectly affected PvP. Why, you may ask? CO has evolved quite a bit, and sometimes we don't realize the problems that existed (and were fixed) when we complain about what's currently in the game.
Behind the Mask: I'm raiding for Christmas
I'm not a big fan of holiday events. For the most part, they're an excuse to grind a bunch of cosmetic stuff, such as titles/perks and costume pieces. The other possibility is random junk filling my inventory, like fireworks, candy, and other assorted goodies that just end up on the auction house. If there's any holiday missions or quests, people are more interested in doing them in the most efficient way possible, instead of killing mobs for experience. Since I like tangible benefits, holiday events generally aren't my thing. I usually end up soloing over the season or playing with a small group of friends. Bah humbug. The winter events in Champions Online are really no different from the events in any other game. They mostly consist of gathering presents, doing little holiday quests and getting an inventory full of random junk. But the devs included something silly that I'm looking forward to: an excuse to get teams to do the impossible. Buckle in, guys: I'm doing Andrithal and Mandragalore this holiday season.
Behind the Mask: The mysteries of UNITY
If you've never made the trip to level 40 in Champions Online, the endgame is somewhat of a mystery. I remember prior to getting my first level 40 that people would talk about things like "Nemcon" and "dailies." I found it kind of strange that a level 35 character couldn't sidekick or otherwise experience anything similar to these things. That all changed for me when I journeyed into the UNITY building for the first time. It was a little confusing -- there were no easy guides telling me where to start NemCon or what the "Qliphothic research" was for. Fortunately, you guys don't have to feel as much like a noob as I did. Warning: This article includes some spoilers for the plot of NemCon.
Exclusive: Champions Online recaps 15 months of heroic adventures
In its 15-month outing in the MMO arena, Champions Online has generated its fair number of stories, both good and bad. Cryptic Studios has given Massively an exclusive video look at CO's past six content updates, narrated by producer Rob Overmeyer. In the video, we get a look at the many trials heroes in Millennium City have had to endure, from the recurring Blood Moon events to the most recent Demonflame adventure pack. Although a number of the updates are seasonal, they have included expansions to the base game, including the Zombie Apocalypse PvP mode and the Celestial powerset. All of the updates depicted are also detailed in the game's updates page. As the game gets closer and closer to the F2P launch, it's important to look back and see how much the game has changed and evolved. Hit the jump to check it out!
Behind the Mask: High-tech Snakes and Ladders
VIPER is one of the most misunderstood villain groups in the Champions lore. This isn't entirely the fault of the players; the fact is that almost everyone who has played Champions Online for any length of time has beaten the snot out of dozens of VIPER soldiers, if not hundreds or more. VIPER is a complex, multinational organization bent on world domination. It's one of the single most powerful organizations in the Champions lore, second only to big hero organizations such as UNTIL. VIPER's web of intrigue extends even into the first-world governments. The snakes are literally everywhere and have their hands in everything. One of the troubles in producing a superhero MMORPG is creating large numbers of bad guys for heroes to beat down while also keeping true to the lore, which paints most of the villain groups as less overt, operating in the shadows outside of the world's public eye. When VIPER's air transports cruise the skies above Millennium City unmolested by the military or local police, we have to wonder whether the interpretation was... a little off.
Behind the Mask: A roleplayer's calling card
Roleplaying is kind of a big deal for a lot of people in Champions Online. The community members are a pretty intense crowd and they take their in-character exploits pretty seriously. Getting involved with RP has very little to do with gamer skill. Integrating yourself into an RP clique is mostly about social maneuvering and just being a little extroverted. I've already gone over some of the best ways to get involved in an RP circle, but this week I'm going to hit a very narrow point: the art of bio writing. A bio isn't the most important thing when getting to know new RPers, but it sure helps. Having a well-written bio for your character draws people to you without any spoken words. You still usually have to make the first move, but a good bio lets people know what to expect. Sometimes a good bio can even draw people to start up random conversations with you. Ever get tells saying how cool your bio is? After we're done here, you will!
Behind the Mask: The first order of business
Sometimes we make mistakes. Last week, I talked about Champions Online's new archetypes, and while most of the criticisms are valid, I made several statements about incorrect stat selections that were untrue due to passives now scaling to superstats. This is actually a pretty big change to the way the game works, enough that I could almost write a whole article on that subject alone. It makes a whole mess of builds viable in vastly different ways, which is exciting. Although it does raise some concerns (polarization of builds towards CON, INT, and END), those issues really outweigh the dramatic increase in viability for some passives, particularly PFF and Seraphim. This week though, I'm going to talk about the first tier of powers. T1 is the first layer of powers that players come across after their energy builders and weak T0 attacks. There's a huge disparity in balance between various T1 powers; some are basically worthless once T2 has unlocked, while others compete with the best T3 has to offer. I'm here to mostly talk about the latter, and about how you can squeeze every bit of potential by making those required picks in T1 count.
Behind the Mask: Eight ways for free-to-play
A little while ago, a full list of Champions Online's first eight archetypes was given to the public. Originally I wasn't going to talk about them much, but a couple people came up and asked me, "Are you going to write about archetypes this week?" I told them I probably wasn't, but after reflecting on it, it seemed a hot topic that I should probably talk about. Cryptic has a habit of releasing ideas and content that are ridiculously bad in their first iterations. Over time, these ideas tend to get more and more polished, until we get something ranging from playable (melee) to almost exactly right (pets). The first pass at archetypes really isn't any different. The archetypes are bad. I am pretty sure the team will tweak the little problems, so talking about them seems sort of like jumping the gun. But hey, you guys asked for it.
