Went to play CO tonight … and the server was down. So, back to CoX!
We pulled up a pair of villains we had at 18 (and managed to ding 20 by the end of the evening), but of more interest (to me) was the areas of difference between the two games (and the one I prefer).
- The graphics/animation are the most obvious. While CO goes for a cartoony look, Cox goes for semi-realism, full of shades and textures. Unlike some who consider one (or the other) an abomination, I can accept both approaches. I prefer CO, but not to the point where it makes me refuse to play CoX. CO
- The default perspective on CoX seems to be much closer and “over the shoulder” of the toon than in CO (which tends to have the character smaller mid-screen). It’s a bit weird, and I’m not sure that it’s not just my perception. CoX
- I kept hitting [T] to activate my Travel power (rather than my standard [\]). I might have to change my default mapping (who actually wants to turn off the targeting window, anyway?). Having a universal travel power key is a great idea. CO
- Level Pact! I love Level Pact! Level Pact rocks! CoX
- We have the Tarot deck from the Magic expansion, which we use faithfully even though it’s non-immersive because neither of our characters is magic-based. Nice mini-buffs, bad gameplay. CO
- Distinctly shorter aggro range in CoX. I give the nod to CO for realism, CoX for ease of play. Tie
- Where are the drops? I was told there would be drops. It’s odd having Enhancements and Inspirations just magically appear in your tray. Odd, but nice. I prefer CoX’s approach here (especially since I spent an annoying 5 minutes trying to grab some bangs (“!”) that had been dropped by some guys I zapped in CO, but being constantly interrupted by other guys attacking me). CoX
- The mish is done! And the EXIT button is there! Huzzah! CoX for the win! CoX
- The new email “only accept email from friends and SG mates, not from strangers and spammer” option rocks. CoX
- The Level Number! Okay, that’s there in CO, too, but it was so nice seeing it in CoX. Tie
- The new difficulty level stuff is … weird. “Level: +- (x0 players) No AV” Okay. I guess that’s more informative and granular than “Tough” or “Daunting” or “Ball-Busting” or whatever the old “reputation” descriptions were, but it’s a bit less game-immersive. On the other hand, it’s nice to be able to adjust mission difficulty. CoX
- It was odd that one or the other of our duo was indented on the Team window based (I think) on whose mish it was. Not wrong, just unusual.
- Man, I love reticles to team mates and mission doors. I seriously like how CoX does that. CoX
- Margie notes that, unlike COs’ (and LotRO’s, and WoW (I guess) “follow the idiot as they wander back to the base / door / safety” mishes, CoX’s “you’ve rescued the idiot, and now they will follow you out” style mish is at least as realistic and not nearly as frustrating. Esp. with the new little arrows on the map for them. CoX
- I like that in CoX I drift a bit when I stop flying forward (etc.). CO feels a bit too controlled. CoX
- I have to confess it was kind of nice running around knowing the environment, the rules, and how things would be, more or less, laid out. CoX
(I also need to note, purely as a side comment, Margie’s definition of “disgustingly rich” in CoX: if your influence is over 2 million x your level. Yeah, she does that pretty regularly. Maybe I should let her handle our investments.)
So, net-net, which do I prefer?
Well, really neither. The differences above are just on reflection, and aren’t a real comparison. I’m doing a lot more in CO these days because it’s new, but CoX still has a lot to offer — not just in content, but in some very nice, polished Quality-of-Life features. CO has some advantage, to be sure, but neither game blows the other out of the water. I’d recommend either for a new player, really.
And it’s nice to know that when I get tired of the novelty of CO, I’ll have CoX to still fall back on and enjoy. And vice-versa, too.
Right now I like the novelty of CO, but I miss the social scene of CoX.
I totally agree with the CoX wayfinding ruling over the CO version.
What I’d really like to see that they add a carat at the edge of the map pointing towards your primary mission, because if you have the map scrolled down close enough to be useful in finding things like contacts and crafting caches, then it’s useless for finding the mission area markers.
I’d note that Jet boots has the position hesitency similar to CoX, but I find it a little annoying. C’est la Vie!
I think the combat style in CO, noting the big attacks from your opponent really requires a little further back view than the default CoX view allows. Of course I also back off my CoX characters to get a better tactical view, too.
I HATE having to pick up loot, it’s very non-immersive . .and when are you NOT going to take it? IF your bags are that full . .go drop some junk off!
Exit button is DEFINITELY needed.
Aggro and how hard a hold it has on you definitely needs work in CO. But it’s not a game breaker.
I have to say I don’t mind following the idiot if it means they won’t get hung up on the geography like the following idiots do in CoX.
“It was odd that one or the other of our duo was indented on the Team window based (I think) on whose mish it was. Not wrong, just unusual.”
That’s the “super sidekicking”, ah, kicking in. I think they just decided that, even if there’s no level disparity, they’re just making every team show up like that to… avoid confusion? (Sure, it’s confusing NOW, but I suppose once we get the hang of it we’ll grok the new system.) Mish-holder is the baseline level, and everyone else gets SK’d up or Exemp’d down to that level (if they aren’t AT that level, of course). Run someone else’s mish next time? Everyone gets set to their level, instead.
@Arty:
The little tick on the edge of the minimap seems to come and go. If you set a waypoint, it usally shows up there, and your next contact often appears there, too, but it’s very inconsistent (and doesn’t help with missions).
FWIW, I do like the “green circles” in CO rather than the “go hunt Skulls in neighborhood X” (where X is usually not where you think it is, which you only discover when you see the Skulls you hunt don’t count).
I also miss being able to reticle the team leader and see where s/he is (including above, below, etc.). I can’t tell you how often I lose Margie, then have to zoom way in on the minimap to get a direction.
I hate having to pick up loot, too, obviously. For key “mission” items, maybe (just to remind you that you’re grabbing the stuff).
The problem with following the idiot is that they blithely wander from encounter to encounter, while you have to clean up the mess.
@GreyDuck:
I assumed it was something like that, and we noticed it swap when we ran each other’s mishes. It was just unexpected.