Category: MMO

And some Champs Online Dev Diary bits:

Champions Online will support micro-transactions, but contrary to the concerns of some people, the game is not ‘based’ on them. There are the basic tenets for our micro-transactions:

• The vast majority are aesthetic items, such as costume pieces, action figures, emblems, etc.
• A very few are account-level management tools, such as being able to rename a character
• Micro-transactions should never limit your ability to enjoy the game or reach the level cap
• Any micro-transaction that has a game effect can also be earned in the game through play

Also, it’s important to note that the overwhelming majority of micro-transactions are account-wide. This means if you buy a costume piece or an action figure, every character on your account gets it.

Finally, many of the pre-order programs that we’re finalizing now have cryptic points associated with them. This is a way for us to allow our players to choose their own pre-order reward(s) which falls into our whole customization concept for Champions Online.

I’m not a huge fan of micro-transactions, even within the parameters given above. But at least the parameters are the right ones.

Once a hero reaches the upper-most levels of recognition (level 40) they can begin going on UNITY missions. These represent the most dangerous operations heroes can go on, and will be even more challenging (and rewarding) for teams of heroes. Each day UNITY transmits a list of five different global hot-spots that require high-powered attention. Once these missions are completed, a sixth custom mission is revealed. Completion of these missions earns the hero commendations within UNITY that then allows them to receive special upgrades or enter into high-end team areas with appropriately high-end rewards. There are also many goals within Crafting, Nemesis, PvP, and Perks that are designed to reward long-term Omega System players. And of course, we’ll be adding more elements in this vein all the time.

Some distinct efforts to keep things exciting at high levels. That’s a Good Thing.

We’ve currently set the character creation limit in beta to eight (8) characters. This is certainly not the uppermost number of character slots an account can have as we’ve designed rewards in the game that open up more character slots on an account level. In short, players will easily be able to earn more character slots just by playing.

I like the idea of character slots being opened up through play. On the other hand, I like the idea of having unlimited alts (cough), so …

 

Bill Roper, the Design Director / Exec Producer for Champs Online gives out some CO info:

Q1) Since this is a super-hero game, will players be able to have a side kick? 

The side-kicking system in Champions Online allows younger, less experienced heroes to temporarily increase the effective levels of their powers to be able to adventure with a more experienced hero. Conversely, those superheroes with greater powers can “tone things down” to play on an even level with their less-powerful friends.

SK and Mentoring. Got it. Okay, nothing new here vs CoX, but certainly something necessary — with the special twist of having a single server to play on.

Q2) How soon will players get their travel abilities?  

Heroes gain their first travel power at level 5, right after helping resolve the crisis in Millennium City. In order to allow for more flexibility in character design and role-playing, heroes have the chance to gain a second travel power becomes available at level 35!

I’m glad CO is starting from the beginning with a low-level travel power. CoX has mostly gotten around that, but it can still be a hassle in some cases (and if you don’t do bank missions).

Q3) If I make a melee character without a flying ability, will I be screwed in PvP when fighting someone that can fly and has a ranged attack? 

We’re doing a lot of balancing right now to avoid just this sort of issue. Melee classes have attacks they can use at range (such as ripping up hunks of the ground to throw at enemies) – most of which knock their target out of their travel powers. This is especially nasty when used against a flying opponent.

Not interested in the PvP, but this is a good thing to know re Melee powers.

[…] Q5) How will XP be divided amongst healers, tanks and DPS character? Will it be based off the amount of damage done only? 

We not only track the amount of damage done and damage taken by a hero, but we also track how many points of damage a hero heals – both on themselves and on others. We make sure that proper credit is given to supportive heroes in both PvE and PvP in this regarding, making the choice of playing a hero that focuses on aiding others just as rewarding.

Very good to hear. Though that makes it unclear whether XP is given (on a team) for different things or what.

Q6) Since you get to create your own Nemesis, why wouldn’t I just create a really weak one? 

The powers for your Nemesis are drawn from defined, balanced power sets. This ensures that players can’t “game” the system and make a weak arch-enemy. Nemesis is designed to be the biggest challenge a single hero can face, so we want the villain you create to live up to that standard.

Hmmm. I’m curious to see how this works. I don’t want lame Nemeses — but I don’t want paper cut-out ones, either.

Q9) Why can’t I be a villain? 

We wanted to focus on the heroic side of things with the launch of the game. The missions, interactions of citizens, and so forth are all directed to your being a hero. There are so many stories to be told, justices to be upheld, and worlds to be saved that we’re excited to bring those chances for good to life. We do let you design a villainous foe with the Nemesis system, and some day we might even delve into the darker side of superheroes.

I’m sure there has been much analysis about why (or whether) the CoV side has been less fun (based on population) than the CoH one. I don’t see a reason to rush into this on CO’s part.

Q10) If I’m a superhero, why do I need to craft things? I’m already super. 

Not every hero has powers that come from within. Many have lots of wonderful toys they use to fight crime. This is just the type of hero that will be crafting new goodies in the Arms school of crafting, which also has non-physical elements such as fighting styles. And our crafting system goes far beyond the creation of just physical items like guns and armor. There is the Science school where things like mutagens and serums and nano-bots are created. Mystical crafters design new spells or arcane artifacts. We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort to allow players to experience crafting while staying true to whatever the concept of their hero is.

I’ll believe it when I see it. Yeah, clearly Batman crafts all the time. Superman? Not so much. Ditto Mr Fantastic vs the rest of the FF.

Hmmmm. This isn’t good.

Minimum System Requirements

• OS:Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
• CPU:2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
• Memory:1GB RAM
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Configuration

• OS:Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
• CPU:2GHz Dual Core or Better
• Memory:2GB RAM or Better
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Better / ATI Radeon HD3850 or Better
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem or Better
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

And here I sit with

• Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1700MHz
• Card name: ATI MOBILITY FIRE GL T2

Everything else is, I think, okay, but those two are almost certainly below the minimum threshold.

Hmmmm. Now I’m pondering that offer by Margie to get a new (home) laptop.

I have until August 17 to figure it out …

• On the differences between CO and other MMOs. The focus of the article is on fantasy MMOs, WoW in particular — which, yeah, is going to be very different. I’d like to see more discussion (without snark) on differentiators from CoX.
• Another interview and discussion about powers and themes. The travel power outline (first, second, third gears; how teleport will work, acrobatics) is interesting, as is the reiteration about being able to keep an item / weapon / attack and still fold improvements and upgrades into it. I’m not sure about “themed crafting areas,” though …

Cool article on the Munitions, Archery, and Gadgeteering power sets in Champs Online. These represent gun-based powers, archery (duh), and any number of roboticist / “toyman” / “mad thinker” sort of inventor goodness. 

One of the nice things noted here (in context of the munitions) is that, once you’ve acquired a given weapon form, then as you get additional powers and enhancements, you can apply them to the forms you have / want. Love those pistols? You can keep using them with your added attacks. Want to be carrying around an arsenal? Sounds like you can.

Customization = good. I hate being stuck with either a single weapon (see CoX AR Blasters) or have to trade in the weapon I like for the latest most-powerful thing I’ve found (see LotRO).

Also: new screen shots.

But, between unpacking and tagging photos and taking care of a sick spouse, I’ve not done any gaming since returning yesterday evening. That will, in fact, change soon.

In the meantime, news that’s been accumulating in the in-box …

Champs Online:

• A nice article on thematic power set building through “frameworks.” Rather than focusing on archetypes, the CO folks are trying to let people do a lot more picking and choosing of different types of powers amongst varied sets. Will this add welcome flexibility, create confusion, or let min-maxxers unbalance the game? Should be interesting to see, but it sounds promising.
• I am so pleased that “power armor” is its own power set. That’s been a serious frustration for me in CoX.
• Another good survey interview here. One interesting note: Cryptic basically bought the Champions property, and is licensing it back to Hero Games.
• And yet another review of the game, with some good information. Not sure that the “console” orientation is a plus, but there’s plenty of positive stuff conveyed.
• How to make sure players don’t make nekkid characters.

City of Heroes:

• I15 Open Beta is … open? Cool!
• More on the I15 Fifth Column content.
• Badges? We don’t need no steenkin’ Mission Architect badges! Which is good, because most of the farming-inducing ones are going away. (More info.)
• Ooooh … canon questions (and answers)!

At ZAM News:

Plusses: gorgeous, lots of character creation options, a power-switching mechanism that makes gameplay a bit more easy and varied.

I have to say here that of all of the MMORPGs I’ve played over the years, Champions Online has, hands down, some of the most stunning graphics I’ve seen in an MMORPG. The team decided to go for a cel-shaded comic book style with this game, and let me tell you, it works.

[…] In combat, players can ‘charge’ their attacks to make them do more damage, or gain extra utility in their execution. Not only this, but the game utilizes a form of ‘endurance,’ that goes up as players use light damage ‘charging’ moves, and is then expended when the player uses a heavy damage ‘draining’ move. Think of it like the Warrior’s ‘Rage’ system in World of Warcraft, or the Warpriest / Disciple of Khaine in Warhammer Online.

Interestingly, the game only allows players the ability to use seven abilities in any given scenario. Players can switch between three ‘roles,’ each with a customizable ability toolbar of 7 abilities. This effectively gives players a total of 21 powers to use when switching between one of their three stances, although switching stances comes with a yet to be determined cooldown. What this effectively does is allows players to break out of the one-character one-role cliché, and it doesn’t clutter up combat with 50+ skills.

Minuses: Clunky and not-yet-terribly informative UI, some repetitious content early on

All in all, Champions Online is shaping up to be a solid MMORPG, even if it is in beta, and for anyone interested in non-stop action and incredible character development depth, I’d highly suggest this beautiful MMORPG.

In a flurry of “RTFWS” inspiration, I actually started reading the material at the CO site. The background on heroes and villains demonstrate that they plan on drawin heavily from the already-established Champs universe, which should be all to the good. 

The Dev Blog has a wide array of info, all sort of muddled together. Nothing worrisome read yet — the more generic (non-class) bundling of powers sounds promising.

I’m actually looking forward to this, even if it’s been pushed back from July to September.

Okay, this looks like it will be more cool (or less lame) than you’d think. Though I’d still like a “map” emote that I can be looking at as I come up. “Shoulda taken a left turn at Albuquerque …”

From Massively‘s press betas:

Combat: Interesting use of low-level powers to build endurance that high-level powers then eat. Also interesting video-game-like use of holding down a key to build up a power. And blocks against certain types of attacks? Sounds complicated, but fun.

Character Creation: Time-consuming, but in an interesting way (if you’re one of those people who loves character creation). Stats-based, very RPG-like (well, duh). Power set archetypes, but also much more custom combos. Good variety of power sets — and, yes, power armor is finally a set all to itself. The character edit options sound even (if that’s possible) more flexible than CoX, and the ones you choose influence how your character stands and moves. And … facial expressions. And, it sounds like, a ton of costume options.

Sorcery powers video. Swinging travel video.

CO Dev Blog: One thing CO seems to have going for it is a background from the RPG over the last two decades. That will help a lot.

The First Five Levels: A lengthy intro tutorial which ends with a massive power-up to level 5 and your travel power (broad array, with colored effects, and options to start slow and build up or start off with a bang). Leveling can be added powers, or expansions / strengthening of existing ones (beyond basic power boosts from leveling). Map markers so you always know where you are going.

Choosing your Nemesis: This is a cool idea that never made it into CoX, but that Emmert has made part of CO. Spiffy.

Duplicate names: A way to avoid folks having to come up with “Captain Terrific,” “Capt. Terrific,” “Cap. Terrific,” “CaptainTerrific, ” “Captain.Terrific,” “Captain Teriffic,” etc. is worth its weight in gold.

I am considering it highly likely that I will try this out when it comes out.