Content Inbound

This is more of an addendum to my last post than anything else. It’s recently been announced that Cryptic, the masterminds behind Champions Online, plan to release additional content (both solo quests and group areas) for many of the game’s leveling areas.

 One can only assume that this decision was brought about after Cryptic noticed a certain savvy and influential blogger’s post concerning the lack of group content at early levels.

Who knows, maybe they also saw my blog.

.

.

.

Yeah, probably not.

On Instances

So Current is a hop and skip away from the halfway mark, level 20. In light of this I thought I’d give my thoughts on the in game instances I’ve come across so far. Right from the get go let me just admit that I’m more than a little disappointed that there isn’t a single real ‘dungeon’ up to level 20. There’s very small instanced areas, 90% of which players will likely just solo through. I’ll get to those later though.

As I leveled Current I tried my best to ignore the heap of forum and chat wars over this very topic. And I certainly don’t mean to tar and feather the developers for not having as many instances on opening day as WoW currently has. That particular idea is absurd. Of course a game on launch day isn’t going to have the content of one that’s been live and developing for years.

But still you have to admit. Halfway through the levels without one? It’s a big disappointment and I certainly hope it’s high up on the priorities Cryptic has for development now that the game has gone live, if only for the sake of the players that will join in the weeks to come.

“But Current!” I hear the masses cry out, “What of the smaller instances alluded to at the beginning of this post?”

Meh. They’re pretty good.

I like the idea of the small one shot instances that players encounter throughout the various quest chains, I really do. I think that it’s a novel way to mix things up a bit in the usual overworld questing and grinding of MMOs. It keeps solo-play a bit more interesting and insures that if you do just want to pal around with a buddy you have the option to do so in an environment where you don’t have to worry about fifteen other parties swooping in and decimating your quest zones.

I think Cryptic should keep them up, sure. But in no way do they replace a full scale 5-man instance. I see the smaller instanced zones more as a solo-play enhancement than a group dynamic.

And I get it, Champions isn’t a traditional MMO and is geared more towards casual gamers who might not want a ton of 5-man instances to be required in order to enjoy the game. More power to them, after years on WoW I can certainly relate. But come on, that middle M in MMO is kind of an important part of the formula.
I’m fine with fewer hard core instances. Heck, if Cryptic never makes a four hour long raid for CO they’ll never hear me gripe about it. But there needs to be some content that strongly encourages group play and party dynamics.

A bit of PVP

So far it seems that pvp in Champions is a mixed bag, which is fine since pvp in any mmo is going to have its ups and downs. Today I’ll just be covering the first tier pvp encounter available in Champions, the UTC Cage Match scenario, as it’s the only one I’ve been able to try my hand at thus far.

It’s important to realize when looking at Champion’s pvp setup that the entire player base belongs to the same faction. I see this as a positive thing in regards to instanced pvp scenarios since it means that the game in effect regulates itself, which is to say that there isn’t one group or faction of players that constantly destroys the competition in pvp. Another perk of the system is that it seems to be fairly easy to get into a pvp instance right away, no matter the time of day, thanks to the fact that Champion’s entire player base is in one pool instead of being divided into separate servers and battle groups.

Now for the bad. While the fact that Champion’s pvp prospects are all pulled from the same player base eliminates one form of balance issue facing other MMO’s, there’s still plenty of kinks in the system. Some things, like the fact that the pvp queues seem to roll over and die more often than not during peak hours, don’t concern me much. It just goes on the list of rough edges that should be ironed out in the months to come now that the game is live.

What does disappoint me is that there doesn’t seem to be much challenge, at least not in the first tier cage matches that I’ve experiences so far. With one or two exceptions, the vast majority of the cage matches seem to swing immediately one way or the other with one team taking an early lead and maintaining it throughout the round. The random factor CO has going for it means you’re just as likely to be on the winning side as the losing, but the usual one sidedness that plagues the majority of MMO pvp encounters is still very much in place.

We’ll see what happens though, and there will certainly be further impressions as I get to the later tiers of the games pvp and unlock other instanced encounters. As Current progresses up in the levels from puny mugger buster to crime fighter extraordinaire expect more pvp updates!

Champions Online Devchat

On Thursday, September 10th, Cryptic will be hosting CO's first official developer chat. If you've got a question for the team you should go to this thread and make a post, as the bulk of the chat will consist of the developers fielding questions selected from the forums. Audience members will have the opportunity to voice their questions directly towards the end of the session, as time permits.

The chat will take place on IRC channel '#championsonline', though can also be accessed through this java chat client.

Upcoming Halloween Event?

Yesterday on their main site the Champions Online team revealed a glimpse of what they have planned for an upcoming event in October. Highlights include the revealing of a new celestial powerset, hints that players in various special scenarios could be turned into zombies or werewolves, and a new super villain, the undead Takofanes.

More details as they crop up, let us look forward to some Halloween fun!

Launch Day! Don't Miss A Thing!

Since its launch day at all I thought I'd make a quick update detailing some of the easily miss-able missions and perks for the tutorial area that's sure to be jam packed over the next few days. If not done prior to the mission that ends the tutorial theres no going back folks, so keep your eyes peeled for the following!

Miss-able Mission #1: Escort Girl.
Not nearly as interesting as the title makes it out to be, unfortunately. This girl can be found in an alleyway on the west side of the building the mayor sends you to to retrieve his things and needs to be escorted back behind police lines.

Miss-able Mission #2: Cat Carrier
The Cat Carrier can be picked up in an alleyway to the west of the starting position, just across the street from the second police enclosure you come across.

Miss-able Mission #3: Foxbat
Foxbat, the world renowned villain, can be found buried under some debris near the ambulances by the second police enclosure. Over the wall on the oposite side of the street is a small yard with a few baddies and Foxbat himself buried under some rocks.

Miss-able Mission #4: Cop Car/Kinetic
Even further up the road from the second police enclosure and foxbat's hiding spot is a police car with a few enemies around it, flashing to denote it can be interacted with. Kill the baddies and 'talk' to the police car to receive a quest to go help Kinetic

Miss-able Perks
If you climb the first downed alien ship you see, just to the northwest of your starting position, you'll gain a nifty exploration perk.

You'll also get a perk for completing all of the quests available in the tutorial, including those easily missed ones listed above!

Dr. Destroyer's Army Attacks!

That's right, to wrap up their open beta and celebrate the game's impending launch, Cryptic is throwing an epic event for players participating in the game's beta test. Millennium City is under siege by hordes of Dr. Destroyer's destroid minions! The streets are filled with robotic flunkies waiting for the nearest able bodied hero to give them what for, and also seen are enormous Mega-Destroids which no average hero should take on alone!

                                Just say NO to Robot Overlords!

So any of you other beta testers out there get to the city between now and 5:00 P.M. PDT on the 25th (extended due to the sheer amount off awesome that is involved in robotic invasions). And bring a some friends!

You'll need them.