Champions Online

The open beta is live and the NDA is down and so far I'm having a blast. It's City of Heroes amplified, with a deeper world, the public quests from Warhammer, and a freer power system. No more power sets -- if you want to be a guy who hurls lightning bolts and wields a sword, you can. If you want to be the Hulk with telekinesis, go for it. And it looks great. There are some things that are status quo for betas -- lag, rubber-banding, etc. -- but it's definitely got my attention.

Very pleased to hear that. I'm in the midst of a break from WoW right now (3.2 was so underwhelming) and have been thinking about picking CO up. It looks like a damn fun MMO that won't suck my soul away.

Might give it a shot. I had a good bit of fun with CoH, even though the longevity of that game was really lacking.

That's my concern with this as well. I loved making characters in CoH, and the zones are really well designed, but when you go into the same goddamn warehouse layout for the hundredth time, it gets a little tiring.

I'd bet that I spent more time creating characters than playing CoH. 2 or 3 missions was all it took to realize how repetitive the game was going to be, and creating your own characters was so detailed and so much fun that I realized I had more fun doing that than actually playing the character after. I only ever got 1 character to the point where he could get one of the travel skills and I quit shortly after that.

I really want to think they'll address those issues with this game.

Just joined the Fileplanet open beta. Yeah, the character customization is addicting. I spent nearly 2 hours trying to my character, Lord Dulcolax, just right. From not playing a MMO since UO and just leaving the tutorial zone, this seems alright. I have absolutely no idea how stats or equipment work though.

The only thing approaching a negative for me so far is that, after the Marvel lawsuit against City of Heroes, Cryptic is being extremely gun shy about the character names it allows. If even part of your name belongs to even a 3rd or 4th string Marvel or DC character, it won't allow it. I tried making a character called Night Shrike and it wouldn't allow me to use "Shrike", even though the comic characters are just Shrike and Killer Shrike. They're not taking any chances that Marvel or DC will see anything even remotely resembling one of their characters. Not a huge deal, it just forces you to be a little more creative when naming your characters, but MMOs are often not the last bastion of the creative.

Sad thing is, I'm still seeing names like "Wolfereen" and "Hulkk".

I tried making a variant of Billy the Kid (deceased), but it wouldn't let me; I wonder if there's a trademarked character with a similar moniker. I now fight crime as Zombie Jesse James.

Is this game a system hog like AoC is, or can a lightweight computer handle it?

I made a Gadgeteer over the weekend and it was alot of fun. After getting little gun drones that follow me around Im just decimating NPCs with no problems but I find myself getting my ass handed to me in pvp quite alot, not sure what Im doing wrong there. I'm only level 12 but I really hope they have pvp zones other than just the cage match because three fights in and its already wearing thin, especially since people just fly around on top of the cage instead of actually fighting in them.

Its cell shaded so I think it should scale pretty easily no matter the PC.

I'm running it on a midrange laptop: Intel dual core 2.5 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Quadro FX 570M (512 MB) GPU. I've had to turn down several lighting options (it was a bit sluggish but still ran) but it's otherwise running well. If I use hacked drivers (my system is designed more for AutoCAD apps than gaming) I'd probably be able to turn all that lighting back on.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm getting bored with AoC and I'm trying to decide if I want to leap into another game or just hold out until SW:TOR hits. Hell, I even booted up Guild Wars for the first time in a year and played that for a half hour before logging off from boredom.

Im tempted about getting this one as mi first MMO (aside from a WoW trial months ago) through Steam when its released, but I how do monthly fees work with steam? Anyone can clear me up on this?

I don't think you pay the monthly fee through Steam, just the initial purchase of the game.

Ah, bummer...well, its all the same I guess. Thanks for the info, Dickson.

The Swinging travel power is one of the coolest things I've seen in this game. It takes a little bit to get the hang of it, but once you do, it's awesome. It does look kind of weird using it out in the middle of the desert though.

Got a link for signing up for the beta?

Did you preorder? Are you a fileplanet/IGN subscriber? You need to be one or the other to get a beta key (which expires at midnight, I believe).

Yeah the beta ends tonight, but if you pre-order from GameStop or Best Buy, you can still get the head start and start playing this Friday as opposed to the launch date next week.

Much obliged on the info, thanks. I may be stopping by Best Buy tonight.

Pre-ordering from Best Buy also gets you an in-game Action Figure (basically a pet ala WoW) and a special damage resistance item when the game launches.

Allright. Closed beta and open beta have convinced me that this is a very fun game. I am excited to get to actually making a character that lasts. Game is a straight up blast and designing/ choosing powers for my character adds crazy desire to play right now ! I just got to wait for the launch so I start up some lasting heroes.

Since there are no servers (in the traditional sense associated with MMOs), who plans on playing ? Might be fun to team up with some people here from CHUD (as few of my friends play MMOs). Maybe post up your characters names and such could make this easy. Also I am interested in anyones opinions on various powers and builds.

It was fun getting boosted up to level 40 and getting to go to town on some mega-powered giant robots for the end of beta event. Not only was it a fun event for the players, but it was a nice tease on the part of Cryptic -- "See, check out the cool powers you'll get if you stick around to the level cap."

I wasn't able to hit Best Buy last night, so I won't be able to participate until it actually gets released. Based upon what I've heard from you guys, I will probably pick this up. If you want to start a JUSTICE LEAGUE OF CHUD, I'll join in.

I'm probably going to get this next week or the week after, I might be up for some.

The end of beta event for City of Heroes convinced me to buy the game, and ultimately nothing in the game was nearly as close to as fun as the end of beta event which is why I quickly cancelled my subscription. I'm not convinced those events are a good idea in the long run, but every one of them is handled differently.

You can still get on the beta servers (or at least I could when I tried during lunch). I saw a note that they were leaving the servers up until Thursday while they adjust and tweak things, so there's still time to play before the official release.

And I think they just shut the beta down. No cataclysmic event, just got booted to the login screen.

Here's a pic of one of my toons, Gibraltar, posing in Millennium City:



That's on max graphics settings on my rig, which ain't top of the line but is still decent enough.

I really wish this game would have come out a couple of months ago. With all the huge console releases coming up I don't think I'll have any time for computer games, let alone a MMO. The couple of days i spent with it were really fun and I want more.

They re-opened up the lifetime and 6 month subscriptions. Basically a ton of people who probably had no intention of buying these whined and whined, so they brought them back. Which is something good coming out of internet whiners, which is a rare thing. They do come with some costume pieces and Star Trek closed beta access, so on second thought I nabbed one. Hey it is only money !

I did have a blast in the end of beta event, but avoided playing to much afterwards. I didn't want ti invest time in a character that would be wiped. Still trying to decide what type of character I want when it launches.

As of 5:17 pm PST, servers are up again for a little while.

Yeah. they're doing some last-minute stress testing on a new build. Servers go live for the head start tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT.

So wait, you design your own superhero, then go to the Guild of Calamitous Intent and pick your own supervillain? An MMO without the tedious "you hit them, they hit you" combat? This sounds awesome.

I think you have to get to level 25 before you create your nemesis and their minions. I did it during the beta when they bumped everybody up to 40 and it's pretty awesome. You select the form of their minions, give them a few powers, then design your nemesis pretty much how you'd design your hero. Wasn't five minutes after I was done when three minions jumped me out of nowhere.

Yeah, I'm sold on giving it a try next week. I love the comic-book look of the game, and the reviews for it seem pretty solid.

Quick question: is this going to be server based, or will everyone be playing in the same common zones (like in 'Guild Wars'). It would be fun to join up with some of you guys to kick some ass.

I assume it will be server based.

It's one big server with multiple instances, but it's very easy to change instances, and when entering the game, it shows you which instances anyone from your friends list is in, so it's pretty simple to meet up.

Perfect, it's just like 'Guild Wars' then.

Last question: was there enough content in beta? I want to be able to level via quests and not repetitve grinding. That lack of content (along with memory leaks) almost killed AoC at launch, and I don't want to go through that again.

You seem to get a lot more experience for quest completion than grinding. While most quests involve fighting or destroying things, I recall one quest in the ghost town where I had to exorcise a haunted well. The mechanics weren't anything special, just go to the well with the incantation and "activate" it, then wait a few seconds for it to take effect (during which time you could be attacked and interrupted). So, nothing groundbreaking as far as I could tell. For the most part you'll be beating things up, but what did you expect?

I also recall an short escort mission, where I had to heal a wounded soldier and then escort him to safety.

Does anyone know of any canadian outlets that will allow you to pre-order and take part in the quick start? I realize there's only a couple of days left in the QS, but from what I can tell on the website, if you want the lifetime deal (which I'm considering) you have to register a pre-order or retail key code before August 31st, which is a couple of days before I get my hands on the retail copy I pre-ordered from EB. I asked the cllerk about pre-order quickstart keycodes and he gave me a blank look, so if I can pick it up online I'll just cancel my pre-order.

Thing is, the only digital download options I can find are US and Europe only. Amazon.ca, ebgames.ca, future shop, and BestBuy.ca don't list the game for pre-order. I know some friends of mine have gotten the lifetime deal, but I'm not sure at this point how they did it. Maybe I just need to go back to EB tomorrow and yell.

We have to wait until February 2010 for the 360 version? Bullshit.

I suppose I'll end up with the PC version now. I wonder if they'll let you transport an account made for PC to the console when it comes out.

The bullshit is all from Microsoft. The code is ready but do to the unique patching necessary for a MMO (it needs to patched when ever needed), Microsoft is dragging their feet on it. MMOs have been trying to get released on the 360, but have been unable to get past this hurdle.

Plus Microsoft wants to require a Gold membership to play an MMO on top of the monthly fee, which has also been a stumbling block.

Launch day ! Looks like they fixed some balance issues and such. Good news. I should be on some today and probably a bunch tomorrow. My character is Redeemer@StG (yeah my login here comes from my first CoH guy Saint Gregory, and I have used it randomly since).

For what it's worth: Best Buy has a deal on this where you can buy the game and time card (on the same receipt) and save $10. BB also has some exclusive thingamajig that you get.

Anyways, I'm getting it after work and loading her up. Post your hero names on here if you want to group up.

Or "nerfed the game beyond playability" if some of the forum hyperbolists are to be believed.

My main is Gibraltar@Areffd, he's level 15 and currently running around Millennium City.

What are they saying, and what are you observing as you play it now? Would you still recommend the game?

As expected, I have come down with a serious case of alt-itis and have yet to get a character past level 10. I'm liking the game so far, but I played City of Heroes so I pretty much knew what I was in for. For me the juice is the character creator. I have spent literally hours slaving over that thing.

If anybody wants to find me, my account name is @phreakdoubt and the characters are Alpha, Ballistic, Dillinger's Ghost, Dr. Defenestrator, Flashover, and The Rook. Me and a few guys I work with are thinking about starting a supergroup.

They applied a patch this morning to fix some issues with some of the passive defensive abilities being too powerful. I haven't played since they patched, but a lot of the complaints are of the "I can't solo four mobs without breaking a sweat anymore!" variety, which leads me to believe it's not a huge issue. The devs said they lowered the effectiveness from 75% to 66%, and yet people are screaming "they nerfed us by 50%!!!" Typical whining, if you ask me.