Champions Online

[ceafo]

Anyone here have a strong interest in this game? Not just a, "eh I'm curious and want to know what its about" but something you're excited about playing.

[ThaMan]

Never heard of it.

[Palehorse]

I'll be picking it up when it comes out. They demo'd it at DragonCon last year and it looks pretty sharp. We're working on getting them out again this year so if you want to see it played (and have a killer time), come to DragonCon in Atlanta this year, www.dragoncon.org.

[ceafo]

I'll be picking it up when it comes out. They demo'd it at DragonCon last year and it looks pretty sharp. We're working on getting them out again this year so if you want to see it played (and have a killer time), come to DragonCon in Atlanta this year, www.dragoncon.org.

Does your system at least meet the specs below?

System Specifications:

* Processor: Dual core CPU
* Memory: 1GB RAM
* Hard disk: 10GB
* Video:
- nVidia GeForce 7800 or higher (8800 or higher recommended)
- ATI Radeon HD
- ATI Radeon X700 or higher (except X1050)
- ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 or higher
* OS: Windows XP or Windows Vista

[Palehorse]

Everything but the dual-core cpu, not sure if my MB would hold an upgrade to what it has now, gonna have to check that out. The chip I do have is 3.2 ghz tho.

[ceafo]

Well that sucks. I'm not sure how much I can say but I have been in the closed beta and they sent me an email with a buddy key to invite someone else but they have to meet the specs. :(

I want to make sure that someone who really has an interest in the game gets the key and not a person who just wants to play a game for free.

[Solostaran]

I'm pretty excited about the game, and I easily meet the system reqs. That being said, ceafo, I'd recommend that you give your key to someone who's super-excited, perhaps one of those that played the pen-and-paper Champions. Besides, I'm enjoying WAR too much right now.

I'll be looking at Champions Online and Jumpgate Evolution later this year, and thinking very seriously about each. For now, though, it's WAR or nothing.

[Kaimi]

If Ganelon is not already in, you should really hook up with him, he's been the most interested in this game since announced.

[Jerith|Tony]

If Ganelon is not already in, you should really hook up with him, he's been the most interested in this game since announced.

This is at least the second time his name has been mentioned to ceafo on the topic. :wink: Hopefully his computer is up to snuff.

[ceafo]

This is at least the second time his name has been mentioned to ceafo on the topic. :wink: Hopefully his computer is up to snuff.

I just sent Gan a PM letting him know his name came up twice and asked him to read the specs and reply if interested. :)

[Ganelon]

Yes, I have all the specs and more. I....yearn for Champions Online.

It is THE game I am waiting for and will be promoting it for LOA big freaking time!

[ceafo]

I sent you the information Gan.

[Ganelon]

I sent you the information Gan.

My nipples explode with delight.

Seriously. :browsmiley:

[carnifex]

Put me on the interested list as well . . . system meets the specs.

[Landro]

The more I look at it the more I get interested. But with my experience with CoH/CoV....I am leary, just a little....I am hoping they DO NOT copy CoH/CoV other than the character creation...

Champions Online Release Date = 6/2/09

[Ganelon]

Thanks to ceafo... I have agreed to a certain NDA...so I will tell you nothing!!!!

But, having followed the game... I already know it will be my "chronic". Official or Unofficial... LOA will have a presence in that game.

[Barbedweir]

Just registered on the website.

[Shinzou]

I have been extremely excited for this game since I first got wind of it last year. I am just not vocal about much of anything.

I registered for the beta the day it was released but no invite yet :/

I easily meet the requirements as well, so if anyone gets a buddy key later on count me as interested.

[Ganelon]

Anyone who gets into the beta should message Ceafo or myself.

I'll keep a list of interested members, so when buddy invites expand...we can push them out.

[wooze]

Anyone who gets into the beta should message Ceafo or myself.

I'll keep a list of interested members, so when buddy invites expand...we can push them out.

Without breaking NDA feel free to hype the game or dog it:)

City of Heroes has been one of those games I always wander back to when I hit a burnout on other MMO's, or a dry spell on good single player rpgs. I've never even hit max level in City of Heroes, but it is one of those game I subscribed to several times a year and enjoy(the community is great).

My first concern is communication. It is being designed simultaneously for consoles and pc. Consoles to me mean that all chat will be voice chat? Voice chat while gaming to me is reserved for a few people I like and know. I am not a big rper, but breaking that veil between players and characters with voice chat is a biggy to me. I do realize I'll have to overcome that since every game in a few years might be voice chat driven:(

CoH biggest flaw was missions were the same maps over and over, I assume they fixed this?

COH greatest boon was while they had a sort of tank, healer, dps trio, yet you could do much of the content with any mix of classes.

-Don't have enough healing, a crowd control and tank can make up for it.
-Don't have enough crowd control, a tank and lots of nukers can make up for it.
-Don't have a tank, a scrapper and some debuffs can make up for it.

Does Champions turn this genre into..........sorry we can't do this dungeon, waiting on a tank or healer to log in?

Lastly, do they succeed in making you feel super? The best parts of CoH was running up to 20 mobs and blasting, pummeling, cutting them to ribbons. It wasn't a game where you fought a couple rats or spiders at a time while leveling to hero status. You were always super, fighting crazy numbers of things, soaking up damage and smiling as you saw waves of enemies fly across the room. This is a biggy to me, if combat is toned down to a couple enemies vs the masses in City of Heroes, it just won't feel the same.

Understood if I wasted my time and you can't talk about the game.

I signed up for their message board when the game was announced but never did sign up for beta testing.

[Ganelon]

Without breaking NDA feel free to hype the game or dog it:) As you say, beta testers cannot "review" the game, or go into any details about the features, without breaking the NDA. LOA has participated in many betas and a member breaking the NDA would reflect very poorly on us all... both to these game's communities and to the game makers.


City of Heroes has been one of those games I always wander back to when I hit a burnout on other MMO's, or a dry spell on good single player rpgs. I've never even hit max level in City of Heroes, but it is one of those game I subscribed to several times a year and enjoy(the community is great).

Agreed about COH. Love the game, though it is flawed. I fully intend on become active in that game again once the mission builder is out of beta (before the end of March, I assume)


My first concern is communication. It is being designed simultaneously for consoles and pc. Consoles to me mean that all chat will be voice chat? Voice chat while gaming to me is reserved for a few people I like and know. I am not a big rper, but breaking that veil between players and characters with voice chat is a biggy to me. I do realize I'll have to overcome that since every game in a few years might be voice chat driven:(

I am revealing no secrets by saying that there is typed chat. Any screenshot will show the standard lower left hand side chat area.


CoH biggest flaw was missions were the same maps over and over, I assume they fixed this?
Cryptic acknowledged this as a weakness they commonly heard while they were running CoH.


COH greatest boon was while they had a sort of tank, healer, dps trio, yet you could do much of the content with any mix of classes.

-Don't have enough healing, a crowd control and tank can make up for it.
-Don't have enough crowd control, a tank and lots of nukers can make up for it.
-Don't have a tank, a scrapper and some debuffs can make up for it.

Does Champions turn this genre into..........sorry we can't do this dungeon, waiting on a tank or healer to log in?

I cannot say.


Lastly, do they succeed in making you feel super? The best parts of CoH was running up to 20 mobs and blasting, pummeling, cutting them to ribbons. It wasn't a game where you fought a couple rats or spiders at a time while leveling to hero status. You were always super, fighting crazy numbers of things, soaking up damage and smiling as you saw waves of enemies fly across the room. This is a biggy to me, if combat is toned down to a couple enemies vs the masses in City of Heroes, it just won't feel the same.

Understood if I wasted my time and you can't talk about the game.

I cannot say.

:)

[Ganelon]

Server error. Double post.

[Landro]

The more I look at this the more my interest grows. What this will depend on is if WAR continues to add amazing content as they have. Plus AoC is still holding me at off time.

I am signed up for beta and GREATLY exceed the requirements.

[Ganelon]

Just a note: Unlike other game betas, Cryptic has encouraged alpha/beta tester to announce that they are in fact testers.

Q: If we are accepted into the Beta, are we allowed to tell others?
A: Yes! You are permitted to freely tell others that you have been invited and accepted in the Alpha/Closed Beta of Champions Online! Please remember that you are still under the NDA contract, and must continue to abide by the rules and regulations of the contract. Any violation (leaked information, revealing screenshots, video footage, etc) may result in the loss of your spot.

Thanks to ceafo, I am in the beta(at last!!!!). If any other members get in, send me a PM to get access to the LOA beta testers forum so we can talk shop.

[Ganelon]

Bill Roper interviewed about game features...
http://www.incgamers.com/Games/1797/interviews/Bill-Roper-On-Champions-Online/174/?gr_i_ni

On Costume and Power customization

What you can do is customise the look of your characters, much along the lines of the City Of games, but to a much greater extent. There are tons of different costume options, and you can choose what the colours are with those options, and how they all go together. When you choose powers, you can then go through a custom process for that. The big thing with the powers is that you can go into a thematic tree, so for example you can have these power sets. If you want to, it's very simple to make a fire hero, or an ice hero, or a lightning hero or a darkness hero, and there are different martial arts schools and things like that. All of these are all laid out so that players who just want to get into the game and make a hero can do so, and it's really simple.

But, for other players who really want to delve into the customisation you can open up the whole power system. It's pick and choose, and every time that you're choosing a power for your hero, you can go in and do it in a very custom way. There are also different Advantages that you can put on powers, and for example, my lightning would be different to your lightning because of the Advantages I've chosen.

On top of that, you can choose “emanation points,” which is where your power's coming from and what the emitter is. So basically, I might have a force bolt which would normally come out of my character's hand, but if I want to, I can change it so it's coming out of my character's eyes, or coming out of his chest. I could maybe put in a chest cannon costume piece and make him a big powered armour guy, as opposed to a mutant character who'd shoot it out of his hands.

On grouping and playstyles...

How are the grouping mechanics going to work, on that note? Do the heroes tend to fall into the usual tank/DPS/healer roles, or have you changed that up a bit?

It's changed a bit. There aren't classes per se, so you're not building a tank or a healer or a ranged DPS guy. All the skills are there to build those types of characters but that's where that customisation comes in. It's not like, for example, in fantasy where only the warrior can tank. You can build a custom guy that can do that, and have different mechanics for surviving damage. We got a lot of feedback on this from our beta players, who didn't like the idea of being forced into making a certain type of hero. They wanted to have the ability to really make the hero they want and put them in the kind of role they want to put them in. If you look at it and say that you're going to make a Might-based guy, he could easily be a tank. He's going to have high defences, he'll be a melee guy. I could take that guy and naturally drop into a tank role if I don't want get into those nuts and bolts. But those players who really want to tinker around can make a tank character that you wouldn't normally think of as the type of character that can do that. We really just wanted to provide the tool for players to build the hero that they want to build.

[Landro]

Bill Roper interviewed about game features...
http://www.incgamers.com/Games/1797/interviews/Bill-Roper-On-Champions-Online/174/?gr_i_ni

On Costume and Power customization


On grouping and playstyles...

This, this right here, has put a +++bump to my interest.....

[ceafo]

Just to add to Gan's answers on a couple things.

As you can see in interview videos you have four sets of powers (offense, balanced, defense, utility) that you can freely switch between. How you get them and how many you have I can't say. So, depending on how you want to play, or how the people are spec'd in your group you don't need to wait for a tank or healer to join the group. Hope I didn't say too much.

As for missions, you can see in interview videos that a lot of them are in outside areas so you wont have the problem of going to another building with the same layout of the last 500 you have been doing missions in.

I really can't add much more than that for fear of breaking NDA. I will add one tease though.....there MAY be some cool travel powers. :wink:

[Shinzou]

Something I have read about travel powers is that they are much more diverse and make sense. You can actually make your travel power a jet pack for instance. Or make it so your character travels around by hovering slightly off the ground like a magic being or jet boots. Basically if you want it will work.

At least that is what I read.

[Solostaran]

This, this right here, has put a +++bump to my interest.....

++++ here!