Funnily enough, Champions Online announces it is going fully free-to-play (F2P) just days after I post a comment that it probably isn’t going to see any growth under a subscription model. Such is my power. I’ve had a quick scan around and not seen anyone else connect up that ChampO is going F2P the week … Continue reading
Tagged with Champions Online …
Battle Royale: CoH/V vs ChampO vs DCUO vs SHSO vs Marvel MMO
Back in 2008 (sheeh, that long ago?) I wrote a piece on City of Heroes / Villains versus Champions Online versus DC Universe Online. It’s time for a review of how these direct competitors are travelling, plus the new challengers in this space. City of Heroes / Villains (Paragon Studios / NCsoft) The self-proclaimed “world’s … Continue reading
It’s Important For Tech Companies To Update Their Websites Too
One rough sign of company health in this modern age is the state of their website, notably how often it is updated. This is especially true of companies in the technology space, like Cryptic. Of note is that their Executive Team page is wildly out of date (alterations are mine): Craig ‘Zinc’ Zinkievich announced his … Continue reading
Did Bill Roper Get A Golden Handshake?
This is me combining two different bits of information that may actually not be related. Bill Roper is leaving Cryptic Studios. He joined as the Executive Producer on Champions Online before being promoted into the role of Chief Creative Officer. Roper claims he’s leaving to explore new opportunities. Back when Infogrammes / Atari bought Cryptic, … Continue reading
DCUO Launch Cinematic – Yet Another Alien Invasion
I’ve got to admit I found the DCUO “Who Do You Trust?” cinematic engaging. Seeing Superman and Black Adam go at it was impressive and I always like seeing alternate versions of long-established characters. However… DCUO makes this three from three superhero MMOs that make the Big Bad Threat at launch as an alien invasion. … Continue reading
Comic Book MMOs Do Work, So NYYAHHH To You!
We Fly Spitfires has posted up a list of reasons why comic book MMOs don’t work in his opinion. Sharpened by years of arguing these points on various superhero MMO sites, let’s cover them off. I Want To Be Batman This is a pretty old chestnut – the idea that it only worth being a … Continue reading
Following Up on Fallen Earth’s Restructuring
Releasing bad news on a Friday can be a mixed bag – it can be buried since people have better things to do on the weekend than read news articles, or it can backfire since no-one is around to deal with the speculation and issues that arise from the bad news. Because MMO players are … Continue reading
Someone Tries To Explain the Champion Online Gear and Stats System
Someone tries to explain the way stats and gear interacts in Champions Online. Good on them. I’ve been playing ChampO since alpha (before gear and stats!) and I have never understood it. Casual games can certainly benefit from a “easy to pick up, hard to master” mentality, but ChampO seems to have an “easy to … Continue reading
Champions Online and the Second System Effect
Having played Champions Online to a middish-level point and based off my 6 odd years of experience in playing City of Heroes / Villains, I’m starting to get a very clear idea of how much the second systems effect burdens ChampO. It’s obvious that when Cryptic tried to improve on CoH/V and add in numerous … Continue reading
Catching Up: Employment Moves and Console Non-Moves
Two interesting things I saw recently: 1) Cryptic bows out of trying to get either Champions Online or Star Trek Online onto consoles. There are some out there who saw these moves as vindication that Cryptic is a horrible company who deserves to fail, but it is probably more a case of Microsoft being incredibly … Continue reading
World Class Villains 