What do you really think of Champions Online?

[Rapier]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

check before I load up a game is right here; http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/ - Can you run it? Its a great litmus test' date=' and it lets you know exactly where you stand in the grand scheme of things. [/quote']

 

I'm repping you for that. It's awesome.

[antiklaus]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I tried to give it every chance to get better, despite the fact that it was a pale shadow of the pen and paper game. Sadly, in an attempt to 'balance' the game, they've resorted to putting every significant statistic on the "diminishing returns" model.

 

This model, as well as "rebalanced powers" has stripped away any sense of uniqueness in the characters and aside from visual differences made all of the characters into cookie cutter roles.

 

There are a total of 5 builds that have effective power sets, forcing a "class system" even when there isn't one.

 

Congrats on doing to me what I never thought was possible... make me associate the Champions label with something I truly despise.

 

I was fortunate enough to sell off my lifetime subscription at cost, so all I really lost was time and patience and the trust of friends who joined CO when I did.

 

Sadly, I see STO as following suit.

[lemming]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I'm repping you for that. It's awesome.

 

*cough* I think you missed, but thanks for the rep.

[GamePhil]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Why? To put it bluntly CO is graphically inferior to ALL of the above mentioned games, and its not even a close race. CoX has an amazing character creator as well(Arguably far superior), and it has another advantage over CO, multiple servers. This, of course, helps with resource allocation and allows for smoother combat in non instanced zones. So already CO has two strikes against it when compared to its direct competition, but that's not all by a long shot.

 

Interesting that I disagree with all of these points. Think it's a matter of taste. I can't see the graphics of WoW to be superior, and certainly don't find the character creator in CoX to be even arguably superior. As for multiple servers, they may help in some areas but they split up your player base, so it's a give and take kind of thing. So, we shall see.

[Rapier]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

*cough* I think you missed' date=' but thanks for the rep.[/quote']

 

So I did. Shrug!

[Catacomb]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Interesting that I disagree with all of these points. Think it's a matter of taste. I can't see the graphics of WoW to be superior' date=' and certainly don't find the character creator in CoX to be even arguably superior. As for multiple servers, they may help in some areas but they split up your player base, so it's a give and take kind of thing. So, we shall see.[/quote']

 

Respectfully, pure pixels per screen are not arguable. CO's kinda cell shading, kinda not - is a detriment to performance. Also, in CoX you have almost every creation option with one exception - an in depth weapon customization in comparison. CoX has the power aura creator though and so it evens out imo. In the end CoX runs on a superior engine and the game is almost five years older than CO. It should not only not be that way, it shouldn't even be close.

[GamePhil]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Respectfully' date=' pure pixels per screen are not arguable. CO's kinda cell shading, kinda not - is a detriment to performance. Also, in CoX you have almost every creation option with one exception - an in depth weapon customization in comparison. CoX has the power aura creator though and so it evens out imo. In the end CoX runs on a superior engine and the game is almost five years older than CO. It should not only not be that way, it shouldn't even be close.[/quote']

 

No, it's not arguable, but who cares? I like the look in CO. I detest the look in WoW. Guess which I'll pick?

 

I don't have almost every creation option in CoX, I am constrained by the antiquated character class idea. It's true that I have every costume creation option, however, but that's not the only thing that I want from the game. I'd actually prefer a game that was even more freeform than CO, but it's a step in the right direction, so I'm going to go with it, thanks.

 

But, whatever. The things you want out of a game are clearly different from what I want out of a game, and that's just fine by me. I just don't get why there is the need to try to prove someone that doesn't agree with your wall of text wrong. But that's just fine, I'll bow out now, since while you started with "respectfully", I'm not feeling it.

[incrdbil]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

As

Why? To put it bluntly CO is graphically inferior to ALL of the above mentioned games, and its not even a close race.

 

What are you guidelines on that, out of curioisity?

 

CoX has an amazing character creator as well(Arguably far superior)

 

And others would say its far inferior. Sort of subjective wouldnt you say?

 

Sure the bare minimum basics are there, but have you ever pvp'd? Anyone who has will know the following powers - bionic shielding, chainsaw gauntlet, regeneration, acrobatics, teleportation, laser sword, mini device - I won't name them all, but let me put it this way - you had better be rocking these if you want to be successful in any pvp combat.

 

What, PVP leads to certain optimized builds? How this is different from CoX escapes me. But then, I despise PVP, and I dont care if the PVP experience horribly sucks.

 

 

"But I don't care about pvp!"

 

Then why are you playing CO? Seriously. The pve is a joke, and by no means a challenge.

 

yeah..I see where this is going.

 

 

 

Don't take my word for it, just look at the boards.

 

Sort of like the CoX boards. Whiners whining that their preferred play style/build isnt better than all others, and its just unfair....its eternal puberty. IOW, standard for PVP board in general.

 

EDIT: yes, there are exceptional scholars and gentlepersons among PVP'rs. Sadly, they are the definite minority.

[Catacomb]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

-I can take any of my five different builds in CoX and pvp with high competence. Those are just my five toons, its not limited to those builds.

 

-GFX in the games I mentioned are superior based solely on pixels per screen + FPS. A game can be drop dead gorgeous - doesn't make a bit of difference if you're running it at 4 FPS.

 

-CoX has more build options in the character creator. Fire them both up, try and build your 'ideal' super and see which game can get it closer.

 

 

This isn't subjective and I am by no means a hater, but it is an inferior product. Sad but true.

[xenobrain]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I found the very flexible character creation to be a strong point, with some "kewl powerz" (particularly travel powers) that are fun to use.

 

That said, the overall design of the game, questing, grouping etc was simply not compelling for me. I lost interest before the first month was up.

[Crimson-Hawk]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Two things stop me from getting full-on into the game. One is finances. I'm a (retired) long-time player of both EQ1 and WoW, so I'm used to the pricing scheme that CO follows. Comparatively speaking, I feel it is fair. Sadly, I have only a part time job and need to support a wife and two children, so maintaining a subscription to the game isn't very responsible of me. More than likely, the wife will try to keep me from playing it anyway (she feels it locks my attention and keeps me from being a responsible father), so I wouldn't be able to get my full $15 worth out of the game each month, anyway.

 

The other thing preventing me from getting full-on into the game is the graphics engine. If the graphics engine were as light as the one used for DDO or Earth Eternal, I would be ecstatic. But I have a Compaq Presario v5000 laptop with 2 GB of RAM and an Intel graphics chip built into the motherboard. The one time I did install the game onto my own computer, I was able to get maybe 5 fps while in the Greenpeace headquarters. What times I have played the game, I snuck onto my mother-in-law's laptop to do so. I shouldn't have to do that.

 

Otherwise, I was having a blast with the game. I was able to build Crimson-Hawk and gallivant him about in the Southwest Desert zone for a little while before hitting Millennium City. That so much of that was solo'able was attractive to me. I had no problems following the storylines and achieving objectives. I even braved being in a group twice and found the experience very satisfying.

 

The one grief, if you could call it that, is one that someone else here on the boards has expressed (iirc). It does feel a lot like other, more traditional, MMOs as far as the grind quests and hunt for treasures are concerned. But the game does an excellent job of glossing over that with the Champions Universe flavor.

[Tasha]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Ok I have been playing CO since BEFORE Closed Beta. I was one of a number of players to catch the end of Alpha or was it Friends adn Family Beta. The game was so bad that I didn't purchase it at or before launch and recommended against purchasing the game. Though I kept most of my opinions vague'ish here out of respect to Hero Games (At least before it launched, I offered my opinion a few weeks after launch).

 

Combat is repetitive and not really that much fun. Though they did cut back on the end builder spam, the whole "Action MMO" concept was flawed right from the start.

 

The Costume Generator is nice, but missing some enchancements that were added after Cryptic Left NCSoft and split into Paragon Studios and Cryptic Games. In fact some of the best stuff that has been added to CoX came after Cryptic left NCsoft. Things missing from the generator, Presets (for getting all of certain costume pieces together), uncluttered interface (heck the CO interface for Costume Generation is a mess). Good lighting on the character model during generation (I hammered them for months about this in beta).

 

The stories are clearly, derived from when the game was Marvel Online. Just turned a bit to make some sense in the Champions Universe. The Zones are still a bit cluttered, and the stories after you get out of the starting zones (In beta we only really tested the starting zones and Monster Island) are quite lacking in depth and that something that grabs you and makes you care.

 

The graphics on my GeForce 8800GTX 768mb video card frankly stunk. Everything looked quite muddy with that card, it was like playing in the fog. Also the decision to put a hard black line around the models just ruined my immersion. It's another case of Cryptic thinking something was cool, when it was actually quite lame and caused their graphics to look VERY dated. BTW a new GeForce 275GT OC card cleared up the Graphics and the game no longer looks like I am playing in a foggy blurred mess.

 

When I got to Millennium City, I was annoyed with the lack of content. Also, I had issues finding where to go and what to do. Even those stupid circles on the quest maps didn't seem to help.

 

Also it took me forever to figure out how to get new powers etc. Crafting is ok , but not very exciting. I don't think that Cryptic really understands what Crafters want to see in a system or how to make one that is actually fun.

 

I think that CoX is a better game, not because of Cryptic but despite Cryptic's lazy game design. I think that Paragon Studios (formally NCsoft north), is doing a much better job with the game and actually care about the players and how to make their game more fun. The writing is much better on CoX than on Champions online. It's just a better game.

 

Now StarTrek Online is going to succeed despite Cryptic's ineptitude. The fact that it's Star Trek seems to make the lack luster game play and frequent bugs easier to over look.

[Kisska]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Tried it didnt care for but then didnt care for CoX either didnt feel enough like champions to me but then neither does the new edition of champs pnp. Now character creation for Champs on line is fun though but not worth paying any money for.

[Jagged]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I only played in Beta but decided not to purchase for the following reasons:

 

1) Lack of content. I am a slow player, I like to take my time and it took me years to get through CoX content. But CO didn't seem to have enough at the start. Certainly less than its predecessor at launch.

 

2) Combat didn't excite. On paper I liked all the ideas as they described them. In actual play I found them wanting.

 

3) Didn't enjoy creating characters. Not sure how they managed to do that! I love creating characters! In CO I found it a chore. I also found it difficult to make my characters play differently. No doubt if you played them to higher levels you could make their powers extremely different but at the low levels I played before I got bored it was all too similar.

 

4) Cryptics attitude towards macro transactions. Didn't like the way this seemed to be going.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

My "experience" has been null, because the decision was made to develop it solely for a platform that I don't own, and have no interest in acquiring. The game was initially announced for Windows PC and X-Box 360. I have a Windows machine, but it's not powerful enough in terms of graphics to run CO. I also don't have an X-Box 360.

 

However, I would have used the desire to try CO as the excuse to get an X-Box 360. There are also other X-Box 360 titles I would enjoy, and I wouldn't feel like I was buying new hardware just to play a single game. Of course, I could instead buy a new PC. Trouble is, other than the desire to try CO, I have absolutely no need for a new PC. I would literally be buying it just to play CO, as there are no other PC games that are both (A) too "advanced" for my existing PC to run and ( interesting to me.

 

So once Cryptic went PC-only with the game, they lost me. That's kind of a bummer, because with the new Revelation expansion, some stuff that I created for the Vibora Bay book is now in the MMO, and it would be cool to see it in the game. But I'm not quite vain enough to drop several hundred dollars on a new PC just for that...

[pinecone]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

My "experience" has been null, because the decision was made to develop it solely for a platform that I don't own, and have no interest in acquiring. The game was initially announced for Windows PC and X-Box 360. I have a Windows machine, but it's not powerful enough in terms of graphics to run CO. I also don't have an X-Box 360.

 

However, I would have used the desire to try CO as the excuse to get an X-Box 360. There are also other X-Box 360 titles I would enjoy, and I wouldn't feel like I was buying new hardware just to play a single game. Of course, I could instead buy a new PC. Trouble is, other than the desire to try CO, I have absolutely no need for a new PC. I would literally be buying it just to play CO, as there are no other PC games that are both (A) too "advanced" for my existing PC to run and ( interesting to me.

 

So once Cryptic went PC-only with the game, they lost me. That's kind of a bummer, because with the new Revelation expansion, some stuff that I created for the Vibora Bay book is now in the MMO, and it would be cool to see it in the game. But I'm not quite vain enough to drop several hundred dollars on a new PC just for that...

 

Can't you write it off? Yeah, I also can't see buying a hot rig just to play. I did buy a hot system for my son, but he got bored and dropped Champs Online pretty fast. He still plays WoW though.....

[Killer Shrike]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I like it ok, but I'm not compelled to play it. My highest level character has peaked; there's literally not one more additional ability I want for the character to the extent that I've run around with a power point for a couple levels now hoping they'll eventually add something I want.

 

I find the teaming or lack there of to be aggravating. If the game didn't insist on making all the key end of arc missions impossibly aggravating to solo I wouldn't mind but instead I blow thru the lead ups just grinding and then get stuck on the big end of arc missions. I've got a pile of them in my mission queue. CoX is the clear winner on teaming.

 

The replay value just doesn't seem to be there for me; I can't motivate myself to replay the early levels with a new character because there isn't enough variability to give me a different experience.

 

The "loot" and crafting aspect is not fun for me; there's just too much of it and most of it is drek. It takes to much diff'ing for me to determine what is better than I've already got, or not. Just a big distraction.

 

The place where CO wins for me is the setting. I mostly have fun seeing a visual representation of the Champions Universe, even if its a little skewed by the Cryptic changes to the IP.

 

 

Bottom line for me, I don't miss not playing CO, but I still fondly recall CoX and sometimes feel the itch to reactivate my sub and play it some more. My CoX characters have "soul" and I fondly remember them and how each of them "felt" different to play, while my CO characters are just pixels on the screen and all feel more or less the same to me - like an FPS spawned character. Despite the greater configuration options on picking powers, the characters seem to have little to no individuality.

 

However, I believe in the integrity and talent of DoJ and the quality of the IP, and I know that Cryptic can do great things (or at least has done so in the past). I'm a lifetime subscriber, and I'm comfortable waiting and seeing if Cryptic manages to pull their heads out and finish this game.

 

In the meantime I'm enjoying all the quality pen and paper RPG products DoJ's been able to turn out using the influx they've gotten from Cryptic. {Holds up beautiful 6e full color hardback} <- I consider this a win either way

[RexMundi]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I've been wholly Underwhelmed with CO lately. I think mostly because of the typical MMO thing of pandering to the lowest common denominator. I did like the Lemuria Under Water area though, but I guess my biggest hangup is the WoW cartoony look. Doesn't work for me, even 4 Color Comics had more detail back in the day.

 

~Rex

[Stormfalcon]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Well, I took advantage of the recent free weekend to get a character up to 11. It's not bad, and I did feel more like playing a superhero than I did with CoX (actually taking on superhero-worthy opponents rather than random street thugs). A few quests felt grindy at times though (such as having to take down 150 mutates in Burning Sands). The environments were pretty good too.

 

However, I'm going to hold out a bit longer before activating my registration key. Yeah, I already bought it thanks to the big Steam holiday sale a while back. However, at the time I didn't have a system that could run it so I put it aside until I had one that does. My current system could handle it, but I want to get a better video card (probably an ATI 5750 or 5770) before fully diving in since it's currently running Intel G4x graphics, which does not do things justice at all. I'll at least enjoy the first month free at that point. Any further would hinge on their improving the content situation and hopefully seeing more options for character design (more costume pieces that'll let me get the characters closer to the concepts in my mind).

[Checkmate]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

-I can take any of my five different builds in CoX and pvp with high competence. Those are just my five toons, its not limited to those builds.

 

-GFX in the games I mentioned are superior based solely on pixels per screen + FPS. A game can be drop dead gorgeous - doesn't make a bit of difference if you're running it at 4 FPS.

 

-CoX has more build options in the character creator. Fire them both up, try and build your 'ideal' super and see which game can get it closer.

 

 

This isn't subjective and I am by no means a hater, but it is an inferior product. Sad but true.

Really? That's interesting. I'm not sure I believe you, so prove it to me. Write a program that will add pixels to my screen. Gee why are you sitting there stumped? Oh right, there isn't a program in the world that can actually enhance my physical monitor is there?

 

The quality of graphics has absolutely NOTHING to do with pixels or Frames Per Second (FPS) both of which are dependent on HARDWARE. The actual quality of graphics for SOFTWARE comes from polygon count, which in all of the games you mention are INFERIOR to CO (especially WoW). The more polygons you have the more life-like the graphics, the more strain it puts on hardware, and you'll typically get lower FPS because the HARDWARE can't keep up. So from a purely fact basis CO is graphically superior to CoX or WoW.

 

Now I don't really like the style of the graphics in CO, which is purely subjective. IMHO I think CoX looks more like comic book heroes than CO. CoX also has less stringent hardware requirements because if their technically inferior graphics meaning the average PC will get better FPS using CoX.

[RexMundi]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Cox is more comic book looking, CO is more Cartoon looking.......CO still....HAS gotten a touch more interesting lately.....It's got me from Meh......to Meh +1.

 

~Rex

[Certified]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Cox is more comic book looking, CO is more Cartoon looking.......CO still....HAS gotten a touch more interesting lately.....It's got me from Meh......to Meh +1.

 

~Rex

 

Does that add 1 to both your attack and Damage with Meh?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

Does that add 1 to both your attack and Damage with Meh?

 

A Staff of Withering Scorn.

[Mangle Paw]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

At this point, I like it very much. I bought into the lifetime and figure that between mo.s played and perqs like extra character slots, costume slots and the new VIP lounge, it has paid for itself.

 

I like the arcade feel of the games style. Blocking is critical, even for tanky brute types.

 

I love the costume creator and the open system of power picks.

 

I do feel that the game started with a load of balance problems, that would have been solved with a longer beta time frame, but I also see the need to get the game to a paying basis.

 

Just my 2 cents

 

MP

[bobooton]

Re: What do you really think of Champions Online?

 

I like the game, though it's been a couple months since I logged in. My wife and I both have lifetime subs. Unfortunately, she doesn't like the game much and strongly prefers COH/V. It didn't help that we had two grumpy old friends who just couldn't let go of COH long enough to give CO a legitimate shot. One hates cel-shading and stubbornly resists change, while the other takes to even small changes about as well as he'd take to someone kicking his cat. It also didn't help that my wife's laptop is a bit tired, but she has a new Asus on the way that should cure that.

 

Personally, I started avoiding CO due to my friends not playing it much, rampant imbalances, jarring changes that never seemed to target the real problems, and network issues. They're working on all that, but there are a lot of games out there that don't have those problems and I can play them right now while things get fixed on CO. When the fixes are in and the balance issues go from gaping chasms to cracks in the sidewalk, then I'll likely give it another shot. It's a good game with a chance at greatness, so I look forward to that day.