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Pattern Ghost

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Posts posted by Pattern Ghost

  1. Costs of Champions

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: Costs of Champions

     

    Cryptic hasn't released those numbers yet, but we can speculate.

     

    Most MMOs have a base cost of about $40-50 for the game itself, and a monthly fee of $14.95, with various discount steps for buying more than one month at a time. After the game matures a bit, the price for the base game sometimes goes down. Expansion packs are usually a step down in price from the original game, and typically include the core game and any prior expansions, either as an option or as part of the price. I'm going to guess it'll be $39.99 for the PC and $49.99 for the 360 on release, with a base monthly of $14.99.* Most MMOs offer the first 30 days free. Even if they ask for billing info, you won't be billed until the 30 day trial period is up. Champs Online seems to be doing this as well.

     

    For example, World of Warcraft has been out for five years, and is in its second expansion pack. The price for the "battle chest" that includes the base game and both expansions is $39.99 (less on Amazon), and the monthly subscription is still based on $14.99/month, which steps down to $13.99/mo. for three months, $12.99/mo. for six months.

     

    Lord of the Rings Online is currently on its second expansion, and the combo with the original and both expansions is $19.99. (The game originally was $39.99 on release, I think.) However, I just got a special that was $9.99 for the game and expansions, and down to $10/month for a three month subscription. The base price per month is $14.99 going one month at a time. LOTRO also offers discounts for a year sub and for a lifetime sub. Lifetime subs are generally $299.99 and sometimes go on sale for $199.99, which is a heck of a deal if you plan to play for a few years.

     

     

    *And this guess would be wrong: http://www.amazon.com/Champions-Online-Pc/dp/B0024FA6EY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1248722481&sr=1-1

     

    Looks like the game itself will be $49.99 MSRP for the PC.

  5. Bloody?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Bloody?

     

     

    It's like tapping a coconut with a hammer. The first many hits don't do any really visible damage, but suddenly, one hit no harder than the previous cracks the shell. Or a single hard hit will smash the coconut where many milder hits won't do much damage.

     

    - Klaus

     

    Wait... you're telling me you're not supposed to eat the shell??? :ugly:

  6. Sixth Edition Showcase #4: Deflection, Reflection, And Range

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #4: Deflection, Reflection, And Range

     

     

    My issue is having it be a default setting rather than an option.

     

    Looking at 4th and 5th, it seems to me that the defaults lean toward the super heroic or cinematic, rather than the realistic. In this context, it's consistent with the rest of the rules for it to be the default. Adding complexity and layering in "realism" tend to go together under the current system.

     

    I do think that there should be, at least by way of an example, a very clear alternate case for more realistic campaigns.

  7. Champions 6th version

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Champions 6th version

     

    My issues with 6e thus far are less financial and more 'this is getting too complicated'. 5e was more complicated than 4e' date=' and I don't think it was necessary in most cases. 6e looks to be even MORE complicated so far, and there's only so far that goes before I just throw my hands up and back away.[/quote']

     

    I was a bit concerned about the level of complexity rising further in 6th too, but from the first three previews, at least some things are looking to be simplified. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point.

  8. City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

     

    It's been mentioned quite a few times, not an NDA issue at all. There will be a global chat handle, and it will be appended to the character name as necessary. For example, you may have six Knight Hawk's on your friends list, but they would also have their global chat handle attached, such as Knight Hawk@shnar, Knight Hawk@Celt, Knight Hawk@Lemming. However, you won't see those @___'s appended to people just walking around, unless there happened to be two of the same name near each other. I'm presuming that's another circumstance where the appended global chat handle might apply. The system hasn't been laid out in great detail, but that's the gist of it as I understand it.

  10. In game art for the NPC's

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: In game art for the NPC's

     

    Actually, I saw some in game footage from the starter mission that was leaked on YouTube, and Defender doesn't look too bad in game. I prefer the 5th Edition look, but it wasn't a bad character design overall.

     

    I'm hoping the storyline for Dr. D has the original come back with a look more like 5th edition, too. The Dr. Fate look doesn't quite do it for me. I'll just keep telling myself this is a Destroyerbot or clone gone out of control and the bad fashion sense is clone copy degradation or a glitch in the programming. :D

  12. City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

     

    You realize that the freeing up of names started when Cryptic still ran the game... I could have sworn that they only released the names of characters in inactive accounts. Because I have a ton of alts on 3 different servers with none above lvl 30 and never lost a name. YMMV I guess

     

    Tasha

     

    The account was inactive. I quit, and came back for CoV, to find my characters' names gone.

     

    Cryptic can bite me too, actually. :D

     

    At least they're doing non-unique names in CO.

  13. City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game

     

    No, just poor phrasing, I guess. Back when they first decided to free up names, they put a level 35 requirement to have a character being safe from having its name made available for use. So, characters who were my main alts, well into their 20s, and more than halfway to the level cap, had their names made available. I bought CoV when it came out and decided to try it out, but ended up losing my names on my two high 20's characters and a few that were around 20.

     

    Kind of annoying.

  18. Microtransaction (Cryptic Bucks) Info Up

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: Microtransaction (Cryptic Bucks) Info Up

     

    It's hard to say 'cheaper' when you don't have a baseline. In the end' date=' a game needs to produce a certain level of profits to be worth putting new resources into. Thus, if a game produces extra revenues from microtransactions, it doesn't need to as much money from subscriptions to be successful.[/quote']

     

    I think in this context -- at least the way I was using the word -- "cheaper" means "cheaper than games without microtransactions systems" or "cheaper than the industry standard." In other words: Less than the usual 15 bucks a month base price most MMOs charge.

     

    For example, Free Realms is a Sony game that's free to download and play, but you get more content if you subscribe for five bucks a month, and you can use Station "Bucks" (not sure what they're called) to buy more stuff with microtransactions. (And to be clear, this is very much not the model Cryptic is going for. Just an example.)

     

    Anyway, until they release pricing info, that's all speculative. I'm sure if there's any impact on the monthly fee, it'll be dependent on projected sales from the store, which will be partly dependent on how extensive said store is.

  21. Microtransaction (Cryptic Bucks) Info Up

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Cryptic finally made a substantial comment on the issue:

     

    Update 7/22: Bill Roper interview on TTH. Haven't read it yet, it went up today: http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71536

     

    http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=23349

     

    Inserting quote:

     

    I know everyone has questions about microtransactions – what are they, how much are they, etc. I’m sorry we didn’t post something earlier; we’re really heads down in development right now. We’re going to release a WHOLE lot of information in the very near future about not just about microtransactions, but pricing in general. That said, here’s some basic principles about microtransactions to at least answer some of your concerns:

     

    1) Microtransactions enable us to have a larger development team

    2) Microtransactions are mostly aesthetic (costume pieces, pets, etc.)

    3) If a microtransaction does have any sort of in game effect, then it can be also be earned in game.

     

    I promise we'll read this thread, note any questions, and answer them more in depth soon. Heck, I'll try to answer the easy ones today/tomorrow/this week.

     

     

    Update:

     

    The new State of the Game has more on them:

     

    http://www.champions-online.com/node/92892

     

    The Skinny on Micro-transactions

     

    Champions Online will support micro-transactions, but contrary to the concerns of some people, the game is not ‘based’ on them. There are the basic tenets for our micro-transactions:

     

    * The vast majority are aesthetic items, such as costume pieces, action figures, emblems, etc.

    * A very few are account-level management tools, such as being able to rename a character

    * Micro-transactions should never limit your ability to enjoy the game or reach the level cap

    * Any micro-transaction that has a game effect can also be earned in the game through play

     

    Also, it’s important to note that the overwhelming majority of micro-transactions are account-wide. This means if you buy a costume piece or an action figure, every character on your account gets it.

     

    Finally, many of the pre-order programs that we’re finalizing now have cryptic points associated with them. This is a way for us to allow our players to choose their own pre-order reward(s) which falls into our whole customization concept for Champions Online.

  25. New Metarule

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Metarule

     

    So' date=' let me get this straight, a PC has read a few articles about naturalists, maybe a book that tells one person's experiences, and he regularly watches Man vs. World (i.e. he has a Survival Familiarity, with an 8- roll), but he has never actually DONE anything like that before (that would give him enough exposure/experience to make it a "real" skill), and he has a 1 in 4 chance of finding his way out of the wilderness alive and basically unhurt, finding food that won't kill him and not becoming food? I don't buy it.[/quote']

     

    Anyone using Man vs. Wild as a guide for their wilderness survival skills has about a 3 in 4 chance of doing something stupid and getting killed. :eg:

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