This isn’t a regularly scheduled article, but since I’m deleting the “Champions In Court” category (not much to go on nowadays), I’ve decided to give Cryptic one last hurrah, and post up a few images I have sitting in my Champions Online and Star Trek Online folders.
So without further ado, ahead! (after the break).
You find yourself in a room with one thousand small tables, each table adorned with two objects; a button and a number from one to one thousand. A voice comes over the system and says “only one of these buttons will not electrocute you. Good luck.” You gaze upon the legion of buttons as the voice softly cackles.
You are now a Quality Assurance agent for a massively multiplayer online game. Now imagine this scenario: You are in the same room, same tables, same buttons, same numbers. This time, however, you have one hundred helpers at your side. Common sense says that you send each one down the line, starting with number one and moving up (or however you want to do it) shocking each one until you get to the right button.
It was one month ago that Champions Online launched to the waiting crowd, the first in our Mega September that saw a number of new titles launch, old titles receive expansion packs, and an oldie hit its twelfth birthday. It is one month after an MMO launches that the honeymoon is over, as is the free month of membership included in the game, and the true players are separated from those who just stuck around because they had the free month.
I’ve talked a lot about the launch day patch for Champions Online, how it changed the game in a very dramatic fashion, making previously viable combat sets now obsolete and unusable. Originally, Cryptic allowed users who created their account during the head start to have a free respec, resetting their powers and allowing them to start fresh.
A patch today launched that will give all Champions Online users a free respec who created their characters before the 10th. Right now, the free respec was bugged, and therefore left out of the patch. Players can still obtain this free respec, until the UI bug is fixed, by typing /character_usefreerespec
http://www.champions-online.com/node/526341 The full list of patch notes.
Gather your superfriends, punch out a destructoid bot, and collect your action figures; Champions Online went live earlier this morning for all of you who did not gain access to the head start. Everything you remember from the beta, minus many of the bugs, is here. Players who haven’t logged in a few days will find themselves having to download several small patches (100-150mb), but should be in the game in the matter of only a few minutes.
But that’s not all! Not content with simply releasing the game and sitting back, Cryptic has taken this time to announce the first “State of the Game,” announcing further updates. Cryptic is looking at making the end-game more difficult in response to player feedback, among other tweaks. The announcement has also come of Blood Moon, a free update that currently has no details available.
Good news everyone! On the 25th, Cryptic gave a short message detailing that they were out of the special 6-month and lifetime subscriptions for Champions Online. The end to the deal was quit a showstopper, and was the topic of much ridicule and complaint over the forums, email, and chat support.
Well, let no one say that the power of the people is not a powerful power, because the subscriptions are back! Rather than employing a set number to be doled out “until supplies last”, the offer will continue until 11:59 on August 1st. If you were still on the edge or if you misses your chance, now is your time to take advantage of the deal.
Don’t forget, purchasing either one will get you special access to the Star Trek Online beta!
MMO Fallout 