Finally! (Champions Online)

[Gargoyle]

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

It's about time!

[Blackout]

I agree. I saw this in the last week or so and have been keeping an eye on the new information.

[GM Mad]

X-Play did a hands on look at Champions Online last night. I know that many of you are interested in this, so here are the links to the videos.

http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/previews/3534 ... t_One.html

http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/previews/3535 ... t_Two.html

My own impressions are mixed. I'm not an MMO kind of guy, so that part leaves me cold. Although they do talk about solo campaigns so that might be more appealing. The upcoming KOTOR MMO mentions the same solo thing, so these things might be heading towards a combination of both styles of play.

What I would have liked to have learned from the preveiw is that is this set in the Champions-type world? Does VIPER, for example, exist and all those great characters? I don't recall seeing anyone fly or throw energy blasts in the example videos, rather just folks punching each other. Would have been nice of various examples of powers in action had been shown. The variety of settings was nice.

The game is susposed to be out this spring on PC and 360, which makes you wonder just how well the two platforms will crossover or if they'll be kept seperate.

[Validar]

I think I can answer some of the questions MAD posed here, from what I've seen about the game online.

I am looking forward to this one and the more I see it the more likley it is I will be playing. Pretty much a very good chance, so who else is interested in forming a hero team?

The MMO part I think is great in these games. I mean, when you play D&D or Champions, how often do you play by yourself completely? Some characters are soloists and that's all well and good. But much like these games on the MB, it can be so much more fun to interact with others and to team up and be more effective and powerful. The advantage of an MMO too is that you can always play solo and group when you are able or want to. So it is possible to play never grouping at all, but to me that is one of the best parts. Just like meeting up for an online session regularly and then do what you want the rest of the time. Best of both worlds really.

This game DOES take place in the Champions world. On the official website they mention villains such as Dr. Destroyer, Foxbat, Grond, Mind Slayer, Ankylosaur, Menton and others. The only heroes I have seen mentioned are Defender and 3 others that I have never heard of. There are game zones such as Stronghold, Monster Island, a time travel to the 1800's cowboy period (anyone remember Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid fighting Kang?), a very futuristic city, etc. In these videos that Ken linked they mention the Canadian wilderness and other places, so it appears to be a whole world and not just a city.

There are several other preview videos online on YouTube and you can see people flying and firing energy beams, area effect blasts and forcefields. It seems that there will be lots of choices to character creation.

Also the costume designer should be better than COH/COV. There are 4 colors per piece in CO instead of two in COH, which already gives more options. And you can have capes at the beginning it seems, instead of 'earning' them as an award. Whoever heard of that?

Hard to say for sure about the interface, but I found CoH a little clunky at first, while WoW was very intuitive. Hoping CO will have a good interface. I like the graphics so far as well. The ones in COH always seem a little "dirty" to me.

Also the word is that the game is cross-platform, but no one seems to actually say that people on 360s and PCs wil be on the same network. If so, great; if not then that is a bummer.

So all that being said, I am ready to see this game and by the time it comes out should be able to afford the time and slight expense playing it will cost. So who else is ready to join a 'new' version of Strikeforce? I always liked that name for a hero group. I am looking at re-creating probably Tigress and Tempest in this game and if at all possible, then Muskateer as well, and Spinerette would be very cool to bring to life (as would an umpteen number of characters).

Consider this a Strikeforce recruiting drive! Please indicate your interest and characters or types you would be wanting to join.

L8R

[Validar]

Hello -

Did a little more poking around tonight and found out more things about Champs Online.

Apparently you will be able to go into a magical dimension or outer space or the underwater city of Lemuria too, among other locations.

The PC and 360 versions will have their own servers dedicated to each game, but also some servers that handle both!

You will not only be able to edit powers and their manifestation (like flames specifically or colors of force fields), but will be able to edit the movement. Beastal characters can run on all fours, robotic characters can have jerky, mechanical movements and psy- characters can float a few inches above the ground. This sounds like a cool addition.

Also Limitartions and Disads will be featured in some form.

[fanchergw]

This is sounding like a lot of fun. I will definitely try it out via trial accounts when those become available. (In general across the industry, it seems like this option doesn't become available until a game has been out for a year or so, so it could be a while.) It will have to really blow my socks off to get me to invest $15 a month, though; so far, no game I've tried has convinced me to pony up for that.

Personally, I have a strong tendency to solo play ("Lee-roy Jenkins!"). However, I could see trying some group play with people that I knew well enough to trust that they weren't going to do crazy/stupid stuff. Of course, my play time is pretty haphazard with family responsibilities and all, so it might be somewhat difficult to pull off.

Gordon

[GM Mad]

Some quick comments.

Thanks to Validar for answering some of the questions. I can add that the first video I linked showed what was called I believe the Canadian Wilderness and this took place near the begining of the game. The second video was set on Monster Island and was to be reached around level 35.

While it's neat that some of the main Champs characters are going to appear, it does make you wonder just what version they are going to use. I mean, the originals were just barebones characters that you could flesh out to your own tastes. While it would be cool to run into Foxbat, it might also be a version that doesn't go with your own personal version, so that could be disconcerting. That's not my Foxbat!

I would have to say that the 360 version will have voice communication instead of exchanging typed messages. You get a headset with the system when you buy it, so that makes the most sense. Of course that would lead to the creepy situation of a dude's voice coming out of a heroine's mouth!

It does have possiblities, but it's really coming out at what looks to be a really bad time. Work is looking bleak for the early part of next year and dropping $60 for a new game isn't feasible. I'd definately would like to get my hands on a demo at some point before making any commitment.

[Validar]

The way I look at it, is that it is an entirely different world or version of the world we know. Obviously the characters will be different (unless we program our own version of the game!) in some degree or another. Powers may be different or they may use things we do not expect. And it will be different at first to actually "hear" the characters speak.

Yeah, have not experienced a Voice Chat channel yet, so wondered about that. On a PC there must be some sort of voice converters that change voices, but would imagine that may not exist for a 360. Having the wrong gender of voice speaking would be odd indeed.

I think extra cash is a problem for a lot of people at this time. I will certainly be going the trial account route at first as well. Has it been announced at $60 for release?

A few more random things I've learned:
There will be social spots for hero and secret id meetings.
The environment will be useable. So looks like throwing cars will be available!
Make-up will be available for heroes besides just masks.
Power additions will be more like MMOs than Champiosn where you start with few powers and build up, rather than having most of your powers to start and addign a little thru XPs.
Knockback will be an integral part of CO combat, so that should be fun!

Anything else cool that anyone has heard?

[fanchergw]

Of course that would lead to the creepy situation of a dude's voice coming out of a heroine's mouth!

What? You wouldn't want to hear my deep, bass voice coming from the hot babe standing next to your character?

Anything else cool that anyone has heard?

Not exactly cool, but has anyone heard anything about whether the purchase of Creative by Atari will have any effect on the release date?

Gordon

[GM Mad]

What? You wouldn't want to hear my deep, bass voice coming from the hot babe standing next to your character?

Only if you're running a Dr. Girlfriend knock off...

Not exactly cool, but has anyone heard anything about whether the purchase of Creative by Atari will have any effect on the release date?

Other than the change of ownership I haven't heard of any changes.

Has it been announced at $60 for release?

No, just a guess on my part. New 360 games run $60, with their PC counterparts around $50.

[Validar]

Greetings all!

Saw some new things on the web about Champs Online. So thought I would take a sec and share.

A release date has been announced: July14th. Of course, this means that it will be sometime AFTER July 14th most likely, but at least they are talking about final version.

I have seen alot of costumes on their site and it looks like the options are just amazing. I also heard in forming your shape, size and features, there are about 40 slider bars to manipulate. There are no Huge options for female, but apparently, they do have the vixen-type.

Travel powers sound cool and saw the video for swinging. Looks like Spidey through the city! Teleport for instance is interesting too. You become misty and unseen by others and then can quickly move to another area and re-appear. Should be a cool effect. Power options seem quite extensive as well.

On thing that worried me was having the people who grab the game first get all the good names. But that will not be the case. No need to be Sp1nn3r3tt3 to be Spinnerette. So that is a great idea. Everyone can definitely have the names that are near and dear to their heart and not have them be stuck and buried on some alt that a kid made and never plays. I am happy that I can have Tigress, Tempest, Muskateer (not really a problem with the odd spelling), Shockwave, Mockingbird, etc and not Ti-Grrrl, Cyclona, Dragoon, Sally Shocker or MockingBirrrd.

Lastly heard a little about superteams, but nothing about bases yet. Maybe something for the expansion?

Anything that anyone else has heard?

[fanchergw]

In case anyone is interested, this game recently switched to a Free-to-Play basis (as it seems just about all MMOs are, except WoW). However, the provisions are really strict, so I doubt it's a very good free-play experience; anything decent in the game you end up having to pay for. I think the Free-to-Play provisions on LotRO are much better (and I like the game better, as well).

Gordon