Champions Online Open-beta First Impressions

[Quanefel]

I think that is very brave of you. I am not quite sure of the significance of Star Trek Online, though. Maybe it is because people are more accepting in the future?

Either way, Bravo, good sir, bravo.

I just want to be able to play a Romulin....but I don't think it will be a starting race. Hope they change their minds though, coolest star trek race ever.....o.O

[Borror0]

Meh...I am still waiting on Star Trek Online to come out myself.

I don't know how many attempts at Star Trek Online there has been through the years.

[Quanefel]

I don't know how many attempts at Star Trek Online there has been through the years.

For many years now. This one they have gotten fairly far with from last I checked. We even have an old DDO dev over there too. I do hope they are close to Beta at least.

[Damionic]

[quote=Mindspat;2364066]
OP, can you share with us what video card you're using and how you have the graphical settings? quote]

Sorry been working

Rig
Asus Crosshair second edition mother board
6gig Ram Corsair 800
Windows Vista 64bit
2 1TG hard drives (1000 gigs each)
SLI Duel Nvidia 250 Graphics cards
Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer "Fatality" Sound Card

in game graphics to full..everything and the framerate rocks

[Borror0]

For many years now. This one they have gotten fairly far with from last I checked. We even have an old DDO dev over there too. I do hope they are close to Beta at least.

Oh, ya. The last news I read, the studio that was developing closed but the game was secured by Cryptic.

[Mockduck]

The best part about Champions Online is Star Trek Online!

I kid (sorta). I agree with someone else that a superhero comic MMO does nothing for me. I also hated that the camera auto-panned during combat, I found it dizzying and distracting.

Haven't played the beta, my impressions are from Gen Con demos.

Combat was pretty standard MMO fare, maybe a bit better than some of the "classics" like WoW. Character customization was excellent. Graphics are a mixed bag and come down to personal opinion. I hated the look of the game, not a big fan of the new style of cel shading, but it did have a comic book look, so that is a plus I guess.

Overall, there were tons of people excited about it and I think it will be a success. For me, I plan to never play it.

[Damionic]

http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/new/crafting

[Mindspat]

I was in the beta from the very beginning.

I never played for more than 30 minutes.

Champions Online - level 2 was as far as I got.

Others will disagree. Objective opinion works like that.

Sorry for picking on you.

How the heck are you going to have us respect your opinion if it was based on no more then 30 minutes of playtime, a long time ago, when the game wasn't finished!?!?

Part of the problem with average gamers in beta tests is too many of them aren't suited for what they're supposed to be doing - you know, play an unfinished game and give feedback as to how the flaws can be fixed and the gameplay can be improved.

And you call yourself a gamer, bah!

[Quanefel]

Oh, ya. The last news I read, the studio that was developing closed but the game was secured by Cryptic.

Ugh! They are having closed beta later this year. Must...get...into...beta....

[Zippo]

While I loved the pnp game champions(4th edtion and earlier) champions online holds ZERO attraction from me I played beta awhile back and the game really doesnt use the hero system even the horrible revision by SL all it seemed to be to me was a improved CoX in new clothes but I hope you enjoy your time there but I got bored with the beta of champs almost as fast as I got bored with CoX

I haven't played Co yet but thats exactly what it seemed like to me that it was a newer version of CoH/V. Although I will say that I did like CoH/V so I'm willing to give CO a fair shot

[Uska]

I haven't played Co yet but thats exactly what it seemed like to me that it was a newer version of CoH/V. Although I will say that I did like CoH/V so I'm willing to give CO a fair shot

From what I saw if you liked CoX you will like CO if you didnt like CoX you proably wont like CO. It has a lot of features but its just not champions to me, its further away from its pnp roots then ddo is from its by a large margin. Now Star trek sounds intersting.

[Damionic]

Ok lvl 9 in (which is nothing as its lvl 40 cap) and this game would be very damaging on your social life.

I can now roll off a few questions asked earlier

Ok..level progression is purchased at the powerhouse apart from a Health and Endrence increase par each ding.

Stats are inceased by "talents" which are abit like the feats that up your stats..but they go up by +8 or less if there split between two stats.

powers are payed for (but dirt cheap) and you can buy what to like (as long as you have the ranks, which works out like this...if the new power is part of the same powerset (ice,strengh ect) then less ranks are need to get the new power like...rank 3 for "X" rank 5 for "Y"

Travel powers are a wet dream..CO has done its homework on them..and they mimic well known superhero's


Teleport = Nightstalker (colour changable)
Fly = Superman
Iceslide = Silversurfer (colour changable)
Fireflight = The Human Torch (colour changable)
Superspeed = Sonic the Hedgehog
Superjump = The Human Flee...ok I made that up but use your imagination
Rocketjump = Ironman after eating a vindaloo
Rocketboots = Ironman
Agility = Catwoman on speed
Hoverdisk = Green/Hobgoblin
Swinging = Spiderman
Earthflight = Pull the earth from under your feet and fly (colour changable I think..not tested)
Tunneling = Like a huge Mole

Respecs are in the powerhouse and cost a song (next to nothing) to change

Thoughout the game are "Taylors" that will take you back to the Character Creation screen for your character so you can change your Toon (everything) as you want.

Currency seems very basic there's a silver coin (gold) and gold coin (plat)...they are called resorces

K any other questions?

[Aesop]

Its ok.


I really enjoyed the character creation ... I wish they would just pay me to make characters all day long. Nice detailing... though I wish that theme of detailing crossed over into the Powers a little more.

There are a bunch of neat powers ... but I wish there were more ways to go and more to do with the choices of these.

Combat is weak. Like most other MMOs there is no benefit to cover really once they have you targeted ... Most mobs have ranged attacks that reach far further than most hero abilities and the only active defense is a block option which means you can't move. No ever actually misses either. You shoot you hit you do damage. The Block, Dodge or Avoid and you do less damage.


The crafting I really didn't do much more than was required, but it seems a half way point between WoW and DDO crafting. So really still not very good.

Overall the nifty Character Creation and few varying abilities may keep me interested for 6 months but after that I'll be off again... unless the Old Republic Beta opens up before that time and I get in... then I'm all for that. At least there they created a cover mechanism for at least the smuggler class. Then agan I've always enjoyed creating characters more than playingthe game... even here...Which is why the current trend of making MC character highly undesirable is starting to actually push me away from here... Not gone yet though

Aesop

[sirfink]

lol if it is anything like the pnp version it would kill ddo for character customisation, mulitclassing is a joke by comparission.

It is nothing like the pnp version, unfortunately.

There is very little room for customization. Powers are pretty much set and you can pick up new ones every few levels. Some minor customizations of the powers themselves, but pretty much a fireblast is a fireblast. And seeing characters shooting ice shards followed by a fireball, then pulling out a pistol and shooting a stun beam is just incongruous and stupid.

In so many ways it is like a better-looking City of Heroes. It's way too MMO-ish. What I mean is you get quests to go rescue 5 people in a field. You got to the field and there's ten people needing to be rescued surrounded by dozens of monsters. There's half a dozen other players flying around doing the same quest "stealing" the rescuees out from under you. So you wait for another to respawn. It's just stupid. There's some instancing but not enough. The whole point of multiplayer is kind of lost. You can solo most of it and it seems most players are content to just solo their way through, which makes you wonder why they don't just release it as a single player game and be done with it.

Eh, bitter feelings from a guy who played the PNP version of Champions a long, long time ago and had high hopes for this one. Oh well.

[Falconen]

The Power customization is pretty good. Yes, I fire Blast is still a Fire Blast, but you can change the color of it and where the blast projects from (Hand, Fist, Head or Chest) I wish the Munitions had a little more customization though. I found out, late in OB, that you could change the looks of your pistols at the Tailor, but it wouldn’t show what you were changing them to look like until after you bought the change.
I too could get caught up in the whole character creation phase for the game. There is no such thing as, "make a character really quickly and join me in the Tutorial". Well, I guess you could use Random and roll with it, but I can't do that.
I also liked that you aren't locked into a specific archetype, and can pretty much choose freely from among all the various power sets, if you met the prereqs. That also has the danger of going the same way as Ultima Online did... everyone will become a Tank Mage.
Travel powers are awesome. I loved Acrobatics. Nothing like doing a great floor exercise while tumbling backwards away from an unexpected spawn.
But, all that being said, I didn't purchase the game, even though I has gone through Closed and Open Beta. You are only allowed 8 characters total. There is only one server (lots of instances). I didn't feel it had enough of a difference from CoX to keep me involved, and their last minute changing of the Exp gain, as well as the dramatic increase of cost to respec put the final nails in the coffin for me.