To game or not to game... that is this the question.

So what is this blog going to be all about? Well mainly reviews of games that I am currently playing or beta testing. It will also house some ideas I have about the video game industry, and my views on where gaming is headed.

Author: kackilos

Quick YouTube angry halo kid, or kid gets WoW account cancelled. Are these really the ambassadors we as gamers want? I would hope not, as the majority of gamers are very respectful…and sane. It is these few examples that make their way onto the internet that makes people look at our community as a bunch of angry…angry little children that lose their temper over something so trivial.

Is this behavior just an example of monkey-see-monkey-do? Is the gaming youth looking at these videos and considering these responses as socially acceptable? Sadly I do believe many people see these examples on YouTube and think, “well that must be what all gamers are like”. When children see these examples it is very easy for them to imitate and accept these reactions as correct responses.

Just play Halo or Call of Duty for more than fifteen minutes and tell me who is using the most profanity or “colorful” language. Most the time it is kids who have not even had a chance for their voices to drop (believe me I had a lot of different word choices to end this sentence). I remember back in the day if I was talking like some of these kids I would have gotten a swift smack to the back of my head by my grandmother.
It just makes me wonder if these children are really investing so much of their lives into these video games. It seems like they are as each time they get killed or lose a roll on some loot it is like a loved one was murdered in front of them, to which they must inform me on my headset how displeased they are with the outcome.

Friendly banter and competition is just fine, actually I encourage it in many cases. It builds character and teaches children valuable social skills. Looking…and listening to some of the conversations on popular games I seriously worry that these children are not being instructed on how to properly interact on the internet.

Not to sound all high and mighty, when my good friend and I lace up the gloves for some Fight Night Round 4 there is some trash talk, but it never comes to actual fist fighting or breaking of things (regardless of how many beers we have). Then at the end of the round there is always the customary “good fight” exchanged between the both of us.
Now think long and hard about the last time you said, “good game”. Or even heard the opposing team say it? Have we as gamers fallen so far from grace that we cannot even acknowledge a good competition between two sides? ….. sigh rant over.
 

Call it being snooty or picky… or even high maintenance, but I have become increasingly bored with the fantasy genera. By fantasy I mean the spell slinging, monster hacking, sexy elves “fantasy” games. My recent boredom with this genera has gotten me thinking about the reasons for my new found boredom.

It could be the overexposure as most MMOs that flood the market are based on the fantasy genera. Yes I know there are many games that fall into this category, but I am specifically speaking of the games that have the before mentioned fantasy elements. I know I am not as seasoned as some vets that play games today, but I think starting with EQ and playing nearly every mainstream MMO gives me a bit of a background. Another factor is that perhaps I am finally recognizing the type of gamer that I am.

I adored games like Planetside (stoked they are making a Ps 2, sad it is being developed by SoE) and Tabula Rasa (even though no one else seemed to). Although this is the case, I do not consider myself a FPS addict. Yes I have played Counter Strike, but then who hasn’t? Yes I own all of the Call of Duty’s, but fantasy MMOs have always held a space on my hard drive and my credit card.

Perhaps what I crave is depth, or an interesting story that I actually want to play out. I know what I am describing is your typical RPG, but then again RPG makes up a lot of what MMORPGs are about. Maybe I should just create a story and follow it while I game…but then there are no quests, and more importantly no rewards for my made up material (unless we are playing CoX). I am dying for a game that does more than assign me some quests, but rather gives me a reason for doing it. For example, say my character is traveling from the starting area to another town. Along the way I come across a village that is being attacked by demons. It makes sense for my character to get quests that directly or diversely related to that village’s demon problem. Give me choice or give me… well another game. Let me impact the world around me, beyond the auction houses prices. Let my actions directly relate to the world I run around in. If I wipe out that pack of demons attacking the village I expect something to actually happen. Let that village rebuild and allow me to shop and talk to the villagers about my heroic acts. Then again if I side with demons and burn that mother to the ground, I don’t expect it to be standing there next time I enter that zone.

Yes I do realize these options are simply not available in an MMO because how would other players experience the content I just finished or destroyed? It is just purely wishful thinking on what I view as a crucial thing MMOs are missing.

Now I am no developer nor are my views correct, but there might be a way for people to experience content and make it unique. Make special areas like the before mentioned village instanced. By instancing areas a player could experience the content how they see fit. If I, or my group, come across this village and decide to go all pyro on it we should be able to. This choice could take us to the demon lair to speak with the demon lord. If we decide to kill of the demons and save the village, the group would be taken down a different path that ends up with us at the demons lair only on less than friendly terms.

After completion of the mission the mark on our world would be evident through our choices. Either there is a village to return to, or there are the burnt remains of our destruction. Each choice takes the player down similar paths but the end result is unique to their choices.

Modern big name RPG titles have built up my expectations in what I expect a game to deliver story wise. Games such as Fable, Mass Effect, and the KoToR series may have ruined many games for me (shakes fist and yells like Stephen Colbert). These series have altered the face of RPG gaming through their ability to weave choice and story together to completely immerse the gamer. This action of making the gamer feel they are in control of the games direction plays a great part of what made these games successful. So why are fantasy MMOs not delivering this feeling of immersion into their games? Sure many games claim that you get the sense of your player growing stronger as they level, but in how many games do you really feel that your character is a grade A bad mofo? There is a difference between fighting one mob at a time and running into a stronghold and unleashing your awesomeness on any mercs that happen to be in your way.

So is it even possible for MMORPGs to take the community, social interaction, and vastness of their worlds, and weave it together with the story and immersion of RPGs? Maybe one day… maybe one day there will be a union between these two and they will produce the first coming of “epicness” we all crave.

Till next time, remember we are born gamers…it is not a choice.
 

Aion Review part 2:

In this part of the review I will cover some of the important factors both good and bad about Aion.

Game play:
Aion does not offer anything that most MMO gamers have not experienced. What Aion does do to make it a solid game is that they incorporate many popular MMO ideas flawlessly into their game play. So why bother playing Aion if it’s more of the same? Well because there is just enough difference in Aion to make the game an original play.

1) Flight – although it is limited in use this feature is a nice perk with many uses. Many people use the “glide” feature to help get around zones that are restricted flight zones. This feature is used to quickly and elegantly travel around, also it’s a pretty good run-away tactic should your character become overwhelmed.

2) Flashy and interactive combat – The combat is engaging and keeps the player paying attention rather than just mashing through a rotation. I will cover combat more extensively later

3) PvPvE end game – Although I have not experienced much pvp, beyond an asmo wondering into my territory, PvP is a large part of the end game. Large scale battles take place between the two factions to control valuable landmarks that buff the current owner’s faction. For anyone who has played Planetside I hear the sieges are very similar in nature, minus no one is shooting scifi-bullets at you. All while these battles are taking place there are instances that can be ran by either faction. Normally I am a PvE player, but I am excited to see how this mixing of PvP and PvE will go.

Combat:
Aion offers some interesting combat mechanics that focuses around two key elements, movement and skill chains. Movement is a big part as you character’s skills are impacted by how you move your character. For instance if your moving forward your character gains a 10% boost to damage, but also suffers more damage if hit. This mechanic is huge if you, like myself, are playing a ranger (go go gadget jumpshot!). The other mechanics are that if you are strafing(moving left or right) you gain a boost to avoidance, backwards a boost to blocking, both of these mechanics also come with a decrease in damage output.

Skill chains: skill chains are Aion’s version of a rotation. A good way to picture what a skill chain is to view them like a chain on a bike. The chain on a bike starts with a link just as a skill chain starts with a skill. As you progress down the chain each link/skill must be set up correctly or the chain/link breaks making the bike no function. The same is true for Aion’s skill chains. You start off with skill that links to another that must be activated before its timer runs out or the chain is broken and most be started again.
Combining Skill Chains and Movement Aion forces players to actively engage in combat rather than be a spectator.

Community:
Once you filter through the gold spammers the community in Aion is… well… talkative. Former WoW players will get a feeling of “barrens chat” which is only missing the Chuck Norris jokes, which I kind of miss at times. The before mentioned problem of gold spammers is problem #1 that NCsoft is dealing with. For those people, and there a lot of them, that rage about the gold spammers clearly have never played a game during its first few months off the shelves.

There are a number of people always in the LFG channel looking for tanks, dps, or healers, so finding a group is generally pretty easy. There are also a number of legions (guilds) actively looking for members to join their ranks. Between the legions looking for people or groups looking members to run difficult content finding a hunting party is never hard. On the other hand through , most of Aions content is solo content. I find myself soloing all the time as my Ranger, mainly this is because my class can solo extremely well with little or no down time. When my toon hits the levels in which there is strong group play I generally always look to clear the group content. This both lets me interact with other players and also lets me test out my toons grouping capabilities, and the XP and items are worth it.

One aspect I really enjoy within Aion’s community is a chat channel dedicated purely to your class. This allows you to discus nearly everything that applies to your class. This is a great way for players to discuss their class in game without having to consult the forums. Mainly the people that respond in the channel are helpful… and some are well those kids to borrow a term from Tim over at CAD the  (squeakers) that chime in with their words of wisdom.

Economy:
The economy is driven by the crafting system in Aion. Items are pretty rare as most quests just reward you with cash and utility items like potions or scrolls. So most the time to obtain new weaponry or armor you are either crafting your own or buying them from the auction house. This typically isn’t a problem if you are upgrading your items every 3-5 levels. Overall you will find that hording your cash is always a good strategy, that and if you don’t use it sell it. Just remember as easy as money can come in, it can be gone just as fast.

Crafting:
The crafting system is much like every game. You obtain raw materials and turn them into a finished product. As you level your skill you purchase new recipes to practice. Aion does throw some curve balls at ya that you might not be expecting.

First thing first there is the option to fail making a product, not only is this frustrating it also eats materials. Along with failing in crafting there is also criting a recipe. Normally this will result in more items produced or an item of a higher quality. Now you don’t have to worry about leveling independent gathering skill as one skill handles everything from food to ore.

Aion also allows crafters another way to raise their skill beyond harvesting raw materials, work orders. These work orders are the quests for crafting. They provide you with a few raw materials and a design for you to accomplish. Provided you have the cash this is a good way to level a skill.
I have not invested a lot of my time into crafting as I generally find that mind numbingly boring. I did tinker with it enough to get an understanding of the system through.

To finish this lengthy review off, I just want to note that Aion is a great game for people looking for something other than WoW to play. Beyond that Aion does not offer anything new and exciting to the genera, but like stated before it does not do anything bad either. Aion is a solid game to play, so if your curious pick up a copy and start flying around.

Till next time, remember gaming is always evolving and will continue to I suggest you do the same.

-Kackilos

After watching a few videos and reading some… spirited reviews on Aion I decided to wait a bit after launch to give this game a shot. So during my waiting time I did some research on the classes and the basics of the game; crafting, leveling, skill usage, grouping, etc. I highly recommend doing recon on a game before you actually jump into the swing of things. This avoids asking some questions and allows you the gamer a faster understanding of game mechanics.
 

I felt coming into the game that I had a fair understand of what the game was like. Boy was I wrong, the game was far more polished and immersive then I had originally expected. The first thing that caught me off guard was the voice acting by some characters. Although its nothing to special and there is no user control on what these NPCs will say it is still a feature most Korean crossover games lack. My favorite ascetic right now has to be the mini cut scenes that occur with some quests. This feature just adds a little some thing extra to the gaming experience that most MMOs lack.

In Aion you play a war hero who has lost their memories in a great battle. As you level your character your past is unraveled throughout a very long epic quest chain. This “recovering memories” is the main quest arch but is accompanied with hundreds of quests that are sure to both advance your character and prepare you to move into the next area.

Aion does at the start have a steep learning curve for new players. Personally I felt most of that curve disappear past level 10. At 10 you select your final class and start advancing down your final class’s skill tree.
Always keep in mind that Aion is a new game and some bugs and annoyances (gold spammers) will take time to fix. Aion does not shatter the MMO molding that most gamers are custom to. What Aion does do is combines many favorite aspects of the fantasy genre to produce a game that while not revolutionary still provides enough new material to keep gamers entertained.

In part two ill break down major aspects of the game and give them a point-by-point review. As always thanks for reading and remember when it stops being fun… it’s no longer a game.

Let me first start this off by saying that I have the highest amount of respect for MLK Jr and his work. I just found that his famous speech would help land home what I have to say.

"Let us not wallow in the valley of end game content, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of the early level grind, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the gamers dream.

I have a dream that one day we gamers will rise up and live out the true meaning of content: "We hold these early levels to be self-evident, that all content is created equal."

I have a dream that one day in noob starting areas, the sons of hardcore raiders and the sons of casual gamers will be able to sit down together at the computer of immersing content.

I have a dream that my toon will one day live in a MMO where they will not be judged by the speed in which they level but by the content they have completed.

I have a dream today!"
 

As of late through I have noticed I have been committing content discrimination. I have been completely ignoring early level content. I normally don’t even bother to read low level quests or attempt early level dungeons/challenges.

I know many players are like this as they attempt to speed through the content so they can reach endgame. To these players I must ask, “why not slow down and enjoy the journey.” I have slowed down in my current game, Champions Online, so that I might enjoy the content that the developers worked so hard to create. To which  I must say I am pleased with this choice. Me and good friend log on for about 1-2 hours each night to finish some quests and beat some instances. We are enjoying the journey to end game and are in no real rush to get there.

I now read the quest lines to get the background story, to feel the excitement, and to feel like I actually accomplished something.

So in closing I ask both the gamer and developer to strive for that dream that finally lets us all scream out, "Fun at last Fun at last thank the lord almighty the content is Fun at last."

- oh btw SW:ToR beta sign up started today for those that didnt know

How does an MMO satisfy the needs of both the hardcore gamer and the casual one? This is both a question for the developers as well as the people assigned to marketing the game. Sure a game can have great graphics and an immense world, but if the content in that world is lacking the game is doomed from the start.

Both of these players crave essentially the same thing. They both desire content that is immersive and also challenging. While the hardcore gamer typically blows past lower level content to reach the challenges at endgame. The casual gamer on the other hand expects the early level content to be just as engrossing all while being able to log off after a solid 30-60 mins of play feeling that they have accomplished something.

I know personally that I exhibit some of both the casual and hardcore qualities. I typically blast past early level content so that my character gets stronger. The stronger my character gets the more likely I am to continue playing. I enjoy the challenges of testing out a character learning the ins-and-outs of the class and mastering the content. I also don’t have 3+ hours to sit at my computer and grind. Back in the day, which was like four months ago, I could log in some solid hours to gaming. Now I generally get about two solid hours of gaming each night. In the time that I get in I expect my game to provide me with some challenging quests and test my character and my skills.

It is all about entertainment, keeping the player involved in the game from character creation to end game content. Here are some other aspects that I find keep players entertained and informed about thier games.

Integrated character development web page : site that shows gear, stats, achievements, progress, skills. Over all just a site for players to look up their character and compare themselves to other players.

Guild web pages – mainly a forums so that guilds can communicate and organize offline.

Use social networking as other mediums: IE facebook twitter etc. keep the players updated and allow for feedback, even through it might just be flames and trolls.

Free content upgrades – I say boo to expansion packs. Anyone who ever played EverQuest knows the pain of having to pay for expansions that should just have been free content.

Friend/guild offline status - a tool that would allow you outside of the game to see if your friends/guild mates are on.

To accommodate both types of players devs must create content that from day one challenges the player. They also must make players feel powerful from day one. No more of the all too common slaying rats in the courtyard BS. Lets get out there and let the steel and spells fly from level one. Provide content that gives players a great experience at both the start of their career and their one year anniversary.

So it has been a little over a week since Champions Online launched. It has been a relatively smooth launch week. Sure the game had some issues with login server errors but what game doesn’t have those issues at launch. CO devs and customer service reps have done a very good job with bug fixes and account problems. Numerous bugged missions got fixed before launch which really makes the opening levels much smoother.
The overall play in CO is still up in the air for me. This is mainly because I don’t play MMOs to solo. I generally play these types of games to team up with other players and complete instances/missions. Almost all the missions in CO (at least up to lvl20) are solo open world missions. These can be annoying at times as people are constantly competing over spawns so they can finish their missions. Many fans of CoX were expecting CO to bring in a radio/door mission style that is extremely popular in CoX. To me personally this would be a great move by CO as it would bring the community together and force players to learn group play.
 

Missions-
Since most the missions are open world missions that are meant for a person to solo the balance of these missions can be a headache. At times you will run into a problem when you run out of missions that are in your characters ability to finish. I ran into this problem at around level 17 as all the missions in my log where 19s and 20s. It is during these times that the ability for a person to join some groups and do instanced missions to level would be greatly appreciated and needed.
One shining point of questing in CO is the already present “Quest Helper addon” in the game. As soon as you get a new quest a green circle is placed on your map to help guide you to the correct area.
 

Powers-
Like in any game that is still in its fledgling state there are bound to be balance issues. My favorite thing to see is people complaining about teleport in PvP. All I can think and say, sarcastically, is, “Wow balance issues in a game this old”. Although I do understand that some powersets are extremely strong and need Ye old nerf hammer, while others desperately need a boost. I have completely avoided PvP for this reason, that and I am mainly a PvE player.
 

To anyone that feels their class is lacking power or survivability there is a strong chance your powerset will be getting a boost. Then again if you are breezing through mobs 3-4 levels higher then you should expect the nerf hammer. The best thing I can tell potential new players is that you need to pick up defensive skills early. These skills are improved block (if your set has one) and a defensive ability that benefits your class. For classes that have a lot of Dex go lighting reflexes as the benefits directly impact the skill. These defensive skills generally are the difference between life and death.
 

CO is a tough game to learn as it has what can be at times a very steep learning curve. Figuring the ins-and-outs of your powerset can be confusing at times. Luckily CO offers a way to respect your toon completely, for a cost. They also offer the ability to test out your powers before they are set in stone. This is quite nice as it gives you time to test out a skill and get a feel of how it should be used in the field, or if you even want that power at all.
All and all CO is a fairly solid game with a lot of potential. If CO brings together its community and gives the people, like me, a chance to group up with other players I feel the game will get a larger following. Still the chance to create your own superhero with whatever powers you want is CO biggest selling point. For those of you sitting on the fence about this one make sure to pick up a trial version when ever cryptic releases one.
 

part one can be found here

In this section I want to cover crafting, questing/leveling, specing your character.

Crafting –
CO offers an interesting crafting system that from what I understand is directly related to how you intend to play your character. This is because certain professions cannot create items with certain stats. I have only done one profession past 150 but all the professions have the same concept. That concept is progression through research and development.
Research is basically the way to create raw materials from objects.
Development is the creation of items by using materials from your research or items you find while exploring maps.

The system itself is very easy and has a small learning curve. The only aspect I do not fully grasp is at around 100 you have to obtain recipes via research that allows you to change old items into new crafting materials (conversion). As far as I can tell these discoveries are random and until you hit this random proc your advancement in crafting slows to a crawl.
One thing to note is that items created via development can be turned around and broken down by research, this is a fairly simple way to make complete use of the materials you have. Just always remember when crafting if possible make sure your Research is a full 5/5 for maximum level and materials gained.

Questing –
Questing feels a lot like WoW and games of that nature. You get the “go kill X number of widgets, then come back”, or “go get X number of widgets off these bad guys”. The questing at times becomes very boring and a number of times you will have to compete with other players to get the kills or items you need.
Occasionally you will get a quest that requires other people to accomplish. Sometimes the game tells you this other times you end up getting your heroic hind-end served to you on a platter. Running into these non-marked difficult quests can be annoying at times as you battle your way up to the boss and he smacks you around like a sissy little boy. This beat down forces you to exit your current mission and spam chat for help. The group quests are fun as you typically get to fight a powerful super villain (top of the line bad guys) at the end. At the lower levels these bosses do hit hard but since the majority of people are leveling characters to do the best DPS they can these bosses drop fairly quickly.

CO does have door missions similar to CoX but they are mainly given to you by wandering NPS that saw something and reported to their nearest super hero. These missions are timed and are generally fairly easy to solo through.

As stated in my first post leveling can be done solo for the most part minus the few group quests that are out there. CO generally keeps you moving from area to area in attempts to keep the quest grind fairly fresh. If you knock out a few quests each day it is very easy to get a level each day you play if even for an hour each day.

Specing your character –
CO lets you build a hero anyway you want. If you want a super hero that can fly with jet boots and uses spells and magic for offense and martial arts training for defense you can. I don’t know how effective your character will be but it’s still your very own character.
From my own experience plus reading general chat I have found a few tips that assist with leveling. At the start of the game you will have very limited options on how to play your character. After you leave the tutorial zones you start to have more and more options of play style.
Builds-
Build are a bit different then you would expect. CO has four build sets to choose from. Avenger (offensive), Guardian (balanced), Sentinel (healer/buffer), and Protector (tank). You start off with the balanced build and all of the other builds are unlocked from dealing damage (offensive), taking damage (tank), and healing (healing/buffing).

I am still testing what build is best for leveling each type of play style. I typically play ranged dps and I have been using the balanced build. I plan to play a bit today in the offensive mode to see if it is a better move for me to burn through mobs at the risk of having less hp and defensive stats.

          Tips -
Passive defensive skills – these skills are essential to playing regardless of the class or build you take. I personally like regeneration from the supernatural power set. Although I have seen a lot of people take lighting reflexes from the martial arts tree. Once again it’s a personal choice that should reflect how you play your character.
If you have an enhancement to your block ability pick it up early. Blocking is a pretty essential part of the game as it can mean life or death against some mobs. By taking the enhanced block early it is done and out of the way as the early levels fly by.
          
          Talents / advancements –
This part can be tricky and it is always a good idea to note what stats improve your powers. I am a fire ranged dps so I need presence and recovery as my primary stats. My secondary but also very important is ego and dex. So when advancing your character make sure to check the stats that best benefit your character.

Advancements can be a bit tricky but luckily it is very easy to test these upgrades in the powerhouse for free before returning. Since many of the mobs are grouped it is important to take powers that maximize your AoE. This might just be for my class but I found AoE effects to work the best. For instance my fireball has a 100% proc that increases the amount of burn damage that a mob takes. These kinds of advancements are great and make leveling easier. I have yet to take a rank up in my skills as I find it is too hard to pass up the power enhancements.

Once again how you play your character is completely up to you and I am sure there are a number of ways to play correctly. For my class it is all about AoE and burning mobs (literally). I do not consider myself a master of this game… in fact far from it. So if anyone notices some wrong information or has some insights into things I am unclear about please say something.

After some trials and tribulations, none of which I could fix, I am finally testing out Cryptics new MMO Champions Online

Champions is a different MMO, but good different. If your tired/bored with the normal style of MMOs give champions a shot when they come out with a free trial. The style of combat is fast pace and allows for interactive combat. Ill break down what I consider important aspects of MMOs and then ill rate/explain what CO does right and what needs improvement.

Combat- 9/10: Combat is fun and interactive. The concept is the same in CO as in every MMO. Engage your target then use your skills to defeat him. Where CO differs, is that you have to balance movement, maintain energy, and block. I know what your thinking... wait wait wait.... block? wtf like manual block? And yes its a manual blocking system. When enemy mobs are of the stronger type they have charge up attacks that normal deal a significant amount of damage. So when you see the comic style text box over their head its a good idea to stop casting and press shift (shift is my block key). These "charge up attacks" are all displayed as comic style text over the mobs head (it looks like a "BAM" or "BIFF"). There are a few different types of these attacks, some that nock you down or up, some that hold you in place and you have to break out of by rapidly tapping Z, and some that do massive damage.
Beyond the new system of manual block combat is pretty much the same across the board, just slightly varied. You have your skills your big hiters your area of effect spells etc etc etc. CO adds an energy system much like Warriors rage or rogues energy in WoW. All classes use this energy sytem and all classes use a skill called an energy builder. Using this attack lets you power up your big hitting skills and abilities.

World Enviro/detail - 9/10:
CO even in beta has amazing landscapes to look at. Their comic book texturizing enables them to generate far larger enviroments and effects that are less demanding on peoples rigs. My one gripe is that CO fell to darkside with heavy bloom effects. These can be so bad at time that it hurt my eyes to look at my character running around. So I turned them down and now at night it becomes some what hard to see, I know its dark at night but its also a video game.

Another complaint would be some character movements. The way a standard hero runs is... just awakward looking. They run like the kids we all made of in gym class. Beyond a few graphic tweaks (which took no time to do) and some odd animations the game has a great look and feel to it.

Community - 5/10 :
I came into CO with the expectation of a strong grouping based game. Mainly because CoV/CoH was a game that focused around grouping to accomplish missions. CO from the first 16 lvls can be completely soloed... but its boring that way atleast for me. The LFG system needs some work, but I can see the problems they must be running into. These problems have to be that CO has no rigid class system. No defined tanks/healers/dps classes. There are builds for each but no defined system. This makes me wonder how end game is going to shape up for CO.

Back on track through, CO tosses in a few missions where you need to team up to complete. Normally you just yell in the zone wide chat if any1 needs to group up with ya. Normally this isnt bad, but it gets old flying around the city blasting bad guys by yourself. I would like them use the crime computer system a bit more when retail comes out. Also a way to adjust mission difficulty for better drops and more XP would also be nice.

Overall rateing - 8/10:
CO offers some fresh new concepts that keep the player entertained and engaged in the game. Even in the beta stage the game looks and plays generally very well. On that note through it is a beta and I am sure the people over at Cryptic are learning from this and are making changes players have been posting about on their forums.

my general tag is kackilos and i play ranged DPS classes mainly, look me up if wana team up.