CO pulled me in from the start.

I almost fell asleep playing Aion.

Yes, flame me all you want. I don't care.

I guess I want to know two things:

1) Are there a lot of quests?

2) Is there any time of crafting (or other type of non combat stuff to do?)

Originally posted by 4Renziks

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Xasapis

What the OP left out was the major dealbreaker for me. I would have otherwise tried this game for certain.

 

Indeed. P2P+cash shop is a deal-breaker for me. PvP sounds like it will be very limited, as well.

 

I ask to leave this out, but i knew i would get these comments, i just propose this question....do you not play games that have leveling and gold selling services as well?
 

4Renz, bad way of putting it. By your statement, you are basically saying Cryptic is going to let you pay for Leveling and Gold services. Please do some thinking before responding. You also can't leave out a major thing like an Item Mall that's going into a P2P game. That act alone arbitrarily limits customization based on how much you want to spend, and the simple fact that Cryptic championed customization, and Mr. Roper flat out stated he has a deep hatred of Item Shops, is ironic.

Not to mention the fact you'll be able to buy items that affect you in-game, with the only thing to lull anyone into a false sense of security is that it can be "earned in-game" as well.

Sadly, CO is still under NDA, but I'll say this. Aion is looking better, and handles better, on my laptop than CO.

Originally posted by natuxatu

I guess I want to know two things:

1) Are there a lot of quests?

2) Is there any time of crafting (or other type of non combat stuff to do?)

Well the game is under NDA but I'll be sharing my experiences (as will many other people) when OB hits, because (hopefully) that's when NDA usually is lifted. OB starts Monday, August 17th, so only a few days from now.

City of Heroes (CoH) also didnt have the option to play as a villain at release. The first expansion (City of Villains or CoV) opened that possibility... but in truth CoV was just a new skin from CoV with a *villain lore* behind it.

What that means? It means that playing a villain in CoV was not much different than playing a hero in CoH. They added some cool features (like the bank mishs) but most of the time you would spend in instances that were just like the ones in the hero side.

Now, Cryptic has mentioned they would like to add a villain system to CO... but if they do that, they wont repeat that mistake..  they will create a new game that will let you feel like you are a villain, and not just a weird hero.  They wont copy and paste CO system/quests with a new skin. Lets hope they release a paid expansion for CO in the first 20months of the game that does exactly that, or DCO may get the upperhand as the comics MMO.

CO is great now (see for yourself coming Monday) and it has lots potential to build on! Let the expansions (free ones/patchs/issues) come! 

 after playing some of aion i can't be more excited for this game 

kal08 is exactly right about a Champions villains game. I think they explicitly stated this in an interview with Ten Ton Hammer (Not positive but I know I read it somewhere). Villains are not heros in dark costumes, they are a whole new animal and would require a new game entirely.

But as for the Item Malls and micro transactions, people need to relax a little bit. In another interview (again, I think it was on Ten Ton Hammer) Cryptic said that they don't plan on offering an items that will effect gameplay, but if they do, there will be a way to acquire an equal or greater item though actual gameplay. But really, most of the items offered will be purely aesthetic and not effect gameplay in the least. And that form of Item Mall really isn't all that different from WoWs CCG which offers unique tabards, vanity pets, and mounts at the cost of buying packs of cards. And to be honest, the rarity of such cards is so high that you can end up paying several months subscriptions fees in packs of cards before you get anything anyway.

I had a blast playing CoX and when I heard that CO was in the making I couldn't wait. But once I heard about cash shop or item mall or whatever you call it going ot be implemented I was completely turned off by it. Right now they're making it sound harmless, but one thing they're doing is softening up their player base for other things that are currently not in their cash shops i.e. buying money, lvl's, etc.

The scary thing about cash shops is that it has the potential to ruin the face of the MMO industry. This is a theory of mine and take it how you like it. Anyways, the cash shop idea has the potential to make it so the more money you spend, the better gear/charcters you can have. I base this theory on a trent that has shown itself through out history. Bear with me.

When humans were first created or evolved, whichever you choose to believe, shelter was shelter. Something to keep you out of the rain and cold. As time went on the more wealth you had, the better your house was. You can apply this to literally any trend that has ever been thought up on this earth. Clothes, animals, paint, cars, computers, ovens, dish washers, flooring, toilets, etc. I could go on and on. No one ever thought MMO's would even generat billions and billions of dollars every year.

Today depending on how much money you spend on a car depends how much power, comfort, etc a car has. The nicer car you have, most likely the more money you spend on it, the cooler people will think it is. The Cash shop concept can/will make it so the more money you spend in game, the more options you have in making a character, the more power it could have, etc

I have two hobbies. A rather expensive one which is cars and my love for making them faster, and video games, mainly MMO's which is a cheaper hobbie for me than cars is. I never want my love for MMO's to turn into another expensive hobby, my wife might kill me.

Just my 2cents.

With no villians but having PvP out at launch does help my decision. Learn the game play pvp and when they are ready to pull out a villians part of Champions maybe they wont be like CoX and screw up the pvp.

More features then CoH and more to come . alot of things i was waiting for on COH and champions is releasing all of it on launch.

MT is ok with me cause it was stated that everything yo uget in MT you can get it in game. ( or most things) and was stated that MT wont make other people strong just cause they paid for something else.

Monday is gonna be a good day ... headset on people ignored, Play Champions.

OP this was a nice post

CO sucekd me in from day 1, infact i spen dmost of my time in the character creator.

I have to say I love how trendy it is on mmorpg to put down mmorpgs in all their incarnations.

CO is awesome, check out my in-game videos on youtube ( search youtube for mrgunbad ).

Nice Vid man! 

I've done almost no "research" on this game, I prefer to see what is actually delivered (after NDA drops) to really examine it.

Going in, I see it as COX 2, and that doesn't appeal to me.  Maybe I'm totally wrong., but most of the 'features" the OP touted have no appeal to me. (except the single game world concept)

A villain system at launch would have been great, especially if they made quests where the villains did dasterdly deeds like kill civilians, and the heroes tried to stop them.

As is, I'm just not that excited. (yet).

We'll see how it goes.

Originally posted by 4Renziks

1s't this is not a flame or a troll post, because in fact I have never played champions and iam only using whats on paper.  Also, for the sake of argument I want to leave the micro transaction arguement out of the equation because this is merely a business decision and while it could have a major impact for alot of people , i want to discuss the game itself and not it business decisions.
I'll have to say this is pretty big deal to ignore, for a game with character customization is key. Selling costume pieces kinda goes against that.

I feel Champions Online is not getting enough attention...at least on these forums.  Here is a game that is getting rid of the same ole classes system, is not elves and orcs, has a butt load of customazation options, and has a list of things that are new or farely new but still seems niche.  The argument that is a superhero genre is ludicrious because if you look at all the super hereo movies that have been comming out in the last 8 years paints a different picture.
It's getting enough here.

Here is a random list of things I find interesting about Champions:

Create a character - yes finally i dont have to choose between 4 types of hair, skin tone, and 1 accessory.  This is a big big big thing here that i think people still dont get...you can make a character look like you want.
This is becoming a major sell to alot of games,  CO, Aion, and APB (which goes beyond anything I seen before)

Custom skill tweaking - Yes, thats right! you can change the color of your powers to fit your character, and in some cases change where the power emits ( hands, chest , eyes ).  

There is armor! - Even tho i played CoX for about a year and enjoyed it, i did miss those item drops that boost my character, this changes with Champions and in addition to all the cosmetic customazation you can now itemize gear and statistics, very cool!

Public quests - Round 2 of public quest, and most people say one of the best features of WAR, It fits perfectly in a super hereo setting and here is to hope cryptic improves on the forumul
I didn't know they had PQs. Let's hope the don't become a grind like WAR's did.
I love PQs in WAR just they Forced you to run them too many times to get the inf items, making feel like a grind.
Other problem is nobody was really doing them past tier 1.

Active blocking - I dont know if this has been done before, but i like it...instead of having dice decide when you block, you decide...very cool.
AoC does this.

Create your own nemesis -  this one iam sceptical...it will be fun to create my arch enemie, but it would have been cooler if this game had villians, but i guess it doesnt fit the lore and this could be a good subsitute..ill have to wait till level 25 to see.
This actually sounds kinda cool to me.

Dozen + ways to travel - Pff Aion and your 45sec fly (not a flame , well kinda but i hope this game does well too)  Champions gives you alot of options in terms of travel...and it has Aerial fighting just like the game mentioned. 
60 second at 1st, but I guessing you know it increases with new wings, gear and potion use.

Sidekicks - not new, but a system like this should be in every MMO imo.
Yea I would like to see other level based games do this too.

1 server - i always like this about EvE and i hope it workds to CO benefit.
We will see come monday.

Final, NO CLASSES - thank allah, thank budda, thank jesus, thank the sun....classes are so 2000.
 

 There is probably more that i havent covered...but iam excited for a change.  I hope this game gets more advertisment and attention then CoH got..for now i will just  have to accept anything that is not WoW formulaic will be niche.

@op in post #3
Most of the Aion fans know this. It's how it used, we like.
But the flight thing, isn't why I playing Aion it's the PvPvE thing.

@wazzap2121 in post #9
It does share some of Lineage 2, but also mixes it with WoW and DOAC.
I hated Lineage 2, because of how long it took to level, ie it was grind.
I expect a grind in all MMOs, but that should be for gold, gil, isk, kinah or whatever they call money in the game.
Leveling shouldn't feel like a grind, and so far Aion hasn't. But I won't know for sure if it stays that way until the game is released

@drgran in post #34

MT is ok with me cause it was stated that everything yo uget in MT you can get it in game. ( or most things) and was stated that MT wont make other people strong just cause they paid for something else.

Just to clear this up most of the MT stuff, is aesthetic and CAN NOT be gotten in the game anywhere.
You have buy from the item shop.
This kinda does against one of the main selling point of the game if you have to buy these things.

The MT stuff that have an in-game use can be gotten in the game as well or at least something like it.
Best way to think of this is a different looking travel power, that isn't any faster then what you can get normally.

Or at least that is how I read it.
 

Can't  wait for this game right now.. 3 days ... ive been since playing muds about 15 years ago.  Im hoping i have seen this graphics thing with comicstyle means hardware shouldnt be as much as an issue to max it out.  i love the customization and PRAY they have learned the mistakes of repetitiveness that COH hit.

Apart from that... im taking this game as a new point in the era of MMORPGs .. i think it will help break this current rutt of games that just are the typical mess.   I will be blogging about this.. so heed my words!

ummm .. and ... slash hard.. snoogins

While there are aspects of CO that concern me, there's far too much that compels me to play. First off is the combat, it's involving and requires you to actually think and move and pay attention to your environment. It's definitely a game for hardcore min maxers. To the OP, while several of those featuers aren't new, they are definitely revamped.. Like the public quests you mentioned, and active blocking (done in AoC but not executed properly). Most importantly this is Cryptics own game, can't wait to see what content the future has in store for us.

As for Aion, I played the CB for a bit and am playing it this weekend. It's actually a very well made game. Reminds me a lot of Requiem Bloodymare, but with more quests and of course pvp and flying. I think it'll be great for people playing WoW who want to try something new, though they may find it a little rough around the edges. Lineage players will feel right at home, and if you're a fan of F2P's or play them from time to time you'll get the same feel here. It's improved a bunch from most of those titles, except maybe Requiem. Personally, I can't stand the character models and how they run.. The animations are pretty bad. It does have good customization though, whoever said it didn't earlier obviously didn't toy around with it much.

Originally posted by lornphoenix

Originally posted by 4Renziks

1) I didn't know they had PQs. Let's hope the don't become a grind like WAR's did.
I love PQs in WAR just they Forced you to run them too many times to get the inf items, making feel like a grind.
Other problem is nobody was really doing them past tier 1.

PQs are not mandatory in CO, but they are alot of fun. You wont need to grind them but you will do them alot (maybe not 10x in a row, but probably once or twice a day just for the fun!)

A big point about them: game only has one server, so no matter if there are 5000 or 100 people online, you will always find others to do the PQs.

2) Active blocking - I dont know if this has been done before, but i like it...instead of having dice decide when you block, you decide...very cool.
AoC does this.

Blocking in CO is new as a feature cause its not just blocking, but it is a strategic feature (a very big one). There is a entire new game mechanic around it that will influence PvE and PvP.  Its also connected to how CC works in the game. Cant say more than that, but you can check it Monday!

Also to make it clear: dodge/evade/block as we know from D&D (roll a dice and check against a number from your build) also exist in the game and is not related to this new block feature. Think a mix of RPG (dice rolls), fast action (FPS, movement, kitting) and fast reflexes (console action games, but with a big enough delay to work on a MMO - 2sec window ish). All of those at the same time!

--> gear matters

--> your build matters (powers you select and how you upgrade them)

--> pay attention to what is happening around you matters

--> pay attention to what your enemy is saying or doing matters

--> react in time matters

--> movement matters (you wont be in a spot for 30min clicking buttons)

--> looking great while doing all the above... well thats just a plus ;-)

 

this game is great and is in no danger of failing.  People just need to stop think that if something doesnt make as much money, or as many subscribers as WoW its going to fail and close.

WoW is an exception in the genre.  MMORPGs do not need to make that kind of money. 

After playing the game almost every day they open it I am VERY satisfied with what they have created.  Combat is very interactive.  I had forgotten what it was like to have to move around and time things so much. 

Some things you didnt mention:

Some attacks let you charge them up for exponential damage but if the person moves out of the way it misses.  (very fun risk vs reward skill based option) 

Blocking at the right times is very powerful. 

PvP is surprisingly awesome, to be honest I didnt even know the game had PvP until I noticed that you can queue for both Instanced Missions and PvP missions from anywhere in the world.  Yes, you read that correctly, you queue for instances and they pop kind of like battlegrounds.  Its a pretty amazing way to handle dungeons/instances.

@lornphoenix

"Just to clear this up most of the MT stuff, is aesthetic and CAN NOT be gotten in the game anywhere.
You have buy from the item shop.
This kinda does against one of the main selling point of the game if you have to buy these things."

I can assure you that no matter what they include for MT goodies it won't affect the high level of character customization. The basic options they have in the game go so in depth that they are damn near limitless. Go to the CO website and check out the Rank My Hero section to see what people have come up with. The character creation in CO goes lightyears beyond CoX. If anybody feels that they can exhaust the options in CO then... well... then you'll never be satisfied by any game. Ever. Period.

Originally posted by rabidkiwi

Im hoping i have seen this graphics thing with comicstyle means hardware shouldnt be as much as an issue to max it out. 

Don't count on it.  it's a pretty beefy game to run at max.

Originally posted by Doosharm

I can assure you that no matter what they include for MT goodies it won't affect the high level of character customization. The basic options they have in the game go so in depth that they are damn near limitless. Go to the CO website and check out the Rank My Hero section to see what people have come up with. The character creation in CO goes lightyears beyond CoX. If anybody feels that they can exhaust the options in CO then... well... then you'll never be satisfied by any game. Ever. Period.

Be that as it may, I still have issues with them selling these things as extras, when they are charging the standard monthly fee.
It just bugs me... but if all the content updates are free (minus maybe a villain xpac / stand alone game) I will have less of a issue with it.

I didn't like the combat in CoH, at all.
It felt to turn-based and slow.
I hope CO isn't like that or I'm going to hate it.

Originally posted by lornphoenix

Be that as it may, I still have issues with them selling these things as extras, when they are charging the standard monthly fee.
It just bugs me... but if all the content updates are free (minus maybe a villain xpac / stand alone game) I will have less of a issue with it.

I didn't like the combat in CoH, at all.
It felt to turn-based and slow.
I hope CO isn't like that or I'm going to hate it.

You have a valid point, if you're paying a monthly fee to pay a game it stands to reason that you're paying for expanded, upgraded, and changing content which should include costume packs etc. Personally I don't have a problem with adding in "special" items which cost extra as long as I'm still getting my money's worth from the monthly fee.

As for combat, CO is far more interactive than CoX was. If you choose the right powers you can literally attack non-stop, sometimes even on multiple targets. If you do things right, you won't have any downtime at all. Honestly, it almost turned me off at first, until I got used to it. Sadly I got into a slump of thinking that what is in the MMOs of today is whats "good" and "right" but CO has proved to me that different can be better, and in this case it is better. Just give it a chance and I think you'll like it. I wouldn't want to play WoW with this combat style but for a superhero MMO it works very well.

Originally posted by Doosharm

kal08 is exactly right about a Champions villains game. I think they explicitly stated this in an interview with Ten Ton Hammer (Not positive but I know I read it somewhere). Villains are not heros in dark costumes, they are a whole new animal and would require a new game entirely.

But as for the Item Malls and micro transactions, people need to relax a little bit. In another interview (again, I think it was on Ten Ton Hammer) Cryptic said that they don't plan on offering an items that will effect gameplay, but if they do, there will be a way to acquire an equal or greater item though actual gameplay. But really, most of the items offered will be purely aesthetic and not effect gameplay in the least. And that form of Item Mall really isn't all that different from WoWs CCG which offers unique tabards, vanity pets, and mounts at the cost of buying packs of cards. And to be honest, the rarity of such cards is so high that you can end up paying several months subscriptions fees in packs of cards before you get anything anyway.

I wanted to thank you... you put that in a perspective that I haven't thought of before... It makes me rethink my stance on the subject... (btw I'm being 100% serious.) Great point!

Originally posted by Soupgoblin

Originally posted by 4Renziks

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Xasapis

What the OP left out was the major dealbreaker for me. I would have otherwise tried this game for certain.

 

Indeed. P2P+cash shop is a deal-breaker for me. PvP sounds like it will be very limited, as well.

 

I ask to leave this out, but i knew i would get these comments, i just propose this question....do you not play games that have leveling and gold selling services as well?
 

 

No, using leveling and gold selling service is cheating.

There is no point in playing a game in which you have to cheat, it isn't a game at that point.

 

 

I find your last sentence interesting.  It seems Cryptic has been very clear that cosmetics are the primary sale item for the micro-transactions, and that anything that can affect game play (not many planned at this point from their statements) can be earned in game if desired.  How does that get you to "...you have to cheat"?

Blizzard sells some cosmetics directly (e.g. name changes) and some indirectly (e.g. game card pets / abilities).  If Cryptic starting selling their cosmetics mostly via trading cards, would you suddenly be okay with that?  And, more importantly, those cosmetics are hardly required to play the game.  NCSoft sells cosmetic packs, do you refuse to play CoX?

Whether you like it or not, many WoW players buy gold, many CoX players buy influence/infamy, etc...how do you think the gold sellers exist?  They are making money.  Are you worried that someone in Champions will put money down to buy a slightly better weapon and you'll have to spend 4 more hours playing to earn the same?  That exists in WoW, CoX, etc (pretty much all the MMO games)  today...are you unwilling to play any MMO because of this fact? 

I get additional abilities in CoX because I've had an account for more than 2 years.  It's indirect, but basically I paid for the additional abilities (by virtue of giving money to NCSoft for so long).

Cheating or not, these things exist in all of the MMO worlds and affect you in exactly the same way that it will affect you in Champions.  Where the money is going is the only real difference.

Edit: Props to natuxatu...I didn't get to that post b/4 I posted mine

so pumped for this game :) aion is a huge let down in comparison

Originally posted by drgran

With no villians but having PvP out at launch does help my decision. Learn the game play pvp and when they are ready to pull out a villians part of Champions maybe they wont be like CoX and screw up the pvp.

More features then CoH and more to come . alot of things i was waiting for on COH and champions is releasing all of it on launch.

MT is ok with me cause it was stated that everything yo uget in MT you can get it in game. ( or most things) and was stated that MT wont make other people strong just cause they paid for something else.

Monday is gonna be a good day ... headset on people ignored, Play Champions.

OP this was a nice post

Àvailable in game doesn`t tell you how difficult or time-consuming it will be to achieve. Perhaps it will require grinding for months to earn the item. If they are offering it for real money, no way it will be a simple matter of beating a single boss or completing a single solo quest.