Title says it all. Still early in beta but so far game comes across as an action game with multiplayer. 

Char creation is a lot of fun, could do that all day. Questing is fairly straight forward but still fun. Graphics are great, environment is spectacular. Seems to be missing a social component I'd prefer to see in a game labled 'mmo' and that for me is the major incentive to cough up a sub fee.

Have you reached the lairs yet? You will need a team for them, and boy are they a blast! Also, the endgame of champions is designed to make it easy to put groups together and do things that are group-oriented.

I personally like how this works seeing as some games make everything based on grouping, but in champions you have a choice. Many things can be played as a solo player, but if you make a few friends and group up you get the xp bonus and have folks to chat with and have more fun together.

With this system, I can log in late at night or in the morning and not have to worry about being able to find someone my level to quest with, I can just get at it alone and then later on when friends are about add them to the mix for even more fun.

Anyhow, thats my two-cents. Totally agree that it could pass for a single player game, but that is only if you play it as a single player game :D If you want we could team up sometime!

Once you get out of the Tutorial and Crisis zones (basically teaching you most of the game's basics) the basic quests remain the same youc an do them solo but quite a few are chains that end with a needed group component usually 2 to 3 other people.  Its honestly better to travel with friends or a group to complete quests outside the Tutorial Areas.  THey DO how ever need better grouping / social tools to help people find teams.  They also encourage the concept of even if you aren't grouped you can still complete a quest with others.  Not all of them are like this but many that require you to kill mobs as long as you hit it even if your not the one that tagged it you get a quest update. 

Quest mechanics and RP mechanics are there to encourage you to become social in the game but its not forcing you which is really more what an MMO is.  A massive multiplayer game....thats an MMO not..a Massive Multi Group Game.   I wish people would remember that..its about choice if you dont want to group you should have that choice but if you do want to group there should be things there like XP / loot bonus and even dungeons all of which Champions have if you cared to try. 

Champions is probably the first game since Everquest / UO or maybe even Everquest 2 in my book that is truely what an MMO is about.  Creating the character you want for the role you want and going out there and being that role.  Thats what an RPG is about and the fact its Massive Multiplayer and Online makes it an M M O R P G.

Originally posted by dhayes68

Title says it all. Still early in beta but so far game comes across as an action game with multiplayer. 

Char creation is a lot of fun, could do that all day. Questing is fairly straight forward but still fun. Graphics are great, environment is spectacular. Seems to be missing a social component I'd prefer to see in a game labled 'mmo' and that for me is the major incentive to cough up a sub fee.

I think this is the first in a line of games we're going to see roughly like this.  The new SW ToR videos looked remotely close to the single player style gameplay with massive multiplayer aspects.  

In CO the socializing isn't as apparent as in some other MMOs that are more group-reliant.  I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing.  In OB I've come into a number of groups and conversations I hadn't previously.. and I think it will open up a bit more socially upon release.  Mostly right now I feel a lot of people are trying to learn the game.... tactics still work in PvP and PvE although at this time its tough to plan tactics with no set builds.  ToR remedies that, but overall.. the action-y feel seems to be what these newer MMOs are trying to move towards.

Originally posted by GrubbsGrady

Have you reached the lairs yet? You will need a team for them, and boy are they a blast! Also, the endgame of champions is designed to make it easy to put groups together and do things that are group-oriented.

Its not the lack of grouping, its the seeming lack of social activity. Non combat activity. Is comic book adventuring all there is? Secret identities? Do the heroes ever hang up their capes and knock back a few and shoot the breeze?  As I said, still too early to tell, I could be wrong and all that is in the game and I just haven't come across it, either cause I just started or its just beta.

I think it was also the pop-up asking me which instance I wanted to join each time I went somewhere that was also a bit disheartening, at least as far as what I look for in an MMO.

Originally posted by dhayes68

Originally posted by GrubbsGrady

Have you reached the lairs yet? You will need a team for them, and boy are they a blast! Also, the endgame of champions is designed to make it easy to put groups together and do things that are group-oriented.

Its not the lack of grouping, its the seeming lack of social activity. Non combat activity. Is comic book adventuring all there is? Secret identities? Do the heroes ever hang up their capes and knock back a few and shoot the breeze?  As I said, still too early to tell, I could be wrong and all that is in the game and I just haven't come across it, either cause I just started or its just beta.

I think it was also the pop-up asking me which instance I wanted to join each time I went somewhere that was also a bit disheartening, at least as far as what I look for in an MMO.

Hey I hear ya, I don't like the way they instance like that,  As for secret identities they said it may show up in an expansion (two are already planned, betcha one will launch next year too...) They do have a night club in MC, and thats about as social as I've really seen it so far.

One of the issues I have is that... the world doesn't feel connected. I want to be able to travel from one place to the next without having to go the chopper and just picking where I want to go. It feels more mechanical and less MMOy as he says. I mean, even Guild Wars you could travel from one place to the next making the world seem like a big place, but not so much here.

Originally posted by natuxatu

One of the issues I have is that... the world doesn't feel connected. I want to be able to travel from one place to the next without having to go the chopper and just picking where I want to go. It feels more mechanical and less MMOy as he says. I mean, even Guild Wars you could travel from one place to the next making the world seem like a big place, but not so much here.

I think the reason they did that was to be more comic-y in their level design approach.  In the desert one minute, then snow the next, then to the depths of the ocean.. and probably eventually to the moon and so on. 

To get there by any other means would probably be really tough level design.. but I can completely understand what you are saying.

Level 9 here, been working long hours all week un-able to play much.  Today is the day I'll test the social aspect to it's max. When it comes down to it, social ( mmo ) makes or breaks a game for me. Please don't give me the " you have to find a good guild crap" Because at the end of the day it's up to the devs to make mmo's social. BOTTOM LINE !!!

   Vanguard, Game is great, no one to play with (2 out of 10)

   WoW, Game is great, very social (10 out of 10)

   LOTRO, Game is good, but everything is chain quest making it almost imposable to find groups (2 out of 10)

   EQ2, Game is good, very social (10 out of 10)

   Warhammer, game is poor > just ok, Other than RvR social is non existent (2 out of 10)

  D&D Online, Great game, but they are playing around with paying and ftp customers co-existing together at this time but      social is as hight as WoW  (10 out of 10)

   Eve Online, never tested it, not my style of mmo, I think it's very social (10 out of 10)

Originally posted by natuxatu

One of the issues I have is that... the world doesn't feel connected. I want to be able to travel from one place to the next without having to go the chopper and just picking where I want to go. It feels more mechanical and less MMOy as he says. I mean, even Guild Wars you could travel from one place to the next making the world seem like a big place, but not so much here.

The helocopter is great. If they had the world connected you would be spending hours traveling to another zone. Being in a desert I don't think there will be a canadian snow-ville anywhere near you. So you take a helocoptor! I can see how you would want them to be connected, but if you really thinka bout it that would be asking for a HUGE world to run around in...and this game isn't running on WoW graphics ;P

Originally posted by page

 Because at the end of the day it's up to the devs to make mmo's social. BOTTOM LINE !!! 

If I may quibble. Its not up to the devs to make mmo's social. The players do that. But the devs do need to provide the dynamics (robust communication interface, social clothing, economy/market, dynamics that call for positive non-combat player interaction) that promote or encourage socialization.

What they really need is a good lfg ability...  As they decreased the number of people in zones from 200 to 100 that is good for questing but it is bad for open quests.  Last night I wasn't able to get enough people interested in the open quest in the desert to get a group that could take the end boss down.  A couple nights ago the area was always going with 5-8 people and it was great...  When you want to get a group the only way is to ask in zone wide which is now less then 100 people.  There is no way to access the other 1000+ people from other zones.

I hope they add a looking for team function.

Feels like a MMO to me.  Looks like its just you.

Originally posted by Manchine

Feels like a MMO to me.

Certainly does now after the massive exp nerf and mob strength boost in the latest patch. Minion type mobs far below your level now do so much damage that two of them can put a player two levels above them down with ease, if you do manage to defeat them the exp you get is pathetic. We're now being out-levelled by quests in every stage of the game because they nerfed the quest exp as well. Desperately hoping they see sense before release and restore some of the exp and reduce the strength of the mobs to more reasonable levels.

Originally posted by korat102

Originally posted by Manchine

Feels like a MMO to me.

 

Certainly does now after the massive exp nerf and mob strength boost in the latest patch. Minion type mobs far below your level now do so much damage that two of them can put a player two levels above them down with ease, if you do manage to defeat them the exp you get is pathetic. We're now being out-levelled by quests in every stage of the game because they nerfed the quest exp as well. Desperately hoping they see sense before release and restore some of the exp and reduce the strength of the mobs to more reasonable levels.

I am still fighting things 3 levels AND higher above me.  Go figure.  There are some things I am even ranked and fighting things.  Just depends on the build.

As for the exp.  I have yet to run out of missions and they needed to lower the EXP.  When you can level someone to 20 in 10 hours.  Thats a lot of exp they shouldn't be giving out.  Alrhough 1/2 exp is a little to much probable would of gone with 60%.

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Originally posted by page

   Eve Online, never tested it, not my style of mmo, I think it's very social (10 out of 10)
 
 

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Originally posted by dhayes68

Title says it all. Still early in beta but so far game comes across as an action game with multiplayer. 

That was pretty much the impression I formed too.

I enjoyed the OB much like I enjoyed the OB for Tabula Rasa.  I think there are a lot of parallels between the two games..which is what worries me.  TR was a very fun action game that encourage very little outside of the solo action; I fear that CO is following the same path.  It's too bad because I really enjoyed the PnP and the game does have a lot of potential.

Originally posted by Manchine

Feels like a MMO to me.  Looks like its just you.

Oooh! Shut me down with that argument!

Check the thread. Its not just me.

I'd like to think that the qualifier for being an MMO isn't being surrounded by people you never invited to join you everywhere you go.

Maybe I'm antisocial, but even though I don't think this is a spectacular game, I wouldn't see even a completely privately-instanced game as any less of an MMO than a totally open sandbox world like EVE (which I love, mind you).