Break out the bubbly! Champions Online has launched today, and all is totally awesome, right? Not entirely.

Like many MMOGs, Champions Online launched with a patch, and today's patch brought with it some significant changes to the game, as outlined in a special launch day State of the Game letter.

As it would turn out, some of the changes appear to be a bit controversial, with many on the official forums up in arms over the changes. So what's stirring up all the ruckus?

Well, for one, a number of balance changes were made today. The changes made were far reaching and affected just about everyone in the community. Many abilities were hit hard in effectiveness, and henchmen level critters were boosted in strength so as to be less trivial. This was all done in response to player feedback that the game may have just been a bit too easy.

As a result of this, many players are finding themselves frustrated with the new changes, and due to the fact respec costs have been bugged for awhile now, they are unable to make necessary changes.

Now, if you've just read the letter, you'll note the mentioning of the fix to the aforementioned respec cost issue. Apparently, it is still bugged, and so many headstart players are feeling hung out to dry and wondering why a free respec was not issued today to give players the opportunity to re-evaluate their power choices in light of today's changes. I'm going to speculate here, and venture a guess that had the respec cost fix actually worked today, it probably wouldn't entirely necessitate a free full respec.

Not all is doom and gloom however! There were some much welcomed changes in today's patch. Sorcery players have reason to rejoice as their sorcery power selections should now count towards power requirements in the different sorcery sub-specialization branches. Sorcery players were also granted a free respec due to this fix.

Also, drop rates were increased up to four fold today. So players should find tons more loot to use, trade, or even deconstruct.

Lastly, a mention of the game's first big content patch was teased in the letter.  The game update will be called "Blood Moon", but no further details are known at this time.

We're seeking comment from Cryptic Studios on the more controversial bits of today's changes, and we'll update the story if we get something, so stay tuned!

Daeke of Cryptic Studios' Online Community Team took a moment to respond to some of the feedback:

Hey guys,

So, I've finally sat down at my desk for the first time since I got here today. I've been spending the entirety of the morning tracking down all of the developers and asking tons of questions to make sure I've got the latest information on what's going on behind-the-scenes.

Right now, we've got the designers tracking the data for the changes that were made in this morning's patch. What will help us the most right now is for you to go and play the game. I understand that you're upset over the changes that were made, but in order for us to figure out what the issue is, we want to gather hard data to support your feedback, and we can only do that with your help.

Your points have been noted. There is clear dissent amongst the ranks about the changes that were made. The feedback has come through loud and clear. So please, hop into the game and play for a while so that we can get the hard evidence for our next step.

Thanks,

Daeke

How have today's changes affected you? Do you welcome the new difficulty? Are you trapped in a gimped build? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!