Champions Online - Cryptic's new superhero MMO

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Cryptic Studios, the people who created City of Heroes/Villains, have announced their next MMO for the PC and the 360. From the ashes of the now-canceled Marvel MMO comes Champions Online, based on the much-respected pen & paper RPG, to be released some time in 2008/2009.

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Note: images are watermarked by IGN, but they're from the official site. Classy, guys.

Official site: http://www.champions-online.com/
IGN preview: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/854/854285p1.html
Gamespot preview: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/championsonline/news.html?sid=6186438

Highlights:

- Everyone gets an arch-enemy
- Create and customize your secret identity
- Customizable powers, costumes, animations
- Real-time combat - A is jump, RB is block, and the rest of the buttons are powers, with a second palette of powers available when holding down LT.
- Major events in the game world have lasting effects
- PC/360 cross-platform play available on day one
- Travel to the gamut of comic book locales -- Millennium City, Canada, the Moon, desert military bases, dino-filled Lost Lands, Lemuria (think Atlantis), mystic dimensions, and more.
- Multiple in-game factions
- Solo or group friendly, with optional PvP rewards
- It's a freaking superhero MMO coming to consoles, people!

Cryptic has a ton of experience from City of Heroes, and the tabletop game has the most detailed character creation system of all time. Even with APB, Conan, and the Agency coming along, this could be the console MMO to beat.


Update (7/12/08)

"City of Heroes 2? ... In a way, I suppose it is."

E3 hands-on from IGN: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/888/888535p1.html

New details:

- The hero/sidekick system from City of Heroes returns, expanded and improved.
- Mobs actually drop loot.
- PvP on day one.
- Non-combat skills (like inventing) are in.
- Your character is customizable down to his stance. "If you decide to create a brick, you could have your character hunched over and lumber along like a gorilla. Create a heroic figure and you could have him stand tall and proud -- stomach in, chest out and lead with his chin."
 
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[quote name='LinkinPrime']I'm in!...well actually it depends on the monthly fee if there is one.[/QUOTE]

I suspect that any MMO that actually sees support will have a monthly fee attached. I know Sony said the Agency wouldn't, which is nice, but either it won't have jack for content updates, or they're willing to take a HUGE hit to sell more PS3s. In this case, I'd wager the 360 MMOs will all run about what FF XI does, which I think is ten bucks a month. Here's hoping it's less, though. Having played WoW for a while, I'd probably pay it just to be able to pop in the game and play, and from the comfort of my couch.
 
Actually sounds pretty cool, hope the monthly price isn't too high.

Also funny how the locations have unique names except for Canada.
 
I am SO playing this one. I simply LOVE City of Heroes, and this looks like how the game was intended to be from the beginning.

I'll probably play PC side, but hey, maybe I can run with some of you folks.
 
I am pumped for this game.

The Iron_Golem will fight in Millennium City, just as hard as he did in Paragon City.
(and for those who have not played City of Heroes, I strongly suggest it)
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']I'm in!...well actually it depends on the monthly fee if there is one.[/QUOTE]

If it has good support, I guess I wouldn't mind $5 to $10 on top of the Live fee, but it makes me feel like I have to play that game. I've been interested in seeing what WoW and City of Heroes had to offer, but it's hard to talk myself into dedicating time to a specific game.

Hell, if I could pay for DLC as added content (ala Oblivion or Rockband) I'd be thrilled, but that probably won't happen. I'm a snail gamer, and I'd like to think I could play something with the disc I bought.
 
[quote name='Richlough']This must be the game MS found out about that made them realize they needed to shitcan the Marvel MMO .[/QUOTE]

From what I can tell, this is what happened to the two-plus years of development Cryptic put in on the Marvel MMO before the plug was pulled. That would explain why, even though this was just announced and doesn't come out for about a year, the game is pretty much up and running. It looks like until release, they're going to be mostly adding content and balancing gameplay, which bodes well for the finished product.

[quote name='Gourd']I'll probably play PC side, but hey, maybe I can run with some of you folks.[/QUOTE]

When the game finally hits, maybe we can organize a CAG clan -- The Legion of Cheap-Ass Heroes or something.
 
No! This can't come out! I will lose all my friends and become a fucking hermit. Eh, whatever though, I absolutely loved City of Heroes so as long as the monthly isn't more than $10 and it has good community and support, I'm in for 10.
 
I loved, loved City of Heroes/Villains. It was, and still is for the most part, my single most played MMO. I loved how customizable it was. I created so many different, and real world, characters in that game.

This looks phenomenal. I'll probably end up playing on both, system and console.
 
Yeah, it's tough to make out, but that's looking pretty far along. I like the "comic shading" -- the thick black lines of cel shading, but realistic textures and mapping. Kind of reminds me of Crackdown, visually.
 
For me, a 360 MMO will have to be $5 or less since we already pay $50 for the Live service. For a PC MMO, my limit is $10 a month, hence why i stick to free MMOs :(
 
What cost I'll accept for an MMO depends on how much the devs support the game. For something like FF XI, where it seems like you never see more for your monthly fee than server maintenance, it's a bit hard to swallow. For something like WoW, there are so many events and upgrades and content changes, it's easily worth my money ... or it was, when I had the time for it. Champions seems like it's going to be well-supported, so even with Live, I wouldn't balk at, say, ten bucks a month -- that's two games per year, and I'll likely get more use out of this MMO than any pair of other releases.

And at the danger of sounding a little elitist, some kind of fee -- even a nominal one -- would keep the kind of immature douche usually associated with Live from showing up just to cause trouble in the game. Not worth it to grief people when it directly costs money, or when they need their parents' permission.
 
I think $5 a month would yield more subscribers than $10 or $15 (seems obvious). I've always preferred 'tiers' where $5 would net you the full game and such, but perhaps not as many perks. $10 would net you more, $15 etc...
 
I don't know how much time I'll have to dedicate to this game, but I'm definitely getting it. The monthly fee on top of the Xbox Live fee should weed out some annoying kids.
 
As a big fan, and current player of City of Heroes/Villains, I cant wait for the game. Especially with the PC/Xbox 360 cross platform.
 
Just read this on Destructoid: http://www.destructoid.com/champions-online-dropped-by-take-two-115567.phtml

In an investor conference over the weekend, it was revealed that Champions Online, the upcoming superhero MMO, will no longer be published by Take-Two Interactive. The reason given was the recent acquisition of developer Cryptic Studios by Atari. There's no word yet from Atari on whether they will be publishing the title but it sounds as if we'll be hearing something to that effect in the very near future.
As a long-time fan of the Champions pen-and-paper RPG, I'm interested to see what the end result of this project winds up being. From the looks of it, Cryptic is going in a much more action-oriented direction than they did with City of Heroes and that's probably the right thing to do for an MMO that's going to attempt success on the 360. I'm just praying that another classic RPG setting isn't mangled the way Shadowrun was.
 
I've been waiting for this game for too long. I'm super excited. My PC ain't the best in the world so it's hard to run even the least demanding MMORPGs like WoW. Hopefully this will scratch my MMORPG itch when it comes out.
 
I'm coming from a PC point of view, but I feel my comments are still pertinent in this case.

Looking at the pre-orders, there are something called Cryptic Points, which to me look like the pay-to-buy points from things like Exteel or archlord. pay real money, get fake money. This may lower the monthly fees a bit.

Also, I kind of feel that this game would be ok to have in game advertising. IF a chunk of the content is in urban areas, why not have a bill board with Coke on it, or Honda. I mean, as long as they render it in the same graphics style, it would be a seamless source of revenue for them.
 
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