Blue Kae

December is done and 2010 along with it. Seems like a lot of people are happy to see 2010 go, but the last twelve months of gaming here in Kae-land have been pretty good.

New MMOs in 2010

There were four MMOs scheduled or rumored for 2010 that I was keeping an eye one.

Star Trek Online

The game launched on time and pretty smoothly. At least smoothly enough that I don’t remember encountering any problems eleven months later, unlike Anarchy Online’s launch which I still rememberyears later.

The game had a larger flood of launch players than I expected, but it seemed like that initial wave passed through pretty quickly. Say what you will about Cryptic, but I do like their single world architecture. Not only do you not have to play the server-coordination game with your friends, but there’s also no drama over server queues or merges.

For such a new game, not quite a year old yet, STO has made a lot of improvements. Cryptic has added a diplomacy system (months before I expected them to), several new sectors of content, revamped the crafting system (twice, although more work needs to be done on it), updated sector space, done two month’s worth of weekly episodes, and done an excellent job of following through on their promises of transparency with their Engineering Reports. They’re also close to releasing a user-generated content system, the Foundry.

Of course, Cryptic has caused a lot of drama and made a lot of mistakes this year as well, but I have to give them credit for their responsiveness. The Star Trek team has been especially good at gathering community feedback and then acting on it. Daniel Stahl has done an excellent job since taking over as Executive Producer, and I’m very optimistic about the future of the game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Even with all the new information this year, my expectations haven’t changed much.

I like the emphasis on story. Going fully voiced will be an interesting experiment to see how players react and the impact on adding content. I’m sure I’ll buy this even if I don’t subscribe past the first month just to see for myself how Bioware did. Besides the original Knights of the Old Republic was one of my favorite games on the first Xbox.

One thing has changed though, I’ve been surprised about how poorly Bioware has managed the hype for the game this year. In 2009 they’d been doing an excellent job of keeping people excited for the game without letting community expectations get unreasonable. I can’t say the same about Bioware for 2010. It seems to me like the backlash I was expecting to follow the game’s launch has already started.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

My expectations for Cataclysm were set at “wait and see.” That was where they stayed right up until the expansion launched. Despite my general lack of enthusiasm, I did end up buying it. I blame Twitter.

I played through the Dwarven starting zone again (up to level 11) to see what the old world was like now and came away pretty disappointed. It was different, but it was just streamlined a bit and not the Azeroth shattering new experience I expected.

I also started a Worgen Mage and I’m about halfway (just judging by levels) through their starter area as well. I have to say, it’s fun so far but it’s not living up to the hype. That’s the tricky part of this. There’s a lot of hyperbole out there about how amazing Cataclysm is and how fantastic the new zones are, and I don’t think that the game lives up to it’s reputation.

Who knows, maybe I’ll change my tune once I finish the starter area. December just hasn’t been a good month for me to spend enough time with any MMOs.

DC Universe Online

DCUO was supposed to release in November, but SOE pushed it to the beginning of 2011. I think this was smart for two reasons: Cataclysm was scheduled for December (duh) and they listened to the feedback from their beta testers (something more developers should do).

I said back in January that I would wait until I’d had a chance to beta the game and make a decision close to launch of whether or not I’d play it. Well both of those things have happened, and I’ve decided to give it a pass. The reasons for that decision deserves a more in-depth treatment than I want to go into just now, so let me just say that there’s nothing that DCUO does for me that I can’t already get from playing either Champions Online or Arkham Asylum.

Old MMOs

At the start of 2010, there were three MMOs that I was playing regularly and/or subscribing to: Lord of the Rings Online, EVE Online, and Champions Online. (I’m thinking of making a New Years Resolution soon to boycott the use of the word Online in MMO titles.)

Lord of the Rings Online

Whew, what a year it’s been for LotRO and Turbine. It started out as my favorite MMO. I was (and still am) in a great Kinship (which it still is) and was having lot’s of fun in the game. Then came June 4th and the Free-to-Play bombshell. I was completely blindsided by the announcement. Maybe it’s because I played on Landroval, which was always one of the most populated servers, but I had never considered the possibility that Turbine would go the DDO-route for the game. Eventually, after the shock wore off and I was able to look at the details, it really didn’t seem like the F2P change would have a huge impact on my playing experience.

Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be quite correct. My minute to minute playing experience is mostly the same as it ever was, and I’m not paying any more to play the game than I was before, but the level of store integration into the UI really started to get to me. Between the alert that shows up anytime I do something that earns Turbine Points and all of the little gold buttons that link to the store (of which there are three on the crafting panel alone), I’ve found that my interest in logging in and playing as dwindled down to nearly nothing.

EVE Online

I was doubtful that I would still be subscribed to EVE by the end of the year. I did end up stopping the subscription on my second account, and would have canceled my primary except that it renewed before I got around to it. That’s not totally a bad thing as I’ve continued to train skills (towards no particular goal) and I’ll get a chance to try out the new character portrait generator when it comes out. Regardless though, I’m definitely letting the account lapse in March when the current six month cycle is up.

Champions Online

My plans to have this be my other primary game besides LotRO turned out to be true until I go my first hero to max level in March. After that, I played with some alts and returned for the Serpent Lantern Adventure Pack, but my playtime has dwindled down quite a bit this year. I have to be in a certain (rare) mood to enjoy re-experiencing content, so once I’ve been through the game once my playtime almost always declines (which is true for me in all MMOs).

Console Games

Mass Effect 2 was my favorite console game of the year. Great story, great graphics, and much improved combat over the previous game.

Red Dead Redemption was my second favorite console game, and one I almost missed. I hadn’t paid any attention to it at all until Scott from Pumping Irony asked me if I was getting it. I’m glad he did, because it turned out to be a really good game and the first Rockstar game I’ve ever finished.

Star Wars: Force Unleashed wasn’t new but I’d skipped it on release because of poor reviews. I ended up picking it up after news that a sequel was going to be release, and it turned out to be surprisingly good. So good, actually, that I was able to add it to my very small list of completed games. Ironically, based on several trusted sources, it seems like the sequel is a stinker. That’s too bad, but at least it got me to buy the first one.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions turned out to be a disappointment. The game was way more linear than I wanted it to be and has ended up in my limbo games stack. These are games stacked up next to my 360 that I feel I should finish but probably won’t.

Fable 3 was also a disappointment and will likely be joining Shattered Dimensions in limbo soon. It’s really too bad considering how much I loved playing Fable 2.

PC Games

Minecraft! Minecraft! Minecraft!

I’ve played and enjoyed a lot of PC games this year, most of them acquired via Steam sales, but the stand-out PC game for the year for me has been Minecraft.

I’m still surprised by how much I enjoy this game. I’m usually a shallow gamer. Good game-play is important of course, but no more so to me than the good graphics. Generally when a sequel to a game comes out I stop playing the older version, even if I don’t enjoy the new version as much, because it just looks better. What can I say.

If you qualify as a Crafter or Explorer personality type, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. If you do end up liking it, come check out the multi-player servers I’m running.

One thing missing from Cryptic’s hybrid-subscription model that I really liked in Turbine’s was a monthly allowance of free store points for subscribers. Apparently it was something being discussed internally but not decided on until yesterday. Poz announced on the forums that yes there’ll be a stipend for subscribers, although no word yet on how much or how frequent (although I’d assume monthly).

It wasn’t if the points could only be used in the Champions store. Currently Cryptic Points are attached to you account and can be used in both the Champions and Star Trek C-Stores. So, unless they change their sales system, it’s likely possible that subscribers to both games could use their free points from Champions to buy items in Star Trek. This is something that Turbine doesn’t allow between DDO and LotRO.

Even though there’s not much in the C-Store that I’m interested in purchasing, it’s the thought that counts.

Special thanks to Nod for the heads-up.

I got a little surprise in my email from Cryptic this morning that Champions Online was going F2P in Q1 of 2011. First thing I did was check the site and found the official State of the Game announcement, confirming it was real. My first thought after that was I should shut off Twitter for the day while the drama storm blows through, obviously the forums as well.

Before I get into the changes, let me say that this announcement didn’t cause the same emotional panic that Turbine’s did. First, I don’t have the same history with the Champions lore that I do with Tolkien’s books (impossible to match given my childhood exposure to Middle-earth). Second, Cryptic’s using the same hybrid model that Turbine is using so my expectations are pretty much already set.

So what are the changes?

Gameplay

There’s going to be a review and update of the power documentation and interactions. Poz highlights some streamlining of holds in order to eliminate some weird problems that have been cropping up.

The big change is the addition of Archetypes. This was something that set off alarm bells for me, since archetypes is one of the things I didn’t like in CoH. Apparently though these archetypes don’t map directly to team roles or to power frameworks, but mimic certain types of comic book heroes. F2P is launching with eight of these with plans to add more later. No powers are being removed, existing characters won’t be impacted, and new characters can be just as flexible by using the Custom Archetype , although that is limited to gold players.

I’m not planning to use Archetypes myself, but I can see this being a benefit to new players who don’t understand about super stats, passive defenses, talents, etc.

Outside of the power/character changes, they’re revamping the 1-20 leveling experience. The content changes seem pretty smart, as far as I can tell. The tutorial could definitely use a refresh based on lessons learned from Vibora Bay and the Adventure Packs, and having the players go to Millennium City after the tutorial rather than the Desert or Canadian crises makes MC more of the hub zone is should be.

Subscriptions

Just like Turbine did, Cryptic is using a hybrid model, although theirs is a little simpler. You are either subscribed and a gold player or playing for free as a silver player. Lifetime subscribers are considered gold players.

Gold players get all zones, levels, adventure packs, costume parts, and powers. Exactly the same as subscribers do now.

Free players have access to all zones and levels (except adventure packs), but don’t get access to the Custom Archetype so they’re more limited in what combinations of powers they have access to. They are also limited in their inventory and bank space and market access.

Check out their Feature Matrix for more details.

Summary

Cryptic’s current plan is more free-to-play than Turbine’s is. You can level a hero from 1-40, you just have some limitations in inventory slots and are more restricted in your power selection. But based on what they’re currently planning, you can get to max level for free in Champions Online, which is not something that you can do in Lord of the Rings Online.

All in all, just like with Turbine’s announcement, not much changes for me. I’m not upset that I bought a lifetime membership, I can still play how I want whenever I want and don’t have to spend money on a monthly subscription. As much as I enjoy the ability to mix and match powers based on a character concept, a silver plan would never have worked for me. Had Cryptic offered lifetime gold, gold, and free silver plans at launch, I would still have bought the lifetime gold.

Making a new hero in Champions Online usually happens for me in one of two ways: either I have an idea for a name and then build a costume and powers around it, or I have a costume in mind that suggests a certain power build and a name.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about a new hero, but so far I’ve not been able to come up with either a name or a costume that I like. His powers will be primarily from the Archery but with some Supernatural additions, so far including Command Animals and Soul Mesmerism. I’ve gone through the character creator several times hoping that something would click for me, but no luck.

If I can come up with a good name then the costume should come to be pretty easy. So, I’m crowd sourcing my imagination. If you have any ideas, please leave it in the comments.

So this little bit of news just came across my Twitter feed: Bill Roper is leaving Cryptic (or the Champions version). It was only a few weeks ago that Craig Zinkievich resigned as well. Does this mean bad things for Cryptic?

Of course there’s a lot of speculation about an exodus of people from Cryptic, and what it might mean for the company’s future. So far, I think all of the personnel changes have been very positive. I’ve been much happier with Champions since Shannon took over, and while I was happy with Zinc’s tenure at STO, I’ve been even more impressed with Stahl.

Like anything that happens within a private company, we’ll probably never know for sure. Personally, I’m much less concerned by this than I was by Zinc’s departure. First, Roper left his position as Executive Producer of Champions back in March and Shannon Posniewski has (for whatever reason) done a much improved job. Second, Bill has been a lightning rod for bad press since he started as Cryptic. A lot of that is fallout from the failure of Flagship Studios, but the launch day nerf and Vibora Bay announcement also contributed a lot of bad PR. So, while his departure may impact whatever Cryptic has in development, I don’t see it having any impact on their released games. Deserved or not, Roper’s name comes with a lot of baggage attached, and it can only help Cryptic not to have to deal with that anymore.

As Anjin noted recently, Cryptic has been very quiet about Champions Online since the Serpent Lantern update last month. I don’t mean that I was expecting another update, but just that it would’ve been nice to have an idea of where the dev’s were focusing for the next major patch to the game.

Thankfully Poz has released a State of the Game that outlines the planned Summer Update for August 17th and a sneak peak at the next adventure pack, The Demonflame.

Summer Update

• Super Groups are getting a revamp of their UI that looks very similar to the Fleet screens in Star Trek Online.
• The Renaissance Center is being remodeled to provide better feng shui for social activities.
• New emotes (20+) and a better UI screen.
• C-Store UI update, there were no screenshots included but I’m betting it’ll match the recent update in STO.
• Costume creator will have more tights options in the costume creator (something I’m looking forward to) and more high heeled shoes and boots for females.
• A new difficulty setting above Very Hard, I vote for Are You Happy Yet?

Like the recent melee powers update that took place, Cryptic is also working on a revamp of the pet systems. This includes a more explicit way of controlling pets, an increase in the damage they do, and a new mechanic for keeping them powered.

I’ve not played with the pet powers at all, but I’ve heard that there are also problems with the pathing and having to resummon all pets when one dies. Hopefully these changes will help with those problems as well.

The Demonflame

Scheduled for the end of September, The Demonflame focuses on DEMON similarly to how The Serpent Lantern focused on Viper. We’ll be going to the Qliphotic realm and battling a new monster group. Check out the screenshots on the site.

Bullet points provided courtesy of Anjin, Inc.

There are some aerial billboards in the Renaissance Center in Millennium City. I’m not sure if it’s new, but this one caught my eye.

Serpent Lantern, the first Adventure Pack from Cryptic Studios for Champions Online, came out last week. I’d been looking forward to trying out the new content, even though my level-capped Silver Hunter still has quite a bit to do in Vibora Bay. I’ve been spending more time in the Alpha Quadrant and Middle-earth than Millennium City, recent and I was looking to SL to reawaken my interest.
Continue reading ‘Silver Hunter and the Serpent Lantern’ »

I listen to a lot of podcasts. One of my favorites is No Prisoners, No Mercy hosted by two nuns (not kidding), Sr. Julie and Sr. Fran. The Sisters have had a lot of good interviews with MMO developers in the past, including Bill Roper, Paul Barnett, and Richard Bartle. Their most recent is with Champions Executive Producer Shannon Posniewski, Poz on the forums.

It’s a great listen if you want to figure out how to pronounce his name and find out a little more about him, which I did enjoy. There’s also some interesting information in the interview about the Revelation expanion and the communication issues from the first part of this year. Go check it out.

No Prisoners, No Mercy #59 – Meet “The Poz”

Making a character in City of Heroes and Champions Online is a creative endeavor for me, if I had any talent for art at all it would very much be like creating a comic book. I don’t just throw together a random set of costume pieces, pick an available name, and charge into the game. Sometimes, a hero name will spark my imagination, sometimes it’ll be a power, but usually it’s a specific costume piece.

Silver Hunter in the Paragon Age

The City of Heroes version of Silver Hunter was inspired by the head texture you see pictured below. The name, the powers, and the back-story all came afterwards. The texture made me think of a combination of the Vision, the Martian Manhunter, and the Silver Surfer.

click on the images above for larger versions

Silver Hunter in the Champion Age

When Champions Online launched, the Silver Hunter was the first hero I made. I originally tried to duplicate my CoH costume but couldn’t find any matching textures. Instead, I focused on the concept of an alien sentient android and started over. It took a few iterations, but I’m very happy with how the CO version turned out.

click on the images above for larger versions

Back-Story from CoH to CO

You can also see that the Silver Hunter’s back-story has changed quite a bit when you compare the short description I banged out for his Hero Registration card to the full story or the summary I’ve written for his Champions bio.

click on the images above for larger versions