Champions Online/other games

[Anonon]

Anybody play Champions Online?

I've poked around with it quite a bit, so here's my take:

Pros:
-free
-costume creator has a ton of options
-you will eventually be paired with/stumble on a player with a hilarious or well done name or costume
-decent number of options for powers
-gets attention from the developers despite not being super popular

Cons:
-endgame content is subpar
-if you don't play endgame content there isn't much to do
-costume creator's options aren't that great for retro, leotard and half mask wearing heroines
-not much of an rp community for anything relevant
-for those who care, it's hard to capture anything/get captured by anything

Of course, it seems like there are always several fan made superhero MMOs in kickstarter limbo, and those might be good, right? Does anybody have a video game that does goofy brightly colored heroines in an entertaining way?

[Foolish Mortal]

There is a Superheroine in Peril Community in Second life. Plenty of RP to be had and willing heroines. The sim is called Mean Streets if you are interested. You don't need to god mode rp there, most are looking to lose. On occasion you may find a spirited heroine who wants to put up a fight.

[Anonon]

Ah yeah, I have tried SL, but my end conclusion was that it was really hard to get a nice looking avatar without throwing down a ton of money, and that second life rp consisted of a good ten hours of sitting around waiting for every decent scene. It's a great idea, but I didn't enjoy it at all.

[TIEnTEEZ]

I've tried SL several times, but learning the system requires WAY too much time investment to be worthwhile.

[TIEnTEEZ]

As for Champions Online, I was playing it when it first came out and I played for a couple of years, then got bored with it (as I usually do with these types of games).

DCUO (DC Universe Online) is pretty good, also. They have a really great combat system, but the costume options really suck because you start out with some simple options (which are very good) and then you have to "find" other sets of costume options as loot, so it's very limiting. I really like the art style, though - it was all done by Jim Lee. You can create some really sexy heroines.

Both of those games are so old and dated, now, that I wish someone would create a new superhero MMO. There are several currently in the works publicly. But I think they are all years away from release. :(

[Anonon]

I've heard nothing but negative things about DCUO, but I suspect it's a case of loot crate/loot treadmill/token farming/pay to not wait more than it is a criticism of the game's ability to provide cute costumes and punching. May look into it.

I think all of the upcoming ones are from itty bitty studios, so likely they'll LOOK like they were from ten years ago, even if they aren't.

[TIEnTEEZ]

I've been tracking 4 of them for a while.

https://cityoftitans.com/
https://valiance.shogn.net/
http://www.heroes-and-villains.com/phpb/home.php
https://www.shipofheroes.com/

All of them seem like they are years away and they have all been in development for an eternity already. So you are probably right that by the time they release, they will look dated.

[boneba]

So many of those links are from people that used to play City of Heroes...which to this day is still the best Superhero MMO.

[TIEnTEEZ]

So many of those links are from people that used to play City of Heroes...which to this day is still the best Superhero MMO.

I think a lot of people remember it with nostalgia because it was the first. Frankly, I played it for many years and I thought there were a lot of problems and a lot of room for improvement. And I think Champions Online and DCUO both had some great ideas and made a lot of improvements on the original.

DCUO's combat system is the best by far. It's a much more action-oriented MMO.

Champions has an excellent costume creator (basically very similar to CoH only better and more modern) and the Nemesis system was a fantastic idea - although it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. I also never really loved the over-the-top comic-book art style.

One thing that blunts my enthusiasm about the new SuperHero MMO's coming up is that none of them seem to have anything really new to add to the genre. They are basically re-making the old games with slightly newer technology and perhaps even making some of the same mistakes, which is disappointing. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

[Anonon]

One thing that blunts my enthusiasm about the new SuperHero MMO's coming up is that none of them seem to have anything really new to add to the genre. They are basically re-making the old games with slightly newer technology and perhaps even making some of the same mistakes, which is disappointing.

This is my least favorite thing about nerds. "I want the same thing, but I want it to be new and surprising, but don't change anything that ruins it."

Also, I'm not sure how I forgot this one, but... Freedom Force! You lead a small squad of (mainly, because spoiler alert time travel) silver age heroes through some battles in real time from a birds eye view, but you can pause it and queue up actions. The physics are pretty nice... I spent a lot of time knocking people off of roofs and throwing scenery around on my playthrough. Best part... you can add your own skins (or models, if you're that kind of person) and make custom characters with your choice of moves. I'm debating whether I want to take the time to do this.

[MutantFiend]

I've dabbled in SecondLife, it's not something I'd invest more of my time in, but I may have to check out that SHIP community. I've heard nothing but good things about Marvel Heroes Omega, and will have to buy a PS4 eventually, just for that and the other Marvel games coming out.

[TIEnTEEZ]

One thing that blunts my enthusiasm about the new SuperHero MMO's coming up is that none of them seem to have anything really new to add to the genre. They are basically re-making the old games with slightly newer technology and perhaps even making some of the same mistakes, which is disappointing.

This is my least favorite thing about nerds. "I want the same thing, but I want it to be new and surprising, but don't change anything that ruins it."

Also, I'm not sure how I forgot this one, but... Freedom Force! You lead a small squad of (mainly, because spoiler alert time travel) silver age heroes through some battles in real time from a birds eye view, but you can pause it and queue up actions. The physics are pretty nice... I spent a lot of time knocking people off of roofs and throwing scenery around on my playthrough. Best part... you can add your own skins (or models, if you're that kind of person) and make custom characters with your choice of moves. I'm debating whether I want to take the time to do this.

Well, yeah, I don't want a new MMO that's exactly the same as some other previous MMO. What would be the point? I want them to keep the good stuff and improve upon it - DCUO Combat + CoH costume designer with some of the additions that ChO added + ChO's Nemesis system, plus improvements from other games + maybe something new and different.

Freedom Force was fun, but it wasn't really an MMO. One of the great elements of FF was that you could design the LOOK of your powers, which is something that no MMO has done in spite of the very obvious appeal for superhero MMO players. I really like the idea of a system where they separate the effect (damage, burning, slowing, etc.) from the look of the power (blasts from the hands, blasts from the eyes, touch, rockets from a shoulder cannon, etc.). FireStar, Pyro, and Green Flame all shoot fire, but how they do it and what it looks like is completely different, and that's one of the big things that has been missing from SuperHero MMO's up to this point.

Even being able to change the color of your attacks would be a huge step up, and ChO eventually added that after release.

I was actually involved in the beta for CoH, and Champions Online and I argued for a system like that repeatedly, but neither of them decided to do it - although I did get someone's attention at ChO and they appeared to consider it.

I did see a post on one of the MMO's I mentioned earlier where they were talking about something like that, so I hope they do it well.

[Anonon]

Separating look from mechanical effect always infuriates nerds. I don't know why, but it does. So I'm not surprised that nobody has done it, even after hearing it suggested, but obviously I'd rather have it your way.

I've heard nothing but good things about Marvel Heroes Omega

Are you stuck playing canon characters in this? That's kind of a downer for me.