Champions Online: The No-NDA Merged Edition

[Big Gulp]

You can be godly and still have a sense of gritty deadliness.  A superfast hero can still die with a .38 to the face.  The invincible man can still fall into a tree-cutter.  And all have their psychological demons to deal with.
The vast majority of gamers are playing games where they may be "special" but they're by no means 4-color super-ish... and they like it.   So, I find it a stretch to think that every Supers game has to make its PCs "super."

Make them heroes, give them godlike powers, and put them in a World that means/relates to something.

Dude, your handle is that of the second cheesiest Marvel character ever (right after Venom).  Let's just say that your opinion on comics is suspect.   

[Sky]

Be careful, he might throw a card at you!

Gambit's deadliest weapon? The race card.

[Bokonon]

http://champions-online.com/node/97747

The role/stance design wrinkle is kinda interesting. Kinda.

[Ghambit]

You can be godly and still have a sense of gritty deadliness.  A superfast hero can still die with a .38 to the face.  The invincible man can still fall into a tree-cutter.  And all have their psychological demons to deal with.
The vast majority of gamers are playing games where they may be "special" but they're by no means 4-color super-ish... and they like it.   So, I find it a stretch to think that every Supers game has to make its PCs "super."

Make them heroes, give them godlike powers, and put them in a World that means/relates to something.

Dude, your handle is that of the second cheesiest Marvel character ever (right after Venom).  Let's just say that your opinion on comics is suspect.   

Bah, I choose that handle because it was my nickname in High School (everyone had an x-men handle).  And mostly because I loved games (was good at cards), spoke French, was good with the Bo, and was good with the ladies. 
BUT, how in the bloody hell do you believe that Remy Lebeau was a cheesy character??  The man controlled kinetic energy, was a ladykiller, the king at poker, half-bad, and was made into the harbinger of Death. (to name just a few).  There are plenty of Marvel chars. cheesier than him; like Cyclops.  God I hate Cyclops.  Oh, and Captain America.

[Morfiend]

Bah, I choose that handle because it was my nickname in High School (everyone had an x-men handle). 

 

And mostly because I loved games (was good at cards), spoke French, was good with the Bo, and was good with the ladies. 

 

BUT, how in the bloody hell do you believe that Remy Lebeau was a cheesy character??  The man controlled kinetic energy, was a ladykiller, the king at poker, half-bad, and was made into the harbinger of Death.

 

[Ingmar]

Who gives a shit? It was fun. It's not exactly like WoW, or really any major MMO in the past couple years, hasn't been easy.

I think it was more fun (and a better game) afterwards. /shrug

[Ashamanchill]

There are plenty of Marvel chars. cheesier than him; like Cyclops.  God I hate Cyclops.  Oh, and Captain America.
[/quote]

You suck.

[Lantyssa]

I'm not sure why Gambit was a lady-killer.  He was slimy as a greased gator.

[Ghambit]

I'm not sure why Gambit was a lady-killer.  He was slimy as a greased gator.

The "Charm" power was built into his DNA.
Agree though, quite a slimy-lookin dude.  Given that he's a Cajun it makes sense he's a bit of a greased-gator though eh?

[Lantyssa]

There is a possibility I chose my wording based upon his background.

[Ghambit]

Thought so
The Lantyssa wit prevails.  But, I still felt compelled to educate the uninformed to the logic behind your statement.

But, back on-topic.  From what I'm feeling in this thread, looks like most folks gravitate more towards playing a classical 4-color uber-super goodguy type heroes game rather than a grittier, deadlier, smarmier type system.  Touche' I guess.

[Sky]

No, Gambit is just a douchebag.

[Hoax]

Bah, I choose that handle because it was my nickname in High School (everyone had an x-men handle). 

 

And mostly because I loved games (was good at cards), spoke French, was good with the Bo, and was good with the ladies. 

 

BUT, how in the bloody hell do you believe that Remy Lebeau was a cheesy character??  The man controlled kinetic energy, was a ladykiller, the king at poker, half-bad, and was made into the harbinger of Death.

 

This derail can only lead to more good things, please I would hear tales of your high school days with your trusty Bo staff and half the cheer leading team slavering for your...

[UnSub]

But, back on-topic.  From what I'm feeling in this thread, looks like most folks gravitate more towards playing a classical 4-color uber-super goodguy type heroes game rather than a grittier, deadlier, smarmier type system.  Touche' I guess.

There's Prototype for that.

But the thing you described doesn't sound fun to that many people at all. "You're a superhero with incredible powers and... you've just taken a .38 to the head and have died. Sorry about that."

People play a superhero game to play a super character. They want to be Wolverine - a hardass who can't die - about 10x more than they want to be The Question - a detective with no real powers who fights well.

[Ghambit]

People play a superhero game to play a super character. They want to be Wolverine - a hardass who can't die - about 10x more than they want to be The Question - a detective with no real powers who fights well.

What I'm talking about is directed greatness, not just a hodgepodge of indestructable hack 'n slash.  Where is the sense of accomplishment if you're a demigod?
Wolverine is actually a good example of a grittier character.  His best attack is when someone strong just throws him at the enemy 
It's actually more exciting and creates a better synergy with his fellow "heroes" this way, rather than having a guy like Superman or Ghost Rider wherein you're just basically unstoppable in every way.

Good, interesting heroes need debilitating vices and a severe lack of power in many areas.  And in a Multiplayer coop-oriented game, this makes more sense.  No one's saying they should have NO real powers (I aint talkin Batman), but they shouldnt just be unstoppable either.

[Murgos]

Well that explains the current steep death penalties and abundance of perma-death servers in MMO's then.

[Ghambit]

Well that explains the current steep death penalties and abundance of perma-death servers in MMO's then.

Did I once mention DPs or perma-death?  Dont over-simplify it.  It's not even relevant.

[Senses]

I'm so gonna regret saying this, but doesn't it seem the role of Ghambit was just custom made for Lost's own Sawyer?  Wonder why his agent didn't get him that gig.

[tmp]

I'm not sure why Gambit was a lady-killer.  He was slimy as a greased gator.

I'd chalk that one up to the (usually bitter) stereotype of women digging the assholes.

[Ghambit]

I'm not sure why Gambit was a lady-killer.  He was slimy as a greased gator.

I'd chalk that one up to the (usually bitter) stereotype of women digging the assholes.

Since comics are largely written by (bitter) dorks, it's rather obvious they'd perpetuate that stereotype.
Nowadays, Dork is the new Jock though... and things are flipped

[Big Gulp]

Nowadays, Dork is the new Jock though... and things are flipped

Huh?  Is this one of those 80's "it's hip to be square" things?  I've got news for you, it wasn't hip then either.

Chicks are still going to want to bang the captain of the football team, not the chess club.

[Lantyssa]

Actually they want both.  Take Hugh Jackman for instance.  Big into the arts, smart, but ripped.  I'd go straight for Hugh, at least for a little while.

[Threash]

Nowadays, Dork is the new Jock though... and things are flipped

Huh?  Is this one of those 80's "it's hip to be square" things?  I've got news for you, it wasn't hip then either.

Chicks are still going to want to bang the captain of the football team, not the chess club.

By "nowadays" he means "now that the president of the chess club is a dotcom billionaire and the captain of the football team just got laid off his mid level office job".

[Ghambit]

A bad economy breeds the best relationships   

[Goreschach]

I would have had a hard time believing you fuckers could nerd up an internet thread about a videogame based on comic books, but you sure fucking managed to.

[Morfiend]

I'm so gonna regret saying this, but doesn't it seem the role of Ghambit was just custom made for Lost's own Sawyer?  Wonder why his agent didn't get him that gig.

I have actually been saying this for a while.

[HaemishM]

What made the purple-patch dumb was that the game was obviously 4-color, yet they tried to make it grittier (in the dumbest way possible). 

No, they tried to make it GRINDIER because they wanted longer subscriptions. There was nothing narrative or immersive to it, it was merely to keep people subscribed because they were "leveling too fast."

[Ghambit]

What made the purple-patch dumb was that the game was obviously 4-color, yet they tried to make it grittier (in the dumbest way possible). 

No, they tried to make it GRINDIER because they wanted longer subscriptions. There was nothing narrative or immersive to it, it was merely to keep people subscribed because they were "leveling too fast."

"Grittier (in the dumbest way possible)" == grindier

[UnSub]

I could get into the stupidity of some early CoH tactics - dumpster diving, pulling the entire map onto a trip mine stack, etc - but let's not dig up ancient history.

Anyway, ChampO open beta date confirmed as August 17. Two weeks before launch. And we will finally be free of our .

[ezrast]

Anyway, ChampO open beta date confirmed as August 17.

So this not sucking would be like an awesome birthday present to me.

[Kageru]

Your optimism is so endearing.

I don't see any sign of the the NDA drop in the article. I would not be surprised if they attempt to keep it active through open beta.

[Glazius]

What made the purple-patch dumb was that the game was obviously 4-color, yet they tried to make it grittier (in the dumbest way possible). 

No, they tried to make it GRINDIER because they wanted longer subscriptions. There was nothing narrative or immersive to it, it was merely to keep people subscribed because they were "leveling too fast."

No, that would be the nerfs that hit the fire/device blasters with smoke grenade (with 10x intended to-hit debuff) and caltrops (which could root people and be thrown around corners). (nerf: smoke grenade back to original levels, slow effects like caltrops have a -90% cap)

And the seven level ones cooling their heels back in a safe zone who leveled off what the 40 was doing anyway. (nerf: people too far below the team average don't get XP)

And the invuln tankers with smash/lethal immunity rounding up a bunch of prisoners. (nerf: tanker resistance capped at 90%, prisoner rewards dropped severely)

A bunch of people killing purples exposed themselves to rather higher risk than a bunch of people killing reds but didn't actually get any more reward out of the deal - individual XP/mob was capped at the level of a red mob. People just hunted down purples because, like massing to kill big groups of Hydra in Perez Park, it was just what you did, never mind whether it worked or not. Purples and Hydra both became unreasonably dangerous because they led to people going too slow, not too fast.

[Nevermore]

Them trying to keep the NDA up during open beta would be a big, giant DO NOT BUY flag.

[K9]

I always thought Beast was pretty cool.

[Hutch]

I could get into the stupidity of some early CoH tactics - dumpster diving, pulling the entire map onto a trip mine stack, etc - but let's not dig up ancient history.

Anyway, ChampO open beta date confirmed as August 17. Two weeks before launch. And we will finally be free of our .

They're calling it an "open beta", but this is not the description of an open beta.

If they're limiting it to 50,000 keys, that reads to me more like a public stress test.