Bloodline Champions Closed Beta

[Ghambit]

http://www.bloodlinechampions.com/
I grabbed my beta invite from FP today.  Looks interesting.

Bloodline Champions is a PVP game with short, intense matches for up to ten players divided into two teams. Every player plays one of several different bloodlines with 7 unique abilities each.
Different bloodlines in a set up complement eachother, different maps and gamemodes need different tactics, so good teamwork is a must for success.
Chance is not a factor, spells and abilities do a set amount of damage. Random elements such as critical hits and passive abilities do not exist.
Spells travel to where the player aims and can be avoided by enemy players, making every ability dependant on individual player skill.
Without mana and creeps, the game has almost zero downtime and is instead based on short cooldowns, this coupled with no grind or farming ensures that every match is full of action.

There are also 3 game modes.  Your typical arena deathmatch, a CTF, and a conquest.  The only persistence I see is the Ladder system in ranked matches, which makes sense in a skill only game.  Pretty much arena diablo it seems.
I will definitely be trying this out with the realization that grouping/guilding regularly is a must. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIdWDUmTD2w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iceVNd-soE&feature=related

[Ghambit]

<topic moved>

thankee

Anyways, so who's firing this up tonite?

[Nightblade]

Thanks for reminding me, Ive had this sitting in my inbox but I didnt have a chance to download it before work.

[Ghambit]

I've been playing this all night.  Cant stop.  This has legs.
And apparently this studio is semi-supported by Funcom - so it's yet another Norse game.  Also seems to have been built using XNA.

Whole game is based on skill, even the healing and CC.  Hell, even knockbacks and aoe have some kind of sub-effect that'll reward you if you time/aim it properly, many times dependent on ally positioning or enemy grouping.  Most abilities are channeled and cooled down, so anticipating your opponent is also smart as well as not simply rushing in whilst your bread and butter is unavailable.

As for the "persistence."  There ARE levels in the game (not to do with the ladder) which are more an indicator of how much you've played rather than how good you are.  Your "skill" though is measured via Grade.  So you can actually have lowlevel people with high ranking/grade.  Since there's autobalance (if you use it) in PUGs it's a nice mechanic to keep teams even skill-wise.

Yes, there is single-player vs. bots.  So you CAN practice your skills alone.

The ladders look to be considered "seasons."  Teams and individuals can win these obviously.  Currently we're on season 4.  What kinds of rewards there are I havent learned yet.
For a simple isometric action game, it has surprising depth in combat.  I was worried battles would seem repetitive, but each one is vastly different even when choosing the same toon.  And for a quick game, there's a surprising amount of tension.  Even in simple Arena/deathmatch games.

The UI is perfect and the lobby is quick and intuitive.  No lag issues or connectivity problems.  Player profiles are fairly extensive and it's easy to sift through who's good and who's bad.

My only gripe so far is healing and resurrection take too long to be useful.  If you try it you're dead typically, unless you're on a bigger map, have a stealth character, and/or are playing CTF or conquest perhaps.

And now I sit and wait for 'Hoax' to enter this thread... 'cause he's been whining about playing a game like this for a long time.   

[Nightblade]

One of the things Im most happy about with this game is that it doesn't have a tacked on unlock system. I'm not sure how I feel about the game itself though. There seems to be very little visual / sound feedback to certain abilities and the few non practice games I played consisted of my team getting stomped and not knowing why / what was even happening. Not quite as bad as the clusterfuck that is LoL team fights though.

[Ghambit]

The key is nuzzling up to high level players and sticking with bloodlines you're good at regardless of group structure.  Although, this game punishes you badly if you dont maintain a semblance of group balance, assuming you dont adjust your strat.  Ideally, you'd learn 1 bloodline per class.  Some lines are fairly hybrid though, like the astronomer.  Imo the best way to learn the game at first is to play a healer.

It could indeed use more sound effects (or perhaps they should just be louder), but the only one of value is the one that denotes your ulti.

Game will be completely F2P btw with every line in the particular season unlocked (lines will rotate depending on season to keep things challenging).  And the only thing money will purchase is skins and lines from other seasons.  There will also be in-game currency you can earn through winning battles, which can be used to purchase said stuff.

[Malakili]

Hmmm.  Looks worth trying out if nothing else.

[Ghambit]

I have 3 additional keys for anyone wanting to try it out, and not wanting to fool with FP or Funcom.

[Malakili]

I have 3 additional keys for anyone wanting to try it out, and not wanting to fool with FP or Funcom.

Oh, I'd really like one.  I was going to apply for beta when I got home today anyway, PM one to me if its still available please!

[Ghambit]

I've already applied my FP key so Malak you're gonna have to use the key I give you (which is from Funcom) to hand out the 2 remaining buddy keys, once you start your Funcom account.

[Nightblade]

Funcom sent me a closed beta key as soon as I registered for the file planet beta. 

Does the funcom key last longer or something?

[Malakili]

Alright, got 1 left.  Any takers?

[Ghambit]

Funcom sent me a closed beta key as soon as I registered for the file planet beta.  

Does the funcom key last longer or something?

The Funcom key gives you buddy keys as well.  The IGN key doesnt.  So use your Funcom key.
If one lasts longer than the other, I shall be extremely pissed off.
edit:  Once you're in the beta, you're in for the duration.  i.e. till the game releases

[Morfiend]

Some one hit me with a key.

On the note of keys, my friend got one. He entered it on their site, it failed to register him fully, and now its telling him the key is in use.

Ok, I have had 3 sent to me. I'm pretty good. Thanks. 

[Ghambit]

Btw, I'm ingame as "Psyfer"
Vent/TS anyone?

[Segoris]

I'm having a good time with this game. I think the one thing they could do to improve balancing teams is not allowing teams to have more than one of a character. Otherwise, it's pretty solid.

[Malakili]

Malakili in game, friends me.

Pretty fun game, definitely worth playing.

[Samprimary]

I'm glad to see that this game is maturing somewhat into a game with appeal and promise! the earlier betas were ... hit and miss. Mostly miss.

[Ghambit]

I'm having a good time with this game. I think the one thing they could do to improve balancing teams is not allowing teams to have more than one of a character. Otherwise, it's pretty solid.

This only happens when people random.  It's basically a bug and usually gimps a team more than helps.

[Nightblade]

Now that I'm beginning to decipher what the hell is going on, It's starting to grow on me. Though there are still some things that can be worded or expressed better.

1 -  Being afflicted with "spell lock" isn't exclusive to actual spells or abilities. Your vanilla attack can be locked as well.

2 - Characters simply vanishing without any visual feedback as to what the hell is going on. I've had a few matches where one guy I was nearly ready to kill just vanishes. It wasnt until later than I figured out it was a healer archetype using this ability.

[K9]

If anyone gets a beta invite and there aren't people who are more into the LoL/DoTA/FPS side of thing than me I'd happily take an invite. This looks pretty fun.

Is it going to be PC only?

And now I sit and wait for 'Hoax' to enter this thread... 'cause he's been whining about playing a game like this for a long time.  

You'll be waiting a couple of weeks at least for that  

[rk47]

Seems like it's going to rely a lot on latency due to the twitch nature?
If so, I think I'll pass since i'm in S.E Asia. :(

[Ghambit]

Seems like it's going to rely a lot on latency due to the twitch nature?
If so, I think I'll pass since i'm in S.E Asia. :(

Everything has a casting time, which is client side.  Therefore lag dependancy is minimized once everything hits the server/host.
It's a very smart, subtle mechanic.  Even your vanilla attack has a very slight casting time, just enough to negate most lag.

Typically, if you have someone with bad ping it's not TOO noticeable 'cept to themselves.

[Malakili]

Played some 3v3 for the first time today, this game has serious potential.  I know i kind of already said that, but its got that little extra something that most games just don't.

[Segoris]

This only happens when people random.  It's basically a bug and usually gimps a team more than helps.

It has nothing to do with choosing random, I selected a second gunner after someone else had their's. I've also gone up against numerous groups with the same characters (ex: 2x of the same tank and 2x of the same healer and a random dps on one team in a 5v5, Root and Alchemist? I don't know the names yet).

As for gimping, I've noticed no such thing, though it may be more gimping at higher end play. Lower end play, like 3v3, using multiple gunners with chain blind and stun works pretty smoothly.

[Ghambit]

Hmmm... that aint cool.  Maybe they intended it then.  I was told it was a bug though by a high lvl player.
I suppose certain champs are better than others if you've got a lot of em, only if they've got adequate CC though.  A group full of thorns probably wont work, etc.

[Malakili]

In game as malakili

We should get a beta names list going.

[Segoris]

In game as Satsui, server's down though or something which is good timing since it means it's time to go out. It went down at the same time last night too, I'm wondering if 9-9:30pm cst is when servers come down for patches due to them being Euro.

[Der Helm]

Any keys left ? I got this weekend off. 
 

[lesion]

Any keys left ? I got this weekend off. 
 

Sent.

[Segoris]

Anyone with an extra key able to pm me? I have a friend interested in playing and could use an extra.

[Segoris]

If anyone has one available, I have another irl friend who could use a key. Shoot me a pm if an extra is available

[Rendakor]

What is this like? LoL/DotA? Fury? Wow Arenas? I just got a beta invite, wondering if I should bother downloading it.

[Xuri]

It's like a red, red rose/That's newly sprung in June

It looks like LoL/DotA, but there are no experience points, no levels, no upgrades of gear/abilities, no one side getting the upper hand and then it being impossible for the other side to catch up. It's a purely skill-based team-PvP game.

[Ghambit]

There's nothing out there like this and yes, it's well worth downloading if you're the competive PvP type.
Once Diablo3 releases though (which will essentially have this game as its pvp element), this game will covet crickets.  So basically, it's a nice F2P D3 pvp game till D3 actually comes out.

edit:
D3 will be quite a bit more button-mashy than this though.