Champions Online Frequently Asked Questions

Champions Online Frequently Asked Questions by Nexus

Mechanics:

What are the Classes of Champions Online?

As it stands, there are no classes in Champions Online. In the beginning, there were going to be defined classes with open power selection; however, the community did not want that and here we are. Here is a quote from Jake Emmert (Jakalope)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Evolution of Game Design: Rethinking Archetypes (click quote to read the entire thing)

…Earlier on in the design of Champions Online we discussed how archetypes such as Brick, Energy Projector, etc., filled certain roles in the Champions universe and how each archetype gained bonuses to powers typical of their role. Power selection wasn’t restricted by archetype – archetypes just provided bonuses to certain types of powers. The idea was to break the “class” mold prevalent in so many other MMOs while still providing some guidance for players who were new to the superhero genre or new to gaming. However, when we discussed this briefly in one of the Cryptic Q&A; sessions, the prevailing reaction by the community was strongly against any type of archetype bonuses whatsoever, no matter how small. Many people pointed to the “total customization” experience touted for Champions Online, and how making archetype distinctions effectively restricted power choice by creating optimum and non-optimum groupings of powers.

Collectively, the Champions Online community made us re-evaluate our initial game design with regards to archetypes. Considering our open power selection system, did we really need archetype bonuses? One of our vision goals was to provide a very flexible powers system to players that they can play with to their heart’s content – why put impediments to this goal by adding in archetypes? We took the community feedback to heart and went back to the drawing board. We asked ourselves, would it be possible to create an open character creation system that still solved the same problems that character classes did? You’ll need to stay tuned for the results! …

What are the powers in the game? Are they Powersets like City of “x”?

In Champions Online, there are frameworks. They are not powersets as CoX, only grouping of similar powers.

Framework powers are set up with four pools of points: one for travel powers, one for Momentum builders, one pool for power that use endurance, and one pool to enhance powers. Power that use endurance/momentum are set up in three tiers and each tier is unlocked in the following way:

Tier 0: no prerequisite
Tier 1: at least 1 in framework, or any 2 arbitrary powers
Tier 2: at least 3 in framework, or any 5 arbitrary powers
Tier 3: at least 5 in framework, or any 8 arbitrary powers

Quote:
Originally Posted by ask cryptic April 27 09
Different powers are on different economies. For example, as the game stands right now, there are many sorcery variants (different circles of power) which cost advantage points instead of active power points because they’re all mutually exclusive to each other – you’d only have one going at a time. You’ll get 14 powers plus one movement power plus one endurance power. Every character will get 34 advantage points, total, to spend. This may change before launch.


Power Rank up is different from a tier, as ranks are for an individual power not a group of powers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ask cryptic April 27 09
All powers scale up automatically in their efficacy. The ranking up is actually a multiplier. Rank 2 is 20% better than rank 1, and rank 3 is 20% better than rank 2. The base automatically scales with you. The game is actually balanced around an assumption of most of your powers being at rank 2. So, having powers at rank 3 puts you ahead of the curve. Having powers at rank 1 puts you behind the curve. This is why you have just a few more enhancement points than needed to take all your powers to rank 2. This way you can take one to rank 3. Or, you could take several up to rank 3, but that means you’d have to leave several powers at rank 1 to afford it.


Please note that this setup was based upon a beta. So the final product may change its configuration.
Note: the “(*)” will now link to powers showcased on the site.

Frameworks

Addendum: Pets

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Feb 23, 2009
Will summonable minions or creatures/robots/drones/whatever be directly controllable via commands or will they be uncontrolled? (Alluvian_Est-Endrati)

We are going for a mixed model on pet control. For the most part they’re going to be intelligently uncontrolled, where they aren’t sticky to targets, but instead assist you. They will only attack your target. If they have any untargeted or party non-combat abilities then they will use those intelligently in and out of combat. If you have a pet that has a heal power, and that’s one of it’s more important powers, it’s going to choose to use that power over randomly attacking dudes. That being said, we’re also going to have a certain number of modal pet commands that can make the pet only passive or only aggressive, or only stay in one spot and do its normal thing. We don’t have the concept of telling individual pets to attack specific targets. We wanted to avoid micromanaging pets as a gameplay aspect. We would rather pets be something where you manage their abilities as complimentary to your own, as opposed to managing their every action. We find that managing pets in games ends up being a fight with the UI, rather than fight with what you’re currently engaging.

What are talents?
Talents are stat packages that are named thematically in the game. At the moment, I forget how many you can have.

NOTE: The leveling curve in Champions Online is flat.

That means there are no artificial buffs between level ranges like in other MMORPGs.
You can take down anything in the game with enough effort, and in some cases
enough people, regardless of level. However, that door swings both ways in both
PvP and PvE when it comes to your hero.

On character creation imbalance

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragon Con Q&A;

With a system this open-ended, we’re working on the UI now to message the player if you, say, do not have a basic attack. To issue some of the larger attacks, you need to build up endurance. We need to message you if you haven’t purchased a power that can build endurance. That’s the first instance of it. It is going to be an effort in UI to message the player, even if they have full customization, to make a viable character.

At any time, you will be able to retcon your character and change out your powers. If you find that your latest power purchase has gimped yourself, you can go pay a very minimal amount of resources and redistribute those points so that you are not so gimped.

Addendum: At this time Cryptic is working on other ways to build energy. As it stands today, Each Power frameworks endurance building work in different ways. While it is unknown to what extent, we know the Fire framework builds energy while you set people, and things, on fire or if things are on fire around you (need cite.)

How can we customize our powers? Can we make our own?

No you can not make your own powers. In champions Online you can customize existing powers in the following ways. Each power costs one point to buy and cost one point to rank up. At the last known iteration, there are 3 ranks per power.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragon Con Cryptic Q&A; massively.com
A: There’s two distinct systems in the game. One is the power system, where powers are purchasable. The tailoring, or power customization, is a different system. So without affecting the mechanics of your power, or the damage of your power, we certainly know you will be able to hue shift. We’re experimenting with other things, like emanation points, so you could have a fiery projectile from your hand, as well as a fiery breath. In addition to the power system and aesthetics, we are incorporating a number of the Champions character customizations, one of which is Talents, which are things that are purchased and character-specific, and the other is Advantages. Each power itself can be customized in different ways. Those are things that you can purchase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic – October 6, 2008 (click quote to read full)

Heretic (Lead Powers Designer): Powers can be modified by the application of Advantages. Advantages come in a wide variety of effectiveness; some simply improve the basic elements of the power they are attached to, while others add completely new effects.

For example, one Advantage adds an impenetrable telekinetic force field element to a heal power when the heal target is very low on health. Other Advantages can add damage or movement snare effects, or even modify what a summon power conjures. Advantages can radically alter how powers function, and are a key component of character customization.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic – January 6, 2009
The current plan is for players to be able to choose emanation points, hues, and alternate effects for some powers. For example, if a player chooses a force beam, they can elect to have it originate from their character’s eyes or as a chest beam instead of coming from the hands. The color, or more specifically the hue, of the force beam can also be set by the player. For powers that don’t have such obvious effects, such as Martial Arts, the sweep of color that trails behind the move is what would change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic – January 22, 2009(click quote to read full article)
You can choose where your power comes from. Say you’re using a force beam and you want it to come from your eyes, or your hands, or other different areas. That’s if you want to be doing it without weapons and want it built into your character concept. There’s also a system that we call power replaces that allows you to do it with weapons. You can create items that still use your powers, but replace where they come from. Sometimes they can also give you new powers. If I have a sword melee power and normally use a broadsword, a fiery katana can suddenly drop in the world and I could now use that to replace my normal sword. It doesn’t change the powers – or attacks – I use, but it may provide a different look, or it may have inherent abilities with it.

Also, you will have real numbers to work with:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
You will be given so many numbers that your eyes will bleed and you will cry out in helpless anguish, “Developers, no more! Please, have mercy!”

Can we add advantages and disadvantages to our powers?

In Champions Online, there are no disadvantages that can be applied to individual powers. However, Advantages are in the game and can be applied.. There are two types: Generic advantages, advantages not tied to one power and can be applied to any power, and there are Custom advantages, advantages that are tied to an individual power for each power.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Champions Guro Interview with Chris Lena (cick to read all)
We are going to be focusing on the positive for Champions Online so in addition to being able buy advantages to your powers you can also purchase talents for your character. Although we looked into “purchasing” negative traits we decided not to go with that model. We love the original Champions game (of course!) and it is a big inspiration but at the end of the day we are doing what we thing works best for an MMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Feb 23 2009
The advantage system has a small number of generic effects that can be applied to a large number of powers, like increasing your Constitution characteristic or giving you a chance on use to return Endurance. Then there is a substantially larger number of per power customized tweaks that are ridiculously varied. There is no direct sense of something just increasing your defense or offense conditionally. That sort of thing happens in the Ranks. And we don’t want to step on the toes of the Ranks too much. For most of the custom advantages we wanted to change the way you use the power rather than change the efficacy of the power conditionally. For example, there’s a power that’s an area of effect, that zaps people around you. The custom advantage is you can turn that into a toggle, press it down, and then do other stuff while it zaps people for a certain duration, but it also acquires a recharge time.

What are movement powers in this game? How do they work? Can we run up walls/swing/run on water?

Below are all the released movement powers to date. You can gain 1 at level 5 and the second at level 35.

 

    •  

 

  • Ice slide
  • flight
  • Rocket Boots
  • Teleport
  • Burrowing
  • Swinging
  • superspeed
  • superjump
  • acrobatics
  • hoverdisk
  • earth flight
  • fire flight
  • Rocket Jump

 

Movement powers don’t use any power. (I will explain this in a later update) to use and there is no movement suppression (cite: ign dev blog)

Also there are three stages of movement powers: one for combat, one for getting around a neighborhood (will explain this term in the environment section) and there is one for hotspot to hotspot movement.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dragon con Q&A;
Travel powers are represented in a few ways in the game. There will be travel powers that you can use in a zone, there will be travel powers that you use in combat, there will be travel powers that you use to move from zone to zone.

What other powers, other than what you have listed, are they working on? Do they have phasing, shapeshifting, stretching, and growth powers?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragon Con Q&A;

…Phasing we can’t commit to at launch. Phasing, growth, shrink. These will most likely be addressed in expansion because we’re getting to the point of lock. We do have a design for it; it’s been in place for a while. That certainly has made it onto our expansion plans….

…Shapechange is a new thing that we’ve gotten in. The previous three are the only things that come to mind…

 

Power bar? Isn’t the name Endurance? How does it work.

Officially, the energy mechanic of Champions Online is called the Power bar. This is a change from the original name given before because of how the game mechanic works and to distance it from the name of the stat.

+————–
||||||
+————–

The plus symbols represent the EP or the equilibrium point. Left of that point all energy will regenerate on its own. However, right of it has to be built through various means. Some abilities require large amounts of energy to use while others build your energy from use.

 

What are roles? Did they rip them from DCUO? What if I don’t want to use them.

Roles are the solution to a classless system that Cryptic came up with. While I do not know when the DCUO dev team came up with theirs, Cryptic talked about it before they did. they also do not work like DCUO’s role system. DCUO changes a power you have to another one then buffs you or debufs you. This video, from a Q&A; with Cryptic, will explain it better than I can (1:51). It was revealed recently by Bill Roper, that roles will allow you to switch out equipped upgrades to another set you have set up for that specific role. Also note:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic

There is, in fact, a Balanced role that operates with no special benefits or drawbacks. A player could certainly choose to live out their character’s existence in Balanced without ever changing to a different role.

We’ll be explaining about the Role system a lot more in the future, but right now we’re still fine-tuning a number of the details.

Addendum Power selected can also be switched out with other powers learned.

 

How do defenses work? I saw we can block, Do I have to use it?

Defenses work a lot differently in Champions online than any other MMO. For starters, there are not any accuracy checks of any kind and powers work on Line of sight. All attacks will hit if targeted.


Here is Arkyane’s answers from my Q&A; from, the now defunct, crypticgamers.org

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus View Post

7. Will line of sight game play allow for a player to take a hit for a comrade?

Standing in front of another player does not block line of sight. However, there are powers that actually create physical barriers which do block line of sight.

10. Will the blocking mechanism in the game, by default, negate the point of high defenses for players who want to make heroes that are don’t need to block attacks?

Blocking is an integral to the core action gameplay; it not only reduces incoming damage but helps players resist status effects like holds and sleeps. You can make characters with high defenses that mitigate the effects of not blocking, but generally it’s in your best interest to block powerful incoming attacks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic – January 22, 2009

There are four basic categories of defense in CO: resistance, dodge, forcefield, regeneration. Each of those different defense types functions a little bit differently based on the circumstances. Resistance is for the classic tank type character who can withstand a hail of bullets, barely noticing it. But if you hit with a big enough ray blast, you’ll knock him through a wall and daze him for a few seconds. Dodge is the opposite of resistance – the more and faster the attacks come after the dodge character, the tougher it’s going to be for them to mitigate the damage, whereas the big, slow, heavy attacks that might put down a resistance character are easier for him to avoid. The other axis is forcefields and regeneration.

Forcefield functions extremely well early in the fight. The forcefield at maximum strength will mitigate all of the initial hits from essentially everything, however the forcefield will degrade over time. Regeneration is the opposite of that. Regeneration starts off slow, but the more times the character gets hit, the faster the regeneration will build up, up to a certain cap. It comes down to what’s your personal preference and what works best for the support characters working with you. It’s a question of which type of defense works best with which type of healing and how you want your party to work together as a whole.

Also here are two vids that talk about how blocks function. This one is Jack explaining that it can build energy and stop shtick effects (2:08). And here is Arkyane explaining, at fanexpo Canada, about the different block types (1:47)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic July 28,2008

Will players be able to hold the block button and block continuously or does one have to press it for each attack? … Also, does successful blocking on CO equate to taking no damage or just reduced damage compared to what one would have taken if they hadn’t blocked the attack? (SUNMAN)

Heretic (Lead Powers Designer): Players will press and hold the block button to stay in a blocking state. Blocking will reduce much – although not all – of the incoming damage. Against some kinds of attacks, blocking may have additional benefits.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Oct 6, 2008 about customizing a block animation
Absinthe: Sort of; there are ways to upgrade your block ability, which in turn changes the FX/animation of the way you block. For example, a sorcerer may not cross his arms, but will instead float up into the air and summon a force field in front of him.

Addendum: How defense works in Champions Online has revealed in detail, and I am happy to say that it was totally my idea (I am speculating; however, I am not joking. It’s basis seems to be my defense proposal. To read, click here.
If I am off base, then let a dev pm me then I will edit this claim. Until then, woot to you all.
)

Addendum: Yep I was right, it is based upon my system

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Feb 23

Defense is going to come from several different sources. The first of which is your gear. Whether it’s that your vest is made of Kevlar, or some sort of nano-gear, or you’re shielded by your heroic certainty. That’s not the majority of your defense, though. The majority comes from your choice of defensive powers. The defensive powers in the game have been reworked such that ,while they can stack, they all have differing areas of coverage. For example, the Forcefield defensive power is extremely strong at the start of a fight, but it will wear down and weaken during the course of that fight.Conversely, regeneration will ramp up in effectiveness, being a very slow heal as you’re first getting wounded, but the more times you get hit, the faster you’ll regenerate – up to a certain cap. Similarly Invulnerability and Lightning Reflexes are on their own axis. Also, every defense has an active power, a button you can press on a cool down which gives you an extra little burst of defensiveness.

All of these powers have a certain amount of inherent strength, and they’re also going to be driven by your stats. No two defenses use the same stats. While there is some stacking, because the defense powers all have different areas of specialty coverage and are all pumped up by different stats, you’ll never be able to get maximum protection from all of them at the same time. This is our inherent balancing factor.

…Certain defenses are specifically tuned to synergize well with certain power sets. We are setting up the rules so that you can synergize any defense with any power set. You just have to deliberately take some build steps to do it, as opposed to it being the default. We build in some synergies so that we can easily point them out to players so we can say to players, “If you want to be this guy, here’s the simplest path to doing it.” For people who really want to tweak and customize, as much as possible we are putting in the ability to redirect which stats benefit which powers. That’s our secondary priority, though. It will never be the case, however, that you’ll be able to strongly combine two defenses for example.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Balseraph

Great googli moogli.

Yes, those are very nice charts indeed.

Small corrections to Regeneration – it’s actually a pretty complicated beast.: it does start off with fairly good healing at the first hit, and ramps up as you get damaged, capping out at 3x its initial heal rate. One of the tricks to it is that the rate of regeneration isn’t based on your hit point level, but rather on the amount of damage you’ve taken. In other words, even if part way into a long fight an ally heals you up to full, it keeps going at full power.

It automatically “forgets” damage as time passes, though… about 1 attack worth every 4 seconds or so. It takes 30 seconds of time out of combat to fully “reset”.

The healing from regeneration is *not* a percentage of your life; it’s a flat amount that scales up with your level. The active button burst O heal, however, does scale with your HP (technically, your CON), but has the downside of making your regeneration “forget” a lot of damage.

The intent is that the active button play for Force Field and Regeneration are opposite patterns. With Force Field, you want to press the active button every time the cooldown is up, as soon as it’s up, which means making sure you have the energy to push is (and thus holding back a bit on dps).

Conversely, with Regeneration, the active heal button is really cheap, but you want to push it as RARELY as possible, since it slows down your passive regeneration substantially.

(and if you buy them both, even though you can only have one passive at a time, you can use both actives, leading to some interesting combinations…)

Yes, graphing that might look odd. =)

For what it’s worth… no, these defenses don’t work remotely like anything in CoH, CoV, WoW, or really any other *MMO* that I’m familiar with; they’re all designed to be unique and encourage different play patterns for “tanking”.


Still need help visualizing it?

Rune, Beta’s Defense guru, is revaping his info and is slowing updating it with new numbers here. Its got all those nice numbers you all crave.

What of PvP? Will power get gimped because of PvP/PvE?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
Champions Online is planning to launch with PvP as an optional, parallel gameplay track.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Golden-Girl View Post
That “parallel” bit sounds interesting – do you mean there’ll be a structured progression through the game for PvPers?

It depends on what you mean by “structured”. The plan is to allow for people to advance through the game via PvP, PvE, or a combination of the two. Whichever option most floats a player’s boat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shield-Guardian View Post

Im not a die hard PvPer but the ability to advance through pvp sounds VERY cool. I always felt that in other games PvPing before max level was a waste of time.

IF I understood that statement correctly being able to advance in pvp would open the doors to a lot more people for that part of the game. I can’t think that that could be anything but a good thing.

If you could clarify a little on that Heretic. When you say advance do you mean actually advance the character or just acquire loot to advance the character through pvp or some such outside advancement.

Yes, I mean actually advance the character, both in terms of progressing powerwise and in acquiring items.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gale View Post
Heretic, since to a great degree in a PvP situation, the players can determine the difficulty of the encounter, will there be significant checks against hardcore guilds that power-level each other via easy PvP kills in order to use maximized powers against other PvPers? This just seems like an extremely easy mechanic to exploit in order to reach maximum level/effectiveness.

The only good argument I have ever heard for not allowing character advancement via PvP is fear of exploits such as you are describing. It’s a very real fear, but I don’t think it should scare us as designers off of the idea. Rather, it means we need to be clever monkeys and figure ways to make sure the system can’t be broken too badly.

There still are some rough corners to round off on the system we have put in place to do just this, but I am very optimistic about what we have come up with accomplishing this goal.

As for the specific concern of people just lining friends or alts up and killing them, well, give us some credit for having seen this as a potential problem…

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heretic
You will never be forced into participating in PvP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Feb 2, 2009

How will you balance flight with other powers, particularly melee powers, in combat? I’m concerned about some Gen-con footage in which the giant metallic dinosaur that was previously owning the hero suddenly couldn’t touch him after he took to the air. It doesn’t really matter that your equilibrium is zero if your foes can’t do any significant damage to you. (The_Dark_Lord)

Every creature in the game has a ranged attack: every creature in the game can hit flying people. In this specific case, the reason the dinosaur had no effect is that the player had GM powers turned on that made him immune. Normally, Mega-Terak has a power called static field which means that in a 200 meter radius around him, the faster you move the higher the electricity zap you get hit with. So, if you use super speed or flight around him, you’ll explode violently. If you want to fight him, you need to tiptoe slowly. He’ll quick flash fry any normal flyer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask cryptic January 22, 2009

Can you tell us about how powers will work in PvE and PvP? Will there be a big difference or will they work the same across the board? (DemonSiege)

Powers between PvP and PvE is a big deal to us internally. We spent innumerable hours and lunches debating – and almost coming to real life PvP – over how things like taunt and aggro should work, whether we even should have an aggro system, and how we make the powers function in PvP like they function in PvE. Eventually we came to a place that we’re pretty comfortable with where we try to have pretty similar mechanics for the two. For example, the same power that taunts an enemy in PvE will put a debuff on another player in PvP until they hit you. So it’s not always going to be a perfect translation, but we hope that it will be at least close all the time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Roper videogame.com interview 3-17-09

..We’ll have probably two to three different types of PvP available. Those will have ranking systems, there are rewards associated with that, some of them have their own special costume unlocks. And there’s actually a whole fictional reason why our heroes fight each other. We have a very vocal community and many of them are very deeply into the superhero genre. So when they heard that it has PvP they were up in arms. How can you have that? Heroes don’t fight each other! There was already fiction in the world as to reasons why heroes would fight each other.

Players will be able to find promoters throughout parts of the world, especially in Millennium City, that will enable them to participate in the Hero Games…The heroes aren’t really there fighting each other because they’re trying to hurt each other. It’s more a contest of skills. We’ve got other PvP that is designed to be what we call Apocalypse scenarios, which are heroes training for potential end of the world scenarios. The one we’re working on right now to get in when we launch is, what if heroes were made criminals and thrown in jail, in a super prison? In that training mission one side is trying to break out of the prison, the other is trying to keep them in. The concept of that is that the heroes are training to be like, what if there is a huge super villain outbreak? This is what you would be training to do. On the other side of that Apocalypse scenario, heroes are training for, what if heroes became outlawed, but you had to get out to save the word? There’s fictions that make sense within the superhero genre even built into the PvP…

Quote:
Originally Posted by fragland.net interview with Bill Roper

Can players participate in PvP or is everyone fighting together against common enemies?
In the Champions Universe, heroes go up against each other to test their abilities, prepare for extreme situations, and compete in what is known as The Hero Games. These are basically different contests designed to allow superheroes to go up against each other in a competitive fashion. From team battles to end-of-the world scenarios to open free-for-alls, the Hero Games act like a danger room mixed with elements of professional wrestling and extreme sports. Currently, we’re shooting for three types of PvP play in the Hero Games:

Tournament of Champions
This is team-based combat within a defined arena. Teams of heroes can rise to top of the leader-board rankings and gain both acclaim and rewards for their efforts. The Tournament started as underground events between desperate and unsavory individuals with super powers. Recent times have seen the Tournament of Champions become a sanctioned event that is televised and followed by millions of eager fans around the world.

B.A.S.H.
This free-for-all affair takes place in a condemned section of the Westside district of Millennium City. While not as pristine an event as the Tournament of Champions, it does have a bevy of followers who track the winners and losers (and offer rewards) with just as mush fervor. It also has the beneficial side effect of making street crime non-existent in that part of the city.

Apocalypse

These are special scenarios devised to push superheroes to their limits in extreme situations. The current setting is within a simulated Stronghold prison where some heroes take on the roles of assisting the prison guards and others are trying to break out. This prepares all those involved to either quell a prison uprising or shake free unjust shackles should the prison ever fall into the wrong hands.

 

What other things Can I customize on my hero/heroine?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Dec 23, 2008
There are stances in the game that players can choose during character creation. The more of those we can add, the more ways players can be emotive. There are also moods you can set for your character, independent of stance. For every type of emotional response you’d like to portray, we’ll figure out some way to let you do it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Novemeber 24, 2008
Absinthe: Character stance is treated like any other costume part, and it can be modified in the same way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic

Will characters be able to have multiple limbs, like our good pal Grond? (Kreios)

Absinthe: Not at launch. Unless you count wings and tails.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic May 16, 2008

BraiNEateR (Art Development Director): We have put together some pretty awesome asymmetrical costumes. Obviously having asymmetrical leg lengths would cause more nightmares than it is worth, but we will be allowing arms, hands and feet to be scaled separately along with leg width. We will, however, be allowing people to scale their wallets and play Champions Online for ten years.
BraiNEateR: The costume creator is much more robust. Right now the player can have 4 colors per piece. Coloring is just the first step to costume creation. The player will be able to pick costume materials from a library. This will allow for metal, cloth, leather, etc. to be applied to any piece of geometry. In addition to materials, the player will have the ability to choose from a huge library of textures, woven fabric, canvas, etc.

BUT WAIT! THERE IS MORE! Players will even be able to pick bumped details for each costume piece, and add rivets, wrinkles, etc. from yet another library. And if that isn’t enough for you … then you should ask your mom to make you a bad-ass Foxbat outfit out of your old Ocean Pacific shirts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Dec 23,08

Currently all costume pieces are aesthetic parts of the costume, because we want players to visualize the kinds of characters they want – claws, fins, capes, any type of hero aspect, etc. In this case the tails are more of a costume part and not part of the core character morphology. That’s not to say we’re never going to have it. We’d love to put in these types of things, but it really depends on available technology. So, you might see them in the future sometime, but not right now….
Can we change the size or the age of the character by changing the costume? (I would love it if I could start with a young-like char and then change costume at lvl 20 and my kid becomes a man, like the first Robin/Dick Grayson that becomes Nightwing with more experience). (ThunderCAP)

You can do all that in character creation. There are morphologies for size changing and face types. When you make a new costume you can alter your physical experience as well. You can change your look and your physical size, so you can grow and age if you want. The only thing you currently can’t do is change your gender.

Will jetpacks have customizable exhaust: whether it’s smoke, flames, plasma discharge, sonic bursts, etc.? (Captain_Intrepid)

While we currently do not have the ability to create custom effects for exhaust, we definitely want to provide players as much customization as possible. This IS on our list of areas to examine, as we’d all love to have a jetpack that has flames, or a cool tech glow, or steam-punk smoke coming out of it.

Can I make a fat guy/gal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic 05-02-08

What about overweight characters? (Allison)

Arkayne: Scaling will allow you to make “chunky” characters, but nothing on a massive (Blob-level) scale. There’s a limit on what looks good in body scaling without adding a lot of additional costume parts to support the variance.

Addendum: New costume pieces being worked on: Pelt helms (ie Hercules’ lion pelt) and Bill’s flame boots. References are here (6:22), for the flame boots, and here ( 3rd vid, 8:29), for the pelt helms.

Addendum II: Costume parts have a glow effect that can be applied individually.

Also whips/rope/chain powers are in the game

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic September 15, 2008

Q: Any chance of whips and/or chains for weapons? (Captain_Intrepid)

A: Heretic (Lead Combat Systems Designer): There are several chain attack powers, and we are hoping to be able to expand upon these existing options even further with different types of chains, whips, mummy wraps and so on.

Weapons Customization:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic January 6, 2009

Q: What melee weapons will our characters be able to use? (Marcellus)

A: There are a number of melee weapons available: swords, daggers, dual blades, chains, etc. A cool part of the Champions Online powers system is the ability to swap out weapon types – some are just aesthetic differences while some change the actual functionality of the weapon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Comic Book Resources February 8, 2009

Q: Will there be a collection of unusual weapons, such as guitars?

A: “We just put 200 new weapons into the game and are always looking for more.”

 

Oh and here is a tid bit on unarmed marital arts

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cryptic October 6, 2008
We are definitely not closing the door on doing a wider variety of formal unarmed martial arts styles in the future, but for now we wanted to focus our efforts on the broader flavors of fighting as well as several weapon fighting styles.

Information about Costume Customization from the Chili Cook off last year (edited to fit.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctor_Why View Post

THINGS ABOUT CHAMPIONS ONLINE THAT WERE TALKED ABOUT AND I HAPPEN TO REMEMBER:

A lot was mentioned about costumes. There are LOTS of costume areas. For example, arm slots are chosen separately for each arm, and there’s a spot for gloves, lower arm things, upper arm things, aside from the shirt and so on. Emblems can be added not only to the torso but to a number of other locations, and they are working on ways to move them to the exact spot you want even within those spaces. The spots allow many different colours… the example that was mentioned was having several colours for just hair (the askers wanted streaks like Reed Richards or Rogue). And they’re paying close attention to hairstyle recommendations from the forums so they can put even more in (apparently, some devs have managed to replicate themselves almost exactly with the costume designer, and some of those who couldn’t petitioned to have the relevant costume pieces made). The way gear works with costumes is once you choose to bind something you’ve found to yourself, the costume piece for that item is permanently added to that character’s list of costume options… even if you ditch the item itself later. Thus nothing is automatically added or stripped from your costume at any point. There was an allusion to being able to design costumes and plan your character on a web interface and share them with other people, but it’s apparently still being heavily worked on because details were lacking…

Addendum to Customization : Here is a detailed explanation of the costume creator and nemesis system

Can we get vehicles?

Bill Roper directly stated that tech is in the works, but will not make launch. This is from the recent panel from New Your Comic Con. Link here (truncated for space).

 

Can I stealth missions? How does stealth work, is there a “magic bubble” around npcs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic January 23, 2009
Aggro detection by enemies is based off of both radius and line of sight. Enemies detect you further away if you’re in their forward arc. It’s an analog detection, not a binary detection. The closer you are, the more they’ll detect you, and different enemies will be tuned different ways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nachtwolf View Post

Addendum to Stealth:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic September 15, 2008
Stealth is meant to allow players to try and sneak past a critical spawn or two that they might not want to fight. The effectiveness varies depending on which power is being used, but it is not meant to be a power you can turn on and ignore spawns with. Players will still have to pay attention and react if they get caught.

What is the Death Penalty?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic March 16,2008

What will the “death penalty” be? (Hythian)

Arkayne: The “death penalty” is fairly simple, Hythian. After a player is defeated, he or she can choose to wait until another nearby player with healing powers puts them back in the fight. Failing that, the player can choose to go to a nearby recovery point. Those points are spread throughout zones and instance maps.

Regardless of what the player chooses to do, they have to pay a small price for defeat: upgrade degradation. Upgrades are pieces of equipment, imbuements, special training, etc., that players use to make their character more powerful. Every upgrade has a condition associated with it. Whenever a player is defeated any upgrades the player has slotted degrade. If the condition of an upgrade is reduced to 0, it stops providing a benefit. Upgrades can be restored to full effectiveness for a resource cost at most hero safe areas throughout the game. This represents items being repaired, re-exposure to experimental rays, combat technique montages, etc.

Addendum: as of April 7, 09 Jack has stated that there will be intangible upgrades that will not degrade.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomtown PC interview with Randy Mosiondz (Arkyane)
What happens when a player is defeated? Will there be debt, loss of skills or just a trip to hospital with no other consequence?

As players progress through the game they accumulate hero points for defeating villains and saving people. These points increase a hero’s effectiveness in carrying out justice. When players are defeated, they lose a hero point and head to a nearby recovery point. Players can quickly regain hero points by returning to fighting crime or by donating to charities. Depending on how players are equipped, some of their gear may suffer battle damage.

Can we craft? If so, what can we craft and how does it work?

Yes there is a crafting system. Some of how it works is stated in customization of powers section. Here is the rest: http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/new/crafting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiproton

making a change to the text the crafting guys tell you when you ask about crafting schools, could use some fast feedback from y’all:

There are three different Skills in Champions: Arms, Mysticism, and Science.

A character can only have one Skill at any given time. If you wish to change Skills, your hero loses all current Skill levels and starts the new Skill at level 1.

Consider your hero’s Stats when picking a Skill type; the Upgrades created by each Skill emphasize different Stats.

Arms is good at End, Con, Str and has no access to Pre at all. It is best for the Electricity, Force, Supernatural, TeleKinesis, Might, Darkness, Martial Arts and Power Armor frameworks.

Mysticism is good at Ego, Pre and Rec and has no access to Con. It is best for the Fire, Sorcery, Electricity, Force, Supernatural, Telekinesis, Munitions and Telepathy frameworks.

Science is good at Int, End, Dex, and has access to all stats though it isn’t as good at Pre as Mysticism or as good at Con as Arms. It is best for the Sorcery, Ice, Archery, Munitions, Gadgeteer and Power Armor frameworks.

(what stats you want depend on what powers you choose, read your power descriptions for further information, the framework suggestions are only suggestions)

For an indepth guide go here for Mors-Subita’s Crafting-A guide to Ordnance

Addendum on crafting and finding items

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vault Hub February 11, 2009
So there are different types of items that you can either find or craft. Some of them are physical items like jetpacks or weapons but at other times they could be things like special combat maneuvers or defensive styles.

Will there be a mail system?

Quote:
Originally Posted by nachtwolf View Post

Mail/Central Storage:

Yes, there will be a mail system in place for Champions Online. There will not be an account-wide storage system, but there will be league vaults for communal storage and sharing.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic February 2, 2008
There won’t be central storage for characters on the same account. If one of your characters has an item that you’d like another of your characters to use, you have two options for getting it to them. The first is to mail it: we’ll have a mail system set up at launch that allows you to mail items between characters. The other solution is to use the league vault: if you have two characters in the same league, you can leave an item in the league storage vault for your other character to pick up the next time you log them in. However, that does mean you need to trust your league.

Environment
What about the Graphics? Will they be dumbed down because of XBox360?

In a word, no. Bill Roper explains, in this video (1:04), that because of the cell shading, 4 color comic feel that they are going for in Champions Online our 360 build looks great. As well there is an explanation on how the Xbox 360 graphics processing works.

Where will we be able to go see in the game?

let me break this down into hot spots to neighborhoods (note some will be omitted as they have not been reviled yet) :

Millennium City

New Mexico

Lemuria
————-
The mysterious undersea kingdom of the Lemurians, currently in a state of civil war between those who serve King Arvad and an insurrection of rebels serving dark gods know as the Bleak Ones.

  • The Undying Reef :

    :The uppermost part of Lemuria and is brightly lit and full of colorful coral and marine life. The Aegir , an U.N.T.I.L. submarine, is stationed near the ocean’s surface

  • The Caliginous Depths

    a shelf below where the Lemurian Civil War is taking place. the Old Lemuria ruins have sat in silences for tens of thousands of years. These ruins date back to the days when Lemuria existed as a civilization on the surface world, before their great doomsday weapon, The Mandragalore backfired and sunk their entire continent into the sea.

Japanese research group known as Bureau 17, a Japanese research group is stationed on the out skirts of this neighborhood. There is also a Russian nuclear sub, The Cerenkov, down here. Lost since the Cold War, it still contains nuclear weapons and other fissionable material, along with even more deadly secrets. .

 

  • Rastrinfhar’s Abyss

    The darkest and most, desolate bottom part, of the ocean.

 

Moon Base: Serenity Note:Not in yet

  • Arena
  • moonbase
  • ???
  • ???
  • ???

Canada

  • Project Steelhead
  • Evil god mountain (need name)
  • Teleios’ Tower

Monster Island

  • Beast Mountain
  • Alien lading area
  • Doc Monroe’s Village

Qliphotic (bad magic dimension)

  • ???
  • ???
  • ???

Will this game do Champions PnP lore justice?

Yes. Not only does the lead writer goes to Steve Long for information and to chat, but the person who is doing all the story based missions is a 17+ year player of Champions PnP. Here (4th vid) is what was said about how he, the story mission and lore writer Brian, is going about business.
Addendum: More info below

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic Feb 23, 09
… In addition to dozens upon dozens of signature heroes and villains in the game, we have a great variety of different organizations and villain groups we’ve plucked from Champions’ rich history and its many game supplement books. If you know Champions lore, I have no doubt you’re going to be impressed by how many of your old favorites make their way into the game—and we’re constantly coming up with stories which will allow us to get even more groups and organizations into Champions Online. And if you don’t know Champions, you’ll still be impressed by the variety, and how each group and organization has its own distinctive flavor and visuals, motivations and objectives, and unique styles of gameplay.

Can I solo/ Does this game force teaming?

Champions Online does not have forced teaming and you can solo all the way to the max level, which is level 40. There will be things that you will need to team to do however. Some of them are listed below.

Does Champions Have anything to do with a team?

Yes. To be specific, villain strongholds (see non combat powers question), Giant monsters at various areas, as well as a sidekick system that allows one person to sk the rest of a team

Will we have bases?

Not at launch. There are some very good threads about them right now. Search for “SGNPC’s,” “Base hubs”, and/or “supergroup bases” to into the conversations or add your own ideas

Quote:
Originally Posted by ask cryptic Jan 22, 09
We won’t be launching with supergroup bases. We’re aware it’s something the players would love to have and we’re keeping it in mind as we plan out future content updates. However we do plan to have banks at launch – we’ll have both personal storage and supergroup vaults!

What type of Quests/Missions are in the game?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aug 13, 08

How will missions be handed out in game? Will we get them from contacts scattered all over Millennium City or will we discovered them as we patrol the city? (Creoleman)

Arkayne: There are a variety of ways to acquire missions, Creoleman! There are all manner of legal authorities, fellow heroes, etc. that are around “hotspot” areas around the Champions Universe looking for a hero to help them out with their problems. There are “crime computers” and holographic terminals found in certain areas of the game. Sometimes players will encounter victims desperately in need of rescue out in hostile environments. Heroes can find “clue items” on defeated foes that open up new missions. There are also “exploration missions” that are automatically added based on the hero’s presence in an area. In short – there’s plenty of ways for a hero to get involved!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ask cryptic July 28, 08
We do plan to have a number of non-combat activities in game, exailious! Some missions involve more investigation or puzzle-solving, and we have a crafting system that will allow players to create useful devices and upgrades. We also have a rewards system that encourages players to explore the Champions Universe. We’ll be posting more on the crafting and exploration rewards in future dev blog articles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic January 22
We’re always looking for more ways to bring all aspects of the comic book genre to the Champions Online universe! We’re currently building an extensive knowledge system into the game where you need to go out and gather information about the world and about your enemies, which leads to associated rewards and perks. And while we’re focused right now on the more action-style elements of the genre, we eventually want to bring more investigation-style stories into the game. For example, you can collect evidence from criminals to turn into the authorities which increases your reputation and therefore your available resources. The eventual goal is to expand the evidence system into a full-fledged investigation system where you put evidence together and build a mission based off of the evidence that you find. So we definitely want to cater to people who want strong story lines or want to be investigators. We’re layering in elements for that now that will only get deeper and stronger as we go along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ask cryptic Oct. 06, 08

How absorbing will the missions be? E.g when rescuing a kidnapped victim, will there be a police team waiting outside the building with flashing lights waiting for you to go in? (Symbea)

Arkayne: It’s going to vary throughout the game, but we’re trying to make our missions as absorbing as possible given a predominantly persistent world with custom instances. When you’re helping the super-science Project Greenskin base under attack by radioactive mutants you’ll see guards shouting orders and firing on the attacking creatures while you repair the auto-turrets outside the base. When you go into the Stronghold super-villain prison you’ll have a team of SPARC guards waiting on you to show up so they can head in with your hero to take on the rioting prisoners and mind-controlled guards inside. In short, we’re trying to make you feel like your character is part of a larger world.

Addendum: Other Underwater areas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Games Examiner interview with Randy Mosiondz

Will other areas support the ability to go underwater? For example, if the player is being chased by a radiation-breathing beast in Monster Island, will they be able to dive off a cliff and hide in an underwater cave?

We have a few other areas in the game with water areas. Monster Island is surrounded by ocean, Millennium City is right next to the Detroit River, and there are various smaller areas like ghost pirate caves that are partially or fully submerged. We hope to expand this even more as we create more updates to the Champions Online universe!

Addendum: Phasing content

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fragland.net interview with Bill Roper
Will the environment of areas change when players complete certain missions or will everything stay the same so that each player can have the same experience regardless when they started playing?
We have what we’re calling Crisis maps in the game where heroes come in to help stop a major catastrophe. Players will change the environment through their actions in these crisis maps, and the experience is incredibly heroic. We also have open areas within the world where players can alter their surroundings, such as by cleaning up parts of the seedy Westside in Millennium City by patrolling and taking out street gangs.

 

What about non-combat hero stuff? Do I have to fight all the dang time?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask cryptic July, 28,2008
Arkayne: We do plan to have a number of non-combat activities in game, exailious! Some missions involve more investigation or puzzle-solving, and we have a crafting system that will allow players to create useful devices and upgrades. We also have a rewards system that encourages players to explore the Champions Universe. We’ll be posting more on the crafting and exploration rewards in future dev blog articles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ask Cryptic – March 14, 2008

Will non-combat skills come into play?

As an example, if a level has a reactor which may explode, blocking off entry to an area, can that reactor be set to normal with a ‘Science’ skill? Can a ‘Security’ roll be made to gain entrance to areas that you couldn’t otherwise enter? (rabb1t)

Arkayne: Yes there is rabb1t! There are skills you can learn, develop, and use to affect your environment. For example, while raiding a VIPER base you may come across a team of VIPER agents accessing a Draysha Gas station to make themselves more powerful in combat. If your Science skill is high enough, you may be able to shut down the gas vents or reconfigure it so you can gain the benefits (and drawbacks) of the gas! We have a good distribution of Skill-based interactions throughout the game so players will have lots of fun figuring out how to turn an environment to their advantage or unlock bonus elements.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big download stronghold article (embolden parts of story are actual mechanics in the game)

…He turned and swept his arm to take in the hallway littered with bodies and cyborg parts behind him. One robot, surprisingly intact, stood slumped against a wall, his eyes blank.

“You want I should destroy that one, Captain?” asked Might, popping his knuckles as he stepped forward.

Force sighed as he scooped up a handful of parts from the floor. “Good old Might,” he said, cupping the parts to his chest with one hand and opening a panel on the deactivated robot with another. “Always thinking with your fists.”

“Um… shut up,” Might said.

“Good one!” Force replied. He inserted a part, twisted it into place, then inserted another, and another still before closing the panel and, his hands fumbling against the robot’s back, flipping a switch. The robot straightened, its eyes blinking into life, and began to follow Force as he moved toward the elevator.

“How did you do that?” asked Might, walking beside them and waving his hand in front of the robot’s face.

“Using parts scattered around the floor from the battle,” said Force, swatting away Might’s meaty hand. “And leave him alone. He’s on our side, now.”

Addendum:: There will be neighborhoods, with no contacts, that will have public questing system in place. Saving people from natural disasters are one aspect that has been reviled (will find site later)

Quote:
Originally Posted by impulseGamers.com

Shael / Edwin : Can you tell us about some of the mission or adventures that may take place? Will there be save the citizen scenarios?

Randy Mosiondz : Adventures are very wide-ranging, with everything from fighting off large-scale alien invasions to helping old ladies across the street. And yes, you will have the option to save citizens in a number of different scenarios – collapsed building, lost hikers, kidnapped travelers, etc.

(I just want to point out that I was right about the old lady thing. This link has nothing to do with the faq. Just a “I told you so”. )

Is there a different server for Europeans?

Americans and Europeans play on the same server. (ref: one of the vids here. Can’t remember which and what time)

Why do the sounds sound like “City of X”?

All of the sounds in all the early vids are place holders. They are not the final sounds of the game. Below shows how much time is being taken to ensure a very nice ambiance and epic flavor.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Meet the team: Michael Henry, audio manager for Champions Online

Q: What role does sound play in exciting gameplay?

A:A bigger role than most people imagine. For me, audio is somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of the gaming experience, perhaps even more (depending on context). It’s just like film or other mediums.

In games, audio often works on a subconscious level. If it sticks out it gets annoying and distracts you from the visuals. For things like ambiance, if the audio is just right, your ears tend not to notice. You brain takes the sound for granted.

And music can completely color or change the feeling behind visual images. Try thinking of the shower scene from Psycho with the Bernard Herrmann music score replaced with some goofy, light-hearted Danny Elfman-esque music. The frightening terror of the scene would vanish, and the scene would be perceived with a whole new meaning

Q: What does it take to create the soundscape for a neighborhood or instance?

A: A lot of blood, sweat and tears. We always start by looking at the design of the area along with the visuals to get a feel for what the soundscape should be. Then we start looking at specifics. The audio environments in Champions Online tend to break down into four basic categories:

* World/environmental sounds – ambiance, objects in the environment, etc.
* Player and in-game character sounds – your power sounds, character-generated sounds, footsteps, etc.
* Voice – to help bring the characters to life for cinematics and cutscenes or to convey information to the player.
* Music – to create a mood, give a neighborhood a particular flavor, create excitement during a boss battle, etc.

We usually start with the background ambiance – room tones, a forest or city background, or whatever is needed as a basis for the particular environment. Then we will look for objects in the environment that we can attach sounds to – computers, power stations, birds singing in the trees, and so on. Once we have a sonified environment, then we’ll add the sounds for the player and any other NPC entities, and balance. Finally, we’ll add any music or voice elements that are needed to complete the soundscape and create the appropriate mood….

Quote:
Originally Posted by ask Cryptic Dec 23, 08

How developed is the audio in CO? One of the complaints in CoH was that it was very lacking in the sounds and music department. Will there be looping music in zones? Ambient Sounds? Enemies grunting and howling when they’re attacked? Voiceovers? (Progressman)

We’re paying a lot of attention to sound. In fact, we just tripled the size of our audio team. Right now we’re going through the entire game seeing where we need to add more ambient sounds or voice work. The music is awesome. All of the signature villains in the game have voices associated with them and all of the critters make appropriate noises: for example, zombies groaning and demonic wolves howling. We want CO to have the dynamic experience you’d expect from a superhero game.

Do the npc heroes do anything but stand there and dull out quests while the world ends around them?

NPC heroes will respond to threats around them in the general area. However they will stay in the area for giving out mission purposes(Gencon Vid 7)

Wait a sec… How big is a “hotspot/zone”

Unsure; however, if you take a look at the xplay vids of Canada and the Monster island vids from gencon I will speculate (and this is the only part of the entire faq that is my speculation) is about half of City of heroes’ Shadow Shard zone.

 

Progression

What is the leveling scheme? Do I get just points, like the hero system/pnp does it or is it a leveling mechanic?

The leveling Mechanics are a normal leveling scheme; however, you will not progress like in City of X. There are no “level 50 minions” in Champions Online. Vertical progression, leveling, will be reflected in the enemies you fight within a group. ()

What is max level?

Max level is 40 at the moment

Quote:
Originally Posted by Videogamer.com interview with Bill Roper
…BR: Champions will launch with a level cap of 40. We wanted to try to have a much more defined polish over the game. I think most people think, oh well 50 is the level cap you always start with. Not every game does. Some even come out with much lower level caps. It’s really more the play experience within that. It’s certainly something that will grow and will start growing immediately, but it’s nice to have that headroom. Even within that number of levels the time to play is very similar to what you would see in an MMO that had about 50. It is kind of an arbitrary number. For us it’s much more about the amount of content that’s put in there, the polish of that content and then the experience the players go through. I think we just did a mission count yesterday and we’re just under 1000. Should keep people busy!

What do you do to level? Do I have to Beat up everything in sight?

The game is structured in a way where while there are enemies that need to be defeated, the story progresses you so that it is a reason for doing it that is more prevalent that someone wanted pelts.

What happens at the endgame?

The Omega System

What is the Omega System?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chronomancer (Bill Roper)

The OMEGA system is our name for the whole of our end-game content. There are several different event-types that fall into this category, and it’s also designed to be expanded as time goes by. That being said, let’s talk about what’s going to be there for launch.

UNITY Missions

UNITY is a top-level branch of UNTIL that recruits the world’s most powerful heroes to act as fast-response teams for global threats. There are new events and missions that heroes can go on each day, earning special commendations for success. These commendations can then be used to gain access to high-level Lairs and Headquarters which have special OMEGA-level rewards. The UNITY missions change every day, so be sure to check and see who needs help, and where.

THE HERO GAMES
There are special arenas and rewards for the highest level of competitors in this hero-on-hero competition.

PERKS
For those players who like to work towards very long-term goals, there are high-end perks that will require dedication to complete, but will also have rewards that reflect the dedication of those heroes able to complete them.

NEMESIS

Defeating your Nemesis is one thing, but do you have the mettle to fill out your Nemesis Gallery with numerous deadly enemies? And once that is complete, who knows what new challenges will await you?

CRAFTING
For those heroes who are inventors or researchers by nature, there are some very high-end crafting recipes that require true dedication to complete. But the results are magnificent!

Also, these are the basis for our continued work on end-game content. We have a lot more in the pipeline that will be released after the game launches, but we wanted to create a solid foundation so you know we’re serious about giving you lots to do once you’ve built your hero up to be amongst the world’s elite.

Do we run out things to do, like City of “x”?

It has been stated that each hotspot has enough content to allow a player to stay in that area for the life of his/her character. Also content is repeatable.

Addendum: The game’s content only has a minimal level requirement so even if you are level 40 you can still do missions that you overlooked or ignored, if you want.

Do I have to globe trot? Why can’t I just stay at “x”

This question has been answered in the previous question

So….when do we get to fight against our Nemesis?

[b]While it as level 30, it has been moved to level 25[b]

What can we customize on him/her/it?

You can customize the personality, powersets (powers are in sets for Nemeses for balance reasons), minion powersets, costume, and the costumes of their minions, and stance. You cannot write dialog for your nemeses and the powerset defines how the nemesis fights. Note: If you go into making one to be one for one for what is in your head, for your enemies actions, you may be a bit disappointed.

Hey do we get Secret identities in this game?

Yes. From what is known, in Champions Online you have the option of having a secret identity or not from creation. If you choose to have a secret identity there will be a time in your heroic carrier that will have you choose to keep your secret id or not. If you choose not to keep it your progression will shift and change onto a different path.

Addendum: This feature could not make it in before launch however it will be in an update

Miscellaneous

What are the requirements for the game?

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* CPU:2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
* Memory: 1GB RAM
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core
* Sound: DirectX Compatible Soundcard
* HDD: 5GB Free Disk Space
* Network: ADSL / Cable Modem
* Disc: DVD-ROM
* Driver: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Configuration

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* CPU: 2GHz Dual Core or Better
* Memory: 2GB RAM or Better
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Better / ATI Radeon HD3850 or Better
* Sound: DirectX Compatible Soundcard
* HDD: 5GB Free Disk Space
* Network: ADSL / Cable Modem or Better
* Disc: DVD-ROM
* Driver: DirectX 9.0c

I wanna see more pics. I need to look at something.

At this point you could try the archive or go to look at the official screens. However, depending on what you have on your rig, it may not look that way on your end.

This FAQ has given me some cool ideas. I think I should start a new thread.

Now before you do this, realize that most of the things that you will come up with may have been discussed already. Please do a search before you start a thread on the topic you would like. Thanks in advance.

When is the game going to be Released?

September 1, 2009

Been Playing and I don’t like the music.

Good news for you. You can use winamp in game for your musical choice via a slash command. (Unfortunately I forgot what it is so if anyone does know please post it for me.) There is a radio station
dedicated to the Champions universe at Storm Radio
(If there are any others please list them in the thread. Thank you in advance)

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *