Difficulty sliders and grind reduction due for Champions Online

With additions like the melee review patch and the first adventure pack either out or coming on fast, the obvious question about Champions Online is also the simplest to ask: what now? The latest installment of Ask Cryptic certainly does answer the question; unfortunately, said response includes saying "no" to some things that players want. The addition of a base construction feature is a prime example and the biggest negative -- while it's acknowledged to be frequently requested, the development team apparently lacks the time to add it in a fashion that they find interesting.

On the other hand, there are features which almost any player can welcome, such as the difficulty slider seen in Star Trek Online, currently slated for release along with the first adventure pack. There's also a promise that the development team will look into grinding as being the most "rewarding" activity in the game via adjusting drop rates and overall rewards. In the somewhat more mixed news category, the team plans to do another review of powers after the adventure pack goes live, although they're not yet certain which sets and mechanics will be undergoing examination. Read the full list of questions and answers at the official Champions Online site.

Reader Comments (11)

I have to wonder how much content is actually in this adventure pack... Vibora Bay, which was supposedly going to a paid "expansion" only had a week or so(if that) of actual content(excluding farming for costume drops ).

I logged on this past weekend (no, not a lifer, just ponied up the $15 for 1 month) to check out the "changes," and found the game just as boring as it ever was. I honestly couldn't see anything different. This game is deader than GW's political career.

"The addition of a base construction feature is a prime example and the biggest negative -- while it's acknowledged to be frequently requested, the development team apparently lacks the time to add it in a fashion that they find interesting."

Of course, what with yet another "new" MMO under production to be puked out soon. Can't waste time creating content for already-launched games, don't be silly.

This.

No, you're not quite right, but I'll fix it: "Can't waste time creating FREE content for already-launched games, don't be silly."

Because you know, if they could smack superbases into a purchasable action pack, they'd be on it in a heartbeat!

This is really funny when you think about it.

Difficulty sliders were added to CoX ages ago. Why did Cryptic not include them in the design of Champions from the start?

Bases were added to CoX ages ago. Cryptic knew that it was a feature that would be hotly in demand. Again, why didn't they include this in the design of Champions from the start?

This company really does seem incapable of learning... even from itself.

In-game difficulty in ChampO is a lot more dependent on your powers choice than it is in CoH/V. There is a much wider game between the "top" powered players and the "bottom" powered in ChampO, so that picking certain powers is already like playing with a difficulty slider!

As for bases, it was widely recognised that despite the amount of development time they had in CoH/V, they were never well used by players. It certainly wouldn't be a matter of just dropping in the old system (or even the old design under the new systems) since it didn't work for the majority of players (due to SG base permissions, where only the SG leaders could edit the base features).

I am enjoying the game well enough.

Me too.

The melee review was too little, too late. They still haven't fixed the basic problem --- the fact that their blocking mechanic was not really compatible with a melee field of vision.

I found it not much fun, an annoyance and a distraction, but tastes may vary. The real problem is that you have to have full sight of every mob for the duration to be able to use it. It detracts from your ability to build for durability; at some level of DEX, CON, or STR blocking should be automatic or irrelevant. It detracts from your ability to tank; the more mob attention you get, the more you're required to forget what you were doing and block.

Then again, they still haven't done enough to rework their reward structure to create an incentive for anything other than ad-hoc teams, either. So not having a viable tank role may not be that much of an issue.

I wonder if Massively stopped posting anything Cryptic related if anyone would even notice or care. I really don't like trolling but these games are bad, not subjectively but objectively.

Difficulty sliders and grind reduction due for Champions Online

Reader Comments (11)

Posted: May 17th 2010 9:21AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 19th 2010 9:42AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 9:52AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 10:29AM TheGreatMachine said

Posted: May 17th 2010 4:27PM bjooks said

Posted: May 17th 2010 10:25AM aurickle said

Posted: May 18th 2010 3:17AM UnSub said

Posted: May 17th 2010 1:12PM Zantom said

Posted: May 18th 2010 4:16AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 17th 2010 1:39PM Heraclea said

Posted: May 17th 2010 4:11PM (Unverified) said

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