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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online adds a new flavor of cat people]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/races/" rel="tag">Races</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/"><img alt="Yo dawg, I heard you like cats, so I put some cats next to your cats so you can fight cats with your cats." src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/05/sto-morecats-epl-515.jpg" /></a></div>
Do you like cats? Hopefully you do, as <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Trek-Online/">Star Trek Online</a></em> has just seen <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/3161">the felinoid Ferasan added to the C-Store</a>. But wait, didn't the game already add Caitians? Yes, but the Caitians are a Federation race, while the Ferasan are exclusive to the KDF, thereby allowing you to play as a kitty on whichever faction you choose. The Ferasan are related to the Caitians but apparently are not quite the same species (presumably akin to the Romulans and Vulcans).<br />
<br />
The Ferasan possess only one specific trait, Predatory Instincts, which increases jump height, melee damage, exploit damage, stealth, and perception. Unlocking the race costs 480 Cryptic Points and also unlocks new customization options for Caitian characters on the Federation side. On the other hand, if you just want to have one on the bridge, you can place a requisition for a Ferasan bridge officer for 400 Cryptic Points. So if you've felt that there's a distinct lack of feline members in the KDF, <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/3161">you've now got an option to rectify that situation</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/">Star Trek Online adds a new flavor of cat people</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 15 May 2012 17:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20238790/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/star-trek-online-adds-a-new-flavor-of-cat-people/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>bridge-officers</category><category>c-store</category><category>caitian</category><category>cats</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>felinoid-races</category><category>ferasan</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>kitties</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>new-items</category><category>new-races</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>sci-fi</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 17:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cryptic answers Champions Online Questionite questions in latest dev blog]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/"><img alt="Screenshot -- Champions Online" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/04/co.jpg" style="width: 530px; height: 385px; " /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left; ">
	Unobtainium? Forget it. Vibranium? Old hat. Eludium? So pass&eacute;. <a href="http://www.massively.com/category/champions-online"><em>Champions Online</em>'s</a> next update, <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/champions-on-alert">Champions On Alert</a>, will introduce a new element that will put the absurd naming convention of all these fictional substances to shame. The element in question is known as Questionite, and it will be the latest in-game currency available to <em>CO</em> players. The new currency will be used to procure "high level gear, Top Tier Costume Pieces and other special items like Travel Power Skins."<br />
	<br />
	The newest <em>Champions Online</em> dev blog addresses some common question(ite)s pertaining to the new currency. Questionite can be acquired through a variety of in-game methods, all of which are listed on the blog. The substance can also be bought from other players in exchange for <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/cryptic-studios">Cryptic</a> points (and of course, this also means that players can sell their Questionite to other players for Cryptic Points), which provides players who don't want to part with their hard-earned real-world cash an avenue through which to acquire C-Store exclusive items. It's certainly an interesting system, to say the least, so <em>Champions</em> players would do well to head on over to the official blog post and check out the full details.</div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/">Cryptic answers Champions Online Questionite questions in latest dev blog</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20212554/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/cryptic-answers-questionite-questions-in-latest-dev-blog/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-points</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>champs</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-points</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>currencies</category><category>currency</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>in-game-currencies</category><category>in-game-currency</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>questionite</category><category>superhero</category><category>superheroes</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Daniel]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek issues Foundry Challenge to all captains]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/contests/" rel="tag">Contests</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sandbox/" rel="tag">Sandbox</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/"><img alt="STO" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/02/cl61.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> Foundry has been a powerful -- and tricky -- tool for players to create missions for others to enjoy. To encourage starship captains to create the best possible Foundry missions, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/">Cryptic</a> has issued its first Foundry Challenge with a top prize of 500 Cryptic Points for the C-Store.<br />
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Creators have three weeks (until March 7th) to make a mission revolving around the murder of a diplomat on Risa, after which players will field-test the results and vote on the best one of the bunch. Only one winner will be selected for the prize.<br />
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This is intended to be the first of many subsequent Foundry Challenges, each running the span of a month. There are several rules for each entry, including length and story topic. Cryptic is encouraging players to discuss the created missions on the forums in their quest to disseminate the cream of the crop.<br />
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In other <em>STO</em> news, Cryptic's <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2879">adding a Deep Space 9 bundle</a> to the game that includes a bridge set, special Duty Officers, costumes, weapons, and a Type-10 (Chaffee) shuttlecraft. The bundle will set purchasers back 1800 CP.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/">Star Trek issues Foundry Challenge to all captains</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20172739/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/15/star-trek-issues-foundry-challenge-to-all-captains/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>contest</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-points</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>foundry</category><category>foundry-challenge</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>risa</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>the-foundry</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Party tonight, for tomorrow we fly: Champions celebrates its F2P anniversary]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-in-game/" rel="tag">Events, in-game</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/promotions/" rel="tag">Promotions</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/"><img alt="Champions Online" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2012/01/super.jpg" /></a></div>
A year after making the switch to decaf, er, free-to-play, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online"><em>Champions Online</em></a> is livelier than ever. To celebrate the super-powered boost that F2P gave, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic-studios">Cryptic Studios</a> is <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/ffa_anniversary">hosting special events</a> both in and out of the game.<br />
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From today through the end of the month, players can enjoy a hefty 20% discount on anything in the C-Store (excluding grab bags). So if you've been eying that special outfit or archetype, now might be the time to nab it.<br />
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If you're not looking to spend any money but don't mind partying with the stars, there's plenty of fun to go around. For the rest of the anniversary event, characters can fly through the levels due to a double XP boost at their backs, courtesy of Witchcraft. Another hero, The Mountain, will be selling Halloween and Winter Gift Bags with in-game currency. Mr. The Mountain also has a special mission for those who want to earn his trademarked Mountain Costume pieces.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/">Party tonight, for tomorrow we fly: Champions celebrates its F2P anniversary</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20157752/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/26/party-tonight-for-tomorrow-we-fly-champions-celebrates-its-f2p/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>costume</category><category>costume-set-pieces</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>deal</category><category>double-xp</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-stuff</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>giveaway</category><category>promotion</category><category>sale</category><category>the-mountain</category><category>witchcraft</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: Dilithium, attack ships, and lightsabers, oh my!]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/"><img alt="STO screenshot" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/12/snowmen-army-resized.jpg" /></a></div>
So much has happened with <em><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com">Star Trek Online</a></em> since Massively's last column on the game! The <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Captains-Log/">Captain's Log's</a> previous author, Brandon Felczer, accepted a position with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Perfect-World-Entertainment/">Perfect World Entertainment</a> (<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cryptic-Studios/">Cryptic Studios'</a> parent company) and is now a community manager for <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Trek-Online/">Star Trek Online</a></em>. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. And that makes me, Terilynn Shull, your new <em>STO</em> columnist!<br />
<br />
Since then, Cryptic's newest patch, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/A-Call-to-Arms/">A Call to Arms</a>, was released to subscribers. The patch was really the preliminary push of the anticipated free-to-play model that Cryptic announced will occur on January 17th, 2012. To the dismay of many players, the patch did not contain any new mission content, and we've been told not to expect any new story-driven content until at least February of next year.<br />
<br />
However, A Call to Arms did include the nervously awaited single-currency economy, the highly anticipated duty officer system, and a revamped set of strategic task force (STF) missions, and it was soon followed by the controversial holiday event and "homage" to <em><a href="http://www.swtor.com">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a></em>.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: Dilithium, attack ships, and lightsabers, oh my!</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/">Captain's Log: Dilithium, attack ships, and lightsabers, oh my!</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20134163/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/24/captains-log-dilithium-attack-ships-and-lightsabers-oh-my/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>a-call-to-arms</category><category>bioware</category><category>c-store</category><category>captains-log</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>dilithium</category><category>doff</category><category>duty-officer</category><category>duty-officer-system</category><category>ea</category><category>electronic-arts</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>holiday-event</category><category>jemhadar</category><category>jemhadar-attack-ship</category><category>lucasarts</category><category>opinion</category><category>patch</category><category>patches</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>sci-fi</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>star-wars</category><category>star-wars-the-old-republic</category><category>stephen-dangelo</category><category>sto</category><category>swtor</category><category>the-old-republic</category><category>tor</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Terilynn Shull]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: A way to improve microtransaction consumables]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/12/co-servicegrabbag.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/">A couple of weeks ago</a>, I lamented the existence of grab bags in <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> and how they could be made more worthwhile. Although I made quite a few suggestions on what could be changed, the main concern was that the consumables placed in the grab bags were simply not worth anything.<br />
<br />
Improving the value of C-Store consumables won't appease the vocal minority whose sense of entitlement tells them that they deserve the ultra-rare grab bag items. These people only see the grab bags as chances for costume unlocks, so making the consumables worth the 80 CP ($1 US) won't matter to them. For the general public, though, making the consumables worth the gamble makes the grab bag items much more desirable.<br />
<br />
This week on <a href="http://massively.com/category/behind-the-mask">Behind the Mask</a>, we'll look at the C-Store consumables and weigh in on whether they're worth the money. If they're not, we'll look at what could be done to fix it!<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: A way to improve microtransaction consumables</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/">Behind the Mask: A way to improve microtransaction consumables</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20127656/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/15/behind-the-mask-a-way-to-improve-microtransaction-consumables/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>boost-enhancer</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>consumables</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>health-potions</category><category>mana-potions</category><category>Microtransactions</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: Are grab bags a scam?]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/co-rearblackmask.jpg" /></a></div>
Everyone's heard of the "gift box" phenomenon. It's a common theme in F2P MMOs to release an item that doesn't have guaranteed contents and instead has a random selection from a pool of items. Sometimes there are rare bonus items inside; other times there are things the buyer didn't really want. <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> has taken its second foray into this territory with the Service and Cursed Grab Bags, a pair of C-Store items that grant a chance at a variety of tradable goodies.<br />
<br />
Gift box items sell to a variety of people. Some find the idea of chance more fun, and others absolutely must have the rare items and will spend lots of money trying to get them. Are the grab bags a scam, though? After the jump, we'll look at just why that is and hopefully give you enough information to come to your own conclusion.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: Are grab bags a scam?</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/">Behind the Mask: Are grab bags a scam?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20117398/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/behind-the-mask-are-grab-bags-a-scam/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>c-store</category><category>cash-shop</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>gift-box</category><category>gift-boxes</category><category>grab-bag</category><category>luck-of-the-draw</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>random-number-generator</category><category>scam</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[New Champions Online archetype available in regular and controversial editions]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/classes/" rel="tag">Classes</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/"><img alt="In this screenshot, everyone is still on fire, but it's purple.  Color is special." src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/co-cursedscourge-epl-1123.jpg" /></a></div>
It might seem a little late for a demonic archetype, but <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> has still rolled one out into the store. <a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store?item=1227">The Scourge</a> is a new ranged archetype focused on poisoning and debuffing the target, with less durability and melee power to balance its slow ranged ramp-up. Like all archetypes, it's free to subscribing players and available for free players in the cash store. But it's also tied to a new grab bag offered in the cash store, which is provoking a few player concerns.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store?item=1228">The Cursed Grab Bag</a>, among other things, contains a special token to unlock the Cursed archetype, which is essentially a color-shifted version of the Scourge archetype. Some players <a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=140987">are a little concerned about the slippery slope being established here</a>, as the Cursed archetype is <em>not</em> free to subscribers (although color-shifting powers is). As a result, concerns have been raised about what this cosmetic change might mean for future archetypes being released, although as others point out, you can always just change the color if you subscribe to begin with.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/">New Champions Online archetype available in regular and controversial editions</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20113553/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/23/new-champions-online-archetype-available-in-regular-and-controve/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>archetypes</category><category>business-models</category><category>c-store</category><category>cash-shop</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>community</category><category>controversy</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-store</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>microtransactions</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: A two-minute read could save you 15% or more on nerdrage insurance]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n" target="_blank"><em><img alt="Screenshot - Star Trek Online" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/11/cl341.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65340.3...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! Welcome to this week's edition of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank">Captain's Log</a>, brought to you by "Geko" Insurance. (And let's just say, you may want to purchase a policy). If you are a <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> player who watches <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/" target="_blank">Cryptic's</a> <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/index.php" target="_blank">official forums</a>, you know that the game experienced an Occupy movement of its own this past weekend. Even if you don't frequent the forums, you may have seen some of the concerns raised through the <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/sto">#<em>STO</em> Twitter feed</a>.<br />
<br />
Over the weekend, players lashed out against some of the recent changes that have made their way to the Tribble test server. It may be surprising to some of you reading this, but the commotion was not related to the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/" target="_blank">economy changes</a>. The main concern is that some of the items for purchase in the <a href="https://www.startrekonline.com/store" target="_blank">C-Store</a> are going to be changing from account-wide unlocks to per-character transactions. While I was a little perturbed at the thought too, I was happy to see that some of the misconceptions were cleared up once we got an official statement from one of the devs. But since there is a lot more to the story, let's take a look.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! And don't forget to buckle your seatbelt...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: A two-minute read could save you 15% or more on nerdrage insurance</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/">Captain's Log: A two-minute read could save you 15% or more on nerdrage insurance</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20096353/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/captains-log-a-two-minute-read-could-save-you-15-or-more-on-n/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>al-rivera</category><category>balance</category><category>boycott</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-points</category><category>captain-geko</category><category>captains-log</category><category>consumables</category><category>crafting</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-points</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>doff</category><category>duty-officer</category><category>duty-officer-system</category><category>Exchange</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>feedback</category><category>forums</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>heretic</category><category>livestream</category><category>marketing</category><category>patch-notes</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>starships</category><category>sto</category><category>trek-online</category><category>tribble</category><category>tribble-test-server</category><category>twitter</category><category>unlock-status</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: Every day I'm tribbleing]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/" target="_blank"><em><img alt="Screenshot - Star Trek Online" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/cl331.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65322.9...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! For the past several weeks, <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> players have been checking out <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=228" target="_blank">the latest F2P beta builds</a> on the Tribble test server. While there have been a few patches on other days, more for stability fixes and minor tweaking, Thursdays seem to be the designated day for us to receive the largest pushes of new content. The <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=237412" target="_blank">latest round of updates</a> has brought further economy changes, new events and ships, and even more heated debates. Since we seem to be a ways out from the seeing the updates ported to the Holodeck live server, there is still plenty of time to check it all out and provide your feedback to the devs.<br />
<br />
I would like to dedicate this entry to those who are helping test the changes. This week's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank">Captain's Log</a> serves as a checklist of sorts on what new content you can test and where you can provide feedback about it. As you read through, I suggest that you read a particular section, jump into game to check out the particular change, formulate an opinion, and head to the linked forum where you can leave your feedback. No matter what you think, it's important to let the devs know -- they will make changes based upon a collective opinion.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! It's time to create our own party rock anthem...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: Every day I'm tribbleing</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/">Captain's Log: Every day I'm tribbleing</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20090051/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/27/captains-log-every-day-i-m-tribbleing/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ability</category><category>c-store</category><category>console</category><category>crafting</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>daily-event</category><category>dev</category><category>dev-blog</category><category>dev-diary</category><category>developer-blog</category><category>developer-diary</category><category>devs</category><category>dilithium</category><category>doff</category><category>duty-officer</category><category>duty-officer-system</category><category>event-calendar</category><category>f2p</category><category>feature-testing</category><category>featured</category><category>feedback</category><category>forum</category><category>forums</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>game-mechanics</category><category>game-systems</category><category>gear</category><category>gozer</category><category>heretic</category><category>klingon-academy</category><category>livestream</category><category>log</category><category>lore-missions</category><category>patches</category><category>path-to-f2p</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>power</category><category>pwe</category><category>sci-fi</category><category>ships</category><category>special-task-force</category><category>special-task-force-missions</category><category>special-testing</category><category>st</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>starfleet-academy</category><category>stephen-dangelo</category><category>stf</category><category>stf-updates</category><category>sto</category><category>stormshade</category><category>test-server</category><category>trek-online</category><category>ui</category><category>ui-tweak</category><category>updates</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: More on the economy]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/" target="_blank"><em><img alt="Screenshot - Star Trek Online" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/cl321.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65303.9...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! As I discussed last week, heated discussions surround <em><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank">Star Trek Online's</a> </em>change to a F2P hybrid model and planned game mechanics updates. While new updates are being pushed to the Tribble server for testing and feedback, many aspects are in a state of flux as such feedback is collected, evaluated, and implemented. The biggest area affected is the economy. While everyone has his own thoughts on the matter, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/" target="_blank">Cryptic</a> is leaving no feedback forum post unread -- the players will help shape these changes.<br />
<br />
Last week, we saw the push of <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=236261" target="_blank">another patch</a> that seems to have made some giant strides toward solving some of the biggest concerns, including significant reductions in prices for most items and the return of free ship tokens for most ranks. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/stephen-dangelo/" target="_blank">Stephen D'Angelo</a>, acting Executive Producer and Emergency Executive Producer Hologram (EEPH), explained: "Based on how rapidly we're getting data and revising the game, we're still probably two more weeks away from having the economy in a state that is close to good enough." Since he said a lot more in his <a href="http://startrekonline.com/node/2657" target="_blank">recent dev blog post</a>, I thought I should take some time to expound on it.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! Let's take a look at what else the EEPH had to say and break it down...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: More on the economy</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/">Captain's Log: More on the economy</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20084631/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/20/captains-log-more-on-the-economy/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>auction-house</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-points</category><category>consumables</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-points</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>currency</category><category>currency-exchange</category><category>dangelo</category><category>dev-blog</category><category>dilithium</category><category>doff</category><category>duty-officer</category><category>duty-officer-system</category><category>eeph</category><category>energy-credit-system</category><category>energy-credits</category><category>Exchange</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>feedback</category><category>forums</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>high-end-gear</category><category>livestream</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pvp</category><category>special-task-force</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>starships</category><category>stephen-dangelo</category><category>stf</category><category>sto</category><category>top-end-gear</category><category>trek-online</category><category>tribble</category><category>tribble-test-server</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online's free-to-play starships prepare to leave spacedock]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/classes/" rel="tag">Classes</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/dev-diaries/" rel="tag">Dev Diaries</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/"><img alt="Star Trek Online" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/sto.jpg" /></a></div>
As <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> free-to-play final frontier approaches, the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/">Cryptic</a> team is fast at work trying to strike the right balance between the standard-issue starships that come with the game and the C-Store options available for purchase. <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2654">In a new dev blog</a>, Executive Producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Stephen-DAngelo/">Stephen D'Angelo</a> says that each rank of gameplay is being shuffled around to offer a regular and premium starship for each class.<br />
<br />
Because not every tier had enough for six starships, Cryptic is adding a number of spiffy C-Store versions for Federation players, including the new Exeter cruiser, the Sao Paulo escort, and the Bellerophon science vessel. The Klingon Defense Force is receiving a similar restructuring, with new ships like the Norgh Refit and Orion Dacoit Flight Deck Cruiser making their way into the store. D'Angelo admits that C-Store starships are slightly stronger and carry a special piece of gear that can be transferred from ship to ship as the player levels up.<br />
<br />
D'Angelo also stresses that any C-Store starships are purchased for an entire account, not a single character. Cryptic is also planning to re-instate the free starship token at Lt. Commander and Commander ranks for everyone.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/">Star Trek Online's free-to-play starships prepare to leave spacedock</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20081317/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/star-trek-onlines-free-to-play-starships-prepare-to-leave-space/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>class</category><category>classes</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-entertainment</category><category>f2p</category><category>federation</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>in-game-store</category><category>klingon</category><category>perfect-world-international</category><category>pwi</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>starship</category><category>starships</category><category>Stephen-DAngelo</category><category>sto</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: The voices of reason]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/" target="_blank"><em><img alt="Screenshot - Star Trek Online" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/cl311.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65284.2...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! It is often said that the voices of the gaming community are some of the loudest, and most passionate, around. This is especially true within the <em><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank">Star Trek Online</a> </em>community. While some may see particular posts made in <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/" target="_blank">Cryptic's</a> forums as trolling or whining, others see passion and dedication for making the game they love the best it can be. There is no denying that there will always be those who love to hate and hate to love, but there are also community members out there who are the voices of reason -- they take their time to carefully examine something and provide appropriate and well-thought feedback on how to make something better.<br />
<br />
As <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online" target="_blank"><em>STO</em></a> is preparing to re-launch with its F2P model, many changes are being pushed to the Tribble test server for players to playtest and provide feedback on. Before the test shards ever open, debates based on the <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=228" target="_blank">patch notes</a> begin. After a few hours of testing on Tribble, players make their <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=230" target="_blank">feedback posts</a> public in hopes that developers notice and hear their opinions. The great news here is that the developers are reading each post and have vowed that feedback does not go unnoticed. Since I have been following this feedback closely myself, I thought I should share some of it here.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! Let's share some recent community feedback on two of the hottest topics out there...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: The voices of reason</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/">Captain's Log: The voices of reason</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20079430/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/13/captains-log-the-voices-of-reason/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-points</category><category>community</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>developers</category><category>F2P</category><category>featured</category><category>feedback</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>gold-members</category><category>grind</category><category>holodeck</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>silver-members</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>the-economy</category><category>trek-online</category><category>tribble</category><category>trolling</category><category>trolls</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: Testing out the future]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/" target="_blank"><em><img alt="Star Trek Online wallpaper of a pile of Tribbles" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/cl301.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65264.3...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! As you have must have seen by now, open beta testing of <em><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank">Star Trek Online's</a> </em>new F2P model is well underway; the developers have been posting dev diaries about the impending changes for the last couple of days. Because testers on the Tribble test server were required to start new characters, and because character transfers will not be an option for at least a few weeks, many players have begun a mad dash to level up their test characters in order to test out some of the retooled endgame content.<br />
<br />
Since testing, especially in this manner, can be confusing, I have decided to dedicate this week's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank">Captain's Log</a> to those who are willing to take on the challenge. Past the jump, you will find a checklist of sorts that you can use while testing (or, ultimately, playing) the new content and updates. I suggest reading each section and then checking it out in-game. While some recommendations may seem less interesting than others, I suggest you give each a fair shot so you can <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=230" target="_blank">provide feedback</a> on what can make the game better.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! Let's give our dedicated Tribbleites some structure to their testing time...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: Testing out the future</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/">Captain's Log: Testing out the future</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20074065/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/captains-log-testing-out-the-future/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>blog</category><category>c-store</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>currency</category><category>currency-update</category><category>dan-griffis</category><category>deep-space-nine</category><category>dev-blog</category><category>dev-diary</category><category>developer-blog</category><category>developer-diary</category><category>duty-officer</category><category>duty-officer-system</category><category>event-calendar</category><category>f2p</category><category>feature-testing</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>game-mechanics</category><category>game-systems</category><category>geoff-tuffli</category><category>gozer</category><category>livestream</category><category>lore-missions</category><category>mission-journal</category><category>mission-window</category><category>new-systems</category><category>patches</category><category>path-to-f2p</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>remastered</category><category>sci-fi</category><category>special-testing</category><category>st</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>stephen-dangelo</category><category>stf</category><category>stf-updates</category><category>sto</category><category>test-server</category><category>testing-rewards</category><category>trek-online</category><category>tutorial</category><category>tutorial-update</category><category>ui</category><category>ui-tweak</category><category>updates</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dan Stahl addresses Star Trek Online F2P concerns]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/"><img alt="Star Trek Online" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/09/owow-rb-427.jpg" /></a></div>
While we're still awaiting official details on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/31/perfect-world-entertainment-confirms-star-trek-online-going-f2p/">the recent announcement</a> of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>Star Trek Online's </em></a>free-to-play transition, Executive Producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/daniel-stahl/">Daniel Stahl</a> leaped into the forums to help dispel some of the more troubling fears and to shed some light on what is happening.<br />
<br />
"There has been a method to all the madness, but first and foremost on my mind has been ensuring that <em>Star Trek Online</em> has a big future ahead of it," Stahl writes. "That has led to some tough decisions and deep analysis of what was critically wrong in <em>STO</em>. The next several months are going to be exciting for <em>STO </em>as you begin to see everything that we've been working on (finally)."<br />
<br />
The good news is that the F2P switch will not impact current subscribers (if anything, Stahl says they'll see more benefits), nor will it restrict content access. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/">Cryptic</a> may be lowering prices on some items in the C-Store, and <em>Star Trek Online</em> will be playable to the level cap without requiring money spent on it. Stahl also confirmed that more hardware is on the way for the game's foundation.<br />
<br />
At least from his perspective, Stahl sees <em>STO's</em> new owners as a boon to the game's future: "<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/perfect-world-entertainment/">Perfect World</a> has made it very clear that they want to invest in <em>STO </em>because they believe it has great POTENTIAL and they see an investment that can yield an even better game. That to me, is the golden path that this game deserves. It is Star Trek we are talking about!"<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/">Dan Stahl addresses Star Trek Online F2P concerns</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20032343/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/01/dan-stahl-addresses-star-trek-online-f2p-concerns/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-entertainment</category><category>dan-stahl</category><category>daniel-stahl</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>in-game-store</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>potential-in-all-caps</category><category>stahl</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Champions Online gives players a full pack of jets]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/"><img alt="You remember the Rocketeer, right?  Everyone remembers the Rocketeer." src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/08/co-jetpacks-epl-825.jpg" /></a></div>
Even in superhero games, people still have a deep love of jetpacks. There's something innately wonderful about the idea about strapping on a backpack and slipping the terrible dominion of gravity. That's why <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em><em> </em>has introduced a new option for travel powers for players of all types -- <a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=136346">the jet pack</a>. And as you would expect, it allows you to take to the skies with style and rocket-powered precision as you soar along.<br />
<br />
It probably comes as little surprise that the pack is <a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store?item=950">available in the C-Store</a>. That being said, it's only the actual appearance of the packs is for sale -- all users have access to the Jet Pack travel power, which uses the costume parts. So if you have the urge to strap a rocket to your back and take to the air, your time is now -- and if you're not quite convinced, why not check out the video just past the break?<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Champions Online gives players a full pack of jets</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/">Champions Online gives players a full pack of jets</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20027034/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/25/champions-online-gives-players-a-full-pack-of-jets/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>additions</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>flight</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>jetpacks</category><category>travel-powers</category><category>travels</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Transition details for Champions Online, Star Trek Online]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/"><img alt="Champions Online screenshot" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/08/resistance-6.jpg" /></a></div>
Last week, we <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/10/perfect-world-entertainment-completes-acquisition-of-cryptic-stu/">reported</a> that F2P giant <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Perfect-World-Entertainment/">Perfect World Entertainment</a> completed its acquisition of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cryptic-Studios/">Cryptic Studios</a>, having spent just under $50 million to seal the deal. Today, entries on the <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> and <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Trek-Online/">Star Trek Online</a></em> websites announce that Cryptic is "now a wholly owned subsidiary of Perfect World Entertainment," and they outline certain changes coming to both games as a result. The posted <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/transition_faq">transition</a> <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/transition_faq">FAQs</a> include additional details on the status of Cryptic Points, the C-Store, account and support services, and privacy issues. Cryptic and PWE also reiterate that lifetime subscriptions will continue to be honored for the full duration of both games.<br />
<br />
Of particular note to current players is the response to the question about dev team size:<br />
<blockquote class="bq-standard">
	There are no plans to change the development team on any of our titles. If anything, we plan on increasing the number of team members to serve you better.</blockquote>
Finally, the FAQ notes that work on <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Neverwinter/">Neverwinter</a></em> continues as planned.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/">Transition details for Champions Online, Star Trek Online</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20021258/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/18/transition-details-for-champions-online-star-trek-online/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>acquisition</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>champs</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-points</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>faq</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>neverwinter</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>pwe</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brianna Royce]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Champions Online rolls out the next phase of Hideouts]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/virtual-worlds/" rel="tag">Virtual worlds</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/08/co-hideouts-epl-803.jpg" /></a></div>
Superheroes need their personal stomping grounds. That's why the development team behind <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> gave us hideouts for our heroes, and why the system is being expanded by another step. The phase three hideouts are now available, representing another evolution in the options available to heroes with the Basement and Moon hideout tracks. This newest upgrade <a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=134822">unlocks the Hi-Tech Basement and the 60's Retro Moon lairs</a> for heroes to customize and enjoy.<br />
<br />
Of course, all of these new options do come at a price -- specifically, they come at a price of around 500 points in the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cstore/">C-store</a>, including for subscribers and lifetime members. As a result, the newest pair of hideouts may not be for the penny-conscious hero on the run. For those of you who feel like splurging a little and living in style, however, the new hideouts should provide the perfect place to relax and enjoy the superheroic life from behind the scenes.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/">Champions Online rolls out the next phase of Hideouts</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/20008538/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/03/champions-online-rolls-out-the-next-phase-of-hideouts/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>hideouts</category><category>housing</category><category>housing-styles</category><category>item-shop</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>player-housing</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank"><em><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/07/cl191.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 65056.3...</em><br />
<br />
Hello, computer (and players)! The <a href="http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Slingshot_effect" target="_blank">slingshot effect</a> is a maneuver, shown throughout the Star Trek franchise, which allowed starships to move back through the time continuum. By traveling at a high warp factor towards a star with a large gravitational pull, the ship would whip around it and time travel. While this seemed to only exist within the realms of the IP, it looks as though <em><a href="http://startrekonline.com/" target="_blank">Star Trek Online's</a></em> Executive Producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/dan-stahl/" target="_blank">Dan Stahl</a> took us on a reverse slingshot course, giving us a glimpse into the future of the game. Before we returned to the original timeline, he made sure to write up everything we saw along the way for those who couldn't make the trip.<br />
<br />
In layman's terms, for those of you who missed <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/19/star-trek-online-posts-the-latest-engineering-report/" target="_blank">the news earlier this week</a>, <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=224706" target="_blank">July's Engineering Report</a> has been released. While this is a monthly publication that contains the development pipeline for <em><a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online" target="_blank">STO</a></em>, including some items that have been featured in past issues, there are always a few bullet points added that seem to spark a healthy amount of debate -- one of these includes the ability to auction off your in-game Emblems, a form of currency, for C-Store points that have been paid for with real money. For information on this, including a response from <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic" target="_blank">Cryptic's</a> PR department, and more, read ahead past the jump for this week's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank">Captain's Log</a> entry.<br />
<br />
<em>Ensign, warp 10! Let's pull a slingshot maneuver of our own...</em><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/">Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19995292/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/captains-log-the-reverse-slingshot-effect/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>academy</category><category>auction</category><category>bugs</category><category>c-store</category><category>captains-log</category><category>captainslog</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>cstore points</category><category>CstorePoints</category><category>dan stahl</category><category>dan-stahl</category><category>daniel stahl</category><category>DanielStahl</category><category>DanStahl</category><category>development</category><category>dine with the devs</category><category>dine-with-the-devs</category><category>DineWithTheDevs</category><category>emblems</category><category>engineering report</category><category>engineering-report</category><category>EngineeringReport</category><category>exploration</category><category>featured</category><category>fleet starbase</category><category>fleets</category><category>FleetStarbase</category><category>foundry</category><category>klingon</category><category>livestream</category><category>microtransaction</category><category>patches</category><category>pluto</category><category>QA</category><category>season-five</category><category>season-four</category><category>ships</category><category>slingshot</category><category>sol</category><category>sol planets</category><category>SolPlanets</category><category>species</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>starbases</category><category>starfleet</category><category>stf</category><category>sto</category><category>territory control</category><category>TerritoryControl</category><category>time travel</category><category>TimeTravel</category><category>trek-online</category><category>tribble</category><category>warp</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Captain's Log: Shop till you drop (out of warp)]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" rel="tag">Captain's Log</a></p><div style="text-align: center; ">
	<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/"><em><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/06/cl161.jpg" vspace="4" /></em></a></div>
<div>
	<em>Captain's Log, Stardate 64997.8...</em><br />
	<br />
	Hello, computer (and players)! Over the past couple of weeks, there has been much heated debate about microtransactions within MMOs. Whether those microtransactions involve an accessory for your character, additional character slots, or a new mount, players have mixed emotions on spending real money to obtain such items. No matter what your position is on the topic, one thing for certain is that microtransactions are not going to disappear. In fact, they seem to be the future when it comes to how most studios will be delivering exclusive content and items.<br />
	<br />
	<a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> is no stranger to such transactions -- the infamous <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic" target="_blank">Cryptic</a> Store (<a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store" target="_blank">C-Store</a>) is full of items priced from just a dollar all the way up to $25. If you are new to the game or have never made a purchase before, at first glance, you may be wondering what you should buy. While some items are simply there as cosmetic enhancements, some will actually help in your battle against your favorite enemy. To help shed some light on your choices, this week's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/captains-log/" target="_blank">Captain Log</a> is going to explore the top 10 must-have C-Store items that every <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online" target="_blank"><em>STO</em></a> player should not leave spacedock without.</div>
<div>
	<br />
	<em>Ensign, warp 10! It's time to go on a virtual spending spree...</em></div><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Captain's Log: Shop till you drop (out of warp)</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/">Captain's Log: Shop till you drop (out of warp)</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19979519/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/captains-log-shop-till-you-drop-out-of-warp/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>borg</category><category>bundle</category><category>c-store</category><category>console</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>enterprise</category><category>excelsior</category><category>featured</category><category>fighters</category><category>klingons</category><category>miranda</category><category>MVAM</category><category>oberth</category><category>powers</category><category>sehlat</category><category>spending</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>store</category><category>targ</category><category>tpol</category><category>tribble</category><category>tribbles</category><category>undine</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Brandon Felczer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: Perfect World and the future]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://perfectworld.com"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/06/fw-elfpriest.jpg" vspace="4" /></a></div>
If I were to describe the emotions of the <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> playerbase regarding the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/31/perfect-world-acquires-cryptic-studios/">Perfect World buyout</a>, I would have to say "mixed." Some players are happy that the days of <a href="http://atari.com">Atari</a> are behind them, and some are really skeptical about the future of the C-Store.<br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://massively.com/tag/champions-online">CO</a></em> is a fairly "pay-to-win" game in that Gold members have a lot of gameplay advantages over their non-subscribing counterparts. A lot of players are suggesting that the C-Store might become inundated with paid features and that we might possibly see the removal of certain free features (like global-purchased respecs).<br />
<br />
I am cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. <a href="http://perfectworld.com">Perfect World Entertainment</a> holds controlling shares in <a href="http://runicgames.com">Runic Games</a>, and if the recent Mac and console ports of <a href="http://torchlightgame.com"><em>Torchlight</em></a> are any indication of PWE's approach to management, I'd be more than happy to welcome our new alien overlords.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: Perfect World and the future</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/">Behind the Mask: Perfect World and the future</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19955409/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/02/behind-the-mask-perfect-world-and-the-future/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>atari</category><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>perfect-world</category><category>perfect-world-entertainment</category><category>please-dont-break-my-account-more</category><category>pw</category><category>pwe</category><category>runic-games</category><category>torchlight</category><category>zen</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Champions Online shares new video of robot companion in hopes players will enjoy]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/trailers/" rel="tag">Trailers</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/co-sidekick-epl-511.jpg" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px;" /></a></div>
Haven't you ever wanted your very own personal robot sidekick? A combination lackey and best friend, someone to hold your hand, listen to your problems, and help you violently assault several henchmen of a given criminal organization? If so, you might have some slight rage issues, but more importantly your needs will be catered to via the newest sidekick available in <a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a>. But if you need a little more convincing to let an uncanny valley sidekick into your heart (and wallet), the development team has <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/node/595316">put together a new trailer showing off the robot</a>.<br />
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Like any good robot accomplice, R.O.D. (Reprogrammed Onslaught Drone) is programmed for a single function, that being unloading a great deal of firepower at anything you tell him to aim for. That includes lasers, chainguns, missiles, and a variety of other attacks for the discerning robot-owner. <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> players might want to <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/node/595316">take a look at the trailer</a>, because it's really all about sharing and enjoying.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/">Champions Online shares new video of robot companion in hopes players will enjoy</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Wed, 11 May 2011 21:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19938137/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/11/champions-online-shares-new-video-of-robot-companion-in-hopes-pl/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>additions</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>robots</category><category>sidekicks</category><category>trailers</category><category>videos</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 11 May 2011 21:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Another month, another round of answers for Star Trek Online]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/sto-askcryptic-epl-506.jpg" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px;" /></a></div>
About once a month, <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> has producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Dan-Stahl/">Dan Stahl</a> sit down and answer the newest round of player questions regarding the game's future additions. It's May, of course, which means that it's time for <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2424">the newest Ask Cryptic</a>, covering the recent additions to the game's microtransaction store as well as plans for <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Season-4/">Season 4</a> and beyond. And as always, while there are more features being asked about than are planned for the next major update, there are very few elements not planned for eventual inclusion.<br />
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Further ship customization is discussed, with the implementation of Duty Officers in Season 4 promised to help add more differentiation between individual ships. There's also mention of the debate about bringing lower-tier ships up to par for use in endgame activities, which is currently not on the table but is still under heavy debate in both development and on the forums. Players of <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Trek-Online/">Star Trek Online</a></em> are encouraged to check out <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2424">the latest round of answers</a> for more info.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/">Another month, another round of answers for Star Trek Online</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 06 May 2011 22:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19934286/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/another-month-another-round-of-answers-for-star-trek-online/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>answers</category><category>ask-cryptic</category><category>c-store</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>customization</category><category>dan-stahl</category><category>future-patches</category><category>future-updates</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>questions</category><category>season-4</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>sto-season-4</category><category>trek-online</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2011 22:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cryptic just made flying more stylish in Star Trek and Champions Online]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/trailers/" rel="tag">Trailers</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/04/rainbow-flight.jpg" vspace="4" /></a></div>
It's like a department store sale, but without all that walking around in meatspace. <a href="http://www.crypticstudios.com/">Cryptic Studios</a> is offering its players extra costume slots for <a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> in the <a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store">C-Store</a>. A Gold Member player can have three individual costume slots and one super group costume slot by level 40, but this C-Store item will allow that character to accrue six costumes by max level. These two additional costume slots will apply to every character on your account. Now you don't have to decide between the flats or the pumps -- you can get both! And to go with those pumps, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/"><em>Champions Online</em></a> is now offering rainbow flight for your character. There is only one word to describe this addition to the C-Store: FABULOUS! Check out the teaser video for this after the break. (Bears not included.)<br />
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Cryptic hasn't left out explorers of the final frontier. All <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> ships, except the Oberth Class ship, are 50% off from the <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store">C-Store</a>. That's right, the Dreadnought Cruiser just dropped from super-expensive to semi-affordable. And don't forget that Q is offering a boost that doubles your rewards this weekend. All skill points, bridge officer skill points, merits, honor, marks, and emblems are now doubled when this boost is applied. (Energy credits and emblems earned in PvP are exempt.)<br />
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Both of the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/"><em>STO</em></a> promotions end on May 2nd at 1 p.m. EDT, but the <em>Champions</em> characters slots and rainbow flight are permanent additions to the C-Store. Don't forget the rainbow flight video after the break.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Cryptic just made flying more stylish in Star Trek and Champions Online</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/">Cryptic just made flying more stylish in Star Trek and Champions Online</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19928081/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/cryptic-just-made-flying-more-stylish-in-star-trek-and-champions/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>50-percent-off</category><category>Atari</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>CO</category><category>costume-slots</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>deal</category><category>f2p</category><category>fabulous</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>ftp</category><category>rainbow-flight</category><category>sale</category><category>spaceships</category><category>Star-Trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>trailer</category><category>video</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Larry Everett]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cryptic is offering relief from tax-time woes]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=128118"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/04/20-percent.jpg" vspace="4" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.crypticstudios.com/">Cryptic</a>, the maker of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/03/massivelys-2010-players-choice-awards-results/">your favorite MMO</a> <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> and the infamous <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a>, has decided that this year's tax refund is insufficient. In the interest of giving you some relief, Cryptic is offering a 20%-off-everything sale on the <a href="https://www.champions-online.com/store">C-Store</a> items for <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/"><em>STO</em></a> and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/"><em>CO</em></a>, meaning everything from now until Monday, April 18 at 1 p.m. EDT will cost 20% fewer Atari tokens. Those Elemental A-Symmetry Tights you have been staring at can now be yours for 380 tokens, and don't forget The Original Series bundle for your <em>Star Trek Online</em> ship and crew -- that only costs 1400 Atari tokens. For those looking to finally make a commitment to either or both of these games, this Tax Relief sale includes <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/lifetime">life-time subscriptions</a> for <em>Star Trek Online</em> and <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/lifetime">life-time gold memberships</a> for <em>Champions</em>.<br />
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To find out where you can spend more of your tax refund -- or tomorrow's paycheck -- glide on over to the <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store">C-Store</a> before 1 p.m. on Monday -- ooh! A Bajoran Militia costume pack!<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/">Cryptic is offering relief from tax-time woes</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19913713/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/cryptic-is-offering-reflief-from-tax-time-woes/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>Atari</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-sale</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>CO</category><category>Cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>micro-transactions</category><category>sale</category><category>Star-Trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>STO</category><category>tax-relief</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Larry Everett]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: Being resourceful with resources]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://champions-online.com"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/04/co-demontailor.jpg" vspace="4" /></a></div>
Most of the time, we look at MMORPGs and talk about features, gameplay, community, content, and other things like that. We rarely look at an MMO's economy unless we're actually hardcore players, and almost invariably players think the economy is messed up in one way or the other.<br />
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<a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> is really no different. People complain about overinflated auction house prices all the time, about how transaction fees and auction limits ruin the economy, and how the value of certain super-rare items has plummeted.<br />
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Overall, I'm very happy with <a href="http://massively.com/tag/champions-online"><em>CO</em>'s</a> economy. Even though the AH interface is horribly broken (and I'm sure the devs are aware), many people use the AH and most goods are available for sale (even the elusive <a href="http://champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/New_Shadows_Waist_Cape">buttcape</a>). Because the cash-shop items can be traded and sold, there's a certain strangeness in the market, but this is largely a good thing.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: Being resourceful with resources</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/">Behind the Mask: Being resourceful with resources</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19904596/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/07/behind-the-mask-being-resourceful-with-resources/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>auction</category><category>auction-house</category><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>buttcape</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>demonflame</category><category>economy</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>global-is-a-stupid-name-for-a-currency</category><category>global-resources</category><category>gold-making-guide</category><category>market</category><category>market-pvp</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>serpent-lantern</category><category>sl-blues-are-too-good</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online now offering the original series bundle and at a special price]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/trailers/" rel="tag">Trailers</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store"><img border="1" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/03/sto-tos.jpg" vspace="4" /></a></div>
Set phasers to awesome when you beam into The Original Series Bundle for <a href="http://startrekonline.com"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a>. The creators of this iconic MMO are offering this classic package for 1400 Atari points in the <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store">C-Store</a>. (That's approximately $17.50 US.) But you have to get it soon; <a href="http://www.crypticstudios.com/">Cryptic</a> will not offer the bundle for this price for too long.<br />
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This new package includes all of your favorite items from the original Star Trek series. Outfit your ship with the classic interiors like the bridge, engineering, and transporter room. Defend Federation space with the black and white Type 2 Phaser. This retro blaster will increase effectiveness as you level. Of course, what would a TOS bundle be without the uniforms James Kirk, Scotty, and Doctor McCoy wore in the television series?<br />
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Cruise past the break to see a short one-minute video trailer featuring all the items in this package, then warp over to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/"><em>STO</em></a>'s <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store">C-Store</a> for more screenshots and purchase information.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Star Trek Online now offering the original series bundle and at a special price</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/">Star Trek Online now offering the original series bundle and at a special price</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19892570/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/25/star-trek-online-now-offering-the-original-series-bundle-and-at/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>Atari</category><category>beam-me-up-scotty</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-sale</category><category>Cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>Star-Trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>star-trek-the-original-series</category><category>sto</category><category>the-original-series</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Larry Everett]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Champions Online unlocks a new archetype and a sale]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/03/co-sale-epl-324.jpg" style="border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 4px;" /></a></div>
With the conversion to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/">free-to-play</a>, it's easier than ever to get into <a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a>, but you're still a bit limited in your play choices. The latest archetype rollout is designed to help address that issue, giving players access to the Tempest. A ranged character build with a focus on electrical abilities, the new archetype is free to Gold players and available for purchase in the C-Store for Silver players. There's also <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/videos">a new video available</a> to show off the stormy hero build before you buy it.<br />
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Of course, you may not have the spare slots needed for a new archetype to even matter. That's thankfully mitigated by <a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=127103">a sale on character slots</a> at 20% off until March 30th. <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> players, subscribing or not, should be happy to learn that it's easier to get yourself a few new slots to play around with, whether reserved for the new archetype or other experimentation.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/">Champions Online unlocks a new archetype and a sale</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19891221/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/champions-online-unlocks-a-new-archetype-and-a-sale/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>archetype</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>character-slots</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>microtransaction</category><category>sale</category><category>sales</category><category>slots</category><category>special-sales</category><category>the-tempest</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: The responsible microtransaction]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;">
	<a href="http://champions-online.com"><img border="1" hspace="4"  src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/03/co-2hcelestial-1300908908.png" vspace="4" /></a></div>
It's no surprise to anyone that I am a pro-microtransaction gamer. Microtransactions make lots of money for the publisher and focus more on pleasing the game's core audience instead of relying on the silent majority of its subscriber base. However, microtransactions can quickly feel like exploitation. When a publisher overcharges or underprovides, it can cause cascading failures as the game's core customers become upset.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> has jumped into the freemium market, and the game itself is pretty fun without the player needing to pay any money at all. Gold subscriptions, which allow for much wider customization and access to numerous fun features, are also a reasonable expenditure. There are quite a few other things to buy in the store... some of which are a little more responsible than others.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: The responsible microtransaction</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/">Behind the Mask: The responsible microtransaction</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19889374/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/24/behind-the-mask-the-responsible-microtransaction/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>a-potion-is-worth-less-than-a-big-mac</category><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>business-models</category><category>c-store</category><category>cash-shop</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>freemium</category><category>lightspeed</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>opinion</category><category>overpriced</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Champions Online gains profits and players as a free-to-play [Updated]]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/trailers/" rel="tag">Trailers</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/giveaways/" rel="tag">Giveaways</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.champions-online.com"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/02/champions-online-530kv.jpg" /></a></div>
Since <em><a href="http://www.champions-online.com">Champions Online's</a></em> relaunch as a free-to-play title a little less than a month ago, any player who has logged into the game has undoubtedly noticed the sheer number of folks running around Millennium City and environs. There are spandex-clad super-people everywhere you look, and groups are significantly easier to get. These are all good things for MMO players! Today we're also treated to the first official word on the success of the relaunch from <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cryptic-Studios/">Cryptic Studios</a> and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Atari/">Atari</a>, which both declare that the move to free-to-play has been -- as we suspected -- a huge success. To celebrate, they're offering all players, both subscribed and free-to-play, a thank-you gift for helping to make the game's reboot so great! <br />
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The present offered is a free experience-boosting item that can be picked up from the <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Champions-Online/">Champions Online</a></em> C-Store for at least the next little while. While the companies have not released any specific subscriber or traffic numbers, they have noted that unique logins, concurrent users, and revenue totals have increased by "over 1,000 percent" since <em>Champions Online</em> went free-to-play. As <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/john-needham">John Needham</a>, CEO of Cryptic Studios, stated in the release: "<em>We're extremely proud of what the </em>Champions<em> team has accomplished with the </em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Free-for-All/">Free for All</a><em> launch. It's a pleasure to thank our fans and welcome new ones with this gift</em>." <strike>As for how long the gift will be around and whether it is one per account or one per character is currently anyone's guess as the item does not appear to be in the C-Store as of this writing.</strike> The gift appears to be a one-hour, 20% experience boost that you can acquire once per account. They also appear to be tradable!<br />
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<strong>[Update: We've updated this post as the gift is now available in the C-Store, and we've also added the most recent trailer behind the cut. Enjoy! And guys... remember to keep the comments clean and on track with our <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/codeofconduct/">CoC</a>!]</strong><br type="_moz" /><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Champions Online gains profits and players as a free-to-play [Updated]</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/">Champions Online gains profits and players as a free-to-play [Updated]</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19847997/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>1000-percent-increase</category><category>atari</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>concurrent-users</category><category>conversion</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>experience-boost</category><category>experience-booster</category><category>f2p</category><category>free</category><category>free-for-all</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>freebie</category><category>John-needham</category><category>numbers</category><category>reboot</category><category>relaunch</category><category>restart</category><category>reward</category><category>Trailer</category><category>Video</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Krystalle Voecks]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Behind the Mask: I want to be with this game forever and ever]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/behind-the-mask/" rel="tag">Behind the Mask</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://champions-online.com"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/01/co-rencenflyingover.png" alt="" /></a></div>
One of the saddest days for me was Tuesday -- the day<em> <a href="http://champions-online.com">Champions Online</a></em> launched its <em><a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/free-for-all">Free for All</a></em> expansion and went free-to-play. I was mostly sad because I didn't get to log in; people have been telling me about 15+ instances of Millennium City and having a blast teaming up with all the new faces. I even got to talk to <a href="http://www.massively.com/tag/shannon-posniewski">Poz</a> on the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/26/massively-speaking-episode-132-an-interview-with-champions-onli/">Massively Speaking</a> podcast about how in the first few hours of F2P, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the launch went off with only a minor hiccup when the servers had some minor maintenance a few hours in.<br />
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While I waited for <a href="http://crypticstudios.com">Cryptic's</a> CS department to look at my account issues, I got to thinking about how much it would suck to lose access to my free-form characters, to which until now I've had unlimited access for as long as the game continues to live. My lifetime account for <a href="http://massively.com/tag/champions-online"><em>CO</em></a> sure is cool.<br />
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There are a lot of criticisms about <a href="http://www.champions-online.com/f2p"><em>CO</em>'s F2P model</a> and even more about lifetime accounts. Way back when they were first being offered, there were a lot of arguments that <em>CO</em> wouldn't last the 13 months or so it would take to pay it off. Now people are claiming that Cryptic is trying to steal more money by offering lifetime subs again. Why is a lifetime account worth it? Hit the jump and let's find out.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Behind the Mask: I want to be with this game forever and ever</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/">Behind the Mask: I want to be with this game forever and ever</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19815898/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/behind-the-mask-i-want-to-be-with-this-game-forever-and-ever/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>behind-the-mask</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-sale</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>lifetime-membership</category><category>lifetime-subscription</category><category>super-hero</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Everything you need to know about Champions F2P]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/expansions/" rel="tag">Expansions</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/hands-on/" rel="tag">Hands-on</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://champions-online.com"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/01/co-ffaloading.png" alt="" /></a></div>
It's no secret that <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online</em></a> is rolling out with its free-to-play update tomorrow. In addition to everything offered for free members, there's just a ton of new stuff. While this patch isn't quite Revelations in terms of content, it is one of the biggest full expansions <a href="http://massively.com/champions-online"><em>Champions</em></a> has seen.<br />
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Whether you're a returning player giving <em>CO</em> another shot, a new player checking out all the free stuff, or a current player itching for a rundown of all the added features, we've got you covered. With this full review of all of <em>CO's</em> latest features, you'll be well-equipped to start your new adventures in Millennium City and beyond.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Everything you need to know about Champions F2P</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/">Everything you need to know about Champions F2P</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19811606/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-champions-f2p/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>expansion</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-for-all</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>freemium</category><category>launch</category><category>overview</category><category>relaunch</category><category>Relaunches</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online: Deep space exploration on a budget]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/promotions/" rel="tag">Promotions</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/12/sto1-1293462099.jpg"  alt="" /></a></div>
It's never been a better time to be a fan of the final frontier, particularly with <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/09/captains-log-pros-and-cons-of-season-3/">recent Season 3 update</a>.  But if you've been biding your time on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>STO</em></a>, just waiting for that perfect deal, today might be your lucky day.<br />
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Amazon is selling the digital download version of <em>STO </em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Online-Game-Download/dp/B0044DEPYG/ref=sr_1_5?s=videogames-download&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1293401428&amp;sr=1-5">for a mere $2.50</a> -- and that includes a full month of gameplay.  Seeing as how a month's subscription runs around $15, it's quite a steal.  But we'd advise you to go <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Online-Deluxe-Download/dp/B0044DEPZA/ref=sr_1_13?s=videogames-download&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1293401941&amp;sr=1-13">for the deluxe edition of </a><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Online-Deluxe-Download/dp/B0044DEPZA/ref=sr_1_13?s=videogames-download&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1293401941&amp;sr=1-13">STO</a> </em>on Amazon instead.  For $5, you not only get the game and 30 days of play, but also a classic series uniform set, the Joined Trill race and a handful of other goodies that would cost you well over $10 to buy separately on the C-Store.<br />
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Speaking of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/">Cryptic's</a> in-game store, <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/store">the company has announced</a> that all C-Store items (excluding the two newest additions) are 20% off from now through January 3rd, 2011.  Since a wise starship captain is frugal with his ship's budget, this seems like the perfect time to snatch a few bargains without worrying about breaking the bank.<br />
<br />
[<a href="http://mmofallout.com/2010/12/26/get-back-into-star-trek-online-for-2/">Thanks Omali!</a>]<br />
<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/">Star Trek Online: Deep space exploration on a budget</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19777701/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/star-trek-online-deep-space-exploration-on-a-budget/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>amazon</category><category>c-store</category><category>c-store-sale</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-store</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>deal</category><category>deluxe-edition</category><category>digital-download</category><category>joined-trill</category><category>omali</category><category>promo</category><category>promotion</category><category>sale</category><category>season-3</category><category>season-three</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>uniform</category><category>uniform-set</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/dungeons-and-dragons-online/" rel="tag">Dungeons and Dragons Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/eve-online/" rel="tag">EVE Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online/" rel="tag">Lord of the Rings Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/warhammer-online/" rel="tag">Warhammer Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-wars-the-old-republic/" rel="tag">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/final-fantasy-xiv/" rel="tag">Final Fantasy XIV</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/alganon/" rel="tag">Alganon</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/allods-online/" rel="tag">Allods Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/perfect-ten/" rel="tag">Perfect Ten</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/perfect-ten/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/12/ptentitle.jpg" /></a></div>
Well, this is it, folks. The end of the year. A time of reflection, of massive weight gain and of lists. Man, we like our lists, do we not? Fortunately, at <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/perfect-ten/">Perfect Ten Industries</a>, we've been excelling in lists for months now. Frankly, we're just getting warmed up!<br />
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While 2010 may not have been much to write home about in terms of newly launched MMOs, there was more than enough controversy to keep the discussion brewing for months. MMOs are big business, and when every move you make is closely scrutinized by millions of gamers, there's no room to slip up unless you like forum hyenas pouncing all over you, snapping and snarling at your faulty flesh.<br />
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So let's take a jaunt down our top 10 list of the most controversial stories of 2010 on Massively, keeping in mind that it was devilishly hard just to keep this list to 10 at all. What's a week without being riled up about pixels and polygons, after all?<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/">The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19753971/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>advisory-council</category><category>alganon</category><category>allods</category><category>allods-online</category><category>apocrypha</category><category>Atari</category><category>bethesda</category><category>Bethesda-Softworks</category><category>c-store</category><category>ccp</category><category>CCP-Games</category><category>codemasters</category><category>controversy</category><category>Craig-Zinkievich</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>david-allen</category><category>ddo</category><category>ddo-offer-wall</category><category>delay</category><category>derek-smart</category><category>dungeons-and-dragons-online</category><category>ea</category><category>ea-lous</category><category>Electronic-Arts</category><category>end-of-the-year-2010</category><category>europe</category><category>european-games-awards</category><category>eve</category><category>eve-online</category><category>featured</category><category>final-fantasy-14</category><category>final-fantasy-xiv</category><category>gpotato</category><category>interplay</category><category>lag</category><category>lawsuit</category><category>legal</category><category>lord-of-the-rings-online</category><category>lotro</category><category>mythic</category><category>Mythic-Entertainment</category><category>offer-wall</category><category>ragequit</category><category>square-enix</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>star-wars-the-old-republic</category><category>sto</category><category>stock</category><category>stockholder</category><category>swtor</category><category>the-old-republic</category><category>tor</category><category>turbine</category><category>war</category><category>Warhammer-Online</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/city-of-heroes/" rel="tag">City of Heroes</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/everquest-ii/" rel="tag">EverQuest II</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fallen-earth/" rel="tag">Fallen Earth</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/final-fantasy-xi/" rel="tag">Final Fantasy XI</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars/" rel="tag">Guild Wars</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/maplestory/" rel="tag">MapleStory</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-wars-galaxies/" rel="tag">Star Wars Galaxies</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/humor/" rel="tag">Humor</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/post-apocalyptic/" rel="tag">Post-Apocalyptic</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/perfect-ten/" rel="tag">Perfect Ten</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/11/22/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/12/cata-1291608188.jpg" /><br />
</a></div>
Today sees the launch of <em><a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/">World of Warcraft</a>: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cataclysm/">Cataclysm</a></em>, which represents a destructive "reboot" button on the world of Azeroth. The old has been made new by virtue of fiery explosions that have rent the very earth in twain, and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/"><em>WoW</em></a> gamers will have to find their footing all over again. As you might imagine, it's made one big-ass mess, which is compounded by the fact that there are no janitor classes in the game to sweep it up (the next hero class, perhaps?).<br />
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However, the notion of an in-game cataclysm is hardly the sole domain of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/activision-blizzard/">Activision-Blizzard</a>; on the contrary, large-scale apocalypses pop up all the time in MMOs. After all, nothing grabs the attention like the end of the world (but hey, you still feel fine)!<br />
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In a list that in no way is meant to capitalize on any expansions that may or may not be on the market, we're going to strap on our Kevlar suits, slather our arms with 1000 SPF sunblock, and take a brief tour of 10 worlds that have dated cataclysms -- and lived to tell the tale.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/">The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19742811/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/the-perfect-ten-mmo-cataclysms/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>Activision-Blizzard</category><category>agent-smith</category><category>apocalypse</category><category>arenanet</category><category>ascalon</category><category>azeroth</category><category>bane</category><category>big-bang</category><category>blizzard</category><category>c-store</category><category>cataclysm</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>chickens</category><category>city-of-heroes</category><category>coh</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>crystal-war</category><category>crystal-war-revisited</category><category>detroit</category><category>elrond</category><category>EverQuest-2</category><category>everquest-ii</category><category>facebook</category><category>fallen-earth</category><category>ff11</category><category>ffxi</category><category>final-fantasy-xi</category><category>geth</category><category>guild-wars</category><category>gw</category><category>humor</category><category>icarus-studios</category><category>jack-emmert</category><category>john-smedley</category><category>killer-virus</category><category>klingon</category><category>maplestory</category><category>megatron</category><category>millennium-city</category><category>mono-doh</category><category>monorail</category><category>ncsoft</category><category>new-game-enhancements</category><category>new-jersey</category><category>nge</category><category>norrath</category><category>nuclear-war</category><category>paragon-city</category><category>perfect-10</category><category>perfect-ten</category><category>picard</category><category>post-apocalyptic</category><category>post-searing</category><category>quadav</category><category>rex-the-sheepdog</category><category>rikti</category><category>romulan</category><category>searing</category><category>soe</category><category>space-invaders</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>star-trek-the-next-generation</category><category>star-wars-galaxies</category><category>starfleet</category><category>sto</category><category>swg</category><category>tabula-rasa</category><category>the-matrix</category><category>the-matrix-online</category><category>the-perfect-10</category><category>the-perfect-ten</category><category>v</category><category>wheres-waldo-in-tags</category><category>World-of-Warcraft</category><category>world-of-warcraft-cataclysm</category><category>zombies</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online's C-Store goes as basic as possible]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/promotions/" rel="tag">Promotions</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/11/sto-enterprise-epl-1117.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
With the recent announcement that players will <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/17/step-1-design-a-new-enterprise-for-sto-step-2-step-3-c/">get a chance to design the next Enterprise</a>, <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> players might want a chance to go back to basics. This coincides nicely with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Cryptic/">Cryptic</a>'s giving players the option to go as far back to basics as is fictionally possible with the advent of <a href="http://startrekonline.com/store">the latest items in the C-Store</a>. The original NX-01 Enterprise as well as the uniforms of the prequel series (and its mirror-universe counterparts) are now available for purchase.<br />
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Although the various options are available for purchase individually, players who either can't get enough of the pre-Federation series or enjoy saving money can also purchase a value bundle with all of the uniforms and the ship for just around $15. As it turns out, the ship itself is a Lieutenant-rank ship, meaning that players can start flying it as soon as they start a character. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/Star-Trek-Online/"><em>Star Trek Online</em></a> has <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/">quite a bit on its plate for the future</a>, but that doesn't mean you can't <a href="http://startrekonline.com/store">put down roots in the past</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/">Star Trek Online's C-Store goes as basic as possible</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://startrekonline.com/store>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19722978/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/star-trek-onlines-c-store-goes-as-basic-as-possible/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>bundle-pack</category><category>c-store</category><category>costumes</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-star-trek</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>enterprise</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>nx-01</category><category>original-enterprise</category><category>st-online</category><category>star-trek-mmo</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>sto-c-store</category><category>trek-online</category><category>uniforms</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Replay episodes or make your own with STO's Season Three]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/patches/" rel="tag">Patches</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://startrekonline.com/season_three"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/11/s3-1289937485.jpg" /></a></div>
It's fitting that <a href="http://startrekonline.com"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> third major update is entitled "Genesis," because in several ways, it feels like a new beginning for the game. <a href="http://startrekonline.com/season_three">In a preview of December's Season Three</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/cryptic/">Cryptic</a> reveals a trio of significant re-dos: a revamp of the visually lackluster sector space, the ability to replay your favorite episodes, and the beta of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>STO's</em></a> <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/27/star-trek-online-preps-player-generated-content-tools/">player-created mission feature</a>, The Foundry. While Cryptic is <a href="http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=188886">uncertain whether The Foundry will go live</a> by Season Three, the studio does promise that players will at least be able to tinker with it on the test servers by then.<br />
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The Foundry is one of Cryptic's answers to <em>STO's</em> perceived lack of playable -- and original -- content, allowing gamers to construct their own stories and episodes using<em> STO's</em> robust editor. <em>"Using The Foundry, you can construct Episodes and share them with your friends. If you're not interested in designing missions, you'll still benefit from The Foundry: Player-created missions will be available to you to play and enjoy, right alongside the Episodes you know and love today."</em><br />
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Cryptic has a number of other features on deck for the game following Season Three, including customizing Gorn characters, new uniforms and ships in the C-Store, ground combat improvements, and Klingon-specific updates.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/">Replay episodes or make your own with STO's Season Three</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://startrekonline.com/season_three>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19720880/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/replay-episodes-or-make-your-own-with-stos-season-three/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>episodes</category><category>f2p</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>genesis</category><category>genesis-can-save-spock</category><category>gorn</category><category>patch</category><category>player-created-content</category><category>season-3</category><category>season-three</category><category>season-three-genesis</category><category>star-trek</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>the-foundry</category><category>update</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Massively interviews Shannon Posniewski about Champions Online's F2P changes]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/super-hero/" rel="tag">Super-hero</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/business-models/" rel="tag">Business models</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/interviews/" rel="tag">Interviews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online/" rel="tag">Champions Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://champions-online.com"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/11/co-champions.png" /><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://massively.com/tag/champions-online"><em>Champions Online</em></a> has made quite the big change with the recent decision to go free-to-play. We got together with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/shannon-posniewski">Shannon Posniewski</a>, Executive Producer for <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>CO</em></a>, and asked quite a few questions about how the F2P changes will impact new, current, and returning players.<br />
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In addition to these questions, the <em>CO</em> devs have compiled <a href="http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=118108">a huge FAQ</a> covering many of the common queries regarding F2P, as well as <a href="http://champions-online.com/node/595109">a primer on how archetypes will work</a>. We tried to avoid asking many of the questions that have already been answered somewhere else, so be sure to check those out as well.</div><p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Massively interviews Shannon Posniewski about Champions Online's F2P changes</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/">Massively interviews Shannon Posniewski about Champions Online's F2P changes</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19709364/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/09/massively-interviews-shannon-posniewski-about-champions-onlines/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>adventure-pack</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions-online</category><category>co</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-champions-online</category><category>cryptic-co</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>developer-interview</category><category>exclusive</category><category>executive-producer</category><category>f2p</category><category>featured</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>freemium</category><category>interview</category><category>interviews</category><category>shannon-posniewski</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Patrick Mackey]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[STO's latest Ask Cryptic tackles War Targs, weekly episodes and free-to-play]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/community-qanda/" rel="tag">Community Q&amp;A</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://startrekonline.com/node/2158"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/11/sto.jpg"  alt="" /></a></div>
It's the beginning of a new month, and that means another Q&amp;A session between Cryptic and fans.  <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> Executive Producer <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/dan-stahl/">Dan Stahl</a> stepped up for a comprehensive Ask Cryptic that looked deep into the eyes of the void and came back all the wiser for it.<br />
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The questions run across the board, with a large chunk devoted to future content: More bridge officer features? (Season Four.)  New weekly episodes?  (January, with more to follow.)   Better deep space encounters?  (The team is overhauling these after Season Three.)  The ability to join factions?  (Possible, such as a Ferengi trader faction.)<br />
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Stahl also admits that there are "too many currencies" in the game at the moment, and the team will be paring those down.  One of the most requested features by players is the addition of the classic Enterprise bridge layout from the 1960's series, and it looks as though Cryptic will be delivering: <em>"I can see this getting done in the next several updates."</em><br />
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And if you are among the crowd predicting that <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>STO</em></a> will quickly follow in <a href="http://champions-online.com"><em>Champions Online's</em></a> <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/26/champions-online-going-f2p/">F2P footsteps</a>, it doesn't appear to be in the works (at least, not yet): <em>"We're very excited to see </em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/champions-online">Champs</a> <em>go F2P but this has no direct impact on  </em>Star Trek Online<em>. Our subscription and C-Store model will continue  forward without changes."</em><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/">STO's latest Ask Cryptic tackles War Targs, weekly episodes and free-to-play</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://startrekonline.com/node/2158>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19699159/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/stos-latest-ask-cryptic-tackles-war-targs-weekly-episodes-and/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>ask-cryptic</category><category>bridge-officers</category><category>c-store</category><category>champions</category><category>champions-online</category><category>cryptic</category><category>dan-stahl</category><category>enterprise</category><category>f2p</category><category>ferengi</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>sto</category><category>weekly-episodes</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Star Trek Online rethinks microtransactions in the latest State of the Game]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/sci-fi/" rel="tag">Sci-fi</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/previews/" rel="tag">Previews</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online/" rel="tag">Star Trek Online</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/09/os1072sto580-1284659612.jpg" /></a></div>
Upbeat but still working hard: That is the motto of <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/"><em>Star Trek Online's</em></a> Dan Stahl in the latest <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2089">state of the game</a>. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/star-trek-online"><em>STO's</em></a> executive producer strikes a positive note by saying that the game is enjoying a "healthy subscriber base" as well as an increase in the number of lifetime subs. The team is also proud to be releasing more frequent content in the form of weekly episodes.<br />
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Stahl then tackled three of <em>STO's</em> biggest complaints: the microtransaction shop (C-Store), ground combat and skimpy Klingon content. For players who are rankled that some of the better ships can only be purchased via the C-Store, Stahl reports that this will be changing: <em>"I'm happy to say that we have been evaluating your feedback and looking at our internal resources and finding ways to ensure that coveted items such as ships can be be obtained in game as well as via micro-transaction."</em><br />
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Improvements to both ground combat and the Klingon faction are on their way, he promised, stating that the team has struggled with the Klingon's "identity crisis" since the first day of the game. While the faction's content will grow to become more robust, Stahl admits that the team doesn't have the resources to beef up the Klingon side to be on par with the Federation, especially since only a fraction of the playerbase fight on that side. You can read the full state of the game on <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2089">the official <em>STO</em> site</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/">Star Trek Online rethinks microtransactions in the latest State of the Game</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2089>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19636574/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/star-trek-online-rethinks-microtransactions-in-the-latest-state/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>c-store</category><category>cryptic</category><category>cryptic-store</category><category>cryptic-studios</category><category>daniel-stahl</category><category>developer</category><category>executive-producer</category><category>federation</category><category>ground-combat</category><category>item-shop</category><category>klingon</category><category>microtransactions</category><category>star-trek-online</category><category>state-of-the-game</category><category>sto</category><category>subscribers</category><category>trouble-with-tribbles-and-microtransactions</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
