A few weeks ago, Champions Online put out the call for your best festively-themed screenshots in their Winter Screenshot Contest. They began this by saying that winter was “almost here” to which one reader replied that he’d spent 30 minutes defrosting his car and winter is not “almost” here, it “is” here. So now that winter has arrived, Cryptic was ready to see the community’s take on it. Whether it be a peaceful snowy scene or a raucous holiday celebration, they wanted to see your favorite shots.

The response was very enthusiastic — the submission thread hit fourteen pages in nine days, and Cryptic announced the five lucky winners of the contest on Tuesday. The submissions ran the gamut from quiet and peaceful to loud and celebratory to funny.

Each of the winners will receive a code for an in-game Retro Destroyer action figure. All of the submissions can be seen on the forum thread, while the five winning screenshots can be viewed here. Congratulations to the winners!

Filed under: Super-hero, Events, in-game, News items, Champions Online

Champions Online announces screenshot contest winners originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cryptic has revealed the free costume pieces in next week’s Nemesis Confrontation update, which come in addition to two unlockable costume sets. Among the new free costume items are some exceptionally sweet capes, although we’re sure many players will be filled with glee to see new weapons being added to the costume creator.

While these are only cosmetic costume options, they’re important to players who wield specific guns or swords. It may seem like a minor issue to some, but having an outfit that makes sense — and looks cool at the same time — is surprisingly important to players who revel in a game like Champions Online.

You can also now put guitars on the back of your characters; something that immediately reeks of potential. We have to wonder if guitars are going to be added as visual replacements for sword based powers, enabling us to whack enemies with our musical axes. If someone at Cryptic could make that so, it would be somewhere within the vicinity of pure awesome.

Free costume parts galore in Champions Online originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Where did you buy your last MMO and where will you buy your next? Chances are you’ll be getting it on Steam or so the story goes according to Brad Wardell, head honcho over at Stardock. We’re inclined to agree with his assertion that Valve’s digital distribution platform holds roughly 70% of the PC market as many of us here at Massively have been buying our MMOs — and PC games in general — on the service for some time now.

So is it a good thing or a bad thing for MMO players? Our experience with purchasing games like Aion and Champions Online through the service has been positive, and so long as no complications arise via patches or other client issues we see no reason to stop utilizing the service unless better offers appear.

The only real MMO-related issue we can see is with collector’s editions. Some games offer a different set of bonus material for people who opt out of the physical copy and go for the digital, but certain items like art books, mouse pads and other bric-a-brac can’t be delivered through a wire… at least, not until sometime in the far flung future.

Now, as far as the Steamworks integration issue goes… Well, that’s a whole other sack of fishes.

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Opinion

Steam estimated at selling to 70% of PC market originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a recent interview with Boomtown, Bill Roper spoke his mind on everything from Hellgate: London hate to Champions Online’s launch and future. In fact, the man spoke quite candidly on all topics, particularly that of Cryptic’s missteps with their second superhero MMO as well as their successes.

Of particular note, there’s a mention of how Champions Online will handle DC Universe Online’s 2010 launch given that the superhero MMO market hasn’t really expanded of late. Curiously, Roper says he feels that the Xbox 360 version will help to vastly expand Champions’ user base. There’s a chance Cryptic could be pushing to get into the console market by or before SOE releases their superhero MMO. Although given the headaches Cryptic has expressed at getting an MMO on Microsoft’s console, we get the feeling much of the developer’s focus is presently on Star Trek Online and continued live game support.

Filed under: Interviews, New titles, News items, Champions Online

Bill Roper on Champions Online’s launch, current state and future originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As Lum points out, there are several common misconceptions about the entire process. Among them are the idea that the game company doesn’t step in because they’re getting kickbacks, which is pointed out to fail the simple test of Occam’s razor. When developers want to get more money from an existing game, there are usually better ways to run it, such as the Champions Online model or the Dungeons and Dragons Online approach. He also tackles the infamous statement that the farmers are paying customers and therefore the company has even less incentive to stop them.

So if everyone hates RMT, why is it still around? The article briefly touches upon it, but We Fly Spitfires had a recent post that articulates more specifically: more people buy gold than would necessarily admit it. Since no one will admit to it, no one ever asks, and as a result there’s a large culture of silence that publicly despises it and privately takes part. In short? As long as there’s a customer base, the farming will continue. Food for thought all around.

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, Exploits, Opinion

Why RMT won’t go away originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Once again, Cryptic Studios is giving you a great excuse not to spend time with friends and family over a holiday weekend. The developer’s superheroic MMO, Champions Online, will be free-to-play from November 26-30 as a promotion for the game’s second free content expansion since its launch in September.

The free update, which is titled Nemesis Confrontation and launches November 24, will include new costumes and perks, and tasks players with escaping from a hostile intergalactic prison — a mission made much more difficult by the facility’s unfriendly inhabitants, seen above. You’ll also face off against the Shadow Destroyer (the party responsible for your hero’s unrequested detention) and even your user-generated Nemesis. Sounds like a pretty dangerous calling — but nowhere near as perilous as the crushing throng of Black Friday shoppers that awaits you at your local mall.

[Via Big Download]

Free Champions Online expansion on Nov. 24, plus free-to-play Thanksgiving weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Obviously, the Lair in question is the highlight of the update, which features combat against alien gladiators as well as a collection of powerful villains. There are other rewards to be earned as well, however — ranging from a number of different hero enhancements to costume pieces in the vein of the enemies fought within the lair. If you can’t wait to run the lair in order to get the costume pieces (perhaps you have a perfect character concept to start with), the preview promises that they will also be available in the C-Store. Champions Online isn’t going to make players wait long for the event, either, as it’s launching on the 24th. It should give players quite a bit to be thankful for — when they’re not battling extradimensional alien gladiators, at least.

Filed under: Super-hero, Events, in-game, Patches, Previews, News items, Champions Online

Champions Online previews Nemesis Confrontation originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And they’re not going to tell you! However, you can probably make a few guesses as to the secret if you haven’t already, when you participate in their secret playtest tomorrow. Champions Online Community Team member David “Daeke” Bass posted this interesting piece of news today: “We’ve got a big feature coming out next week, but we want your help to test it before then. We can’t give too many details now…”

When this super secret new feature hits the PTS tomorrow, it will not be as a timed event, so you can log in and take a look at your leisure. Don’t have any speculation as to what it is yet? A few simple instructions on what to bring to the party might help. Daeke requests that you bring a 5-man team of level 40 players and interestingly, a Nemesis.

If you want to participate you can either transfer your own characters over from the live server, or level up using the contact outside the Millennium City Powerhouse.

Champions Online promises more information tomorrow — we can’t wait!

Filed under: Super-hero, Events, in-game, Champions Online

Champions Online has a secret originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online is still wet behind the ears, but we’re moving through the game’s third month of operation, time enough to take a slightly calmer look at how things went at launch and how the game has been shaping up. Jeux Online recently interviewed executive producer Bill Roper regarding the game’s launch and its future, which might not contain as much information on the latter as the fans would like but still contains some interesting bits and pieces.

Looking forward, the most interesting bits are the promise of an upcoming Lair in which each player’s Nemesis makes an appearance, in a union of several high-level threats to face off against a team of heroes. (Shades of the Masters of Evil or the Legion of Doom.) He also discusses a bit about the upcoming winter event, which he states will not include a new powerset but will include a number of “presents”, as well as a fight against a truly massive opponent. There’s also discussion regarding mission instancing a la City of Heroes, PvP maps, and the ongoing task of balancing Champions Online. How the game will mature in practice is yet to be seen, but we’re getting a clearer and clearer idea about the game’s direction at the very least.

Bill Roper talks about Champions Online successes and failures originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion is his choice of examples for the first type of communication, in which the development team is essentially totally silent. The attitude is either complete silence, or denying that a bug is actually a bug. On the flip side, Champions Online embraces an open style of communication in which the developers loudly talk about bugs, system problems, and so on. Heimburg goes on to point out the positives and negatives of both sides — Aion, for instance, creates an impression that things are working as intended even when they aren’t. That works well until it becomes absolutely transparent that something is wrong, at which point the credibility is lost. Champions Online has a much more prevalent sense that the players should work with the developers and give them slack, but that only extends so far. It’s an interesting look at a complicated issue, and worthy of an in-depth reading.

Filed under: Aion, Forums, Opinion, Academic, Champions Online

Developer communication as it affects games originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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