[CO] State of the Game: October 26, 2010

Executive Producer Shannon Posniewski checks in with a very special State of the Game.Greetings Champions! As you likely know by now, Champions Online will soon be free to play! We've been planning and working on this for a while now, which is why our communication has dropped off a bit. We couldn't let the cat out of the bag until we knew better what we were going to do. So, my apologies for that. I'm sure you have many questions about the change, and I hope this lengthy State of the Game answers some of them. First, I want to talk about the changes we're making to the game itself and the thinking behind them. This is just a general overview. There will be follow-ups in the news feed and in the forums over the next few weeks. Changes to Powers and Advancement

Players love the openness of Champions Online's power system. It's very cool that you can mix and match powers from all over, but such flexibility can be overwhelming. Powers and their interactions can be pretty complex and their descriptions are sometimes unclear (or occasionally incorrect). We're doing three major things to address these issues in the Free-to-Play update.

• New Descriptions - We've added tech and rewritten all of the power descriptions so that they are accurate and understandable. Tooltips should be more succinct while at the same time being clear and complete.
  
  
• Streamlined Powers - We're fixing many systemic inconsistencies and outright errors throughout the power frameworks. Most of the time, we're doing this by simplifying interactions. For example, there were many different kinds of holds, which led to all sorts of strange interaction problems and unexpected results. We've simplified control powers so that there are fewer distinct hold types. We've also set them up in a way that should make them easier to understand and use appropriately.
  
  
• Heroic Archetypes - The really big thing we're doing is adding a whole new way to choose your hero's powers! When you create a hero, you may choose an Archetype, which will specify which powers you earn as you level up. Archetypes aren't general like classes or roles, nor do they simply map to our frameworks. Archetypes are character builds that mimic a specific kind of superhero from the comic pages. For example, one of the Archetypes is "The Blade." As you might guess, The Blade is a melee based character focused on using single-blade powers. He specializes in doing tons of damage to single targets. For comparison, "The Brute" is also a melee character that dishes out tons of damage, but instead focuses more on group combat and survivability. The Free-to-Play update will have at least eight of these Archetypes available to play right off the bat, and we'll be adding more every month.
  
  

We are not deleting powers or changing how Champions Online plays! Any existing characters should play just like they always have (fixes and tweaks aside). The changes above amount to a bunch of bug fixing and a method to have your powers automatically chosen for you. Of course, you can still have full control of your hero's build like you do today! By choosing the Custom Archetype, you have exactly the same experience you have today with no restrictions. This is a special feature available only to subscribers. Personally, I am very excited about the addition of Archetypes. I have seen new players get into the tutorial and have a great time, then get stymied when they level up and see the staggering number of power choices available. Archetypes are guaranteed safe, fun and exciting builds that you can just jump in and have a great time with.

Choose an Archetype or Create Your Own!

Changes to Content

A lot of players have mentioned how they’d love to spend more time in the city after the tutorial rather than immediately be whisked off to deal with the crises in the Desert or Canada. Players also said they wanted more direction and help following the tutorial. The main social hub in Champs is Millennium City's fantastic Renaissance Center, which players don't get to until a little later in their hero's career. We're reorganizing and reworking our early content to address these issues.

• Improved Tutorial - We're streamlining the tutorial to make it flow and teach better.
  
  
• Welcome to Ren Center - Immediately after the tutorial, players will go to Renaissance Center, the social hub of Champions Online. Defender will be their first contact and help them get their bearings in Millennium City. He'll eventually send the hero off to check on some strange happenings in the park by the Super-Jet, which will lead the hero to adventures in Westside.
  
  
• Westside Revisited - We've reordered, rescripted and augmented the content in Westside. There is now a more tightly scripted storyline for the whole neighborhood that ties everything together. While some of our favorite missions are still there, we've also added new ones, including a couple new boss battles! We've added new landmarks to the zone as well, so players can tell where they are and where they're going. After completing the adventure in Westside, players go to the Desert Crisis.
  
  
• Desert Revisited - The Desert Crisis and the Desert have also had their stories punched up notch! There is now an overall structure to the story that integrates Project Greenskin, Burning Sands, Burnside and the Atomic Wasteland. We've also added a couple new fights and a big bang to conclude the adventure! This brings the player to around level 18 or 19, where they can continue in the Desert or return to Millennium City.
  
  

I really wanted to surface more of the story and give more direction to your hero. There is a lot going on in Champions Online, and it's easy to miss connections or get lost in all that's going on in the game. This new restructuring takes the content we had, adds to it and presents it in a way that you can follow the narrative better. I also think everyone will be happy to get to Ren Cen right away when they start! The advancement, powers and early content changes are the really big changes you'll see in the Free-to-Play Update. Of course, there will be lots of bug fixes throughout the game as well, and tweaks and balance changes to powers. So, let me talk a bit about subscriptions and free-to-play.

Someone's been busy in the Atomic Wasteland!

Subscriptions

First of all, you can (and should!) still subscribe to Champions Online. If you continue to subscribe (and become a "Gold Member"), then what you get doesn't change from what you get today. You still get all the zones, all the levels, all existing and future adventure packs, and all the costume parts available today (plus a bunch of new ones). You still have complete control over what powers your hero has (as well as their color), just like today. The only difference you'll see is that there will be more things in the C-Store to buy, if you are so inclined. Current lifetime subscribers automatically become Gold Members for life and get all the same benefits. Non-subscribers ("Silver Players") don't get all of that. Most importantly, they don't get complete control over what powers their heroes get. Instead, they can only create heroes by choosing an Archetype. Though the power progression is predefined, the player can tailor the powers with their choice of Advantages. Silver Players are also limited in other ways such as inventory, bank and marketplace space. Of course, Silver Players retain full control over how their character looks using the costume editor. They also get access to all the zones and levels. If you decide to switch from Gold to Silver, your characters will still be there. However, you won't be able to play them until either you re-subscribe or you convert them into Silver characters. Exactly how this will work is still being determined. There are several other ways that Gold Members and Silver Players differ. We have a Features Matrix published right here with the exact differences.

The Egyptian, Spartan and Military sets are three of the Gold costume packs that subscribers get for free.

Expanded C-Store

Finally, it will come as no surprise that we're going to be adding a lot of things to the C-Store. Currently, we mainly sell costumes and service items. We will be adding a bunch of items and devices to the store. If you play other free-to-play games, many of these will be familiar: healing devices, energy refills, damage buffs, reward multipliers and things like that. We will also have some other things I think are pretty special. A few examples:

• Magnifier - Makes your character larger for a period of time.
  
  
• Shrinker - Makes you character smaller for a period of time.
  
  
• Party Bomb - Everyone dance!
  
  
• Become Werewolf - Makes you look like and fight like a werewolf for a time.
  
  
• Summon Team - Transports your team to your location.
  
  

(Note that these specific examples are planned but aren't guaranteed to actually be available.) These items are for sale to both Gold Members and Silver Players. Most things in the store will be purchasable by both Gold Members and Silver Players. (There are some costume packs that Gold Members get for free that Silver Players must pay for.) That's a lot to Digest!

Yes, it is. The team and I have been working on this for a while now, and we're very excited about it! We tried to target things that we know trip up new players (because we expect many soon) and also frustrate (and infuriate) long-time subscribers. I look forward to what you all think about the Archetypes we make and how they fit into the game. I think the changes to Westside and Desert really make those areas fresh and interesting, and I'm interested to hear your feelings on them too! The restricted beta for this update starts in early November. Whew!

A hearty congratulations if you've made it this far! There are only a couple more things to mention before I'll let you go. We are enormously happy with the reception of Demonflame! Demonflame went through three major development periods, each time improving greatly. I think the result is great, and I'm glad you do too (at least on the whole). Plans for the next Adventure Pack are in the works, though it won't be available until after the Free-to-Play Update. The very spoooooky Bloodmoon event will be on for Halloween. Log in and get your wolf on! And lastly, we're looking toward the holidays and scheming for a Holiday event. BOO! Happy Halloween!
-poz