I was tempted to resub a few weeks ago but it seems that Cryptic stopped selling Game Cards. The guy at Gamestop told me that CO's subs were dropping so fast that Cryptic stopped manufacturing the game cards because it would cost more to make them then what they would probably sell.
I have no idea how true that is, but with business practices like this it seems believeable.
Im glad I quit this game months ago. I was tempted to resub a few weeks ago but it seems that Cryptic stopped selling Game Cards. The guy at Gamestop told me that CO's subs were dropping so fast that Cryptic stopped manufacturing the game cards because it would cost more to make them then what they would probably sell. I have no idea how true that is, but with business practices like this it seems believeable.
Almost makes me think they were purposefully trying to kill the game.
Seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just cancel the dang thing and give a partial reimbursement to lifetime subbers.
Still no dev response since Daeke said players would have to purchase VB. Almsot three days of rage all over the forums without one dev response on the forums, IRC, or even Twitter.
Still no dev response since Daeke said players would have to purchase VB. Almsot three days of rage all over the forums without one dev response on the forums, ORC, or even Twitter.
This is Daeks response to people complaining that the expansion should be free..
Daek: This argument is logically flawed. Champions also got free updates 45 days after launch, and continues to do so to this day.
What free update is he talking about? They gave one new power set around Holloween. The rest of the additions have just been mostly repeatable missions because on the day the game launched, they nerfed xp so that the existing missions didnt give enough xp wich created points in the game where some of the players could hit leveling gaps.
Sure the new power set could qualify as an update, but the rest of it is just trying to fix the game.
Dont get me wrong. Paying for an expansion is pretty normal these days. But when we the players think of an expansion, we are thinking of an expansion like WoW, or LotR. Massive amounts of new content with lots of new areas to explore and even new classes and races and more levels. Practicly a new game all on its own. Something worthy of paying the price.
But Cryptic is trying to get people to pay for a Single new zone. No new powers. No new levels. Nothing at all is being added to the game besides a change of scenery for a few levels.
IMO it doesnt qualify as an expansion. Its just an update to add content to an already content starved game. People shouldnt be paying for something that just fixes the content problem. And this little update still doesnt fix the content problem, but it does help.
Wow, I haven't checked in on Champions in a while, and I have to say I find the news of a paid expansion stunning. No game with only five zones has any business charging extra for access to additional content. Especially when one of those zones is Lemuria.
I find it interesting that yesterday Arkayne let the community know, whether it was a slip or not, that Vibora Bay was being worked on prior to launch.
That guy really is a fool. And his approach to argument seems to be deliberately misreading people's posts so he can carry on with his original point unhindered.
Here's what I don't understand about their thinking RE: Paid Expansion. I'm guessing the charge for a single-zone, 4-5 level expansion will be in the neighborhood of ten dollars. Instead of charging current players and making them rage quit, they could have targeted people like, oh, I don't know, me; they could have sent us former subscribers e-mails saying, "We have a whole new expansion! Come back and play for a month for a reduced fee of ten dollars!"
I might have done it. Now it's almost certain I'll never touch the game again.
If you want a good laugh, read this thread where this guy tries to tell us we should pony up more cash due to Financial Realities. forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php All I'm getting is Cryptic did not make a good game, keep paying a sub and buying microtransactions(fluff or content updates) until it is.
I like how some of those people are trying to figure out Cryptics finances. X amount of money from monthly subs = X amount of monthly money, minus X amount for..... Blah blah blah blah.
As a (former) paying customer I could give two turds about Cryptics financial situation. All I care about is the expected quality and service that I should be getting for paying a premium monthly subscription. Nobody (Cryptic or anyone else) should expect me to fork over more cash above my monthly subscription so that Cryptic can make the game better, much less actually fix it.
Cryptics financial situation, good or bad, is thier own problem. If they cant meet thier obgligations as a service provider without price gouging thier customers then people will just move on. Like so many already have, and many more will if they keep it up.
This so called 'Expansion', Vibora Bay ( or whatever its called) will be a deal breaker for a whole lot of people. If they actually continue with thier plan to charge thier customers for such a shabby excuse of an expansion they will see alot of really ticked off people. And ticked off people wont give you money.
Well i criticise Cryptics questing and world play but maybe for them life is really a sequence of do x of y tasks...go here and make 3 mmos come back for reward and next quest, now take mmo x and and craft one expansion, come back for reward and next quest..... You have levelled and those original quests have respawned move to next zone.....like the in game quests its impossible for the player to care about what they are doing or anything that happens in the world...likewise Cryptic dont seem to care about anything they create or understand any diferent approach to development.
If this is the way Cryptic will continue to do business then, as a lifetime subscriber, I hope the game fails. I am definitely not alone and I would argue I am in the majority that thinks Cryptic did not provide a good service for the price compared to the competition. I do not want to see their business model succeed. I am not paying another dime to a game because it "has so much potential". I did that with CoH for too long. Sorry to those that still like the game.
I didnt think it was possible for Atari/Crypic to fail even more but they proved me wrong! They make SOE and Funcom look good... And its funny how the STO fans are defending them now just like CO fans did before launch.
I was once part of the CO Fanboi Defense Brigade. At least then we didn't have the information we do now, I was blind defending Cryptic and we all got a bunch of false promises and our money depleted.
At least STO fans have a warning.
F2P models have more dignity and respect toward the MMO community than Cryptic. If I could burn Cryptic down I would.
You know CO already has a bewilderingly large selection of powers, which thanks to dismally underwhelming world design make no material difference to gameplay....the game desperately needs variety in what you do and how the world responds.
Adding more customisation options is only going to endear the most anally perfectionist of avatar designers and in no way broaden the extraordinarily limited appeal of this game. Ironically its everything EXCEPT avatar customisation that is in dire need of development and should be urgently given a higer priority.
Comments
Im glad I quit this game months ago.
I was tempted to resub a few weeks ago but it seems that Cryptic stopped selling Game Cards. The guy at Gamestop told me that CO's subs were dropping so fast that Cryptic stopped manufacturing the game cards because it would cost more to make them then what they would probably sell.
I have no idea how true that is, but with business practices like this it seems believeable.
Almost makes me think they were purposefully trying to kill the game.
Seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just cancel the dang thing and give a partial reimbursement to lifetime subbers.
Still no dev response since Daeke said players would have to purchase VB. Almsot three days of rage all over the forums without one dev response on the forums, IRC, or even Twitter.
They are too ashamed to show their greedy faces.
Currently Playing: The Game
Daeke is now locking threads for anyone asking about the content, VB, or why it isn't free. This was the dev reply:
http://forums.champions-online.com/showpost.php?p=1455094&postcount=79
Unfucking believable.
My god he must be going to STO hes even began talking like Spock !
This is Daeks response to people complaining that the expansion should be free..
Daek: This argument is logically flawed. Champions also got free updates 45 days after launch, and continues to do so to this day.
What free update is he talking about? They gave one new power set around Holloween. The rest of the additions have just been mostly repeatable missions because on the day the game launched, they nerfed xp so that the existing missions didnt give enough xp wich created points in the game where some of the players could hit leveling gaps.
Sure the new power set could qualify as an update, but the rest of it is just trying to fix the game.
Dont get me wrong. Paying for an expansion is pretty normal these days. But when we the players think of an expansion, we are thinking of an expansion like WoW, or LotR. Massive amounts of new content with lots of new areas to explore and even new classes and races and more levels. Practicly a new game all on its own. Something worthy of paying the price.
But Cryptic is trying to get people to pay for a Single new zone. No new powers. No new levels. Nothing at all is being added to the game besides a change of scenery for a few levels.
IMO it doesnt qualify as an expansion. Its just an update to add content to an already content starved game. People shouldnt be paying for something that just fixes the content problem. And this little update still doesnt fix the content problem, but it does help.
Wow, I haven't checked in on Champions in a while, and I have to say I find the news of a paid expansion stunning. No game with only five zones has any business charging extra for access to additional content. Especially when one of those zones is Lemuria.
Yet - to some of us, so very predictable.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
LOL. If they kill the game - its lifetime is over. Did the offer include any guarantee of duration? I suspect not.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Of course they could simply be preparing the way for a full f2p game with mt's nicely timed to coincide with DCUO's release.
I find it interesting that yesterday Arkayne let the community know, whether it was a slip or not, that Vibora Bay was being worked on prior to launch.
If you want a good laugh, read this thread where this guy tries to tell us we should pony up more cash due to Financial Realities.
forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php
All I'm getting is Cryptic did not make a good game, keep paying a sub and buying microtransactions(fluff or content updates) until it is.
That guy really is a fool. And his approach to argument seems to be deliberately misreading people's posts so he can carry on with his original point unhindered.
Here's what I don't understand about their thinking RE: Paid Expansion. I'm guessing the charge for a single-zone, 4-5 level expansion will be in the neighborhood of ten dollars. Instead of charging current players and making them rage quit, they could have targeted people like, oh, I don't know, me; they could have sent us former subscribers e-mails saying, "We have a whole new expansion! Come back and play for a month for a reduced fee of ten dollars!"
I might have done it. Now it's almost certain I'll never touch the game again.
I like how some of those people are trying to figure out Cryptics finances. X amount of money from monthly subs = X amount of monthly money, minus X amount for..... Blah blah blah blah.
As a (former) paying customer I could give two turds about Cryptics financial situation. All I care about is the expected quality and service that I should be getting for paying a premium monthly subscription. Nobody (Cryptic or anyone else) should expect me to fork over more cash above my monthly subscription so that Cryptic can make the game better, much less actually fix it.
Cryptics financial situation, good or bad, is thier own problem. If they cant meet thier obgligations as a service provider without price gouging thier customers then people will just move on. Like so many already have, and many more will if they keep it up.
This so called 'Expansion', Vibora Bay ( or whatever its called) will be a deal breaker for a whole lot of people. If they actually continue with thier plan to charge thier customers for such a shabby excuse of an expansion they will see alot of really ticked off people. And ticked off people wont give you money.
Well i criticise Cryptics questing and world play but maybe for them life is really a sequence of do x of y tasks...go here and make 3 mmos come back for reward and next quest, now take mmo x and and craft one expansion, come back for reward and next quest..... You have levelled and those original quests have respawned move to next zone.....like the in game quests its impossible for the player to care about what they are doing or anything that happens in the world...likewise Cryptic dont seem to care about anything they create or understand any diferent approach to development.
If this is the way Cryptic will continue to do business then, as a lifetime subscriber, I hope the game fails. I am definitely not alone and I would argue I am in the majority that thinks Cryptic did not provide a good service for the price compared to the competition. I do not want to see their business model succeed. I am not paying another dime to a game because it "has so much potential". I did that with CoH for too long. Sorry to those that still like the game.
I was once part of the CO Fanboi Defense Brigade. At least then we didn't have the information we do now, I was blind defending Cryptic and we all got a bunch of false promises and our money depleted.
At least STO fans have a warning.
F2P models have more dignity and respect toward the MMO community than Cryptic. If I could burn Cryptic down I would.
Ask Cryptic has been posted, Tier 4 powers is mentioned again. Don't know if this means with Vibora Bay or not:
http://www.champions-online.com/node/594835
You know CO already has a bewilderingly large selection of powers, which thanks to dismally underwhelming world design make no material difference to gameplay....the game desperately needs variety in what you do and how the world responds.
Adding more customisation options is only going to endear the most anally perfectionist of avatar designers and in no way broaden the extraordinarily limited appeal of this game. Ironically its everything EXCEPT avatar customisation that is in dire need of development and should be urgently given a higer priority.