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Champions Online: Patch Brings Major Respec Changes
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
The Champions Online respec or "Retcon" system has been updated in a patch pushed to live servers today. Checking the official forums, it seems most players are overall happy with the new system, but the costs are still an issue, namely, they are still too high.
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An explanation of the new system is available below:
First, be aware that the influx of so many heroes into the Championsverse has stretched the fabric of time and space even thinner than it was previously. As such, it is now possible to completely retcon your character from start to finish, regardless of level.
The basic idea of how it works still holds; that is, for each step you have retconed your character, the next step becomes more expensive. Now, allow me to make an important clarification of something that has always been true: points of any kind that you have unspent COUNT AGAINST THE COST OF RETCONNING another step. In other words, the cost of retconing the 5th of 5 powers is exactly the same as retconing one power when you have four other powers selections unassigned.
Second, the cost of retconing now scales in relation to the potency of what you are retconing in a more logical manner. Previously, the cost of retconing a two point advantage was double the cost of retconing a power. The new ratio is as follows:
Power – 3 steps
Advantage – 1 step per point (zero point advantages don’t increase cost from previous step)
Talents – 2 steps
Characteristic Focus – 4 steps
Travel Power – 2 steps
End Builder – 1 step
Innate Talent – 4 steps.Each step you go back increases the cost of that step and all subsequent steps.
Additionally, the cost progression of each step is now different than it was previously. Your first few steps will be, comparatively, rather inexpensive compared to what they were. As you step deeper into your past, however, the cost will escalate. The final result of this is that retconing back four or fewer powers will now be, in total, less expensive than it was. Retconing back further than that, however, slowly becomes more expensive.
Have you had any experience with the new system yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
They fixed everything but the prices..they should be high but they're overly high in comparision with the amount of money you can make in a reasonable amount of time. At this point if I could turn leveling off I might make enough money to do a half respec (which is what I need to re do my super stats the rest are fine) ... I might get enough money er..by the end of next month. The economy is too new for the prices to be this high.
Welcome in the core of almost all MMORPGs: grind. The main feature which makes you to play a MMO until you realize that there is nothing else there.
With the prices still outrageously high, you would come out way ahead in both time and resources by off selling everything, deposting the resources in your bank, and rerolling.
when the game launched they nerfed / balanced a lot of powers with out notes ... so much for them being transparent in their works .
then they said they reduced cost for respec , and this was twice , so much for the reduced cost that i might have to get some one to farm gold for me because no way in hell am i making that kind of money at my lvl
the change is nice but is cheaper and faster for me to make a new toon and lvl it up to my current lvl then farm for gold to make money and respec . just funny that while i am farming money and lvlin to unlearn skills when i should be lvling to learn them .
Welcome in the core of almost all MMORPGs: grind. The main feature which makes you to play a MMO until you realize that there is nothing else there.
Not even with Grind would you get a respec any earlier. Infact MOST mobs drop about 1 - 5 coppers even at lvl 18. Infact the highest pay out I've ever gotten was around 25 - 50 copper from a quest...Im sure 1 or two have paid more but not many. There alerady IS grind in the game...Respec's are like grind to 1 million. Basically only gold farmers are going to get any sort of money out of the game..and its gonna be alot of real cash. I'm betting 5 gold could sell for about 10 dollars right now thats how hard it is to make money in Champions.
btw I'm not going to Rage quit over it all its just really annoying I don't want to restart my character over 2 stats.
Have you had any experience with the new system yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
" it seems most players are overall happy with the new system"
What forums have you been reading as thats not the case from the offical Champions forums
An extremely high respec cost seems to be setting the stage for a full respec to be put into the cash shop.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Not even with Grind would you get a respec any earlier. Infact MOST mobs drop about 1 - 5 coppers even at lvl 18. Infact the highest pay out I've ever gotten was around 25 - 50 copper from a quest...Im sure 1 or two have paid more but not many. There alerady IS grind in the game...Respec's are like grind to 1 million. Basically only gold farmers are going to get any sort of money out of the game..and its gonna be alot of real cash. I'm betting 5 gold could sell for about 10 dollars right now thats how hard it is to make money in Champions.
btw I'm not going to Rage quit over it all its just really annoying I don't want to restart my character over 2 stats.
Ah, but ya see Cryptic is it's own gold farmer. You'll surely be able to buy respecs from their cash shop eventually. It's a matter of them creating a demand for those respecs by nerfing powers and keeping respec costs high, then reaping the rewards as people shell out $5 a pop to buy them.
Exactamundo.
Welcome in the core of almost all MMORPGs: grind. The main feature which makes you to play a MMO until you realize that there is nothing else there.
Not even with Grind would you get a respec any earlier. Infact MOST mobs drop about 1 - 5 coppers even at lvl 18. Infact the highest pay out I've ever gotten was around 25 - 50 copper from a quest...Im sure 1 or two have paid more but not many. There alerady IS grind in the game...Respec's are like grind to 1 million. Basically only gold farmers are going to get any sort of money out of the game..and its gonna be alot of real cash. I'm betting 5 gold could sell for about 10 dollars right now thats how hard it is to make money in Champions.
btw I'm not going to Rage quit over it all its just really annoying I don't want to restart my character over 2 stats.
Theres no gold or copper in CO.
Yes the respec costs are too high.
They will lower them it's only day 2.
Exactamundo.
Pretty low of a game to do since your already paying a monthly fee.
Our spirit was here long before you
Long before us
And long will it be after your pride brings you to your end
I don't see the problem tbh your character choices should be meaningful and the price should be high to stop you from respecing all the time.
Exactamundo.
Pretty low of a game to do since your already paying a monthly fee.
Which is why I am against a subscription cost and microtransactions in the same game. It allows developers to do things such as I hypothesized, and really milk their customers.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Exactamundo.
Pretty low of a game to do since your already paying a monthly fee.
Which is why I am against a subscription cost and microtransactions in the same game. It allows developers to do things such as I hypothesized, and really milk their customers.
I'm inclined to believe that it's not actually Cryptic's fault, though I have slammed them for it in the past. I think it has more to do with Atari and their struggling company trying to squeeze as much money out of their customers as they can.
Exactamundo.
Pretty low of a game to do since your already paying a monthly fee.
Which is why I am against a subscription cost and microtransactions in the same game. It allows developers to do things such as I hypothesized, and really milk their customers.
So you are probably against a lot of the major MMO companies, are you?
Let's rethink this. Pretend that these MTs were called something different. Let's call them "Packs". Oh wait, thats sounds strikingly similar to what CoH/CoV uses does'nt it? What about the so called "Services" such as server transfers and cosmetic character changes WoW implemented?
Case in point, most MMOs do some sort of MT service in a way. Cryptic just did'nt give them a fancy name like they do. Now people think of it as a F2P with extra charges. Get over it! Big deal!
/struts off
Currently playing: Star Wars: The Old Republic, World of Warcraft, Dota 2, League of Legends
Waiting on: Blade & Soul, Guild Wars 2, Tera, Kingdoms of Amular, Firefall
You can stop people from doing it all the time (though I don't agree that that is a good idea) just buy limiting it to once a month or something like that.
The cost is NOT to limit how often it is done.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
You can stop people from doing it all the time (though I don't agree that that is a good idea) just buy limiting it to once a month or something like that.
The cost is NOT to limit how often it is done.
Giving a free respec just to give one is ridiculous. I think what cryptic did is probably a good idea, maybe the costs are a little off.. and should scale with your level.. but overall -- as long as it doesn't throw off PvP balance (which it will anyway eventually) then its the best idea for respeccing. They don't have to give any kind of respec at all, and if they are going to give a respec, they have to do something that doesn't encourage a tremendous amount or respeccing going on. The powerhouse allows you to test builds time and time again before locking those decisions in, if you aren't smart enough to use that to your advantage, you deserve the additional cost.
Exactamundo.
Pretty low of a game to do since your already paying a monthly fee.
Which is why I am against a subscription cost and microtransactions in the same game. It allows developers to do things such as I hypothesized, and really milk their customers.
Hehehehe Microtransactions lol you gotta be kidding me .... yep not having those little pets following you is gonna screw your game up .
if or when they make something for MT that is gonna make the game easier for someone to lvl and not me i'll quit the game for good. I will even get my account ban if they do.
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Theres no gold or copper in CO.
Yes the respec costs are too high.
They will lower them it's only day 2.
Sure, they call 'em "resources", but the most valuable is gold colored and has what looks like a stylized "G", the middle is silver in color and what could be an "S", while the lowest looks like a stylized "C" and is well... coppery in color. That's exactly the same as saying that there's Gold, Silver and Copper.
I could do the same thing by calling all of the dollars in my bank account "Fluglebinders"... it does';t change what they are.
altho i hope this game succeeds for the sake of non-fantasy mmos getting a significant marketshare, these major changes right after launch only spell disaster.. it just implies that this game is not the product anyone wants and that its not ready for commercial launch..
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
They are already looking at how the economy balances out to make tweaks to resource gain and respec costs.
The best thing that people who have the game can do is to play it.
Awesome attitude you have! People don't seem to understand that MMOs are'nt perfect a few days after launch and need to be patient and help out.
Yes, I do agree that the nerf was too surprising and had a lack of info, but so what? It WILL get fixed if it gets intolerable at later levels or else people will just move on and complain about another aspect. As for the economy, it can take a while to steady out. Expect a ton of tweaks (minor and major) to be put out in the next few weeks.
Enjoy what is fun at the moment. This game is playable and is pretty darn fun even at launch!
Currently playing: Star Wars: The Old Republic, World of Warcraft, Dota 2, League of Legends
Waiting on: Blade & Soul, Guild Wars 2, Tera, Kingdoms of Amular, Firefall
I find the game un-playable and not fun, our definitions of fun are obviously two different things. Opinions are like... (Fill in the blank).
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
People have a problem with the "just play" philosophy because:
The smartest thing you can do is to not play the characters that need respecs until the respec system is made useable. Who knows how long that will be, since respecs were one of the biggest issues during open beta and weren't changed then. After launch, guess what, they're still an issue. Two patches later, still incredibly broken.
What does it say about an MMO when paying subscription customers beg to pay more to buy full respecs from the cash shop because the devs seem to be incapable of making respecs work in-game, and the latest solution is still a clunky LIFO (last in first out) instead of a more flexible (but complex) algorithm based on power tiers?
That screams "inexperienced MMO developer" and is an enormous warning to those who haven't bought this game to not touch it in its current state. Even if you create a new character now and weren't affected by the sweeping launch day nerfs, what happens when they do it again? Sweeping nerfs, respecs brokenly expensive and LIFO, and no free full respecs given when powers from every set are hit?
Every MMO has problems on launch day, but the way that the CO issues have been fumbled is not promising for the future of the MMO. And guess what, the same developer is behind the upcoming Star Trek Online. Maybe they'll get better at this between now and then, but it's going to have to be fast if they want to save the current mess.
Well I got a chance to play the new patch last night and I have to say that I agree with the vast majority in saying that the game difficulty was upped a little bit too much.
I have been playing CO since closed beta. Last night I tried to complete a mission where you defeat a boss called Electric Eel while trying to collect some toxic waste and mutant fish samples under water in a river. In the past I would have simply swam up to the boss and whooped his sorry ass. I expected it would be harded but not 17 defeats harder! Yup that's right I was killed 17 times before actually defeating him. Others told me it took as few as 5 attempts for them, others again told me all I have to do is take "mines" or "Pyre" to defeat anything in the game because they forgot to nerf those powers.
I did want the game to be more challenging but this is just a little over the top.