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ethion
Member UncommonPosts: 2,888
I've been playing CO since open beta and have gotten to the point where I'm kinda on the wire about canceling my account and removing the game from my computer....
Customization - A+
I think the game is interesting and by far it's strongest feature is tinkering with character creation and builds. I've spent tons of time making that special characters, playing with powers sets, and trying to get the complete package of a character look, powers, power looks, travel ability, etc that makes my character truely my own.
This is by far COs best and strongest feature.
From this point on the game rapidly goes downhill....
Combat - C-
The combat system while graphically impressive and feeling cool is rather bland. It is basically hack and slash and not much more... or should I say blast and smash. What it really comes down to is holding, damage, and healing. Generally all in your one character. There are some variations but thats pretty much the core of all classes. You can block and that is handy for reducing damage and building power. In a tough fight it can be a life saver. But in terms of complexity thats about it...
There are no chains per say, energy is near a non issues, there is no group combat mechanics that really come into play. While visually unique classes play remarkably similar.
Content - D
Content is a real problem with this game. There just isn't enough of it. You effectively have 5 zones in the game. They are pretty large but not really as much as you would think. The higher level zone MI is smaller then the lower level zones. I'm not sure how lemiura is as I'm not there yet. But none the less this is way too small. I mean compare this to any other game... Take wow for example it started with dozens of zones. Yes maybe the zones in CO are a bit bigger but not that much and when you compare it to a couple dozen zones there is NO comparison at all.
I've played 82 hours on several characters and I'm lvl 31 and my crafting is around 320. I've been a quest whore and I doubt I have missed much of the content thus far. Course this kinda leaves me feeling unmotivated to play my alts past the initial glow of creation and getting their basic powers & travel abilities.
At this point the game is showing major flaws. At lvl 30 I came to MI confident I'd be doing it at the appropriate level since I had done all quests and even held off doing some citizen quests to make sure I was 30 before touching MI crisis. So I got to MI grabbed new quests. I got a few lvl 30 ones maybe one of two 31 quests and did them. When I started MI I was over half way through 30. Doing all the 30 and 31 quests I was still only 30. I didn't really see why I should be forced to start doing lvl 32-33 quests. Over the next few days I'll probably clear out the 32-33 quests and see if that will get me to 32.
However my feeling about content is the game is drastically short on it prior to 30 and after 30 it is very incomplete. Also the quests I've done so far in MI are not very good. Lots of kill quests or collection quests. Just not as good as the earlier ones. It kinda is starting to have a rushed feel which is ironic as the game was in develpment for quite awhile.
Itemization - C
The itemization in the game is pretty good. There is a pretty good variety of items to be had. There is some imbalance in terms of power enhancers in that there are very few enhancers for any of the non weapon powers. Unlocking appearance items also seems infrequent when you compare to the huge variation of potential items to be unlocked. I mean I've found a few weapon types that unlock appearances but they are specific to a single type of appears. And given the small number of these unlocks vs the huge number of possibilities it is rare you find one you can actually use.
Equipable items are neat and give some nice special powers. This is definitely a plus.
Various items that provide power enhancements or take an equipment slot and have an effect or abilities are nice but generally the hit in stats is pretty large. Rather then make them a trade off it would have been nicer if they were rare upgraded items. So the item that reduces power energy use by a little bit would have good comparable stats and the energy reduction would be a rare drop item. In other words all yellow and green items would be stats only where blue and purple items would have stats as good as green items but additional effects. And purple items would have even better stats and maybe even better effects.
Game Quality - D
This is a bad point in the game as well. Powers are being nerfed dramatically and completely changed. When you build a character you have no way of knowing if the powers you choose will be completely changed in the next patch or not. It seems like a scramble right now to try to make everything work.
Bugs seem pretty high. Numerous broken quests not to mention major lacking in quest quantity to support comfortable leveling. Most of the PQs are broken getting stuck at some point or being unbalanced so they are either easy to finish or near impossible.
Game play is totally unbalanced to encourage grouping at all. You can sidekick so grouping should be easy and desirable. The problem is there is no reward for grouping other then doing a group quest. Once I've done the quest there is little motivation to do it again. Killing group mobs gives no more xp then killing solo mobs and when you are in a group it gives even less. So unless you need the quest doing an instance is really just a waste of time, other then helping someone and having fun doing the instance.
Perk points are kinda neat but you can't really buy anything with them without completing specific perks. So they feel kinda pointless. Even worse the stuff you can buy is capes or action figures. Both kinda pointless other then fun... Same goes for Nemisis points.
The client is very stable but the servers have had numerous issues. I've had quite a few server crashes where I wasn't able to log back in for quite awhile. If not for the crash a couple days ago which resulted in something like a 1 hour roll back I'd say this was ok. But having the game crash and roll you back is just in my book complete failure. Overall the game launch was pretty good but it seems like they are trying to fix things too fast and breaking things in the process. Serious things like the roll back. This isn't nearly as bad as say Anarchy Online but it is worse them many games I can think of. Although the client stability is a plus.
Summary - D+
In summary the game should not have been released at this time. Unbalanced, unfinished, untested... In a whirl of effort to fix things it feels like the devs are making things worse. Cutting methods to get xp when there aren't enough quests in the game to support proper progression is absurb, they should be adding quests even if they are just the repeatable citizen quests. If I were in charge of the game I'd make the citizen quests full xp today. I'd add more email quests like you get around lvl 18-20. I'd put like 2-3 of them every couple levels or even more if necessary to support proper amounts of xp. I'd probably drop quest xp across the board and increase mobs xp and dramatically increase group mobs. The decrease in quest xp would be balanced out against the increase in mob xp. Maybe I'd even drop it a tiny bit more to encourage doing citizen quests or just killing random mobs or exploring. Right now progression in this game is too fast and the holes become too slow. It is a mess plain and simple. I think someone who was familar with the game could probably level to 40 in 60-80 hours played except perhaps for the grinding cause by the holes.
I'd say the same goes for crafting. They system for making items is pretty good esp when you get to skill 200 and can make specific items. However this system too is flawed. It is not working because you don't get xp for crafting items at all. You get xp for deconstructing items. The xp is very dependent on the level of the item. If you are skill 290 and do a lvl 29 item you get a nice jump in exp maybe several points. If you are 301 and you do that 29 items you get no xp at all unless it is green or better then you get 1 xp. Ultimately it is very easy to level up crafting due to the high amount of xp you get for researching items.
I also think that the level of items you make when you can adjust the item should be a variable. Items are algorithmic based on the attributes you add. You can scale their quality but why not their level? That would make it more useful.
In any event I'm wanting to like this game but the flaws are really getting me down. I'm thinking to myself why am I knocking myself out to play what is really a beta quality game at best? In the coming months the game will change dramatically and will likely be completely different. One of the down sides of playing a beta game is that you get the worst impression of the game and the issues suck the fun out of it. So playing the beta sometimes ruins the game. I'm kinda having that feel now. I think that CO could be and hopefully will be much better in time. So maybe the best thing is to cancel my sub and check back on the game in 6 months when it is presumably going to be working properly.
---
Ethion
Comments
This is what scares me about purchasing it.
Good report on it though, I suspect I'll eventually pick it up so I can say I tried it. Get that gold star under my belt.
You may be surprised how the game suits some people and not others. The only tick I would give the game is on content which the content gap is being addressed in the next week according to the developers.
IMO combat is way more varied than any other game I have played and I would completely disagree with the OP on that one. Playing the various combinations of support roles, offensive roles, balanced roles, combined with melee versus ranged, travel options and put it all in team setting. I can't think of a game that offers more options or variety. Maybe he makes all his character the same with a standard defensive passive and always plays in balanced role. A lot of people think that is the only way to play.
For itemization, I usually compare any game's itemization to what I loved in the past. WoW's Lightning Capacitor was a gem of itemization. It offered unique mechanics that made me think about how to take advantage of it. That has always been my gold standard of nice loot. CO's tops my standard and raises it a bit. Power Replacers work much like my old favorite, but now the game is littered with items that have their own mechanics. Not many games do. I would rate CO's itemization at the top of the genre for this reason.
As for quality, I have not seen these broken quests. 100% of them worked for me. I've had zero client crashes. There were a couple server crashes since release, but I can't honestly think of a game with a more stable launch. Some powers were nerfed, but seriously, anyone who used those powers saw it coming from a mile away. It would have been nice if they were taken care of in beta, but this IS an MMOG and balance is ongoing throughout the entire product lifespan.
You may be surprised how the game suits some people and not others. The only tick I would give the game is on content which the content game is being addressed in the next week according to the developers.
IMO combat is way more varied than any other game I have played and I would completely disagree with the OP on that one. Playing the various combinations of support roles, offensive roles, balanced roles, combined with melee versus ranged, travel options and put it all in team setting. I can't think of a game that offers more options or variety. Maybe he makes all his character the same with a standard defensive passive and always plays in balanced role. A lot of people think that is the only way to play.
For itemization, I usually compare any game's itemization to what I loved in the past. WoW's Lightning Capacitor was a gem of itemization. It offered unique mechanics that made me think about how to take advantage of it. That has always been my gold standard of nice loot. CO's tops my standard and raises it a bit. Power Replacers work much like my old favorite, but now the game is littered with items that have their own mechanics. Not many games do. I would rate CO's itemization at the top of the genre for this reason.
As for quality, I have not seen these broken quests. 100% of them worked for me. I've had zero client crashes. There were a couple server crashes since release, but I can't honestly think of a game with a more stable launch. Some powers were nerfed, but seriously, anyone who used those powers saw it coming from a mile away. It would have been nice if they were taken care of in beta, but this IS an MMOG and balance is ongoing throughout the entire product lifespan.
I am more in line with Mysticcabbage here than the OP. I love the combat and when considering powers and advantages you will do a lot of thinking about how that will play out in combat solo as well as with others.
I too would give the only real ding to the game in the area of content (and some of how Cryptic is addressing it). You really do not hit the mission gap until your in your mid to late 20 level ranges. Cryptic has committed to more soon and the first free expansion is due out in the not too distant future. I think this will be resolved.
There are some balancing issues and there ARE a few broken missions (mostly in the public quests system) but they are few and becoming fewer.
I am not sure if you would count this as good or bad but the dev team is EXTREMELY responsive. Why would this be a bad thing, you might ask? Sometimes the reactions to things seem a bit "knee jerk" to appease the vocal minority as opposed to well thought out.
So, as you see, I still came look at the middle ground but still love and play the game. I think this game will grow and mature into something excellent. For now it is good enough to keep me playing. Just hit Monster Island and think the Crisis Mission in that was one of the most fun events I have EVER played in an MMO.
"Bugs seem pretty high. Numerous broken quests not to mention major lacking in quest quantity to support comfortable leveling. Most of the PQs are broken getting stuck at some point or being unbalanced so they are either easy to finish or near impossible."
Quest: I have not run into any broken quests from 1-20 playing with 3 different toons one problem i have had was escort quests where NPC dies easily.
"This is a bad point in the game as well. Powers are being nerfed dramatically and completely changed. When you build a character you have no way of knowing if the powers you choose will be completely changed in the next patch or not. It seems like a scramble right now to try to make everything work. "
Nerfs: they are nothing new every MMO has done it at release: remember the Mage AoE nerf in WoW? Granted they should have balanced the powers in beta better i believe devs have mentioned Atari was pushing them to release it at Sept. Even though they wanted to delay the release.
"Game play is totally unbalanced to encourage grouping at all. You can sidekick so grouping should be easy and desirable. The problem is there is no reward for grouping other then doing a group quest. Once I've done the quest there is little motivation to do it again. Killing group mobs gives no more xp then killing solo mobs and when you are in a group it gives even less. So unless you need the quest doing an instance is really just a waste of time, other then helping someone and having fun doing the instance."
Apart from it being missions being lot quicker to do when you group? I did 10-20 missions solo took me twice as long as when i did it with group 3 other people. They do have to give some xp and drop increase when you group, improve the ability to share quests and the lfg system. But at the same time they are concerned about power leveling which was big issue in CoX.
"I'd say the same goes for crafting. They system for making items is pretty good esp when you get to skill 200 and can make specific items. However this system too is flawed. It is not working because you don't get xp for crafting items at all. You get xp for deconstructing items. The xp is very dependent on the level of the item. If you are skill 290 and do a lvl 29 item you get a nice jump in exp maybe several points. If you are 301 and you do that 29 items you get no xp at all unless it is green or better then you get 1 xp. Ultimately it is very easy to level up crafting due to the high amount of xp you get for researching items.
I also think that the level of items you make when you can adjust the item should be a variable. Items are algorithmic based on the attributes you add. You can scale their quality but why not their level? That would make it more useful.
"
Crafting needs to be looked recipe drops and reducing lvl for research and increase lvl for creating items would be good start.
"At this point the game is showing major flaws. At lvl 30 I came to MI confident I'd be doing it at the appropriate level since I had done all quests and even held off doing some citizen quests to make sure I was 30 before touching MI crisis. So I got to MI grabbed new quests. I got a few lvl 30 ones maybe one of two 31 quests and did them. When I started MI I was over half way through 30. Doing all the 30 and 31 quests I was still only 30. I didn't really see why I should be forced to start doing lvl 32-33 quests. Over the next few days I'll probably clear out the 32-33 quests and see if that will get me to 32."
Content: the next content release next month should address lv 30 content gap. Its called Blood Moon.
While I don't disagree with you for the most part OP, your grading is viciously harsh. There are really very few bugs and server stability has been superb. Yet you give game quality a "D"? It seems your viewpoint is skewed because of the massive launchday patch that apparently nerfed players. Having only played since after launch I don't see the dificulty curve as being that sevre.
But you're right on with the sparcness in the world, and most of your other points, but your grading seems very harsh. I wonder, since the only other game you refference is WoW if that's what you're using as an MMO template. If that's the case WoW's 5 years of polish and content would make any launching MMO seem minimalistic.
Originally posted by GTwander:
How are you an MMO? Or any of us for that matter?
I say we strike all users from the site for not being MMOs.
I just read the state of the game article, and its talking about new content.
Have patience, Grasshopper.
For me the most compelling aspect of the game is character creation. Beyond that though I don't really see the hook.
Gameplay and quests are just your average fair. Combat also is average and uninspired, but to me that is preferable to some gimmicky combat system that tries to hybridize mmo with fps, or some system that makes you hit 5 keys to do the same thing as 1 key in other games.
Genre is kinda niche. Not really my niche but I was hoping the game would be good enough that it drew me in. Instead, I think the game doesn't really make me feel like a super hero. Except for the colorful spandex and the ability to fly I feel rather mundane relative to the game's npcs.
I think I've already decided the fate of my subscription. I'll probably give Aion a shot next.
Here is a list posted on the official forums of issues with powers. Keep in mind this is a subset as it doesn't even really get into the fundamental issues with power balance... But this gives you a feel for the magnetude of issues in just one area of the game that in fact should be pretty solid.
FUNCTIONAL BUGS
Archery > Storm of Arrows > Achilles Heel
- This advantage does not appear to be rooting opponents, as the description states.
- This advantage does not appear to be disabling flight, as the description states.
Munitions > Lock N Load
- This power appears to be increasing the energy cost of Munitions powers (not decreasing them)
Gadgeteering > Molecular Self-Assembly
- Does not appear to return health as the description states.
- Whenever any toggle runs it's full course, restores your energy to completely full instantly
Gadgeteering > Nanobot Swarms
- Removes 17s from power cool down timers (description says 30, so one or the other is wrong)
Gadgeteering > Healing Drones
- Ranking this power up does not appear to affect the healing strength, rate, or endurance cost of the power.
Power Armor > Chest Beam
- The description indicates that this power should damage other targets along the path to your main target, however, it does not actually do so.
Dual Blades > Rain of Steel > Grinning Ghost
- Critical hit buff does not appear to provide any increase in critical hit rate
Dual Blades > Focus of the Unleashed Tempest
- Critical hit buff does not appear to provide any increase in critical hit rate
- Ranking up the power may not be functioning as intended (description states it provides extra stacks of Heightened Focus on a dodge)
Single Blade > Reaper's Caress
Single Blade > Scything Blade
- The Bleed effects from these powers do not stack with each other, but do stack with Bleed effects from the Supernatural set.
- One or the other is probably not intended.
Single Blade > Dragon's Bite
Single Blade > Reaper's Embrace
- These powers do not trigger on the upgraded bleed from Scything Blade
- These powers do not trigger on Bleeds that were applied by powers from the Supernatural set.
Martial Arts > Focus of the Unfettered Warrior
- Dodge buff does not appear to provide any increase in dodge rate
Martial Arts > Bountiful Chi Resurgence > Resurgant Reiki
- This advantage does not remove tooltip stating that the power debuffs damage when used
Martial Arts > Inexorable Tides > Instep crush
- Places a 'root' icon on the target, but does not stop them from moving
Telekinesis > Kinetic Darts > Incisive Wit
- Every time Incisive Wit procs, it puts the Ego Surge, Shadow Shroud, Immolation, Ice Sheath, and Electric Sheath powers on cool down.
- It is still possible to stack one of these powers with Incisive Wit by applying the desired power first.
- If we are supposed to be able to stack them, then using Incisive Wit should not put the other powers on cool down.
- If we are not supposed to be able to stack them, then reversing the order of application should not be allowing them to stack.
Sorcery > Circle of Ebon Wrath
- Ranking up this power appears to have no effect
Sorcery > Invocation of Storm Calling
- The repel pushes enemies so far back that the AoE which follows it almost always misses
Sorcery > All Auras
- As of the 9/10 patch, the Sorcery Auras no longer affect pets.
Supernatural > Devour Essence > Phlebotomist
- This advantage does not apply any additional healing when the target is Bleeding due to a power from the Single Blade set.
Supernatural > Lash > Meteor Hammer
- Purchasing this advantage causes the beneficial effects of the Aspects to stop affecting this power.
Supernatural > Aspect of the Dragon
Supernatural > Aspect of the Celestial
Supernatural > Aspect of the Inferno
- Ranking this power up to rank 2 or higher causes it to cease functioning.
Force Cascade > Containment blast:
- On anything it can't hold (master villains and higher, destructible objects, and for some ungodly reason players) it still applies the complete damage shield
- this means the mob/player can still move around with complete freedom, attack you, etc, but you can't hurt them.
GRAPHICAL BUGS
All Powers
- Repeatedly tapping the power will sometimes cause the graphical effect to not display.
Power Armor > Energy Shield > Laser Knight
- Color Tinting does not work with the Laser Knight given shield.
Martial Arts > Bountiful Chi Resuragnce
- Changing the color of this power does not actually change the green glow to any other color.
Martial Arts > Lightning Reflexes
- As of the 09/10 patch, this power no longer changes color when you alter the power in the power window.
Telekinesis > Ego Form
Telekinesis > TK Darts > Incisive Wit
Telekinesis > Ego Surge
- If you have a chest emblem on your costume, the Ego Form provided by these powers draws a square around it.
Telepathy > Mindful Reinforcement
- Changing the color of this power does not actually change the color of the bubble it creates.
Telepathy > Summon Nightmare
- Changing the color of this power does not change the particle cloud around the summons
- Changing the color of this power only affects the Larval Horror slightly, remaining mostly default colors
Supernatural > Iron Lariat > Kyokushetezin Soze
- Has no charge up animation
UI BUGS
UI > Character Frames
- Stackable buffs and debuffs do not show stacks.
UI > Character Frames
- Buffs and debuffs sometimes give timer for their remaining duration and sometimes don't.
UI > Character Frames
- Mousing over buffs or debuffs provides no tool tip.
UI > Powers Menu
- When looking at all powers, you cannot see what advantages are available for powers you have
- You can see advantages for powers that you do not have, however
Dual Blades > Eye of the Storm
- This power's description says it gives you increased resists the longer you use it.
- This is the not the case - It appears to provide an increasing amount of shielding.
Power Armor > Targeting Computer > Rank 2
- when checking what the increased ranks do when selecting advantages, no actual data is provided.
- Instead, you get the original description of the power itself.
Power Armor > Targeting Computer > Rank 2
- when looking at combat channel panel, it says the following: Test Dummy gives 17 energy to you with Targeting Computer III
- That should probably say Targeting Computer II, not III.
Power Armor > Targeting Computer
- Hovering mouse cursor over passive slot with Targeting Computer in it does not give info on power.
- Detailed description does not provide information on power, how much energy it returns, for example.
Telepathy > Ego Sleep
- This power's description does not indicate that the hold it applies breaks on damage.
Telepathy > Psonic Healing > Rank 2
- when checking what the increased ranks do when selecting advantages, no actual data is provided.
- Instead, you get the original description of the power itself.
Might > Roomsweeper
Might > Demolish
- Advanced description has "???" in place of actual values
Sorcery > Arcane Vitality > Impart Freedom
- Description does not indicate that this must be maintained fully to see its effect.
Sorcery > Any Circle
- the detailed descriptions do not provide data on what the summoned circle actually does.
Sorcery > Sigils of Ebon Weakness
- the detailed description does not provide information how much the sigils debuffs the targets.
General > Pet powers
- The detailed descriptions do not state what the pet actually does.
---
Ethion
When I say combat is rather simple it is because it comes down two just a couple elements.
Damage and Control.
When I'm playing my main lvl 31 character I generally approach every fight the same.
Hit autoattack to build energy, AE the group to kill all the henchmen, hold the villian or super villian while I blast him. When he starts to do a big attack signified by the symbol appearing over his head, I block which I will continue to do to build power sometimes. Then repeat till dead. If I get low on health the either I'll use a healing patch or I'll use a healing power if I have one. I think all my characters have resurgence as it is the best emergency heal that doesn't require presence.
My melee character is a bit diff in that I try to root first and if things get outta control then I frequently get ranged to death... Although my melee character does build energy fast and kills fast. Still if I can't keep them rooted or in a group so I can burn an AE on them I'm in trouble.
My power character has somewhat similar things but his blast does a knockback and I have a ae knockback that sometimes creates quite a mess. I also have a force field.
My sorcery guy uses pets and totems to distract the mobs and do damage. Then I just blast individual ones and use heals to keep alive.
So yeah there are plenty of appearances that are different. But they tend to feel very similar. Also as you level there is a temptation to take the best power of each type. I tend to try to avoid that and stay more with a theme as it makes things more interesting.
What is lacking are things like chains, dependent abilities, debufs, cures, resistances, etc. Also any types of group oriented abilities are limited. There are no group bufs, group heals, attacks that leverage of other group attacks etc.
Most framework powers do have an effect that they create when you attack. It pretty much happens automatically. The effect does do something to the mob so it is a debuf of sorts. Also other attacks in the framework will synergize with the effect. So for example my darkness blast creates a fear effect. Based on a passive power I have when a feared mob dies I get some energy. Also I have an upgrade on my main blast so if I blast a feared mob with a full power blast it can become catatonic.
Every framework has similiar things, ice has chill, dual blades have momentum, etc. Again the issue here is you don't really do it it is just a side effect of your power. I suppose though you could pick an ice power for you dark character to have the chill slow effect etc. But more likely you will want to focus on survival things like heals and crowd control.
In any event when you compare this to wow's combat for example it seems very basic. Hell I'd even say that EQ2's combat is more sophisticated and I think EQ2 combat is rather poor.
Now this isn't to say that CO combat isn't fun. It is rather active and who wouldn't like blasting things and throwing mobs flying or turning them into ice cubes. Visually CO combat is a hoot. But after you played through a good number of levels you are kinda past the visuals and looking for the beef :P
---
Ethion
Hey walls of text are cool! Here is a list of known issues FOUR YEARS after WoW was released.
General
- Dwarven racial Find Treasure is deactivated on death.
-Undead Males main hand weapon is appearing larger than previous builds.
-Equipping a thrown weapon while in the middle of an Auto-Shot will cause animation issues.
- The Gnome racial ability Escape Artist does not remove the Unstable Cloud debuff.
- Deleted characters take up space in an arena team.
-Male Blood Elves do not blink.
-The Gnome racial ability Escape Artist does not remove the Unstable Cloud debuff.
-If a spell casted at a previous target kills the target, it will cancel your current spell on a new target.
Environment
-Inappropriate tooltip is displaying when a player hovers over Shartuul's Transporter on a flying mount.
-Relogging on the flight path from Southshore, Hillsbrad Foothills to Ironforge, Dun Morogh in the entrance to Ironforge causes players to fly through a wall.
-The flight path from Stormwind to Rebel Camp, Stranglethorn Vale clips through a tree outside of Stormwind.
-Alliance flight path between Booty Bay and Stormwind goes through a tree.
-There is a Feralfen Idol that is sunk into the floor in Feralfen Village, Zangarmarsh.
-There is a tin vein in Hillsbrad Foothills that is unreachable.
-There is a section of water that is clipping oddly into one of the waterfalls in Hatchet Hills outside of Zul'Aman.
-The message "Zul'Aman Exterior InvisMan gains Cosmetic - Flame Patch X.X" appears in the combat log whenever a troll hut is burning in Hatchet Hills.
-There is a leanto in Agama'gor, The Barrens that has no tooltip appearing but will be highlighted when moused over it.
-Players can wall jump a portion of the hallway to Gruul in Gruul's Lair to reach a overhanging log beam where they can evade the mobs.
-Charge, Intercept, Intervene , and Feral Charge are displaying odd behavior when being used at 10 yards vertical range.
-The chests in Zul'aman can be looted by other players who were not in tap list.
-Burning troll huts on Hatchet Hills are not dealing any fire damage.
-Wooden spikes jutting from pillars in Circle of Blood arena are causing line of sight issues.
-There is a floating tree root northwest of Garadar in Nagrand.
-The Legion Ring boundary markers occasionally disappear.
Quests
-There is a typo in the Quest Description Text of the Dustwallow Marsh quest "Thresher Oil".
-There is a punctuation error in the acceptance text for the quest "Inspecting the Ruins" .
-The quest description of "Super Hot Stew" does not state exactly how many ingredients are needed to create a Demon Broiled Surprise .
-Splintertree Raiders do not respawn with Toerk if Duriel Moonfire and her guards are killed while the Raiders are still alive.
-The quest description text for "The Corpulent One" refers to it being a group quest.
-The quest "Bark For Drohn's Distillery" is unattainable if the player has certain quests in his/her quest log.
-Quest Items are not lootable from chest objects when their tap list is issued on creation, and the object is summoned in via a pet.
- After applying the Healing Salve to a Debilitated Mag'har Grunt (16847) for the quest "Administering the Salve" the buff applied to the grunt displays an internal tooltip.
- There is a typo in the emote made by Bladespire Ogres when responding to the /point emote from a player who has become King of the Ogres.
-The level range of the quest, Bring the Light is inconsistent with the level range of the Razorfen Downs dungeon.
-The quest "Delivery to Tranquillen" cannot be accepted if you have "Suncrown Village" in your quest log.
-Cipher of Damnation shows place holder icon on the castbar portrait when used.
-Horde players are able to loot Salvageable Metal doodads on the Alliance side of the Path of Glory, Hellfire Peninsula.
-Quest 'Fiora Longears states that Fiora is located in Theramore, but she is really in Auberdine.
-The quest "Luck Be With You" requirements are different between quest description and objectives.
NPCs
-Hammer of Justice from Gathios the Shatterer is able to be reflected.
-Commander Springvale in Shadowfang Keep does not always drop superior quality loot.
-Nazan will melee players while in the air.
-It is possible for Zul'jin to perform Claw Rage improperly.
-Learning certain spells via a class trainer will cause the yellow spell effect to appear on the trainer rather than the player.
-The buff Phasing Invisibility on the Warp Stalker does not have a tooltip.
-Anchorite Ayuri has a male draenei voiceset.
-Goreclaw the Ravenous cannot be skinned.
-Cursed Lost One has an inappropriate buff for the zone in which it is located.
-There is an error in Sky-Captain Bomblast's dialogue text on the Orgrimmar to Grom'gol zeppelin.
-Shattered Hand Heathen ability Bloodthirst has no tooltip description.
-Ogri'la Peacekeeper's weapons are scaled too small.
-Exarch Orelis and Anchorite Karja can be attacked in Area 52.
-Flying units are sometimes not pathing in formation
- Felspine the Greater will evade after leashing.
- Gutripper will become stuck evading if you engage and leash it while it is in its flight phase.
- "Troll Commoner" gives incorrect directions to Great-father Winter during the Winter Veil holiday.
-The name plate for Gutripper while he is flying in motion is too high.
-The Doomguard Punisher displays internal icons during possession transfer.
-Booty Bay Bruisers spawn when speaking with Landro Longshot, preventing players who are hated by Booty Bay from redeeming UDE items.
Classes
Druid
- Shapeshifting does not remove the movement impairing debuff Frost Breath.
-Pets will continue to attack a target after it has been effected by Druid's Maim ability.
Hunter
-The tooltip for the Hunter Snake Trap spell has inappropriate text in it.
- Snakes from a Hunter's Snake Trap can Daze players.
- The stamina tooltip for hunter pets sometimes reports an incorrect health increase.
Mage
- Mage's Frost and Ice armors are affected differently from each other by the Frost talent Permafrost.
Paladin
-Righteous Fury sometimes counts as two spells for purposes of dispel effects.
- Paladins can cast Blessing of Protection on other players while affected by Blind.
Priest
-Pain Suppression can be cast while silenced.
-Several priest spells and talents are not affected by Silent Resolve.
-Casting Vampiric Embrace does not consume Relentlessness which is the two-piece set bonus of the Avatar.
-Inner focus consumes Starshards even though it costs no mana.
-There is a word missing in the tooltip of priest discipline talent "Focused Will".
- The Priest spell Touch of Weakness is consumed but has no effect if the Priest is hit while silenced.
-Cheap Shot is removing Touch of Weakness, but is not proc'cing the Touch of Weakness debuff.
-The Priest talent Inner Focus will lose its charge when the ability Shadowguard procs.
Rogue
-When Cheat Death absorbs an attack the combat log does not indicate which attack was absorbed.
-Rogue's Cheat Death buff tooltip has a typo.
-The proc from Cheat Death will cause a player to stand up.
Shaman
-Rockbiter Weapon's tooltip and Action Bar icon are inconsistent with the other Shaman Weapon Enhancements' tooltips and icons.
Warlock
-The buff from Warlock talent Demonic Knowledge remains on enslaved demons after the enslavement is broken.
-Imp spell Blood Pact affects certain trinkets upon zoning into a Battleground.
Warrior
-The stunning effect from Landslide's Summon Shardling spell is not triggering a Warrior's Second Wind ability.
-Warriors can shift into a stance they are already in with macros.
- Endless Rage is not granting the correct bonus to rage generation.
Items
-Dog Whistle is an uncommon quality.
-The Robe of the Moccasin has a Use effect instead of an Equip effect.
-Batwing Mantle have a Use effect instead of an Equip effect.
-Serpent Gloves have a Use effect instead of an Equip effect.
-Item name of Torquoise Brooch is spelled incorrectly.
-Tooltip of Whipper Root Tuber does not mention its 2-minute cooldown.
-There is no effect when using the Medallion of the Alliance during Landslide's Summon Shardling ability.
-Nimbus Boots have a Use effect instead of an Equip effect.
-Scroll of Strength V does not appear in the proper Auction House subcategory.
-Goblin Jumper Cables and Goblin Jumper Cables XL have no cooldown information in their tooltips.
-The quest item Battered Steam Tonk Controller procs the warrior talent Second Wind when controlled out of range.
-Mobs gain health during the stun effect from the Goblin Rocket Launcher.
-Gift of Arthas only stacks to 5.
-The Druid Gladiator PVP Helmet is not using the right texture for the set
-Baelog's Shortbow is a common quality item.
-Snakeskin Bag is a common quality item.
-Vengeful Gladiator's Mooncloth Hood and Vengeful Gladiator's Satin Hood do not display Troll Tusks.
-Several gems with spell healing modifiers did not receive their additional spell damage modifiers.
- Players who attempt to buy arena items that require ratings above 1850 will receive an incorrect error message if the team rating is below 1850.
-Casting time is interrupted whenever the Darkmoon Card: Madness procs.
-The equip bonus of the Vengeful Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves is not functioning properly.
-Libram of Avengement is applying it's buff when auto-attacks refresh judgements.
-Helm of Assassination removes the jaw of undead males models.
-The Burrower's Shell (23558) cannot be disenchanted.
-Typo in the item tooltip of Dark Iron Bomb and The Big One.
-Coarse Gorilla Hair cannot be placed in a Leatherworker's Satchel.
-Paladin Retribution Tier 5 armor set Crystalforge Battlegear bonus is not functioning correctly.
-The proc effect of the item Band of the Eternal Sage has a longer duration than indicated in the item tooltip.
-No sound plays when players sheathe or unsheathe the Sin'dorei Warblade.
-Level 50 class quest rewards are inconsistent in their ability to be disenchanted.
-Bulwark of the Amani Empire is attached farther away than normal on the arm and backs on all races.
-Infused Amethyst has an inconsistency in its tooltip.
Tradeskills
-The Formula: Large Prismatic Shard has a inconsistent icon.
-Shadow Oil does not fit into Leatherworking Bags.
-A Druid can make Bandages while in feral forms.
-Recipe: Hot Apple Cider is appearing yellow in the cooking UI, even though it provides no skill ups.
UI
-The sound effect heard when mouse-clicking on several options menus and options checkboxes do not always play.
-Cancelling the use of a Steam Tonk Controller will cause the tonk's abilities to momentarily appear as a pet bar.
-Unit names do not appear in Alt-Z view.
-When a unique item drops that a player already has the automatically passing message is incorrectly telling the player he cannot use the item.
-The Guild Log window has several resizing issues.
- If raid permission icons are altered during a ready check, ready check icons will become stuck.
- If a ready check is begun before icons from a previous ready check have faded, some icons are not properly refreshed.
- Ready check in a Party is not properly cleared when leaders are changed during the check.
-The Trade Channel is not functioning properly when players zone out while using a chat macro.
-Interface option to always display status bar text on experience bars does not work correctly for Reputation.
-Deleted characters take up space in an arena team.
-The "Unread Mail" icon will not appear for players who receive returned mail that contains no text.
-The "Unread Mail" icon does not tell players who the mail is from when their auctions are sold / canceled.
-Inspecting a player with an unlearned talent that teaches an ability that you meet the requirements for will show "Click to learn" on the talent inspection UI.
-Buffs gained from herb gathering do not appear in combat log.
-Vertex shader state effects are not correctly appearing between logins
I disagree with the argument that combat is simple or repetitive. One of the great things about not having cooldowns on the majority of powers is that it allows you to both specialize in one area and pick up a wide variety of powers for different situations. For example, for my first character I made a "blaster" replica of one of my COH characters. But since he only really needs one AOE, one direct attack, one or two holds, etc., very early I was able to pick up and enhance other, non-attack powers like his defensive, blocking, and healing abilities. So while he can deal massive damage and is a strong soloer, he can also tank pretty well in teams (he's tanked quite a few of the 5-man bosses) and even heal somewhat effectively. He's primarly a damage dealer, but he can fill other roles in a group, too, and he plays quite a bit differently depending on how I'm using him.
And the combat itself is definitely my favorite of any MMO I've tried.
I've stumbled across three broken quests so far (my char is level 37 currently). I consider that pretty low considering how new the game is. I haven't had any other problems typically associated with MMO launches, such as crashes, lost items, exploits, etc. I consider the game pretty well polished considering it just launched a few weeks ago.
The only complaint of the OP with which I agree is the lack of content -- I ran out of missions at 31 and had to grind 8 bars to 32 before I could get quests again. My bigger concern than grinding a level is that I've tried to hunt down and do every quest available, and I'm wondering how much replaybility that'll leave for my future characters since I've already been through the vast majority of the content. But as others have said, the devs are aware of this and are adding more content as we speak. And the PVP games actually give pretty solid XP in the meantime if you're willing to try that.
Overall, I'm really happy with the game and am enjoying it thoroughly.
Champions Online is scoring some of the lowest MMOG review scores since World War 2 Online.
I told you so.
Sorry ethion you've completely lost me now.
You mean damage, control, energy management, blocking, and healing.
I am counting 7 abilities that you use regularly.
Chains you mean like those ones in Martial Arts that trigger buffs and heal bonuses?Debuffs like the Circle of Ebon Weakness in the Sorcery set, shrink ray from gadgeteering, and the multitude of status effects like fear, hold, chill, etc. Yes those are all debuffs.
Cures like the advantage on Arcane Vitality that removes bleeds and other status effects from allies?
Resistances like the Sorcery Aura that increases resists of everyone around you? Maybe the gear that adds defense bonuses for specific damage types like Crushing?
You're way off base now.
Arcane Vitality is a cone AOE heal, every sorcery aura is a group buff, confuse turns enemies against each other. There are powers that stun enemies when they use special powers. Again, you're way off base here.
This is the part that really lost me. My WoW mage at level 70 would use Fire Ball and Fire Blast for 99% of the encounters. Include the food I eat and the mana drinks I use it adds up to a combined total of 4 power I used on average, only two of which were used regularly in combat. Your first example of CO combat included 7 abilities that you use regularly while in combat and that isn't including passive powers working in the background.
Even D&D Online combat (which is one of the best in the genre IMO) has very few abilities used while in combat. There are only so many that you can manage while performing fast paced combat. I know my Sorcery character gets a bit overwhelmed trying to manage single target damage, AOE damage, heals, holds, summoning circle pets, endurance, blocking, and sigils. All while trying to keep an eye out for runners, health of my party, blocking special attacks from multiple enemies, and trying to throw out the occasional bit of damage. If I had any more abilities to use in combat I would start to get very confused in the heat of battle.
Eve had lower review scores actually if you look at metacritic 66% CO is at 75% and WAR had one of highest scores 89%. AC2 was also highly rated at 82%, AoC 80%. AC2 is dead and WAR is barely alive while Eve is thriving morale of the story reviews don't mean squat when it comes to MMOs.
I think the difference here is that WoW actually has enough content to have that many bugs.
Really, with 5 zones, how could you screw that up?
And yes, the combat is boring, same thing over and over again.
I'm not going to debate the points I made as they are my opinions. I'm only one person and maybe you agree with some, none or all of my views. I've been playing MMOs for a long time and that certainly colors my view on things. Maybe someone with a fresher view will find more that is appealing to the game.
I'm going to play out my free time and work on hitting 40 and then I'm gonna put this game out to pasture and check back in several months if there isn't anything else out that looks compelling and I'm bored and in need of a change.
If you enjoy the game then I'm glad. Although I can't believe anyone would be satisfied with the state the game is currently in...
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Ethion
I think the difference here is that WoW actually has enough content to have that many bugs.
Really, with 5 zones, how could you screw that up?
And yes, the combat is boring, same thing over and over again.
I wasn't listing all the bugs in CO either. Just the ones around powers...
Wow is an infinitely larger game then CO.
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Ethion
I think the difference here is that WoW actually has enough content to have that many bugs.
Really, with 5 zones, how could you screw that up?
And yes, the combat is boring, same thing over and over again.
Its called $$$, WoW's testing team has more people than total # of people working on CO. IIRC Blizzard spent around 40 million WoW 1.0, WAR and AoC cost around 100 million, i doubt CO is anywhere close to those.
Apologies for going off on ya. I don't mean to say that your opinions are wrong or anything. Some things you said aren't just opinion though. There ARE things like debuffs, group buffs, cures, and all that other stuff you said wasn't in CO. That is not opinion, its fact.
Other things are a bit more subjective, but I still have a hard time imagining anyone accusing CO's combat as being any less involving than WoW's simplistic combat. Maybe you've been spending all your recent days on WoW raids (which can get involved since you're herding 19 other players that don't know how to play) or maybe you just haven't played WoW in a while. Don't be surprised when you go back to these older games and get bored within minutes once you're reminded of global cooldowns, slow travel, progress bars that seem to take an eternity, and have multitudes of abilities that do the same thing as one power in CO. While in CO beta I tried my best to get into a couple new WoW-like games and they just couldn't hook me like they used to. Anyway, that's just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt (and maybe a shot of tequila).
And I agree with you're and others opinion that combat is repetitive. I see that as more of a genre feature than a shortcoming specific to CO. Every MMOG I can think of has repetitive tasks required to advance. If you do anything enough times its going to get boring.
I'm not currently playing wow. I just used it as a common example people would be able to most likely relate to...
I'm playing eq2 as my main game and have been for over a year now.
I was also playing LoTR before CO since eq2 was getting a bit old and I felt like I'd done most everything so wanted a change. LoTR is a very good game.
I also played Aion and it is a pretty good game as well although other then graphics not spectacularly different then any other game and pretty linear. I'd probably be playing it except for the heavy emphasis on PvP which I think ruins the PvE game. Certainly when PvP is forced on you then it becomes unfun and disruptive. I like PvP arenas and opt in type stuff but not forced PvP and not when it becomes the emphasis overriding the PvE gameplay.
For now I'm gonna try to keep going on CO till my sub runs out. Then I'm gonna go back into EQ2 which should have an update by then with new content and the new achievement thing which will keep me busy trying to get achievements. I still have my LoTR account and I'll go back to playing it part time.
I'll check back up on CO probably around summer next year when I've run though the content in the eq2 expansion due out in feb or so.
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Ethion
I think the difference here is that WoW actually has enough content to have that many bugs.
Really, with 5 zones, how could you screw that up?
And yes, the combat is boring, same thing over and over again.
Its called $$$, WoW's testing team has more people than total # of people working on CO. IIRC Blizzard spent around 40 million WoW 1.0, WAR and AoC cost around 100 million, i doubt CO is anywhere close to those.
And yet they charge me the same and even have a MT store :P
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Ethion
I think the difference here is that WoW actually has enough content to have that many bugs.
Really, with 5 zones, how could you screw that up?
And yes, the combat is boring, same thing over and over again.
Its called $$$, WoW's testing team has more people than total # of people working on CO. IIRC Blizzard spent around 40 million WoW 1.0, WAR and AoC cost around 100 million, i doubt CO is anywhere close to those.
And yet they charge me the same and even have a MT store :P
Making it cheap won't entice more people to try the game out, hence the reason indie/low budget games costs 49.99-59.99 same as 200 million dollar title like GTAIV. But with amount of money they made on sales and life time subscription they should have plenty of $$ for content pushes, CO did finish no 1 in sales last week among PC games.
I'm lvl 32 now. Leveling has become MUCH slower due to having to fight mobs 2-3 levels over you. Quite a bit more dying....
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Ethion