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Avoid this game.
Ashen_X
Member Posts: 363
I have been a supporter of Champions both on the official forums and on outside sites such as this one. I recognized the shortcomings of the game but pointed out that it was new and the devs were working on making it grow.
Cryptic has now given indication that they have no intention of supporting CO without payment above and beyond the box cost and the subscription fee.
After asking the almost mutinous player base to be patient for months now while they worked on new content Cryptic ahs announced that they will be releasing such in bite sized portions for an additional fee. There is no indicationa whatsoever that there will be any value added for the cost of an ongoing subscription. If you do not buy contnet expansions your subscription fee will apparently only provide you with access to the content included at release. Since the release does not include two zones that were advertised up until release (and after) you will find it to be barely sufficient to get to max level and involve about 2-3 weeks worth of play (I am a casual player, others claim significantly less time). Yes, your monthly subscription fee gives you access to 2 weeks worth of material. Anything more must be purchased separately.
Be careful with any product that Cryptic releases while partnered with Atari. Asking customers, who say there is not enough content for them to keep playing, to stay and keep paying their subscription fees because there are legendary content addititions on the way (A Cryptic dev used the word Legendary) just to get a few more dollars, knowing all the while that the content was never intended to be provided as implied is just plain sleazy.
When all has been said and done, more will have been said than done.
Comments
can you give a link or something to where they said this?
forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php
their latest which basically shows they are doing what he described.....
As someone who mistakenly bought the lifetime subscription, I say Ashen_X is correct and your money better spent elsewhere. Feel free to get a trial to see if you like the gameplay but for long-term play, you are wasting your money. There are other options that offer more value. While it would further rub salt in the wound, I'd rather this game go F2P as its quality befits.
I have to agree with the OPs assessment as well. I've been an avid supporter of Cryptic and STO since they first announced STO back in January of 2008 and only recently started playing CO. Although I do like CO and think it's a game that shows a lot of potential this move by Cryptic shows blatantly that they are taking this game in the wrong direction and only intend to use it as a money grab. Also even though I love STO it is in a very unfinished state with the same lack of content issues that have plagued CO since launch. Charging customers for non-existent end-game content that should have been in the game at launch is totally unacceptable. I now fear that they will take this same greedy approach with STO.
Make no mistake... this is not a paid expansion... this is nothing more than end-game content that should have been in the game in the first place. There is no level cap increase... there are no new powers. It only adds 1 zone with 3-4 levels of end-game content which is totally absent in the game now. This is nothing more than a content patch and asking paying customers to pay for this is totally absurd.
Bren
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Oh so true. From the beginning it was $50-60 for the original game, $199 for a "lifetime subscription" on the promise of more content later. A couple seasonal events and quests to fill in the gaps do not count as "more", they count as "barely enough to be considered actively developed in the first place".
I wish, wish, wish I could recommend this game. An updated version of CoH had so much promise. Building characters is cool, using new powers is cool, but that's where it ends. There is no City of Heroes writing here. Nothing but WoW Lite questing for 40 levels, if you make it that far, followed by some arena battles if you're still playing.
And they want us to pay more for an expansion? Give me a break. The OP is right: avoid this game.
while i agree announcing an xpac so soon is a bad idea considering the lack of current content. However, they gave no real specifics about this expansion. Anyone thats been playing MMOs for a while knows very well that nothing is ever set in stone and everything is subject to change. With that being said I would still voice your concerns about the state of the game on the forums but I wouldn't jump the gun so soon regarding the expansion. They may or may not surprise you once the full details regarding the expansion is released.
I can't say I feel bad for life time subscribers just for the simple fact that making an investment into a game before it actually was released isn't a great idea anyway and more of a gamble if anything. I just hope it doesn't end up like Hellgate: london. Maybe having Bill Roper around is just bad luck =p
Sounds very short-sighted on Cryptic's part. I understand they want (need?) more money, but they'd be better off adding content to keep already paying customers paying, rather than alienate them and ask them to pay even more. Bad move. Sorry to all current CO players, but I hope this kills the game and then maybe, just maybe, Cryptic will learn.
One of the saddest things about this debacle has been watching former articulate and reasonable supporters like yourself, and people like Shadow_Kitty and many others, finding this to be the last straw.
It's absolutely unbelievable that Cryptic (or Atari, or whoever) could have done something so stupid at this stage, when the game was already hanging on by a thread of sheer loyalty and hope.
And it's so, so sad, when you think what CO could have been and should have been (i.e. a game that built on CoX's strengths, in terms of casual teaming, but brought in more "traditional" MMO tropes to round out the experience and attract a bigger audience).
oh, i was afraid something like this would happen. from everything i've been able to find out about cryptic, their mmo's are very basic in the beginning and they just do not evolve... and this is why i had decided against playing sto, but i did intend to look back in on it in a few months.
sto is very basic right now, but i had hope that it would eventually evolve into something better with much more depth (and w/o being microtransactioned to death). i can't believe they're showing their hand before sto goes live though.
No, no, no, no .. sorry, this is the excuse I've been putting up with from Cryptic (and their supporters) since pre-launch. "It's not good now, but that will change. They'll add more content, this is launch. It'll get better, just wait." Well, it hasn't. And now they want to charge to make the experience closer---there's no guarantee this will be good---to what it should be anyway.
I compare this to Fallen Earth, which has been doing crazy release and improvement since day one. Yeah, its launch was in a rougher state, but it had tons more content. And it's gotten tons more content. And interesting gameplay extensions (player made structures, casinos). And the roughness had been addressed quite a bit. And they have not asked for any extra money for this.
Would you feel bad if people had paid $199 for something based on a beta, only to have the rules change drastically on launch day? Or perhaps be promised content updates and more quests, only to sit for months with minimal additional content, a few events, then the company asking you to pay again for more content?
A fair gamble is made on probabilities and observations; Cryptic could have gone under or Champions could be cancelled. This is expected. But when "the house" leads you to believe one thing, only to have another be true, that's not a gamble---it's a con.
We should start a new thread:
"Battered customers of Cryptic Studios"
heh. :P
I'm going to miss Novawatt.
Well, my entire reason for complaining loudly and encouraging others to do so is so Cryptic changes. Maybe they won't, maybe they will. But I am guessing they are less likely to without lots of noise. I want to play their games, and I want their games to rock. But what else can we do. If people boycott their products, perhaps they will take note.
Only thing that saddens me about CO is the amount of content on C-Store vs "Free content" So far we've gotten a couple of new missions and a new dungeon with some new costumeparts along with it (which has to be unlocked) while the C-Store gets a new costume set every week.
This expansion pack that they've annouced (which is a stupid thing to call it, since i'm sure it's just what we normally call a "Content patch") better pack a good punch.
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Having bought CO and tried STO, I'm quite disgusted at how far the apple has fallen from the once prosperous tree myself. Not only is the C-Store's presence insulting as a "double-dip" of a subscription + box game, but they are cutting content out like that the OP and many others have explained. I can safely say I'm severely disappointed in Cryptic, and laughing my ass off in the irony of Jack Emmert's statement at a game convention that he would rather die than play a game with microtransactions -- thus, we can safely say that their Chief Creative Officer has died, since he's not playing STO nor CO due to the lack of creativity.
Of course, in terms of resolving the situation, there's always the BBB as long as you make fair and detailed reports. They may not be a federal branch, but they do have federal backing.
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Games Tried: TCOS, 12sky, 12Sky2, Rappelz, LoA, GO, HO, GMU, Warrock, TR, PWI, SotNW:GE, PotC, EVE, MxO, PotBS, KO, HO, 9Dragons, LotRO, DDO, L2, Maplestory, Second Life, CoX, GW, EQ2, Ryzom, WoW, Planetside, SWG, FE, Aion, Allods, CO, etc
I shut down my subscription at CO on the 23rd. I'm glad I didn't wait around for:
"Patch fix and New Zone! Moar monies, pleaze!"
To all you lifetime subscribers:
"Suckers!"
Oh, had to block Cryptic Studios from my Paypal account. 4 days after I cancelled my sub, they charged me again for another month, bastards.
Run from Cryptic Studios while you can, their arms aren't open to hug you, they're open so they can get a good hold on you while they eat you!
*screams like a girl, then runs like a man*
/signed
This business pf having us pay extra for content in a content-starved game where it should have been included at launch is ridiculous.
Cryptic--who I formerly liked because of CoH--has jumped to the top of my "shit list" based on the slow and steady incompetence I have witnessed with CO: Lying about lifetime subscriptions and covering up their tracks, incompetent testing during beta only twice a week with no stress testing, holiday events with long lockout timers, and now having paid content in an expansion for a recent game which doesn't have enough content to get you to max level as it is.
They have officially won the spot from Funcom and the state Age of Conan was in at launch. I hope they are happy.
Goes back to playing Borderlands, Demon's souls, and Dragon Age: Origins...
Compare this "mmo" to what Steve Long tried to create with Champions PnP, there's no contest. While I know there are some things that PnP can do that PC can't do, CO didn't even try. Games like Freedom Force got much further without seeking the hero games mantra. Costumes are an afterthought... POWERS are first in what defines the character in hero comix.
Wow, I seriously never expected Cryptic to go this route. At the most I had thought that they would just keep adding more stuff to the Store and keep charging people for it but this is unbelievable. If I were still subscribing, my thoughts would be "First you sold me a half made product and now you want to charge me to let you fix this half made product ?!" Thank god I quit back in November. Time for me to delete CO from my hdd.
For those who bought lifetime memberships perhaps you should consider talking to some lawyer friends. Maybe there's some way to teach Cryptic a lesson.
As for those on STO lol look out cos I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,...and it's a big ole freight train.
People thought Emmert's comment meant that there would be no cash shop for CO, people thought they would just have to pay the monthly fee and then get free updates every once in a while just like City of Heroes.
I can only conclude that Bill Roper is either manipulating Jack Emmert's body Weekend at Bernies-style, or he has reanimated Jack's dead corpse and Jack now shuffles around the Cryptic offices like an unholy zombie abomination muttering things like "Borg bridge officers" and "new paid zone..."
I just realised that CO seems to be adopting the Dragon Age / Bioware business model, i.e. buy the game and pay for more downloaded content. The only problem is...the last time I checked, Bioware isn't charging a monthly subscription to play their game.
People are starting to see just what Cryptic's new MMO development business model is. Rush develop in assembly line style for two years, put the game out, then spend the next 3 years developing and charging extra for content that should have been part of full developed MMO that takes 3 to 4 years to develop.
If this is a new cost effective way for developers to create MMO's then Cryptic is in for a rude awaking by the players! There are now signs that show this is their plan for STO was well, it too was rushed out the door in 2 years. Now you can be sure they'll develop rest of the game using the players to pay for content that should be part as standard retail release, if developed properly over 3 to 4 years.
i tried this game and instantly find out that CO is cr*ap........
Game like this has no future
I agree with the OP. I bought the lifetime sub to CO based on what I thought was Cryptic's track record with CoH. I loved that game and played it for @ 3 years or so. I had high hopes that CO was going to be an updated CoH. Unfortunately, that was not and is not the case. Even though I have a lifetime sub to the game, I barely log in now and when I do, it's only for minutes. The game just sucks. No getting around that. And worse still, I just don't see it improving at all.
I hear ya', DS. I'm a lifer too who rarely logs in anymore.
I really thought this would be the successor to CoH. Boy, was I wrong. Too bad too. The foundation is there to create a solid game. But, I refuse to slap down a bunch more cash in little hits on the road to making it worth my time.
Originally posted by synn
while i agree announcing an xpac so soon is a bad idea considering the lack of current content. However, they gave no real specifics about this expansion. Anyone thats been playing MMOs for a while knows very well that nothing is ever set in stone and everything is subject to change. With that being said I would still voice your concerns about the state of the game on the forums but I wouldn't jump the gun so soon regarding the expansion. They may or may not surprise you once the full details regarding the expansion is released.
as i said before nothing is set in stone and if players wouldn't jump the gun so early they wouldn't look like fools on the forums.