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Ah, the wonderful world of MMOs, where these days folks are more fickle than fair weather sports fans and first impressions are more than important – they’re everything.
Such it is with Champions Online, which, looking at a compilation by Syp of Bio Break, many people seem to dislike at the moment due to the current crop of problems. Reported issues include bland gameplay, stability issues, and overally bugs. To many, this might seem like a gamebreaker for people looking to try new MMOs in September, with alternatives like Aion and Fallen Earth waiting in the wings.
Honestly, though, the outcry of the blogging community, and certainly fans of Champions, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For one, it shows that everyone’s just a bit more cautious and guarded than they were about a year or so ago. The MMO community’s always been, well, shall we say, critical and passionate about the games they play, but it wasn’t until Vanguard, commonly thought of to be released prematurely, that players began to be clearly less tolerant of bugs and issues. You might think that Cryptic must be wincing at all the negative feedback they’re getting, and they probably are – but they’re also crystal clear on the game’s core issues prior to its September 1st launch. If anything, it’s a way to set priorities and make sure that as much as possible is cleaned up for a better superhero experience.
There’s also a certain sense of c’est la vie I have about Champions’ current problems as well. What’s that? There’s lag? Oh, there’s an issue with gameplay? Sounds like just about every single other MMO that has released, well, ever. A lot of people point to Aion as an example of “how to do it right”, but the comparison is almost unfair due to the fact that Aion has had over a year to work out bugs and issues in the more lenient Asian market. Even though these are the circumstances in which Champions has to deal with in order to work out well, it isn’t like they are things that are unheard of with MMO releases. Even WoW, arguably the king of game releases, had a terribly rocky launch.
To be honest, the real determination of MMO success or survival these days isn’t necessarily a launch. A launch that is buggy can be recovered from – it might not land you the most immediate subscriptions, but you will be able to focus your priorities and get yourself back on your feet in a respectable way. The real, core thing that will retain subscribers is how the company responds to and patches the game about 6 months after its release. By then, the usual “paid for beta” things that you discover at release have been addressed (or not), people have an idea of where the game is going, and the way that the developer responds the community will have been tested. If any one of these things are still a bit wonky, then maybe you’ve got cause for concern. But many MMO players, for all their bluster about “epic fails” and “rage quitting”, are more willing to stick out a game’s problems than you might think – especially with respect to a specific audience like the kind that plays superhero MMOs.
So yes, Champions Online is hurting a bit – but it’s far from permanently crippled. Syp’s compiled another list of folks who actually like Champions, and there are probably many more people who, like me, understand the inevitable problems with MMO launches and are willing to put up with it. While Champions probably has their work cut out for them, it’s still in its infancy. Time, like everything, will tell.
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- The Road To Champions [Clips] (kotaku.com)
- Champions Online is a Superhero Based Online Game (shoppingblog.com)
- Five Things You Need To Know About Champions Online [Impressions] (kotaku.com)
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I have to disagree with this game having 6 months to get "fixed". Being all it can be lies in Cryptic's ability to fix these issues in about a month's time. People will buy this game up, use the free month to determine if it's worth their hard earned coin, and unsubscribe if they think it's not a game worth spending 15 bucks a month on. To be honest, even though I'm enjoying the game more than I did the first couple nights, the monthly fee is my sticking point. To me, it's not worth spending that kind of money on. So they need to hook people quick.
I have to agree with what was said at the end of Shadow-war's review, "There are a lot of things that the typical MMO players don’t necessarily enjoy in their games that CO uses, which is going to keep this a niche game. I may be wrong, but I have a hard time seeing it go elsewhere"
It all depends on how Cryptic is measuring "success".
I wasn't sure about Champions Online until last night when I finally got into some pvp cage matches. Now I'm genuinely excited about the game.
I remain unconvinced. Don't get me wrong, there are things CO does and does well. Plenty of them. There's just also things that are making me get all skittish.
Just under two weeks now to launch. We'll have to see when CoH's Going Rogue and Issue 16 are due up.
As a final thought, I'm with Slurm. CO didnt really grab me in the tutorial and doesn't really please me with the sharding. 6 months is way out there, they need to have people hooked and soon.
Noooo – MMO tourism is bad juju. One month isn't enough to fix problems.
By contrast, Aion will be fine for the first month and beyond, but after that? There's no perceived endgame other than the Abyss. We'll see though. I'm happy for both games.
That's the kicker Frank. MMO Tourism is bad, but it exists, and it's going to hurt CO.
I couldn't agree more for Aion. I hope 6 months down the line that I'll be enjoying the PvP and whatever end game content there is. But regardless, I will probably have paid my dues to see what happens in Aion, wheras I will not be in CO.
@Slurms:
Cryptic has stated that 100K subscribers is considered a success from their point of view and their break-even point is a bit lower than that.
I think 6 months is too long nowadays for a game to get "fixed" in terms of market reactions – just look at Age of Conan. The "free" month is the limit that many people will judge the game from, if it is a subscription-based game.
If Cryptic sorts out any major problem at release or soon after, then people will forget about. It is the games where severe problems linger for weeks or months after release that gets remembered for their problems.
@Sente
pulled this from wikipedia: "As of September 2008, City of Heroes had around 124,939 subscribers in the US & Europe, according to financial reports released by NCsoft in November 2008."
Seeing as CO will be sharing this segment of the MMO market, I have a hard time believing it will retain more than 100K people after the first couple months. But I'm wrong about alot of things.