Nexus' Unofficial Game Content FAQ

[Nexus]

Let me address this first, If you want more basic questions, go to the Official FAQ (http://www.champions-online.com/faq) If you want vids, Go here for the Vid page (http://www.champions-online.com/videos).

This faq deals with the mechanics, environment, and progression of Champions Online, as it stands to date.


Note: If there is any new information on the game, that is released in the future, please put your findings in the above format and tell me which section it belongs (mechanics, environment, or progression)

What has not been said, more that about twice is this;
The XBOX 360 version of the game is going through the standardize game testing for the 360 that Microsoft requires for all games. It is not delayed, it is not vaperware, or gonna be on PS3 instead.
MTV Multiplayer: How’s the console development coming for “Champions Online”?

Bill Roper: We’ve got it running on Xbox [360]. But to a degree, it comes down more to the business side stuff. There’s no technology-based reasons we couldn’t be playing [PC] at the same time with Xbox right now. We definitely want to be on consoles. It’s easier to move to Xbox than PS3, but we would love to be on as many places as possible. I think that consoles are ripe for a good MMO, just in general. And then superheroes, the genre is just doing so well. …

It’s just going to be getting the license … Obviously, we [Cryptic Studios] were just acquired by Atari. So that changes all the publisher relationships and the distributing. So on our end, we’re just like, “Great, we’ll make it for whoever we get to make it for,” and hopefully that’s everybody. (http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/02/18/cryptics-bill-roper-talks-champions-online-mmos-and-hellgate-hopes/)

Also if you have a dual boot mac book pro, you can play CO with Boot Camp.
In fact, I can affirm that it runs better on my dual-boot Mac laptop in Windows than on my work PC. (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?p=179960)

If I forget anything about pvp or powers, take a look at the lead power designer's,Heretic's, posts (http://forums.champions-online.com/search.php?searchid=1145894) That will clear up a lot. (and I don't have enough space, nor time, to go sort that stuff out. If you want to learn, take the steps to.) And before I forget

Capes and Movement Powers are allowed from creation. It is unknown if we have to take them though


So lets get started.

Mechanics:

What are the Classes of Champions Online?
As it stands, there are no classes in Champions Online. In the beginning, there were going to be defined classes with open power selection; however, the community did not want that and here we are. Here is a quote from Jake Emmert (Jakalope)

...Earlier on in the design of Champions Online we discussed how archetypes such as Brick, Energy Projector, etc., filled certain roles in the Champions universe and how each archetype gained bonuses to powers typical of their role. Power selection wasn't restricted by archetype – archetypes just provided bonuses to certain types of powers. The idea was to break the "class" mold prevalent in so many other MMOs while still providing some guidance for players who were new to the superhero genre or new to gaming. However, when we discussed this briefly in one of the Cryptic Q&A sessions, the prevailing reaction by the community was strongly against any type of archetype bonuses whatsoever, no matter how small. Many people pointed to the "total customization" experience touted for Champions Online, and how making archetype distinctions effectively restricted power choice by creating optimum and non-optimum groupings of powers.

Collectively, the Champions Online community made us re-evaluate our initial game design with regards to archetypes. Considering our open power selection system, did we really need archetype bonuses? One of our vision goals was to provide a very flexible powers system to players that they can play with to their heart's content – why put impediments to this goal by adding in archetypes? We took the community feedback to heart and went back to the drawing board. We asked ourselves, would it be possible to create an open character creation system that still solved the same problems that character classes did? You'll need to stay tuned for the results! ... (http://www.champions-online.com/node/68)


What are the powers in the game? Are they Powersets like City of "x"?
In Champions Online, there are frameworks. They are not powersets as CoX, only grouping of similar powers.

Framework powers are set up with four pools of points: one for travel powers, one for Momentum builders, one pool for power that use endurance, and one pool to enhance powers. Power that use endurance/momentum are set up in three tiers and each tier is unlocked in the following way:
Tier 0: no prerequisite
Tier 1: at least 1 in framework, or any 2 arbitrary powers
Tier 2: at least 3 in framework, or any 5 arbitrary powers
Tier 3: at least 5 in framework, or any 8 arbitrary powers

Different powers are on different economies. For example, as the game stands right now, there are many sorcery variants (different circles of power) which cost advantage points instead of active power points because they’re all mutually exclusive to each other – you’d only have one going at a time. You’ll get 14 powers plus one movement power plus one endurance power. Every character will get 34 advantage points, total, to spend. This may change before launch. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/34809)

Power Rank up is different from a tier, as ranks are for an individual power not a group of powers.


All powers scale up automatically in their efficacy. The ranking up is actually a multiplier. Rank 2 is 20% better than rank 1, and rank 3 is 20% better than rank 2. The base automatically scales with you. The game is actually balanced around an assumption of most of your powers being at rank 2. So, having powers at rank 3 puts you ahead of the curve. Having powers at rank 1 puts you behind the curve. This is why you have just a few more enhancement points than needed to take all your powers to rank 2. This way you can take one to rank 3. Or, you could take several up to rank 3, but that means you’d have to leave several powers at rank 1 to afford it. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/34809)

Please note that this setup was based upon a beta. So the final product may change its configuration. Note: the "(*)" will now link to powers showcased on the site.

Frameworks

Darkness
Electricity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=74b0QrSNzQI) (* (http://www.champions-online.com/node/105586))
Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=74b0QrSNzQI) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/105994)
Force (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/106015)
Ice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=74b0QrSNzQI) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/105995)
Martial Artist: Dual Blades (http://www.champions-online.com/videos) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/121783)
Martial Artist: Fighting Claws (http://www.champions-online.com/videos) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/121787)
Martial Artist: Single Blade (http://www.champions-online.com/videos) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/121781)
Martial Artist: Unarmed (http://www.champions-online.com/videos) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/121786)
Might
Power Armor (http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/844880/cryptic-studios-mmo-project/videos/championsonline_trl_powerarmor_52109.html) (*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/107453)
Sorcery (http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/844880/cryptic-studios-mmo-project/videos/champions_trl_battle_50109.html)(*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/112712)
Supernatural (http://www.champions-online.com/node/121780)
Archery
Munitions
Gadgeteering(*) (http://www.champions-online.com/node/112713)
Telekinesis
Telepathy
Celestial
Custom Framework


Addendum: Pets
Will summonable minions or creatures/robots/drones/whatever be directly controllable via commands or will they be uncontrolled? (Alluvian_Est-Endrati)

We are going for a mixed model on pet control. For the most part they’re going to be intelligently uncontrolled, where they aren’t sticky to targets, but instead assist you. They will only attack your target. If they have any untargeted or party non-combat abilities then they will use those intelligently in and out of combat. If you have a pet that has a heal power, and that’s one of it’s more important powers, it’s going to choose to use that power over randomly attacking dudes. That being said, we’re also going to have a certain number of modal pet commands that can make the pet only passive or only aggressive, or only stay in one spot and do its normal thing. We don’t have the concept of telling individual pets to attack specific targets. We wanted to avoid micromanaging pets as a gameplay aspect. We would rather pets be something where you manage their abilities as complimentary to your own, as opposed to managing their every action. We find that managing pets in games ends up being a fight with the UI, rather than fight with what you’re currently engaging. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_02-23-09)

Addendum
Prime-8's Guide for stats and and suggestions for superstats and power combinations. (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=30182)

What are talents?
Talents are stat packages that are named thematically in the game. At the moment, I forget how many you can have.

[Nexus]

NOTE: The leveling curve in Champions Online is flat.
That means there are no artificial buffs between level ranges like in other MMORPGs.
You can take down anything in the game with enough effort, and in some cases
enough people, regardless of level. However, that door swings both ways in both
PvP and PvE when it comes to your hero.


On character creation imbalance
With a system this open-ended, we're working on the UI now to message the player if you, say, do not have a basic attack. To issue some of the larger attacks, you need to build up endurance. We need to message you if you haven't purchased a power that can build endurance. That's the first instance of it. It is going to be an effort in UI to message the player, even if they have full customization, to make a viable character.

At any time, you will be able to retcon your character and change out your powers. If you find that your latest power purchase has gimped yourself, you can go pay a very minimal amount of resources and redistribute those points so that you are not so gimped.
Addendum: At this time Cryptic is working on other ways to build energy. As it stands today, Each Power frameworks endurance building work in different ways. While it is unknown to what extent, we know the Fire framework builds energy while you set people, and things, on fire or if things are on fire around you (need cite.)

How can we customize our powers? Can we make our own?
No you can not make your own powers. In champions Online you can customize existing powers in the following ways. Each power costs one point to buy and cost one point to rank up. At the last known iteration, there are 3 ranks per power.

A: There's two distinct systems in the game. One is the power system, where powers are purchasable. The tailoring, or power customization, is a different system. So without affecting the mechanics of your power, or the damage of your power, we certainly know you will be able to hue shift. We're experimenting with other things, like emanation points, so you could have a fiery projectile from your hand, as well as a fiery breath. In addition to the power system and aesthetics, we are incorporating a number of the Champions character customizations, one of which is Talents, which are things that are purchased and character-specific, and the other is Advantages. Each power itself can be customized in different ways. Those are things that you can purchase. (http://www.massively.com/2008/09/05/massively-goes-to-dragon-con-cryptic-studios-qanda-part-2/)

Heretic (Lead Powers Designer): Powers can be modified by the application of Advantages. Advantages come in a wide variety of effectiveness; some simply improve the basic elements of the power they are attached to, while others add completely new effects.

For example, one Advantage adds an impenetrable telekinetic force field element to a heal power when the heal target is very low on health. Other Advantages can add damage or movement snare effects, or even modify what a summon power conjures. Advantages can radically alter how powers function, and are a key component of character customization. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_10-06-08)

The current plan is for players to be able to choose emanation points, hues, and alternate effects for some powers. For example, if a player chooses a force beam, they can elect to have it originate from their character’s eyes or as a chest beam instead of coming from the hands. The color, or more specifically the hue, of the force beam can also be set by the player. For powers that don’t have such obvious effects, such as Martial Arts, the sweep of color that trails behind the move is what would change. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-06-09)
You can choose where your power comes from. Say you’re using a force beam and you want it to come from your eyes, or your hands, or other different areas. That’s if you want to be doing it without weapons and want it built into your character concept. There’s also a system that we call power replaces that allows you to do it with weapons. You can create items that still use your powers, but replace where they come from. Sometimes they can also give you new powers. If I have a sword melee power and normally use a broadsword, a fiery katana can suddenly drop in the world and I could now use that to replace my normal sword. It doesn’t change the powers – or attacks – I use, but it may provide a different look, or it may have inherent abilities with it. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)

Also, you will have real numbers to work with:
You will be given so many numbers that your eyes will bleed and you will cry out in helpless anguish, "Developers, no more! Please, have mercy!" :cool:



Can we add advantages and disadvantages to our powers?
In Champions Online, there are no disadvantages that can be applied to individual powers. However, Advantages are in the game and can be applied.. There are two types: Generic advantages, advantages not tied to one power and can be applied to any power, and there are Custom advantages, advantages that are tied to an individual power for each power.


We are going to be focusing on the positive for Champions Online so in addition to being able buy advantages to your powers you can also purchase talents for your character. Although we looked into "purchasing" negative traits we decided not to go with that model. We love the original Champions game (of course!) and it is a big inspiration but at the end of the day we are doing what we thing works best for an MMO. (http://hellforge.gameriot.com/blogs/Champions-Guru/Champions-Online-Interview-with-Chris-Lena)

The advantage system has a small number of generic effects that can be applied to a large number of powers, like increasing your Constitution characteristic or giving you a chance on use to return Endurance. Then there is a substantially larger number of per power customized tweaks that are ridiculously varied. There is no direct sense of something just increasing your defense or offense conditionally. That sort of thing happens in the Ranks. And we don’t want to step on the toes of the Ranks too much. For most of the custom advantages we wanted to change the way you use the power rather than change the efficacy of the power conditionally. For example, there’s a power that’s an area of effect, that zaps people around you. The custom advantage is you can turn that into a toggle, press it down, and then do other stuff while it zaps people for a certain duration, but it also acquires a recharge time. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/4984)

What are movement powers in this game? How do they work? Can we run up walls/swing/run on water?
Below are all the released movement powers to date. You can gain 1 at level 5 and the second at level 35.


Ice slide
flight
Rocket Boots
Teleport
Burrowing
Swinging
superspeed
superjump
acrobatics
hoverdisk
earth flight
fire flight
Rocket Jump


Movement powers don't use any power. (I will explain this in a later update) to use and there is no movement suppression (cite: ign dev blog (http://pc.ign.com/articles/970/970580p1.html))

Also there are three stages of movement powers: one for combat, one for getting around a neighborhood (will explain this term in the environment section) and there is one for hotspot to hotspot movement.
Travel powers are represented in a few ways in the game. There will be travel powers that you can use in a zone, there will be travel powers that you use in combat, there will be travel powers that you use to move from zone to zone. (http://www.massively.com/2008/09/05/massively-goes-to-dragon-con-cryptic-studios-qanda-part-3/)




What other powers, other than what you have listed, are they working on? Do they have phasing, shapeshifting, stretching, and growth powers?

...Phasing we can't commit to at launch. Phasing, growth, shrink. These will most likely be addressed in expansion because we're getting to the point of lock. We do have a design for it; it's been in place for a while. That certainly has made it onto our expansion plans....

...Shapechange is a new thing that we've gotten in. The previous three are the only things that come to mind... (http://www.massively.com/2008/09/05/massively-goes-to-dragon-con-cryptic-studios-qanda-part-3/)

[Nexus]

Power bar? Isn't the name Endurance? How does it work.
Officially, the energy mechanic of Champions Online is called the Power bar. This is a change from the original name given before because of how the game mechanic works and to distance it from the name of the stat.

---+--------------
||||||
---+--------------

The plus symbols represent the EP or the equilibrium point. Left of that point all energy will regenerate on its own. However, right of it has to be built through various means. Some abilities require large amounts of energy to use while others build your energy from use.




What are roles? Did they rip them from DCUO? What if I don't want to use them.

Roles are the solution to a classless system that Cryptic came up with. While I do not know when the DCUO dev team came up with theirs, Cryptic talked about it before they did. they also do not work like DCUO's role system. DCUO changes a power you have to another one then buffs you or debufs you. This video, from a Q&A with Cryptic, will explain it better than I can (1:51) (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42965). It was revealed recently by Bill Roper, that roles will allow you to switch out equipped upgrades to another set you have set up for that specific role. Also note:
There is, in fact, a Balanced role that operates with no special benefits or drawbacks. A player could certainly choose to live out their character's existence in Balanced without ever changing to a different role.

We'll be explaining about the Role system a lot more in the future, but right now we're still fine-tuning a number of the details.
Addendum Power selected can also be switched out with other powers learned.




How do defenses work? I saw we can block, Do I have to use it?
Defenses work a lot differently in Champions online than any other MMO. For starters, there are not any accuracy checks of any kind and powers work on Line of sight. All attacks will hit if targeted.

Here is Arkyane's answers from my Q&A from, the now defunct, crypticgamers.org


7. Will line of sight game play allow for a player to take a hit for a comrade?

Standing in front of another player does not block line of sight. However, there are powers that actually create physical barriers which do block line of sight.

10. Will the blocking mechanism in the game, by default, negate the point of high defenses for players who want to make heroes that are don’t need to block attacks?

Blocking is an integral to the core action gameplay; it not only reduces incoming damage but helps players resist status effects like holds and sleeps. You can make characters with high defenses that mitigate the effects of not blocking, but generally it’s in your best interest to block powerful incoming attacks.


There are four basic categories of defense in CO: resistance, dodge, forcefield, regeneration. Each of those different defense types functions a little bit differently based on the circumstances. Resistance is for the classic tank type character who can withstand a hail of bullets, barely noticing it. But if you hit with a big enough ray blast, you’ll knock him through a wall and daze him for a few seconds. Dodge is the opposite of resistance – the more and faster the attacks come after the dodge character, the tougher it’s going to be for them to mitigate the damage, whereas the big, slow, heavy attacks that might put down a resistance character are easier for him to avoid. The other axis is forcefields and regeneration.

Forcefield functions extremely well early in the fight. The forcefield at maximum strength will mitigate all of the initial hits from essentially everything, however the forcefield will degrade over time. Regeneration is the opposite of that. Regeneration starts off slow, but the more times the character gets hit, the faster the regeneration will build up, up to a certain cap. It comes down to what’s your personal preference and what works best for the support characters working with you. It’s a question of which type of defense works best with which type of healing and how you want your party to work together as a whole. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)

Also here are two vids that talk about how blocks function. This one is Jack explaining that it can build energy and stop shtick effects (2:08) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ylrYcjf5wQ). And here is Arkyane explaining, at fanexpo Canada, about the different block types (1:47) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ylrYcjf5wQ&feature=channel_page)
Will players be able to hold the block button and block continuously or does one have to press it for each attack? ... Also, does successful blocking on CO equate to taking no damage or just reduced damage compared to what one would have taken if they hadn't blocked the attack? (SUNMAN)

Heretic (Lead Powers Designer): Players will press and hold the block button to stay in a blocking state. Blocking will reduce much – although not all – of the incoming damage. Against some kinds of attacks, blocking may have additional benefits. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_07-28-08)



Absinthe: Sort of; there are ways to upgrade your block ability, which in turn changes the FX/animation of the way you block. For example, a sorcerer may not cross his arms, but will instead float up into the air and summon a force field in front of him. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_10-06-08)

Addendum: How defense works in Champions Online has revealed in detail, and I am happy to say that it was totally my idea :cool:(I am speculating; however, I am not joking. It's basis seems to be my defense proposal. To read, click here (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=14147#post355409).
If I am off base, then let a dev pm me then I will edit this claim. Until then, woot to you all.:))

Addendum: Yep I was right, it is based upon my system


Defense is going to come from several different sources. The first of which is your gear. Whether it’s that your vest is made of Kevlar, or some sort of nano-gear, or you’re shielded by your heroic certainty. That’s not the majority of your defense, though. The majority comes from your choice of defensive powers. The defensive powers in the game have been reworked such that ,while they can stack, they all have differing areas of coverage. For example, the Forcefield defensive power is extremely strong at the start of a fight, but it will wear down and weaken during the course of that fight.Conversely, regeneration will ramp up in effectiveness, being a very slow heal as you’re first getting wounded, but the more times you get hit, the faster you’ll regenerate – up to a certain cap. Similarly Invulnerability and Lightning Reflexes are on their own axis. Also, every defense has an active power, a button you can press on a cool down which gives you an extra little burst of defensiveness.

All of these powers have a certain amount of inherent strength, and they’re also going to be driven by your stats. No two defenses use the same stats. While there is some stacking, because the defense powers all have different areas of specialty coverage and are all pumped up by different stats, you’ll never be able to get maximum protection from all of them at the same time. This is our inherent balancing factor.

...Certain defenses are specifically tuned to synergize well with certain power sets. We are setting up the rules so that you can synergize any defense with any power set. You just have to deliberately take some build steps to do it, as opposed to it being the default. We build in some synergies so that we can easily point them out to players so we can say to players, "If you want to be this guy, here’s the simplest path to doing it." For people who really want to tweak and customize, as much as possible we are putting in the ability to redirect which stats benefit which powers. That’s our secondary priority, though. It will never be the case, however, that you’ll be able to strongly combine two defenses for example. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/4984)

Great googli moogli.

Yes, those are very nice charts indeed.

Small corrections to Regeneration - it's actually a pretty complicated beast.: it does start off with fairly good healing at the first hit, and ramps up as you get damaged, capping out at 3x its initial heal rate. One of the tricks to it is that the rate of regeneration isn't based on your hit point level, but rather on the amount of damage you've taken. In other words, even if part way into a long fight an ally heals you up to full, it keeps going at full power.

It automatically "forgets" damage as time passes, though... about 1 attack worth every 4 seconds or so. It takes 30 seconds of time out of combat to fully "reset".

The healing from regeneration is *not* a percentage of your life; it's a flat amount that scales up with your level. The active button burst O heal, however, does scale with your HP (technically, your CON), but has the downside of making your regeneration "forget" a lot of damage.

The intent is that the active button play for Force Field and Regeneration are opposite patterns. With Force Field, you want to press the active button every time the cooldown is up, as soon as it's up, which means making sure you have the energy to push is (and thus holding back a bit on dps).

Conversely, with Regeneration, the active heal button is really cheap, but you want to push it as RARELY as possible, since it slows down your passive regeneration substantially.

(and if you buy them both, even though you can only have one passive at a time, you can use both actives, leading to some interesting combinations...)

Yes, graphing that might look odd. =)

For what it's worth... no, these defenses don't work remotely like anything in CoH, CoV, WoW, or really any other *MMO* that I'm familiar with; they're all designed to be unique and encourage different play patterns for "tanking".
(http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?p=410205)

Still need help visualizing it?
Rune, Beta's Defense guru, is revaping his info and is slowing updating it with new numbers here (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=85948). Its got all those nice numbers you all crave.

[Nexus]

What of PvP? Will power get gimped because of PvP/PvE?

Champions Online is planning to launch with PvP as an optional, parallel gameplay track.

That "parallel" bit sounds interesting - do you mean there'll be a structured progression through the game for PvPers?
It depends on what you mean by "structured". The plan is to allow for people to advance through the game via PvP, PvE, or a combination of the two. Whichever option most floats a player's boat.

Im not a die hard PvPer but the ability to advance through pvp sounds VERY cool. I always felt that in other games PvPing before max level was a waste of time.

IF I understood that statement correctly being able to advance in pvp would open the doors to a lot more people for that part of the game. I can't think that that could be anything but a good thing.

If you could clarify a little on that Heretic. When you say advance do you mean actually advance the character or just acquire loot to advance the character through pvp or some such outside advancement.

Yes, I mean actually advance the character, both in terms of progressing powerwise and in acquiring items.



Heretic, since to a great degree in a PvP situation, the players can determine the difficulty of the encounter, will there be significant checks against hardcore guilds that power-level each other via easy PvP kills in order to use maximized powers against other PvPers? This just seems like an extremely easy mechanic to exploit in order to reach maximum level/effectiveness.

The only good argument I have ever heard for not allowing character advancement via PvP is fear of exploits such as you are describing. It's a very real fear, but I don't think it should scare us as designers off of the idea. Rather, it means we need to be clever monkeys and figure ways to make sure the system can't be broken too badly.

There still are some rough corners to round off on the system we have put in place to do just this, but I am very optimistic about what we have come up with accomplishing this goal.

As for the specific concern of people just lining friends or alts up and killing them, well, give us some credit for having seen this as a potential problem... ;)

You will never be forced into participating in PvP.


How will you balance flight with other powers, particularly melee powers, in combat? I'm concerned about some Gen-con footage in which the giant metallic dinosaur that was previously owning the hero suddenly couldn’t touch him after he took to the air. It doesn't really matter that your equilibrium is zero if your foes can't do any significant damage to you. (The_Dark_Lord)

Every creature in the game has a ranged attack: every creature in the game can hit flying people. In this specific case, the reason the dinosaur had no effect is that the player had GM powers turned on that made him immune. Normally, Mega-Terak has a power called static field which means that in a 200 meter radius around him, the faster you move the higher the electricity zap you get hit with. So, if you use super speed or flight around him, you’ll explode violently. If you want to fight him, you need to tiptoe slowly. He’ll quick flash fry any normal flyer. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_02-02-09)

Can you tell us about how powers will work in PvE and PvP? Will there be a big difference or will they work the same across the board? (DemonSiege)

Powers between PvP and PvE is a big deal to us internally. We spent innumerable hours and lunches debating – and almost coming to real life PvP – over how things like taunt and aggro should work, whether we even should have an aggro system, and how we make the powers function in PvP like they function in PvE. Eventually we came to a place that we’re pretty comfortable with where we try to have pretty similar mechanics for the two. For example, the same power that taunts an enemy in PvE will put a debuff on another player in PvP until they hit you. So it’s not always going to be a perfect translation, but we hope that it will be at least close all the time. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)

..We'll have probably two to three different types of PvP available. Those will have ranking systems, there are rewards associated with that, some of them have their own special costume unlocks. And there's actually a whole fictional reason why our heroes fight each other. We have a very vocal community and many of them are very deeply into the superhero genre. So when they heard that it has PvP they were up in arms. How can you have that? Heroes don't fight each other! There was already fiction in the world as to reasons why heroes would fight each other.

Players will be able to find promoters throughout parts of the world, especially in Millennium City, that will enable them to participate in the Hero Games...The heroes aren't really there fighting each other because they're trying to hurt each other. It's more a contest of skills. We've got other PvP that is designed to be what we call Apocalypse scenarios, which are heroes training for potential end of the world scenarios. The one we're working on right now to get in when we launch is, what if heroes were made criminals and thrown in jail, in a super prison? In that training mission one side is trying to break out of the prison, the other is trying to keep them in. The concept of that is that the heroes are training to be like, what if there is a huge super villain outbreak? This is what you would be training to do. On the other side of that Apocalypse scenario, heroes are training for, what if heroes became outlawed, but you had to get out to save the word? There's fictions that make sense within the superhero genre even built into the PvP... (http://www.videogamer.com/pc/champions_online/preview-1567-2.html)


Can players participate in PvP or is everyone fighting together against common enemies?
In the Champions Universe, heroes go up against each other to test their abilities, prepare for extreme situations, and compete in what is known as The Hero Games. These are basically different contests designed to allow superheroes to go up against each other in a competitive fashion. From team battles to end-of-the world scenarios to open free-for-alls, the Hero Games act like a danger room mixed with elements of professional wrestling and extreme sports. Currently, we’re shooting for three types of PvP play in the Hero Games:

Tournament of Champions
This is team-based combat within a defined arena. Teams of heroes can rise to top of the leader-board rankings and gain both acclaim and rewards for their efforts. The Tournament started as underground events between desperate and unsavory individuals with super powers. Recent times have seen the Tournament of Champions become a sanctioned event that is televised and followed by millions of eager fans around the world.

B.A.S.H.
This free-for-all affair takes place in a condemned section of the Westside district of Millennium City. While not as pristine an event as the Tournament of Champions, it does have a bevy of followers who track the winners and losers (and offer rewards) with just as mush fervor. It also has the beneficial side effect of making street crime non-existent in that part of the city.

Apocalypse
These are special scenarios devised to push superheroes to their limits in extreme situations. The current setting is within a simulated Stronghold prison where some heroes take on the roles of assisting the prison guards and others are trying to break out. This prepares all those involved to either quell a prison uprising or shake free unjust shackles should the prison ever fall into the wrong hands. (http://www.fragland.net/specials/Interview-with-Bill-Roper-of-Cryptic-Studios/231/)

[Nexus]

What other things Can I customize on my hero/heroine?
There are stances in the game that players can choose during character creation. The more of those we can add, the more ways players can be emotive. There are also moods you can set for your character, independent of stance. For every type of emotional response you’d like to portray, we’ll figure out some way to let you do it. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_12-23-08)

Absinthe: Character stance is treated like any other costume part, and it can be modified in the same way. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_11-24-08)

Will characters be able to have multiple limbs, like our good pal Grond? (Kreios)

Absinthe: Not at launch. Unless you count wings and tails.

BraiNEateR (Art Development Director): We have put together some pretty awesome asymmetrical costumes. Obviously having asymmetrical leg lengths would cause more nightmares than it is worth, but we will be allowing arms, hands and feet to be scaled separately along with leg width. We will, however, be allowing people to scale their wallets and play Champions Online for ten years.
BraiNEateR: The costume creator is much more robust. Right now the player can have 4 colors per piece. Coloring is just the first step to costume creation. The player will be able to pick costume materials from a library. This will allow for metal, cloth, leather, etc. to be applied to any piece of geometry. In addition to materials, the player will have the ability to choose from a huge library of textures, woven fabric, canvas, etc.

BUT WAIT! THERE IS MORE! Players will even be able to pick bumped details for each costume piece, and add rivets, wrinkles, etc. from yet another library. And if that isn't enough for you … then you should ask your mom to make you a bad-ass Foxbat outfit out of your old Ocean Pacific shirts.

Currently all costume pieces are aesthetic parts of the costume, because we want players to visualize the kinds of characters they want – claws, fins, capes, any type of hero aspect, etc. In this case the tails are more of a costume part and not part of the core character morphology. That’s not to say we’re never going to have it. We’d love to put in these types of things, but it really depends on available technology. So, you might see them in the future sometime, but not right now....
Can we change the size or the age of the character by changing the costume? (I would love it if I could start with a young-like char and then change costume at lvl 20 and my kid becomes a man, like the first Robin/Dick Grayson that becomes Nightwing with more experience). (ThunderCAP)

You can do all that in character creation. There are morphologies for size changing and face types. When you make a new costume you can alter your physical experience as well. You can change your look and your physical size, so you can grow and age if you want. The only thing you currently can’t do is change your gender.

Will jetpacks have customizable exhaust: whether it's smoke, flames, plasma discharge, sonic bursts, etc.? (Captain_Intrepid)

While we currently do not have the ability to create custom effects for exhaust, we definitely want to provide players as much customization as possible. This IS on our list of areas to examine, as we’d all love to have a jetpack that has flames, or a cool tech glow, or steam-punk smoke coming out of it.
(http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_5-16-08)

Can I make a fat guy/gal?
What about overweight characters? (Allison)

Arkayne: Scaling will allow you to make "chunky" characters, but nothing on a massive (Blob-level) scale. There's a limit on what looks good in body scaling without adding a lot of additional costume parts to support the variance. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/Ask_Cryptic_05-02-08)


Addendum: New costume pieces being worked on: Pelt helms (ie Hercules' lion pelt) and Bill's flame boots. References are here (http://www.viddler.com/explore/NoobTube/videos/21/) (6:22), for the flame boots, and here ( 3rd vid, 8:29) (http://startrek-games.com/star-trek-online-cryptic-meet-greet-nyc-comic-con-2009/), for the pelt helms.

Addendum II: Costume parts have a glow effect that can be applied individually.

Also whips/rope/chain powers are in the game

Q: Any chance of whips and/or chains for weapons? (Captain_Intrepid)

A: Heretic (Lead Combat Systems Designer): There are several chain attack powers, and we are hoping to be able to expand upon these existing options even further with different types of chains, whips, mummy wraps and so on. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_09-15-08)
Weapons Customization:



Q: What melee weapons will our characters be able to use? (Marcellus)

A: There are a number of melee weapons available: swords, daggers, dual blades, chains, etc. A cool part of the Champions Online powers system is the ability to swap out weapon types - some are just aesthetic differences while some change the actual functionality of the weapon. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-06-09)



Q: Will there be a collection of unusual weapons, such as guitars?

A: "We just put 200 new weapons into the game and are always looking for more." (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19954)

Oh and here is a tid bit on unarmed marital arts

We are definitely not closing the door on doing a wider variety of formal unarmed martial arts styles in the future, but for now we wanted to focus our efforts on the broader flavors of fighting as well as several weapon fighting styles. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_10-06-08)


Information about Costume Customization from the Chili Cook off last year (edited to fit.)
THINGS ABOUT CHAMPIONS ONLINE THAT WERE TALKED ABOUT AND I HAPPEN TO REMEMBER:

A lot was mentioned about costumes. There are LOTS of costume areas. For example, arm slots are chosen separately for each arm, and there's a spot for gloves, lower arm things, upper arm things, aside from the shirt and so on. Emblems can be added not only to the torso but to a number of other locations, and they are working on ways to move them to the exact spot you want even within those spaces. The spots allow many different colours... the example that was mentioned was having several colours for just hair (the askers wanted streaks like Reed Richards or Rogue). And they're paying close attention to hairstyle recommendations from the forums so they can put even more in (apparently, some devs have managed to replicate themselves almost exactly with the costume designer, and some of those who couldn't petitioned to have the relevant costume pieces made). The way gear works with costumes is once you choose to bind something you've found to yourself, the costume piece for that item is permanently added to that character's list of costume options... even if you ditch the item itself later. Thus nothing is automatically added or stripped from your costume at any point. There was an allusion to being able to design costumes and plan your character on a web interface and share them with other people, but it's apparently still being heavily worked on because details were lacking...


Addendum to Customization : Here is a detailed explanation of the costume creator and nemesis system (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71128)


Can we get vehicles?
Bill Roper directly stated that tech is in the works, but will not make launch. This is from the recent panel from New Your Comic Con. Link here (truncated for space) (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/08/nycc-09-crpytic-panel-covers-champions-mmo-reveals-star-trek-o/).






Can I stealth missions? How does stealth work, is there a "magic bubble" around npcs?

Aggro detection by enemies is based off of both radius and line of sight. Enemies detect you further away if you’re in their forward arc. It’s an analog detection, not a binary detection. The closer you are, the more they’ll detect you, and different enemies will be tuned different ways. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)

Addendum to Stealth:


Stealth is meant to allow players to try and sneak past a critical spawn or two that they might not want to fight. The effectiveness varies depending on which power is being used, but it is not meant to be a power you can turn on and ignore spawns with. Players will still have to pay attention and react if they get caught.

What is the Death Penalty?


What will the "death penalty" be? (Hythian)

Arkayne: The "death penalty" is fairly simple, Hythian. After a player is defeated, he or she can choose to wait until another nearby player with healing powers puts them back in the fight. Failing that, the player can choose to go to a nearby recovery point. Those points are spread throughout zones and instance maps.

Regardless of what the player chooses to do, they have to pay a small price for defeat: upgrade degradation. Upgrades are pieces of equipment, imbuements, special training, etc., that players use to make their character more powerful. Every upgrade has a condition associated with it. Whenever a player is defeated any upgrades the player has slotted degrade. If the condition of an upgrade is reduced to 0, it stops providing a benefit. Upgrades can be restored to full effectiveness for a resource cost at most hero safe areas throughout the game. This represents items being repaired, re-exposure to experimental rays, combat technique montages, etc. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/36)
Addendum: as of April 7, 09 Jack has stated that there will be intangible upgrades that will not degrade. (http://pc.ign.com/articles/970/970580p1.html)

What happens when a player is defeated? Will there be debt, loss of skills or just a trip to hospital with no other consequence?

As players progress through the game they accumulate hero points for defeating villains and saving people. These points increase a hero’s effectiveness in carrying out justice. When players are defeated, they lose a hero point and head to a nearby recovery point. Players can quickly regain hero points by returning to fighting crime or by donating to charities. Depending on how players are equipped, some of their gear may suffer battle damage. (http://pc.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=17834)

[Nexus]

Can we craft? If so, what can we craft and how does it work?
Yes there is a crafting system. Some of how it works is stated in customization of powers section. Here is the rest: http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/new/crafting

making a change to the text the crafting guys tell you when you ask about crafting schools, could use some fast feedback from y'all:

There are three different Skills in Champions: Arms, Mysticism, and Science.

A character can only have one Skill at any given time. If you wish to change Skills, your hero loses all current Skill levels and starts the new Skill at level 1.

Consider your hero’s Stats when picking a Skill type; the Upgrades created by each Skill emphasize different Stats.

Arms is good at End, Con, Str and has no access to Pre at all. It is best for the Electricity, Force, Supernatural, TeleKinesis, Might, Darkness, Martial Arts and Power Armor frameworks.

Mysticism is good at Ego, Pre and Rec and has no access to Con. It is best for the Fire, Sorcery, Electricity, Force, Supernatural, Telekinesis, Munitions and Telepathy frameworks.

Science is good at Int, End, Dex, and has access to all stats though it isn't as good at Pre as Mysticism or as good at Con as Arms. It is best for the Sorcery, Ice, Archery, Munitions, Gadgeteer and Power Armor frameworks.

(what stats you want depend on what powers you choose, read your power descriptions for further information, the framework suggestions are only suggestions)

For an indepth guide go here for Mors-Subita's Crafting-A guide to Ordnance (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=45439)

Addendum on crafting and finding items


So there are different types of items that you can either find or craft. Some of them are physical items like jetpacks or weapons but at other times they could be things like special combat maneuvers or defensive styles. (http://vault.ign.com/View.php?view=editorials.detail&id=198)

Will there be a mail system?
Mail/Central Storage:
[INDENT]Yes, there will be a mail system in place for Champions Online. There will not be an account-wide storage system, but there will be league vaults for communal storage and sharing.



There won’t be central storage for characters on the same account. If one of your characters has an item that you’d like another of your characters to use, you have two options for getting it to them. The first is to mail it: we’ll have a mail system set up at launch that allows you to mail items between characters. The other solution is to use the league vault: if you have two characters in the same league, you can leave an item in the league storage vault for your other character to pick up the next time you log them in. However, that does mean you need to trust your league. (https://www.champions-online.com/node/3513)

[Nexus]

Environment

What about the Graphics? Will they be dumbed down because of XBox360?
In a word, no. Bill Roper explains, in this video (1:04) (http://startrek-games.com/star-trek-online-cryptic-meet-greet-nyc-comic-con-2009/), that because of the cell shading, 4 color comic feel that they are going for in Champions Online our 360 build looks great. As well there is an explanation on how the Xbox 360 graphics processing works.

Where will we be able to go see in the game?
let me break this down into hot spots to neighborhoods (note some will be omitted as they have not been reviled yet) :
Millennium City

Westside (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-002.jpg)
City center (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-001.jpg)
Cult of the Red Banner territory (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-003.jpg) (maybe in westside)
Argent’s base (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-005.jpg)
Downtown (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-gi-06.jpg)


New Mexico

Snake Gulch
Burnside (ghost town)
Area 51
Project Greenskin (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-004.jpg)
Stronghold Prison


Lemuria
-------------
The mysterious undersea kingdom of the Lemurians, currently in a state of civil war between those who serve King Arvad and an insurrection of rebels serving dark gods know as the Bleak Ones.

The Undying Reef :

:The uppermost part of Lemuria and is brightly lit and full of colorful coral and marine life. The Aegir , an U.N.T.I.L. submarine, is stationed near the ocean's surface

The Caliginous Depths (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-007.jpg)

a shelf below where the Lemurian Civil War is taking place. the Old Lemuria (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-007.jpg) ruins have sat in silences for tens of thousands of years. These ruins date back to the days when Lemuria existed as a civilization on the surface world, before their great doomsday weapon, The Mandragalore (http://uploads.champions-online.com/cho-006.jpg) backfired and sunk their entire continent into the sea.

Japanese research group known as Bureau 17, a Japanese research group is stationed on the out skirts of this neighborhood. There is also a Russian nuclear sub, The Cerenkov, down here. Lost since the Cold War, it still contains nuclear weapons and other fissionable material, along with even more deadly secrets. .

Rastrinfhar's Abyss

The darkest and most, desolate bottom part, of the ocean.



Moon Base: Serenity Note:Not in yet

Arena
moonbase
???
???
???

Canada

Project Steelhead
Evil god mountain (need name)
Teleios' Tower




Monster Island

Beast Mountain
Alien lading area
Doc Monroe's Village


Qliphotic (bad magic dimension)

???
???
???




Will this game do Champions PnP lore justice?
Yes. Not only does the lead writer goes to Steve Long for information and to chat, but the person who is doing all the story based missions is a 17+ year player of Champions PnP. Here (4th vid) (http://startrek-games.com/star-trek-online-cryptic-meet-greet-nyc-comic-con-2009/) is what was said about how he, the story mission and lore writer Brian, is going about business.
Addendum: More info below

... In addition to dozens upon dozens of signature heroes and villains in the game, we have a great variety of different organizations and villain groups we’ve plucked from Champions’ rich history and its many game supplement books. If you know Champions lore, I have no doubt you’re going to be impressed by how many of your old favorites make their way into the game—and we’re constantly coming up with stories which will allow us to get even more groups and organizations into Champions Online. And if you don’t know Champions, you’ll still be impressed by the variety, and how each group and organization has its own distinctive flavor and visuals, motivations and objectives, and unique styles of gameplay. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/4984)



Can I solo/ Does this game force teaming?

Champions Online does not have forced teaming and you can solo all the way to the max level, which is level 40. There will be things that you will need to team to do however. Some of them are listed below.


Does Champions Have anything to do with a team?

Yes. To be specific, villain strongholds (see non combat powers question), Giant monsters at various areas, as well as a sidekick system that allows one person to sk the rest of a team


Will we have bases?

Not at launch. There are some very good threads about them right now. Search for "SGNPC's," "Base hubs", and/or "supergroup bases" to into the conversations or add your own ideas
We won’t be launching with supergroup bases. We're aware it's something the players would love to have and we're keeping it in mind as we plan out future content updates. However we do plan to have banks at launch - we'll have both personal storage and supergroup vaults! (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)


What type of Quests/Missions are in the game?

How will missions be handed out in game? Will we get them from contacts scattered all over Millennium City or will we discovered them as we patrol the city? (Creoleman)

Arkayne: There are a variety of ways to acquire missions, Creoleman! There are all manner of legal authorities, fellow heroes, etc. that are around "hotspot" areas around the Champions Universe looking for a hero to help them out with their problems. There are "crime computers" and holographic terminals found in certain areas of the game. Sometimes players will encounter victims desperately in need of rescue out in hostile environments. Heroes can find "clue items" on defeated foes that open up new missions. There are also "exploration missions" that are automatically added based on the hero's presence in an area. In short – there's plenty of ways for a hero to get involved! (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_8-13-08)

We do plan to have a number of non-combat activities in game, exailious! Some missions involve more investigation or puzzle-solving, and we have a crafting system that will allow players to create useful devices and upgrades. We also have a rewards system that encourages players to explore the Champions Universe. We'll be posting more on the crafting and exploration rewards in future dev blog articles. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_07-28-08)

We're always looking for more ways to bring all aspects of the comic book genre to the Champions Online universe! We’re currently building an extensive knowledge system into the game where you need to go out and gather information about the world and about your enemies, which leads to associated rewards and perks. And while we're focused right now on the more action-style elements of the genre, we eventually want to bring more investigation-style stories into the game. For example, you can collect evidence from criminals to turn into the authorities which increases your reputation and therefore your available resources. The eventual goal is to expand the evidence system into a full-fledged investigation system where you put evidence together and build a mission based off of the evidence that you find. So we definitely want to cater to people who want strong story lines or want to be investigators. We’re layering in elements for that now that will only get deeper and stronger as we go along. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)

How absorbing will the missions be? E.g when rescuing a kidnapped victim, will there be a police team waiting outside the building with flashing lights waiting for you to go in? (Symbea)

Arkayne: It's going to vary throughout the game, but we're trying to make our missions as absorbing as possible given a predominantly persistent world with custom instances. When you're helping the super-science Project Greenskin base under attack by radioactive mutants you'll see guards shouting orders and firing on the attacking creatures while you repair the auto-turrets outside the base. When you go into the Stronghold super-villain prison you'll have a team of SPARC guards waiting on you to show up so they can head in with your hero to take on the rioting prisoners and mind-controlled guards inside. In short, we're trying to make you feel like your character is part of a larger world. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_10-06-08)

Addendum: Other Underwater areas
Will other areas support the ability to go underwater? For example, if the player is being chased by a radiation-breathing beast in Monster Island, will they be able to dive off a cliff and hide in an underwater cave?

We have a few other areas in the game with water areas. Monster Island is surrounded by ocean, Millennium City is right next to the Detroit River, and there are various smaller areas like ghost pirate caves that are partially or fully submerged. We hope to expand this even more as we create more updates to the Champions Online universe! (http://www.examiner.com/x-544-Games-Examiner~y2009m3d10-Champions-Online-developer-interview-Randy-Mosiondz-talks-content)

Addendum: Phasing content
Will the environment of areas change when players complete certain missions or will everything stay the same so that each player can have the same experience regardless when they started playing?
We have what we’re calling Crisis maps in the game where heroes come in to help stop a major catastrophe. Players will change the environment through their actions in these crisis maps, and the experience is incredibly heroic. We also have open areas within the world where players can alter their surroundings, such as by cleaning up parts of the seedy Westside in Millennium City by patrolling and taking out street gangs. (http://www.fragland.net/specials/Interview-with-Bill-Roper-of-Cryptic-Studios/231/)

[Nexus]

What about non-combat hero stuff? Do I have to fight all the dang time?

Arkayne: We do plan to have a number of non-combat activities in game, exailious! Some missions involve more investigation or puzzle-solving, and we have a crafting system that will allow players to create useful devices and upgrades. We also have a rewards system that encourages players to explore the Champions Universe. We'll be posting more on the crafting and exploration rewards in future dev blog articles. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_07-28-08)


Will non-combat skills come into play?

As an example, if a level has a reactor which may explode, blocking off entry to an area, can that reactor be set to normal with a 'Science' skill? Can a 'Security' roll be made to gain entrance to areas that you couldn't otherwise enter? (rabb1t)

Arkayne: Yes there is rabb1t! There are skills you can learn, develop, and use to affect your environment. For example, while raiding a VIPER base you may come across a team of VIPER agents accessing a Draysha Gas station to make themselves more powerful in combat. If your Science skill is high enough, you may be able to shut down the gas vents or reconfigure it so you can gain the benefits (and drawbacks) of the gas! We have a good distribution of Skill-based interactions throughout the game so players will have lots of fun figuring out how to turn an environment to their advantage or unlock bonus elements. (http://www.champions-online.com/node/36)
...He turned and swept his arm to take in the hallway littered with bodies and cyborg parts behind him. One robot, surprisingly intact, stood slumped against a wall, his eyes blank.

"You want I should destroy that one, Captain?" asked Might, popping his knuckles as he stepped forward.

Force sighed as he scooped up a handful of parts from the floor. "Good old Might," he said, cupping the parts to his chest with one hand and opening a panel on the deactivated robot with another. "Always thinking with your fists."

"Um... shut up," Might said.

"Good one!" Force replied. He inserted a part, twisted it into place, then inserted another, and another still before closing the panel and, his hands fumbling against the robot's back, flipping a switch. The robot straightened, its eyes blinking into life, and began to follow Force as he moved toward the elevator.

"How did you do that?" asked Might, walking beside them and waving his hand in front of the robot's face.

"Using parts scattered around the floor from the battle," said Force, swatting away Might's meaty hand. "And leave him alone. He's on our side, now."... (http://news.bigdownload.com/2008/09/09/champions-online-stronghold-pg2/)
Addendum:: There will be neighborhoods, with no contacts, that will have public questing system in place. Saving people from natural disasters are one aspect that has been reviled (will find site later)



Shael / Edwin : Can you tell us about some of the mission or adventures that may take place? Will there be save the citizen scenarios?

Randy Mosiondz : Adventures are very wide-ranging, with everything from fighting off large-scale alien invasions to helping old ladies across the street. And yes, you will have the option to save citizens in a number of different scenarios - collapsed building, lost hikers, kidnapped travelers, etc. (http://www.impulsegamer.com/gamingarticles.php#cryptic) (I just want to point out that I was right about the old lady thing. This link has nothing to do with the faq. Just a "I told you so". :p) (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=10461)

Is there a different server for Europeans?
Americans and Europeans play on the same server. (ref: one of the vids here. (http://startrek-games.com/star-trek-online-cryptic-meet-greet-nyc-comic-con-2009/) Can't remember which and what time)

Why do the sounds sound like "City of X"?
All of the sounds in all the early vids are place holders. They are not the final sounds of the game. Below shows how much time is being taken to ensure a very nice ambiance and epic flavor.
...
Q: What role does sound play in exciting gameplay?
A:A bigger role than most people imagine. For me, audio is somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of the gaming experience, perhaps even more (depending on context). It's just like film or other mediums.

In games, audio often works on a subconscious level. If it sticks out it gets annoying and distracts you from the visuals. For things like ambiance, if the audio is just right, your ears tend not to notice. You brain takes the sound for granted.

And music can completely color or change the feeling behind visual images. Try thinking of the shower scene from Psycho with the Bernard Herrmann music score replaced with some goofy, light-hearted Danny Elfman-esque music. The frightening terror of the scene would vanish, and the scene would be perceived with a whole new meaning

Q: What does it take to create the soundscape for a neighborhood or instance?

A: A lot of blood, sweat and tears. We always start by looking at the design of the area along with the visuals to get a feel for what the soundscape should be. Then we start looking at specifics. The audio environments in Champions Online tend to break down into four basic categories:


* World/environmental sounds – ambiance, objects in the environment, etc.
* Player and in-game character sounds – your power sounds, character-generated sounds, footsteps, etc.
* Voice – to help bring the characters to life for cinematics and cutscenes or to convey information to the player.
* Music – to create a mood, give a neighborhood a particular flavor, create excitement during a boss battle, etc.


We usually start with the background ambiance – room tones, a forest or city background, or whatever is needed as a basis for the particular environment. Then we will look for objects in the environment that we can attach sounds to – computers, power stations, birds singing in the trees, and so on. Once we have a sonified environment, then we'll add the sounds for the player and any other NPC entities, and balance. Finally, we'll add any music or voice elements that are needed to complete the soundscape and create the appropriate mood.... (http://www.champions-online.com/node/62)

How developed is the audio in CO? One of the complaints in CoH was that it was very lacking in the sounds and music department. Will there be looping music in zones? Ambient Sounds? Enemies grunting and howling when they're attacked? Voiceovers? (Progressman)

We’re paying a lot of attention to sound. In fact, we just tripled the size of our audio team. Right now we’re going through the entire game seeing where we need to add more ambient sounds or voice work. The music is awesome. All of the signature villains in the game have voices associated with them and all of the critters make appropriate noises: for example, zombies groaning and demonic wolves howling. We want CO to have the dynamic experience you’d expect from a superhero game.




Do the npc heroes do anything but stand there and dull out quests while the world ends around them?

NPC heroes will respond to threats around them in the general area. However they will stay in the area for giving out mission purposes(Gencon Vid 7)


Wait a sec... How big is a "hotspot/zone"
Unsure; however, if you take a look at the xplay vids of Canada and the Monster island vids from gencon I will speculate (and this is the only part of the entire faq that is my speculation) is about half of City of heroes' Shadow Shard zone.

[Nexus]

Progression

What is the leveling scheme? Do I get just points, like the hero system/pnp does it or is it a leveling mechanic?
The leveling Mechanics are a normal leveling scheme; however, you will not progress like in City of X. There are no "level 50 minions" in Champions Online. Vertical progression, leveling, will be reflected in the enemies you fight within a group. ()

What is max level?
Max level is 40 at the moment
...BR: Champions will launch with a level cap of 40. We wanted to try to have a much more defined polish over the game. I think most people think, oh well 50 is the level cap you always start with. Not every game does. Some even come out with much lower level caps. It's really more the play experience within that. It's certainly something that will grow and will start growing immediately, but it's nice to have that headroom. Even within that number of levels the time to play is very similar to what you would see in an MMO that had about 50. It is kind of an arbitrary number. For us it's much more about the amount of content that's put in there, the polish of that content and then the experience the players go through. I think we just did a mission count yesterday and we're just under 1000. Should keep people busy! (http://www.videogamer.com/pc/champions_online/preview-1567-2.html)

What do you do to level? Do I have to Beat up everything in sight?
The game is structured in a way where while there are enemies that need to be defeated, the story progresses you so that it is a reason for doing it that is more prevalent that someone wanted pelts.


What happens at the endgame?
The Omega System


What is the Omega System?
The OMEGA system is our name for the whole of our end-game content. There are several different event-types that fall into this category, and it's also designed to be expanded as time goes by. That being said, let's talk about what's going to be there for launch.

UNITY Missions
UNITY is a top-level branch of UNTIL that recruits the world's most powerful heroes to act as fast-response teams for global threats. There are new events and missions that heroes can go on each day, earning special commendations for success. These commendations can then be used to gain access to high-level Lairs and Headquarters which have special OMEGA-level rewards. The UNITY missions change every day, so be sure to check and see who needs help, and where.

THE HERO GAMES
There are special arenas and rewards for the highest level of competitors in this hero-on-hero competition.

PERKS
For those players who like to work towards very long-term goals, there are high-end perks that will require dedication to complete, but will also have rewards that reflect the dedication of those heroes able to complete them.

NEMESIS
Defeating your Nemesis is one thing, but do you have the mettle to fill out your Nemesis Gallery with numerous deadly enemies? And once that is complete, who knows what new challenges will await you?

CRAFTING
For those heroes who are inventors or researchers by nature, there are some very high-end crafting recipes that require true dedication to complete. But the results are magnificent!


Also, these are the basis for our continued work on end-game content. We have a lot more in the pipeline that will be released after the game launches, but we wanted to create a solid foundation so you know we're serious about giving you lots to do once you've built your hero up to be amongst the world's elite.

Do we run out things to do, like City of "x"?
It has been stated that each hotspot has enough content to allow a player to stay in that area for the life of his/her character. Also content is repeatable.

Addendum: The game's content only has a minimal level requirement so even if you are level 40 you can still do missions that you overlooked or ignored, if you want.


Do I have to globe trot? Why can't I just stay at "x"
This question has been answered in the previous question


So....when do we get to fight against our Nemesis?
While it as level 30, it has been moved to level 25



What can we customize on him/her/it?
[B]You can customize the personality, powersets (powers are in sets for Nemeses for balance reasons), minion powersets, costume, and the costumes of their minions, and stance. You cannot write dialog for your nemeses and the powerset defines how the nemesis fights. Note: If you go into making one to be one for one for what is in your head, for your enemies actions, you may be a bit disappointed.

Hey do we get Secret identities in this game?
Yes. From what is known, in Champions Online you have the option of having a secret identity or not from creation. If you choose to have a secret identity there will be a time in your heroic carrier that will have you choose to keep your secret id or not. If you choose not to keep it your progression will shift and change onto a different path.

[B]Addendum: This feature could not make it in before launch however it will be in an update

[Nexus]

Miscellaneous

What are the requirements for the game?
Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* CPU:2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
* Memory: 1GB RAM
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core
* Sound: DirectX Compatible Soundcard
* HDD: 5GB Free Disk Space
* Network: ADSL / Cable Modem
* Disc: DVD-ROM
* Driver: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Configuration

* OS: Windows XP/Vista
* CPU: 2GHz Dual Core or Better
* Memory: 2GB RAM or Better
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Better / ATI Radeon HD3850 or Better
* Sound: DirectX Compatible Soundcard
* HDD: 5GB Free Disk Space
* Network: ADSL / Cable Modem or Better
* Disc: DVD-ROM
* Driver: DirectX 9.0c



I wanna see more pics. I need to look at something.
At this point you could try the archive or go to look at the official screens. However, depending on what you have on your rig, it may not look that way on your end.

This FAQ has given me some cool ideas. I think I should start a new thread.
Now before you do this, realize that most of the things that you will come up with may have been discussed already. Please do a search before you start a thread on the topic you would like. Thanks in advance.

When is the game going to be Released?
September 1, 2009


Been Playing and I don't like the music.
Good news for you. You can use winamp in game for your musical choice via a slash command. (Unfortunately I forgot what it is so if anyone does know please post it for me.) There is a radio station
dedicated to the Champions universe at Storm Radio (http://www.thestormradio.com/)
(If there are any others please list them in the thread. Thank you in advance)


Other good Links to read

CO Wiki (http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Main_Page)
XBOX 360 Controller FAQ (Note: The controller is not optimized and is not fully functional yet. It will work in combat.) (http://forums.champions-online.com/showpost.php?p=895219&postcount=89)
tips for New people (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=47510)

[Effect]

Looks pretty good. :). I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do something like this without getting anything in return to be honest. I put things together all the time at work but to do it when it's clearly someone elses job at Cryptic (in which they get paid for) to keep something similar up to date isn't anything I can wrap my head around.

[Nexus]

Looks pretty good. :). I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do something like this without getting anything in return to be honest. I put things together all the time at work but to do it when it's clearly someone elses job at Cryptic (in which they get paid for) to keep something similar up to date isn't anything I can wrap my head around.

To make the best super hero experience possible, it is wiser to have everyone in the know about the features of the game. That being said, we had most of the better ideas (hero threat, white elephants for game economy inflation, dispatcher missions, factions of a heroic society, etc. ) when Ak's faq was up. It's not up now so we are getting bogged down with answering more questions than finding solutions.

I hate for one to stay ignorant and blame it on not knowing where to look or the fact that not many people actually seeing the cohesive whole of where the game development stands. I am gonna elevate that so there should be no excuses for anyone to not know. Knowledge is power and a Champion uses his or her power to the fullest for the betterment of those around them. :)

It would be wise to not let the pursuit of money stop you from being helpful.

[Hamsamwich]

i almost feel like this is a desperate attempt to get into beta : ), but ya this is great, i can't till all that extra space is filled B-) because i get really bored during tech class... currently i am being "taught" how to use power point

[Pandamin]

i almost feel like this is a desperate attempt to get into beta : )

Say something nice for a change.:) ;)
You will feel a lot better.

For all you know he is in Beta and wants to share the luv.

[Nexus]

i almost feel like this is a desperate attempt to get into beta : ), but ya this is great, i can't till all that extra space is filled B-) because i get really bored during tech class... currently i am being "taught" how to use power point

nah. I got into the alpha. I am not worried about the beta.

[Nexus]

Okay done for to night. Am missing some stuff on steath but all an all that should help the learning curve untill I am done.

[AlexRich25]

There will be capes. Stop asking.

[Nexus]

There will be capes. Stop asking.

Yep that is true. Movement powers and Capes at creation. There are costume parts you unlock as you progress though.

[Nexus]

Okay I am done for now. I have a bit of the Environment and Progression topics to go. List the questions that you want answered and I will see if I can get the info.

[Chozo]

This is really useful! Thanks for your hard work.

[Superior]

Okay I am done for now. I have a bit of the Envornment and Progression topics to go. List the questions that you want answered and I will see if I can get the info.

Very informative and pleasing to look at! Always a plus+ :D

[Nexus]

Thanks Typography class :D

[AlexRich25]

Definitely should be stickied, make sure it's bumped constantly :)

[miclee]

/vote for sticky

Gives me something to read to keep my hopes up for beta. I've been here since the start.

[DemonSiege]

WoW nexus..like wow..this is some awsome stuff dude keep up the good work :D

[Nexus]

thanks all. and updated.

[nachtwolf]

Addendum to Stealth:

Originally posted by Ask Cryptic September 15, 2008

Stealth is meant to allow players to try and sneak past a critical spawn or two that they might not want to fight. The effectiveness varies depending on which power is being used, but it is not meant to be a power you can turn on and ignore spawns with. Players will still have to pay attention and react if they get caught. (https://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_09-15-08)

[Nexus]

Addendum to Stealth:



thanks for the update.

[nachtwolf]

Mail/Central Storage:

Yes, there will be a mail system in place for Champions Online. There will not be an account-wide storage system, but there will be league vaults for communal storage and sharing.

Originally posted by Ask Cryptic February 2, 2008

There won’t be central storage for characters on the same account. If one of your characters has an item that you’d like another of your characters to use, you have two options for getting it to them. The first is to mail it: we’ll have a mail system set up at launch that allows you to mail items between characters. The other solution is to use the league vault: if you have two characters in the same league, you can leave an item in the league storage vault for your other character to pick up the next time you log them in. However, that does mean you need to trust your league. (https://www.champions-online.com/node/3513)

[Nexus]

Thread is updated.

[AlexRich25]

Any chance of whips and/or chains for weapons? (Captain_Intrepid)

Heretic (Lead Combat Systems Designer): There are several chain attack powers, and we are hoping to be able to expand upon these existing options even further with different types of chains, whips, mummy wraps and so on.

here is the confirmation of chains/whips

[nachtwolf]

What are the weapons in Champions Online?

There are many different weapons in Champions Online, such as Ego Blades, swords, daggers, dual blades, chains, and various other unusual weapons suck as guitars.
Originally posted by Ask Cryptic January 6, 2009

Q: What melee weapons will our characters be able to use? (Marcellus)

A: There are a number of melee weapons available: swords, daggers, dual blades, chains, etc. A cool part of the Champions Online powers system is the ability to swap out weapon types - some are just aesthetic differences while some change the actual functionality of the weapon.
(http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-06-09)
Originally posted by Ask Cryptic September 15, 2008

Q: Any chance of whips and/or chains for weapons? (Captain_Intrepid)

A: Heretic (Lead Combat Systems Designer): There are several chain attack powers, and we are hoping to be able to expand upon these existing options even further with different types of chains, whips, mummy wraps and so on. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_09-15-08)
Originally posted by Joystiq February 8, 2009

First off, Champions will feature a lot of unique and odd weapons such as guitars. Essentially, this means you can create a "Guitar Hero" (hey, not our joke – blame executive producer Bill Roeper).
(http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/08/nycc-09-crpytic-panel-covers-champions-mmo-reveals-star-trek-o/)
Originally posted by Comic Book Resources February 8, 2009

Q: Will there be a collection of unusual weapons, such as guitars?

A: "We just put 200 new weapons into the game and are always looking for more." (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19954)
Originally posted by Ask Cryptic October 6, 2008

We are definitely not closing the door on doing a wider variety of formal unarmed martial arts styles in the future, but for now we wanted to focus our efforts on the broader flavors of fighting as well as several weapon fighting styles. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_10-06-08)


On weapons and emanation points:
Originally posted by Ask Cryptic January 22, 2009

Q: On melee weapons such as Ego Blades (a blade made of energy), will we be able to use ranged attacks with these weapons? (Ex: You swing your blade and the energy from it is released as a flaying bolt of energy). Or will we be forced to use some other sort of power/skill for ranged attacks with a primary melee hero? (Slivan)

A: We’re putting a great deal of effort into allowing players to customize not only the functional differences in their powers but also the visual differences. Things we’ve already talked about publically include different emissions points and hue shifting. Going forward, we totally intend to allow players to change their animations and select between different animations the same way you’re allowed to select right now between animations for how you move, how you run, and how you jump. That being said, our focus right now for release is getting functionally different powers out. Making sure Lightning Bolt is distinct and unique from Fireball and making sure Ego Blades is its own distinct, unique power. The effort we’re going to put into making Ego Blades have a cool blast type power – that’s going to come. But it’s going to come after we’re sure all the functional differences are there and good enough to satisfy our players.


Q: Will we be able to use weapons to use our powers or will we be stuck with shooting fire from our hands? (timtheory)

A: There are a couple different ways that we address that: one is emanation points. You can choose where your power comes from. Say you’re using a force beam and you want it to come from your eyes, or your hands, or other different areas. That’s if you want to be doing it without weapons and want it built into your character concept. There’s also a system that we call power replaces that allows you to do it with weapons. You can create items that still use your powers, but replace where they come from. Sometimes they can also give you new powers. If I have a sword melee power and normally use a broadsword, a fiery katana can suddenly drop in the world and I could now use that to replace my normal sword. It doesn’t change the powers – or attacks – I use, but it may provide a different look, or it may have inherent abilities with it. (http://www.champions-online.com/dev_blog/ask_cryptic_01-22-09)


On crafting and finding items:
Originally posted by Vault Hub February 11, 2009

So there are different types of items that you can either find or craft. Some of them are physical items like jetpacks or weapons but at other times they could be things like special combat maneuvers or defensive styles. (http://vault.ign.com/View.php?view=editorials.detail&id=198)

[Nexus]

faq updated. Thank you again for the help.

[Pandamin]

Thanks again Nexus.

Thats quite a lot of info.
It certainly is apreciated.:)

[nachtwolf]

I made a new thread containing all of the interviews I could find. You can look at it here (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=14095) if you need more sources. Again, thanks for this.

[Inquizitor]

I really appreciate you taking the time to compiile this information for me.

[Nexus]

Np. I should be done tomorrow with the last section. If there is any other questions about the three areas covered I will see what I can find. The game is in development so most of the questions are not answered. I expect the new ask cryptic to drop next week so, plus something big in conjunction to it I hope. I could be wrong though.

Well thats all for tonight. Thanks for all the help and I hope that the info here can help some people. I am gonna draw Afro now.

[starkaos]

For the "Do we run out of things like City of "X"?", I would suggest different wording since that will no longer be the case (Mission Architect) in City of "X" in a month or two with the next expansion that is in closed beta right now.

[deathangel372]

what are ego blades

[nachtwolf]

what are ego blades

I tend to think of ego blades as being like lightsabers. I could be totally wrong on that assessment, but I don't think so.

http://uploads.champions-online.com/steel_commando1.jpg

[starkaos]

I tend to think of ego blades as being like lightsabers. I could be totally wrong on that assessment, but I don't think so.

http://uploads.champions-online.com/steel_commando1.jpg

The ego separates what is real. It helps us to organize our thoughts and make sense of them and the world around us. Therefore it could be that since you believe that a sword is in your hand, then the sword appears. If a ego blade was similar to a lightsaber, then it would have to have some type of projection system to project the blade. Whether the projection system is in your gauntlets or the hilt is dependent on character customization. An ego blade is not limited to a projection system since the projection system is your own mind. Although I think Ego Blades are just a placeholder depending on how the player creates blades out of nothing. It could be psionic, ego, light, neutron, graviton, energy, or whatever method the player imagines for it.

[Nexus]

what are ego blades

Ego blades are blades made out of energy that can be manifested from your hands. Depending on how you set them up, using generic advantages or custom advantages for the framework (this info is not in the faq yest), you can make it work the way you want to some degree, as I understand it.

[Nexus]

Updated. I will add the rest later.

[Blackjon_Bludd]

Well that gave me somthing to read while bored at work ;p

Thanks for gathering all the info into one place, i'd sen most of it before but there were one or two interesting tidbits to chew over :D

[lordbat]

Nexus... really you are my true Superhero!!!!

Thank you my friend!!!

[Nexus]

np glad to help.

[Nexus]

tenatively updated. Will find the cites later.

[twincast]

Thanks a lot. Hunting the web (or even the official forums) for information grows tedious fast, so this really helps a lot.

However, I hate to say it, but the constant "reviled" instead of "revealed" creates some involuntary comedy. My first thought is always that the creators and/or the community despise a certain feature/decision. XD

[Nexus]

bah typos. :p

[AlexRich25]

Nexus, get ready for a big update with this new interview, some new info came out.

[Nexus]

I am. That's why I am so mad that that voon crap did not work.

edit

I think I fixed that typo. There are a few more so I will hunt them down later.

[miclee]

Glad to see this stickied!

[chvlumb]

I am. That's why I am so mad that that voon crap did not work.

edit

I think I fixed that typo. There are a few more so I will hunt them down later.

Nexus is a beast, they seriously need to pay you for this. I know you put hours into this thanks man^^

[iconocast]

yeh nexus nicely done dude, very awsome, cover almost anny questions co newcomers might have

[Nexus]

Thanks for the kind words. FAQ is updated with the direct quote that CO does run on boot camp very well (Heretic posts are strange. They don't add the post number that links in the quote). Also, I would love to get paid :D. I won't hold my breath, but It would be nice :).

[chaoss]

Thank you for posting this it covered most of my questions

[jetsdude24]

Not paid...free game time card?

Great FAQ by the way!
Everything I have been looking for was answered or addressed here!

[Tamanous]

Pvp is sounding nice and relatively integrated.

Anyone have greater info on zone sizes? I am a big fan of a zoneless world but is each is rather large that may be decent enough.

[pockii]

I couldn't find anything about this on other threads and I thought this would be the place to put it. If I'm wrong, I appologize and will post ti somewhere else.

Will Champions have support for 64 bit operating systems? I know lots of other games that are released say that they will, but especially MMOs end up having trouble, especially when releasing patches, and end up being weeks behind for the 64bit systems. Also, some games have stopped altogether releasing updates for 64bit OS because of all these problems.

Just a thought as release draws closer.

[Nexus]

Do you mean XP 64 for duo cores? If it is, all I know is that it runs on XP and was being optimized last year for vista (this was around that Canadian con). When it wasn't optimized on vista it still worked okay. It was also never said that it didn't work for a certain type of XP.

Other than what is above, I don't have any concrete facts about it at this time.

[Nexus]

Not paid...free game time card?

Great FAQ by the way!
Everything I have been looking for was answered or addressed here!

CO is going to be P2P. What the payment scheme will be is still being determined.

[Anxst]

Thanks for all this finely compiled info, Nexus! Being someone coming into the forums rather late, it's great to have this all in one spot. I'm going to let it all percolate, see what I come up with, and start hitting threads here with any ideas I might have.

[Nexus]

Thanks for all this finely compiled info, Nexus! Being someone coming into the forums rather late, it's great to have this all in one spot. I'm going to let it all percolate, see what I come up with, and start hitting threads here with any ideas I might have.

np I am just happy people are using it as intended. Also I am kinda dreading that new info splurge coming about the nemesis system. Hope I have room.

[DemonSiege]

sweet congrats nexus for the sticky :D

[Nexus]

Thank you.:)

[Shadowmage]

I hate to be the spelling ninja (maybe that should be my character in CO), but I notice you use the word reviled a lot. I think perhaps you mean revealed.

As reviled means to speak abusively of someone/thing.

So when you have something like It was reviled recently by Bill Roper, that roles will allow you to switch out equipped upgrades to another set you have set up for that specific role. it has a totally different meaning if you use reviled or revealed.

[Shinryu]

Just read through this, good stuff. :)

[Nexus]

I hate to be the spelling ninja (maybe that should be my character in CO), but I notice you use the word reviled a lot. I think perhaps you mean revealed.

As reviled means to speak abusively of someone/thing.

So when you have something like it has a totally different meaning if you use reviled or revealed.

I know. It's hard to sift through with all the formatting in the advanced menu. I will check it completely in the next update.

[Nexus]

okay I think I got all the typos.

[Nexus]

FAQ updated: Confermed there are no weaknesses in the game.

[HellKnightX]

Extraordinarily useful guide, thanks very much for posting it! :D

[Kriegjaeger]

This is THE official unofficial game content guide. Seriously, awsome job man. Keep it up.

[Jerakal]

Just finished reading the faq, it's very well put together, and very informative.

Thanks a lot.

[Nexus]

thanks and updated with the quesiton "Can I make a fat guy/gal?"

[profanation]

Thanks for a well-documented and informative guide! I just got off of the tram from Paragon City, and that was a great read to orient me to the CO universe.

[Jkresh]

Agreed you've done a hell of a job with this.

[AndrosArch]

Very helpful, good work :)

[Veritas]

Incredibly informative and well organized.
Thanks for all your work on this Nexus.

[Nexus]

updated with new info.

Edit
This update is preliminary until I go over the new article with a fine tooth comb :)

[Vx_SIN]

NIce Job ^^, this has cleared up alot of questions that i had for the game =)

[Nexus]

updated with confirmation of glowing costume options.

[Nexus]

Updated with Moltengrace's confirmed costume peace thread

[Nal-kun]

Solid. Very, very solid from what I've read so far. Not only that, but the fact that the zones are as large as about HALF of the shadow shard, and the ability to actually stay in the same zone for your entire career because of the massive amount of content.

Beautiful; a masterpiece. Excellent work so far, Devs. :D

[Pikyu]

what download a game man???:(

[EyeAreChaos]

good lord thats a lot of stuff!

I played the "City of" games for quite a while and to date they are still among my fav MMOs simply because of the level of customization i had for all of my characters (and believe me i am an alt-aholic in every sense of the word) and Champions doesnt look like its gonna dissapoint me. Great, great thread Nexus. As a manager at GameStop this kind of detailed info is going to help me get news of this game to all my MMO customers.

P.S. - after reading what i just typed i realized it looks a lot like a "desperate attempt to get into beta" which isnt what i was going for although i do in fact really really wanna play the hell out of the beta lol

[Nal-kun]

P.S. - after reading what i just typed i realized it looks a lot like a "desperate attempt to get into beta" which isnt what i was going for although i do in fact really really wanna play the hell out of the beta lol

Hah, it's ok. A lot of people "sound" like it, but usually don't mean it. :rolleyes:

[HellKnightX]

Wow, this is shaping up to be leaps and bounds ahead of CoX. I'm prepared to waste the next several years of my gaming life on this :D

[karami92]

Also, if you look closely at the new screenshot released, the hero formerly refered to as the gadgeteer is using a bow!! So bows are in?! also on an off topic note, the giant robots look awesome.

[mikeyd2013]

fairplay some great info on here cheers nexus

[Octoplatinum]

Seems Ak's Faq is kaputs as well. So now we have 2000 new people with no idea of the game's extent.

I am gonna ask all the old salts of the forum to help me out with this one. If anyone has all of those frequent questions that keep popping up, put em here and answer them with quotes of linkable material please. I will put some up I can remember and then consolidate them as AK did some time this week.

Please, for my sake, put them in this format:

Question to be answered
answer to the question with a direct quote and link to the source material. (if it is a video, link the vid and tell the time stamp for when the quote starts)


Let me address this first, If you want more basic questions, like what is champions and beta testing and things, go to the Official FAQ (http://www.champions-online.com/faq) and the Unofficial Champions Online Closed Beta FAQ (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=10366). If you want vids, Go to the consolidated video thread (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=8175). If I miss anything, there is a wealth of information in the new Consolidated Interview Thread (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=14095).

This faq deals with the mechanics, environment, and progression of Champions Online, as it stands to date.


Note: If there is any new information on the game, that is released in the future, please put your findings in the above format and tell me which section it belongs (mechanics, environment, or progression)

What has not been said, more that about twice is this;
The XBOX 360 version of the game is going through the standardize game testing for the 360 that Microsoft requires for all games. It is not delayed, it is not vaperware, or gonna be on PS3 instead.


Also if you have a dual boot mac book pro, you can play CO with Boot Camp.


If I forget anything about pvp or powers, take a look at the lead power designer's,Heretic's, posts (http://forums.champions-online.com/search.php?searchid=1145894) That will clear up a lot. (and I don't have enough space, nor time, to go sort that stuff out. If you want to learn, take the steps to.) And before I forget

Capes and Movement Powers are allowed from creation. It is unknown if we have to take them though


So lets get started.

Mechanics:

What are the Classes of Champions Online?
As it stands, there are no classes in Champions Online. In the beginning, there were going to be defined classes with open power selection; however, the community did not want that and here we are. Here is a quote from Jake Emmert (Jakalope)




What are the powers in the game? Are they Powersets like City of "x"?
In Champions Online, there are frameworks. They are not powersets as CoX, only grouping of similar powers.

At this time there are no direct developer information about the frameworks. However, through ross_ridge's work we have a working idea of what is in store. Please note that this information is somewhat dated and powers have been added since the last posting. Also note that this setup was based upon a beta. So the final product may change its configuration. (quote edited with later findings of Misanthrope_Prime)

Addendum: Munitions is a frame work within the game now.

Addendum II: You will be able to learn much more powers than you can use at one time.
(NY Comic con panel Ten ton hammer vid)

Addendum III : Pets




This and the other questions only mean...you have WAY to much time on your hands!

[yoritomo]

Wow, thanks again for doing all the legwork, Nexus. I keeep referring buddies to this thread when they have content questions. It's a huge help. :)

[Nexus]

OctoPlatinum, If you have nothing to contribute, other than insult, why post?

Oh and Yoritomo, np glad to help.

[SenshiBat]

Q: Do any of you have a fAv Office Tower to view the city from that you can share street Loc wise?
tnx
-----------------------------
From the ashes rises the future

[phantomshotgun]

i've been seeing alot of talk about multi armed heros in the past, even i asked about them. i know there is a 4 armed NPC in the game but no one never said or comfurmed anything about player controled characters having 4 armes. what i wish to ask is if we can make our heros have 4 arms or extra limbs. as for if it would be a power or a costume part i don't care as long as they work (I.E. move or fight). also thank you for informing us about whats in the game, i'm qite exsited about getting this game now

[Nexus]

Q: Do any of you have a fAv Office Tower to view the city from that you can share street Loc wise?
tnx
-----------------------------
From the ashes rises the future

Can't tell you. I can say from the screen shots that the scope of M city is massive.

i've been seeing alot of talk about multi armed heros in the past, even i asked about them. i know there is a 4 armed NPC in the game but no one never said or comfurmed anything about player controled characters having 4 armes. what i wish to ask is if we can make our heros have 4 arms or extra limbs. as for if it would be a power or a costume part i don't care as long as they work (I.E. move or fight). also thank you for informing us about whats in the game, i'm qite exsited about getting this game now

People have wondered if the players would be getting access to them. Devs said sometime after launch.
You can get a back pack with arms and such though.:)

[phantomshotgun]

People have wondered if the players would be getting access to them. Devs said sometime after launch. You can get a back pack with arms and such though.:)

edit: sorry, miss read that, though a back pack with arms is cool, it doesn't qite bring me closer to my 4 armed kung fu alien panda girl :P lol but thanks anyway :) lets hope the devs try 4 arms on the body next

[SenshiBat]

Danke that was most informative..

[Wolf Riot]

This topic made me very happy. I can't wait to see this all in action!

[Sacreddutcman]

Hmmmm....and you have a ritch and full life OctoPlatinum?.....but still time to bash on someone helping ppl out with a extensive post like this?

And Yes I dont have a life and proud of it......Geeks ftw YEAAAA ! ! !

[Nexus]

FAQ updated with link that confirms that tech is being worked on for vehicles. Thank you karami92 for getting me the link.

[karami92]

lols np, was looking for it for someone else at the time anyways, so thot id give you the link to.

[shivna]

>.> i cant wait to play it >.> and i hope that it will last longer than all those other new games

[Nexus]

Updated with new info about movement power suppression and upgrades.

[BentonGrey]

Wow Nexus, this was incredibly helpful! This thread provided one stop shopping to answer 99% of my CO questions. I've now gone from mildly interested to honestly excited about this game. Thanks so much for putting so much hard work into this, I certainly appreciate it.

[Nexus]

Wow Nexus, this was incredibly helpful! This thread provided one stop shopping to answer 99% of my CO questions. I've now gone from mildly interested to honestly excited about this game. Thanks so much for putting so much hard work into this, I certainly appreciate it.

NP. What was the last question?

[ChaoticWidow]

Hi, picked up on a few errors (unsure if you want to change it or not):

Can I solo/ Does this game force teaming? says the level cap is 50.

What do you do to level? Do I have to Beat up everything in sight? is unfinished.

There were others, but I forgot them when I continued reading.

[Nexus]

Hi, picked up on a few errors (unsure if you want to change it or not):

Can I solo/ Does this game force teaming? says the level cap is 50.

What do you do to level? Do I have to Beat up everything in sight? is unfinished.

There were others, but I forgot them when I continued reading.

Thank you for finding that error. I have taken care of the first one; however, I am gonna have to make sure that I don't break nda and find some released info for the second one. I will update at a later time.

Edit:

Oh and I added Shaolinwind's Image thread in the miscellaneous section.

Edit 2

Added new defense info as well as one very kick ass graphic explaining it. Created by Drac (http://forums.champions-online.com/member.php?u=26794)

[ChaoticWidow]

Noooo!! Stop adding stuff, makes me want to go back and read it ALL again so I can burn the information into my skull! :D lol

[Nexus]

Noooo!! Stop adding stuff, makes me want to go back and read it ALL again so I can burn the information into my skull! :D lol

Well I this is gonna make you mad but, I just updated the travel power section.

[karami92]

We love you nexus!! *hums spider man theme song to himself.

Edit: why is there still ??? under travel powers? i assumed that swinging was the new natural travel power

[Nexus]

We love you nexus!! *hums spider man theme song to himself.

Edit: why is there still ??? under travel powers? i assumed that swinging was the new natural travel power

they were talking about hover boards and things last year so I am just being prepared, just in case

[karami92]

ah, had to ask. was not sure if that was just forgetting to delete it or something enw popping up.

[phantomshotgun]

they were talking about hover boards and things last year so I am just being prepared, just in case

fit they let us use motorbikes then I'll be happy, you have no idea how hard it is to keep a non super power character IN character.

[karami92]

fit they let us use motorbikes then I'll be happy, you have no idea how hard it is to keep a non super power character IN character.

arm cable swinging? acrobatics?

[BentonGrey]

NP. What was the last question?

Haha, whatever it was that I couldn't remember to wonder about. No worries, it was very thorough.:)

[Ryunin]

Does anyone know if we can create our own custom symbols (ie the superman S) that we can put on our characters outfit?

Or is there just a predefined set of symbols you can choose from?

[Blackjon_Bludd]

Does anyone know if we can create our own custom symbols (ie the superman S) that we can put on our characters outfit?

Or is there just a predefined set of symbols you can choose from?

predetermined. they've stated there are too many issues with custom ones

[Vampt]

Amazing post. My hat is off to you sir. I looked everywhere but these forums for this info, how silly i feel. Bumping!!!

[karami92]

Amazing post. My hat is off to you sir. I looked everywhere but these forums for this info, how silly i feel. Bumping!!!

you know this is stickied right?? bumps are useless.

[nephlm]

With the release of the Fansite kit the following icons were released suggesting some powers/aspects. The icons themselves are suggestive of the powers but of course open to interpretation.

* Electricity
** Power_Electricity_ThunderStrike.jpg
** Power_Electricity_LightningBolt.jpg
** Power_Electricity_BallLightning.jpg
** Power_Electricity_Sparks.jpg
** Power_Electricity_ElectricField.jpg
** Power_Electricity_Electrocute.jpg
** Power_Electricity_Gigavolt.jpg
** Power_Electricity_ChainLightning.jpg

* Fire
** Power_Fire_FieldOfFire.jpg
** Power_Fire_Immolation.jpg
** Power_Fire_FireBall_02.jpg
** Power_Fire_ThrowFire.jpg
** Power_Fire_FireBreath.jpg
** Power_Fire_AnimateFire.jpg
** Power_Fire_Pyre.jpg
** Power_Fire_Conflagration.jpg
** Power_Fire_FireBall_01.jpg

* Ice
** Powers_Ice_IceBlast.jpg
** Powers_Ice_Vapor_Form.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceShield.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceForm.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceCage.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceShards.jpg
** Powers_Ice_FrostBreath.jpg
** Powers_Ice_Reform.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceBarrier.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceSlide.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceStorm.jpg
** Powers_Ice_IceColumn.jpg
** Powers_Ice_Shatter.jpg

* Martial Arts
** Powers_MartialArts_DragonsWrath.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ReapersMercy.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_HawksTalons.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_SwordCyclone.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_DragonClaws.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ReapersCaress.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_DragonBite.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_BladeTempest.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_RainOfSteel.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ThunderBoltLunge.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_WaveKick.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_VipersFangs.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_TsunamiInDesert.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_UntamedTempest.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_DragonKick.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ChiResurgance.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ReaperTouch.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_StormHarvest.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_TigersBite.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_LaughingZephyr.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_CrimsonBloom.jpg
** Powers_MartialArts_ScythingBlade.jpg

* Munitions
** Powers_Munitions_Gangster.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_LockNLoad.jpg
** Munitions_Powers_HoldOutPistol.jpg (not sure why this one has a different name structure)
** Powers_Munitions_Gunslinger.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_DualWield.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_FragGrenade.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_SniperRifle.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_AssaultCannon.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_AssaultRifle.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_Rocket.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_SubmachineGun.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_MiniGun.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_GasGrenade.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_SmartMissle.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_MiniMines.jpg
** Powers_Munitions_ShotgunBlast.jpg

* Supernatural
** Powers_Supernatural_CripplingCoils_Replace_Fire.jp g
** Powers_Supernatural_CommandAnimals_02.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronCyclone_Replace_Energy.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_Condemn.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronLariat.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronCyclone.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_CloudOfFlies.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_DevourEssence.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_LashChain.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_VenomousBreath.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronLariat_Replace_Energy.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_SoulMesmerism_01.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_AspectDragon.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_SoulMesmerism_02.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_LashChain_Replace_Energy.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronLariat_Replace_Fire.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_CripplingCoils.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_AspectFire.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_AspectCelestial.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_CommandAnimals_01.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_Bite.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_LashChain_Replace_Fire.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_Lunge_02.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_IronCyclone_Replace_Fire.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_CripplingCoils_Replace_Energy. jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_Lunge_01.jpg
** Powers_Supernatural_MistForm.jpg

[phantomshotgun]

arm cable swinging? acrobatics?

you ever ran around a high level area trying to follow a group with out flying or super speed?

[nephlm]

Mining the Fankit again:

There are Map Icons, based on naming conventions they seem to be from Canada, Lemuria, Millennium City and Monster Island. I assume these are distinct structures or instances within the larger area.

CAN_Alter.jpg
CAN_Bad_Sasquatch.jpg
CAN_Cane_Entrance.jpg
CAN_Eclipse_Mini.jpg
CAN_Gadroon_Ship.jpg (Reptilian alien race that has twice tried to conquer Earth. (CU) from pnp lore)
CAN_Good_Sasquatch.jpg
CAN_Mines.jpg
CAN_Paint_Ball_Camp.jpg
CAN_Radio_Tower.jpg
CAN_Refinery.jpg
CAN_Steelhead.jpg
CAN_Teleios_Tower.jpg (Teleios is a super-scientist/geneticist villain according to pnp forums)

LEM_Aegir.jpg (the sub)
LEM_Arvad_Palace.jpg (discussed when lemuria was revealed)
LEM_Domes.jpg
LEM_Hands.jpg
LEM_Mandragalore.jpg
LEM_Sealab.jpg
LEM_Ship_Graveyard.jpg
LEM_Sub.jpg
LEM_Temple.jpg

MIL_Argent.jpg (A secretive criminal organization specializing in white-collar crime and the creation of high-tech gadgetry. (CU) from pnp lore)
MIL_Bad_Bookstore.jpg
MIL_China_Town.jpg
MIL_Good_Bookstore.jpg
MIL_Museum.jpg
MIL_Prison.jpg
MIL_Psi.jpg (Villainous organization of mentalists whose members included Psimon, Medusa, Lancer, and Mind Slayer. It was exposed and broken apart in mid-2005; some members were killed, some captured, and some ultimately went to work for Menton. (CKC, MC, CU, CU:NOTW) according to pnp lore)
MIL_Purple_Gang.jpg (couldn't find good details but purple gang was an old Detroit bootlegger gang in real life and pnp lore has a new purple gang that seem to be your basic mafia/street thugs)
MIL_REN_Center.jpg
MIL_Town_Hall.jpg

MON_Egg.jpg
MON_Good_Manamal.jpg
MON_Humidiator.jpg (should be googlable but I got nothing)
MON_Lemurian_Ruins.jpg
MON_Malzver.jpg (nothing from google)
MON_Moreaus_Lab.jpg (Descendant of the Dr. Moreau written about by H.G. Wells, Moreau was responsible for the creation of Dr. Silverback and the beast-men of Beast Mountain. As of February 2008 he works with VIPER. (CU, HL, VIPER) from pnp lore)
MON_Portal_Door.jpg
MON_Radioactive_Cave_Entrance.jpg
MON_Silverback.jpg (see Moreaus above)
MON_Tunnel_Entrance.jpg
MON_Volcanic_Caldera.jpg


There are also a set of artists renderings of locations

* CAN_Kigatilik_Maw.jpg
** is this the evil god mountain? It depicts a mountain like visage that seems pretty evil
** Kigatilik an inuit demon/god according to wikipedia
** There was a 'Bride of Kigatilik' adventure in Champions of the North (pnp)
CAN_SteelHead_HQ.jpg
** steelhead seems to be powerarmored equipped RCMP according to pnp lore

I believe DES is desert, which is identified in the FAQ as New Mexico.
* DES_PGS_MainBuilding.jpg
** Project Greenskin I presume
* DES_Prison_Gate.jpg
** Stronghold
* DES_SG_Entrance.jpg
** Snake Gulch
* DES_Vista.jpg
** Just seems to be general desert

We already know about these in general terms:
LEM_Arvads_Palace.jpg
LEM_Mandragalore_Ext.jpg

MIL_Downtown.jpg

Much of the pnp lore was taken from this page: http://www.herogames.com/championsEntities.htm the rest was googled.

[karami92]

you ever ran around a high level area trying to follow a group with out flying or super speed?

yes.... quite a few times. i have learned the ancient art of mob dodging. and if you have arm cable swinging, i imagine you can stay above the enemies

[SenshiBat]

Sea lab Get out... Cpt Murray was it.. Fabulous! Murphy..
thank you Igor for pointing that out..

I just visited RMC and Saw a very nice Angel and Power Nexus.. Godo Show!
I saw the Big foot ref... they should call it the PACNW zone and not tease the Canucks alone..

Sorry no derail trains back on to Q: metopes..

Q: What did you think of the Swinging video from the Beta perspective?

[Nexus]

can't tell you. :p

I do like it from a "twip" aproach though ;)

[ChaoticWidow]

What are roles? Did they rip them from DCUO? What if I don't want to use them.
Have roles been removed from CO? I assumed they had since they put them in, and apparently users didn't want to have benefits from different "roles".. I'm sure you'll know more than I do, but I believe this is old news.

[karami92]

There is the default role theyve said, so you dont have to use roles if you dont want to.

[SenshiBat]

can't tell you. :p

I do like it from a "twip" approach though ;)

This Week in Photography ? Thank You for that.. Oh to be a Hawk perch for that view..

[ChaoticWidow]

There is the default role theyve said, so you dont have to use roles if you dont want to.
But I thought they took out roles? As in, there are no roles at all, even if you did want to use them - it's just choosing the powers to become that "role" (if you want to support, choose heals and buffs, etc)... ?

[Nexus]

But I thought they took out roles? As in, there are no roles at all, even if you did want to use them - it's just choosing the powers to become that "role" (if you want to support, choose heals and buffs, etc)... ?

No roles have always been in. They took out ATs

[ChaoticWidow]

No roles have always been in. They took out ATs
Ah right.. cool. Because assuming from one of the Q&A's, Bill Roper said that the people didn't want ANY restriction on powers - meaning no benefits from particular "archetypes".. I assumed this included roles, but most likely roles weren't mentioned at the time of the Q&A post.

I'll find it some day and link it here (after re-checking the date, of course).

[grizznitch]

omg great post thank you

[MoofLugnut]

that sums up my questions

[L12]

Hi Nexus.

You have some updating to do.


http://www.fragland.net/specials/Interview-with-Bill-Roper-of-Cryptic-Studios/231/

[TacoDiablo]

Very good read, it answered a lot of my questions. We appreciate the time you took to put all this together.

[toolman1984]

Very helpful and enjoyable read! :)

[Nexus]

tenatively Updated with new release infomation.

[_Max_]

Having been away from these forums for a while, this post has done an excellent job of summing up the Dev news I've missed. Great job!

[Nexus]

Faq updated with Omega system info from Bill

[Baltabarin]

About Eu and Us server, the quote is from Video 3, 7:40.

[Pathstalker]

Great guide to the new and old alike. Its hard to keep up with every snippet and comment from the Devs on this fantastic game.

Thanks for putting this collection together.:)

[Nexus]

Great guide to the new and old alike. Its hard to keep up with every snippet and comment from the Devs on this fantastic game.

Thanks for putting this collection together.:)

Thanks. Guess you and everyone else are gonna love a small tidbit of never released info (with total permission from Iron Angel): Rocket boots are there own movement power.

FAQ updated.

[Nexus]

About Eu and Us server, the quote is from Video 3, 7:40.

thanks for the info.

Soon as I remember where that is I will update it.

[karami92]

Thanks. Guess you and everyone else are gonna love a small tidbit of never released info (with total permission from Iron Angel): Rocket boots are there own movement power.

FAQ updated.

Are you serious?! *faints*

[ssjXyayXarea]

_post deleted_

oops wrong thread sry.

[Nexus_Prime]

Quick question Nexus.

On your first post when it says 'What are the powers in the game? Are they Powersets like City of "x"?'

down a little more it says that you will only have 14 powers but everybody is able to get 34 points (as of right now).

Is that 14 powers total? and are advantage points what I would use to buy powers?

[Nexus]

Quick question Nexus.

On your first post when it says 'What are the powers in the game? Are they Powersets like City of "x"?'

down a little more it says that you will only have 14 powers but everybody is able to get 34 points (as of right now).

Is that 14 powers total? and are advantage points what I would use to buy powers?

Yes and you buy powers with power points and use advantage points to buy advantages.

[Kolman]

I have a question about the "14 powers" thing.

Didn't they say there was like.. 3 ranks to each power? And that the 2nd rank was the "normal" rank. So... my question is. When they say 14 powers are they talking about an group of ranks (the 3 ranks), or are they talking about just one rank of a power. Hmm...

Math time!:

34 points =
1 endurance power: 1 point (my guess)
1 travel power: 1 point (my guess, again)
32 points for other powers?

I guess Nexus couldn't answer this without breaking NDA.... answer in any way you can! :)

Also, thank for the Rocket Boots info. You make it harder for me to choose my powers every time you post something new! :p

[Blackjon_Bludd]

i think they said that you got the endurance builder and the travel power for free, so its them plus 14, but i assume you would need to pay for them to be upgraded out of your 34...

damn all this speculation :D

[FATALVISI0N]

As a newb to this board, I'd just like thank Nexus for throwing it all together. Very Very Informative
Thanks for taking the time and putting this together

[Nexus_Prime]

So you can only have 14 powers throughout the 40 levels?

Fo realz??:eek:

[Kolman]

So you can only have 14 powers throughout the 40 levels?

Fo realz??:eek:

14 "normal" powers, plus one Endurance [Momentum, you're welcome Nexus. :P] building power, plus one travel power. :)

[Unwilling]

Wonder if we can do "Custom Frameworks" for our Nemeses...my main archvillain is a cross between Unarmed Martial Arts, Might, and Force. Wonder if that'll be in the cards....

[Kolman]

Caxxus posted a thread with toooooons of info. :) Links to Massively.com in the thread

Here (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=17670)

[Icewulf]

Thank you for upkeeping this great post!

To show my appreciation, I will kill you quickly in-game:p

[Professor_Ape]

I was on massively earlier today and I saw this:

http://www.massively.com/2009/05/05/the-daily-grind-got-champions-online-questions/

They are asking way too many already answered questions... kinda made me feel like linking them all to your faq Nexus.

[Veritas]

Thank you for upkeeping this great post!

To show my appreciation, I will kill you quickly in-game:p

He's been in beta for about a month and a half and has likely logged a good deal of combat time, so you may wish to not pull on Superman's cape, as it were. ;)

[Nexus]

Thank you for upkeeping this great post!

To show my appreciation, I will kill you quickly in-game:p

Right.....

Edit

also updated with new information on death penalty and released date.

[Veritas]

Right.....

Edit

also updated with new information on death penalty and released date.

@ Nexus:
Is it safe to assume we'll get a full report from you once the NDA is lifted (fingers crossed)? :)

[Nexus]

@ Nexus:
Is it safe to assume we'll get a full report from you once the NDA is lifted (fingers crossed)? :)

Pretty much. I will have a rundown when all information is present on how to go about building
heroes and such. This is dependent on how much time I have between projects however.

[ssjpaladin]

this is killing me lol i have a full paid month of WoW left but i still find myself on these forums looking for any info i can get. ARGH!!!! LOL
thx Nexus for all of ur work getting this organized :D

[Veritas]

Pretty much. I will have a rundown when all information is present on how to go about building
heroes and such. This is dependent on how much time I have between projects however.

I eagerly anticipate whatever you bring us!
Thanks again for all your hard work.

[Zalb]

I'm reading through a poorly translated beta impression from a French site (http://www.betasjournal.com/preview/champions-online-premires-impressions/)
Google (http://translate.google.se/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.betasjournal.com%2Fpreview%2Fch ampions-online-premires-impressions%2F&sl=fr&tl=en&history_state0=) yielded this information that explains just what the names of the origins are...more or less.
This step often short in other MMO, you take a little longer, as the customization options are numerous styles ranging from boots and its texture (metal, leather) or your hairstyle chosen gender (male or female), origin (improving scientific, bio-manipulation, gift mystical extra-dimensional energy, intense, supernatural being, psionique awakening, transformation and alien race). Le genre d'origine que l'on croise dans nos bandes-dessinées préférées. The kind of origin that we cross in our favorite comics.
I don't know if this would be the right place to post it, but it seems as good as any.

[Nexus]

I'm reading through a poorly translated beta impression from a French site (http://www.betasjournal.com/preview/champions-online-premires-impressions/)
Google (http://translate.google.se/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.betasjournal.com%2Fpreview%2Fch ampions-online-premires-impressions%2F&sl=fr&tl=en&history_state0=) yielded this information that explains just what the names of the origins are...more or less.

I don't know if this would be the right place to post it, but it seems as good as any.

What origins? What are these origins you speak of. I know not of these things....:rolleyes:

[karami92]

What origins? What are these origins you speak of. I know not of these things....:rolleyes:

dont worry nexus, press beta has already commented on the nine origins that modify your starter stats. they just havent gone into detail.

[AndersPanders]

Thanks a lot, this was very informative. :)

[Rufusora]

Thanks for your hard work and effort

[SavageSage]

What are these exactly and how do they work within the game structure (what is their purpose)??

Talents
Alien Affinity
Animal Affinity
Electronics Affinity
Fire Forged
Humanoid Affinity
Insect Affinity
Lucky
Reptilian Affinity
Supernatual Affinity
Undead Affinity

[Nexus]

dont worry nexus, press beta has already commented on the nine origins that modify your starter stats. they just havent gone into detail.

I don't know what you are talking about. Stats I understand. Origins I do not know of what you speak.:confused::rolleyes:

[Nexus]

What are these exactly and how do they work within the game structure (what is their purpose)??

Talents
Alien Affinity
Animal Affinity
Electronics Affinity
Fire Forged
Humanoid Affinity
Insect Affinity
Lucky
Reptilian Affinity
Supernatual Affinity
Undead Affinity

Can't say until I get the okay.

[Hammith]

I did want to thank you Nexus, for all the hard work you put into this. I was only mildly interested in the game until I found this thread.

[karami92]

I don't know what you are talking about. Stats I understand. Origins I do not know of what you speak.:confused::rolleyes:

They said in one of the press blogs that when you create your character you pick from nine origins, which modify your starting stats to fit that theme of character. I am unsure if there is a custom one, but they did mention that there were nine to choose from. some specialized in one or two areas, while others were more spread out.

[electroman]

Hello heroes! Its been a while since i've asked any of my random noob questions, but i've got some for u.
I was recently reading over nexus's faq when I remembered the lvl cap was 40. Now, 40 is not a lot of levels, and the game I play now has a cap of 150. My questions are, how long does it take to lvl up? And will the lvl cap be raised?

-Thanks all.-

[Nexus]

dont worry nexus, press beta has already commented on the nine ??? that modify your starter stats. they just havent gone into detail.

Fixed that for you.;)

[m3rc63]

First off, this unofficial FAQ is really awesome and very informative, so kudos to you :)! However, I do have a question for you Nexus. Will players be able to alter their character's voice during the creation process?

For example, if one were to create a hero who is suppose to be a teen, is there an option to change the voice of the character so that he/she actually sounds his/her own age? It always bugged me in CoX that males and females pretty much always had just one "voice" when jumping around and what not.

Hopefully you can answer this :). I also posted this question in the "Ask Cryptic" thread, but I couldn't resist asking you as well when I stumbled upon this thread.

P.S. I didn't read through every post and I didn't notice this topic in the FAQ, so I apologize if this was already asked or if the info is already there :o.

[Nexus]

First off, this unofficial FAQ is really awesome and very informative, so kudos to you :)! However, I do have a question for you Nexus. Will players be able to alter their character's voice during the creation process?

For example, if one were to create a hero who is suppose to be a teen, is there an option to change the voice of the character so that he/she actually sounds his/her own age? It always bugged me in CoX that males and females pretty much always had just one "voice" when jumping around and what not.

Hopefully you can answer this :). I also posted this question in the "Ask Cryptic" thread, but I couldn't resist asking you as well when I stumbled upon this thread.

P.S. I didn't read through every post and I didn't notice this topic in the FAQ, so I apologize if this was already asked or if the info is already there :o.

While you can change your facial expression, there has been no released info pertaining to voices.
Seeing as they do have voice overs in the game I would estimate that it would be something after
launch if it does happen. If not, Hanuka Mata.

Edit
Also, welcome to the fourms m3rc63:)

[m3rc63]

While you can change your facial expression, there has been no released info pertaining to voices.
Seeing as they do have voice overs in the game I would estimate that it would be something after
launch if it does happen. If not, Hanuka Mata.

Edit
Also, welcome to the fourms m3rc63:)


Thanks for the welcome and the response :). Hopefully this option makes it in sooner rather than later. If not, well, I'm still going to enjoy CO :D.

[Damonta]

Oh dear, this game is looking more exquisite by the second. I would certainly sell my soul to Cryptic for this game to be in my possession or even just the Beta for that matter *wink* wink*

[Damonta]

I forgot to thank you TC for all the hard work you put into this. We need more people on this site like you. :)

[Nexus]

I forgot to thank you TC for all the hard work you put into this. We need more people on this site like you. :)

We do. Most are in beta and are afraid to post here due to feeling they will spill the
beans by correcting things. Hell one came up with something that is being miss informed
now by various news people....

[Nexus]

Thread updated with true frameworks.

Also I will note one thing. I have one last card up my sleeve to help out all here. When I can post it,
it will be my last FAQ-esc due to decreasing time to work on things here. However, I will not post it
untill I get the okay.

It will be definitive and absolute on what and how. I will make it clear and concise as I can. I will not
cite I will write it from my own experiences and so forth. Until I do I may/may not update this faq much
anymore. I will keep it current; but, I will not answer any more of the questions presented (I know that
there is at least one I didn't answer on here). Have a good one. :)

[Nexus]

Faq updated with videoes of the sorcery and power armor framework vids.

[SenshiBat]

Thank you then Nexus; for being an Astute Servant of the Game..

Engaging readings from lurker state to active in this community..

I have enjoyed the allowed flow of good this collum provided.

-SB-

[Unwilling]

ATTENTION DEVS: More leakage plzkthx! :)

EDIT: Think the parts where we fight actual supervillains will be like in CoX, where we needed at least two or three on a team to take their health down fast enough, or will villains scale for number of team mates?

[DigitalLorax]

Thanks for the compilation of info.

[Nexus]

Thanks for the compilation of info.

happy to help.

[solarkupa]

hi, i don't know what Supernatural stands for. as it's not detailed. can you please explain?

[Nexus]

hi, i don't know what Supernatural stands for. as it's not detailed. can you please explain?

HI
supernatural
adj.

1. Of or relating to existence outside the natural world.
2. Attributed to a power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces.
3. Of or relating to a deity.
4. Of or relating to the immediate exercise of divine power; miraculous.
5. Of or relating to the miraculous.

[solarkupa]

HI
supernatural
adj.

1. Of or relating to existence outside the natural world.
2. Attributed to a power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces.
3. Of or relating to a deity.
4. Of or relating to the immediate exercise of divine power; miraculous.
5. Of or relating to the miraculous.

oh man i dont live in cave. i mean what it stands for in the game. what kind of powers is it? like manipulating souls, ghosts, draining life?

[ssjXyayXarea]

oh man i dont live in cave. i mean what it stands for in the game. what kind of powers is it? like manipulating souls, ghosts, draining life?

Here's some of the pics from the fansite kit that showcase the "super natural" powers:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/CandorLupis/Champions/Supernatural_Powers_large.jpg

Due to the NDA, specific details (about anything and everything) remain hidden to us non-beta testers. So, for the time being, the pics (and the definition, as provided by Nexus) will be all we have to quench our thirst for supernatural framework knowledge. :)

P.S. Other Fansite Kit Business (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=16603) courtesy of Candor

[solarkupa]

Here's some of the pics from the fansite kit that showcase the "super natural" powers:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/CandorLupis/Champions/Supernatural_Powers_large.jpg

Due to the NDA, specific details (about anything and everything) remain hidden to us non-beta testers. So, for the time being, the pics (and the definition, as provided by Nexus) will be all we have to quench our thirst for supernatural framework knowledge. :)

P.S. Other Fansite Kit Business (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=16603) courtesy of Candor

thank you very much mate

[Joobz]

The videos on sorcery and power armor look great.

[Runestone]

Great FAQ nexus; you need to update the Nemsis start level to 25 though.

[Nexus]

Nemesis level updated :)

[Golosus]

Awesome stuff, thanks for all the time spent here, and keep it coming! :)

[Koorah]

Yes very, very useful for a newcomer. You've saved me asking a lot of stupid questions and thus much /facepalm-age from you regulars

Grats on a job well done Nexus.

[Nexus]

no problem. Glad to help.

[Skulltree]

excellent faq, helps idiots like me from asking unnecessary questions. THANKS DUDE!!!

.....so......

will there be capes??

/e noobie dance :D:D

[Dross04]

I love you in a totally heterosexual way.

[ssjXyayXarea]

Been meaning to give you an update on the potential for "Secret Identities." Here's the quote and link:

We'd been asked by a number of Champions fans to pass on questions to Cryptic about the game, and one of them was whether or not we'd see playable secret identities. Roper answered:

"We have actually designs, probably in the not too distant future after the game launches, of doing a whole secret identity thing. I'd really like it to have gameplay impact, so for example if I choose an occupation, like if I was a scientist, then I could have a different look for my secret ID but when I was in my secret ID I could get a bonus to my science crafting skill,"

He went on to give further examples of possible benefits, such as a law enforcement secret ID that enables better evidence location. Roper explained that it would have been easy for them to just add another costume slot and tell players that's their secret identity, but they wanted it to be a full game feature. (http://www.incgamers.com/Previews/52/HandsOnChampionsOnline/3)

Keep up the good work. *thumbs up*

[TheDigitalKnight]

Been meaning to give you an update on the potential for "Secret Identities." Here's the quote and link:



Keep up the good work. *thumbs up*

Now this is what I like to see! Big ups Cryptic. Big. Ups.

[Nexus]

Been meaning to give you an update on the potential for "Secret Identities." Here's the quote and link:



Keep up the good work. *thumbs up*

Thanks for the links but I don't trust that site. That is from somewhere else, that I just can't place right now. All they do is regurgitate stuff from other places and call it an interview.

I know that came out in another interview so I will be looking for that one on the main page later.

[coma666]

Ok, so between great FAQS like this and listening to every poor sap on the forum whining about their Beta keys(or lack of), I began to form a question of my own, and i havent seen it brought up anywhere so far.
If Open Beta starts in mid-August and theoretically carries on until the September 1st launch, will you be able to carry your hero over from Beta to retail release?
I want to get my hands on this as much as the next guy, but id much rather wait til i can start with a hero that's "mine". I don't want to spend all the time and care making an awesome hero, only to have it taken from me 2 weeks later and having to start over again from scratch when the game launches.
It's a small issue, i know, and there probably aren't many others that feel that way, but i figured maybe it was a question other people may have on their minds as September draws nearer.
I don't know how business is usually done in regards to the Beta/retail launch transition, but it sounds like a marketing opportunity right there..."Here's our game 2 weeks early!! Have fun and if you still like it come September, all you have to do is start paying.All of your progress and hero's are still there, thanks for sticking with us!!!"....or something..

Also, is there any word whether you'll be able to be a part of multiple superteams?

Thanks for the great resource center Nexus...you're a gentleman and a scholar, and i dont care what any of these guys say :p
as a side note, Gamestop has released information on their website about the 360's release and what you can expect to get when you pre-order the PC version(Crypto-bucks, anyone?....ugh)

[Nexus]

Ok, so between great FAQS like this and listening to every poor sap on the forum whining about their Beta keys(or lack of), I began to form a question of my own, and i havent seen it brought up anywhere so far.
If Open Beta starts in mid-August and theoretically carries on until the September 1st launch, will you be able to carry your hero over from Beta to retail release?
I want to get my hands on this as much as the next guy, but id much rather wait til i can start with a hero that's "mine". I don't want to spend all the time and care making an awesome hero, only to have it taken from me 2 weeks later and having to start over again from scratch when the game launches.
It's a small issue, i know, and there probably aren't many others that feel that way, but i figured maybe it was a question other people may have on their minds as September draws nearer.
I don't know how business is usually done in regards to the Beta/retail launch transition, but it sounds like a marketing opportunity right there..."Here's our game 2 weeks early!! Have fun and if you still like it come September, all you have to do is start paying.All of your progress and hero's are still there, thanks for sticking with us!!!"....or something..

Also, is there any word whether you'll be able to be a part of multiple superteams?

Thanks for the great resource center Nexus...you're a gentleman and a scholar, and i dont care what any of these guys say :p
as a side note, Gamestop has released information on their website about the 360's release and what you can expect to get when you pre-order the PC version(Crypto-bucks, anyone?....ugh)

Well I know that you can form a command structure of 20 with teams of 5 but I am not sure if I can comment on being in two SG's at the same time.

As for the hero from beta being in the live game, I would say no. This is due to beta wipes and all. It could have an impact on the economy if large amouts of resources were dumped at the begining, or one last way to make sure that any broken items would be taken care of. Either way, while testing, I am focused on knowing what I want in the live game. With that out of the way I know what I am gonna do. But that is me.

Also, thank you for the kind comments and the specs have been updated.

[808]

Just wanted to throw my gratitude towards ya for doing this thread Nexus. It must have been a lot of work, but was an excellent read! I learned a bunch that I didn't know.

Great Job!

[organicmoon]

Who really has the time to read this? Just play the beta if you got in.

[Nexus]

Who really has the time to read this? Just play the beta if you got in.

That a whole lot of not helpful:confused:. Ah well. Welcome to the forums and have a good day.

[Mist-sight]

Who has the time to read these things? Those of us who are just a tad (or more) obsessed with this game, and want to know what exactly it's like, so we don't waste 3 or more hours downloading a game that one of us (Yes, you) thought was worse than one of those generic south korean MMOs. Baaaaack to the point (Man, I feel sheepish) We like these things 'cause we're nerdy like that. Anyway, since Nexus is answering questions, I'll edit this with one once I actually read the forum. (Ironic, aint it?)

[Mist-sight]

Since we seem to be on the topic of secret identities, There's a slight problem I'm seeing here. One, the lack of a 'balance effect' Namely, the balancing of your real-digital-life with your super-digital-life. I mean, short of a mini-mission for changing into your secret identity without being noticed, I fail to see how a secret identity would be beneficial. I'll be brutally honest, the first thing that came to mind here was 'The Sims'. I know that won't be done but none the less, it seems difficult to pinpoint the line between the secret identity and the mundane, if there is one.

Gah... Dangit! I was supposed to edit the previous post. Sorry for being spammy.

[Nexus]

Hakuna matta and updtated: fire flight

[ssjXyayXarea]

Quick question, if you don't mind. :)

How do you gauge which travel power you put in your FAQ? As it's briefly stated in an article? Like this:

On the super power front we got to see Fire Flight as an ability. Think of Firestar back in the old school Spiderman and His Amazing Friends days. While zipping through the air you leave behind a trail of flames. There will also be *jump packs* for the more tech style super heroes. Many more super power travel abilities will be shown off soon.

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69385

Or do you get clearance from a dev?

edit: And I believe your "hakuna matta" is missing a vowel. :p

[Gutsygaidan]

Answered alot of questions I had about the game and got me about 1000 times more excited to play it, hope to see more info as it gets revealed.:D

[Nexus]

Quick question, if you don't mind. :)

How do you gauge which travel power you put in your FAQ? As it's briefly stated in an article? Like this:



http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69385

Or do you get clearance from a dev?

edit: And I believe your "hakuna matta" is missing a vowel. :p

it is but I don't care:p

I just wait until they say something about it over on this side then it become fair game. For instance, fire flight is mentioned in the last ask cryptic by way of one line. So I just put it in due to that because the president set by rocket boots as it's own flight power.

[hhswn]

Very informative FAQ. I can see lots of effort and dedication went into it. Kudos to you Nexus.

It helped me out a lot, and now I'm even more anxious for the release of CO.

I have 3 questions though, which I don't recall being asked or answered in your FAQ. Please forgive me if they are already present and answered. I might have accidentally skipped or forgotten a part.

1, will enemy names be colored coded to represent their level compared to yours as in CoX? Or are they doing something different?

2, do travel powers (I prefer the term locomotion, but I'll go with the flow) use up Momentum? With the whole, fight to build up your momentum thing, what if we want to just continuously fly/swing/etc without interruption? Would the momentum system present problems with that?

3, are wings/tails available at the start? Or do I have to wait for/earn them later on? Cause I basically want my character to have wings to accomadate his flight ability. And the sooner he has the wings, the better. Also, he's very beastial, so a nice looking reptilian tail would be very appreciated, again, the sooner the better.

[ssjXyayXarea]

Very informative FAQ. I can see lots of effort and dedication went into it. Kudos to you Nexus.

It helped me out a lot, and now I'm even more anxious for the release of CO.

I have 3 questions though, which I don't recall being asked or answered in your FAQ. Please forgive me if they are already present and answered.

1, will enemy names be colored coded to represent their level compared to yours as in CoX? Or are they doing something different?

2, do travel powers (I prefer the term locomotion, but I'll go with the flow) use up Momentum? With the whole, fight to build up your momentum thing, what if we want to just continuously fly/swing/etc without interruption? Would the momentum system present problems with that?

3, are wings/tails available at the start? Or do I have to wait for/earn them later on? Cause I basically want my character to have wings to accomadate his flight ability. And the sooner he has the wings, the better.

1.) They're not color coded for sure, but I'm not sure I can explain how to distinguish between "stronger" and "weaker" enemies without breaking the NDA.

2.) Travel powers don't use momentum.

3.) Wings, tails and capes are available from the start, but there are also some costume pieces that can be unlocked as you progress through the game.

Glad you took the time out to read the FAQ, welcome to the forums buddy! :D

[hhswn]

Thank you very much!

It's okay, the first question wasn't a big concern of mine, (not as much as the other two), and I can wait for an answer.

But I'm very pleased to hear that I can have wings and a tail from the start, and fly without limit. Having to unlock wings is one of my gripes with CoX.

From what I've seen, the tails look a lot better than in CoX as well. The tail that my character had in CoX looked more like a tiny cardboard cutout that was pasted to his behind. :P

[sorrowful]

Nexus you rock! thanks for the great info in one post!:p but now I dont like you so much cause I wanna play reallll bad now :( ok ok you still rock ;)

[hhswn]

I've got another question. Could my tanker have Resistance AND Regeneration?

Basically I'm aiming for a tanker who can take A LOT of damage (resistance), recover quickly from the major damage he recieves(regeneration), can deal his fair share of damage (not being forced to rely on DPS's to help him with large crowds, though without one, crowd clearing may take a while, which I can accept) and has 2 or 3 ranged attacks to lead up to his crowd control and perhaps weaken priority targets before diving in for the kill.

I know all of that would have to sacrifice speed and accuracy, but the thing about that is, I'm totally okay with that!

[Nexus]

I've got another question. Could my tanker have Resistance AND Regeneration?

Basically I'm aiming for a tanker who can take A LOT of damage (resistance), recover quickly from the major damage he recieves(regeneration), can deal his fair share of damage (not being forced to rely on DPS's to help him with large crowds, though without one, crowd clearing may take a while, which I can accept) and has 2 or 3 ranged attacks to lead up to his crowd control and perhaps weaken priority targets before diving in for the kill.

I know all of that would have to sacrifice speed and accuracy, but the thing about that is, I'm totally okay with that!

First there are no acc checks of any kind in Champions Online. Second you have various ways to give damage. Also yes you can, as defenses are designed to stack on one another

[hhswn]

Okay, cause upon reading that part about force fields, resistance, regeneration and dodge, I got the impression that you could only have 1 of those defense types.

No accuracy check? So if I don't have dodge, pretty much all attacks are going to hit me? And all of my attacks are going to hit my targets (unless they have dodge). No more misses? No more wasted super attacks that were activate up close, point blank but still miss? (Biggest gripe for me in CoX. How do you miss when you up in the target's face and they aren't dodging or anything? That'd be like punching a wall point blank, AND MISSING. Once you miss a wall, you've basically failed at life in my book, and my character in CoH constantly failed at life. I shouldn't have to buy all those accuracy bonuses, accuracy really shouldn't be an issue in terms of melee. I understand hit chance when the enemy has a good dodging skill and such, but how does a tank not hit a tank?).

I know I have plenty of ways to deal out damage, I'm just saying, he probably won't compare to more DPS oriented characters. He can control a crowd, but probably not clear it out as fast as others.

[spiderguy89]

great info

i'm fairly new to the community but have been following the game hoping to stumble on some great info, and here it all is! the only thing I need to know now is if i will be able to create my personal version of spiderman, but i'm sure that will rely on my own creativness :p

[Nexus]

great info

i'm fairly new to the community but have been following the game hoping to stumble on some great info, and here it all is! the only thing I need to know now is if i will be able to create my personal version of Spider-Man, but i'm sure that will rely on my own creativeness :p

NP.

Also customization updated with new video about costume and nemesis customization

[Zerideth]

Was there a definite list of how your character can run? I remember from somewhere that your character can run on all fours like a animal. I didn't see this mentioned in the "movement" part from the FAQ.


Very useful info though. Thanks for making this. :D

[Nexus]

Was there a definite list of how your character can run? I remember from somewhere that your character can run on all fours like a animal. I didn't see this mentioned in the "movement" part from the FAQ.


Very useful info though. Thanks for making this. :D

That is a stance not a movement power. It is talked about in the customization addendum vid.

[Nexus]

Thread updated with new elemental video for frameworks

[Wargear]

I noticed that some of the villains are on the massive scale, and was wondering if there was a power set to make yourself huge.

Point being, would I, or wouldn't I, be able to make a giant robot character? I would love for there to be a yes, but if a no, I guess that's reasonable.

[Moordrid]

I noticed that some of the villains are on the massive scale, and was wondering if there was a power set to make yourself huge.

Point being, would I, or wouldn't I, be able to make a giant robot character? I would love for there to be a yes, but if a no, I guess that's reasonable.

I cant recall absolutely but I believe the dev's we're/are working on a giant hero option...or maybe that was with all the shape shifting things that people want. Oh i forget but it was on some such forum or another.

I was totally no help at all was I!? lol:cool:

[Nexus]

I noticed that some of the villains are on the massive scale, and was wondering if there was a power set to make yourself huge.

Point being, would I, or wouldn't I, be able to make a giant robot character? I would love for there to be a yes, but if a no, I guess that's reasonable.

All frameworks that you have seen are the only ones present. So there is no Giant hero Framework. From the Stronghold vid does show a fairly large Hero fighting. I would think that player sizes would have a limit, compared to threats faced

[dragon11]

Ok, I've seen a few listsof the different powers and even a couple of small descriptions. But, I haven't seen descriptions on ALL the power sets.
There are some that I can figure out (might = Juggernaut, sorcery= Dr. Strange etc..) but, some of the others, like Force for example, I think I have an idea, but I want some kind of explaination to be sure.
Please help this newb out.

[Kalledon]

Ten Ton Hammer did reviews of all the sets. Here are the links

Martial Arts (Single Blade, Dual Blade, Fighting Claws, and Unarmed) (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70806)
Telekinesis, Force, and Telepathy (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70521)
Sorcery, Darkness, and Supernatural (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/70306)
Ice, Fire, and Electricity (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69797)
Gadgets, Munitions, and Archery (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/68679)
Power Armor and Might (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/71159)

[dragon11]

Pefect. Thanks

[Nexus]

Thread updated with new powers for electricity under the "(*)" link

[dragon11]

I saw that, pretty cool!
Saw the elemental video as well, does anyone know if the snap at the end of the video is an ingame thing or just for the video?

[kazzamo]

Daeke said in a post that yes it is in the game, I'll try to hunt it down and quote it

Found it, and I was wrong about who said it
and yes that flashfire snap power is "in the game"....

[Earth-shaker]

Alright because I don't want to read all the very good in depth stuff I just want short answers to these questions

What is setting this game apart from city of heroes/villains cause that game had disappointing PVE content (what was it 7 diff maps that would be selected for when you entered buildings? sewers. boats, island quests, ect ect.) What is the PVP content going to be like? What about the PVE content again. Will there be instances? (hate to make it sound this way but is there going to be unique maps for any quest that involves a building? sewer? ect ect. Are we going to see items with stats on them? Instead of that lvl 20, 30, 40 new outfits CoH/CoV had?

Are we going to see more interaction with our characters and their environments then what city of heroes/villains had. I'm asking these questions simply because Cryptic studios is working on this game as well and I've noticed some of the animations with the character models look like those they used in City of heroes/villains.

People seem to get defensive when I ask these questions simply because i didn't come here first to look them up. I am interested in the game, however I just want answers to those questions to know if I want to actually buy this game. I don't want to waste money on it if the game play is exactly like CoH/CoV.

[Nexus]

Alright because I don't want to read all the very good in depth stuff I just want short answers to these questions

What is setting this game apart from city of heroes/villains cause that game had disappointing PVE content (what was it 7 diff maps that would be selected for when you entered buildings? sewers. boats, island quests, ect ect.) What is the PVP content going to be like? What about the PVE content again. Will there be instances? (hate to make it sound this way but is there going to be unique maps for any quest that involves a building? sewer? ect ect. Are we going to see items with stats on them? Instead of that lvl 20, 30, 40 new outfits CoH/CoV had?

Are we going to see more interaction with our characters and their environments then what city of heroes/villains had. I'm asking these questions simply because Cryptic studios is working on this game as well and I've noticed some of the animations with the character models look like those they used in City of heroes/villains.

People seem to get defensive when I ask these questions simply because i didn't come here first to look them up. I am interested in the game, however I just want answers to those questions to know if I want to actually buy this game. I don't want to waste money on it if the game play is exactly like CoH/CoV.

At the point you wrote,"Alright because I don't want to read all the very good in depth stuff I just want short answers to these questions" I almost stopped reading. All the answers you want are presented. While all the knowledge of the world could be presented to you, if you don't want to take effort to learn, with your own faculties I can't help you. If that sounds overly critical, then you will be correct in your assessment. Negligence of attaining a goal due to blatant laziness annoys me. Especially, when it is not a hard goal to attain.

On a separate note.
Fire powers updated.

[Nexus]

Power armor framework updated

[supamutant]

Nexus, you are the Man! This is awesome! Must say after this I was more pumped than ever, (Turned my favorite music up to full and danced around like a spastic :D) I must say a thousand times, Thank you! 10 out of 10 for hard work and determination, making sure we all know what we need to know. What would Champions do without you?

[KarthikM]

Just wanted to drop a line and say this thread was extremely awesome/helpful. Keep it up!

[Nexus]

Thanks for the kind words. :)

Force Updated.

[SenshiBat]

Good to still see you helping Nexus.. IT's not always easy like Yin found out..

The DEV TM has a lot of new people here worried about finding the Preview ..

I haven't seen the gamestop e-mail wording myself.
I was hoping they had a Hotlink to that site but the DEV may want to do another announcement here with Official guidance so we don't break any NDA helping?

[Nexus]

Good to still see you helping Nexus.. IT's not always easy like Yin found out..

The DEV TM has a lot of new people here worried about finding the Preview ..

I haven't seen the gamestop e-mail wording myself.
I was hoping they had a Hotlink to that site but the DEV may want to do another announcement here with Official guidance so we don't break any NDA helping?

True. But it is nice to help. I am running out of room.:o I am also kinda unsure what you are asking. Are you looking for how to get to the other forum or the gamestop site for the preorder?

[Brigadoom]

Thankyou very much for this :)

[redleader]

Very nice info.

Thanks.

[Nexus]

You are both welcome. Thread updated with martial arts single blade set.

[ssjXyayXarea]

edit: Oops... posted in the wrong thread...

Uh, thanks for the info. :)

[vxBlackheart]

Excellent work. Through hours of looking through any information I could find I was privvy to most of this information already, but I should have just checked this first ;). Even still I was able to read up on some things I hadn't found. You truly are a gentleman and a scholar. Hope to see you in game :).

[Nexus]

Thanks. You probably will.

[wolfboy1]

Is there an updated location for some of the pictures..in particular the animal heads and parts? The old links are no longer working.

[Nexus]

Is there an updated location for some of the pictures..in particular the animal heads and parts? The old links are no longer working.

If you are referring to the thread with pictures from rate my champion then that would be a no. All character's have been wiped. Don't worry you will be able to see them tomorrow.