Things aren’t going well for Champions Online, Cryptic’s half-baked MMO that I tried to warn you about before the game even released. In an attempt to appease angry subscribers, Cryptic has decided to make the next planned expansion, Vibora Bay (now called Revelation), available for free. I guess Cryptic saw the light and thought it may not be in their best interests to rip-off the same people they screw on a daily basis, especially those poor bastards who purchased lifetime subscriptions.

Revelation will be available on March 10, 2010.

Cryptic State of the Game, Wherein They Act Humble and Apologetic:

We have a lot going on right now both at Cryptic, and with Champions Online in particular. There are huge changes afoot, and rather than spend a lot of time with the preamble, let’s sink our collective teeth into the meat of the matter.

Scrubbing the Kitchen Sink

As we all know, the Kitchen Sink patch had numerous issues that made it onto Live. The reasons for this boil down to two key areas:

Things That Used to Work Stopped Working:

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I tried to warn you, I really did. When I tore Champions Online a new a-hole for sucking in every conceivable way except character customization (apparently the only aspect of design Cryptic can do successfully any more), you all called me names and insisted it was a stunt to increase traffic. Now, several months after release, players are discovering that I was right, evidenced by this nifty editorial from MMOCrunch titled, quite simply, “Why I Quit Champions Online”.

Plan and simple, Champions Online lost its hold on me.  I continued to dive into the game, move around the world, soak up the atmosphere, read about its future and most importantly, evaluate the content beyond my reach.  What I definitively learned, and I hope my review hinted at, is that the game lacks legs.  The atmosphere has always been incredibly disjointed thanks to the instancing of most zones.  Even though all of the settings make sense in the universe, they lack a cohesive flow.  And the multitude of characters aren’t employed effectively either. Because of these continued slip-ups through the middle to later levels, Champions Online gets boiled down to its diverse arcade-y combat.  In essence, it becomes a soulless experience.

When I tore Star Trek Online a new a-hole for the very same reasons, I was once again called every name in the book and, like Champions Online, it will take a few months before I am once again proven correct. I’m trying to save you people money, I swear. I die a little inside every time I hear someone has foolishly purchased a lifetime subscription.

I really don’t have it in for Cryptic, the designers of Star Trek Online, though it may seem so if you happened to read my impressions of the Champions Online beta last August. Many called me out for being overly hostile, for being too critical of a beta, blah-blah-blah. Folks, I’ve been around forever and I’ve played every MMO ever designed. I can spot a loser from a mile away and no amount of polishing and tweaking can fix fundamental design problems. I pegged Champions Online as a complete loser of a game and the ensuing months have proven me correct.

So it is with a heavy heart that I must slam Star Trek Online, which I have been slogging through for several days now.

First, the obvious: Cryptic is over-extended as a company. Making a solid MMO is a mammoth undertaking, a chore made all the more difficult by an ever-expanding market and increased competition. If you can’t deliver something as good as or better than the competition then you are doomed. When one considers Cryptic is a relatively small company, it’s utterly amazing they opted to take-on Star Trek and Champions Online at the same time. This business decision spelled disaster for both products as neither has received the attention they require.

In terms of Champions Online, Cryptic didn’t face a rabid fan-base full of demands and expectations, so its failure was barely visible to the gaming public. But with Star Trek, Cryptic is messing with a popular brand and its failure to deliver a compelling experience will be far more devastating.
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[Disclaimer: The following opinion is based on a beta-version of Champions Online, one week prior to release. The final version of Champions Online may resolve many of the issues raised in this editorial.]

I’m not sure why Champions Online exists. After playing a considerable amount of the beta, leveling up a wide-variety of characters, I come away with an empty feeling. Overwhelming impression? It’s as if Cryptic Studios simply renamed everything in City of Heroes and was quite content to add a smattering of new features that don’t add up to very much.

It currently stands as a mammoth disappointment.

One riddled with a ridiculous amount of bugs, a clunky interface, uninspiring combat, weak animation and terrible voice-acting.

“But it’s a beta!” I hear you yell. These things are to be expected. True, up to a point. Problem is, the game hits retail shelves in one week (September 1st) and should be much further along in its development than what I am seeing in the beta.

What we have here is yet one more case of an MMO shooting itself in the face by rushing its release date.

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