I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Champions Online. The second attempt at a superhero MMORPG by Cryptic Studios drew me in with numerous features, advanced customization to the point of full uniqueness, a fast-paced combat style and quirky comic-inspired quests and missions. I considered it a popcorn MMORPG, a guilty pleasure that would be a great compliment to other, more fleshed out experiences I was playing.

Yet it was a full cost title that lacked content, identity and overall direction. For every aspect I enjoyed of the title, I found two that annoyed me. I ragged on the offering so hardly because I wanted to like it. I left shortly before my six month purchase ran its course. It’s F2P return perked my interest, only to send me fleeing due to losing my main character to the freemium cutoff.

After Atari abandoned Cryptic Studios, allowing Perfect World Entertainment to grab the developer at an assumed bargain price, hope returned. PWE had been looking to break into the western market the appropriate way, ie not porting Eastern titles alone, and this was a great first step. A massive development effort would be needed, but we’re seeing the fruits of that labor with On Alert.

The latest content patch adds a few new systems to the game in addition to the expected content and bug fixes. A reputation system lets gamers accumulate prestige over time, opening up new travel power options and gear. The Modification and Fusion System returns customization to the hands of players, even allowing more damage dealing stats.

Mind you, the changes put the game back on my radar. Not my plate. It’s just a step in the right direction. I need a few of these, or a giant leap.

Hit the jump for a batch of stills from the patch. Continue Reading

Fans of Cryptic Studios’ stable of games can rest easy. After being in the hotseat for two weeks thanks to Atari labeling the studio as “discontinued”, the developer of Star Trek Online, newly free-to-play Champions Online and the upcoming Neverwinter RPG has found a new financial home in the hands of Perfect World Company, a rising star in the industry and parent to US subsidiary Perfect World Entertainment.

Let the flurry of Internet rumors retreat to wherever it is they go to die.

The reported $50+ million purchase will see Perfect World take over all of Cryptic’s properties from Atari. The acquisition delivers PWE two Western MMOGs, one being the company’s first subscription-based title (at least, for the time being), in addition to its first non-MMOG title Neverwinter, which remains in development. Global expansion, genre diversification, platform diversification and all on a budget.

Perfect World’s CEO Michael Chi has the full on business jargon:

“This strategic acquisition will add attractive game titles to our portfolio, which will help us further penetrate into the U.S. and global online game markets. More importantly, Cryptic Studios’ highly reputable development team and its technology platform will further strengthen our well-established R&D capabilities. We deem this as another noteworthy achievement of our global expansion efforts.”

Oddly enough, Perfect World Company’s stock has lost 2.7%, down to $23.67 a share, since the news broke today.

Perfect World has been in the F2P business since June 2008 and has been quite successful at it. This gamer expects the purchase to strengthen Cryptic’s portfolio as much as PWE’s.

I. Like. Big butts. (And I cannot lie).

Each developer has its own definition of character customization. Cryptic Studios is probably the, ahem, champion of character customization. The company’s games have allowed players to make everything from popular comic book clones (begetting a lawsuit) to beasts of burden to their own alien species. Blizzard has been the polar opposite, maintaining the idea that its artists’ interpretations are what’s best for the universe and storytelling.

Sprinkled in between is every other developer. For every game with player-decorated housing, there are dozens without. For every title with a handful of starting options or sliders for character creation, we’re meet with troves that have an overwhelming amount of choice. For every game with armor dye, there are a handful of games that lock players in to a non-unique fashion sense.

Once upon a time, all members of a class in high-end gear in World of Warcraft looked pretty much the same. This made PvP judgement easy. Learned players would know who to fight based on their appearance. A full set player would be skirted, while the piece-meal player would stand out and get assaulted (or passed up for the priest in a twill set). Easy pickings.

For the longest time there simply was no endgame customization. Players barked and Blizzard added in frivolous gear sets that players could acquire during seasonal events, Santa outfits, tuxedos and the like. Useful for farting around your favorite city. The company steadfastly refused to allow the players do any actual modifications to existing set pieces or even one-shot PvE/PvP items no matter how much the community petitioned. But hey, we can cut our hair and beards…

The stance holds, but as pointed out earlier, players will now be able to get Tier 12 gear in a variety of colors. Blizzard has yet to reveal how the colors will be acquired, but the fact that players are being given an option at all is a start.

Personally, I don’t care for customization. During my MMOG career, I’ve attempted to make use of such features as they’ve been made available to me, but like achievements, customization isn’t my cup of tea. I’ve never been artistically inclined. Having the ability to tweak colors, patterns or arrangements is like having two anuses for me. Shit comes out either way.

What about you? Is customization a feature you desire? Do you long to be able to tweak your toon’s appearance as your tastes change? Do you think it should become a required feature in MMOGs, much like basic starting customization? Have you made use of it extensively in games that have made it available to you? Think Blizzard is feeling a bit of genre pressure, such as Rift’s upcoming patch and its appearance (dress up) system?

One of the main features of the original Champions Online was the ability for a player to make any type of character. Not just visually, but the toon’s playstyle and role could be nit-picked to the last detail. Want to shoot beams out of your chest while dual wielding pistols? You could do that. Fancy lasers firing from your dome and an endless supply of health and/or armor? That was possible too. For better or for worse, the amount of customization meant players could totally gimp their character, just like in Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Guilty as charged.

That’s why the introduction of archetypes for the F2P re-launch are a double-edged sword. There’s so many damage types, abilities and spells present in CO that even seasoned MMOG players can be easily confused. With relatively no barrier to entry for the game, it was wise of Cryptic Studios to create a diverse set of pre-built roles for the flood of new players. Structure and direction are very good attributes for newbies. The other edge is forcing players to pay for the most-touted aspect of the game, complete freedom over character development and playstyle.

We’ll have to wait and see how that monetary choice turns out, but as the video shows there’s still plenty of customization present in the character generator. And even the archetypes give players some semblance of diversification. It just happens to be very late in one’s superhero career.

And if you’re looking for a wager; I expect Champions Online: Free for All to make Cryptic Studios a bank vault full of money. Just like like DDO and LotRO did for Turbine.