Cosmic Keys - Unlock Transformations & More

trailturtle

New transformations and powerful gear are available when you unlock Takofane?s Cache of Treasures! Plus, the Drifter?s Salvage store has been update with a number of legacy items.

You?ll be able to collect Takofane?s Cache of Treasures from almost any enemy, and it can be unlocked with the Key of Cosmic Power, available for 100 ZEN or ten for just 900 ZEN. Unlocking the Cache will net you two rewards: You?re guaranteed 2+ Salvage, and you?ll get one special Halloween prize, including gear, MODs, or the Dreadlord transformation.


Read more details in the blog post; Cosmic Keys are available in the C-Store.

elcymerian

The horrid "lockboxes" from STO have infected CO finally. Halloween truly is a terrifying time. lol Seriously though, I'd rather just be able to buy the Become devices from the Z-Store (or C-Store) rather than attempt a gamble. Oh well, something foolish like this was bound to happen eventually, right?

keikomyst

Yup, it had to happen sooner or later.

At least it's too-weak Become devices rather than something valuable!

Note, I actually don't know how well the Become device actually works, but I'm assuming based on experience.

flyingfinn

*balletdances in*

*scowls away*

chances010

FOUR slot gear!?!?....oy!

Oh and lockboxes!?!?! that need keys....double OY!!
(I've got tons in STO never opened...)

jonsills

Yep, just like STO Lockboxes, a piece-of-crap drop that I'll be throwing away (assuming that, like STO Lockboxes, they're utterly worthless on the open market). I'm not spending a dollar of real-world money just to open a frakking grab bag. Not happening.

elcymerian

keikomyst wrote: »

... At least it's too-weak Become devices rather than something valuable!

Note, I actually don't know how well the Become device actually works, but I'm assuming based on experience.

Depends on the device. I find that the Mummy is pretty good, but the Toy Soldier isn't as strong when compared. I'd have to be able to use the 2 new Becomes to figure it out.

squeeep

Why the sudden power inflation? OMG IS THE LAIR REVIEW AROUND THE CORNER?!

braxzana

Sorry to say, I will be joining the crowd that throws these away --- I'm not interested in 'gambling'.

As a means of earning profit, it may actually be quite lucrative, since gambling addiction is so easy a trap to fall into and especially where the "bid" is such a low amount. Hard to FAULT a company for trying to make a profit, but I can still feel disappointed in their attempt to, basically, trick us into gambling and wasting money on (based on the likely odds) mostly worthless stuff.

theravenforce

trailturtle wrote: »

New transformations and powerful gear are available when you unlock Takofane?s Cache of Treasures! Plus, the Drifter?s Salvage store has been update with a number of legacy items.

You?ll be able to collect Takofane?s Cache of Treasures from almost any enemy, and it can be unlocked with the Key of Cosmic Power, available for 100 ZEN or ten for just 900 ZEN. Unlocking the Cache will net you two rewards: You?re guaranteed 2+ Salvage, and you?ll get one special Halloween prize, including gear, MODs, or the Dreadlord transformation.

Read more details in the blog post; Cosmic Keys are available in the C-Store.

This was a bad move. Usually I support Cryptic but seriously TT, tell them how bad a move this was. People arent going to buy them, it is much better to be rewards from zombies or the zombie heroes...

But Shadow Wings looks cool...but when are we going to have Light Wings? I needs them for my Light Guardian...

vendince

Yeah. I'm planning on either AHing mine or throwing them away. I'm not a fan of lockboxes at all. And there's nothing I want that badly in them.

hubrix

4 slot gear from lockboxes? Hello pay2win. I'm surprised it took this long.

gaelyn1

Oh, the STO lockboxes system. Yeah ! I will be able to avoid this event and play at an another game because nothing of this have interest.
Drop a box, pay real money to buy zen and unlock the box, with a minor chance to have an OP item (4 gear slots ? what are the stats of this gear out of slots ?) and a major chance to have crap rank3 mod.
Sorry, i don't like hazard and money game. Rather than spend money to buy zen and unlock crappy boxes, i will buy Xcom:ennemy unknown. I'm sure theses 50€ will be more profitable and will give me more fun.

I don't like the way CO's going since this summer. (A few alerts, nighhawk mission who disappear even if this is the only new mission since a long time, vehicules OP which arrives, lockboxes now). This begins to be too much for me.

keikomyst

Actually, I hear the four slot gear is completely empty. No dodge or avoid or defense or + HP or + crit or what have you baked in.

Bad news is, that means you'll be able to fill them with R9s and have gear that's better than everyone else's.

Good news is, that requires somebody to actually bother fusing R9s.

gregmeisterr

Reading that I have to pay to open crap really ticks me off.

somebob

hubrix wrote: »

4 slot gear from lockboxes? Hello pay2win. I'm surprised it took this long.

As said, absolutely not at all.

It's exactly like the Silver Champions gear just without the baked in bonus. So +Dodge gear without the +Dodge item slotted in.

Yes, that does mean that if you have R8-9 mods, you can make slightly more powerful items than what you can buy via said tokens. SLIGHTLY.

lotar295

woah woah woah woah,lockboxes finally infected us?!

Well,I hope they don't stick around,at least grab bags didn't have a key,lockboxes have turned millions of players away from a good game,bad...bad...move with the lockboxes.I mean,grab boxes with a key,at least grab bags didn't charge you to open them after you ALREADY paid for them,and now we have to pay to get them AND open them just for a low chance to get stuff,for this there should be at least 100 guarantied pieces of salvage in them.

stupendousmanx

If these have replaced the normal takofanes drops, then I won't even bother loging in for more than one day for this Halloween event.

lohr01

TT, how long are the legacy grab bags going to be sticking around? At 20, 40 and 60 bucks a pop, its going to take a while to accumulate all the necessary salvage.

And for people who are want to know, almost all of these items have been found in them, they've just been converted into devices. AND, they are BoE, which is fantastic!

http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Click%20Upgrades

quasimojo1

I hope your new idiot tax is successful in funding some new content development.

xgco

The second I read "Key of Cosmic Power" I felt my heart break. When the first appeared I was against it, but when more kept appearing I knew that it was only a matter of time before lockboxes appeared. Please Cryptic, tell PWI lockboxes are a step towards the dark side. I don't need them and I don't want them. I didn't want to say "we" because I can't speak for all of us, but I think for the most part "we" don't want or need them.

flyingfinn

They wouldn't put something in game that isn't profitable? Right?
Lockboxes/Keys seem to be earning money in STO. Right?

xgco

I know you are probably right, but why can't people see that lockboxes are evil? What's next; you got a new vehicle congrats!... to use it you need to buy the "skeleton key of awesomeness" to use the vehicle/hideout/inventory bag???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

*sigh*

flyingfinn

No. But you need to buy a Vehicle Mod Grab Bag to get Vehicle Mods.

stellariodragon

This gambling aspect honestly makes me reconsider my MMO addiction. However, if it funds new CO development, it wouldn't be a completely bad thing.

xgco

To get them or "have a chance" to get them ;D

flyingfinn

If they need funds for developing CO, i'd go for compleatly different route. Like giving stuff people actually want and would pay money for.
But thats just me.

*tiptoes of the sunset*

xgco

Two cents

I have bought (as far as my memory can tell)

• 4 Sets of 2 Account Costume Slots
• 15 things from the Costume Sets tab (before the Questionite was introduced)
• I have 12 Character slots
• 8 Travel Powers (before the Questionite was introduced)
• 1 Harajuku Girl SK
• 1 Hideout
• At least 10 Grab Bags (which I still kick myself for)
• I have over 200 Days of Subscribed Game Time
• I own a boxed copy of the game.
• I pre-ordered the game.

I have spent a lot of money on this game and most of it I don't regret. The reason I did it was because I was happy to spend the money on something I knew I was getting. To spend money for the chance to open a box and not get anything... I just don't see myself doing it. Personally I feel if they continue with the lockbox route and begin locking things behind lockboxes that aren't guaranteed to give me what I pay for, I'm going to be less inclined to spend any money on this game. I want to give you guys money, but I also want to have something to show for my donation.

/rant /twocents

manwholaughs

I have been playing Champions Online since Christmas of 2009, and this just makes me want to just stop playing altogether.

It's a combination of facts that has really baffled me with this update, the fact that Cryptic have decided to introduce the nasty lock boxes at a time when they can barely keep the game running without completely destroying it with some of the most buggy updates I have seen for a game. I mean introducing lock boxes is really bad enough, but whilst you half **** your work with updates that prevent players from actually logging in to play at some points is just laughably insulting.

I remember when lock boxes were introduced to Star Trek Online, and I remember how it made the game feel tainted which ultimately made me stop playing (occasionally log in to see if things have changed for the better). With Champions Online it just feels worse thanks to all the cluster of game breaking updates, and now this.

Champions Online has been a worthy distraction over the years, but crap like this is bordering on the things I want to be distracted from, get it?!

corethl

If STO is any indication, we can probably expect these lockboxes to come fast and furious-it will likely gain the bulk of development time, too. It's an open question as to whether or not it will improve development of content; it's equally likely it'll go into improving development of more lockboxes.

As much as folks will complain and refuse to buy the keys to unlock these things, experience has shown in STO that people will be buying-and every time someone gets a high-profile item from one, we can expect the screen to spam "Hey, @RandomNameHere just unlocked the superduperawesomepower!" or something similar.

lotar295

Oh boy,please PWI,lockboxes=bad,lockboxes drives people AWAY from games,while some people buy them,putting them in every critter and spamming our inventory boxes with Lockboxes is annoying,please...just give us our grab bags back

jonsills

On the plus side, while I was playing earlier, several people spoke of what they'd unlocked from the boxes, meaning some of them are buying the keys - but not once did I get the "so-and-so got the Awesome Power of Awesomesauce!" spam in the center of my screeen, so at least there's that...

flyingfinn

Because there isn't any 'Awesome Power of Awesomesauce!' in those boxes?

:cool:

man515drake

Well what a waste of space in my bags lock boxes that drop like confetti that I will just toss away. Why people pay to open these things amaze me but they must make money or they wouldn't be utilised.

I for one HATE even the idea of these things so I will not be spending a penny on them.

zedbrightlander1

Wait. Does that mean that, come Halloween, all that we will be Trick or Treating for will be

{ gulp }

lock-boxes? :eek:

meredyredleaf

*Finds old shortcut on desktop*
*Launches program*
*Purchases Shadow wings with stipend*
*looks at other "content"*
*Sees lockbox*
*Blows a raspberry*
*Logs out*

Ta-Ta!

Ps: Thanks for the wings TP, took forever to have them (since Darkspeed), but thanks.

sterga

You would think PW had enough money to launch a proper ad campaign for CO. Sony made gobs of money when DCUO went F2P. The game has crap for content compared to this one and had some pretty nasty bugs, yet every other person ever stopped by to check the game out. Do you think that would have happened if Sony hadn't made a commercial? They actually bothered to advertise the game.

How many people even know CO exists? There aren't that many superhero MMOs out there. Shove Sapphire (or better yet Tailsmen) in some sort of commercial and/or banner ads and let people know there's another superhero game out there.

Instead of trying to make real income for the game, we get these garbage lockboxes. Really? Someone had to program this crap into the game. That effort would be better spend on bug fixes, new content, more costume options, vehicles, or whatever. DCUO didn't have much of anything in their cash shop when it first went F2P, yet they still made money.

The reason I don't play DCUO is because this game is better. Yet, not many people probably know CO even exists.

I don't understand how PW could have so much money yet not bother with an ad campaign. Hell, make a viral YouTube video. Other companies have done it, why not have one for CO?

trailturtle

zedbrightlander1 wrote: »

Wait. Does that mean that, come Halloween, all that we will be Trick or Treating for will be

{ gulp }

lock-boxes? :eek:

There will be the normal Halloween trick or treat event. It might have some slightly new prizes, but they won't be lock boxes. Takofane's Cache is in addition to other content and rewards, it does not replace any.

neojin777

Thanks alot for the 4 slot gear, finally my r9's find a suitable home. The weak base stats in the
rec gear always bugged me like crazy.

trailturtle wrote: »

There will be the normal Halloween trick or treat event. It might have some slightly new prizes, but they won't be lock boxes. Takofane's Cache is in addition to other content and rewards, it does not replace any.

Question from my side, why did you guys start altering/removing every single drop? Regardless of if it is an event drop or just random trash mob loot, everything got changed and not in a good way. I would like to ask.. "why?" An answer would be pretty cool. What does slightly altered mean? 95% of getting a green item and 5%..? No offense intended, i am just curious. I used to play Perfect World, i can clearly see that the entire mod system was just copied based upon the the PW gem system, the same goes for the grab bags (aka. frost case, crescent valley boxes, token luck boxes, gem boxes, etc.) i've bought that 5 years ago already.

lotar295

Just a question here,but will we still get regular grab bags in the future,that don't require a lock box key?

rexcelestis

On the topic of lockboxes....

Does anyone have any hard data on the effect introducing them has in games? While they seem pretty unpopular with a number of players, they sound very, very profitable for a company. I've heard some anecdotal stories that banning play from countries where they are seen as illegal gambling is more cost effective than changing the mechanics of them.

Anyone got any numbers or analysis of income generation, players lost, cost to develop? Stuff like that.

Personally, I don't mind them. They have tempted me, and I have even won a top tier ship over in STO. Still, I don't find them necessary to enjoy the game and can control any key buying compulsion.

peregrinestrike

Annoying.

It means that if I want those mechassassin hands:

• The hands cost 15 drifter salvage, need 13
• So I need to collect or AH 7 "treasure" grab bags (guarenteed 2 salvage each)
• And I need to buy 700 coins worth of keys
• And I get 400 coins a month for Vanguard stipend, so 2 months' worth

But I need the hands to complete my munition-bot clone...
Good thing I don't also kneed the Bracer (15) and the Chest (40) (or maybe I do need the Bracer as well...

yeah, annoying.

I guess there's no other way to get salvage. (?)

bioshrike

In a sense, the lockboxes are exactly the same as regular grab bags, which currently sell for 100Z. The only difference is that of perception - a player gets one of these as a random drop, and to them it feels like they already have the grab bag - they just need a teensy tiny little key to open it. Think for a moment - the phrase "out of site, out of mind" arises - you never have to open the Z store to see or hear about the grab bags. You can ignore the Drifter totally if you wanted to. These - they're much more insidious - if you're gonna play CO at all, there's going to be a good chance of you getting one of these. Now it's staring at you from your inventory. You know you just got 1 part of the puzzle in what could *shudders of anticipation* be that nifty become device or super piece of gear. It's only 1 measly dollar - c'mon, do it! Buy that key!

I might farm a little more Q and get a key or two, I admit it... but I am not going to spend my own money on one...

borak2

i hate the idea of these lockboxes 100% but being a lifer I now have something to spend my stipend on. If I didn't have that free money I would never ever pay for this.

judgeb0t

Building a loyal fan base.
You are doing it wrong.

Make things we actually want, then we buy them from you.
Like the back pieces from crocks and Armadillo.
Easy.

Let me state that again, though, just to make sure we communicated.
Make things we want.
Then we will buy them.

musher

Cryptic, please, just stop doing things like that. Creating a new mission, then just removing all the effort spent on it from the game entirely? (hint: Nighthawk) What was the point of you making 3 instances with cops around the entrances and a costume semi-alert mission, mildly annoying popups, map markers, coding, voice-acting, etc, if all this effort is now gone like it was never there? And all the things that somehow get bugged all the time. I have no idea how the game code works, but from what I see the things are unrelated whatsoever, like this bug with "Perfect Prey". I'm still wondering where it would come from. And like Bioshrike said, it's not a good move to shove grab bags in people's faces. I'm not easily turned off from a game I really enjoy (and God knows I enjoy CO even though the archetypes are severly under-powered and despite the bugs), but these Tako bags left me with an unpleasant feeling.

In short, what I'm trying to say: you are just not focusing on the right things, things that would make this game the ultimate superhero MMO.

cybersoldier1981

This is by far comical. I've yet to see anything positive said about it. Here, if Cryptic/PWE was a Diner.

CRYPTIC: "Well, we're trying to make good food and we've got some loyal customers, but we might need to let PWE buy us so we can get better funding for advertising and better ingredients."

PWE: *Buys CRYPTIC*. "All right, good little place you got here. Hey, listen- I need most of your cooks and servers over at the Awful Waffle, which just so happens to be one of fifteen waffle joints in this town. You'd think people would get tired of waffles, but hey! All right. So, what can we do for those of you who are left?"

CRYPTIC: "Well, we're kind of known for the old Breakfast Burgers we used to serve. We'd like to be able to sell them."

PWE: "And we agree. So listen, when someone comes in- no matter what, charge them $5. Then, blindfold them and just lay whatever damned platter you want in front of them. It could be a Breakfast burger sometimes. Other times, just throw a few gumdrops on a dog turd or maybe wrap a hot dog in a pair of fat girl panties or something."

CRYPTIC: "Well, we don't know... I mean, our loyal regulars are..."

PWE: "Stupid. They're dumb as hell. They'll pay money for anything. Just look at our market in asia. Despite having absolutely no difference from any other diner on the street we do this. We also employ slave labor and are the number one location for people who try to scam and swindle your loyal customers, but hey- we're here to help you and make you succeed. Look at all our successful diners!"

vendince

If we have to have these lockboxes, could we at least have them go into your inventory automatically, so you don't have to manually pick them up? I don't get excited about drops anymore, because I keep thinking to myself it's likely just a lockbox or a recognition.

wraithshadow13

Personally i'm with a few of the other people here when i say id rather have things people want, sold in the C-store, than having lock boxes. It was a horrible thing over on sto, but the main thing was it was supposedly to get ships in game that CBS wanted limited access too. Since that's not an issue in CO it just seems like a quick cash grab instead of like a lot of people are saying, or have been saying this whole time, quality content that's actually worth the money.

musher

Which reminds me, why not let us have the option to auto-pick ALL drops available for us and within the interaction range? If I get a drop in the middle of battle I can't help but attempt to pick it up right away, which sometimes ends in injury or death. Literally.

manwholaughs

Eh I am out, you ruined a great game Cryptic, and this was the final nail in the coffin.

Speaks for itself really when the only update I have enjoyed this year is cape glide... And I had to purchase that. I would've added the "Night Warrior" powers to my list of enjoyed updates, but they have been overshadowed by the bugs that were introduced around the same time and onwards up until now. I expressed my excitement for a decent vehicle system, but so far you have managed to half **** that too, just adding another layer upon layers of disappointment.

The sad thing is these lock box keys are going to sell like there's no tomorrow, so as much as I loath Cryptic and PWE right now, it's the players who purchase them that really hammer in the final nail!