How did you find out about Champions Online?

vorshoth

Curious how others came across this game that seems to occupy my every night these days.
Me, I came across it when webcomics Ctrl Alt Del and El Goonish Shive both made reference to the game, as a comedy review and as an inspiration for a character in the comic respectively.

But I'm curious how people who don't read webcomics found out about it: I don't remember there being any adverts when it came out, beyond maybe a few website banners on a few forums, so how did all of you lot find out about Champions Online when you first decided to play?

bulgarex

I'm a player of Champions PnP since 1982, and a regular visitor to the website discussion forums of its publisher, Hero Games, since 2001. The sale of the Champions IP to Cryptic Studios was huge news over there, so I was aware of CO as soon as its development was publicly announced. I started dropping into the forums here before the game went live.

sterga

Way back when the game was still in beta, on of my friends told me about it. He had a beta invite, but his computer was a PoS, so he asked to use mine to play. Basically, we took turns playing the game.

I took a few breaks here and there, but mostly stuck around since there aren't many quality games set in the modern world. I like fantasy games, but damn, flooded market much? Plus I made a bunch of friends here, so I like to log in for chatting purposes.

purin1

I was browsing YouTube for MMO's with good character customization. Came across this video and could not pass up the chance to give it a shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQhIQicoLg

markhawkman

I play STO, and heard about it from other STO players.

kirsros

I finally started using Steam again back in 2011 when I heard that free-to-play titles hit the store. Of course, the first one to catch my eye was Champions Online. The second I hit the character creator, I was hooked. And my excitement for this game was even greater when I discovered there was a role-playing community.

I've been playing ever since.

jonsills

Played a lot of Champions 3rd ed in college; went into the Air Force for a term, where I found a dearth of people in Omaha that wanted to be superheroes, and when I got back home in '89 I found that most of the gaming stores in the area were pushing CCGs instead of RPGs (I actually had one store try to sell me a Magic: the Gathering pack as an RPG!).

Fast-forward to the year CO went F2P, and a sidebar advert on Facebook. "Hmm," I says to myself, says I, "an online version of Champions. Sounds interesting - let's give it a whirl!" And the rest, as they say, is history.

cryptickalidor

I was a manager at Gamestop when it came out. I was following the development before that when I was a City of Heroes player and part of their settlement with the Marvel lawsuit meant Cryptic would be making the Marvel MMO.. when Marvel and/or Microsoft backed out and Cryptic bought the Champions IP I continued to follow it until I got a closed beta invite.

aceretriever

From a spot on X-Play. I wasn't able to play until it went F2P, though.

mrhinkypunk

I heard of it while it was in development back when it was being developed as a marvel MMO. Me and my brother used to play various MMO's and my brother heard of it from someone and was telling me about it and how you'll be able to pick powers similar to that of spiderman etc and how you'll be able to pick any powers and put them together. I ended up getting the game for my birthday which was a day or two before it was released, the fact it wasn't marvel online and now some random one we'd never heard of kinda put my brother off I think. He never really got into it that much back then.

arimikami

Some people that played CoH were bugging me to come play. I wasn't quite ready to to walk away from that yet but, the day the shutdown was announced, I DLed CO and haven't looked back.

flyingfinn

It happened so many years ago, that it's just a faded memory.
But this:
http://www.ign.com/videos/2006/09/27/marvel-universe-online-xbox-360-trailer-first-trailer
and this:
http://www.ign.com/games/marvel-universe-online/pc-787763

'Nuff Said.

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dr490nbr347hi

Some news show that it was going F2P. Can't remember from what site, I think IGN.

chaelk

Freinds at the Gamers Guild in Perth started playing it in Beta, while we where playing Hero system PnP.

Started playing when I managed to get a computer.

wingedkagouti

Not entirely sure how I heard of CO, but I believe it was from the initial announcement press release (likely linked on Blue's News). Which then led me to sign up on the original pre-beta forum almost 7 years ago (some point in February '08 iirc).

ashensnow

Been an avid Champions (PnP) player since the mid-late 80's. My gaming buds and I had been watching for a Champs computer game (hinted at, demo at conventions, etc) for a number of years.

trailturtle

vorshoth wrote: »

Me, I came across it when webcomics Ctrl Alt Del and El Goonish Shive both made reference to the game, as a comedy review and as an inspiration for a character in the comic respectively.

Wait, which character was inspired in EGS? I still read that daily, Dan Shive is a great cartoonist.

For me, I found out about it when my boss handed me the website for the 2011 Christmas event and said "Write a poem for this" :biggrin:.

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flowcyto

Firstly from my bro when CO was first announced (I assume he gathered it from popular new sites at the time).. but we were too tied up in WoW at the time to be able to devote money/time to it.

After branching out to other MMOs (dark ages or Tolkien fantasy was/is getting tiring for me), my interest was re-sparked after seeing an video review a few years back (won't name who or what since I don't like that reviewer anymore). Didn't really play that much till well after On Alert, though.

foxyperson

Word of mouth, mostly.

However, I'm glad I didn't read the books until after I subscribed, otherwise I'd probably have avoided it like the plague lol.

itsbrou

I was playing CoH at the time. I saw the game being played and I was so excited to see Snake Gulch and Monster Island in the demos.

I was lucky to get a referral code in the IRC channel, and got into beta. I was sold when I fired my first attack off. It felt so great to not be rooted.

rianfrost

on coh we were all pretty well aware of it when it was the marvel mmo. then that kind of went dark and i didnt hear anything until i read a game informer about it and some of the art looked interesting. so i got into the open beta, figured it looked like it had a good future to grow like coh did with lots of new powers, zones and a continuing story. and got the lt. in for a penny, in for a pound. i really liked that tails and belts were separate(coh later did that, but not at this time) and that you could throw stuff. also liked the gadgeteer and sorcery powers, and the ability to have skirts past the knees.

doomedluke1

I think I saw something about the open beta in some site, probably Gamespot, which was my main game site back then. MMOs were new to me, and I was curious about the subject. Besides, it was a superhero game.

My first character, Nekulnnir (a Force/Might then, now a Behemoth) is from that time (his creation dates from 6/apr/2010). When the game went live to paid sub, I had to quit it.

Looking through my emails, I see I signed in to the forum when the game was still with Atari. Then one day (26/oct/10) I received the email telling me about CO going F2P in 2011. It was three long months of wait. XD

xcaligax

I saw an ad 3 years ago that said "Free to play!"

mrhinkypunk

xcaligax wrote: »

I saw an ad 3 years ago that said "Free to play!"

The only time CO ever had Ad's for it. ;D

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decorumfriends

I was at City of Heroes when Jack left, so what he was up to afterward was being followed on the boards through the whole Marvel debacle and then the switch to Champions. Our whole SG (Legion of Valor) got in on the beta, but frankly, at that time I found the game very "alpha" and not in the least ready for beta. Being familiar with Jack's habit of big ideas, big talk and little to no execution, I turned my back and didn't even think about Champions until City folded.

nepht

I came here from CoH to troll you guys. Found out the game was awesome and stayed.

vorshoth

trailturtle wrote: »

Wait, which character was inspired in EGS? I still read that daily, Dan Shive is a great cartoonist.

For me, I found out about it when my boss handed me the website for the 2011 Christmas event and said "Write a poem for this" :biggrin:.

Elliot's magic-caused superhero alias, Cheerleadra, is supposedly based on a character he had in Champions Online that used the at the time overpowered Chest Beam.
Also in a EGS NP comic ages ago the character Tedd writes an open letter to the devs of Champions Online to have a guy-to-girl transformation ability and a 'whoa I have boobs now' emote.
(http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?date=2009-11-26)

had2merge

Short version:

Played a sandbox mmo (Star Wars Galaxies) got bored with it.

Then played another sandbox mmo ( Lord of the Rings Online) got bored with it.

Saw the boxes for Champions Online at Walmart for $50 a pop. Gave it a go.

Got bored.. but still come back to it from time to time.

Not as much of a sandbox as I'd like, but the freebie toon slot at 40 hooked me.

3 full pages of toons and *growing*.

chaelk

been reading through them for 15 minutes now.

you.... person of uncertain parentage.

here's a STO one.
http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=175
still reading another 15minutes later

biffsmackwell

I can't remember how I found out about it, but I think I heard of it about a year before launch. I couldn't ditch my CoH subscription fast enough when I saw screenshots and videos.

It likely came up from the QA guys at the place I worked at. They're the ones that got me into MMOs in 2006, and are obviously an avid gaming bunch, always talking about new games and MMOs and dumping them after a week or so. Haha.

So yeah, I signed up for beta as soon as I heard about it, but never got picked, which makes me sad. I love to see game progression, like how the UI changes and stuff. Like, anyone remember when the PowerHouse was the center of Renaissance Center, and when grass didn't look like digital camouflage? I love to see stuff like that.

I picked up my lifetime subscription on a whim just before launch, to piss off a forum troll who thought no one would pay $200 for a lifetime subscription to a game that "wouldn't last 3 months." Dude was so infuriated at Cryptic for having the gall to do that. Funny, I wish more games would offer lifetime subscriptions. I was a WoW subscriber for 3 years, which cost me over almost $600, so I thought the lifetime subscription was way worth it.

So yeah that's my story.

towershield

Saw a spot on X-Play back in early 2008 and have been following since.
Went Lifer in 2011 and haven't once regret the purchase.

spinnytop

I was looking at Free 2 Play games on Steam. I saw something that looked like a super hero. Then the description said super heroes. Then I went in game and started a Behemoth... that first Room Sweeper is responsible for the past few years I spent playing.

wingedkagouti

biffsmackwell wrote: »

So yeah, I signed up for beta as soon as I heard about it, but never got picked, which makes me sad. I love to see game progression, like how the UI changes and stuff.

Let's just say that the UI has seen some improvements over time...

thatcursedwolf

I heard about it while playing CoH.

As I was happy with CoH, I didn't feel the need to add another MMO to my list of subscriptions.

Then CoH was culled to make foreign corporate overlords happy and it took a few tries to get over the uncanny valley between the two. Once that was accomplished all it took was a month as a gold from a retail box code and I decided being a lifer would be worth it.

Unfortunately, in the diaspora most of the people I knew went to non-Cryptic games.

had2merge wrote: »

...

Not as much of a sandbox as I'd like, but the freebie toon slot at 40 hooked me.

3 full pages of toons and *growing*.

That was marketing evil genius.

mrhinkypunk

wingedkagouti wrote: »

Let's just say that the UI has seen some improvements over time...

I find the current one fairly ugly though, the super hero'y bright colours and blockiness of it end up making it look cluttered and kiddy which compared to many other MMO's UI's currently isn't that great still.

decorumfriends

I'm still twitchy about all the ugly Comic Sans, but then, this is a game that thinks comic art has a uniform outline around everything like a coloring book, so I consider the source.

kaiserin

I had heard about the game when it was a Marvel property and was keeping tabs on it. I got a chance to play a demo and talk with the folks manning the Cryptic booth at Gencon '08 and was pretty happy with what I saw.

I got into the late beta, bought a LTS and have been playing on and off since.

clockwise

I saw it on the shelf at Target a long long time ago, and considered buying in, but passed. After I stopped playing CoX, I wanted a super hero kind of game, but the closest I could find was Star Trek Online. I don't know why I didn't go for CO then, I guess I'd forgotten about it and was convinced there weren't any super hero MMOs. I'm pretty sure I came into CO when it went F2P, which is ironic, because I bought a lifetime sub almost immediately.

modru35

2009 when i worked at Starbucks, my store manager said you need to try out Champions Online.
So i waited until it came out in stores and bought it. And good ole Mod has been here off and on for 5 years.

riltmos

I played CoH and my friends would laugh and poke at CO and DCUO a lot. I played them both for a bit so I could see what was wrong with them, I found found DCUO a meh game, but CO was pretty neat. Then I slowly noticed that CO had basically no development at all and went back to CoH and had a lot of fun with my friends, then CoH shut down and jumped ship to CO. I figured CO would develop more to take advantage of the new people and it would turn out amazing! It never happened.

clockwise

riltmos wrote: »

... then CoH shut down... I figured CO would develop more to take advantage of the new people and it would turn out amazing! It never happened.

Yeah, same. I don't know why they didn't look at that as a business opportunity and really get rolling on some major development. Maybe a new world map zone or something, with a raised level cap and missions to get you to it.

decorumfriends

I'm not sure it would have worked. Anecdotally, almost everyone from my old group primarily cite the very look of the place as their dislike. Too cartoony, it's said. That would be a big hurdle to try and cover.

ruprechtvandoom1

I browsed the internet for games I might like. I thought I might like this one and gave it a try. I liked it.

spinnytop

When did this stop being the "how i found out about CO" thread and turn into the "lets give our opinions on what they need to improve" thread u_u

spetsborg

spinnytop wrote: »

When did this stop being the "how i found out about CO" thread and turn into the "lets give our opinions on what they need to improve" thread u_u

Amen! Lets keep the topic! For me, I found out about the game thanks to an artist friend of mine on Deviantart. He had made some artworks for some of the long stay players and I got excited and bought the game the very next day. A real comic buff since -83, PnP player of various hero games and finally got into the MMORPG through CoX.

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decorumfriends

spinnytop finds this a new phenomenon?:

When did this stop being the "how i found out about CO" thread and turn into the "lets give our opinions on what they need to improve" thread u_u

When it got posted on Champions Online's forums?

belleraux

I found out about CO when a dannish friend of mine over MSN told me about it. She wanted me to play it with her so we could RP. I refused, because back then I had a strictly personal policy of never spending money with games. Then she showed me her boobs on webcam.

10 minutes later I had a Cryptic account and was downloading the game.