I am sure I am the last person many of you want to hear this from but here goes:
The last few weeks I've noticed how negative people Have been on the forums.
Complaining about practically every aspect of the game.
Asking where "aura slots" are, while at the same time saying how crapy Cryptic will implement them for example.
Others have repeatedly posted that CO is on maintenance mode even though we a seeing regular content updates (it may not be the content you want, but it is content).
The constant negativity of the community only serves to drive away new players, who would be key to seeing the renaissance of CO. Without them the things that last made you run to the forums in tears will remain.
Heck even after the humiliation of wasting money on a guardian pack for NW, (I am back to CO fulltime after that debacle) I still think Cryptic has what it takes to breathe new life into CO.
The community needs to weed out the negativity one Last time, and give the devs a chance to flourish!
Let's make a pact of positivity?
Those of us willing to be positive about CO and its future can put something in our sig.
If there are artistic types they can come up with a banner, but text is enough.
negativity is contagious.
my biggest problem is that the same people spread it to every thread, not only does it keep people from the game it also keeps them from the forums
I can't be positive about something unless I'm given a reason. I'm not going to pretend that despite the lack of content since 2011, that things are going to get better. I have yet to see any momentum in the direction to make this happen. I have yet to see developers state that any of this will happen.
Yes, these mini-alerts and tiny missions are 'content'. However, if you come crawling and begging for food to fight your starvation and I throw you a lemon drop- it's 'food', just not what you want.
And that's the problem. 'Not what we want' is probably the exact opposite of a reasonable business decision. Generally, when you want to make money you give people what they want, and saying 'oh well, at least we got something!' doesn't ever happen.
I won't give positivity until I see the people who make decisions for this game showing positivity. This negativity would not be running new players off if it didn't have a valid reason to exist in the first place.
Being a fanboy isn't good for you, especially with PWI/Cryptic at the helm.
All that being said, I like Champions. It is my favorite game. But right now, it's like watching my best friend shoot heroin and live in a rat-shack. I can be positive and say 'he'll stop doing it and be the bestest dude ever, you'll see!' but unless he actively does something to help himself, it's not going to happen.
Again, no matter how positive you are about this game it's not going to change anything unless there's something to back up that positivity. Otherwise you're just going to come off like a silly fanboy.
The last few weeks I've noticed how negative people Have been on the forums.
Last few weeks? People have been complaining since launch. We are videogamers, a.k.a. the hardest crowd to please, ever.
Asking where "aura slots" are, while at the same time saying how crappy Cryptic will implement them for example.
Wow, it's almost as if people can have different opinions from one another.
Others have repeatedly posted that CO is on maintenance mode even though we a seeing regular content updates (it may not be the content you want, but it is content).
This is an MMO. You know, the type of game which needs to keep creating content on a regular basis in order to get people to keep subscribing. The tiny amount content we get here is spread over a huge period of time, so "maintenance mode" seems a highly appropriate term.
The constant negativity of the community only serves to drive away new players, who would be key to seeing the renaissance of CO.
The bulk of new players in any game never reads a single forum thread.
When I started playing City of Heroes, it was in a similar state of neglect to this one right now. You know what made it explode into a game that lasted five years beyond that, and should have kept going on even longer?
Cryptic sold their share of the game, and NCSoft gave it an actual budget so that the devs could actually DO something.
This game will pick up when Cryptic puts a real development budget into it, or they sell it to someone who will. The latter seems unlikely, since (unlike CoH) the game uses an engine that Cryptic uses for other games. The former... Some say "wait until NWO goes live and they send our devs back." Others say "we're still waiting to get back the devs STO took!"
_________________________________________________ @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
Pessimism creates self-fulfilling prophecy because people don't try anything that might have a chance of working. Because of that (and that optimists live longer and have better lives) a general optimism becomes the rational and logical attitude.
Besides, i know full well that Astro-turfing is occurring in even cottage industries these days so it would be nearly unfathomable for some of the nay-sayers to not be paid-for-whining astro-turfers getting money from the competition. When it happens even amongst self-publishers over Amazon reviews over tiny handfuls of sales it's sure going to happen amongst MMOs in a niche genre.
Heck when i was a mod on waroftheworldsonline dot com when the movies were announced it wasn't just the big companies we caught astroturfing, some of the tiny independant companies that pushed out straight-to-dvd titles based on war of the worlds were astro-turfing our forums and it's become far more common these days.
And of course astro-turfing works with a snow-ball effect, creating a culture of hostility and negativity and magnifying those people who always were being negative for their own legitimate reasons.
Well :P to that! Regardless of legitimate criticisms i love this game. I have looked at other MMOs and found them uninspiring while i play this one as often as i can.
This game is still great! And yes i want some things changed and more of this more of that and less of something else but this is still a great game. And i've met heaps of great people in and through this game.
___________________________________
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
I have had alot of faith in this game and I still do. I honestly feel sad when you have people constantly preaching doom and gloom stuff. I mean honestly this game still has alot of stuff even though its not apparent. Heck you got a custimzation system that no other game can rival at all, the Free Form system thatjust basically allows you to make your character however you want power wise, tons and tons of different ways of mixing things up(I know about recycling missions and other stuff) and adding your own twist to them, you can roleplay as any character and theres tons of locations to do it, I could sit here all day trying to talk about the good things. But the thing constantly and will alway be brought up is "OH, well we don't have this or we dont have that. We need more content and so on." Yes I realize that we COULD have more stuff and its not as much as we were getting back then, but is all people see are the negatives and non of the postives? Plus is it bad for me to appreciate the stuff I already have, and heck hangin with freinds and such on this game is pretty awesome.
DISCLAIMER: I am not calling anyone out or ridiculing anyone, I'm just giving my point of thought.
It doesn't even feel like we're on the cusp of renaissance. We are getting the same amount of dev time as the past year, and that is the way it will be for the rest of this year they have said. Setting up people's expectations that there will even be a renaissance is helping to feed the negativity because you set expectations that will probably not happen. Personally I have not heard any plans of great change, could you link to your ren info, I could use some good news.
Was that negative or just realistic? Realistically negative?
Yeah! WOO POSITIVE! (In all seriousness, my biggest worry is the game's age. The older it gets, the less likely it is Cryptic is going to bother. Time is not on our side it's 4 years coming up here very soon.)
Hey its one of these threads again.
What makes a thread one of these?
Speech about maintaining a positive attitude: check
Baseless concerns about forum negativity driving away players: check
Thread started by someone who is well known for being contradictory, a bit of a fanboy and recently returned to the game/started playing again because their previous distraction got stale: check
Trying to rally everyone together in a show of solidarity that Cryptic will surely take notice of: check
Fully aware people will see through all of it but doing it anyway: check
Needs more blind oblivious optimism and a pinch of #stupidhashtagremark if you want me to buy this. Until then I'm pretty comfortable keeping my concerns about this game and Cryptic as a company right where they are.
Needs more blind oblivious optimism and a pinch of #stupidhashtagremark if you want me to buy this. Until then I'm pretty comfortable keeping my concerns about this game and Cryptic as a company right where they are.
Positive thinking is not going to accomplish anywhere near as much as spending money on the game. If you truly want to support Champions Online, start spending money on it. Start spending a lot of money, and start getting your friends to spend a lot of money on it. That's going to get Cryptic/PWE to start investing in development for CO more than positive thoughts will.
Dear Devs: I enjoyed the Legacy of Romulus expansion much more than the Delta Rising expansion. .
I've been trying to keep the faith up here too, but it's really hard when the alert they work on for a month turns out to be a mediocre enemy rush with a harsh time limit.
I tell a lot of people about CO and how wonderful it is, but I tell them about the bad stuff too. The fact that costumes aren't fully unlocked until level 10, the current lack of development, the blatant unbalance at higher levels of play, the poor monetization of the game... and then I tell them that, despite these glaring flaws, I absolutely love CO and always come back to it.
I actually got a few people to try it and we had fun after they got past level 10 and got to make THEIR characters. Sure, they only ultimately got to level 17 before they went back to another MMO but I'm sure I could call them back with sweet temptations... one of them was even considering subscribing. Dunno how that went.
Not to mention that when I mention cool things I saw in the game (like Transformer characters, for example) I often hear 'damn it Miko, I'm reinstalling Champs again so I can try to do that' and that just kinda makes me smile, because that shows me CO has something other MMOs don't have. Well, arguably SecondLife has it, but not all of us are god-tier modelers who can make our creations come to life, and SecondLife isn't much of a game, is it?
Positive thinking is not going to accomplish anywhere near as much as spending money on the game. If you truly want to support Champions Online, start spending money on it. Start spending a lot of money, and start getting your friends to spend a lot of money on it. That's going to get Cryptic/PWE to start investing in development for CO more than positive thoughts will.
Cryptic has said almost nothing to give me any hope for this game's future. The only hints we've received of life after Forum Malvanum are a gag picture from LordGar that included a specific page of a sourcebook, and #TelepathyBackOnPTS. In other words, picking up some half-done work dropped for FM, and a lore clue to the next Gamblebox-Shilling Disposable Event.
Nowhere in any of that do I see a peak on the other side of this deep, deep valley. We've asked, begged, pleaded for, and demanded some response from Cryptic management to our questions about the future of this game. All we've received are reassurances that the game won't be shut down, delivered by a PWE employee who only works on this game part-time.
So when the Powers That Be can't or won't give us any hope, how do you expect us to have faith?
Choose your enemies carefully, because they will define you / Make them interesting, because in some ways they will mind you
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
I am sure I am the last person many of you want to hear this from but here goes:
The last few weeks I've noticed how negative people Have been on the forums.
Complaining about practically every aspect of the game.
Asking where "aura slots" are, while at the same time saying how crapy Cryptic will implement them for example.
Others have repeatedly posted that CO is on maintenance mode even though we a seeing regular content updates (it may not be the content you want, but it is content).
The constant negativity of the community only serves to drive away new players, who would be key to seeing the renaissance of CO. Without them the things that last made you run to the forums in tears will remain.
Heck even after the humiliation of wasting money on a guardian pack for NW, (I am back to CO fulltime after that debacle) I still think Cryptic has what it takes to breathe new life into CO.
The community needs to weed out the negativity one Last time, and give the devs a chance to flourish!
Let's make a pact of positivity?
Those of us willing to be positive about CO and its future can put something in our sig.
If there are artistic types they can come up with a banner, but text is enough.
Any thoughts?
Yup.
Yet on the same token, the definition of content seem to vary. To me when I say content, I usually have in mind something permanent not rotation of events. I call those things...well events. And lockboxes and vehicles are not part of my definiion of content either and are added objects. Which isnt automatic bad thing just not actual content. But my definition of content seems different here than what it meant in other games.
From the history and looks of it, looks like people been asking some used to be in a nice suggestive manner, for new things or what is happening and etc. The response, been more lockboxes and recently rotation of events. Still no new content for low levels besides killing Poe to the million time, still only vibora bay, MC, MI, Lemuria, Desert and Canada. Not many new arcs or storylines,but yeah, no new players no new money no new money no content no new content no new players.
But I think the negativity can die down a bit. I think the poitn was made. It's on them now. But loyalty and chance works both ways. I thin ka little more communication of what's going on would help greatly to put most negativity at ease, and not only news on lock boxes and temporary events. Like is there plans for new permanent content, what's going on? Is CO sinking financially Believe it or not, I think majority of us can handle the straight up truth and will back up the devs and this game until the lights go off. But give the players something to work wirth for christ sakes.
For example I want to recommend this game to every gamer I know but when I recommend them, I dont want it to turn it around being I wasted their tiem with a game that seems on it's way out. I know many new players some personally that came and gone on their own accord and never even stepped foot into the server and realized "hmm this game dont seem to be getting much attention. Looks like they are going the monetizing route without adding stuff." New players. And they leave after a week or two. From what they see without anyone telling them the bad stuff or even suggesting that this game is in maintance mode. People dont need to people to tell them, they can see for themselves. it's obvious with the state of this game. And many people can put tow together. First common question new players ask is "So where is the newest content and how long it been around. And what have been recently added." And I for one aint going to lie to them. "Well we have the Malvanum event now, a zombie event just ended, and we got vehicles."
Gie us something to tell our friends. This is a great game yes, but many leave their old game because of lack of update and bored of same old content and why would they move to another game with not much new permenant content with probably 1.4th the population from the game they left, and be bored again in a couple of months and would leave anyways?
I think even one new permanent mission arc would suffice enough to say, "hey they addedd new permanent content." At least to get them in the door, and show that there is still some sort of development going on here besides short term lockboxes and short term events. And if the event route is going to be where all the development is going at least make a few where it dont take pure DPS to barely complete and the average PUG with average builds that may consist of new and old player have a chance of winning. Malvanum is basically an event for the DPS elite to show off. Which I'm not saying it's a bad thing as they need something to challenge them too but want new players? Entice them with the new content and remember the average new player is not goign to be automatically elite. So how can I say they added new content, but oh by the way it's not for new people if you want to win. They probably do a 180 and go the other way.
And sometimes negativity has a point. From the looks of it, on one hand they ask for suggestions but then turn around and completely ignore the suggestions, for years. How much faith is expected to have in that? Like I said, give people a bone to work with, LISTEN to them, as I havent seen much calling for More Lockboxes More temporary events! yet they are quick to add those under the guise of 'well the players asked for it." What about the other things people ask for that is run of the mill stuff like the bugs that been around for years without being touched or addressed or actual permanent content? Fro mthe looks fo it people been asking about those things for years.
Hey its one of these threads again.
What makes a thread one of these?
Speech about maintaining a positive attitude: check
Baseless concerns about forum negativity driving away players: check
Thread started by someone who is well known for being contradictory, a bit of a fanboy and recently returned to the game/started playing again because their previous distraction got stale: check
Trying to rally everyone together in a show of solidarity that Cryptic will surely take notice of: check
Fully aware people will see through all of it but doing it anyway: check
Needs more blind oblivious optimism and a pinch of #stupidhashtagremark if you want me to buy this. Until then I'm pretty comfortable keeping my concerns about this game and Cryptic as a company right where they are.
There are still some signs of life and potential. Sure, they aren't sustainable forms of content, they had their own issues (harbinger being difficult to hit >.>), and Cryptic continues to completely fall flat on their face with all of these bugs... BUT, were you anything but impressed the first time you saw the hounds or the Harbinger? How about that dragon from Hi-Pan? Cryptic has a limited dev team, they always have, yet they give us what they can on the schedule that they are allowed. Our devs love us. The parent company and the funds they are willing to provide is the issue.
Despite how impressive some small things have been, it is far from enough to sustain the game. A few impressive animated creatures alone won't bring in revenue. If Cryptic started caring and bringing in more money, then the game could thrive easily but that's on them. We don't even have any ads. We're not worth the cost. I've lost hope for awhile but the small things I've mentioned give me the tiniest hope that maybe one day things will change. The PTS powers made me smile like a fool and while sometimes I desperately wish the game would just close so I could stop wasting time hoping it might improve, I'll give it one last chance. I honestly think that's the only chance it can afford to get, especially considering its age.
So, come CO, give us your great renaissance or die in the flames of your rebirth never to rise again. Or maybe you'll just be snuffed out like the tiny quivering flame of a candle. Regardless, that's all I have to say. Also... I got reeeally dramatic at the end there. xD
I say stuff and I say things, sometimes together but only when I'm feeling adventurous.
The thing is about a renaissance, is that people can influence its change and progression. Voice and opinion matters and when enough people voice their opinion things change based on those opinions.
Direction isn't influenced by numbers. Its influenced by those who take the time to say what they want because they took the time to say it. Its a more meaningful change than say speaking with your wallet, because a wallet can say either yes or no. While an opinion can say what they want in detail.
Its a more meaningful change than say speaking with your wallet, because a wallet can say either yes or no. While an opinion can say what they want in detail.
Dont fall for it.
JayBezz says "thank you for Telepathy" by spending $500 on Zen in September 2012 and go so far as to make sure the devs know the reason for my investment and gratitude both publicly and privately. I went as far as to arrange for publicity for the release and bought even MORE things for my friends and convinced others to spend too.
FLASH FORWARD! It is June 2013 and there is no update to telepathy.
[A renaissance is] a more meaningful change than say speaking with your wallet, because a wallet can say either yes or no. While an opinion can say what they want in detail.
I'm as likely to spend more money on the game as I am to post in any language other than English. Until I see some sort of involvement that warrants it, it's a fruitless exercise.
...
Others have repeatedly posted that CO is on maintenance mode even though we a seeing regular content updates (it may not be the content you want, but it is content).
...
If I wanted to play content I don't like, I would be over at DCUO.
...
Heck even after the humiliation of wasting money on a guardian pack for NW, (I am back to CO fulltime after that debacle) I still think Cryptic has what it takes to breathe new life into CO.
...
# 1 In a Queue for Neverwinter, so I came to visit...
04-30-2013, 06:31 PM
While I wait for the Kray Kray NW Queue (been queued for more than an hour now lol, and the number fluctuates between 1k and 18k lol), I thought I might pop in and see how the Champions guys are doing.
How is the Malvanium event turning out?
POSITIVE ABOUT CO IN 2013!
CellarRat33 :: formerly Bsquared
***
"The great thing about glory unending is that it's dirt cheap!" - Tateklys From the Adventures of Thundrax (canadascott)
***
Besides, i know full well that Astro-turfing is occurring in even cottage industries these days so it would be nearly unfathomable for some of the nay-sayers to not be paid-for-whining astro-turfers getting money from the competition. When it happens even amongst self-publishers over Amazon reviews over tiny handfuls of sales it's sure going to happen amongst MMOs in a niche genre.
Oh, I wish I was getting paid for my complaints, that would make my life so much more bearable.
Positive thinking is not going to accomplish anywhere near as much as spending money on the game. If you truly want to support Champions Online, start spending money on it. Start spending a lot of money, and start getting your friends to spend a lot of money on it. That's going to get Cryptic/PWE to start investing in development for CO more than positive thoughts will.
I'm not spending money on something just for the sake of spending money on it. I need to have a reason to spend money, and aside from my monthly sub I haven't seen one. The Harbinger fight was the last 'great' piece of content added to the game. The FM event was a blatant attempt to sell vehicles and keys. The actual arena is a boring poorly tuned dps race.
As for getting my friends to play, I tried after a month, they were level 40 on multiple toons and bored with the terribly linear leveling and disgusted with the chat ban abuse and gamble boxes. Now they have proclaimed to never want to pick up another Cryptic made game. The ball is in Cryptic's corner, it is up to them to give us something positive to talk to our friends about.
Yeah! WOO POSITIVE! (In all seriousness, my biggest worry is the game's age. The older it gets, the less likely it is Cryptic is going to bother. Time is not on our side it's 4 years coming up here very soon.)
Theres older games out there, speaking as a veteran of Fiesta Online, Champions isn't even close to being considered elderly yet in the free to play market.
There are still some signs of life and potential. Sure, they aren't sustainable forms of content, they had their own issues (harbinger being difficult to hit >.>), and Cryptic continues to completely fall flat on their face with all of these bugs... BUT, were you anything but impressed the first time you saw the hounds or the Harbinger? How about that dragon from Hi-Pan? Cryptic has a limited dev team, they always have, yet they give us what they can on the schedule that they are allowed. Our devs love us. The parent company and the funds they are willing to provide is the issue.
Despite how impressive some small things have been, it is far from enough to sustain the game. A few impressive animated creatures alone won't bring in revenue. If Cryptic started caring and bringing in more money, then the game could thrive easily but that's on them. We don't even have any ads. We're not worth the cost. I've lost hope for awhile but the small things I've mentioned give me the tiniest hope that maybe one day things will change. The PTS powers made me smile like a fool and while sometimes I desperately wish the game would just close so I could stop wasting time hoping it might improve, I'll give it one last chance. I honestly think that's the only chance it can afford to get, especially considering its age.
So, come CO, give us your great renaissance or die in the flames of your rebirth never to rise again. Or maybe you'll just be snuffed out like the tiny quivering flame of a candle. Regardless, that's all I have to say. Also... I got reeeally dramatic at the end there. xD
I saw those Kzash hounds and was like.....did I miss a part of the game?
Also I'm pretty sure this game was probably in evergreen a long time ago. I highly doubt its going anywhere or they would stop development on one of their only titles to do that.
Positive thinking is not going to accomplish anywhere near as much as spending money on the game. If you truly want to support Champions Online, start spending money on it. Start spending a lot of money, and start getting your friends to spend a lot of money on it. That's going to get Cryptic/PWE to start investing in development for CO more than positive thoughts will.
Very little can be accomplished if Cryptic/PWE does not believe in their own game. It's been more than three years, first Atari and then PWE with the same story. A year ago, I would have bought your argument, but not at this point. I could not also in good faith ask somebody to put money on it, especially if he is a friend of mine.
I am playing (and putting money) on other games, so I won't have to come to the forums with negativity. When they release something new and interesting, I am going to play it.
"Faith?" Funny, I wasn't aware Champions Online was a religion, although we do seem to have as much evidence for a development team as we do for God.
Faith means a lot more than just in relation to religion and the classical view amongst some branches of christianity and a few other religions about believing in something regardless of a lack of evidence or in spite of contrary evidence. Take for example that in classical argument the term In Good Faith means actually making an honest argument and actually considering the other persons points, where In Bad Faith means dishonest or deceptive arguments and ignoring the other persons point rather than addressing it. The origin of the word is from the ancient Greek term for "to trust" hence the logic of it's use in some theological debates but it has a much wider meaning and use that's tended to be overshadowed in the media in recent times with the focus on the term in a religious context.
Oh, I wish I was getting paid for my complaints, that would make my life so much more bearable.
___________________________________
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
Very little can be accomplished if Cryptic/PWE does not believe in their own game. It's been more than three years, first Atari and then PWE with the same story. A year ago, I would have bought your argument, but not at this point. I could not also in good faith ask somebody to put money on it, especially if he is a friend of mine.
I am playing (and putting money) on other games, so I won't have to come to the forums with negativity. When they release something new and interesting, I am going to play it.
Yup. That train sailed away months ago. I've spend my money for this game. Paying something that doesn't exist is futile effort.
They are too focused on NW to give a damn about CO. No matter what explanations they give in other sites than CO's.
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Interesting. I followed your links, as well as links contained within the linked documents, and couldn't find a single piece of corroboration for the claims being made. I don't really doubt the existence of, "astroturfing," as it seems very much like a tactic that a modern marketing or PR firm might develop. I do find it odd that these bloggers can make such blanket accusations of it being widespread, everywhere, etc. and not be able to provide a single piece of evidence.
Interesting. I followed your links, as well as links contained within the linked documents, and couldn't find a single piece of corroboration for the claims being made. I don't really doubt the existence of, "astroturfing," as it seems very much like a tactic that a modern marketing or PR firm might develop. I do find it odd that these bloggers can make such blanket accusations of it being widespread, everywhere, etc. and not be able to provide a single piece of evidence.
Very interesting indeed.
Lots of tin foil about astor turfers going on with people coming off as "Everyone that dont agree with me is a paid astro turfer of the company that I hate".
I'm sure there might be some out there but I doubt everyone and their momma is one, especially in games that hardly anyone outside this forum ever even heard of.
If Cryptic wanted the renaissance of CO, they shouldn't have let it down at his first release year in 2010, don't let it down for many months when they worked on STO, don't let it down and do almost nothing since 8 months when they worked on NW.
They can lie and say what they want, "No, we have separate teams in every of our MMOs", everyone have seen they don't do anything on CO when another of their projects is near to release. For STO and now for NW.
Everytime, they let it CO dying, they let it down with almost no new content and let the people unsuscribe/quit or play at another F2P game, which has a lot more development than here.
It's difficult to have the faith when a lot of us have been here since september 2009 (or before in betas) and have seen what they have did, and what's they never did, for this game.
"These new reports say CO still has 20 people playing, that is 300/month we are not getting! Get someone to their forums to create some negativity quick!"
I am sure I am the last person many of you want to hear this from but here goes:
The last few weeks I've noticed how negative people Have been on the forums.
Complaining about practically every aspect of the game.
Asking where "aura slots" are, while at the same time saying how crapy Cryptic will implement them for example.
Others have repeatedly posted that CO is on maintenance mode even though we a seeing regular content updates (it may not be the content you want, but it is content).
The constant negativity of the community only serves to drive away new players, who would be key to seeing the renaissance of CO. Without them the things that last made you run to the forums in tears will remain.
Heck even after the humiliation of wasting money on a guardian pack for NW, (I am back to CO fulltime after that debacle) I still think Cryptic has what it takes to breathe new life into CO.
The community needs to weed out the negativity one Last time, and give the devs a chance to flourish!
Let's make a pact of positivity?
Those of us willing to be positive about CO and its future can put something in our sig.
If there are artistic types they can come up with a banner, but text is enough.
Any thoughts?
A doom thread hidden behind bunnehs and ponnehs is still a doom thread.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Faith means a lot more than just in relation to religion and the classical view amongst some branches of christianity and a few other religions about believing in something regardless of a lack of evidence or in spite of contrary evidence. Take for example that in classical argument the term In Good Faith means actually making an honest argument and actually considering the other persons points, where In Bad Faith means dishonest or deceptive arguments and ignoring the other persons point rather than addressing it. The origin of the word is from the ancient Greek term for "to trust" hence the logic of it's use in some theological debates but it has a much wider meaning and use that's tended to be overshadowed in the media in recent times with the focus on the term in a religious context.
Well, one thing's for certain, Cryptic is definitely a practitioner of Bad Faith.
"These new reports say CO still has 20 people playing, that is 300/month we are not getting! Get someone to their forums to create some negativity quick!"
Comments
my biggest problem is that the same people spread it to every thread, not only does it keep people from the game it also keeps them from the forums
I can't be positive about something unless I'm given a reason. I'm not going to pretend that despite the lack of content since 2011, that things are going to get better. I have yet to see any momentum in the direction to make this happen. I have yet to see developers state that any of this will happen.
Yes, these mini-alerts and tiny missions are 'content'. However, if you come crawling and begging for food to fight your starvation and I throw you a lemon drop- it's 'food', just not what you want.
And that's the problem. 'Not what we want' is probably the exact opposite of a reasonable business decision. Generally, when you want to make money you give people what they want, and saying 'oh well, at least we got something!' doesn't ever happen.
I won't give positivity until I see the people who make decisions for this game showing positivity. This negativity would not be running new players off if it didn't have a valid reason to exist in the first place.
Being a fanboy isn't good for you, especially with PWI/Cryptic at the helm.
All that being said, I like Champions. It is my favorite game. But right now, it's like watching my best friend shoot heroin and live in a rat-shack. I can be positive and say 'he'll stop doing it and be the bestest dude ever, you'll see!' but unless he actively does something to help himself, it's not going to happen.
Again, no matter how positive you are about this game it's not going to change anything unless there's something to back up that positivity. Otherwise you're just going to come off like a silly fanboy.
Last few weeks? People have been complaining since launch. We are videogamers, a.k.a. the hardest crowd to please, ever.
Wow, it's almost as if people can have different opinions from one another.
This is an MMO. You know, the type of game which needs to keep creating content on a regular basis in order to get people to keep subscribing. The tiny amount content we get here is spread over a huge period of time, so "maintenance mode" seems a highly appropriate term.
The bulk of new players in any game never reads a single forum thread.
Cryptic sold their share of the game, and NCSoft gave it an actual budget so that the devs could actually DO something.
This game will pick up when Cryptic puts a real development budget into it, or they sell it to someone who will. The latter seems unlikely, since (unlike CoH) the game uses an engine that Cryptic uses for other games. The former... Some say "wait until NWO goes live and they send our devs back." Others say "we're still waiting to get back the devs STO took!"
@flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
You have my demands.
Besides, i know full well that Astro-turfing is occurring in even cottage industries these days so it would be nearly unfathomable for some of the nay-sayers to not be paid-for-whining astro-turfers getting money from the competition. When it happens even amongst self-publishers over Amazon reviews over tiny handfuls of sales it's sure going to happen amongst MMOs in a niche genre.
Heck when i was a mod on waroftheworldsonline dot com when the movies were announced it wasn't just the big companies we caught astroturfing, some of the tiny independant companies that pushed out straight-to-dvd titles based on war of the worlds were astro-turfing our forums and it's become far more common these days.
And of course astro-turfing works with a snow-ball effect, creating a culture of hostility and negativity and magnifying those people who always were being negative for their own legitimate reasons.
Well :P to that! Regardless of legitimate criticisms i love this game. I have looked at other MMOs and found them uninspiring while i play this one as often as i can.
This game is still great! And yes i want some things changed and more of this more of that and less of something else but this is still a great game. And i've met heaps of great people in and through this game.
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
Hell, my SG just threw an RP Gala and we filled the instance with people wanting to play. I think that was pretty sweet.
a
hurry up and give this guy telepathy so he can move on
You heard him!
DISCLAIMER: I am not calling anyone out or ridiculing anyone, I'm just giving my point of thought.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
====================================
Dominus Drake Primus Database ,Also @Pyromasher ingame
Was that negative or just realistic? Realistically negative?
Yeah! WOO POSITIVE! (In all seriousness, my biggest worry is the game's age. The older it gets, the less likely it is Cryptic is going to bother. Time is not on our side it's 4 years coming up here very soon.)
Summer is great time. It's warm.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
What makes a thread one of these?
Needs more blind oblivious optimism and a pinch of #stupidhashtagremark if you want me to buy this. Until then I'm pretty comfortable keeping my concerns about this game and Cryptic as a company right where they are.
We done here?
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I tell a lot of people about CO and how wonderful it is, but I tell them about the bad stuff too. The fact that costumes aren't fully unlocked until level 10, the current lack of development, the blatant unbalance at higher levels of play, the poor monetization of the game... and then I tell them that, despite these glaring flaws, I absolutely love CO and always come back to it.
I actually got a few people to try it and we had fun after they got past level 10 and got to make THEIR characters. Sure, they only ultimately got to level 17 before they went back to another MMO but I'm sure I could call them back with sweet temptations... one of them was even considering subscribing. Dunno how that went.
Not to mention that when I mention cool things I saw in the game (like Transformer characters, for example) I often hear 'damn it Miko, I'm reinstalling Champs again so I can try to do that' and that just kinda makes me smile, because that shows me CO has something other MMOs don't have. Well, arguably SecondLife has it, but not all of us are god-tier modelers who can make our creations come to life, and SecondLife isn't much of a game, is it?
http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=225171
Cryptic has said almost nothing to give me any hope for this game's future. The only hints we've received of life after Forum Malvanum are a gag picture from LordGar that included a specific page of a sourcebook, and #TelepathyBackOnPTS. In other words, picking up some half-done work dropped for FM, and a lore clue to the next Gamblebox-Shilling Disposable Event.
Nowhere in any of that do I see a peak on the other side of this deep, deep valley. We've asked, begged, pleaded for, and demanded some response from Cryptic management to our questions about the future of this game. All we've received are reassurances that the game won't be shut down, delivered by a PWE employee who only works on this game part-time.
So when the Powers That Be can't or won't give us any hope, how do you expect us to have faith?
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
Yup.
Yet on the same token, the definition of content seem to vary. To me when I say content, I usually have in mind something permanent not rotation of events. I call those things...well events. And lockboxes and vehicles are not part of my definiion of content either and are added objects. Which isnt automatic bad thing just not actual content. But my definition of content seems different here than what it meant in other games.
From the history and looks of it, looks like people been asking some used to be in a nice suggestive manner, for new things or what is happening and etc. The response, been more lockboxes and recently rotation of events. Still no new content for low levels besides killing Poe to the million time, still only vibora bay, MC, MI, Lemuria, Desert and Canada. Not many new arcs or storylines,but yeah, no new players no new money no new money no content no new content no new players.
But I think the negativity can die down a bit. I think the poitn was made. It's on them now. But loyalty and chance works both ways. I thin ka little more communication of what's going on would help greatly to put most negativity at ease, and not only news on lock boxes and temporary events. Like is there plans for new permanent content, what's going on? Is CO sinking financially Believe it or not, I think majority of us can handle the straight up truth and will back up the devs and this game until the lights go off. But give the players something to work wirth for christ sakes.
For example I want to recommend this game to every gamer I know but when I recommend them, I dont want it to turn it around being I wasted their tiem with a game that seems on it's way out. I know many new players some personally that came and gone on their own accord and never even stepped foot into the server and realized "hmm this game dont seem to be getting much attention. Looks like they are going the monetizing route without adding stuff." New players. And they leave after a week or two. From what they see without anyone telling them the bad stuff or even suggesting that this game is in maintance mode. People dont need to people to tell them, they can see for themselves. it's obvious with the state of this game. And many people can put tow together. First common question new players ask is "So where is the newest content and how long it been around. And what have been recently added." And I for one aint going to lie to them. "Well we have the Malvanum event now, a zombie event just ended, and we got vehicles."
Gie us something to tell our friends. This is a great game yes, but many leave their old game because of lack of update and bored of same old content and why would they move to another game with not much new permenant content with probably 1.4th the population from the game they left, and be bored again in a couple of months and would leave anyways?
I think even one new permanent mission arc would suffice enough to say, "hey they addedd new permanent content." At least to get them in the door, and show that there is still some sort of development going on here besides short term lockboxes and short term events. And if the event route is going to be where all the development is going at least make a few where it dont take pure DPS to barely complete and the average PUG with average builds that may consist of new and old player have a chance of winning. Malvanum is basically an event for the DPS elite to show off. Which I'm not saying it's a bad thing as they need something to challenge them too but want new players? Entice them with the new content and remember the average new player is not goign to be automatically elite. So how can I say they added new content, but oh by the way it's not for new people if you want to win. They probably do a 180 and go the other way.
And sometimes negativity has a point. From the looks of it, on one hand they ask for suggestions but then turn around and completely ignore the suggestions, for years. How much faith is expected to have in that? Like I said, give people a bone to work with, LISTEN to them, as I havent seen much calling for More Lockboxes More temporary events! yet they are quick to add those under the guise of 'well the players asked for it." What about the other things people ask for that is run of the mill stuff like the bugs that been around for years without being touched or addressed or actual permanent content? Fro mthe looks fo it people been asking about those things for years.
Pretty much.
My Amazon author page
How to build a freeform character...the Kenpo way
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Serving since September, 2009 / 65 Characters, 63 Level 40's
There are still some signs of life and potential. Sure, they aren't sustainable forms of content, they had their own issues (harbinger being difficult to hit >.>), and Cryptic continues to completely fall flat on their face with all of these bugs... BUT, were you anything but impressed the first time you saw the hounds or the Harbinger? How about that dragon from Hi-Pan? Cryptic has a limited dev team, they always have, yet they give us what they can on the schedule that they are allowed. Our devs love us. The parent company and the funds they are willing to provide is the issue.
Despite how impressive some small things have been, it is far from enough to sustain the game. A few impressive animated creatures alone won't bring in revenue. If Cryptic started caring and bringing in more money, then the game could thrive easily but that's on them. We don't even have any ads. We're not worth the cost. I've lost hope for awhile but the small things I've mentioned give me the tiniest hope that maybe one day things will change. The PTS powers made me smile like a fool and while sometimes I desperately wish the game would just close so I could stop wasting time hoping it might improve, I'll give it one last chance. I honestly think that's the only chance it can afford to get, especially considering its age.
So, come CO, give us your great renaissance or die in the flames of your rebirth never to rise again. Or maybe you'll just be snuffed out like the tiny quivering flame of a candle. Regardless, that's all I have to say. Also... I got reeeally dramatic at the end there. xD
I say stuff and I say things, sometimes together but only when I'm feeling adventurous.
I'm @blu8 in game!
Direction isn't influenced by numbers. Its influenced by those who take the time to say what they want because they took the time to say it. Its a more meaningful change than say speaking with your wallet, because a wallet can say either yes or no. While an opinion can say what they want in detail.
Dont fall for it.
JayBezz says "thank you for Telepathy" by spending $500 on Zen in September 2012 and go so far as to make sure the devs know the reason for my investment and gratitude both publicly and privately. I went as far as to arrange for publicity for the release and bought even MORE things for my friends and convinced others to spend too.
FLASH FORWARD! It is June 2013 and there is no update to telepathy.
I am actually disassociating "speaking with your wallet" from meaningful, worthwhile change here.
I can't put my finger on it, but something abou- OH! I know what it is!
There we go. Fixed it.
Ĉu vi komprenas?
Wicks and Things: NW-DI4FMZRR4 : The Fenwick merchant family has lost a caravan! Can you help?
Beggar's Hollow: NW-DR6YG4J2L : Someone, or something, has stolen away many of the Fenwicks' children! Can you find out what happened to them?
Into the Fen Wood: NW-DL89DRG7B : Enter the heart of the forest. Can you discover the secret of the Fen Wood?
Part of the problem since December, 2012.
Yep.
It's our fault that CO is not getting any love from Cryptic.
And we'll only have ourselves to blame if/when CO doesn't get any new stuff.
Yep.
</sarcasm>
I love the game. Even in it's current state, I love playing the game.
However I have no grand illusion of a new zone or even a new Comic series coming to CO.
At best we will get more temporary events and lockboxes.
Look, if an influx of new players from CoH didn't prompt Cryptic to divert resources to the development team, what will?
I'm fairly certain it wasn't toxic forum posts that drove some of the CoH refugees away.
If I wanted to play content I don't like, I would be over at DCUO.
Yep I remember that.
In a Queue for Neverwinter, so I came to visit...
CellarRat33 :: formerly Bsquared
***
"The great thing about glory unending is that it's dirt cheap!" - Tateklys
From the Adventures of Thundrax (canadascott)
***
Oh, I wish I was getting paid for my complaints, that would make my life so much more bearable.
I'm not spending money on something just for the sake of spending money on it. I need to have a reason to spend money, and aside from my monthly sub I haven't seen one. The Harbinger fight was the last 'great' piece of content added to the game. The FM event was a blatant attempt to sell vehicles and keys. The actual arena is a boring poorly tuned dps race.
As for getting my friends to play, I tried after a month, they were level 40 on multiple toons and bored with the terribly linear leveling and disgusted with the chat ban abuse and gamble boxes. Now they have proclaimed to never want to pick up another Cryptic made game. The ball is in Cryptic's corner, it is up to them to give us something positive to talk to our friends about.
Theres older games out there, speaking as a veteran of Fiesta Online, Champions isn't even close to being considered elderly yet in the free to play market.
I saw those Kzash hounds and was like.....did I miss a part of the game?
Also I'm pretty sure this game was probably in evergreen a long time ago. I highly doubt its going anywhere or they would stop development on one of their only titles to do that.
Very little can be accomplished if Cryptic/PWE does not believe in their own game. It's been more than three years, first Atari and then PWE with the same story. A year ago, I would have bought your argument, but not at this point. I could not also in good faith ask somebody to put money on it, especially if he is a friend of mine.
I am playing (and putting money) on other games, so I won't have to come to the forums with negativity. When they release something new and interesting, I am going to play it.
Faith means a lot more than just in relation to religion and the classical view amongst some branches of christianity and a few other religions about believing in something regardless of a lack of evidence or in spite of contrary evidence. Take for example that in classical argument the term In Good Faith means actually making an honest argument and actually considering the other persons points, where In Bad Faith means dishonest or deceptive arguments and ignoring the other persons point rather than addressing it. The origin of the word is from the ancient Greek term for "to trust" hence the logic of it's use in some theological debates but it has a much wider meaning and use that's tended to be overshadowed in the media in recent times with the focus on the term in a religious context.
You might not be, but rest assured some people are. Astro-turfing is now a very big part of our lives without us often being aware of it. http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/blogs/gadgets-on-the-go/astroturfing-corporate-trolls-are-the-new-spam-20120323-1vo9s.html (newspaper report) and http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/dont-trust-the-web/3582912#transcript (Radio report transcript, the downloadable audio of the radio report is also available at that link)
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
Yup. That train sailed away months ago. I've spend my money for this game. Paying something that doesn't exist is futile effort.
They are too focused on NW to give a damn about CO. No matter what explanations they give in other sites than CO's.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Interesting. I followed your links, as well as links contained within the linked documents, and couldn't find a single piece of corroboration for the claims being made. I don't really doubt the existence of, "astroturfing," as it seems very much like a tactic that a modern marketing or PR firm might develop. I do find it odd that these bloggers can make such blanket accusations of it being widespread, everywhere, etc. and not be able to provide a single piece of evidence.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
Very interesting indeed.
Lots of tin foil about astor turfers going on with people coming off as "Everyone that dont agree with me is a paid astro turfer of the company that I hate".
I'm sure there might be some out there but I doubt everyone and their momma is one, especially in games that hardly anyone outside this forum ever even heard of.
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Yup, and don't you DARE forget your rose tinted glasses, the thickest set you have! >:C
And maybe..just maybe, you'll see a maintained Hold instead of an Incapaciderp :biggrin:
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
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best posts;
Nepht 30
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Aww, you didnt pick out my reply. I sad now
Still for all the doom here. It is nothing to the doom over there. They dont even know how good they got it yet.
They can lie and say what they want, "No, we have separate teams in every of our MMOs", everyone have seen they don't do anything on CO when another of their projects is near to release. For STO and now for NW.
Everytime, they let it CO dying, they let it down with almost no new content and let the people unsuscribe/quit or play at another F2P game, which has a lot more development than here.
It's difficult to have the faith when a lot of us have been here since september 2009 (or before in betas) and have seen what they have did, and what's they never did, for this game.
Why would anyone BOTHER? Who is possibly threatened by Champions?
I mean, I know it happens in forums generally, but wow.
Wicks and Things: NW-DI4FMZRR4 : The Fenwick merchant family has lost a caravan! Can you help?
Beggar's Hollow: NW-DR6YG4J2L : Someone, or something, has stolen away many of the Fenwicks' children! Can you find out what happened to them?
Into the Fen Wood: NW-DL89DRG7B : Enter the heart of the forest. Can you discover the secret of the Fen Wood?
"These new reports say CO still has 20 people playing, that is 300/month we are not getting! Get someone to their forums to create some negativity quick!"
A doom thread hidden behind bunnehs and ponnehs is still a doom thread.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!
Well, one thing's for certain, Cryptic is definitely a practitioner of Bad Faith.
+1
Insane theories are, well,... insane.