I don't get why this is so much better than CO

[Rust]

Champions Online imitated City of Heroes. That's the difference. One broke the mold. The other is a knockoff.

 

It really is quite simple. When I went over to Champions after CoH was murdered, first thing I thought of in the tutorial was "This is the bloody Rikti Invasion."

[nhisso]

Champs Online is a half assed game, that's why CoX is better.

 

The ONLY pros CO has over this game are

1.) Hybridization. Ill admit, CoX's lack of hybrid classes is really weird. By 2012, they should have added it. Just as an example: In champs online i have a character named Riot. He uses the various guns in CO. But as an energy builder, i use night stick skin over the 1h melee weapon class. CoX does force you in to being stuck with dual pistols, for example. You dont get to use a variety of guns, ala The Punisher.

 

2.) The char creator in CO is a little better than CoX. You can wear 2 different shoulder pieces, for example.

 

3.) The graphics, of course, are better. And the action-tab target hybrid style is nice.

 

HOWEVER!

1.) Ill take the lack of hybrid classes over the lack of power options in CO. There are no elemental/dark/light/energy melee classes in CO. Literally NONE. There is ONE kinetic melee class. No plant powers. No real pet classes. No shield defense. No actual weather control class. Although ill admit CoX's shield defense set leaves a lot to be desired. I just want a good shield throw and some acrobatics like Captain America has.

CO's auras arent as cool as CoX's. Not by a long shot.

 

2.) I mean, CO's char creator gives more freedom of what to wear and how, but CoX has better armor pieces and more of them. Would like some feathery stuff so i can make my native american named thuderbirdd who controls the weather, but whatevs. So it's kind of a wash between the 2 games.

 

3.) The graphics arent THAT much better than CoX's.

 

But the important stuff is what CO lacks. Barely any thing added to the game in its entire existence and ive been playing since early access. They promised us we'd get villains or at least grey heroes. Got none of it.

 

Neither game has proper environmental usage. And neither game lets you throw around your enemies properly.

 

CO is a joke. It feels like nothing more than a costume simulator. Hell, even PW's website, Arc, lists CO as just that. Theyve given up on the game. It's stagnant and boring af and they refuse to add more stories to it. It has had ZERO real expansions in 10 years. ZERO. It's like a forever beta.

 

Im sticking with CoH until city of titans comes out. It's the most superior super hero game out right now. And if NcSoft screws us, i guess i wont have any superior super hero game lol. DCUO and Champs online need to have a baby.

[nhisso]

Also, someone said you can use speed run to climb buildings in CO. That is not true unless that's changed since the last i played CO which was just 2 months ago. You cant even climb over low curbs with speed in CO lol.

 

[THEDarkTyger]

Also, someone said you can use speed run to climb buildings in CO. That is not true unless that's changed since the last i played CO which was just 2 months ago. You cant even climb over low curbs with speed in CO lol.

 

He was probably thinking of DCUO.

[srmalloy]

It's a SOLO game, that's all. How did they manage to screw things up like that when City of Heroes was the king of easy team picking and quest sharing and community chit-chatting? Easy answer, because it was born in the "After-WorldOfWarcraft" era where all mmorpgs became such boring solo-content where you just see 1 person around which doesn't even "hello" you since he has to run to the next mission to exp alone.

 

To be fair, the 'just group up and go' aspect of CoH was also "After-WorldOfWarcraft"; I remember how it was in the beginning, when you had to specifically pair up characters as sidekick/mentor, and you didn't have automatic exemplar, so that if you didn't do the Positron TF when you were in the right level range, you had to find someone who was to exemplar down to, and if at any time during the TF they disco'd for more than about how long it took to relog, you reverted to your natural level and got kicked from the team because you were no longer eligible for the content, and the rest of the team had to decide whether to restart the TF or just bull on through. I remember a Posi TF where we restarted five times in the first mission because of a bad connection.

 

But for the rest of it you're right. And once the automatic sidekick/exemplar functionality was rolled out, it became seamless. Want to run solo missions? Fine. Someone advertising to fill out a TF? As long as you met the minimum level, you're good. Have a friend log in? Team up and run missions together. This is one of the places where CoH shined; for the vast majority of the content, it didn't matter what archetype, what build, what level you were, or whether you're solo or grouped. It all worked together without your having to build a team to the tank/heal/dps/dps structure you see in so many other MMOs. Sometimes a 'broken' team was more fun -- the 'weird' ITFs that Kay would run -- an all-MM ITF (so much lag, but so much fun), or an all-Kinetics ITF (team members flitting around like angry bees with all the boosts going).

[Neural]

Amazes me how subtle these game companies are with trying to draw in players.

Ever since Torchbearer was first fired up last week there seems to be a never ending stream of people making comments both hinting at CO somehow being better, or just keeping the game on the minds of the City of Heroes player base.

Nice little marketing scheme.

 

[BlueDrache]

One of my fondest memories of the game was making SS/invuln tankers with my friends, making all of them look like Trolls and roleplaying Trolls while running around in the Hollows. Those characters didn't even make it past 20 because they were silly gimmicks, but to me, they were way more fun than playing a dominator who could wipe out an entire screen in seconds (to me, at least).

 

For me? 

 

Being a Taxibot, standing at the gates to The Hollows, pulling people back from wherever so they could level and/or sell the junk.

[Cold Bob]

CO charge up mechanism was weird, the block mechanism was weird, teaming was pointless, the style was weird, running animation was super weird, the lore was stupid, crafting was dumb and the world was SMALL. Instead of building on what worked instead they made one guys dream and it wasnt what most people wanted.

 

I have a lifetime sub on CO and havent logged in for 5+ years, if CO vanished and turned up again 7 years later I still wouldnt be playing it.

 

Pretty much this (except I don`t have a lifetime sub on CO: I never even made it to Millinnium City, so I didn`t need one.)

 

Paragon City feels like an actual place...the community feels like other actual superheroes playing the game (I found it impossible to get teams in CO, and all I saw running around were Hulk and Iron Man knockoffs, not original characters)...and with 2000+ primary and secondary power set combinations, the game made alting a real component of the experience (with CO, there wasn`t a lot of incentive to make new characters...levelling up was dull, and if you ever PvP`d, there seemed to be only ONE freeform build...at least with World of Warcraft, you get, what, 15 classes, with 3 specs each for variety.)

 

Bottom line: City of Heroes is drawing people back to the game, because it is just plain fun to play...unlike Champions Online!

[THEDarkTyger]

Amazes me how subtle these game companies are with trying to draw in players.

Ever since Torchbearer was first fired up last week there seems to be a never ending stream of people making comments both hinting at CO somehow being better, or just keeping the game on the minds of the City of Heroes player base.

Nice little marketing scheme.

 

Doubt it's any sneaky marketing scheme. Comparisons are natural and even inevitable.

[Oubliette_Red]

The biggest difference between CoH and CO is that CoH is a computer game and was built that way. CO was built for consoles and ported to PC. I too was in the CO Beta and it played like a console game. That was one of the biggest dings for me. I am also on the side of those that do not like the graphics.

[GamerKate]

No no no. I'm disappointed in all of you.

 

How did you miss the fact that Champions Online was completely a SOLO game, vs City of Heroes that's completely a TEAM game?

 

This is the major difference that makes all of us throw up when we got in CO. Not one of you remembered the first year of CO where it was IMPOSSIBLE to team up? And I don't even know if they fixed it (I tried to play it several times during the first years and it was the same pretty much), and even than it would still be just a "patch" attached to a game born to be solo-played.

 

I remember my attempts to team up in Champions Online very clearly:

A: "I have 4 missions, but only one can be shared"          <------- OBSCENE that the majority of missions couldn't be shared for several reasons

B: "Oh what level?"

A: "12"

B: "Oh sorry but I'm level 7"      <------- really? the devs that CREATED the exemplar feature force you to do missions at specific levels?

 

 

That was Champions Online. A better gameplay to me (personal tastes), a better graphic to me (personal tastes), and even better missions (buildings in flame and missions under water or in space etc.) and still with all this favourable personal tastes I couldn't play it because it wasn't a mmorpg at all, it was the exact opposite of City of Heroes.

 

Impossible to team-up and team mechanics completely lacking/rushed or not working at all.

 

It's a SOLO game, that's all. How did they manage to screw things up like that when City of Heroes was the king of easy team picking and quest sharing and community chit-chatting? Easy answer, because it was born in the "After-WorldOfWarcraft" era where all mmorpgs became such boring solo-content where you just see 1 person around which doesn't even "hello" you since he has to run to the next mission to exp alone.

 

And for me, CoH is THE most solo-friendly MMO game I’ve ever played lol. I love to solo or to duo with a friend, and on Live I was able to solo the Sister Psyche TG with my emp/sonic defender and a few shivans whilst chatting with friends in chat. Instances mean we don’t have to hang around in the overworld waiting for mobs to respawn and other players to bugger off, and pretty much any AT can solo even ‘hard’ content if you use inspirations and temp powers effectively.

 

And yes, it’s also awesome for teaming :)

 

I also love that it doesn’t have facing. Urgh I hate bloody facing in MMOs. I love the click target and then click your powers, and your hero turns to face.

 

MCM

[Rathulfr]

The biggest difference between CoH and CO is that CoH is a computer game and was built that way. CO was built for consoles and ported to PC. I too was in the CO Beta and it played like a console game. That was one of the biggest dings for me. I am also on the side of those that do not like the graphics.

 

This was my main problem with CO, too.  It was obviously intended to be a PC/console hybrid, like ESO.  I'm a PC gamer: I don't like console games.  I don't like games that are too "twitchy" or require thumbs for more than just the space bar.  It might be a generational thing: I'm older, and my gaming experience predates the rise of consoles (Pong was my first and only console game).  This means I'm not a big fan of "action-oriented" combat that requires moving, dodging, charging, kiting, etc.  I prefer tab-target and key-press games like CoH and WoW.  That's just my personal preference, it's not necessarily better or worse.

 

[Pixie_Knight]

Because I was around 10 years old when I played CoH/V, I never learned how to play the game, I was able to take in how good of an idea it was, never got to learn the technical details and what made the game different until now. Because of this, when CoH/V shut down and got replaced by Champions Online I never really understand why or what the differences were between the 2 games that caused such action from Cryptic. As a result of these decisions from Cryptic, the only Superhero MMORPG from them I ever got to learn and was interested in over the years was Champions Online, I never even had the chance to chose between the 2 games.

 

Times have changed now and I've able to revisit this old game thanks to the staff here at the Homecoming team, thank you. I realize that my past might have given me a different perspective on the 2 Cryptic superhero MMORPGs. I am struggling to see why so many people prefer CoH/V over Champions Online. When I google search why people prefer CoH/V over CO, the people in question never seem to give concrete answers, only reply with answers like "it doesn't feel the same" or "it looks like cartoony crap". Before I go any further, I can completely understand why people would prefer CoH/V over CO just because of the graphical style or simply nostalgia, if either of those are your reasons for preferring CoH/V over CO then I can understand that. But I want to go into the technical details of the 2 games, more than just graphics, because for me I actually like both of these graphical styles.

 

You may be thinking what is this thread even trying to get at when CoH/V is so obviously better, see I don't see it that way, that's what I want people to post in this thread, tell me why you think this game is so much better than CO because I don't see it after trying this game over a few days. All I can see is darker, more outdated graphics than CO, an unbalanced class system where MM and certain OP power combos go around and beat everyone else, people spam farming ae instead of playing the game properly, a static and actionless combat system compared to CO, when you pick your travel power why bother when you can chose stats instead that are better than moving slightly faster out of combat.

 

Where as Champions Online has more updated graphics, no souless ae farming, more action based combat where you can actually move around while using your powers instead of being physically locked in place, you can charge certain powers by holding down a button instead of simply clicking a button 1 time for every skill like in CoH/V, travel powers in CO are actually just travel powers instead of being mixed with stat based powers to take away form the fun of simply picking a travel power, heroes are different and custom in CO (freeform) while in CoH/V when you chose a class and a powerset chances are tons of other people are exactly the same as you.

 

Please tell me if you disagree with my opinion and why, please no insults or childish banter, I want to actually learn and grow from this thread if I can. If all you can mention is the graphics/sounds and nostalgia then I can understand that, but I'm looking for something more. Also I haven't played Champions Online very seriously, I haven't made it to the end game for either of these games and will be unaware of balance issues that freefrom in CO may have, but how much worse could that be than everyone having the exact same op powers like in this game or being a MM and exploding everything in 1 second.

 

To start with, I was part of the CO closed beta. I was also a (heavily addicted) City of heroes player at the time. And I liked Champions enough that I preordered the game. So by no means should you take what I'm about to say as me hating on Champions Online because it's not City of Heroes.

 

The first thing you need to know is that Champions Online didn't replace City of Heroes, although that might have been the intention of Cryptic. They sold the rights to the game to NCSoft (which might have been a mistake). Both games were running side by side for years, but Champions Online struggled from the get go. As I recall, Champions Online was one of the first subscription based MMOs to go free to play. City of Heroes didn't opt to go free to play till late in it's life, and only really got shut down because NCSoft didn't care about the game. At the time of it's shutdown City of Heroes still had a very sizable player base and there was a new major content update announced and in closed beta testing, with open beta testing expected to begin soon. But because City of Heroes flopped in Korea, NCSoft didn't really care about the game. So with multiple MMOs in development which they thought would be a hit in Korea, they decided to shut down City of Heroes.

 

Now, during the closed beta through first month of Champions Online's launch I played it a lot. And it lost my interest in that time for a few reasons. Among them is how shallow Champions Online is. No, not in the character creator aspect. That's pretty deep. And (if you have freeform builds) power frameworks are a very robust system. The problem is that 90% of the quests amount to forgettable street sweeping. Nothing ever changes, and it feels like your character never accomplishes anything. You grow ever more powerful, but it doesn't matter. You'll still go down like a scrub if you dare take on more then 3 (maybe 4) enemies at a time.

 

City of Heroes on the other hand, while your enemies grow stronger your capabilities more then keep up with them. While at level 5 you might struggle to defeat a single even level hellion or skulls boss, by level 25 you're likely engaging multiple bosses at once plus their minions. While doing missions the bad guys recognize you. As you complete story arcs you get items which let you read about and remember the adventures you had. Your previous adventures get mentioned by later contacts and enemies while doing missions, thus giving you the feeling that you're actually making a difference.

 

While from a technical standpoint Champions Online might be a better game, it comes across as a shallow imitation of City of Heroes. And it always has.

[StarseedWarrior]

Because I was around 10 years old when I played CoH/V, I never learned how to play the game, I was able to take in how good of an idea it was, never got to learn the technical details and what made the game different until now. Because of this, when CoH/V shut down and got replaced by Champions Online I never really understand why or what the differences were between the 2 games that caused such action from Cryptic. As a result of these decisions from Cryptic, the only Superhero MMORPG from them I ever got to learn and was interested in over the years was Champions Online, I never even had the chance to chose between the 2 games.

 

Times have changed now and I've able to revisit this old game thanks to the staff here at the Homecoming team, thank you. I realize that my past might have given me a different perspective on the 2 Cryptic superhero MMORPGs. I am struggling to see why so many people prefer CoH/V over Champions Online. When I google search why people prefer CoH/V over CO, the people in question never seem to give concrete answers, only reply with answers like "it doesn't feel the same" or "it looks like cartoony crap". Before I go any further, I can completely understand why people would prefer CoH/V over CO just because of the graphical style or simply nostalgia, if either of those are your reasons for preferring CoH/V over CO then I can understand that. But I want to go into the technical details of the 2 games, more than just graphics, because for me I actually like both of these graphical styles.

 

You may be thinking what is this thread even trying to get at when CoH/V is so obviously better, see I don't see it that way, that's what I want people to post in this thread, tell me why you think this game is so much better than CO because I don't see it after trying this game over a few days. All I can see is darker, more outdated graphics than CO, an unbalanced class system where MM and certain OP power combos go around and beat everyone else, people spam farming ae instead of playing the game properly, a static and actionless combat system compared to CO, when you pick your travel power why bother when you can chose stats instead that are better than moving slightly faster out of combat.

 

Where as Champions Online has more updated graphics, no souless ae farming, more action based combat where you can actually move around while using your powers instead of being physically locked in place, you can charge certain powers by holding down a button instead of simply clicking a button 1 time for every skill like in CoH/V, travel powers in CO are actually just travel powers instead of being mixed with stat based powers to take away form the fun of simply picking a travel power, heroes are different and custom in CO (freeform) while in CoH/V when you chose a class and a powerset chances are tons of other people are exactly the same as you.

 

Please tell me if you disagree with my opinion and why, please no insults or childish banter, I want to actually learn and grow from this thread if I can. If all you can mention is the graphics/sounds and nostalgia then I can understand that, but I'm looking for something more. Also I haven't played Champions Online very seriously, I haven't made it to the end game for either of these games and will be unaware of balance issues that freefrom in CO may have, but how much worse could that be than everyone having the exact same op powers like in this game or being a MM and exploding everything in 1 second.

 

Dude you should know why by now there are tons of posts on reddit about this its proven why cox is a better mmorpg in general, co is not much of an mmo to begin with hence why the population has always been kind of crappy.

 

Just to name a few cox has far better power customization and viable builds while co gives you the illusion of freeform choice when in reality your pushed into only a few decent builds.

 

The content plan sucks because all the exp is increased for doing bank runs and etc no one wants to group to do the actual content until max level, so the leveling experience just sucks.

 

Most people do not even actually play the game, they hang out and show their costumes more then anything else.

 

Co has a terrible build up system where it takes forever to fire off anything powerful, the combat somehow manages to feel even more awkard and slower then older mmos in general.

 

The team mechanics are terrible and they actually cut out allot of cc from the game, far less team roles in the game and turned out to be kind of the holy trinity. Cox has far deeper team mechanics and many ways to help your teams.

 

Lootboxes, need I say more here?

 

The company has been terrible when it comes to balances changes, content updates, and helping whats supposed to be an mmorpg grow.

 

The community is pretty bad compared to most.

 

The list goes on and on.

 

While co does have cool things better travel powers/look customization and better graphics with powers, and better super bases thats all it has over cox. I want a full mmo experience not some imitation of a super hero mmo.

[StarseedWarrior]

I played Champions Online when it first came out, thinking that it would be the next best thing in the superhero MMO genre, and also feeling a bit jaded with CoX at the point in time. A lot of what you said were actually what made me want to play CO in the first place - the action combat, the smoother movement, the updated graphics, etc.

 

But idk, there's something about CoX that just appeals to me in a way CO never did. Sure the combat and graphics are terribly outdated, but the min-maxing and theorycrafting potential is as strong as it ever was (and stronger even compared to some current games), and that appeals to me. The sense of community and teamwork felt stronger as well.

 

The community in CoX have also never been too concerned with the balance of power, in my opinion. Sure, certain MM powersets might be stronger than the other archetypes, but if you don't find MMs fun, then there's no reason to play one. And in a large group setting, the OP-ness of what you're playing matters less. As you get into endgame and start crafting and slotting IO sets, that balance of power also shifts again.

 

Same for the AE grind. I've never enjoyed it, but I didn't have to engage in it. I could easily find a group who was willing to do story arcs or radio missions - we'd be levelling slower, sure, but we're doing what we find fun.

 

Ultimately, CoX is a game that's about the journey, not the destination. There's no point spamming AE on your MM and hitting 50 in 3 days if you never had fun doing it, and don't have fun playing the character. One of my fondest memories of the game was making SS/invuln tankers with my friends, making all of them look like Trolls and roleplaying Trolls while running around in the Hollows. Those characters didn't even make it past 20 because they were silly gimmicks, but to me, they were way more fun than playing a dominator who could wipe out an entire screen in seconds (to me, at least).

 

(Also note that I've really only truly enjoyed playing brutes, scrappers and tankers, in that order).

 

Also, please pick your travel power by level 20. It might not matter before then, but trying to navigate zones like Independence Port without a travel power is a special kind of masochism.

 

Its not really action combat, and it takes a while to even feel powerful in combat because of the builder system.

[StarseedWarrior]

No no no. I'm disappointed in all of you.

 

How did you miss the fact that Champions Online was completely a SOLO game, vs City of Heroes that's completely a TEAM game?

 

This is the major difference that makes all of us throw up when we got in CO. Not one of you remembered the first year of CO where it was IMPOSSIBLE to team up? And I don't even know if they fixed it (I tried to play it several times during the first years and it was the same pretty much), and even than it would still be just a "patch" attached to a game born to be solo-played.

 

I remember my attempts to team up in Champions Online very clearly:

A: "I have 4 missions, but only one can be shared"          <------- OBSCENE that the majority of missions couldn't be shared for several reasons

B: "Oh what level?"

A: "12"

B: "Oh sorry but I'm level 7"      <------- really? the devs that CREATED the exemplar feature force you to do missions at specific levels?

 

 

That was Champions Online. A better gameplay to me (personal tastes), a better graphic to me (personal tastes), and even better missions (buildings in flame and missions under water or in space etc.) and still with all this favourable personal tastes I couldn't play it because it wasn't a mmorpg at all, it was the exact opposite of City of Heroes.

 

Impossible to team-up and team mechanics completely lacking/rushed or not working at all.

 

It's a SOLO game, that's all. How did they manage to screw things up like that when City of Heroes was the king of easy team picking and quest sharing and community chit-chatting? Easy answer, because it was born in the "After-WorldOfWarcraft" era where all mmorpgs became such boring solo-content where you just see 1 person around which doesn't even "hello" you since he has to run to the next mission to exp alone.

 

And for me, CoH is THE most solo-friendly MMO game I’ve ever played lol. I love to solo or to duo with a friend, and on Live I was able to solo the Sister Psyche TG with my emp/sonic defender and a few shivans whilst chatting with friends in chat. Instances mean we don’t have to hang around in the overworld waiting for mobs to respawn and other players to bugger off, and pretty much any AT can solo even ‘hard’ content if you use inspirations and temp powers effectively.

 

And yes, it’s also awesome for teaming :)

 

I also love that it doesn’t have facing. Urgh I hate bloody facing in MMOs. I love the click target and then click your powers, and your hero turns to face.

 

MCM

 

Coh is not that solo friendly. it has solo friendly classes but far from being truly solo friendly and thats a good thing in an mmorpg.

[Penultima]

 

Coh is not that solo friendly. it has solo friendly classes but far from being truly solo friendly and thats a good thing in an mmorpg.

 

I've largely solo'd to 50+ multiple times over the years. It is incredibly convenient and easy to just play it like a single player game with a lot of interesting costumed people also present. I actually don't team much because of my disability and physical challenges... I can't be relied upon to be present all the time in any given team. But solo play is every bit as easy as something like Skyrim or Fallout 3.

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

people spam farming ae instead of playing the game properly

 

This is simply nonsense. There is no way to play the game "properly". Log in, do something. You're playing the game properly. The only way to play it improperly is to grief or harass others.

 

Solo? AE Farm? Publish missions and never team? Only raids? PL to 50 and Mothership all day? Just badge hunt? Just tour and take pretty screenshots? Just play dressup and do nothing but make cool costumes? You are playing the game "properly" in all these cases.

[justicebeliever]

 

Coh is not that solo friendly. it has solo friendly classes but far from being truly solo friendly and thats a good thing in an mmorpg.

 

I've largely solo'd to 50+ multiple times over the years. It is incredibly convenient and easy to just play it like a single player game with a lot of interesting costumed people also present. I actually don't team much because of my disability and physical challenges... I can't be relied upon to be present all the time in any given team. But solo play is every bit as easy as something like Skyrim or Fallout 3.

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

people spam farming ae instead of playing the game properly

 

This is simply nonsense. There is no way to play the game "properly". Log in, do something. You're playing the game properly. The only way to play it improperly is to grief or harass others.

 

Solo? AE Farm? Publish missions and never team? Only raids? PL to 50 and Mothership all day? Just badge hunt? Just tour and take pretty screenshots? Just play dressup and do nothing but make cool costumes? You are playing the game "properly" in all these cases.

 

This - 100% this.  I love to team, but I also love to explore on my own and to solo on my own. I never play Champions, so I can’t compare, but city of heroes is definitely as much a solo game as a MMORPG

[vaxjedi]

I like both CoH and CO (I'm a lifetime subscriber of CO), but I have to admit I enjoy CoH more on the whole.

 

For me, CoH just feels like a better game in terms of play. It's not an action system, true, but it's solid system without a lot of cruft. There isn't a lot of button mashing, nor is there a lot of crunch that you have to deal with unless you really want to. CO tired to match a lot to the Champions tabletop system in terms of attibutes and such, which made it a bit of a mess, in my opinion. Dex, Strength, and Ego have weird divisions of labor (Ego is about ranged damage? How does that follow??). And all of the numbers affect each other in weird ways - it all feels needlessly complex and kludgy to me.

 

CO's gear system has been a mess, though all of its iterations. And boring on the whole. I find CoH's enchancement syste to be nice snd simple (you want to hit more? Slot more accuracy. Want resist more damage, slot damage resistence).. It's not complex, but it doesn't need to be to get the job done.

 

I like the Freeform system (and all of my chracaters are freeform), but it really isn't as flexible at is seems. It deends a lot on finding synergies between powers, and a lot of the powers just don't synergize well outside of their powerset. Energy Unlocks are almost always specific to their powerset, and a lot of the passives are as well. That means a lot of the choices are not real choices -- they are dead ends. Some power sets work really tightly together, others are trying to do more than one thing (melee and range when they are handled by different stats - Strength - or a kitchen sink set of powers that really have no cohesion - Gadgetry, etc.). Some of the power sets try to push a very strong, somewhat arbitary theme, others have no theme.

 

While there are a lot of times that CoH powersets feel constraining, they are generally at least cohesive. And people can argue all day and night (and they do) about issues with this powerset or that, but the all make internal sense.

 

I also have to echo the idea that the CoH lore has a lot of heart. Champions lore from the tabletop was always a bit generic, anyway,. A lot of the CO content feels like it is just ticking off boxes: look, there's the mafia group (but they wear purple! woo?). Here is the island of monsters, check. Evil psychics? Check. Goofy aliens? Check... There is a lot of generic content in CoH too, but most of it feels unique (there are some exceptions - see the Tsoo). There are individual cool missions in CO, and cool story arcs, but it never felt like a cohesive world to me.

 

As far as art style, the cartoony style of CO doesn't bother me. But I recongnize that is the tone of the art and a lot of the content - they are reaching for the four color early comic book feel. CoH feels more in the vein of the Marvel movies (which it predates), however. CO does have a sense of humor, but it seems to rely on schitck, while CoH's humor is a wry humor. I mean, I love me some Foxbat, but you find gems in CoH like the Circle of Thorns trying to teach Freakshow magic...

 

And there are some things in CoH that CO just can't match - base design is far beyond anything CoH has, and the Architect was a major leap in including player generated content.

 

There are some things CO does do better, of course. I do kinda like some of the action combat. Travel powers in CO are much more fun than CoH (I made several alts in CO just to have a reason to take certain travel powers). The costume system is a lot more powerful (though I think the fully modeled facial features make everyone's face look similar - like all of the heroes in Millenium City are related).

 

I think over all, though, CO is just inconsistent. A lot of the content feels like it needed to go through a few more rounds of QA. Similar objectives in different missions have very different mechanics (in this one the goal glows, in that one it doesn't). There are a lot of great ideas in CO, but the implementation never quite sticks the landing. A lot of the ideas feel like they started and never finished. For example, I like the vehicles system. But there doesn't seem to be much to actually do with it. There are some real gems hidden in there (I love the telekinesis power that actually picks up stuff around and flings it at the target, and is less useful when you are out of things to fling).

 

CoH is what it is, but it is pretty solid. And I ind that now that it is back, I am having as much fun as I did when I first started.

[Rikis]

One reason only for me, I'm a 100% redsider. Champions Online doesn't have playable villains, and no roleplaying as the bad guy is not good enough for me. For what it's worth, I actually did enjoy the little of CO that I did try in the beta. But a lack of playable villains (your own created villains, not that abomination they created where you play as a signature villain) made me skip out on the game.

[Solarverse]

CO simply put is garbage.

 

CO is purely a single player game, with about 10 to 20 minutes of multiplay as you run the same missions over and over and over and over again. You could not get players in that game to run actual progression missions, all they wanted to do was queue up for this or that, and play it for 10 to 20 minutes, then rinse repeat. Much like AE missions here. It's boring as hell...and unless I wanted to solo play, I was not going to be running regular mission.

 

This game promotes team play. Solo play in this game is rough and unrewarding. CO is NOTHING like this game, CO is absolutely horrible.

 

CO has a cash shop system that put the final knife in the heart of that game. Once they started that crap, the game went to the tubes like the puke that it is.

 

With CO, you can create a character, you can pick one major AoE, and one major Single target attack power, then spam them over and over and over again and never need any other damage power and steel aggro from the "Tank." Tanks in that game are garbage with no real taunt...it's all built in and rarely works right.

 

There is no synergy with the powers in that game. I requested on that game's forums year after year for an Energy Power Set...you know what the people over there told me? "You have energy, the Force and electric is your energy powers."

 

Huh? They are idiots. Kids pretending to be adults.

 

It was crap like that in which threw me off from the game. This game got it right, how you can chain the powers together, they are fluid, they synergize well. This game did everything right where it counts. No other game compares...not by a long shot. Anyone who disagrees...is simply wrong.  ;)

 

[_NOPE_]

Please, tell us how you REALLY feel. Don't hold back!

[Solarstar]

I played in the original CoH beta. Funny thing is, it was a total accident. Lineage 2 had a cheap $5 preorder that came with a beta invite and when a friend picked up my L2 preorder he called and asked me if I wanted to do the CoH one, too. I said, "Why not?" Fast forward a couple months and L2 was a vague memory while I still played CoH off and on until closing.

 

Yeah, I admit it wasn't continuous. The new flashy game always intruded and would distract me for a bit. But as soon as I lost interest in the new flash, I went back to CoX. Once the cash shop and free to play opened up, I even threw birthday and holiday money at it, almost as penance for not carrying a permanent sub. CoX may not be the perfect game. But it's always been the game that I went back to, because I *always* had fun. Soloing or teaming.

 

How this compares to CO? I tried. I got into the CO beta and it never clicked. I never bothered to get a retail copy.

 

When CoX closed, I mourned it. Coming back was a wonderful experience. When CoX was gone and someone brought it up, "Fuck NCSoft" became my go to response. I cancelled all my game subs with them and I haven't picked up another game they've published. I've never boycotted a game company before or since. (Not even EA, though they arguably deserve it the most.)

 

I've played a number of MMOs, starting with EQ. Until it closed, CoX was the only game that I always went back to because it was engaging and I loved the lore and story aspects. Everything else since has been simple time filler, even WoW. I look forward to see what the Homecoming team do. And hey, if NCSoft keep their noses out of it, I might even think about buying their products again.

[Solarverse]

Please, tell us how you REALLY feel. Don't hold back!

 

Hahaha, I didn't!  :D

[EggKookoo]

I don't accept that CO's graphics are better than CoH's. More modern, maybe. Technically superior in terms of GFX tech. But I'm not impressed by the aesthetic.

 

CO felt unoriginal compared to CoH. I understand Champions is from 1981 but CO was definitely the copy. The game also felt claustrophobic. You traveled "around the world" but it was like what, five actual zones?

 

Teaming was impossible for whatever reason, yet a lot of the content required it. I hit a bottleneck at some point and couldn't progress, and I could never figure out how.

 

Crafting was annoying. CoH introduced it but it wasn't core to the game. Frankly, if you didn't like it, you could ignore it. But in CO, you have to deal with lewt whether you wanted to or not.

 

The only thing CO had over CoH at the time was customization of power appearance, but CoH has that now.

 

This isn't to say CoH is flawless. There's still to this day a lot of repetitiveness to the missions. And really, please, we need some new warehouse maps.