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Greetings Heroes!
It’s time again to take a look at the state of the game. Let’s take a look at where we are now and what we are working towards.
As you know we spent a good amount of time at the beginning of the year working on a pretty big update. We spent a lot of time working with our PTS community and launched Champions: On Alert, April 13th. We launched the best update to date. Since the update we have asked you how you feel about the features and how we can improve everything that we packed into it. It has been great to see your responses and we are excited to see so many of our dedicated fans enjoy what turned out to be a rather ambitious update. Champions: On Alert was a great success.
We added a new content feature called Alerts, re-itemized the entire game and introduced the fusion & modification system. If that weren’t enough we added new ways for you to get store items by just playing the game. You can earn C-Points with the Questionite exchange and recognition rewards that include new costumes, travel powers and items.
The Champions Online team is working very hard on our next update. There are several very cool changes and updates in the works that we will talk more about in a little bit but first a bit of other Champs news.
Over the next few weeks I will be transitioning into a different role here at Cryptic Studios. My new role will have me working in a production capacity with the various groups and games here at Cryptic as well as externally with the PW publishing group. Champs has been my game, here at Cryptic, since day one and it will be strange to hang up my cape. Most of my time on Champs has been spent behind the scenes and it wasn’t until we launched F2P that I moved into the EP role. Heading up the team to bring some of the best content and largest features to date was intense but we have a team of developers on Champs that can and most likely will do anything they can to make Champs awesome.
I’ll continue to work with the Champs team but not as the Executive Producer. That honor is now passed down to Brad (Stokman) Stokan. He will be leading Champions Online into the future. Brad and I have worked together for quite a while on Champs. He has a tremendous enthusiasm and vision for Champs that will add some really cool features and bring some new adventures for you to go on. His plans for future updates are ambitious, wild, and to some degree beyond the capability of a normal development team. In other words… Perfect! It’s a good thing he has a team of heroes looking to make it all happen.
I gotta say though, the players I’ve met in game are the coolest, not to mention the best dressed, I have ever met in any game. Every interaction I have had with the community has been amazing and I feel lucky to have been able to chat and group with you guys over the years. It’s no wonder you guys are so passionate. You have put just as much of yourselves into the game as we have and it is amazing!
Much to Stokman’s chagrin I have joined the more villainous members of MIL and will no doubt appear in Ren Cen from time to time in the smallest of hours to spawn various Mega Villains or simply turn on all events at once! ;)
See you in game and thanks a ton!
Rob Overmeyer
Executive Producer
And now for a note From Brad Stokan, who will be taking over Rob's former position:
Hey Champs fans!
First, I am honored to be stepping into the role of team lead on a project with such limitless potential and such boundless variety as Champions, with such a winning team to boot! As with all of the great titles in comic book history, Champions Online has had the benefit of numerous talented creators contributing to its ongoing saga through the years, and I have been proud to be a part of that team at Cryptic Studios since the beginning.
As a lifelong comics fan, it is an ongoing thrill and a childhood dream come true to work on Champions. Since joining Cryptic, I’ve done everything from design and build characters to lead a team of talented artists to create a unique comic-book vision for all sorts of content, from costumes to FX, animations, adventure packs, comic series, Alerts and beyond!
Now, it’s my distinct honor and privilege to lead a talented team of developers in supporting the fantastic foundation we laid with the On Alert! Update, and to unleash the next generation of content and features in Champions!
Before we dive into our future, let’s briefly recap some of the most important successes of the On Alert! update, on which our team worked diligently for many months prior to release.
Since the launch of On Alert! we’ve continued to bring you tons of great new stuff from more new Custom Alerts, to the sleek and sexy Cyberninjas, the Double-Questionite Ore Weekend, the return of Monster Island Crisis, and more!
Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s turn to the next together and see what is around the corner!
One of the key philosophies behind our upcoming, big-ticket releases is thematic synergy. Whether building custom Alerts or new events, we are conceptualizing and building our big updates around a core storyline, concept or theme. For the month of June - if you haven’t noticed - the theme is super-powered Power Armor! The goal is to surround players with an exciting, cohesive theme, and build complimentary releases across a range of categories – from Alerts to activities, from the Questionite and Drifter Store to the C-store.
Our latest custom Alert, just launched and live now, exemplifies this philosophy. Entitled Harmon Labs Heist, this showdown features a stark contrast between the brute-force power-armor of Warlord and the next generation of hi-tech, force-field equipped, Questionite-powered Nano Armor he seeks to seize!
This Alert features a mighty, munitions-equipped super-villain in the best power-armor tradition. Better yet, it also offers a special, in-game “test drive” of the NEW Power Armor powers and costume set, plus associated rewards in the form of power-armor devices and even costume parts from Warlord’s own battlesuit!
Besides a host of power-armor themed parts in the Drifter Store, we have even more related releases over the next week. For the less hi-tech inclined, look for a special become-critter enabling you to step inside a mighty suit of Lemurian Magi-Tech armor! This awesome item offers a slick variation on the power armor theme, with a mystical twist!
Of course, we are dedicated to supporting and expanding on the key feature of our latest update – ALERTS! We designed this system from the ground up to exemplify fast, furious comic-book combat and larger than life encounters – and that is just the spirit we aim to capture with our future updates.
You’ve already seen a number of new custom Alerts debut in weeks past, from a rumble in Green Dragon’s Dojo to a showdown with Red Winter in the shadow of a nuclear launch silo!
Meanwhile, we’ve already begun development on a brand-new type of Alert, tentatively titled the “Rampage” Alert! These unique encounters will feature villains so daunting, so challenging that they’ll demand no fewer than 10 heroes, of level 35-40 no less! We are designing these fights to give a bit more challenge to our long-standing and high-level players, primarily via mechanics which demand more teamwork, and more dynamic engagement in the battle.
The team is hard at work on finishing work on the first of these epic showdowns, featuring the devious diva known as Gravitar! A hero’s worst nightmare, she represents what would happen if a famous heiress had the raw power to level a city block just to grab a front page headline! In combat, she’ll lay down a barrage of AOE attacks – special FX will telegraph for just a moment whether she will target an area or a specific player. Every attack will be hard-hitting, and players will need to work hard and stay sharp to avoid them.
Finally, we are always looking for new ways to engage, and incorporate ideas from, the player base. Case in point, the Create-a-Villain contest, conceptualized and championed by our design team. Thanks to the overwhelming influx of creative ideas, we are currently well-stocked with villains for every occasion! We are currently hard at work implementing the first wave of winners from this contest as full fledged Alert villains! It won’t be long before you are facing the likes of Ao’qephoth or Madstone alongside your fellow heroes!
Finally, you’ll continue to see new activities and events popping up on the new Events and Activities Landing Page. With a calendar chock full of hourly activities, there is always something to do, and a good reason to do it! The Landing Page is intended as a one-stop-shop for all the latest attractions, and we will continue to update regularly with new queues and new activities offering special rewards. Look for a special Fusion boost activity to debut soon, so you can rank-up your Mods like a pro!
Finally, I want to offer a brief but sincere thank you to all of our veteran players. The ultimate 1000 day Veteran Reward is currently in development, and we want to make it extra special to everyone who’s stuck with us for so long. Thanks for your patience in advance, and we hope you appreciate it, just as we appreciate your contributions to our game and our community!
Now we’ve covered the content we have in store for you in the very near future:
However, in the best tradition of Art Corners past, I can’t just leave without a special sneak peak at content that lies a bit further down the road.
I’ve often dreamed of debuting in Champions Online my personal favorite IP character – Nighthawk! Now, that dream will soon become a reality. We are currently planning a brand-new Event featuring this enigmatic avenger, including a number of rewards that no self-respecting hero will want to do without. That list might even include the first in a potential fleet of personal, armed-to-the-teeth transportation devices some call “Vehicles”… but we’ll leave those details for another time!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this small look at what’s new, and what’s yet to come. Rest assured, we’ve got plenty of very cool ideas in store for you. Keep a look out for more info, including an updated UNTIL Field Report as well as developer blogs detailing our design process, as we work to bring you some very cool updates in the months ahead!
The dev team is pumped, the players are passionate, and there’s never been a better time to be a superhero! So grab your cape and cowl and join us here in the greatest super-hero game of them all – Champions Online!
Brad Stokan
