Cryptic Offering Lifetime Subscription to Champions MMO
Cryptic Studios, formerly of City of Heroes, has been working on the Champions MMORPG set for release September 1.
They’re taking a page from Turbine and offering a lifetime subscription for $200. They’re throwing in extra costumes, an in-game widget, eight extra character slots for alt-aholics like me, and access to the Star Trek Online closed beta later this year, along with the lifetime access. The only catch: the offer’s only good until the game launches.
In case you’re wondering, at $15/month, the lifetime subscription pays off in 13 months. So if you think you’ll like the game enough to be playing it for years, it’s a pretty good deal, even without all the extra goodies.
On the other hand, it’s a lot to fork over for a game sight-unseen. I played City of Heroes for over two years, and it was pretty fun, and I generally trust Cryptic’s game-development instincts (although I would hope Champions has a stronger endgame than CoH did). But that’s a lot of trust.
They’re also offering pre-orderers a 6-month subscription for $60, which saves you $30, and also gets you Star Trek beta access and one of the bonus costume sets. So if you like the idea but you aren’t sure the game’s going to hold your interest, that’s a pretty nice way to go. Or if you’re interested in both Champions and Star Trek, I guess.
I’m going to need to think this one over. I like the Champions universe, so it’s a very tempting offer for me, even though I’m mildly disappointed that the game won’t be using the HERO system. Of course, it couldn’t use HERO fully, but I think HERO’s system of points, advantages, and disadvantages is practically made for an MMO setup, where you gain experience to become more powerful to gain more experience, and so forth. A streamlined version of HERO might’ve been fun to see.
Even so, cheers to Cryptic for making a superhero MMO. It’s a genre that’s sadly underrepresented at the moment.
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Tags: Champions Online, Cryptic, HERO, MMORPG, video gamesCategories: Computer and Video Games, Industry News | Comments (3)
I was a big City of Heroes player and I have also been waiting for Champions. Assuming it is a decent game, you are absolutely right that it pays itself off in a little over a year.
Still, I am very leary of shelling out that kind of cash before I see the game. Especially since my wife is an avid gamer who would definitely want a lifetime membership as well.
Four hundred dollars, even for two people, is a hefty commitment to a game I am not even sure I will like.
Rob´s last blog: I am glad to be wrong about the Githyanki
@Rob: Yeah, that’s my quandary. I’ve heard some mixed reactions, but of course no specifics. The demos of the game I’ve seen look a lot like CoH for the most part, which is at least acceptable to me. The developer interviews mention some pretty ambitious goals, and if they’re met, it’d make for an impressive game. But developer goals are infamously malleable.
Basically, I figure if I like it a lot, it pays off. If I hate it, I’m out maybe $150. (I figure I’d play for a couple of months anyway, unless it’s absolutely horrible.) If it’s so-so… well, if I played for a year or so, it’s more or less break-even.
The 6-month offer is pretty appealing, I just need to weigh whether to jump in with both feet. Hard to say.
I’ve been playing CoH since launch, and I’ve not heard anything great about Champions from those CoH players that are in the beta (except that character creation is vast and fun). I’m not so psyched about it that I would pony up for the lifetime sub right now, but I am interested to see the final product.
The only game right now I’m stoked enough to pony up a lifetime sub for is Star Wars: The Old Republic, and that could change before launch.