I canceled WoW because I grew tired of the fact that to advance beyond a certain point, you had to group with other people - and if you hadn't been treating the game like a job, working at learning all the layouts and all the battles and how exactly to play your particular skills, out you were booted. There was no learning curve, either - in the very first dungeon for the Alliance, the old castle in Silverpine where you were supposed to gather materials to make a lvl-14 item, I got booted after the second room for confessing that my 15th-lvl Paladin didn't really know all the tricks to holding aggro yet.
I also discovered Champions Online, a superhero RPG which at the time had just gone to a hybrid Free-to-Play/subscription format. You can play on the Silver level indefinitely, all the way to the level cap. If you choose the free Silver level, your character will, of course, be an Archetype, one of eight (soon to be nine) predefined character types with pre-established power progression (although at some levels you'll have a choice between two powers - for instance, a Behemoth, a big strong brawler, will at 11th level have to choose between Roomsweeper, a massive punch that can send all enemies in front of you flying, or Thunderclap, which generates a sphere of concussive force that damages all enemies within 15 feet in any direction). You will also receive Advantage Points, which can be used in the Powerhouse (the training center) to change an aspect of one of your powers, either making it stronger or making it do something else as well (for instance, there's an advantage on Thunderclap that increases the damage within the first 10 feet, then makes the last 5 feet less powerful, but changes the damage type from Crushing to Sonic, which is more effective against certain enemies). Silver players get two free character slots; also, there's a special promotion running now (one paid Archetype per week is being made available to Silver players for free for that week), and if you log in before November 3, you get an extra character slot for free (so that Silvers who've used all their slots won't have to delete a character to participate).
If you choose to subscribe at the Gold level, you get access to all sixteen (soon to be eighteen) Archetypes, as well as the ability to create a Freeform character, selecting powers freely (with certain built-in limitations) from all the power trees, as well as choosing color effects for your powers. You'd also get more costume pieces for free (not all of them, of course, but more than a Silver), and eight free character slots, as well as a stipend of 400 Cryptic Points per month. The cost of a Gold subscription is the MMORPG standard of $14.99/mo, although I believe there's a slight discount for buying several months' worth at a time. If your subscription ever lapses, you're given the opportunity to retrain some of your characters back into Silver for free (if you're Freeform or a paid Archetype, you'll have to retrain to a free AT or one you've purchased with Cryptic Points from the C-Store), and you can switch back to Gold again later.
Of course, there's always the option (which I plan on taking when I get my next tax refund) to purchase a Lifetime subscription for $300. A Lifetimer gets sixteen character slots, all the benefits of Gold, and access to two extra costume pieces, as well as the Lifetime insignia being available for chest and certain shoulder pieces. The other benefit to Lifetime, of course, is that you never have to pay a monthly fee again...
One thing I like about the game is that there are no factions, and no open-world PvP - we're all superheroes. And until a couple of the later lairs (Nemesis Convention and Therakiel's Temple), you don't need to group to do anything. You can, if you wish, but you don't need to, and if you do, nobody's riding you about filling a particular role - what you do is dictated by your character type (Behemoths get in there and punch, Infernos throw fire from a distance, and so forth). You can get a feel for it with the Open Missions, things that happen in the world that anybody passing by can get in on without having to join anything. (In fact, sometimes it happens just because you're in the right place at the right time - Lightning picked up credit for completing the open mission "A Bullet Bound For Bisselle" because he happened to be running at Superspeed past City Hall just as the heroes finished saving the mayor.)
Also, if you actually like PvP, there are the Hero Games, a group of PvP arenas you can sign up for. They are divided into Archetype Games and Unlimited Games, because a well-constructed Freeform character can wipe the walls with almost any AT without breaking a virtual sweat. Get beaten, and you pop back to the respawn point, where you can rejoin the combat. Everybody gets Acclaim, which can be used to purchase special rewards, whether they win or lose. (Winners get more, of course...)
At the moment, my account (@JonSills) is Silver. The only character I'm playing on it is Mutandis, a Silver character using the Free Archetype Rotation program. (This week, he's a Savage, with claw attacks and rapid healing. Next week, he'll be a Void, with Shadow powers and the ability to summon creatures of shadow to help him. The week after that, I think, is the debut of the new Unarmed Martial Arts AT, the Master. And so on...)
_________________
Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good.
14 Oct 2011, 3:27 pm
. The page is turn
