So, day one back and I'm already posting twice, not a bad start. Who knows, maybe I can do this whole blogging thing.
***
It's been a pretty crappy day thus far. I got too much sleep the previous night, fully knowing that it would keep me up late, but not caring. So I wasn't shocked that I was lying in my bed at 3AM this morning wishing I could just sleep. That isn't all too different from most of my Sunday night routines. Class at 8AM on Mondays after a weekend of late nights just doesn't work. The real bane of my existence is the addition of a major stomach ache that has loomed over me the entire day.
The whole thing started with a normal feeling of gas on my chest, furthering my lack of ability to sleep. So I get up and take some Gas X to alleviate the problem and hope that I can get in around four hours of sleep before class. Unfortunately, I would roll over onto my stomach 20 minutes later and discover that gas was only the beginning of my problems. An hour later, I'm stumbling out of the bathroom with some major stomach problems and a rather sore bottom.
Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. On top of that though, the problems persisted throughout the day. So now I'm sleepy, cranky, and sick. I spent the entirety of my first class walking to and from the bathroom. It was embarrassing and frustrating. Then, I start thinking I'd leave before my second class and just come home to die. But no, my professor gives me the "you're here, fight it out" speech. Which of course I take in stride and agree to, only to learn that he wants to drop a huge chunk of homework on us for next class (way to make me feel the love there Spencer).
I'm finally free from the horrid school, and I think I'm feeling better. Maybe with a little power napping I can get back up to a decent speed in time for some CoH time with Sean just before RAW. However, I must first discuss something else on my mind. Lets see if I can't make this a more positive post, shall we?
***
The news I wish to discuss is of the recent announcement of Cryptic Studios doing a second comic themed MMO. No, I'm not talking about the late and now-confirmed-dead Marvel Online game. This is something entirely new and much more interesting. I'm talking about Champions Online (Does that make it's abbreviation ChO? or CO? or maybe Champ-O!), the newest endeavor from the former studio who brought me the precious world of Paragon and City of Heroes
I saw the official site and the trailer on IGN late last week and admit I was slightly curious. However, it wasn't until I got a hold of my newest issue of Game Informer today that I really started to take this project serious. Reading over the article, I was floored by some of the ideas and promises that Jack and his crew at Cryptic are promising (Power customization you say? For real this time!?). More over, I was shocked to learn that not only was this whole new world taken from an old (albeit still kicking) P&P board game, but Cryptic had actually bought the whole thing.
In old articles and interviews for CoH Jack had mentioned his love for Champions and how it was the game him and his friends played instead of the classic D&D game. He had expressed a great respect for it's gameplay and the ability to make up these wonderful comic characters that were larger than life. Skip ahead four years and now old Jack has just straight up bought the damn franchise for his own means.
Immediately I'm thinking this man has sold off his only IP to-date to it's publisher (thank god!) in NCsoft and taken the money from that sell out to finance his own boyhood dreams. He's making CoH 2.0, but with the title and world that apparently he wanted to have the first time around. I draw two conclusions from this bit of news that actually gives me hope for this new series.
First off, the love that Jack has for this universe of characters may help him stay interested in the project and make him pay closer attention to the mechanics used. Secondly, the man may not know how to run a game (see CoH and it's multitude of nerfs in it's first 2 years), but he has the experience of producing the first and ONLY comic MMO in the industry. I can only hope that this means he will know outright what he did wrong the first time and make good use of those experiences, applying them to this project.
A lot of people, myself included, have concerns about Jack's mentality of what is "fun" and "balanced". In order for this game to work, Jack is going to have to show us that he can find a "balance" on what he thinks and what his player base thinks the definition of "fun" is. I think that there is a lot resting on the shoulders of this project in regards to the future of Cryptic Studios. A lot of us aren't going to give Jack more than one chance to make up for all the crap he put us through as the head designer for CoH. The moment he starts saying "oops, my bad, we need to nerf this" or swinging around his trademark "3 for 1" rule, a lot of us are going to pack up and leave him to it.
At the end of the day, I really want this game to succeed. I've been looking for a new MMO experience, but I'm not willing to jump on the whole WoW thing. This could prove to be my one opportunity to jump ship and try something fresh without having to give up the genre that I've grown to love. If not, then oh well, I guess there is always the hope of a REAL CoH 2. Until then, I'll remain happy with the four year old game that has continued to keep me entertained.
~Jman
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