For Cryptic Dev's post

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Lately I have been rather vocal about my opinions about Champions online. For me it is because like many who play I'm a former COH player who sees potential greatness in this game and would rather not see it die a premature death. with that in mind this is what I have to say. Cryptic devs we all know you are working on 3 different games that is cool and ambitious however you need to hire more people. I know people on STO who think what you are going to do is make one massive patch then move on to the next project . Once that is done do a little work on each ip and bounce around.

This is not a good business model. You guys are working on the same model as you did on coh however there are huge differences. Coh was the only game you had at the time and MMOS were coming into their own. and you guys were the only super hero MMO in town. That is not the case this time. You have competition and as such content needs to be coming out at a rapid rate considering you have two large and well known IPs. You guys need to hire more people period. If you dont have the money to do so you guys are published under atari hit them up.

If that doesn't work while I hate to suggest this cause I find it unethecial though good business, bring in interns. There are many would be developers and programmers that would work for free just to put cryptic on a resume. Bring in interns and slit your core group amongst the three projects supervising interns while programing youselfs.

You keep you core people up to date on each project and rotate them amongst the three periodically so there is first hand knowledge of how each project is going. This way content can be churned out more quickly. I say this because there are and will be more options and if we the players are not getting enough content and the things we like we will look elsewhere.

Also micro transactions at this stage of the game is a bad idea. What happened to being about to unlock those costume pieces available in the C store ? Lastly I think it was a huge mistake to change your trial to a never ending crisis. I bought this game based on the 14 day trial. i believe your are trying to emulate what age of Conan did.

The difference is Age of Conan had THE BEST tutorials in MMO history, you could get 20 levels off their crisis. You guys don't have that and frankly I found your crisis lacking. One or two powers is not enough to get a feel for the character and certainly not the game. You guys need to take the hit and put the trial back to what it was. You are getting to nazish with things and it will bite you in the arse.

If you are wondering where I get off making suggestions such as these I am a business major specializing Strategic Human Resource business management. Currently I am working on my masters so i know a little bit about long range business planning. Not bragging just saying this so a reader does not think my suggestions are being pulled out my sphincter.

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If you are wondering where I get off making suggestions such as these I am a business major specializing Strategic Human Resource business management. Currently I am working on my masters so i know a little bit about long range business planning. Not bragging just saying this so a reader does not think my suggestions are being pulled out my sphincter.

I see your point on a lot of things and some stuff I actually agree with. Since the Vibora Bay incident I have a lot of renewed confidence in Cryptic to carry this game to where it belongs and I feel a lot better about the direction of this game. I feel we are being listened to and that's a good start.

One other thing. We have an entire banking/business industry full of people with every qualification under the sun but an apparent inability to do basic math. Your opinion is valid because you are a player. Nothing more. Until you run your own business for a few years you might as well be studying underwater basket weaving.

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Until you run your own business for a few years you might as well be studying underwater basket weaving.

I would have said: "Until you run your own business for a few years you might as well be getting your Masters in Bation...

I have witnessed collosal mistake after another by the company, CO and STO included. Someone needs to be fired. Restructure.

You can count on my good advise because I'm working on my Masters in Bation as well.

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I see your point on a lot of things and some stuff I actually agree with. Since the Vibora Bay incident I have a lot of renewed confidence in Cryptic to carry this game to where it belongs and I feel a lot better about the direction of this game. I feel we are being listened to and that's a good start.

One other thing. We have an entire banking/business industry full of people with every qualification under the sun but an apparent inability to do basic math. Your opinion is valid because you are a player. Nothing more. Until you run your own business for a few years you might as well be studying underwater basket weaving.

LOL I would run my own business if I could get a foot in the door or get a loan which is next to impossible right now. What I suggested are actually basic business strategies used in teh business world I didn't mean to sound like arrogant or anything I wanted them to know this was coming from someone who had an idea of what they were talking about. Funny comment though

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I see your point, and understand your frustration, but more cooks in the kitchen doesn't necessarily make your breakfast come any faster, or taste any better. Champions currently already has the largest team, and I don't feel that we'd solve much by throwing a bunch more (new) people into the mix.

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Why do you find interns unethical?

Sorry, but the school I went to had only a few available internships and plenty of students who were both qualified and willing to work them. An intern at Cryptic would _not_ be doing us a disservice. Actually, it would do the opposite, since it shows us that they care about the community enough to want to add to their team.

Overall, your post is funny, but I'm having trouble taking it seriously. As a Programmer, I am probably closer in profession to the guys at Cryptic (at least a few of them) than a number of people who'se comments I read on these boards. News Flash: There is a reason why I don't bring up my job much, or make claims about it to get an edge in an arguement or try to use it to validate my points: I wouldn't be taken seriously. Welcome to the internet. Here's your facehumper.

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Why do you find interns unethical?

Sorry, but the school I went to had only a few available internships and plenty of students who were both qualified and willing to work them. An intern at Cryptic would _not_ be doing us a disservice. Actually, it would do the opposite, since it shows us that they care about the community enough to want to add to their team.

Overall, your post is funny, but I'm having trouble taking it seriously. As a Programmer, I am probably closer in profession to the guys at Cryptic (at least a few of them) than a number of people who'se comments I read on these boards. News Flash: There is a reason why I don't bring up my job much, or make claims about it to get an edge in an arguement or try to use it to validate my points: I wouldn't be taken seriously. Welcome to the internet. Here's your facehumper.

I find the idea of working with no pay just to be able to say and put on a resume that I worked for cryptic or any other company unethical. Interns work hard and should have some compensation. It's free labor no matter how you look at it.

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I find the idea of working with no pay just to be able to say and put on a resume that I worked for cryptic or any other company unethical. Interns work hard and should have some compensation. It's free labor no matter how you look at it.

It's not in the slightest bit unethical, the most valuable thing in the games/media industries is experience, and fresh out of school, it's what we're all hungry for, the whole industry is about making contacts, a whopping proportion of jobs in the field aren't even advertised, and are all 'friend of a friend' recommendations. Contacts and experience really are invaluable to upcoming games production talent.

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I see your point, and understand your frustration, but more cooks in the kitchen doesn't necessarily make your breakfast come any faster, or taste any better. Champions currently already has the largest team, and I don't feel that we'd solve much by throwing a bunch more (new) people into the mix.

Well as someone who is on the inside you would know. I don't work for cryptic so I cant see the data. For me this is coming from an outside perspective and yes comparing the former IP with this. From an outside perspective it would seem as if your staff is stretched thin. If this is not the case then you have my sincerest apologies. In that same token however I would think things would be a little quicker to get fixed or implemented.

Vibora bay is an excellent start but players are clamoring for content, specifically alternate leveling content, team content, and stuff that links one contact to another. I figured the addition of people, especially people hungry to make a name for themselves would facilitate that. I wasn't really frustrated when I originally posted although I am a bit peeved with the change to the trial since that did make me want to purchase the game. I think it's a bit premature to make a change like that considering the content with crisis. I wouldn't have bought the game if that was all I had to go on and I don't think I could refer a player (and i know plenty) if that is all they get to play. I think the better to the cook one was too many chiefs and not enough injuns. In this case though im not suggesting more chiefs just more injuns.

I'm glad that people in the development really do listen to what players say. It was this lack of listening that killed cryptics former IP (That and AE) . I'm looking forward to what cryptic can produce for this game.
PS. How fixing teleport? Makes no sense that enemies can pull me out of the sky or damage me while phase shifted.

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It's not in the slightest bit unethical, the most valuable thing in the games/media industries is experience, and fresh out of school, it's what we're all hungry for, the whole industry is about making contacts, a whopping proportion of jobs in the field aren't even advertised, and are all 'friend of a friend' recommendations. Contacts and experience really are invaluable to upcoming games production talent.

I stand corrected. I never said internships were not good for anything i just think people should be paid something outside of probable contacts or recommendations if they are taking the time to get up, put gas in their car and drive daily to work.

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We know you guys want to see more content, and you want to see it soon. That's a big part of the reason why we're going to start focusing on the Adventure Packs that you keep seeing us mention.

I hope to have some more details for you on these coming up very soon after VIB is released.

Thanks,

Stormshade

[Archived Post]

We know you guys want to see more content, and you want to see it soon. That's a big part of the reason why we're going to start focusing on the Adventure Packs that you keep seeing us mention.

I hope to have some more details for you on these coming up very soon after VIB is released.

Thanks,

Stormshade
Still nothing on fixing the endless Crisis for trial accounts ? Don't get me wrong content is always happy news :D

[Archived Post]

We know you guys want to see more content, and you want to see it soon. That's a big part of the reason why we're going to start focusing on the Adventure Packs that you keep seeing us mention.

I hope to have some more details for you on these coming up very soon after VIB is released.

Thanks,

Stormshade

We're a greedy bunch. I feel for you. :cool:

[Archived Post]

This is not a good business model. You guys are working on the same model as you did on coh however there are huge differences. Coh was the only game you had at the time and MMOS were coming into their own. and you guys were the only super hero MMO in town. That is not the case this time. You have competition and as such content needs to be coming out at a rapid rate considering you have two large and well known IPs. You guys need to hire more people period. If you dont have the money to do so you guys are published under atari hit them up.


Also micro transactions at this stage of the game is a bad idea.

If you are wondering where I get off making suggestions such as these I am a business major specializing Strategic Human Resource business management. Currently I am working on my masters so i know a little bit about long range business planning. Not bragging just saying this so a reader does not think my suggestions are being pulled out my sphincter.


See I like the business model. The days of spending 3-5 years developing a product with cash up front no longer apply. The risk is just too high and the payback period is too long to recover your costs. An efficient process with automation can help you shorten the development and start earning profits earlier. Micro transactions are another good idea too. Why? Because you can measure and see the financial results. If customers don't buy anything that is great information too. For example: Super sizing is perfect example of a micro transaction that happens everyday. :D

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I find the idea of working with no pay just to be able to say and put on a resume that I worked for cryptic or any other company unethical. Interns work hard and should have some compensation. It's free labor no matter how you look at it.

Oh.

Wow. I'm Sorry. I really got the wrong idea about you. I had an internship in college and I was paid for it. I was not aware that they are sometimes unpaid.

[Archived Post]

Lately I have been rather vocal about my opinions about Champions online. For me it is because like many who play I'm a former COH player who sees potential greatness in this game and would rather not see it die a premature death. with that in mind this is what I have to say. Cryptic devs we all know you are working on 3 different games that is cool and ambitious however you need to hire more people. I know people on STO who think what you are going to do is make one massive patch then move on to the next project . Once that is done do a little work on each ip and bounce around. .

Something that has failed to be mentioned so far is that they are not running it the way you seem to think that they are running it.

They have three separate teams for each game. The only time the crossover occurred (as far as the public has been told) is when STO was about to launch. There was conflicting accounts from the Devs themselves on exactly how much manpower was diverted from CO to help out STO, but it was pretty clear that after the launch they all came back to CO, save possibly 1-2 people.

At this point, as far as we are aware, and from all appearances, the CO people are working on CO and the STO people are working on STO. About a year ago there were 6 people working on their 3rd project and they have likely expanded it since. I imagine when their third project is nearing launch, once again you will see a large black out on CO and STO in preparation for it, but hopefully the CO and STO will be in a much stabler state to deal with the loss of manpower than it was when CO lost it to STO for it's launch. I also think they won't leave them quite as bare bones, because they lost a lot of subscriptions during that time on CO (I personally knew 16 people who canceled their account in that time).

But the point is they aren't just one big team that is constantly switching focus, they are separate teams, all focused on their own game for the majority of the time.

Take a look at this video for some of the project leads:

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lszmQaVVJMc&feature=related)

[Archived Post]

I see your point, and understand your frustration, but more cooks in the kitchen doesn't necessarily make your breakfast come any faster, or taste any better. Champions currently already has the largest team, and I don't feel that we'd solve much by throwing a bunch more (new) people into the mix.

That really depends on what the other team is up to. I mean if you just add a bunch of other people all dogpiling the same content then it would likely be a mess, but the existing team was able to make Vibora Bay by now, which is great, but imagine if you had a second team ALSO working on a new zone, then we could have had Vibora Bay AND a second new zone by now! Whatever the existing content devs are working on I'm sure will be great, but adding another team working on even more content means even more content!

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Adding a second team doesn't sound good to me. That brings up the whole issue of management. Right now, we have leads for each department, and sub leads for each sub department. These people are already swamped with meetings, fire fighting, making decisions etc. If we add an entire second team (including those leads) it would be harder to ensure consistency between the two teams. If we just add another team of grunt level people working on them, then we can ensure consistency, but those managers will blow their brains out before long, trying to keep track of everything.

It's certainly possible, but we aren't prepared to do anything like add a whole second team anytime soon. (on another note, our building is already quite full. . . I don't know where we'd put another 30-50 people)

My point is simply that things are never as easy as "just throw some more wood on the fire."

[Archived Post]

Adding a second team doesn't sound good to me. That brings up the whole issue of management. Right now, we have leads for each department, and sub leads for each sub department. These people are already swamped with meetings, fire fighting, making decisions etc. If we add an entire second team (including those leads) it would be harder to ensure consistency between the two teams. If we just add another team of grunt level people working on them, then we can ensure consistency, but those managers will blow their brains out before long, trying to keep track of everything.

It's certainly possible, but we aren't prepared to do anything like add a whole second team anytime soon. (on another note, our building is already quite full. . . I don't know where we'd put another 30-50 people)

My point is simply that things are never as easy as "just throw some more wood on the fire."

Well as I said in a previous reply, I stand corrected. My analysis was based on a limited outside view based on time to fix bugs and bring content and ill admit based off the previous experience of COH. Based off what you say from an Business HR perspective you are correct. Adding in another sub department for another area could get really messy fast. Constant communication would be the key but if there was any break or just the slightest miss information it could get ugly fast. I suppose the issue is that the game dropped a bit too premature. Personally I could have waited for a December release.

You cryptic guys did what you seem to always do. You dropped an excellent core from which to build on. The game just needs more meat. Considering a huge majority of people on CO are former COH players it is a tall order. Even more difficult I would imagine because for many of us who left COH it was like leaving a bad relationship for another. You guys are dealing with the baggage wrought from the dev that shall not be named and the mistakes made by him and some perceived mistakes made in COH history.

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In terms of games, things take time. You could have 6 billion people on a team but they all can't work on one project. Planning alone takes forever to do.

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I bought a lifetime for CO with the expectation that things were going to take some time to evolve. I don't think City of Heroes got really good until the City of Villains expansion came out (and all those new features were integrated back into City of Heroes).

Champions Online is certainly no longer in it's infancy as a MMO, more like in it's teenage years, where it's got pimples all over, hair growing in weird places, and is socially awkward.

I think Revelations is going to be the start of the regular City of Heroes "Issue" style content packs, and i'm really looking forward to seeing what new stuff comes out as Champions goes on.

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I hope its the start of Issue style content packs... remember, they were originally going to charge for Revelations and still stand by the fact that its worthy of being a paid content pack and are just being nice to us...

Time will tell, I guess.