UNTIL Field Intelligence Report: 7-20-12


Security code clearance confirmed. Welcome back to the UNTIL database, Agent. The latest field intelligence report is ready for your analysis. Contents are classified eyes-only. Transmission complete.
--------------------------
Greetings, Agent. The following report has been some time in the making. As you know, over the course of the last few months our intelligence network has gone dark – a necessary precaution against counter-intelligence in the wake of our exposure leading up to the On Alert! Update. However, time spent in deep cover has yielded valuable dividends. We’ve got eyes on several promising leads, and we’ve tapped new sources for confirmed reports on upcoming updates, features and content.

As with all Field Intelligence Reports, the information herein has been organized into several key categories depending on our confidence in its fidelity, and its urgency:

- Confirmed (Complete & Live)
- Imminent (In Test)
- Critical (Top Issues)
- R&D Report (In Development)
- Planning Documents Recovered (On the Schedule)
- Confidential Source (In Design Discussion)
- Unsubstantiated Rumors (The Future)



CONFIRMED: (Complete and LIVE)

All of the reported features in this section have been corroborated and confirmed as having been launched or currently LIVE.
First, sources have confirmed the successful launch of the massive and detailed On Alert! Update. Numerous planned leaks in the form of “dev blogs” successfully communicated the appropriate intel on the myriad included features prior to launch. However, here is a brief synopsis:

• On Alert! Update Features
- Alerts! Dynamic, fast-paced, queued combat encounters with supervillains
- Complete re-itemization of the entire game! All new gear at all levels
- Mods & Fusion system! Customize your gear with choice of stat-enhancing Mods & rank up Mods using Fusion better bonuses
- Specializations! Numerous new skills to customize your character
- Token reward system
- Questionite time currency & refinement system!
- Players collect Questionite Ore simply by playing key content, refine and exchange for Zen
- Travel Powers, Gear & more in Questionite Store

• Remote Training
• Improved Tutorial and early game flow
• Improved map, UI and mission tracker
• Powerhouse Improvements
• And more!

Following this update, numerous additional content updates went LIVE in support of these features:

• New Custom Alerts
- Red Winter
- Green Dragon
- Harmon Labs Heist

• New Power-Armor Themed Content
- Daily Mission featuring costume rewards and Questionite detector
- Power-armor Powers, Archetype & Costume set
- Harmon Labs Heist Alert
- Confront Warlord using the next-generation of nano-technology power armor!

• Monster Island Crisis & Queue
• Lemurian Crisis & Queue
• New 10-man Rampage Alert
- Brave a dynamic, challenging boss-fight against Gravitar to end her reign of destruction and net a healthy Questionite Ore reward!

• New gear in the Questionite Store and items in the Drifter Store
• Event System & Calendar
- Numerous hourly / recurring activities grant extra rewards daily

• Premium “Free Form” character slots
- Experience the freedom of unrestricted power choice within each Freeform slot, regardless of subscription mode

Finally, sources confirm the following are the most recent releases:

• 1000 Day Veterans’ Rewards
• Create-a-Villain Contest Alert Villains
- Runner-up winners of the recent community contest see their creations fully realized as bosses in Alerts!

• New Daily Mission – Streets Run Red!
- The Cult of Red Banner has something sinister in store for West Side
- Hi-Pan is planning a dark ritual of some sort… but for what purpose?
- Aid the Drifter in unraveling this plot for a Drifter’s Catalyst Chance Box reward, and a selection of Martial Arts Melee weapon unlocks!

• Bloodmoon Returns!
- After lying dormant for too long, Takofanes rises again to threaten the citizens of Millennium City!
- Perhaps the mystical machinations of Hi-Pan are responsible for stirring him from his unholy slumber…



IMMINENT: (In Test)

Sources confirm that items below are being reviewed internally and/or on PTS (Public Test Server). These include issues, features and fixes that are very close to release. Occasionally there are items in test as part of a larger release.

• New Custom Alert – The Horror of Hi-Pan
- Hi-Pan seeks power enough to conquer Millennium City at last, and uses a dark ritual to cross over into a mystical dimension to usurp the power of the Dragon’s Eye!
- Players will confront a bigger, bolder re-incarnation of this sorcerer at a mystical floating Asian temple
- Rewards will include unique Dragon Armor costume parts, the powerful Dragon’s Eye Mod and more!

• Wizard & Witch Costume Set
- The long-awaited magical collection!

• New Rampage Alert – Blaze & F.R.E.0.N.
- Featuring the winning submission from the Design-a-Villain community contest, this new Rampage features a true tag-team villain combo, with tough but engaging boss fight dynamics guaranteed to keep players on their toes
- For those tough enough to pass the test, rich Questionite Ore rewards await



CRITICAL: (Top Issues)

Among our duties is gathering intel on hot topic issues in the Player Community, as well as critical threats on the radar of QA and CS. This list does not represent all the issues we are investigating; however, these issues are deemed critical in priority and targeted for rapid response and resolution.

• Missions: Lemuria: Crisis in Lemuria: Door into the Aegir is exclusive to a single player
• Missions: Mil: City Center: Open Missions: A Bullet Bound for Biselle: Mayor does not spawn to complete the first objective
• Powers: Nemesis Frameworks: Darkness and Dual-Blade Frameworks may be causing the nemesis to be removed from the map
• Missions: UNITY: Critter reward tables are still dropping the Unity Numerics
• Systems: Keybindings: Target Team Member: The Keybindings for F2-F5 d- not target members on an Open Mission team
• Powers: Travel Powers: Teleportation: Zoning or changing instance causes the slow fall for teleport to fail
• Costumes: Avian Warrior Costume Set: Assorted issues
• Costumes: Some Costume Unlocks are not unlocking for all characters on an account



R&D Report: (In Development)

Numerous confirmed reports reveal these features are currently in development. They have made it through the design and planning phases and are being implemented. Items in this section will move to "In Test" once complete.

• “Nighthawk – Friend or Foe?” Event & Themed Content
- Nighthawk, a dark and mysterious vigilante, will be introduced to Champions Online in a brand-new event, where evidence is conflicted over this anti-hero’s true motives… is he a hero walking the line, or one who’s finally crossed it?
- Players will investigate crime scenes and confront new challenges to deduce whether Nighthawk is friend… or foe
- Depending on their deductions, players may find themselves face to face with Nighthawk himself – or another antagonist
- As part of this Event, new Nighthawk-themed powers and an Archetype will be released, along with a themed costume set & a cape-glide travel power!
- Special rewards will even include the Hawkwing prototype vehicle!

• Cosmetic FX Auras!
- Special Aura items slot to add a cosmetic FX aura to you character for the ultimate in customization
- Aura items will come in all sorts of varieties, from elemental electricity and fire, glow, to darkness and more!
- Auras will come in many configurations, from adorning hands, to eyes, head, full body and more!

• Mod Bundle Packs for Fusion
- Purchase or acquire huge stacks of single Mods for fast Fusion!

• Return of crafting maps and other interiors as purely role-playing instances
- Free for All!

• XP Gifting
- Gift some of your experience to your alts or friends

• C-Store Coupons
- Items that give you a discount in the C-store



Planning Documents Recovered: (On the Schedule)

These features have yet to enter the implementation stage. However, commitment to their future existence is verified via detailed documents. Some features have a longer development time than others but these updates are verified as next on the list to implement.

• Vehicles!
- A brand-new system for customizing, equipping and riding vehicles into battle!
- Vehicles will offer all-new powers, including new mechanics such as area-of-effect ground targeting, which can be swapped in and out via fully customizable “upgrade and equipment” items
- Vehicles will come with an equipment load-out as standard, which can be completely exchanged with new items such as:
- Offensive items (i.e. mini-guns, rocket packs, laser pods, etc)
- Defensive items (i.e. extra hull-plating, flares, smoke grenades, etc)
- Utility items (i.e. turbo-boost thrusters, self-repairing nanites, etc)
- Characters will be able to pilot their vehicles in any existing exterior map, as well as in all-new vehicle-centric maps and encounters
- New content types, such as PVP modes, are being considered for vehicle-exclusive combat as well
- Vehicles will offer some cosmetic customization, albeit to a lesser degree than the character costume creator

• Lair Updates & Boss Reviews
- Conversion of existing Lairs to the new encounter system
- Revision and streamlining, bug fixes, boss review
- Each debut is accompanied by a thematic in-zone Event!

• New Zone Events
- Large scale, multi-stage, zone events that offer new encounter opportunities and large group game play



Confidential Source: (In Design Discussion)

Deep cover operatives have overheard verbal reports of items in the design discussion stage being considered for an upcoming update. These ideas will need to be added to the schedule before they can be confirmed. Some are quicker tasks while others are much larger in scope, requiring many more resources to design and implement.

• Epic “Confrontation” and “Invasion” Encounters - for Vehicles and High-Level Heroes
- Large-scale, multi-team, outdoor assaults against wave attacks of enemies and escalating tiers of boss encounters
- Collaborative game play has multiple player teams cooperating to take down enough enemies in the current “tier” to unlock the next – for example:
- After defeating enough waves of invading Lemurian shock troops deployed by drill tanks, the next tier of spider-walking Leviathan Weapon Platforms is deployed…
- If our heroes cripple enough Leviathans, the next tier of Lemurian Command hover-barges ridden by sorceror-Lieutenants must be conquered…
- Finally, they unleash… the Kraken! A boss fight to end them all…

• Alerts Scoreboards & Achievements
- Track you or your team’s achievements
- Number of victories in each Alert type
- Best times to completion
- Number of bosses defeated
- And more!

• Alerts / Content “Challenges”
- Directly challenge another team to one of a number of content challenges!
- Wager double-or-nothing rewards on which team can:
- Complete an Alert faster
- Complete more Alerts successfully without failure in a row
- And more!

• Sidekick “Pet” System
- A more permanent, pet-like system for developing sidekick characters
- Not entirely unlike the bridge officer system in STO

• Nemesis Updates
- Open mission OR in-world dynamic encounters w/ your Nemesis
- More minion types and options for standard Nemesis content

• Hideout additions: Crafting rooms
- Grant a % bonus to Fusion OR allow Fusion of stacks greater than 5

• “Terror in Time” Halloween Content
- The villainous vampire Draycul Vladic travels back in time to foggy London to breed an army of vampires before the dawn of heroes…
- Players will follow him to the past to thwart this plan, teaming up with the great ancestor of the current Black Mask
- Rewards and associated content include the fashionable Victorian Steampunk costume set, Wolf Transformation Superspeed Travel Power and more!

• The return of the Roi’Nesh
- After their first failed infiltration, a large scale invasion!

• The rumored return of Dr. Destroyer!
- At a special Event…can you guess which one?



Unsubstantiated Rumors: (The Future)

Agent, please treat these rumors with the appropriate discretion. Reports of these features are unsubstantiated or come from untested sources. Nevertheless, if these reports can be believed, they represent features and ideas for which the team has great enthusiasm. Items listed in this section need the most discussion and are subject to the largest change. This list does not represent all the things the team may want to do but they are among the most frequently reported.

• New “Island of Dr. Destroyer” Mini-Zone, Lair and Story Content
• New Millennium City “Expansion” Zone (2-3 Neighborhoods)
- Possibly a dangerous “Boardwalk Empire” waterfront / casino district, controlled by some of the richest, most famous super-criminals
- Perhaps neighbored by a “Hell’s Kitchen” stretch, a perfect birthplace for the likes of “Dark Champions”

• Story Content leading to End Game
- Revealing the ultimate antagonist for End Game

• Expanded Level Cap and Gear Progression
• Super Group Missions, Duels, Advancement & Bases
• Epic “Endgame” Faction War Zone (Battleground: MOON)
- Featuring an all-out Alien war, a Star Guardian alternate advancement path & powers

• And much more!!

Hey Champs fans! The newest Field Report is live, and there is quite a bit to cover! More than a little work went into our major On Alert! Update (as you can see above), and much has changed and been improved in the game at large in the intervening months.

One of our primary goals going forward is to craft a cohesive, thematic release package each month. In June, the theme was Power Armor! We crafted a custom Alert around it and showcased many of our releases within, and unleashed a number of fantastic new powers and costume parts. For July, we?ve got a Magic and Martial Arts theme! Mystical mayhem abounds as Hi-Pan attempts to open a portal to seize untold power, and the threat of Takofanes rises again!

Of course, for August, we have the debut of Nighthawk and the mystery surrounding his reappearance, as well as a slate of excellent powers, costume parts, devices and more.

I hope you are all as excited as I am for these ongoing thematic releases, as well as the other amazing things we?ve got in store for you, from Auras and Vehicles to new epic Zone events and more!

Woop! It's up, destruga and a second part of MC as the zone choices are very nice. Lots of nice stuff here.

*EDIT* Can't believe I scanned over the sidekick system!

I suppose I'll extend my wait-and-see block another few months (out to November, now). There's some interesting stuff promised, but I suppose the future will show whether any of it really hits, and in what format. A bit cynical, but after the last few months, I find it kind of hard not to be at least a little cynical.

On paper it's all fine, but I just kind of want to see the real thing to see how it holds up.

This Field Report sounds downright awesome.

I really like the idea of this as new Halloween content! But... I have to ask. Since we'd be travelling back to Victorian times, and in Champions lore, Sherlock Holmes did in fact fight with Vladic before (or was it his son?) could we possibly be seeing the great detective himself in this content? :D

Will the avian warrior fixes happen before August 25th?

I don't think it will matter much for me after that.

*reads about the Wizard/Witch set*

*does happy dance*

Nighthawk, a dark and mysterious vigilante, will be introduced to Champions Online in a brand-new event, where evidence is conflicted over this anti-hero?s true motives? is he a her- walking the line, or one who?s finally crossed it?

"Is he a her?!"

What is it? The pyro!? D:!

And thanks for the report! Woohoo!!

The first Field Report sounded much like this one, so i still stay sceptical. Especially since
all about new Zones is now just only a MC expansion and even that is still just in discussion
like it was last year.

In the end, all i see i could really look for at the moment are Aura Slots, since they are
under "In Development". But even if that would be nice, its no playable content.