Champions Offline

In something somewhat related to HERO Games, Champions Online crashed Christmas day and was still down as I went to bed last night.

For those who are unaware, Champions Online is a MMO using the HERO Games setting. Sort of fun, but IMO an incomplete game. Its system isn't based on HERO (in fact, being not effect based it's a complete reversal of HERO System). Just the background and characters and even those seem greatly altered at least in appearance.

The owning company isn't HERO Games, but rather Cryptic. Still, Long is always talking about it at the official web site. So I consider the crash on what had to be an important day of first experiences to many customers to be karma for 6th edition.

I'd smile except that I work in IT and know that the poor slobs working at Cryptic are in for a major backside chewing over this. Someone there deserves it, but it may not be the people getting the worse of it.

Merry Christmas Everyone

The Holiday's have kept me away from the blog spending time with visiting family. I've been having a great time- and to all the readers of this blog, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year of your own.

Comments on the State of the 'Market'

Busy time for me, Christmas is on the way and it's something of a big deal for my family. A lot to do that takes time away from my blog. Insult to injury, the latest expansion for Lord of the Rings Online shipped and that means we need to stay 'current' and that eats a bit of time.

So I'll be returning to my series on Hit Points soon.

In the meantime, some passing comments…

HERO 6th edition has shipped. As readers of this blog know, I'm not rushing out to buy it. With this change of editions, there's no longer a currently published game system of note (i.e. that you're likely to find on mainstream store shelf) that I use or support. Rather sad.

The largest change that I saw was to Killing Attacks, where one now gets to apply their non-resistant defense against the stun of the attack. I see this basically as a further move towards D&D style hit points, a style that the official HERO line has pushed since the days of Fantasy HERO- but now the option to build characters in a different style has been removed from the rules.

Or rather that seems to be the case. Does anyone know if the official rules include an option to use the old Killing Attack methods?


In more general terms, it seems the major gaming companies have all decided to revise (i.e. redesign) their game lines. New WoD, Shadowrun, D&D, HERO, Salvage Worlds, etc all represent this trend. Vast changes in core systems producing significantly different styles of play.

I suppose GURPS (a system I never liked) is the only standout of note. Or maybe it isn't, I didn't follow their latest edition changes.

It's difficult to say what the future holds, but such wholesale directional change indicates the beginning death throes of a hobby. A feeling by the companies that the old game styles no longer work, and that they have to risk everything on radical new editions.

Or maybe it's driven by the ego of the current owners. From my examples only Salvage Worlds and GURPs haven't changed either owners or management teams. HERO would seem to be an exception, except Long is on record as saying this edition was the first that allowed him to make the changes he wanted.

Whatever the case, I now see in the online world what I've seen only once before except for a few off-line groups: old edition hold outs. The last time I this, it was with FUZION. And that failed completely resulting in flameouts for the owning companies.

Will that history repeat as history often does?

Time will tell.

For now, my money is on the RPG hobby mirroring that of the comic books: A decline in sales and importance in their original offering by an order of magnitude.

With this, a transfer of their concepts to a new media. Yes, computer games will be the future for rpgs much like movies have become the future for comics.