View Full Version : Why I wont play City of Heroes
Dr Mid-Knight
04/27/2004, 09:20
Hey all,
With the release of City of Heroes being tommorow I have to express my dismay with this title (and many other mmorpgs). These games seem to reward lethargy. I'd really really like to play but the 2 hours a day that could possibly be spared in my life isn't enough to build a decent character. In Star Wars Galaxies, it takes FOREVER to level up your character only playing an hour or two a day. So you have a whole crew of people with no outside lives that sit and play for 15 hours a day and have jacked characters in 3 days. Also I have been reading of people being able to save names for characters and no one else can use these names. Now I understand the need to be able to have a unique name, but CoH isn't like SWG where any combination of letters that can form a word is a name. CoH you have to have a superhero name. See the dilemma?
Next you cannot be a villain?! Wheres the fun in a massive city with 2,000 heroes and the only villains are NPCs.
Personally I think they should set aside a server or two with hours logged for people who only play a few hours a day, so every can remain somewhat level for a while.
Just an idea for future MMORPGs.
I'm a huge, huge comic fan but I can't see myself sitting there for 15 hours a day to have a decent hero. I work, go to the gym and have a live in girlfriend that requires a small amount of attention (less then a puppy but more than a gerbil).
Kaitouace
04/27/2004, 09:29
Well I hear they DO have a "City of Villains" coming out fairly soon.
webhead817
04/27/2004, 09:31
I think the key to these games is to learn to enjoy them at your own level...don't get caught in the "leveling up" trap...if you can't enjoy the game at your own pace (say one hour a day or whatever)...then by all means, you shouldn't play it.
I was playing galaxies about an hour a night, but I was working on a character I really like, and I was focused on a specific goal. I had much more fun playing I think than some of the players obsessed with achieving the latest "hot" profession.
My biggest issue is the price. Not hte price of the game itself, as they usually run about $50. That's standard, and I will pay that. I will not, however, pay an extra $12 a month to play the game online.
Cobalt Dragon
04/27/2004, 10:21
Dr Mid-Knight, I can respect your decision not to play MMORPGS. But I think that you are viewing some of it in the wrong light.
Yes, in SWG it is taking me forever to become a JEDI (and I've been working on the character since the launch), but no it doesn't take forever to create a decent character. Sure if you want to confront a Krayt Dragon, even in a large group, you should have a fairly high level character. But you can still have lots of enjoyment (as I have) at lower levels.
I have a full time job during the day and don't neccessarily get to play 7 nights a week (My GF would walk and my body would become a pool of flab!) but I can still level, albeit slower than the power gamers.
For CoH...as far as villains, like Kaitouace referenced, they say they will probably allow that in a future expansion. For now there are tons of villain NPC's walking the streets and tons of missions against villain NPC's.
And as in SWG, you can still have fun 2-3 hours a night/day.
As far as naming...yes they did allow Beta players to reserve names, but only on 4 servers. And if you don't start that character that name will free up on the 15th. Last night I believe there were 8 servers up with more being added for the launch tomorrow.
oogie56 - I agree they should have a lower monthly fee. But look at it this way, 14.99/mos., that's like 2 boosters a month. If you're a smoker (thankfully I'm not, not that there's anything wrong with that :p ), but then it's like about 3 packs of smokes a month or 3 trips to Micky D's.
All in all webhead817 summed it up best.
It's not really the amount. 12-15 bucks a month isn't that much. It is the idea that I drop $50 for the game, and then to get the full effect of the game I have to pay extra. I understand that servers cost a lot to maintain, and I don't have an issue with that. I would just rather pay a large lump sum up front and then play to my hearts content. The monthly charge is just milking good gamers for more money, and I take issue with that.
Manchine
04/27/2004, 11:39
To each there own.
As for the villians part.
This is City of HEROES! Not city of heroes and villians!
They will have a villians expansion but you will have to wait a good year before its out.
Sorry oodie56, if you dont understand the subscription. Then you dont understand how online games work.
de4dp00l
04/27/2004, 11:41
The monthly charge is paying all the bandwidth and servers that contain the world you are playing in. It keeps connection speeds high, and pays the people who moderate the game and troubleshoot problems. Are they making a profit off the monthly fees? Of course they are. Welcome to America, the land where people like to make money (see also Japan, and oh, the rest of the world, more or less). But the online experience in this game is much better than what you'll get playing, say, Diablo II online, where they pretty much throw up the servers and throw you to the wolves.
Dr Mid-Knight
04/27/2004, 11:41
Well it's a bit frustrating in SWG when people that start after you are now Bounty Hunters and I'm still a novice Squad Leader. Just boring killing Gorgs and Kreetles all day long just to level up. Sometimes I will just take three hours and run across tattoine killing everything in sight and when I get to the hend I've earned 1/100th of the points I need to level up. It's unfortunate you dont get points for playing in character and such.
But do you think that CoH will help water down the superhero experience further by adding tens of thousands of oddly named/oddly costumed superheroes?
I also have a problem with the monthly fee, I do think that they can afford to be lower, not totally free though, or at least offer the game itself at a lower price. That being said I am picking up my copy today!!!
the name thing is common. You can't have five thousand Wolverines running around can you?
Of course, that would explain how he somehow is able to be in every one of the twenty X-books plus his own series at the same time.
Eeh, I'm more of a single player guy anyway. I like to move at my own pace, if that's insanely a lot one week but next to nothing the next... I don't want to feel I owe the other gamers anything.
I'll still wait a bit. All the bugs and glitches end up getting fixed in the first month anyway. So I'm waiting it out to see if it is good or bad. I'm a patient fellow.
Tom Reed
04/27/2004, 11:49
From everything that I have read CoH sounds like a really good game.
My only problem with it is that you can only play online. I can only afford a 56k dial-up, and I just don't think that would cut it.
If anyone is/has been playing with this sort of connection I'd like to hear about it.
Thanks,
Tom Reed
I'm all for the game designers making money. I would just rather pay, say, $100 up front and have no monthly fee, or as was said earlier, have the game itself be like $20 and then have the monthly fee. If you play for a year, and the fee is $12 a month, then after that year you have dropped two HUNDRED bucks!! I just can't see it. Oh well, as Manchine said, to each his own. It seems like a great game, I just can't afford it.
Manchine
04/27/2004, 11:52
Originally posted by Supes
I'll still wait a bit. All the bugs and glitches end up getting fixed in the first month anyway. So I'm waiting it out to see if it is good or bad. I'm a patient fellow.
Other then the log in at the start. THe game is running perfectly fine. There's 6 servers open for prerelease. We havent had any problems yet. 4 out of those 6 servers have a medium load (half filled). I believe they have 6 servers to open up when game goes live. That no names are saved on.
Manchine
04/27/2004, 11:54
Originally posted by Tom Reed
From everything that I have read CoH sounds like a really good game.
My only problem with it is that you can only play online. I can only afford a 56k dial-up, and I just don't think that would cut it.
If anyone is/has been playing with this sort of connection I'd like to hear about it.
Thanks,
Tom Reed
I run on dial up. I run better then some DSL guys. LOL
Yeah, I noticed you keeping up pretty good with me, Manchine, and I'm on a 3M/512k DSL line. :p
It's not really the amount. 12-15 bucks a month isn't that much. It is the idea that I drop $50 for the game, and then to get the full effect of the game I have to pay extra. I understand that servers cost a lot to maintain, and I don't have an issue with that. I would just rather pay a large lump sum up front and then play to my hearts content. The monthly charge is just milking good gamers for more money, and I take issue with that.
oogie, they DO have that option. When you subscribe, you pick which payment plan you want, and the longer you pay for at once, the cheaper it is, from my experience. :)
First, I am running on a 33.8 connection and I have no problem at all with it. The head start launch has been problem free except for the first hour or so when the login server was understandably a bit jammed. Also, they have a feature put in to address the casual gamer issue, which is called sidekicking. Basically, if you want to adventure or just hang out with higher level friends, you can become their sidekick and it temporarily ups your abilities so you can contribute to fights that would normally be far above your level. I love that feature because in games like eq I always had the experience of making friends who would be far to high for me to travel with within a week or so. This evens it out pretty nicely.
Greenandgold
04/27/2004, 15:22
Sounds like a pretty cool game. I won't be playing simply due to a lack of time. I could probably devote 1-2 hours a week, but it doesn't quite seem worth it to me at that level.
Yeah, who really has the time to devote to CoH to really get out of it, I don't at least. If they put out a Single-Player version I'd consider it, until then Freedom Force for me.
ahole_derby
04/27/2004, 15:41
City of Heroes looks promising, although the $50 outlay, then $14.99 a month is a bit much. 1164, I totally agree with you. Freedom Force rocks, both in single- and multi-play, and it costs well under $10 these days. Freedom Force 2 will be out soon, and it won't require a monthly fee to play, plus it's had good-looking capes for a while. :cheeky:
Originally posted by 1164
Yeah, who really has the time to devote to CoH to really get out of it, I don't at least. If they put out a Single-Player version I'd consider it, until then Freedom Force for me.
Why not just be a sidekick often, so you won't have to do much leveling?
And for people who don't want the superhero experience to be watered down, stay on the Virtue server, which is for real roleplayers.
Pfffffft.
Man, I'm not playing ANY PC game where they expect me to pay RENT on the thing every month.
Once I pay for it, I OWN it, right?
If the answer is "Yes," then I might well buy it.
If the answer is "Yes, but you will be required to pay a monthly fee, in addition to maintaining an internet connection, without either of which the game is no more than a coaster," then you can keep it, friends and neighbors...
At least with HeroClix, I have a choice whether or not to keep buying boosters if I wanna keep playing.
Dr Mid-Knight
04/28/2004, 07:38
You bought a phone right? Well you have to pay to use that. Same with Cable, DVD players (Buying new ones) etc etc.
Originally posted by Doomtoy
Pfffffft.
Man, I'm not playing ANY PC game where they expect me to pay RENT on the thing every month.
Once I pay for it, I OWN it, right?
If the answer is "Yes," then I might well buy it.
If the answer is "Yes, but you will be required to pay a monthly fee, in addition to maintaining an internet connection, without either of which the game is no more than a coaster," then you can keep it, friends and neighbors...
At least with HeroClix, I have a choice whether or not to keep buying boosters if I wanna keep playing.
Quote:
Originally posted by NeoVid
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"Why not just be a sidekick often, so you won't have to do much leveling?"
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Not sure what that means.
Quote:
Originally posted by NeoVid
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And for people who don't want the superhero experience to be watered down, stay on the Virtue server, which is for real roleplayers.
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I'm not sure everyone's definition of a good superhero game is yours. Freedom Force duplicates superhero gameplay in a strategic angle and most closely resembles the comic book experience. CoH is a tactical level game and only just a sophisticated 3rd person shooter and its taken too long to bring out. Freedom Force has a broader mainstream appeal to even gamers who don't like the superhero genre.
Frankly, I think its a valid criticism to cast doubt on the success of CoH due to the fact its not a stand alone game and then you have to keep paying to play it. I'd rather buy a half dozen really good stand alone games instead of a year of monthly subscriptions to CoH.
Manchine
04/28/2004, 17:13
Originally posted by 1164
Frankly, I think its a valid criticism to cast doubt on the success of CoH due to the fact its not a stand alone game and then you have to keep paying to play it. I'd rather buy a half dozen really good stand alone games instead of a year of monthly subscriptions to CoH.
Thats laughable since good MMORPG's out do all other games in sales.
I guess you really dont understand MMORPG's!
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