Champions Online Patch Controversy



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Players have complained about a patch that was applied to Champions Online yesterday in time for the game's launch.

Cryptic Studios' highly anticipated MMO launched yesterday in North America but, as with many games, a final patch was applied to the game before it was officially released to address balance issues. Players on the beta had noted that many mobs were too easy to defeat so, as mentioned in the 'Launch Day Special' State of the Game report, henchman's damage has been increased and players' defence powers and abilities have been reduced. The major issue with fans seems to be the fact that a free talent retcon has not been offered to reflect the massive changes to combat, and the proposed reduction on the cost of retcons apparently did not take place. Many players are requesting a patch roll-back.

Cryptic did go ahead with a number of other changes in the form of bug fixes, including a reduction of travel speeds and the removal of experience gains from mobs that are four or more levels higher than the character. But other changes were welcomed by the community, such as the increase in loot drop rates by no less than four times. Sorcery powers now properly count towards unlocking other powers in the set too.

Community team member Daeke has responded to the outcry after the changes went live, which weren't announced until launch day. He states that Crypic is monitoring the changes and encourages players to play through the content and give feedback based on their experiences.

Interestingly, a test server was also announced yesterday for testing future patches.

See our full coverage of Champions Online in our wrap-up article from yesterday. Champions Online launches in Europe on Friday.