Champions Online brings the Steel Crusade on September 4th

[Brou]

Linked article:  http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/08/12/champions-online-brings-the-steel-crusade-on-september-4th/

Punchy!
If you've been sitting around in Champions Online and cooling your cape for a while, you'll be happy to know that a new update is dropping in September, and it's a big one. Partly because players will be facing off against Mechanon, and he's pretty large to begin with. But it's also an update that introduces several new areas, a new mission arc, and a new experience for players who have hit the level cap and want something new to do.

Steel Crusade is a two-part update that starts with players finding people bursting into flames across Millennium City in an adventure that leads inside the bodies of the victims to identify the source of this affliction. Ultimately, the arc culminates in a direct attack on Mechanon's orbital station... followed by an anniversary event that pits players against Mechanon himself in a world boss encounter. It also introduces something that City of Heroes veterans will find familiar in the form of the Reawakened Automaton: a new archetype available to experienced players with unique perks.

Like the Epic Archetypes of City of Heroes, the Reawakened Automaton is available to players who have already hit the maximum level on a character. Like other archetypes, it trades the increased flexibility of freeform character building for a more focused development path. Unlike other archetypes, it also has powers that you can't use on other freeform characters until you first hit the level cap on your Reawakened Automaton, including the celebrated Rocket Punch. Players who want all their character slots to contain freeform characters can take heart, as the unlocks earned while on the archetype are permanent even if you reach the level cap and then delete or remake the character.

Space, space, want to go to space, etc.
We had a chance to speak briefly with the developers regarding the update, and they revealed that the new story arc should take between 4-5 hours to play through the first time. It also includes daily repeatable content that leads players to unlocking other costume rewards and the like; a single clear of the arc won't reward everything that's available.

Introducing an archetype specifically as a reward for leveling (and an incentive for further leveling) is novel, and the developers would like to do more along these lines if the players respond well. It's largely a matter of whether or not players enjoy the approach and the gameplay that it leads to. There's also a definite desire to revisit Mechanon and other major lore characters in the future, with a push toward creating a more unified overall story for the game and a sense of forward motion.

We also took the opportunity to ask about Foundry integration for Champions Online and were informed that there is no official comment on it at this time. The team is aware of player demand, but it's difficult to integrate into the game's existing code.

Players can start taking part in the update's content on September 4th, barring any unexpected delays. If you've been waiting for a chance to take on a big robot and bring him down to size, you've got about a month left to wait.

[Kaos Arcanna]

Woot!

That's good news for us CO players.

[Nos482]

There will be a whole lot of Nemesis clones running around


On a semi related note... I'll still switch to CoT

[LaughingAlex]

Still moving onto VO September 12th and not touching CO anymore.  Just to little to late, I knew that'd be the amount of content they were going to add though, predicted that from what some people told me.  Thats.....about the most they ever did last year and the most the ever did in any update in the earlier years.  I just cannot support em anymore, even less so if their timing is so bad like this, it's like they are doing it more to steal the spotlight from another mmorpg in development(and really suspect they are because VO is entering pre-alpha september 12th and plans to remain open until launch).

[Angel Phoenix77]

Still moving onto VO September 12th and not touching CO anymore.  Just to little to late, I knew that'd be the amount of content they were going to add though, predicted that from what some people told me.  Thats.....about the most they ever did last year and the most the ever did in any update in the earlier years.  I just cannot support em anymore, even less so if their timing is so bad like this, it's like they are doing it more to steal the spotlight from another mmorpg in development(and really suspect they are because VO is entering pre-alpha september 12th and plans to remain open until launch).

I agree with this, it is far to short and it is far too late. I wanted to like this game and at first I loved it I even left cox for it and tried to get my globals to leave cox, in the Atari saw almost all of the deving co was going to get under pwe it was left to rot. I only log on just to spend my 500 c points

[Xev]

I only log on just to spend my 500 c points

I'm happy to help anyone out with this.

[Angel Phoenix77]

I'm happy to help anyone out with this.

Thank you, so far I got the archer costume and bow with 2 of the ninja swords and got a new shadow blood sword

[Brou]

A portion of the content is on PTS for testing.

Access character transfer from your account page on arcgames, or http://www.arcgames.com/en/my/character/copy/co

Part of our Steel Crusade update is on PTS, heroes. If you've got a subscription, go try it out!


(Note: What's on PTS right now covers the first mission. When Steel Crusade goes live, all of the mission chain will be released at once, we're only cutting it up like this for PTS testing. When it goes live on September 4th, it'll be all of the Steel Crusade mission chain, followed later in the month by the anniversary content with Mechanon villains. )

This build is scheduled to hit PTS at 11:30am, 8/15/2014


Release Notes for FC.31.20140602.27:


Preview:


We're releasing the Steel Crusade storyline to PTS in three parts. This is part one. We expect to release part two to PTS early next week, with part three to follow soon after.


This content is still in development, while we do some final polish and tuning. In particular, sound and music are missing in many places, a few of the art assets aren't finalized, and there may be bugs. With your help, we can get them stomped!


Note that this PTS update does NOT include:

    The Reawakened Automoton Archetype
    Champions 5th Anniversary Update
    Recognition Rewards for the Mechanon Coalition token


These will be added in a later PTS update.


In this update, the daily missions which will normally have 20 hour repeat timers have been set to repeat immediately.


Please format any bugs you find in the following format:
Bug
Where it happens
What happens



Please stay on topic in this PTS thread. We use bug reports from this thread to decide whether a PTS build is ready to go live, and so we need to make sure we're seeing everything in it. Please do discuss the changes, but if you find yourself writing about something that isn't specific to what's on PTS, then that should probably go elsewhere.

In particular, do not report bugs from the live game in this thread, unless they are impacted by changes in the PTS build.

[Relitner]

four to five hours of new content is not going to lure me back, unfortunately. The're going to have to pry a few more nails out of the coffin...

[Xev]

I like pie.

[Angel Phoenix77]

four to five hours of new content is not going to lure me back, unfortunately. The're going to have to pry a few more nails out of the coffin...

I know how you feel, this content should have been put in 2 years ago. This seems too little too late, I am truly happy for the Co fans like Brou an xev . But for me it is not enough I will still login to spend my points

[Brou]

Space station GATEWAY and the cislunar base have appeared on PTS for testing.

[Brou]

The 9/4 release has been delayed for quality to 9/10.

Another patch today:

This build is scheduled to hit PTS at 3:40pm Pacific Time, 9/3/2014


You can find release notes for previous unreleased PTS patches by using the link(s) below:

FC.31.20140828.1


Release Notes for FC.31.20140828.5:


Steel Crusade

    The ADIS platforms in UNTIL HQ and GATEWAY Station now have more interesting geometry.
    The Cislunar Mechanon mission is now repeatable. The repeat time is 0 for PTS testing.



Release Notes for FC.31.20140828.3:


Steel Crusade

    "Project Clockwork" mission: Sgt-Major Naran now has an indicator when you are looking for her.



GATEWAY Station:

    The teleporter cutscenes no longer move everyone on the map.
    Removed an annoying sound from the hologram in the Project Clockwork room.



Cislunar Mechanon:

    The zero-gravity environment no longer keeps characters stuck in combat.
    Collision has been added in various places to prevent you from getting stuck in geometry.
    During the Mechanon Mk 41 and Radiation stages of the boss fight, inner and outer doors lock players in or out of the fight. Mechanon will not pursue players into the corridor, even if you drag him over before the inner door closes.
    Fixed a problem where players could get stuck in the exploding factory.
    Fixed a problem where players could sometimes get outside the map.
    Added more "grip" areas around pipes and wall features to help you stop your movement.
    Added a "Stabilization Belt" device that has a short self-root. You can use this to more easily use powers that interrupt on movement. Get a belt from the supply crate at the beginning of the mission. (It is not currently available from the locker on GATEWAY.)



Reawakened Automaton:

    Binding Shot was not scaling with rank. Fixed!





Please format any bugs you find in the following format:
Bug
Where it happens
What happens



Please stay on topic in this PTS thread. We use bug reports from this thread to decide whether a PTS build is ready to go live, and so we need to make sure we're seeing everything in it. Please do discuss the changes, but if you find yourself writing about something that isn't specific to what's on PTS, then that should probably go elsewhere.

In particular, do not report bugs from the live game in this thread, unless they are impacted by changes in the PTS build.

[Kaos Arcanna]

I was looking forward to Steel Crusade beginning this weekend, but I'd rather have it right than rushed.

[Brou]

[Kaos Arcanna]

So...

Free stuff.

Thanks for posting that, Brou.

I'm assuming the vehicle shows up on whatever character you log on with first?

[Brou]

It's expected that the first character you log in on will get it, but the unlock and vehicle will be account wide.

[dwturducken]

<sigh> Fine. I'm updating my "ARCLaunch" and client in preparation for this...

[Xev]

I guess it's too late already but jfyi you don't have to use Arc. I use a shortcut to \Cryptic Studios\Champions Online.exe. I never had a positive experience using Arc.

[Brou]