Played Lately: Champions Online

• As I mentioned in my prior post, I went into the weekend with a specific goal in mind: reach level 40 in Champions Online. The objective was well in my sights. Even with the steeper experience curve of the last few levels, the last thirty-three percent would be easily surmountable.


• I logged in Friday night after work and made my way to Lemuria. Those fish people have a lot of problems, so Arcfire was happy to pitch in. Funny enough though, she wasn't there five minutes before the minions of her nemesis, Project T, ambushed her. The clue they left behind wasn't for just another mission. P-T was looking to steal the Electrovoltaic Polyturbine, a sure sign that things have escalated. Having put one in prison already, I was well conversed with the signs of a nemesis making his or her final push toward world domination.

  Aside: I love the Nemesis system in Champions. It's probably the best thing they have going. But if they begin and end the same way, it's going to drive me crazy. Variety is the word of the day, Cryptic!



• As I'm sure you can guess, I got out of the water quick and hot footed it to Millennium City. The idea of dinging level 40 while fighting my nemesis was too much to bear. After fighting my way through the bank, I hopped over to Monster Island where Project T was building the inevitable deathray. Some guys never learn. The ending was never in doubt this time, though it still has one of the most amusing ending in the game. I wonder how people without AoE attacks get through it.


• Unfortunately, sending Project T to prison was not enough to reach my goal, so it was back to Lemuria. If I couldn't level with my nemesis, the next best thing would be to do it killing Soviet Russian submariner zombies. I thought the laser sharks were the best, but you haven't seen anything until a zombie shambles toward you declaiming the benefits of communism. (Shamus Young can suck it, even if he's otherwise a great writer.) After defeating a submarine full of the undead and its zombie captain, I turned in my quest and....


• DING!


• Yes, that needed its own bullet point. As did this. Be quiet, you.


• Immediately upon reaching level 40, Arcfire got her invitation to join UNITY, an organization that helps to intervene in villainous exploits. Upon first arriving in UNITY HQ (for which you need an invitation to even access), she received an assignment to travel to five different hot-spots in various zones and complete short solo instances. Upon completing all five, Arcfire was sent to the Dr. Destroyer museum in Millennium City. I remember finding a miniature city in the back room way back in level 20 or so and was completely bewildered as to why it was there. Now I know.


• Evidently, some giant monster was shrunk down to a few inches tall and is not imprisoned in the cardboard city. It's really cardboard, too, with the corrugated interiors. I was so happy to see a very different zone. Of course, I was there to fight off the invading shrunken Qulaar as well as the monster, Cazulon. Again, it was nice to see something new in the game, but variety of missions here will be key to my continued enjoyment.


• Of course, as soon as I finished all this, I logged off and didn't log in again all weekend. EVE Online grabbed me in a strange way that I'll write about next. Champions Online will stay my casual game specifically so that I don't burn out. Anyone interested in a second look at the UNITY and Nemesis systems should take a look at Sente's blog, A Ding World, a blog where I really should spend more time.

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© 2010 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.