Jump to navigation
Advertisement

Champions borrows WAR's public quests News

MMO PC News by Oli Welsh

1 April, 2009

In an interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Cryptic Studios' Bill Roper has admitted that its superhero MMO Champions Online has lifted the public quest system from Mythic's Warhammer Online.

Asked if Champions' "open mission" system - missions which can be completed by any players in the vicinity working together - was similar to WAR's Public Quests, Roper said, "It absolutely is!"

"We did what every good developer does, saw something and went 'We should use that in our game!'" Roper said. "That is always the key, to look at other games and say 'How do we make this work? What worked in the past?' This is perfect for the superhero theme."

Roper also shrugged off the recent controversy over recruitment of beta testers from Champions' rival, City of Heroes.

"Every game tries to get the people that will play it. When I was at Blizzard, World of Warcraft did exactly that. 'Hey EverQuest 2 and Dark Age of Camelot players, you should check out our beta test!'," Roper said.

"It's less about stealing people and more about getting feedback from experienced players."

Champions Online launches in June for PC. We expect to be on the beta before too long, so look forward to our impressions; in the meantime, find more, including our own interview with Roper, at the Champions Online gamepage.

Advertisement

Are you excited about Champions Online on PC?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games

Thanks!

Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!

Comments: 1-17 of 17 in total

Poster
Comment Low-scoring comments hidden. Log in to see them!
ZuluHero
01/04/09 @ 15:20
#1
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
i like their honesty - and i loved the PQ system (when you had enough players).

Im quite looking forward to this for some reason.
flyingsupernerds
01/04/09 @ 15:25
#2
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Does openly admitting that you copied ideas from another game make the blatant fact that you copied ideas in the first place any better? Not to me. Inspiration is never a bad thing but when you have a game that consists of the best ideas from the best games out there, it is no longer your game.
DoctorZoidberg
01/04/09 @ 15:25
#3
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Another MMO?

Are there even enough people to play them all, they seem ten a penny.
patch
01/04/09 @ 15:29
#4
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
So, they're "lifting" ideas from other games and trying to steal players for their beta testing? I was looking forward to this game, but the developers are putting me off.
DFawkes
01/04/09 @ 15:32
#5
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Having experienced one, it is close but not identical. Close enough to see it's the same idea, but the way heroes all congregate around uber monsters and start unleashing all manor of powers is a sight to behold, even more so than in WAR (which I also enjoy).
ZuluHero
01/04/09 @ 15:36
#6
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@flyingsupernerds

Yet millions play wow... Oh wait, blizzard kept it all cloak-and-daggers didn't it? So that's alright then? ;)
Monkey_Puncher
01/04/09 @ 15:57
#7
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
OMG CALL TEH INTERNETZ POLICE!1!
sneetch
01/04/09 @ 16:27
#8
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Meh, this is fine and expected (I've been waiting for a PQ-like system to appear in WoW for some time now).

"Stealing" players for your beta using their forums or in-game communication on the other hand is shitty and underhanded.
Eraysor
01/04/09 @ 18:08
#9
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Presumably they have emulated the crushing lack of players too?
AOFanboi
01/04/09 @ 19:45
#10
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
What little I played WAR the PQs were quickly ground until you maxed the related bar, then you moved on. So in "tier 2" zones with 3 PQs everyone played only the first you got to, and the two others were barren. Hopefully Champions will limit the number so that people actually play them all, or make them interesting for other things than WAR did (the bar plus a too random lottery for loot).
Liam64
01/04/09 @ 19:51
#11
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
"Does openly admitting that you copied ideas from another game make the blatant fact that you copied ideas in the first place any better? Not to me. Inspiration is never a bad thing but when you have a game that consists of the best ideas from the best games out there, it is no longer your game."

The alternative being what, exactly? Actively ignoring an excellent idea and purposefully going in another direction, knowing it will damage the quality of the game? There isn't a developer out there that doesn't use other people's ideas, in the same way that all film-makers have sought outside influence, and all novelists and poets and artists and musicians.

“Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”
Picasso.
Silvervein
01/04/09 @ 20:54
#12
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
@Liam64
I might agree with you if we talk about end result. That is, whoever makes the game, gets paid. (Although I really hate that attitude shown by many game makers, that it is all about money and *only* money. But oh well, as long as you can find indies too...)
But at the same time stealing ideas of others is no different than using torrents to get your games for free. In both cases you steal someone's intellectual property. In his case he's using the fact that those game mechanics are not being patented yet. I wonder what will happen when patenting those things becomes standard.

P.S.
An honest thief might be more appealing than your regular, shady kind, but he's a thief all the same.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 01/04/09 @ 21:56
flyingsupernerds
01/04/09 @ 21:45
#13
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I'm not disputing the fact that he "borrowed" ideas from another game. It's the fact that he's so open about it. Is it supposed to impress? Not buying it. It's almost some kind of rock star image except not.

On another note, another MMO? Grand. Maybe he should have stole some ideas out of Tabula Rasa. I hear that's going strong these days.
Spekingur
01/04/09 @ 23:53
#14
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
Stop complaining. All of your next-gen favourite games are nothing but copies of older ideas put in a new form. If you don't get that then you don't get the gaming world. I also don't see any of you complain about how almost every MMO has the same kind of interface. OMG COPYING IDEAS WTFBBQ!!!
WoW is not innovative. At all. Within WoW there are a bunch of tried and tested ideas from previous MMO and non-MMO games. So, yeah, at least this one says it is natural to do this. Which it is.

And for Pete's sake stop saying "omg another mmo, it is all going to teh failz!" - there'll never be enough MMOs. We need them to be churned out. Just so the accidental gem can be found.
Stoatboy
02/04/09 @ 00:06
#15
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
re: "I'm not disputing the fact that he "borrowed" ideas from another game. It's the fact that he's so open about it. Is it supposed to impress?"

No. It's supposed to attribute credit where it's due. Almost every game borrows massively from all those that have come before it.

Somebody openly admitting that it's not their own genius idea and instead pointing at the responsible party is much rarer. Honesty and respect ftw!
stepneg
02/04/09 @ 08:58
#16
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
I forgot I have a beta invite for this, anyone else tried it and is it any good?
AOFanboi
05/04/09 @ 20:32
#17
0
You buried this comment
Comment below viewing threshold
Show
But at the same time stealing ideas of others is no different than using torrents to get your games for free. In both cases you steal someone's intellectual property.

YOU CANNOT COPYRIGHT OR PATENT OR TRADEMARK IDEAS! DAMMIT! You can

1) copyright one particular expression of an idea,
2) patent a concrete process,
3) trademark a particular term for a particular purpose.

Do you have a fourth mystical form of intellectual property we haven't heard of yet?

Comments: 1-17 of 17 in total

Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!

X View gallery