Nope, I have no plans to. I had a beta invitation but my computer's not up to running it and I can't afford to upgrade just so I can try it.

I have just received a beta key for this so am planning to try it out tonight (or tomorrow) to see what it's like. If it's very good I may buy the game in September - we'll see.

Nay... no mac users allowed...

*sigh*

I'm in the beta, have been for a while now, and have seen the game change drastically over time. I'm not exactly exstatic over the direction it's taken, and if your expecting a computer version of Hero, stop right there.

There's little I can say without breaking nda, but suffice to say, This plays much differently than a typical mmo and other than the IP and setting, bears little resemblence to the game Chapmions is based on (that's simply because Cryptic only purchased the ip, not the ruleset behind it.) 

My opinion so far is that it's not soemthing that'll I pay to play, but that could change if./when they increase testing hours and I can get more actual play time.

No, how could it be? I don't much care for this type of game, and not surprisingly I didn't like City of Heroes. But I got a beta key and hope springs eternal.    Haven't installed it yet...not even sure my computer can handle it.

What is ip?  intellectual property?

Nope, not me. I'm so invested in City of Heroes right now that it would feel like cheating.

yes ma'am. the characters, the settings, etc.

I need to be spending less time playing PC games, not more.  Pass.

Well, last night I logged into the Champions Online site and downloaded the downloader. Booting up that beast, I logged in (again) and started the patch download.

Three hours later, the thing had finally downloaded the full game and patches - apparently. When the main intro page had loaded, it said that my graphic drivers weren't up to date. Anyway, I tried logging in (again!) and it threw up an error about some sort of version mismatch. I tried a few times, hampered somewhat by a display that kept freezing, but it wouldn't accept my log in.

So I came out, updated my graphics drivers, clicked on the Champions Online icon again. After logging in again, guess what? It started downloading the games and patches all over again. Well, I wasn't going to wait another 3 hours so I gave up.

After 3.5 hours or more, I still haven't actually seen the game.

To be honest, the spec of my machine is right at the barest minimum. So even if I got in there, it would probably run like a drugged-up three-legged tortoise on crutches. I know that MMOs require a lot of time to download the game and/or patches but nowadays I'm an impatient so-and-so. I'll try once more, but it looks like Champions Online is a thumbs down for me (IMO, YMMV, and all that).

Sorry to hear that Nimbus, it seemed like you were excited to try it.

Well I installed it. Took at least an hour to get all the patches. And then I couldn't log in - apparently the test server is only online sometimes. My graphics card is the bare minimum and even the login screen was tetchy, so I have a feeling this isn't going to work so well.

they are currently only doing testing on specific days and times...

Today, 8/5 its 8 am - 2pm (PST)

Nimbus, I had that happen to me once... I had to install to a completely different folder and redownload.

/Theyve made a very significant change with the latest build... one that goes against a core design feature they've had in the beginning.

I'm annoyed they made the change, I haen't checked in the forums ion quite some time because they've deteriorated into nothing but vitriol, but I'd like to see what cause this change... maybe I'll go look. My handle over there is Brainstorm.

I wouldn't say I was excited but I was interested. Plus, after 3 hours (btw I was doing other stuff during that time and not just sitting there waiting!), you kinda hope to get something from it.

Sounds similar to my experience.

There is an indicator in the (I think) top right of the download screen which said that the server was up. So I assumed this meant that, y'know, the server was online and available.

Funnily, on the download screen the only message I got was that the next version was going to be available on 31st July. This was yesterday evening BST.

I didn't realise that the server was only available on certain dates. As mentioned above, it said the server was up (though, I guess, this might be the download server not the game server).

Ah well, sod that then.

I guess that's betas for ya.

I had no plans to get involved with this game.  Then, at my every-other-week face-to-face game, the guys are all geeked up for it.  They're hardcore World of Warcraft players, too, which I play a lot, so it made me step back and think about it.

I can run WoW on the max settings, so I'm assuming I can run CO fine.  It would mean I'd have to suspend my WoW account (the monthly fee is the same, from what I'm hearing, and I don't want to pay for two games when I'd only really be playing one).  But I still might pre-order at Game Stop and get in on the open beta starting August 17.

And who knows?  I wasn't a fan of Circle of Heroes - far, far too repetetive and boring and not nearly enough rewards for the playtime you put in.  But I read that CO is much different and the videos looked really spectacular.  What is hooking me is the naming not being exclusive.  You'll never get the "name unavailable" message at character creation.  That's HUGE for me, as minor as it may sound.

So it looks like I'm going to give it a try after all.

Thrak, I had an invitation to the beta for CO and I can tell you this is probably not the case. The minimum system requirements for CO are the same or greater than the recommended ones for WoW. My son can run WoW on the max settings on his laptop without problem but it doesn't meet the minimum specs for CO. I've also had enough people tell me unless you have a high end computer don't bother as you won't be able to use any of the cool features.

This isn't to tell you not to try it. Just make sure you check the system requirements before you plunk your money down and unless your system exceeds the minimums don't bother with it or you'll probably be disappointed.

Thanks for the heads-up KL.

I got it going over the weekend, but I only had time to make a character. Hopefully some adventuring next time!

Alas, my computer just isn't up to par for this. Too bad.

Didn't you just get a new computer?

Yeah, but I got a cheapie with a crap video card. Probably wouldn't cost too much to upgrade the card, but not sure I want to just to play some game.