Champions Online, Jumpgate: Evolution Both Due In June

NetDevil has revealed that their upcoming space MMOG, Jumpgate: Evolution, is set for release in June. They've also released some new screenshots and a trailer, and a preview of the game is available at IGN. This information comes alongside news that Champions Online, a superhero MMOG under development by Cryptic Studios, will come out in June as well. Gameplay footage was shown at the recent New York Comic Con, and Massively has been running a DevBlog with information straight from Cryptic.

Comments

Looking forward to JGE!

[SupremoMan]

I enjoyed the original. It suffered from small player base however. Hopefully this one takes off.

JGE looks a lot like Vendetta online

[Squant]

JGE looks a lot like Vendetta online, but way more expanded. I shifted from EVE-online to another space based MMORPG and played vendetta for a while. The combat system with licenses was fun to do and it removed lot of the grind.

Quite curious how they will do in the market place. A real skill based MMORPG instead of grind X amount of spiders/gurista cruisers for XP/monies. Looking forward to that.

Re:JGE looks a lot like Vendetta online

[Lonewolf666]

That's what I hope for.

I tried Vendetta Online and liked the concept. But it has a very small world for a MMORPG, and I had some problems with lag in PvP (hardly surprising, since I live in Europe and the server is in the US. It's the same with FPS games).So if JGE is a bigger and better Vendetta Online with a server near me, it is what I'm looking for.

I'm curious too about how many people want a real skill based MMORPG. I think the market success of JGE will give the answer, because the fans of more traditional MMORPG controls already have a great game with EvE.

Re:JGE looks a lot like Vendetta online

[drinkypoo]

Does Vendetta have a functional economy, or is that pretty much the sole purview of Eve Online (in this genre)?

Re:JGE looks a lot like Vendetta online

[Lonewolf666]

From what I've seen in the trial, it has a functional if small trading based economy (shipping stuff around, with supply and demand having some impact on prices). No crafting involved.

Shooting NPCs and selling the loot, however, appears to be way more lucrative. So trading is not that attractive and EVE remains the only game in this genre with a serious economy. Back to topic:
JGE is supposed to have an economy that is at least partly player driven. But I don't expect it to be on EVE's level, at least not right away.

Not true for JGE

[Anonymous Coward]

Coming from someone associated with Jumpgate Evolution, this is actually completely untrue. JGE will not be shipping in June. It will be shipping when it's done. It's unclear if this announcement is from a clueless publisher drone or is actually a vindictive move in the part of a larger contract struggle, but it came from the publisher, not the developer.

Apologies to anyone who is anticipating it, but trust me, it's always better to wait until the game is as good as it can be instead of rushing it out the door.

Re:Not true for JGE

[imbaczek]

so enlighten us and tell us if it _is_ good because an MMO+Freespace=pure win from my POV.

Graphic Quality

[popo]

I can't tell if the WMV file on the site is just compressing everything to oblivion -- but my first reaction is that the graphics look a bit dated, no?

I'm no fan of EVE's laboriously slow gameplay -- but I'll be the first to concede that EVE is a stunningly beautiful game.

From what I've seen of JGE, it looks like the graphics are worse that EVE's graphics five years ago.

This isn't flamebait, btw... I'm wondering: Why is this the case? Is JGE more massively multiplayer than EVE? Faster gameplay? etc..

Re:Graphic Quality

[Lonewolf666]

Yes, it looks like a game from a few years ago. With nice enough detail level but effects like reflections on the surfaces are missing. Freelancer comes to mind as a comparison. As a reason, the developers have said they want the game to run on a wide range of hardware, not just the latest high end PCs.

Also, the gameplay is supposed to be faster with manual piloting. More like Freelancer than a classic MMORPG with "click&wait". So JGE cannot afford much lag, and slow graphics would be a show stopper. Actually that is what I'm more worried about, the video showed some of the movement stutter that is usually associated with lag in FPS games.

Champions looks disappointingly console-like

[Phrogman]

Yes, I realize they are making it for the XBox as well as for the PC, but the combat animations make me think of fighting games on the PS2 more than say the combat in City of Heroes/Villains. The later has a fantastic combat system that requires you to think tactically when in combat, this just looks like rushed flailing with lots of flashy blur and it suggests it will a much more simplistic combat system.

Despite all of the wishful thinking of game developers I reallly don't think that console gameplay (which is necessarily light on control options and precision) mixes well with MMOs which thrive on variety of options and of course communication with other players via chat (and which have the advantage of control via mouse and keyboard). I will make the assumption that a keyboard exists for an XBox so you can play it like a PC game, but since its unlikely to be a requirement for play, its going to make the game inherently much less social for most people. At that point you might as well stop calling it an MMO.

City of Heroes was brilliant in many regards, this looks flashier but otherwise kinda "meh". Thats too bad, I had high hopes. I look forward to seeing more gameplay footage to see if they have created a game I would want to play, or just more console-related crap (yes, I have a bias against consoles, I freely admit it. I have bought a PS2, XBox, and PS3 in the past in attempts to get into console gaming, I sold all 3 in turn because in the end the gameplay and the controllers were just not doing it for me).

Re:Champions looks disappointingly console-like

[Anonymous Coward]

City of Heroes did not promote tactics in the slightest... Fire Tank + Empath Healer then the rest of your group can be anything you want and you'll never die. It was basic, simple and you could practically auto-pilot through it.
It was damn fun though

Re:Champions looks disappointingly console-like

[wurble]

I'll be happy with Champions Online if they make it more "solo friendly." I like having the option to team up with friends and strangers alike, but City of Heroes fell into the trap of thinking that just because it is an MMO means it should force you to team up to do anything.

The forced teaming in City of Heroes made me feel decidedly less than heroic. Which is ultimately why I stopped playing.

The only thing /. cares about..

[Anonymous Coward]

But will it run in Linux?

Champions Music?

[GammaKitsune]

I hope they're not planning to re-use music from City of Heroes in Champions. They were using it in that trailer, and it would be a little too bizarre hearing it in the finished product. Does Cryptic even own the rights to use CoH resources for Champions, now that NCSoft owns CoH?