Words and News from Yer Central Mailer for CTO #29
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Happy Holidays! The chilly, costly season is right upon us already. Good thing
some things are still free--like a new Clobberin' Times issue!
Cover Lovin’
Hey, speaking of Christmas--this issue's cover is not only
Christmas-themed, but it's a Christmas gift as well. Big thanks
to K.C. for getting me this awesome yuletide Windjammer shot
from the always-pleasin' Mike Powell. Let me try to come up
with a Windjammer tag line for it: "This holiday season--Christmas
blows!" No? Well, that's why they don't give Windjammer
his own holiday special, I guess. THE BIRTHDAY--AND MEDIA--BOY
A December birthday shout out to our boy Joel B. Levy (where the "B" stands for "I B really old"), who celebrates his day on the 20th. And also, in case you missed it, there's an interview up on a podcast that Joel did while at Baltimore Comic-Con, pushing the book he edits/writes, "Chronicles of a Bounty Hunter". You can check it out here, if you haven't already. Joel's portion starts at 35:50. Nicely done, old man, and happy birthday to ya!
CHAMPIONS ONLINE STILL BIG WITH 'TIMERS The Champions Online MMO is still getting good play from Clobberin' Times members. A.T., Tim and I hook up when we can and do our best to level up our characters. Still haven't gotten to hook up with K.C. yet, since he had to back away from the game due to a lot of travel, but hope to soon. Still trying to hook up with Jack, but the time difference can cause problems with that, so still working it out. And we're still hoping Mr. Storck will join us one of these days...along with any other 'Timers out there that have thought about giving it a go. The game's initial server problems, which caused them to have to shut it down pretty much nightly for two-hour stints in the first month or so, are largely gone. They've also looked into some problems people had with some of the power sets and the commerce of the game, and have been adjusting things accordingly. For example, I had made an archer, and finally got a little frustrated with the character since it wasn't as effective as my other characters of different types, so I just stopped playing her. But Tim let me know that he'd read about them revamping how the archers worked due to feedback from players, and when I signed on with the character again the other night, she was awesome to play. They're very good as listening to people, and are improving the game on the go based on that. The game's a blast to play. Got to tell you, there's no feeling quite like having the flight power and taking off and soaring over a huge, detailed landscape, or flying between the skyscrapers of Millennium City. Different powers all have their own kind of fun, though I've lately became way too fond of my gun-toting character. Is mowing down Viper agents with a machine gun heroic? Maybe not, but damn, it feels good. :) I'm still most connected to my patriotic flying brick character, though. Ranged attacks are nice, but you just can't beat slugging it out with the bad guys. Like other MMOs, they've introduced events, often coinciding with their free trial weekends. The Halloween one was great. An eerie moon hovered over all the different locales, bathing everything in an orange glow of perpetual night. Werewolves roamed all over the landscape in the Canadian and Desert areas, and if, while hunting them down, you got defeated by them, you wouldn't die, but would instead be instantly transformed into a werewolf yourself, with a whole new power set. Suddenly the NPC wolf hunters all over the map that were your allies were after your hide, though. There was also a cool mystical thing dealing with the raised spirits of dead Millennium City heroes happening. They did a nice job. And I really enjoy those free weekends, because things get to happen like us getting to team up with our old Forte pal, Jim, while he tried the game out. None of us are bored with the game at all yet, and find the
replayability of earlier levels very positive when bringing
up new characters. It's still a blast. Nice job, Hero Games!
If any of you haven't made up your mind on it yet, you've got
the recommendation of several satisfied fellow 'Timers. Hope
to see you on the battlefield! Next Issue Deadline Deadline for the next CTO issue is February 6, 2010, for inclusion in the February 7, 2010 issue. Just put your stuff on a web page (or in a PDF) and e-mail the link (or the file) to me at: Well, we made it through another year--and through a decade! Here's hoping that 2010 will get the new decade started right for all of us. My teens were a pretty exciting time in my life. Here's hoping that'll be the case for the 21st century as well. Everybody enjoy your holidays, and see you back here next year! Michael O’Connell |
