Champions Online Release Patch Causing Angst

Now that Champions Online has been officially launched, players are faced with a release-day patch that seems to be causing some anger issues on the official forums. Find out what's got folks' knickers in knots below:

BRING IT ON!

A good number of players have noted that the game isn't challenging enough, especially at higher levels. We're usually going to initially err on the side of it being too easy, and then trial and dial in on just the right balance as best we can. We've made a couple of broader course corrections over the past weeks, and we're very close to the experience we all want. To further that direction, we're doing some fine tuning in the following areas:

We reduced the effectiveness of Slotted Passive Defense powers, Active Defense powers, and Defense from upgrades. The total bonus of all combined defenses was reduced from a 75% net defense bonus to a 66% net bonus. The biggest change was made within the Passive Defense powers which our players noted were far too effective and trivialized the threat form Henchmen level enemies.

We increased "non-shtick" enemy damage to compensate for AI / animation delays. This particularly affects Henchmen who did not attack at the expected rate on which other areas of combat effectiveness are balanced. The change represents a 25% increase in this type of damage.

We also increased "shtick-based" damage for Super Villain class enemies and above. They were incorrectly using the Master Villain class damage tables, making our most difficult enemies much weaker than intended.

Finally, we have removed the consumable items that were giving a straight 33% increase to Health and Energy from vendors. These were artifacts of the beta test that were accidently not removed from the live version of the game.

In fairness, most launch days go a bit rough and the complainers always meander out of the woodwork. You can judge the veracity of their claims HERE and HERE among others.

Those who are playing: What do YOU think?