I had almost forgotten about the Champions Online F2P launch today. My MMO fire has all but died out in the wake of my Minecraft discovery and the joys of playing jungle Nasus in League of Legends. I was browsing the Minecraft subreddit, though, and found a post that reminded me of the release. I jumped on Steam to sign up for the new service and download the client.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem possible to download the client from Steam. All you get is an executable file that then downloads the necessary files. I pulled the executable from the official website and started my download. Minutes later, my internet connection was all but crippled, but I was only pulling files from Cryptic at 16 kB/s. Yes, 16.

I’ll probably queue the client to download overnight, but that doesn’t make my day one experience any better. The free-to-play model is based on the idea that your user experience is good enough that people will want to pay for more content. So far, I’m not feeling great about Champions.

If Halloween isn’t really your thing or you just prefer to dress up a digital version of yourself, you’re about to have a great weekend. Instead of running around in a drunken costumed craze, Cryptic will allow you to play Champions Online for free.

The free weekend is part of a promotion for the game’s first patch, Blood Moon. If you don’t remember from my original spot, the game adds the typical Halloween horror to your online experience: zombies, werewolves, a demonic lord parading about. Sounds like a blast if you ask me.

The NPD numbers are in for September showing strong sales among MMOs in the PC market. NCSoft’s Aion topped the list, bumping last month’s Sims 3 down a slot. Third and fourth went to Champions Online and Wrath of the Lich King respectively, and the Collector’s Edition of Aion. took fifth.

Aside from the MMO scene, the list was dominated by older titles and smaller games. September wasn’t set to be a huge month for blockbuster titles, regardless of the fact that most of the major Q4 releases have been pushed to 2010. Any time Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships is in the top 20, you know it’s been a slow month. Here’s the full list:

1. Aion
2. The Sims 3
3. Champions Online
4. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
5. Aion Collector’s Ed
6. Mumbo Jumbo Assortment
7. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
8. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
9. Reel Deal Slots Treasures Of The Far East
10. World Of Warcraft
11. Spore
12. Grand Theft Auto IV
13. Starcraft: Battle Chest
14. Zuma’s Revenge
15. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
16. Batman: Arkham Asylum
17. Reel Deal Slots Adventure
18. Nancy Drew: Ransom Of The Seven Ships
19. Civilization IV: Complete Ed
20. The Sims 2 University Life Collection

Cryptic has announced the first addition of new content to their brand new Champions Online. The game, which launched yesterday in the US and will head to Europe on Friday, features Cryptic’s all new superhero world. The new content, called Blood Moon, adds a spooky spin to the world with zombie uprising, roaming werewolves, and the Undying Lord Takafones coming to town.

I’m glad to see Cryptic adding in-game events so early. Holidays and other festivals were some of my favorite world events in WoW, aside from the really events surrounding expansions. The announcement page for Blood Moon has some interesting warnings – don’t get bit by werewolves or die to zombies or you become part of the horde. I wonder if that’s only temporary or if it’s a permanent change to your hero.

The new content also adds the celestial powerset, which can be used to damage enemies or heal and buff allies depending which way you go.

All in all, I’d say it sounds cool, but I haven’t played the game. Have any of you? Is it worth buying?

If you were hoping to kick back with your Xbox 360 and do a little arch-nemesis stomping, you’ll have to talk to Microsoft. Cryptic, who develops the new superhero MMO, says Redmond is the only thing standing between you and playing Champions over Xbox live.

According to Cryptic CCO Jack Emmert, Microsoft is taking its sweet time with the process. “It just takes time for the big beast known as Microsoft to get moving,” said Emmert. “It’s as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else.”

Every other MMO initially intended for the Xbox 360 has failed to make it to print, save for that Final Fantasy XI port. Cryptic still thinks Champions will see release on the console, but they have no clue when. We heard the same thing with regard to Age of Conan and you can see (or not see) how that turned out.

Source: VG247