You don't need financial reports to understand where things stand. It's really quite simple. Champions Online doesn't have much of a content stream.
There hasn't been substantial story content and new maps added since 2011 - there has been stuff added this year, but that's the On Alert system, which is quick instance-based gameplay good for minutes at best, not long play stretches. There have been new powersets added in 2012, significant power revamps, crafting changes, and so on, that's all real stuff.
But we know the lifeblood of an MMO is new content in terms of quests, dungeon instances, raids, and so on. Champions Online simply doesn't have that. Things looked good in 2011, but obviously now they don't have the resources, dev team priority, or both.
With that said, what's the alternative? DCUO is a decent game - I've upgraded my opinion slightly after giving it a fairer shake. But it's a terrible game for roleplayers and awful for modelling original character concepts given the restrictions on available powers, lack of customisation, and loot-locked appearance options. DCUO does have a regular content stream, but that's tied to cash DLC - and it will always be tied to DLC, because that's the model, and because it's also a console game.
We know this. Anyone who's done the research, who's spent more than a few minutes thinking about this knows that neither game is a true replacement for City of Heroes. But there is no replacement within the genre. It's not a matter of finding a replacement. It's just a matter of finding something that will have to do for now.
I'm hardly an expert on MMOs, so I can't say if there's something else out there in another genre which may suffice. Maybe The Secret World or free-to-play Star Wars: TOR. But that's a different matter entirely.
-- Acyl
There hasn't been substantial story content and new maps added since 2011 - there has been stuff added this year, but that's the On Alert system, which is quick instance-based gameplay good for minutes at best, not long play stretches. There have been new powersets added in 2012, significant power revamps, crafting changes, and so on, that's all real stuff.
But we know the lifeblood of an MMO is new content in terms of quests, dungeon instances, raids, and so on. Champions Online simply doesn't have that. Things looked good in 2011, but obviously now they don't have the resources, dev team priority, or both.
With that said, what's the alternative? DCUO is a decent game - I've upgraded my opinion slightly after giving it a fairer shake. But it's a terrible game for roleplayers and awful for modelling original character concepts given the restrictions on available powers, lack of customisation, and loot-locked appearance options. DCUO does have a regular content stream, but that's tied to cash DLC - and it will always be tied to DLC, because that's the model, and because it's also a console game.
We know this. Anyone who's done the research, who's spent more than a few minutes thinking about this knows that neither game is a true replacement for City of Heroes. But there is no replacement within the genre. It's not a matter of finding a replacement. It's just a matter of finding something that will have to do for now.
I'm hardly an expert on MMOs, so I can't say if there's something else out there in another genre which may suffice. Maybe The Secret World or free-to-play Star Wars: TOR. But that's a different matter entirely.
-- Acyl