Champions Online's Executive Producer, Rob Overmeyer, has some bold words to say in this month's "State of the Game." Noting that "2012 is all about the foundations of Champions Online and building up a better game," Rob wants to push for a fundamental improvement of the game's core elements to make it "everything [the game] deserves to be."

Of particular importance in looking forward to 2012, Rob says that the team is working on an enhancement system with greater character customization as a way of improving the item system, in addition to alerts - quick group oriented missions - as well as a plethora of expected costume sets and travel powers. Interestingly, Rob does state that the team will not be releasing new travel powers and costume sets with "the same frequency as they have in the past," as Cryptic wants to focus more heavily on getting their core changes in before they look to pushing out microtransaction goodies. Hurrah!

Champions Online is adding a new protector to the list, and it's as sturdy as a rock! The new archetype dubbed "The Mountain" will stand firm as you face your foes using the surrounding stone and soil to deal with anyone foolish enough to pick a fight with you.

This new archetype will have multiple powers like Tremor, Cave In, and Fault Line to give you the upper hand against the enemy by weakening them or knocking them down. Since you are filling the role of a Protector, The Mountain archetype is built to take damage and is effective at grabbing the attention of of enemies. You will, however, generate less Energy than other roles.

For more details on this archetype, be sure to check out the feature page on the Champions Online website.

The Black Harlequin is back in the Winter Event "A Fool's Errand" for Champions Online. This time, however, she's bringing a friend! Hard at work making toys that play rough, Harlequin has even built Clarence, a HUGE teddy bear! There are plenty of new things to do this holiday season including:

• New Costume Pieces
• New Action Figures
• New Become Critters
• New Perks
• A Special Holiday Event
• Presents Under the Tree

For pictures and details on all these features head over to Champions Online website.

The New Holiday Critters bundle for Champions Online is now available, giving you access to three new costumes each with their own unique powers and effects. The costumes include:

• The Gingerbread Man
• Snowman
• Toy Soldier

This bundle also comes with the bonus unlock for the Snowball Roll travel power for all characters on you account! To purchase your bundle be sure to head over to the Champions Online store for more details.

Cryptic has sat down for Winter 2011 to for a pretty hefty Q&A, that might take you till spring to finish, about Champions Online. Wondering if there will be new Nemesis content? Are vehicles and mounts making their way to the game? Or maybe you want details on how XP gifting will work? All these questions and more can be reading over their extensive Q&A.

So grab some popcorn and a blanket and read over the entire Q&A here.

Champions Online has a new art corner post from Lead Artist Brad Stokan, with this week's topic being: Cyberlord! Cyberlord is the newest villain to arrive in CO's ongoing Comic Series adventure, and he's arrived to get at all that alien technology the Roi'Nesh left behind when they crashed into Canada. So it's robot art! Everybody loves robot art!

For more art pieces on Cyberlord, go to the Champions Online art corner page.

Do the electric slide teleport! Cryptic has a new travel power out for all your teleporting and... electric needs? I'm running out of witty things to say here. Long story short, Champions Online players can now purchase the new Electric Teleport travel power from the Cryptic store for a measly 420 Cryptic Points.

But wait... there's more! On further examination, purchasing this travel power doesn't unlock just one travel power, it unlocks two travel powers: Electric Arc and Lightning Flash! From what I can decipher of those horrendous tooltip descriptions (both just say you "transform into pure energy, causing you to move at shocking speeds"), the Electric Arc travel power is essentially super speed, but it transforms you into an electric spark, while Lightning Flash is the teleport skill that makes you invisible when you use it. Maybe you should purchase the Electric Teleport pack, then come back to let me know.

Have any of you ever watched Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland? The Roi'Nesh from Champions Online's latest update, Whiteout, remind me of the Nightmare King and his freaky tendrils. Don't ask me why. Also, don't ask me why I'm thinking of an animated movie from 1989, because I honestly have no answer for you.

Anyway, Champions Online is highlighting the art of their new update, Whiteout, in their latest art corner dev post. If you're kind of curious about the cool villains and visuals of Whiteout, it would be wise to check out the art corner. CO's Lead Artist, Brad Stokan, also notes that Issue 1 of Whiteout is "just the tip of the iceberg," as the team has "cool genre moments, chilling twists, and mood oozing from every corner" in Whiteout's following updates.

Someone's going to need to explain to me what Pulp means in the context of this costume purchase. My best guess is that they're using it to mean the "sensationalist writing of poor quality" (thank you Google), but I'm still not entirely sure how that relates to costumes. Perhaps it's a film genre. Or maybe these are the costumes normally associated with bad writing. Could it be that bad writers have costumes? Does Stephanie Meyer have one?

Stream of consciousness writing aside, Champions Online is rolling out their new "Pulp" Costume Set, and it features two "Pulp" guns and a bevy of old-school outfits that remind me of War of the Worlds. They're worth taking a peek for, especially that in-store description. That's pretty good pulp writing.

Semi-awkward presenting aside, Champions Online's new Comic Series Dev Diary is looking pretty cool with what the team has in store for their second Comic Series: Whiteout. Fans really appreciated Champions Online's first Comic Series, Aftershock, so Cryptic has responded by trying to get another one out there, but with a few story-telling improvements here and there. I just like listening to the devs talk, because they sound so very prepared.