Ok so I understand they have nothing to do with each besides the developer. But I need to know which one I should play. Just some opinions. Thanks.

I say screw both of those games and wait for the Shin-Can MMO.

" I say screw both of those games and wait for the Shin-Can MMO. "

 
Back then when I played champions is was horrible , it was a dull , boring , unbalanced instanced game.
The bad part about STO is that it operates too much like Champions (same instance based mechanics , similar combat mechanics (the ground  fights atleast ) it just looks meh.

I'm not in the STO beta but I have played CO and can say that it is complete garbage.

I didn't care much for the Champions Online beta.  I'm still download the Star Trek Online beta right now.  #__#

17% download for STO! Woo.  Both games seem to have a deep character customizations, but from my experience with Champions Online, I thought it felt like it was unfinished in terms of difficulty and I didn't feel motivated to level and stuff, just me making a ton of alts and whatnot, so I moved on to not playing MMOs ever again, well until this STO thing finishes.

I played bought and played Champions Online. I do have to say it is my cup of tea. So let me rephrase my question. When Star Trek Online comes out should I cancel my subscription to Champions and go to Star Trek or just stick with Champions. Cause at this point that is all I'm going to play till Star Wars The Old Republic comes out. 
 
(my girl says I'm only allowed one subscription =p)

Yeah I started back up my Champions Online account. Played for about an hour and WOW. I never remembered it being this laggy. I played in STO beta also and it was the same thing. I thought it was due to it being a beta but I guess not. It really is their servers. Crazy. So I sent them a ticket for a refund. I just reactivated the account and only played an hour so it shouldn't be a problem to get a refund. So....uuummm....yeah. Disregard my question.

" Yeah I started back up my Champions Online account. Played for about an hour and WOW. I never remembered it being this laggy. I played in STO beta also and it was the same thing. I thought it was due to it being a beta but I guess not. It really is their servers. Crazy. So I sent them a ticket for a refund. I just reactivated the account and only played an hour so it shouldn't be a problem to get a refund. So....uuummm....yeah. Disregard my question. "

I definitely got everything straightened out. Turned out to be the graphic settings on both games. Had them up too high. Now, here's two things wrong with this. I used to run Champions Online on full settings with no problems before (maybe an update killed it) and that means I need to get a new graphic card (which there shouldn't be anything wrong with my nVidia 9800 GT). 

" I definitely got everything straightened out. Turned out to be the graphic settings on both games. Had them up too high. Now, here's two things wrong with this. I used to run Champions Online on full settings with no problems before (maybe an update killed it) and that means I need to get a new graphic card (which there shouldn't be anything wrong with my nVidia 9800 GT).  "