DC Universe Beta (Image Heavy)

[Winnow]

Thanks to a my significant other that got into the beta, I'm able to check this out.

So far it's only been a few hours.

Already like it better than CoH and Champions Online.

The travel options are great. You get them right away and no limits.

I chose flying and am impressed with the feel of it. Liking the movement controls. Slightly modified from your usual MMORPG movement to allow for the extra flight, superspeed, etc.

Character generator seems fine and the way they handle your costume options in the game is well done.

Flying around the newbie city has been fun just sight seeing. Looking forward to seeing Metropolis and Gotham. Download was 12.7 GB. Lots of voice acting. Superman helped me out in the turorial. Thanks man! Wonder Woman is my "mentor".

More later after I play around a bit. So far so good.

[Winnow]

This I going to be an image heavy thread. Posting general comments. Mostly small images.

Ill be posting a lot of images trying to show how large and open everything is in this game. Flying around (or speed running) the city is a blast and while it's huge, you fly pretty fast and can get places pretty quick.



Lots of billboards and and unique touches around the city. The rooftops of the buildings are detailed, some with gardens, etc. I'm just to the right of Booster Gold's cheek.



I'm up in the clouds so this is bad example of graphics but I circled the place I just came from in the previous image to demonstrate scope. This is the newbie city.



All items can be visible or not show so if you don't like my swank helmet for example, you can hide it. (I hid the cape in this pic). In addition, you collect costume themes that when complete, allow you to pick and choose the look of whatever you want. Pretty cool.



You can fight against or with (or as) the big name DC heroes as you unlock them.



Wonder Woman giving me a debrief, congratulating me on taking down Faust with Zatanna (these picks aren't in order) The fuzzy skyscrapers aren't just background. Those are all full fledged buildings you can fly around, etc. I need to play with my graphics settings.



Another picture of the nicely designed areas. In the next picture, my elbow is where I'm standing in this one. I've notices plenty of extra areas around the places you campaign that you may never see. For example. In this theater, there's never a need to go above the ground floor yet the entire theater is built out, including some depth to the levels.



Destructible stuff. You'll notice some seats missing below me. Those where demolished during my battle with Faust. Flying/hovering in this game is excellent. Super smooth. Feels natural and the animations for turning, climbing, diving, etc are great.



Unlocked the Boy Wonder!



Upskirt! 'nuff said! Marvel >DC



Donna Troy....hawt! The chubby guy kinda reminds me of Puck from Alpha Flight.



The Cameltoe costume option is available at level 40.



Some more images demonstrating the hugosity of the world. The arrow in the next pic is pointing at the two people from where I was in this one.



I'm kinda addicted to flying but will try super speed later. Going to be traveling for a few days and can't play.

Overall, this game is looking polished and fun...although there's plenty of bugs and also more things that they are adding. On the beta boards, they respond quickly to bug comments and also mention more character generation stuff is on the way.

My thoughts are all positive about this game so far. I'll try to take some action/people pics later.

[miir]

How many superhero MMOs are really necessary?

[Winnow]

How many superhero MMOs are really necessary?

As many as companies want to make as long as they improve each time. This is the best so far. Should no more Fantasy MMO's be made because FFXIV was perfect? Should the MMORGP world have stopped after the original EQ? What stupid questions you ask. There's got t be at least 100 fantasy MMOs and you're all bitchy about three comic based MMOs? Hopefully Marvel cranks up their MMO project again with a two or three year development plan. It's bound to be a step up...but then again, I guess we can live with what we've got. Imagine if FFXIV was the only MMORPG out there.. Great holy fuck it would suck.

Here's a horrible video I made, super compressed and a distorted as I hack jobbed the cropping of the top part of the video. It's while I was flying around town. Some hotdog eating guy kicks my ass in the end.

33mb, .MOV format. At least it's small! (warning very crappy quality)

Bad Quality Video 33mb (original file size was 2.38gb!)

I'll refine my movie making and maybe try again with something more interesting.

[Bagar-]

Should no more Fantasy MMO's be made because FFXIV was perfect?

GUFFAW.

[Fairweather Pure]

What is this game doing to set itself apart from City of Heros? I mean, that's what it looks like to me. If you hadn't said this was DC Universe, I never would've known any better.

[miir]

They could be screenshots from Champions Online!!

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Which one is best out of

City of Heroes
Champions Online
DC Universe

???

[miir]

Universe of City Champions!

[Winnow]

What is this game doing to set itself apart from City of Heros? I mean, that's what it looks like to me. If you hadn't said this was DC Universe, I never would've known any better.

Cameltoe for one.

Secondly, the ui is much better, the environments feel less generic than CoH. I retried CoH recently and was surprised how buggy and bad the quest system still is.

Having recognizable heroes and villains in the game along with quests comic fans would be familiar with helps as well. The extensive professional voice acting also is a plus over previous games.

It's a step above the last generation and improves upon the previous games in its genre in several areas unlike a game like, say, FFXIV.

Champions Online was horrible. Worst purchase, and shortest time I've ever played with a MMO I've made.

People that enjoyed CoH and want to play more of a game that builds on it in a positive way will like DC Univ. The beta board is very active with high participation from the developers.

[Hesten]

Champions Online was horrible. Worst purchase, and shortest time I've ever played with a MMO I've made.

Did you beat my record? I bought Star Wars Galaxies, i even had to pay like 50% more than it was worth, because i had to get it imported, not sold in denmark at the time....i played it for less than 2 days before i deleted the junk
And around 20% of my play time was me waiting for the friend who recommended it to me to get on and give me some stuff

[Aslanna]

What... No 360 version of this game? SOE favoritism!

[Winnow]

Champions Online was horrible. Worst purchase, and shortest time I've ever played with a MMO I've made.

Did you beat my record? I bought Star Wars Galaxies, i even had to pay like 50% more than it was worth, because i had to get it imported, not sold in denmark at the time....i played it for less than 2 days before i deleted the junk
And around 20% of my play time was me waiting for the friend who recommended it to me to get on and give me some stuff

Bought Champions for 50.00. Played it for 2 hours.

[Fairweather Pure]

My worst was City of Heroes at release which I played for about 3-4 days. There just wasn't anything engaging about the game. Great character creator though!

[miir]

I had a ton of fun with City Of Heroes.
I hooked up with a great SG and we had regular events which made the game a lot more enjoyable.

[Hesten]

I got to level 9 or so in City of Heroes, with 2 chars, then dropped it.


My 3 worst:

3. Star Wars Galaxies (as described above)

2. Champions Online (beta), played around 2 hours, then got too bored with it being City of Heroes with worse graphics.

1. Lord of the Rings Online. Downloadeed it when it had a test period (or became free to play, cant remember), signed up, got into the char creator and looked at the ugly hobbits and decided i had played both EQ and WOW and this was just another repeat, and deleted it. Yes, never got to make a char

[Chidoro]

Looks like it went live. Did anyone decide to give it a go?

[Boogahz]

Yeah, it went live on Tuesday, I think. I won't be picking it up. The camera/control scheme is just too wonky for me. I know that they had to do something "different" for it to work on the console as well as the PC, but the differences just took away from my enjoyment when I was able to play. Using the mouse buttons like the "triggers" on a game controller sucked. Most of the "skills/powers" were useless to me because of the screwy way you had to alternate click/hold either the right or left button to use them.

[Winnow]

I found the game pretty fun but it still felt generic even though it was in the DC Universe. If I wasn't still wrapped up in Aion right now, I'd probably give it a few months until Tera released.

[Aslanna]

Rumor is this game isn't doing all that great.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Rumor is this game isn't doing all that great.

It's doing better than Champions Online though?

[miir]

Rumor is this game isn't doing all that great.

Sales exceeded expectations (fastest selling SOE game ever), they have been adding servers and the game is reviewing pretty well...

Compared to a juggernaut like WOW, I suppose you could say it's not doing all that great but it's all relative, I guess.

[Boogahz]

Rumor is this game isn't doing all that great.

Sales exceeded expectations (fastest selling SOE game ever), they have been adding servers and the game is reviewing pretty well...

Compared to a juggernaut like WOW, I suppose you could say it's not doing all that great but it's all relative, I guess.

Happen to know the numbers of PS3 vs PC sales? I felt it was a dud for the PC, but I could see it doing well on a console.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

From what i've heard, you should get this game for the PS3 and not the PC.

[miir]

Happen to know the numbers of PS3 vs PC sales? I felt it was a dud for the PC, but I could see it doing well on a console.

Smed said is was like 55% PS3 and 45% PC.

[Aslanna]

Initial sales are also only part of it. We need to see how many stick around after the first month or three.

[Boogahz]

Initial sales are also only part of it. We need to see how many stick around after the first month or three.

yeah, if I had pre-ordered without participating in the beta...well, I don't think I would have been too happy with the money I had spent. It isn't a bad game. I just feel that you would have to use a game controller if you don't want to go insane.

[Sabek]

Very buggy release from what some of the guys I work with have said.
Chat channels that don't work. Tons of login issues.
One guy hardly playing just questing got max level of 30 in a month without really trying.

Seems short lived to me.

[Aslanna]

Initial sales are also only part of it. We need to see how many stick around after the first month or three.

Or 7... Doesn't seem like many!

If the proposition of buying DC Universe Online and then paying a monthly fee has been keeping you away from Sony Online Entertainment's MMO, prepare to enter Gotham City next month. In October, DC Universe Online goes free to play.

Both PlayStation 3 and PC players will be able to download and play the game for free. Three tiered levels will act as the game's revenue source from there along with in-game microtransactions. Here's the official breakdown from SOE.

Free
New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through microtransactions.

Premium
Any player who has spent at least $5 (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

Legendary
Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits.

If you've already paid for a PC lifetime subscription or a PS3 plan, that deal still stands when this switch happens in late October. This event also marks the end of DCUO's mandatory auto-renew feature. In the past, the game would automatically resubscribe you when your subscription lapsed. That's still an option, but it's no longer mandatory -- a result of the more than 40 percent of people who quit EverQuest II and complained about the auto-renew in a SOE survey.

"We decided 'Let's listen to them'," said John Smedley, SOE president. "I don't know about you, but my credit card statement every month is this amalgam of s*** of MMOs that I'm too lazy to cancel. What we want is to offer people a way to not worry about that."

The announcement of the free to play move comes just seven months after SOE released DC Universe Online. SOE wouldn't go into the exact number of subscribers currently playing the game, but Smedley said numbers are up since the move to megaservers and that free to play was not in response to subscriber numbers.

"In terms of 'Is it a result in a drop in subs' – absolutely not," he said. "This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one."

I really have a hard time believing Smedley on that last part. If it was your preferred model from day one why didn't you go with it?

[Winnow]

Cool! I tried this out in beta. It was kinda of generic but I wouldn't mind screwing around in it for free.

Two char slots if plenty. The limited inventory and "cash limit" might cause issues if you can't hold enough game cash to buy high priced items. It's free so can't complain except for inventory slots which become a pain.

Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

Additional character slots is mentioned twice in premium. Must be a big selling point!

[Zygar_ Cthulhukin]

F2P starts today, anyone giving it a shot?

[Winnow]

I might try it out on PC. I think I'd have to ditch my PS3 3.55 FW hack to play it on the PS3.

It wasn't bad when I played it in beta. Not great but playable.

[miir]

I downloaded it for PS3 and PC yesterday.
Gonna give it a try.

[Aslanna]

I might try it out on PC. I think I'd have to ditch my PS3 3.55 FW hack to play it on the PS3.

Get one of these when they come out.. Let me know how it works!

BTW, for PS3 players, you don't earn trophies unless you're a paid member.

[Winnow]

Not to derail but there's been another hack discovered for PS3 with some 3.7+ games now playable again on 3.55. At least a few of them like Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3.

Curious what people think of DC Universe Online on PS3. From what I recall, it worked very well with a controller (360 for PC)

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Works well on PS3!

Tried a healer and it's easy to heal

[Winnow]

Very buggy release from what some of the guys I work with have said.
Chat channels that don't work. Tons of login issues.
One guy hardly playing just questing got max level of 30 in a month without really trying.

Seems short lived to me.

Almost three years later, I gave this a try again on the PS4. It's come a long way since launch. I'm having some fun. The game has had a recent graphics overhaul and they've fine tuned power sets, quests, etc and had several expansions over the past few years.

Worth trying out again if you never did or it was buggy for you in the beginning. F2P with expansions costing $$. There's a lot of content in the core game. Some new power sets are added in the expansions so if you end up liking it, picking one more more of those up may be worth it but you'll have ample time to decide if you like it before deciding that.

I still like flying the best but super-speed and acrobat aren't bad. I'm currently playing a character with the Mind Power set which works well as a ranged class.

Game is well designed for using a controller.

[Winnow]

This has shaped up into a great game over the past few years.


I played a character to level 20 this weekend. Some things I noticed:

Character Creation

Not too much different than in the past but there have been three or four power sets added beyond the original sets. You need to pay monthly membership or buy the specific expansion if you want a power set that's not from the original game. You'll do fine with the original powers to try out the game.

Powers and Animations

Great selection. Varied. They got it right with the movement and animations for heroes and villains. Your power/skill trees allow for varied play and loadouts that can be easily changed for circumstances (solo, group, multiple mobs, boss, etc). Flying, landing, super speed, using your powers all have excellent animations that add to the immersion.

Costumes

You're given a decent selection to create your initial costume but once you're in the game it really opens up. No clones. Lots of original looking characters and some that do well replicating known characters, even from Marvel. One player made a great Hulk character.

Leveling/Questing

At some point they revamped their leveling. One thing that makes a game stick is a smooth quest system that gives you freedom to roam but is also easy to follow for progressing through the storyline. The pacing of main quests, side quests and leveling feels well balanced.

Hero or Villain

When the game first was released, I played the Hero side. I'm going through the Villain side this time and enjoying it. I'm on the PVE server which does allow you to set yourself in PVP mode for various quests (bounty quests on Heroes/Villains) but for the most part, there's no harassment and you can join PvP instances when you feel like it.

World

Even with the PS4 there's still plenty of texture popping in the city but that's to be expected with the huge open world and ability to fly all over the place. In order to have some decent textures up close, they need to load a ton of textures. Even so, it should be a little less considering the PS4 has 8 GB (of DDR5) minus the OS to load textures in.

With a nod to City of Heroes for starting things off, DCUO looks great and the graphics upgrade they recently completed makes the game not feel dated.

Voice/Quests/DC Characters

There is a lot of voice narration and voice acting on quests and even in battle. The voice acting is way above average, borderline excellent. Having so much voice narration helps a ton with learning the game as well as making the quests more interesting.

It's also a lot more fun (so far) taking down, Power Girl, Super Girl, Robin, Venom, Wondergirl, and fighting along side characters you recognize instead of battling boss mobs named Zrrthrrppp that you have no clue about. In the end, your quests are to kill X mobs, contain, inject, etc X of this or that, but at least the characters are familiar which makes it more interesting. The UI helps as well.

UI

The game works excellent with a PS4 controller. (press the touch pad button to bring up chat/text options...there. it made itself useful!). I suppose using text chat would suck but otherwise, everything else is no problem at all if you use voice chat.

Solo / Team

I've played mostly solo but there are some group quests I've been on. The three different four man group missions have all been a blast.

I went with Mental powers and am using this setup:

Mass Terror
Phantom Flames
Menace
Pyrokinesis
Mass Levitation
Telekinetic Bolt

I have obtained most of the powers at level 20 for that rotation but am not quite there yet.

There are many power sets to choose from when creating your character:

TANK

Fire
Ice
Earth

CONTROLLER

Gadgets
Mental
Light
Quantum

HEALER

Sorcery
Nature
Electricity
Celestial

Even through they are grouped that way, I have a DPS Mental Power character which can be one of the best in the game depending on your loadouts. Each Power has two trees which can be mixed, and allow you to make a tank, controller or healing focused character, which can be changed on the fly by changing your status from Tank/Controller/Healer

Along with your powers, you also choose a weapon. (Guns, Bow, Hand Blasts, etc) which you can level up using skill points as well. You can also switch weapons but you level each one separately.

Before putting yourself in queue for a group, you can select Tank, Healer, Controller or Damage as your role.

Even though I'm currently using one of the original powers, I picked up the Origins pack to support the game which will give me access to Light Based powers if I want. Buying something makes your account a premium account but there are still bank restrictions ($2,000 max) that can hamper play if you don't eventually go with a monthly membership fee which unlocks all DLC expansions/powers while you remain subscribed. If you create a character while sub'd that uses a power set from one of the DLC expansions, you get to keep the character but can't access any content or make more unless you buy the DLC or re-sub.

Overall, it's been a highly entertaining weekend playing DCUO. The F2P system is very generous in giving you ample time and content to see if you like the game.

If you never tried it, it's worth the 22GB download. If you tried it during beta like me and it was maybe too rough around the edges back then, it's definitely worth revisiting.