I saw DC Universe Online at the E3 2010 and it was a lot better than last year's buid we saw on the floor. Better gameplay, graphics and effects. The PC build is the one to get, but the PS3 version was not all that bad really. Lookie here at the Comic Con Trailer!

Very nice stuff and I'm hoping for good story elements they were talking about at SOE's booth. I'm not sure how DC Universe Online will shape up as an MMO, but I will be giving it a try for sure. I did like what I saw at the E3 this year.

Exclusive Who Do You Trust Trailer HD

Trailer looked awesome; I missed the City of Heroes bandwagon years ago as my computer wasn't up to scratch, so a superhero MMO is of particular interest to me, that and a well done sci-fi one.

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

You know...whomever designs the Player Characters for these trailers isn't good at making characters. They all look too much like shitty City of Heroes ripoffs.

DC Characters, with the exception of a few villains, hasn't been about HUGE ASS ARMOR WITH GIANT SPIKES AND GUNS AND BLADES etc etc. Most heroes costumes are fairly simplistic.

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Press Release today...

Officially delayed until 2011, no specific date.

The game was set to be released November 1st, but likely with the official news of Cataclysms release of December 7th...SOE didn't want people to buy DCUO, play 30 free days, then quit and go back to WoW.

If you pre-order before November 15th, you're guaranteed a beta invite. If you pre-order afterwards, you'll get an open beta invite a week before launch. You have until 11:59pm tonight to register for Beta without pre-ordering...if you're already registered on their site or have VIP codes, start looking for an invite next week.

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Good move and allows for more time for dev as well. I am looking forward to this game myself

So if you preordered DCUO, what you need to do is take a screenshot of your preorder receipt and fill out the info on this page prior to November 15th...
http://www.dcuniverseonline.com/betakey/
...if you do so, you'll get a Closed Beta invite. If you do it after November 30th, you'll get an Open Beta invite a week prior to the games launch.

Naturally you can still apply for the beta the normal way and hope for an invite.

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Thanks for sharing the info, Khameir

Beta invites are going out to folks it seems. Anyone here got theirs?

I've been in for almost a month but I got a second invite today to a different email.

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How much you want for it? =D

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

silent auction bids to commence !

so anyone play beta enough to say if it's worth picking up?

100% honest to God opinion - If it were $50 for the box but Free 2 Play, the game would be worth it. It feels a lot more like an Action Adventure game with a chat function that it does an MMO and the game itself leaves a lot to be desired. Being able to play a Super Hero MMO in a POPULAR universe (unlike Champions which has been around for decades but even seasoned comicbook nerds don't give a shit about it) is awesome, but when you're level 10 fighting along side Nightwing and taking down a villain like Bane the game's feels very hollow.

The game's PVP also leaves a lot to chance since almost every character build has 10 stuns and it really boils down to timing your stuns right to kill an opponent.

Instances (or Alerts as they're called) feel like instanced versions of Warhammer's Public Quests...IE Collect 25 of this, Kill 30 of that, Kill 5 Elites, Kill Named NPC, rinse repeat 4 times, fight Comic Book Villain or their proxy.

Something the game has going for it is that you can queue for everything. Alerts/PvP (normal or legends)/Raids can all be queued for in their version of WoW's LFD system. Never did a raid, but the queue times in beta sucked (this is to be expected).

Again, I'd play it F2P but no way in Hell I'd drop $15 a month on it.

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are you saying you can queue for raids and have groups of randoms?

Holy-Impending-Wipes Batman!

Well played, sir.

fun for a month or two but nothing you'll subscribe to long term is something I'm fine with...as long as there isn't any newbie zones are polished but there's nothing afterwards kinda foolishness or any kind of just general crappiness I'm thinking I'll still give it a try (for a month or two heh)

Wanna see this on PS3 first.

I want a buddy, friend, sidekick, whatever key to try this thing out. I'm really curious at this point.

Looks like the PS3 version is doing good. Selling 52% of sales between itself and PC.
Tomshardware article

Only downside is PS3 and PC and separate servers farms. I have both and scratching my head at which farm has the best chance of lasting.

I'll take an empty server with a keyboard and mouse vs a full server full of fucking controller tard fail /shrug.

The sales numbers don't include Steam sales of the PC version.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Doesn't the PS3 version support mouse and keyboard use? Unless you're referring to the hordes of people who will use the controller anyway, heh.

I dunno, I like the idea of MMORPGs on consoles to an extent. I've got my consoles hooked up to my big screen in the living room with my computer tucked away in the office room. It's relaxing to sit on the couch and have an MMORPG experience that was previously confined to computers only. There's also a more diverse playerbase(or... well, at least different from the PC playerbase). Sure, you've got plenty of young idiots whose parents wouldn't buy them a gaming PC or whatever. But you've also got some casual folks who pop in for a couple hours for a quick break. It's kinda refreshing from the typical fat guy on welfare devoting 80 hours per week fare you'll see on PC MMORPG servers.

Yeah, but you're a donk. I state this with affection, however.



If you can't easily (and I'll give a pass for hooking up mouse/kb on the PS3 version, even if I question the sanity of it) communicate beyond "Yes, let us group, heroes." and "I am unfortunately unable to adventure at this time, citizen!" then IT IS NOT A FUCKING MMO EXPERIENCE. Even in Planetside, I could always decline a squad by pointing out someone's lack of documented paternal history using amusing colorful metaphors.



To be fair, if you want to whip out stereotypes, then keep in mind this is a game BASED ON COMICS when discussing your likely fanbase =P In this case, you're getting a typical fat guy on welfare devoting 80 hours per week on a message board deciding who was more fuckable - The White Queen or Emma Frost, despite the fact that they're the SAME FUCKING IMAGINARY PERSON (or so I will likely incorrectly assume and get flamed by some comic fan who registers here to dispute the assertion).

Well I got the PC version and after a day of playing around I see why a controller would be nice with this game. It's just the movement capabilities of your character, like those acrobatic spiderman games.

I'll agree it's a "different" experience and a much less immersive one when people don't communicate on a deeper level, but the idea that connects all of this is playing with a large group of people that changes the dynamic each and every time you log in. Sure, that leaves Team Fortress 2 open for the qualification, but I think when you have a rich and immersive RPG world alongside it, there's still plenty of room for entertainment and immersion even with the one-button macro douches.

All the old PC MMORPGs will always have a special place in my heart, and I'll still want to jump in and experience the new takes on PC MMORPGs as well, I just think there's room in the market for the console as well. The console market is still huge right now, and I think it's inevitable that at some point it will catch on, even if on a smaller scale than PC MMORPGs.



I was just talking PC vs console MMORPGs in general rather than DC Universe specifically, but I'll admit that I'm nitpicking a bit and there is the potential for two bad stereotypes on both machines.

One big argument for me in favor of console MMORPGs is that I believe it expands the market for both consoles and PCs. WoW has already made MMORPGs pretty mainstream, but I think when you expand the playerbase of MMORPGs in general you also have the potential for people crossing over from one to another to try out new stuff. Consoles are the dominant gaming market and when you expand into that territory, it becomes even more mainstream. New ideas come forth as they're developed for the console, and some of those ideas are inevitably brought into the PC realm. The history between PC and console gaming has always been a mutually beneficial one, even if no hardcore PC or console gamer will admit it.

Also, Emma Frost is more fuckable.

Err.. it's not 2002. Keyboards are a lot less necessary in an age with voice communication readily available.

So I've gotten used to the KB/Mouse. There is only 1 thing that kills it for me. No key mapping. Ok np, but I have to use my mouse, WASD, AND need to hit numlock a lot. ok if the numlock was remapped to mouse or the left side of keyboard I would be happy.

Settings > Key Bindings > Toggle Fast Movement. Bind it to whatever.

You can voice chat with random mouth breathers all you want. I'll save my ventrilo/mumble connections for people I've gamed with for a decent period of time.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Seems the intuitive new MMO menu system needs more intuitiveness.

Thanks Givins. I had looked at that menu at least 10 times and never saw the sideways scroll button.

QFT - voice chat online hasn't really changed significantly since then anyway, it's just gotten more ubiquitous. It's also far easier to understand 50 people typing at the same time than talking...

I don't type much in mmo's, especially pugs. I use vent for grouping with friends, which is the majority of my non-solo play in an mmo. I don't see lack of keyboards for pugs as being as big of a deal as some of you.

That's probably the point. Not everyone is going to need one. If you confine your social experiences in an MMORPG to a close-knit group of friends and never venture beyond, you probably won't need one much. Personally, I used it for quite a bit more than just pugs. Trading, helping people giving/receiving info in-game, random conversations(I can remember some pretty funny ones happening around the Dalaran bank, and even a few in general chat), talking with acquaintances. Given that there's a population of around 10 percent non-morons in-game, it's much better to encounter random people via text. Text is always easier to tolerate than annoying 12-year-old kiddie voices if it turns out the person is a douche.

Combining the two is also nice to be able to do. Leo summed it up with regard to talking to 50 people at once. If I wasn't in a dungeon with my DND sign up, I'd often find myself talking with 3-4 different people all regarding different subjects. I'm a semi-fast typist, so if I've got one convo going on in Vent I can usually handle the other 2-3(provided it's not a heated argument!).

On that note, organizing raids is another beast altogether. If the raid wasn't some simple "Alright guys let's clear normal 10-man Icecrown again", being able to type was an enormous boon for a raid leader, especially if that raid leader was also in charge of loot distribution.

Going Free to Play next month...and to cap it off, Smedley did an editorial where now he's saying the future is F2P.

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The "freemium" model makes Zynga money hand over fist. Why wouldn't it work with MMOs?

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Plenty of Korean MMOs have also made good profits on F2P as well. Part of the problem with those is that, while some of them were actually enjoyable and had good gameplay(even if a bit grindy at times), they primarily appealed to Korean and other asian audiences. Closed-minded Americans and other gamers who can't see past the "OMGAH someone might be able to spend money and surpass me therefore massively effecting my gaming experience!" mindset weren't going for it.

Truth be told, both models can work just fine. Smedley's taking it a bit far by saying it's the "future". The F2P model has been doing better in recent years because of economic conditions, and it entices the low-income folks. The economy is likely to get worse before it gets better at this point, but once that's over, I kinda doubt the F2P model will be anywhere near as successful as it is now. Even so, it will always remain a viable option for companies IMO, especially as Americans(hopefully) outgrow the anti-F2P-lootshop mindset.

Even so Khameir may have a point in that the same closed-mindedness may work badly for a game made by SOE, with a following that likely consists of at least a few old MMORPG vets from the EQ era hoping that SOE will stay true to its old forms and models(the same crowd that, IMO, may be more likely to be put off by the Korean MMO model).

Several American MMORPGs have made it(to limited extent) with F2P though, so I think people are realizing that just because something is F2P doesn't mean it has to follow the Korean model, either even if they remain closed-minded about lootshops or microtrans.

DCUO is one of the best games to take F2P. I think this will really work out for this game...

Considering that many station games are now "fee + station store for in game items", Freemium is a logical step.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I said it then and I'll say it now, the game is worth playing as F2P. Easily a better game than Champions Online and having SOE backing could end up being a good thing...but yes the close mindedness of some people could be put off by it.

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Kham, it's really not difficult to be a better game than Champions Online...

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]