In his latest column, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy talks about his first foray into the free to play version of DC Universe Online. See if Bill found things improved and what he feels the game is going to need going forward. Leave us your impressions in the comments.

I logged in early Wednesday morning (and more that evening and Thursday) to find the server filled with new players. Granted, that’s probably a no brainer since it was the game’s first day in F2P status and all. But I haven’t seen that many people in Metropolis since the game launched early this year. It’s a welcome and expected change. The best parts of DCUO happen in the open city and it’s good to see people out in the cities to make this a reality again. I’m even contemplating starting a new character just to go along with the herd on their first trip to 30.r

Read more of Bill Murphy's So DC Universe is F2P.

Still feels like a console game. Thats not a good thing.

I started playing it late Tuesday night when the servers finally came up and as a new player to DCUO, I am actually having a lot of fun (when the servers are up and stable anyway). This certainly isn't going to keep me from playing swtor next month but it is a fun distraction to spend some time with.

I'm was never too interested in dcuo, from what I heard, you level way to fast and there is really no endgame content to speak of to keep you busy. Its probally why it had to go f2p so fast because of the lack of things to do. If your going to have a low level cap, don't make it so you can get there in 1 weekend. Mind you there are 6+ diff storylines to go thru, 3 for hero 3 for villian. But after you do that what is left in the game? This is the reason I never bought the game back when it came out.

Going to give it a try though anyway its f2p, so, not like there is any commitment like a sub fee or anything. I am quite bored atm with the generic wow-like mmo's that keep getting released, I was looking forward to SWToR Till I read more about it, and found out its just the latest  world of warcraft clone coming out. Which made me sad, I was expecting something Epic :(  Though there is always Guild Wars 2 which.. Seems to be actually trying to do something diffrent with the generic wow-like formula, good to see a dev trying to do something diff with the wow formula.

Originally posted by mCalvert

Still feels like a console game. Thats not a good thing.

This is the most common complaint I've heard about this game and it's what's kept me from trying it, even now that it's free.

Originally posted by SwampRob

Originally posted by mCalvert

Still feels like a console game. Thats not a good thing.

This is the most common complaint I've heard about this game and it's what's kept me from trying it, even now that it's free.

 

Try it.

It *does* feel like a console game.  Thats a good thing.

If you're expecting a full on MMORPG like others out at the moment then you'll be disappointed.  If however you want a simple and easily accesible game, what have you to lose but the time it takes to download?

(and they nicely implemented controller support, nothing like playing a sony game using a 360 controller :D )

Originally posted by Tenaka30

Originally posted by SwampRob

Originally posted by mCalvert

Still feels like a console game. Thats not a good thing.

This is the most common complaint I've heard about this game and it's what's kept me from trying it, even now that it's free.

 

Try it.

It *does* feel like a console game.  Thats a good thing.

If you're expecting a full on MMORPG like others out at the moment then you'll be disappointed.  If however you want a simple and easily accesible game, what have you to lose but the time it takes to download?

(and they nicely implemented controller support, nothing like playing a sony game using a 360 controller :D )

No thanks.   If anything, your post has convinced me not to.   I've read many comments about hideous keyboard/mouse controls.   If I can't play a game with those, I've no interest.

Originally posted by SwampRob

 

No thanks.   If anything, your post has convinced me not to.   I've read many comments about hideous keyboard/mouse controls.   If I can't play a game with those, I've no interest.

Yeah I saw those complaints too and after playing myself the last couple days, I'm left wondering what the hell all the fuss was about. The controls are responsive, as well as solid for me. That's with a mouse and keyboard.

ive been playing for a few weeks now. (Still had the 45 days from the psn debacle)  and the controls are fine to me. i agree with the leveling to fast, but the duo's and pvp at eng game are enought to keep me busy for now. if you havent tried it i recomend you do, as something to pass the time and if you dont like it the just delete it

Originally posted by Distopia

Originally posted by SwampRob

 

No thanks.   If anything, your post has convinced me not to.   I've read many comments about hideous keyboard/mouse controls.   If I can't play a game with those, I've no interest.

Yeah I saw those complaints too and after playing myself the last couple days, I'm left wondering what the hell all the fuss was about. The controls are responsive, as well as solid for me. That's with a mouse and keyboard.

 

Want an example of why keyboard controls suck in this game? 

Let's take an example with ACrobatics. 

WASD is directional movenent seems normal. Yes? Yes. 

Then you have mouse to rotate the camera and actually change directions in which you are moving. 

Then you have spacebar to jump, which is also nice to use with WASD hand. right? Right.

Then you have HOLD spacebar to use the grappling hook. Still nice? right? Right.

And then you have FREAKING NUMLOCK TO USE ROCKET BOOTS? REALLY?

Now human has two hands. One hand is preocupied with mouse. Other with WASD and spacebar for the least, not counting combat and etc.

While basic layout seems nice, For a simple acrobatic movement an average human would need three hands with keyboard. Two with joystick. 

And the game is full of very idiotic keybind decisions (Potions getting bound to key 7, inability to rebind keys, inability to bind skills to whatever number key you want, etc)...

For a basic stuff controls might seem OK, but its painfully clear that you won't be able to competitively play the game without joystick latter on. 

So yes. Keyboard controls suck. 

While the game itself didn't changed pretty much at all since release, having still all thos same issues (terrible, terrible quests), ever since i saw few of the beta play-through i considered it good candidate for F2P/Freemium model. 

It's not a bad game by any means, it's fun in shorter bursts, it can be nice little place to let some steam off mahsing buttons, has prety good character customization and overall look but just lacks the depth and world of a full blown MMO. 

Now the F2P model is not bad so far. The are few issues, like stupidly low cash limit and the fact that, at least, for now free players cannot recieve items from mail even when the mail is sent by NPC, You can enjoy majority of content without paying anything. 

Thing is now SOE has to think how to keep people subscribing and that's where they will have to work heavily on new content. More DLCs, more locations, more stuff that will make free players actually want to invest in this title rather than stick to fooling around with what's currently availible. 

I haven't played enough yet to really see what the game could add, moslty spending time re rolling characters to check different power/weapon combos out but hopefully some of those new people will stick around and SOE will see that with reasonable Freemium system They could actually profit from keepiing this game alive and growing. PRetty much at this moment moslty waiting for their first post-F2P-launch moves to see in which direction they wish to take it. 

so i bought the game back when it was released and i thought i would check it out but my acc is f2p and my old character is gone wtf

Okay I have to admit.

I really do not like Sony because of what they did to Hotz using DMCA, and false claims to obtain IP addresses from people who viewed a website simply becuase they wanted to modify their own PS3, and I agree they paid the cost for what they did, hopefully they learned from this mistake.

However upon playing DCUO.

DCUO to my shock first impression anyways is way better than Champions Online, OR NC Softs City OF Heroes.

Both COH, and Champions Online, have cheap rundown graphics, the skins suck, and the game play is click to play, click to cast spells hold button to use certain spells and such in Champions Online it just is boring.

Now in DCUO I was actually shocked when I played it for my first 7 levels I played it was a bit dull, but the PVP was pretty awesome at least people within the same level I was mowing them down Lulz style some of them just trying to kill mobs, But the PVP is fun considering you do not get a lot of levels over 5 levels higher than you it is great compared to the COH, and CO because you can actually run across buildings, Climb them with and it has more of the feel of an actual comic book game and fun compared to the other two.

If you ask me Sony placing this game F2P was actually a smart move, and hopefully they never make any mistakes like they did in in the past in the future again, as for F2P with premium, that is a great idea because those who pay monthly, or subscribe to the all access get a lot of stuff, and those who want to pay as they go can pay as they go as well.

This just might make COH, and CO go down the drain unless they improve the actual play.

As for the graphics of DCUO, I was actually shocked yes there could be improvements, but I maxed this game out and was totally pwning people in under 4 hours of play it was awesome.

Originally posted by amkob

so i bought the game back when it was released and i thought i would check it out but my acc is f2p and my old character is gone wtf

you sure it's not on the US version if you played in the EUI or vice versa ? if so you can change the version in the launcher.

I also thought my character was gone but turned out i was logged in on the US servers instead of the EU so yeah switched and everything was there.

I just downloaded the game on PC and PS3, I gotta say I'm much much more pleased with the PS3 version of the game. So PC only fanboys, I'm sure you won't like it.

But as far as a Console MMO goes, I gotta say WOW. I've been swept off my feet, and can't wait to hit level cap!

Not sure how long I'll be playing after that, But as long as there are updates. You can bet you'll see me in the cities of Gotham and Metropolis countless times in the future. =]

Originally posted by Tirinas

Originally posted by amkob

so i bought the game back when it was released and i thought i would check it out but my acc is f2p and my old character is gone wtf

you sure it's not on the US version if you played in the EUI or vice versa ? if so you can change the version in the launcher.

I also thought my character was gone but turned out i was logged in on the US servers instead of the EU so yeah switched and everything was there.

 

yep im sure and even if that was the case there is no reason for it to be f2p status

Well let me just say it is no worse than Vindictus or Conan thats has simular controls heck with a good mouse, keyboard or a keypad such as Nostromo N52 it's just like any other mmorpg.

Sadly the writer doesn't understand the money cap.  You don't get your cap raised by paying money.  You withdraw a set amount from your escrow account where funds still accumulate.  You get a one time withdrawal for what seems to me like a pretty low amount, and that's it.

It's really really really really bad.  I can't pay 5 bucks every few days on a game that's supposed to be f2p.  It just doesn't make sense, and if they keep it like this, everyone is just going to leave again.

And the pvp glitching was going on in the ps3 version when I left as well.  I'm sure it still is too.  Another thing that ruined the game for me was how grindy it was just to get gear with slight upgrades over regular gear.  And even though the t1 was barely (and sometimes worse) than rare world finds, and t2 with very small stat improvements over t1, you still had nothing but gear elitists that wouldn't let you join a raid without meeting their gear requirements.

As a dps player, I out dps'd everyone in superior gear to mine.  Usually by 50% or higher, no joke.  It's cause I picked a good weapon and powerset combination and I knew how to play it and take advantage of damage buffs and combos.  I tried to explain this to people on the forums, but of course the gear elitists just shouted louder.

If they want to improve the game they can remove the grind and make it easier to upgrade.  I would still do the raids just for fun honestly.  At least if they would stop overtweaking every encounter to be so damn hard.  And if they'd make it so you didn't always end up in a 2v2 when you queue for next avail pvp, that would also help.

But they won't do any of this, and the game has set sail on the USS failboat.  Too bad, because there's a lot of potential in DCUO.

Originally posted by Ezhae

Now the F2P model is not bad so far. The are few issues, like stupidly low cash limit and the fact that, at least, for now free players cannot recieve items from mail even when the mail is sent by NPC, You can enjoy majority of content without paying anything. 

 

 

Just so you know they just fixed the mail bug. Freemium players now can claim mail attachments :)

And money from mail automatically goes to the wallet. 

1. Soe

2. Pay 2 Win

3. console like game

4. ??

5. profit!

Hope DC will soon take back the license not allowing Soe to do even more damage.