MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh attended the recent SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas. While there, she got some hands-on time with DC Universe Online. Today, she shares her impressions of the game.

The Panel at the SoE FanFaire was titled "Something to do with Capes?" No prizes for guessing what this one was about. Creative Director Jens Andersen, Senior Producer Wes Yamasagi and Studio Creative Director Chris Cao were on hand to talk about DC Universe Online in this packed room at the SoE FanFaire in Las Vegas.

"Rule or Save the World", is the motto of DC Universe Online and players are invited to walk into the DC Universe as a Super Hero and align themselves with the heroes or as a Super Villain, aligning themselves with the villains of the DC Comics Universe. Billed as an action MMOG, there's no auto-attack, no waiting for timers or sitting around waiting for bars to fill. The death mechanic is instant re-spawn with all of your health and power replenished. No potion clicking, graveyards, tombstones or corpses to recover. No running back to your spandex covered body and trying to drag it out of range of the mob camping it, begging someone for a teleport.

Read it all here.

good to hear from someone not actually on the dev team - sounds promising. This review really makes me want to try it out.

Liked CYA-repetition of "This is only in Alpha stage."

I'm very tempted to go out and buy that PS3. wonder if there'll be another price drop before this launches.

It looks interesting but thats all I can say right.  I don't know if I will like the first person shooter aspect of it or not.  I will try it though.

Originally posted by themilton

good to hear from someone not actually on the dev team - sounds promising. This review really makes me want to try it out.

Liked CYA-repetition of "This is only in Alpha stage."

 

I'm very tempted to go out and buy that PS3. wonder if there'll be another price drop before this launches.

  There was already a price drop on the 80mb to $399.00 .  The PS3 has lost over 3 billion dollars , I doubt that you will see another price drop. They are going to need the DC heroes to save them.

I think I'll be passing on this one.

I've heard alot of good reviews, blogs, and podcasts of this game so far. I thought this would be a repeat of COH but from the sounds of it, its alot different and the ability to interact with the enviroment sounds interesting to say the least.

lol they put Jestor Rodo in the game.

i am a little woried about on ly getting xp from mission completion,thats one of the things i didnt like about DDO grind is grind, and switching the mob grind to quest grin really doesnt help , as a matter of fact mission grinda can be more tedious,sence the fast missions give you less xp and longer harder misions give you more xp, so you have to group to get the extra xp,soooo when the game you love starts to die, your just SOL,this of course is just a thought and it may not actually hapen with this game, but thats what could hapen if its notdone to ensure that you can solo when no one else is available or you just dont feal like grouping

Originally posted by Vanive

lol they put Jestor Rodo in the game.

 I offered to play as a guest villain to SOE for pay but I have not heard a word from SOE. You would think that they would jump all over that. But then again I would probably find a way to be invincible and you know that the Devs would just love to once again game ban for all time for that infraction.

The only thing informative that came out of that review was that PS3 and PC players will be on the same server.  Hopefully we're not going to see any targeting tinkering ala Shadowrun.  And if they do implement that, they better not tell the PC crowd...

Not another casual lite solo quest grinder... jeez...

btw, this is a self stated ACTION game....

This site is for mmoRPGs right?

With the slow death of the mmoRPG, this site needs to rename itself or whatever. Its gettin stupid.

Before we go any further, I will remind readers that the game is still in the Pre-Alpha state. Things can, and will change.

NOPE THEY SAID IT, THEY CANNOT CHANGE ANYTHING. /EPIC FAIL

Originally posted by grimfall

Before we go any further, I will remind readers that the game is still in the Pre-Alpha state. Things can, and will change.

NOPE THEY SAID IT, THEY CANNOT CHANGE ANYTHING. /EPIC FAIL

  Pre -Alpha does not stop them from pretending that its post beta .  They are marketing it looks like its good to go but for those who know SOE is good to no!

Originally posted by JestorRodo

Originally posted by themilton

good to hear from someone not actually on the dev team - sounds promising. This review really makes me want to try it out.

Liked CYA-repetition of "This is only in Alpha stage."

 

I'm very tempted to go out and buy that PS3. wonder if there'll be another price drop before this launches.

 

  There was already a price drop on the 80mb to $399.00 .  The PS3 has lost over 3 billion dollars , I doubt that you will see another price drop. They are going to need the DC heroes to save them.

 

 

 

You are not a source of information.You are an annoyance.

The Joker in that screen shot is awful, really really awful. It looks like they've reskinned SWG engine models.

I can tell easily that they are combining Tabula Rasa and CoV. I have played both, enjoyed both. There is a reason these games are ranked 5, and 6, they are unique in their own right and offer something well built and engaging.

I have been very much looking forward to this game more than any other. And I am happy to see they have an interesting platform. I am especially pleased to see that villains will be a focus as much as heroes if I am reading into it correctly. I wonder if by the references that vigilantes will be a third faction of alignment? That would be really great.

Why do I think this will be successful, or at least on my purchase list?

The fact that skill will matter...

The fact that cover will matter...

The fact that the environment is destructable and interactive...

The fact that farming enemies will not matter...

These are all good things that will offer an alternative to harvesting and farming that all the other MMO's force on players. I like the direction that they are taking. It is meant to be something different, and it sounds quite well conceived.

This does not sound like a mindless game where you spend hours clicking buttons while watching TV. Nor does it sound like a game where there are inexplicable endless numbers of bots standing around waiting to be killed. It would be really nice to have a challenge where tactics are involved, and some sense to planning besides farming for the best gear then hacking away to the end.

I wonder if, by the time this makes Open Beta, I will have the necessary hardware to even get 5 FPS? AoC ate my poor computer for breakfast. I can only imagine what another 2 years of graphics card innovations will do.

DCUO sounds interesting at this point, but I'm interested to see how it plays from the start, not from whatever point they've been playing the demos from.

One thing I see as being a big issue is PvP in being able to turn opponents into blocks of ice (and other things) and throw them. If you can do damage this way, or find a way to chain it so your opponent can't ever attack... well, I just can't see PvP working in that instance very well.

  SOE have the edge in DC online.  Its has far better and well recognised super heroes and villains, in fact DC IP has the best well known super heroes and villains period. The Champions IP lives in the shadows of the DC IP. I'm willing to bet SOE win this race over Cryptic for subs in the latest generation of super hero MMO as most players will prefer the super hero/villain world the DC IP can offer. It's just more immersive and appealing to be in a DC universe period!

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Originally posted by dethgar
The Joker in that screen shot is awful, really really awful. It looks like they've reskinned SWG engine models.

---

Yeah I would agree with you on this. Someone needs to do a side by side comparison of both.

Plus did they just leave the gym? Are they flexing their lats from a good back workout or something?

Sony is going to hose this up like every IP they have touched.

Originally posted by Opticaleye

Originally posted by JestorRodo

Originally posted by themilton

good to hear from someone not actually on the dev team - sounds promising. This review really makes me want to try it out.

Liked CYA-repetition of "This is only in Alpha stage."

 

I'm very tempted to go out and buy that PS3. wonder if there'll be another price drop before this launches.

 

  There was already a price drop on the 80mb to $399.00 .  The PS3 has lost over 3 billion dollars , I doubt that you will see another price drop. They are going to need the DC heroes to save them.

 

 

 

 

You are not a source of information.You are an annoyance.

   And your point ?  But the information  is true  and if  I annoy you  well lets just say thats why I have a smile on my face.  Put on a Happy Face~!

-- Carolyn Koh needs to work on her writing a bit.  She shows promise, but there were some very awkward sentences in there, and she hasn't mastered flow.

-- My principal worry is that releasing for both the PC and PS-whatever will require dumbing down the game so that it can be played with an ordinary game controller.  That places severe limits on how the game can be played--that is, what players can do, how they can interact with the environment and each other.  Console games, limited by their input devices, aren't very good at MMO games for that very reason.  I might just have to take a pass on this as well.

Lets put it this way, DCUO better get rave reviews and a clean slate for like 6 months to a year before I'll even consider looking at it! My faith in SOE is at nil at this point! Plus the fact that the game is dumbed down for the PS3 is a major check against it in my book they should slit up the different platform to different servers.

this looks close to the mark. I agree that quest EXP could be a big bummer. Forced grouping in any way will make or break a game for me. I hate elites and quests that require a group to finish, I love that you can group, I just don't want to be forced into it.

Holy Crap! I was actually in that conference room durring the SOE fanfaire! Pavillion 3 if my memory serves me correct! But yah, had no idea there was an mmorpg representative there at the time.

I must say though that the 3 dev team members of DC Universe were probably the coolest, most layed back, awesome guys out of all the devs. All the EQ guys were stuck up with no personality, kind of cocky to say the least. EQ1 and EQ2.

Originally posted by mrprogguy

-- Carolyn Koh needs to work on her writing a bit.  She shows promise, but there were some very awkward sentences in there, and she hasn't mastered flow.

-- My principal worry is that releasing for both the PC and PS-whatever will require dumbing down the game so that it can be played with an ordinary game controller.  That places severe limits on how the game can be played--that is, what players can do, how they can interact with the environment and each other.  Console games, limited by their input devices, aren't very good at MMO games for that very reason.  I might just have to take a pass on this as well.

Did you read the article?  Only 4 active and 4 reactive abilities going into any mission so ... it's already dumbed down if you only get to use 4 powers.  It's going to be a glorified Marvel Ultimate Alliance...  / ' :