While the game is still in Pre-Alpha, MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh recently sat in on a panel with some of the team behind the upcoming super-hero MMO DC Universe Online.

DC Universe Online at the SoE Fan Faire showed the same demo as shown at E3. To be fair, it has only been three weeks since E3 2009 so I did not expect any sort of update to DCUO since then. My best bet was the panel and Q&A with Jim Lee where the attendees got an insight into the creative minds of Jens Anderson, Creative Director and Wes Yanagi, Senior Producer for DC Universe Online and Jim Lee the Creative Director for DC Universe.

Wes was the first to admit that they were showing the same game play, "We're still pre-alpha," said Wes, "but we have demo slices of the game that are really fun to play." Indeed, during lulls when fans were not trying out the demo, Wes could be found playing the demo himself.

Read Fan Faire Update

Hope im  wrong but I think Champions Online will be a superior playing game.   Everyone likes their own style but for me SOE was always lacking more than others.   CO seems like a reskined improved version of COH/V which to this day has features superior to the others.  I cant believe how many people still play coh/v and how many have never stopped playing. 

  " Death mechanic? None. You get knocked out, you fail the content, but you get back on your feet. No XP loss, no repairs, just the loss of time."

Dunno why this caught me but it has bugged me.  Like Dana Massey's piece on Animation I would be happy to see DCUO move away from th standard fall foward and watch a timer. Give superheroes and super villians a finishing blow for Pete sake! Let my revive timer be worth while. Have Superman pound me across the city. A supervillian leave my defeated avatar a convulsing heap of flesh.  You can pick up trucks in this game? If my life bar is critical, make that thrown automobile collide with me and drive me into the closest object. Make us feel like Heroes / Villians!

Originally posted by Hathi

  " Death mechanic? None. You get knocked out, you fail the content, but you get back on your feet. No XP loss, no repairs, just the loss of time."

Dunno why this caught me but it has bugged me.  Like Dana Massey's piece on Animation I would be happy to see DCUO move away from th standard fall foward and watch a timer. Give superheroes and super villians a finishing blow for Pete sake! Let my revive timer be worth while. Have Superman pound me across the city. A supervillian leave my defeated avatar a convulsing heap of flesh.  You can pick up trucks in this game? If my life bar is critical, make that thrown automobile collide with me and drive me into the closest object. Make us feel like Heroes / Villians!

I think this is removed from the standard "death system" of most MMOs and very fitting of a superhero game. You get knockd out and wait 10-30 seconds to wake up. Much btter then being transported across the zone/city mysteriously and having to make your way back. being knocked out and having a little down time until you clear your head is exactly how I hoped they were going  do it. 

Another thing I have been waiting for is:

There will not be a requirement for a "mentoring" or "side-kick" scheme in DCUO. "DCUO has a much flatter leveling curve than most MMOS," said Jens. "You can still play or group with players much higher or lower in level than you and both still gain experience."

Again exactly how I was hoping it would be. I hate it when mmo's artifically augment damage/accuarcy/ based upon level. The thing that should make a level 50 better then a level 10 is the fact that they have access to more/better abilities; not nerphed based upon level.

A lot of what I have heard about the direction of the game thus far has been very positive from my perspective.

Originally posted by bverji 

I think this is removed from the standard "death system" of most MMOs and very fitting of a superhero game. You get knockd out and wait 10-30 seconds to wake up.

Excellent.  In addition to Free Realms, this is exactly what will attract those that play "shadow tag" instead of real "tag", that frown upon events or games where there is a winner and loser, where your handed a win without concept of challenge or slightly harsh consequences.

What would make it better is if there were no levels, no advanced skills or character progression, just stick-figures whereby no one feels as though someone else might have a better appearance than them.

That is a very simplistic thing to say.

Just because their is no exp loss does not make it more simple... In fact the combat could be more complex or who knows. It's clear you are already against the game. But having to take time to go level up exp that you've lost does not make a game more difficult. It's just one of many ways to make a game take more time to get through the content.

Anyway i think it sounds interesting, and CoX was decent ... so an updated version of that is not particularly a bad thing to a lot of people.

This is going to be the "IT" super hero MMO. Champions Online might have it now, but will lose it when DCUO comes out. The only competition for DCUO would be if Marvel finally made a MMO.  Can't wait to try DCUO.

To be fair I have been testing Champions Online since March 2009. Must say it is a really good game, its  a lot better than City of Heroes and City of Villains. With that said those, I'd rather crack heads in Gotham City with Batman, then in Millennium City with Defender.  I have known of Batman a lot longer then Defender.

I think that DC Comics is more iconic to most people, then Hero Games.  Hero Games has only been making Champions games since like 1982 and DC Comic has been around sinces the 1930s. I'd say there's a lot more earned respect there, when it comes to DC or Marvel for that matter. Before Champions Online I didn't even know the Champions existed , but I have known of the Justice League since I was like 5 years old. When I used to watch the Super Friends on Saturday Mornings, back in the 80's.

"I'd LOVE to tell you more about the secret identity system," Jim assured the audience, "but that would have to be another time."

Totally caught my attention. Can't wait =)

Originally posted by purewitz

This is going to be the "IT" super hero MMO. Champions Online might have it now, but will lose it when DCUO comes out. The only competition for DCUO would be if Marvel finally made a MMO.  Can't wait to try DCUO.

To be fair I have been testing Champions Online since March 2009. Must say it is a really good game, its  a lot better than City of Heroes and City of Villains. With that said those, I'd rather crack heads in Gotham City with Batman, then in Millennium City with Defender.  I have known of Batman a lot longer then Defender.

I think that DC Comics is more iconic to most people, then Hero Games.  Hero Games has only been making Champions games since like 1982 and DC Comic has been around sinces the 1930s. I'd say there's a lot more earned respect there, when it comes to DC or Marvel for that matter. Before Champions Online I didn't even know the Champions existed , but I have known of the Justice League since I was like 5 years old. When I used to watch the Super Friends on Saturday Mornings, back in the 80's.

Of course the DC IP is more recognizable. That is a given. That doesn't mean that CO might not have superior gameplay. The IP is gonna sell boxes, but people will only stay if they enjoy the gameplay. The advantage I see DC having isn't the name, it's the ability to play a villian, which Champions does not have. However, the Nemisis system is unique, just have to wait and see if it is any fun. I think this will be a close race for superhero players' dollars.

I must say the fact that they have a playable and obviously enjoying version already in pre-alpha is something really astonishing and cool. Together with the DC background this looks better with every news now. I think it can be a really great and fun game.

The only thing that DC seems to be doing better then CO is you get to make a villain at the start and there is PvP.

So who beat Wonder Woman with an ugly stick?

This is the first time I've seen anything about this game that made it seem a worthy play, other than the fact that Jim Lee was involved it just didn't spark my interest at all but the talk of the secret id system is interesting which is going to help the super hero genre immensely and Champions is losing out I think by making people play heros exclusively.  But the art for this game finally looks good and there seems to be some depth I'm not totally sold yet but will definitely keep an eye out for it now.

Lower levels can party with higher levels and get the same experience? So higher levels can take lowbies to endgame maps and powerlevel them to the cap in like one day or less? Wow these people are stupid.

Originally posted by Terranah

So who beat Wonder Woman with an ugly stick?

That would be Jim Lee.  I agree, I don't like her looking like Super B***ch. I think that is his view of her being strong and tough.

I wish he would have remembered that she is supposed to be one of the most beautiful heroes in the DCU.

I remember reading an article stating PVP was going to be mission instances.  When I read this article and I thought of something that would be a really great idea for instances and PVE players who would like a change of scenario even though they are doing the same mission instances over and over.  When ever a Super Hero or Villian player(s) does a mission instance, have the main "Bad Guy(s)" or "Good Guy(s)" be the last player(s) who did the mission.  The computer AI will take over player's avatar(s) and use those powers assigned to him/her/them at the time that player(s) was in the mission instance.  I know this might take alot of programming and coding but it would be really sweet to have mission instances like this especially for end game content.  No two instances will be the same and no player will know what to expect during each mission instance.  Now that would be Heroically Villianous!       

Originally posted by Manchine

The only thing that DC seems to be doing better then CO is you get to make a villain at the start and there is PvP.

Lets not forget about the combat system and the way the game plays out. Combat has become the meat and potatoes of every MMORPG lately. If the game isn't fun to play it doesn't matter what "features" it has.

When the smoke clears everyone will see that one of these games is being developed with quality and fun in mind, while the other one is being shoved out the door with little to no regard for fun and polish.

Why does Wonder Woman look like a very ugly Drag Queen.  It looks like a quarterback dressed up in a Wonder Woman outfit.

Originally posted by junzo316

Why does Wonder Woman look like a very ugly Drag Queen.  It looks like a quarterback dressed up in a Wonder Woman outfit.

LOL Now that made my day. Thank you, sir or madam.

I like the thought of a secret identity system.   Something where you might have to travel around as a non-super hero persona to gather information and interact with the city.  That would really shake things up a bit as long as it wasn't over board. 

Not sure if that is how it will play out though.  I really fear that it will be something like a twisted faction system that your character has to maintain in order to do something or keep their identity safe.  Ugh that would be hell.

Originally posted by junzo316

Why does Wonder Woman look like a very ugly Drag Queen.  It looks like a quarterback dressed up in a Wonder Woman outfit.

They are demonstrating the secret identity system in DCUO. Wonder Woman is supposed to be a Darkfall character

 I'm looking forward to hearing the details of their Secret Identity system.   The game still sounds pretty interesting though I am curious about how they're going to explain all the new superheroes/villains showing up on Earth.