Their total investment in Star Wars is approaching $500 million, according to the last paragraph here.

Keep in mind, that doesn't mean purely on development, and most likely considers licensing, marketing, and other non-direct costs on getting the game out.

Still, EA better hope this thing does well, and that the broker pull-back today is just a knee-jerk reaction.

Well, I played the game for 9 months (mainly due to lack of options--- after 6 1/2 years in CoH and 5 years in WoW, I was done with both games; and CO never held me for too long).

I gave my opinion in another thread.

Your milage may vary.

Originally posted by uohaloran

I didn't find there to be enough of a difference between this and City of Heroes and CoH has more overall content than DCUO being the older game.  The combat was neat at first but lost it's luster with me really fast.

Also, I find that gear really didn't have much place in a super hero game unless your character has some sort of technology background and was used as more of a treadmill in DCUO.  Dunno if that changed later.

I played before F2P, so I'm going to chime in and say that no--- it doesn't change.

SOE took a cute little fight-game style combat engine, then tossed it into the same-ol/same-ol themepark questing and endgame gear grind MMO design.

Even at a very casual pace, the longest it took me to get to level cap was 12 days. From that point forward, it was run the same instances over and over again for gear marks (average of 1-3 marks per instance, depending upon solo, duo, or alert; with 400 needed for a complete teir set).

There are like 8 Solo Challenges (all but 2 of them are just level 30 versions of boss-fight missions you did while leveling), 7 Duos (1 of which is just a two-person version of a solo challange, and several others are just 2 person versions of leveling boss-fights), and 6 or so Alerts (not counting ones that require the full T1 set before doing-- like R'as or the new Lantern Alerts).

So you are running them a lot.  And many of them are just increased difficulty for stuff you did while leveling. Not even new or original engame content (literally).

All MMOs have endgame, run-the-same-content-grind. However, a casual will never reach that point in less than 2 weeks like in DCUO.  Also, very, very few MMOs just reuse leveling instances, up the difficulty to level-cap, and toss it out claiming "new content" like SOE does in DCUO.

To new F2P'ers that want to keep playing, I would suggest buying the Green Lantern DLC for $10 and bumping to Premium, then just riding the game for free unless something shiny catches your eye in the cash shop.

Unlike in LoTRO, C-Store items can only be gained through real life cash n Champions Online.

*Shrug*

I gave DCUO several tries already (6 1/2 months total out of its first 9 months). I'll just stick with my current MMO.

Originally posted by galphar

I'm not skeptical about DCUO, I know it is a dead game on the PC. It's good for the PS3 crowd who only play 1-2hrs a day. But the real MMO players that frequent here know it sucks. No amount of "free" content is going change how fast you level and how easy the "end-game" is.  SOE has gotten all the $$$$ they can from the loyal DCUO players with the DLC and now are releasing it for free. Bet that makes all those who paid for it real happy.

Get your facts straight . . . there has been NO charge for the DLC to anyone.

No one. None. Zip.

Not only a heck of a lot more random lag spikes, but also a heck of a lot more DC'ing.

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The PvP is full of people that use 3rd party programs to hack the game files and do incredible amounts of damage without any animations showing.

Basically-- all the cheaters and exploiters that the DCUO forums (again) errupted into flames over this evening.

If you want PvP, honestly-- go somewhere else. A lot of the remaining, non-cheating community on my server won't touch Legends or Arena PvP anymore due to the hackers.

Oh, and SOE has refused to ban any of the guilty parties, even when full Fraps videos and Combat logs are submitted showing instance after instance of it happening.

Originally posted by Daffid011

I'm not saying anything is Mark Andersons fault as he is walking into something that is already a total mess.  However he isn't going to be some miracle worker that is going to turn the game around, because he has replaced Chris Cao.  Most of the problems in DCU are already set in stone and will never change.

While Andersons post count may be low, Deadmeat has only posted 3 times since Cao left.  Again I don't think much is changing from SOE in terms of communication.  There will be spurts of communication followed by the typical information blackouts that have plagued the game.  SOE is terrible with communication and much of that is intentional.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing with you. I mean, sure, I like some of the small changes on test like the 6 new body types or the quest journal reorganization . . . but if it wasn't for the wife, my butt would be planted in Champions and not even be patching DCUO. I'd had the thing uninstalled, even.

So, yeah, my participation in DCUO begins, and ends, with the wife. Once she gets tired of it . . . I'm gone, again.

Originally posted by Daffid011

I don't really agree that the communication has improved.  Replacing Cao was really just a confidence move for the players.  Someone had to take the fall for DCU and Cao was that person.   Mark Anderson should be posting all over the forums to give players confidence that he is going to make things right.  So far he has 12 total posts and all of them are replies to existing topics.  I would have expected any new developer to first and formost work on a state of the game address and detail a plan of action to correct the games issues. 

Are most of the players left happier with the game than the entire populace was 3/4 months ago, I suppose.  Yet I don't think there really is an overall level of satisfaction with the game.  The server mergers are holding a lot of hope for the small amount of players still left, but I do not think it is going to resolve the games issues in a way that the remaining players think it will.  Server mergers are a temporary fix to declining popuation.

Lastly, Mark Anderson was not the driving force behind the DCU combat system.  He has stated it serveral times that the combat engine team created the system and it wasn't a product of his efforts. 

 

This all leads back to the original point of what can Mark Anderson do to turn the game around now that he is in charge?  He has a smaller staff and a smaller budget.  He has all the problems that previously existed on top of meeting the monthly content promise, filling a cash shop with items, creating miniexpansions for sale, merging all the servers into a new phased single server architecture all the while trying to retain the remaining players and try to attract new subscribers. 

Was Chris Cao really preventing all that from happening and replacing him with the Art Director really going to resolve those issues?

 

It is nice to see a face that isn't Chris Cao, but I don't really think there is much a change of leadership can do for fixing DCU. 

There won't be any significant changes to DCUO. I can't say that is a fault of Anderson, though, as much as SOE. The company let go 1/3 of their entire staff, including people from DCUO, just a few months ago. And yes, no doubt that game is on a much smaller team and budget, nowadays. Not to mention, as a friend that actually does MMO programming told me-- programing for the customized Unreal engine that DCUO uses, is more time consuming than programming for a more tradiional MMO engine.

Likewise with Anderson's post count. He isn't the top guy in charge of the game. Deadmeat is above him, and Lorrin inturn answers to others. What they say, how much, and often times "when" is controlled by SOE. That company puts a strangle hold on its people to the point of stupidity.

Monthly Updates-- I was pissed about that. But that's John Smedley for you. Read what he says, expect the opposite. I fell for it. I, especially due to my history with SOE, should have known better.

As Is said, I have Champions for my real super-hero MMO play. I have DCUO to play with the wife, since she enjoys it.

Am I totally convinced it is worth $15/mo yet? 

Nope. Not completely, yet.

Am I convinced doing something with the wife that she enjoys is worth $15/mo?

Yep.

Originally posted by gt4980b

Originally posted by Beauman

The Live servers are in even worse shape the past (almost) week, as the Test Server is up with the Megaservers, Update 4, all the game's changes, and so forth. So, a lot of the (remaining) population is playing on there.

I don't have a subscription there right now, but have been keeping an eye on the forums. We have a 16 month old, and the wife misses playing MMOs with me. Her preference is DCUO, since it is quick and easy, something especially good for having the little guy around the house (especially since he still doesn't sleep more than 3-4 hours at a pop). She still has her 45 days free (one must claim it by August 31st, or lose it), and we're probably just waiting for what's on Test to go Live before going back.

Honestly, though? DCUO is just something I'll play with her. For me, I'll remain in Champions with my SG and friends when she can't play. DCUO had their chance to gain me as a loyal player, Cao blew it. Mark Anderson has a long way to go to fix what Cao did to the game.

I kept saying the game would improve post Cao.  EQ2 and SWG all improved after he left.  And since he left, the game has gotten better.  The devs communivate more.  The updates are more frequent.  And marketing is finally taking the cuffs off the producers/directors.

I think DCUO can make a turn around.  It has a lot of problems, population being a huge one.  Even the devs have admitted that.  But at its core, it has more potential than CO and COH.  It needs to find the right business model for it and get the tighter systems under their belt.

While I never thought I would be saying this, I can't disagree with what you said. Mark Anderson seems to be on the right path. I have some friends that still play and are on Test Server, and a lot of the changes and additions seem to be in the right direction.

Now, granted, I am not a fan of Fight for the Light being a DLC at this point in the game's lifespan. It's too early, with the game still being a mess. They should have held off until maybe January for a DLC, and given the new team time to further fix the game more, add more content updates, and show that they are actually trying to fix the issues Cao stuck them with.

I won't lie, I've been in MMOs for 12 years, so I've grown used to certain things being in a game. It's one reason I'll still play Champions. At the same time, I would not want DCUO to become a "Champions or CoX". I'd rather see it build upon what it is: a Super-Hero Action MMO. Champions offers a lot of the features I am used to in an MMO, but DCUO is, in all honestly, more fun.

It will never replace what I look for in a full MMO, but it is starting to win me over for the type of game that it is trying to be. And much more the case lately, DCUO is a better fit for the less time we have to play in a week. There is no way we could schedule a game like WoW or Rift into our daily lives anymore.

The wife prefers DCUO over CO (we were both 6 years CoX vets, too). She pointed out to me last night what I said above: the game play is fun, and the super-casual nature is a perfect fit for our current lives. We're both interested in SWTOR, but question if we have the "real time" for it.

The Live servers are in even worse shape the past (almost) week, as the Test Server is up with the Megaservers, Update 4, all the game's changes, and so forth. So, a lot of the (remaining) population is playing on there.

I don't have a subscription there right now, but have been keeping an eye on the forums. We have a 16 month old, and the wife misses playing MMOs with me. Her preference is DCUO, since it is quick and easy, something especially good for having the little guy around the house (especially since he still doesn't sleep more than 3-4 hours at a pop). She still has her 45 days free (one must claim it by August 31st, or lose it), and we're probably just waiting for what's on Test to go Live before going back.

Honestly, though? DCUO is just something I'll play with her. For me, I'll remain in Champions with my SG and friends when she can't play. DCUO had their chance to gain me as a loyal player, Cao blew it. Mark Anderson has a long way to go to fix what Cao did to the game.

Originally posted by eddieg50

I bought the boxed version of DC online and when downloading they asked me to make a Sony station name or something like that , I ignored that and just started playing, played for awhile then stopped, then I heard that sony was giving 45 days free but when I tried to cash in I found I could not because I did not make a station name under DConline,  Now i have a station name with Vanguard but apparently it does not include DC- that sucks

The 45 days is for all SOE games, providing you had a game account for "game-x" prior to the hack and May 2011 blackout. For example, my SOE account has SWG, EQ2, and DCUO . . . all activated before May 2011. Now, although I have not had a subscription with Eq2 or SWG in several years on that station account, I still have 45 days sitting there-- as I was once a player in those games before May 2011.

If you just now bought and activated DCUO, you should not be getting the 45 days, as your DCUO game play wasn't affected by the May 2011 hack. So, as far as I know, that 45 days is only for all accounts, active or inactive, that existed before the May hack.

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Originally posted by Ceridith

Well... it's refreshing that Smed seems to actually 'get it' now... shame it took so long.

No, he doesn't.

Just go look at DCUO.

It's the same song and dance he's been spouting off on since 2006 in interviews.

Originally posted by Nirvy

I'd like to change my vote back to CoX. I am back!

DC was fun, but its no MMO, its just a fun Action game that other people tend to play. They have not added content, the UI is still a PS3 UI, it was recently down for weeks along with Sony giving my credit card details to hackers.

I was max level in DC in days, there is a serious lack of any content at all, to be honest i had done most of it in under a month, and just played hoping they would add something, or ANY content!

Its also on Life support now, the PS3 server is jam packed, however the PC servers are completely dead, you can go a whole night seeing maybe 1 or 2 people, and due to the chat system is seems even emptier.

 

Shame, it had potential, but Sony blew it big time. Its actually a relief to get back into CoX and start a new Char on the Rogue expansion! :)

I agree with all your points. I returned to CoX 3 weeks ago when the Going Rogue expansion was $15.00 on Steam.