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DC Universe: Fan Faire Hands-On
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.
Before we go any further, I will remind readers that the game is still in the Pre-Alpha state. Things can, and will change.
;)
Character Customization
There are no base classes in DCUO. In character customization, players will customize their look, but certain combinations will not be allowed as players may not create a superhero duplicate (no SuparManz running around). Players can choose to hide or display any equipment slot on their character. So if you happen to pick up an uber shoulder item which just clashes horribly with the rest of your outfit, you can hide it. Apart from the visual setup, a player will customize four stats: Power, Power Source, Movement Mode and Origin.
Power - this is your super power. This runs the gamut of the various elements such as fire, ice, wind, light (laser, infra red) to mental (telekinesis), atomic (radiation), weather and martial arts. I'm sure there must be sound in there as well.
Power Source - this is how you wield your power, which can be through weapons such as dual pistols, mace, dual maces, sword, thrown weapons, etc. or your bare hands. Yes, you can shoot fire charged bullets from a pistol or fire balls from your bare hands.
Movement Mode - only three were mentioned at this time, and they are: acrobatics, flight and super speed. All movement moves provide a boost in speed and allows a player to surmount some obstacles. For example, acrobatics might allow you to scale the side of a building, flight allows you to fly up and to the top of a building, super speed allows you to run up the side of a building. Each movement mode also has a speed component for ease of travel.
Origin - this is the basis of your power. A player selects between Magic, Meta and Tech. i.e. Magical like Shazam, Metahuman like Superman and Technical, like gadget using Lex Luthor.
As an example, to build a Nightwing-like character, you could choose Martial Arts, Staff, Acrobatics and Tech. For a Hawkman-like character, you could choose Martial Arts, Single Mace, Flight and Meta.
The World
The journey in DC Universe Online is a Hero's Journey. Players will travel through various stories set in the DC world. They will meet different characters from the DC Universe, but they will always travel back to Gotham and Metropolis, perhaps to rest, or perhaps in their times of need. Maybe Metropolis is being attacked by an army of robots and your aid is required. Then you will be sent out into the universe again to complete yet another part of the Hero's Journey.
Instancing will be based on the story encounter itself or PvP and players are always given a choice as to whether or not they wish to engage. There was talk of lairs and secret identities, but at this time, little information disseminated.
Character Development, Combat & Gameplay
There is no base class and abilities can be switched out of the macro bar/face buttons. Players can choose the abilities they wish to level and gear stats will stack on top of them. This is an action MMOG and every action and reaction will have a cool down period, but players won't be sitting around waiting for their health and power bars to regenerate. They regenerate very quickly, and there will be abilities that are available to buff or replenish these bars. XP isn't gained by killing mobs. They are gained by completing objectives, and every encounter may have one or more objectives. Each time you complete an objective, you get XP. When the XP bar fills, you gain points to spend on your abilities. That "Ding!" when your XP bar fills definitely sounds like the "Ding!" in EverQuest. Each and every time I heard it through out the FanFaire weekend, my little EQ geek heart leapt in response.
A player selects four Active and Reactive abilities to take into an encounter. The active abilities are accessed through the face buttons on the PS3 controller, or buttons 1 - 4 on the keyboard. The reactive abilities are those that auto-fire, such as block or evade. All abilities have a cool down time, some lasting split seconds, some more powerful ones have longer cool-downs, so you just might want to pause a second until your defensive skills come back up again before you engage one of Braniac's robots, for example. Everyone though, will be able to pick up a car and hurl it, just because it's cool. However, the larger and heavier objects will require beefed up "Weaponization" ability to handle.
DCUO will use the "dead reckoning system" or aiming instead of dice rolls. Accuracy mechanics will work with the system. The farther away you are, the more objects in your path will all affect your chances of hitting your target, as will your weapon. If you are using a ranged weapon, being too close to your target will also affect your effectiveness.
Players can be heroes or villains and there are PvE as well as PvP instances available for play. A "vigilante" track of quests will be available, but players will not be able to change their base alignments. There aren't any plans for "mounts" or vehicles at this time. Players will not be able to fly a plane like Wonder Woman or drive a Batmobile look alike at launch. Players will monetize through body loot. Stuff you pick up from the mobs you neutralize and take to a fence for your shekels to buy items to improve your equipment. Hero players will have a "Prize Agent" rather than a fence, I would assume, but the principal is the same. Pick up those rat tails young padawan, and sell them.
Group combat is very much like what you expect from the comic books or Saturday morning cartoons. Players with different powers will work as much in a team as individuals, utilizing their powers to best neutralize the different types of threats that can be found in a team mission. Super heroes divide and conquer.
Jens Andersen had a lovely example of what a team could do together. A player with ice power freezes an enemy into a block of ice and stuns it. Team member 2 with electricity charges the object and Tem member 3 with weaponization picks it up and hurls it at the enemy.
Platform Differences
DCUO is designed for both the PS3 and the PC. All gamers will interact in the same world and a PS3 controller and keyboard/mouse set up can be hooked up on either machine and used interchangeably. Each have their own distinct user interface and they switch as each input device is handled. Tooltips are plentiful and simple. When you move close enough to an object that can be interacted with, it changes color and the outline glows. An icon showing the face button or mouse button to press appears.
On the PS3 controller, the left analog stick controls direction and right analog stick controls the camera, and hence the aim. On the mouse/keyboard setup, the WASD buttons control direction and the mouse controls the camera. Where you point your character is where you aim, this is a 3rd person action game and the camera does not follow "over the shoulder" which was a little disconcerting for me. It may be due to unfamiliarity with the PS3 controller, but I managed to bump my camera a few times while accessing the face buttons for my skills, and I'm reminded yet again that this is Pre-Alpha. Things may yet change, and I would much prefer to see the both bottons on the mouse to run and move the mouse for direction with a fixed camera for the keyboard / mouse set up. The current slice of the game looks great and plays well, but the game is still in pre-Alpha. Controls and the GUI will be improved upon.
;)
Tooltips in game are plentiful and similar for both systems. When you approach an object you can interact with, such as a parking meter that you can yank out of the ground and throw, the object will change color and the outline will glow. A tooltip also flashes. The O button on the PS3 controller, the Left mouse button on the keyboard / mouse set up. Access the proper button and your character will perform the action, yanking the parking meter out of the ground and brandishing it over head in preparation for the throw.
Conclusion
So what did I think of it? I found the game engaging in this pre-Alpha playable slice. SoE does have Jim Lee and his team of talented artists behind the art in the game so it really feels like you're walking into the DC comic book world. During the presentation, the mic was passed back and forth between Jens Andersen and Chris Cao, with Jens often saying, "Okay this question has to be answered by the MMO guy." As a combination third person action shooter plus MMOG, DCUO does look exciting, but only time will tell. How will complexity be handled? Will four abilities be enough? Will there be a need to access several sets of face buttons or 1 - 10 number keys worth of abilities for boss mobs? How complex will the interface become?
The potential for a superb game is certainly there and the early start looks promising. Very promising. With the talent evident behind this game, SoE may have found the winning combination, to a great action oriented MMOG that will have broad appeal across many audiences.
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.
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
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
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!
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!
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.
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.
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... / ' :
On the other hand Cryptic has an edge in that it can change the Champions IP at will any in almost any way it wants. In fact CO will be the campaign setting for 6th Ed Hero. SOE can't do that. SOE will have to live up to an estabished setting with minimal modifications and that won't be easy. And what happens if DC has another mega-world-altering crossover? Will SOE have to change or will they insist that crossover not happen? With DCO I see two big egos trying to work together and I see it causing big problems. At least Steve Long (creator of Champions) is more reasonable when it comes to changes. Viper (in Champions) can have an origin in an ancient snake god or be secretly run by an alien AI. Hive (in DC) is stuck being whatever Hive is now. Co has more flexibility which gives it the upper hand. Once people see DCO's disconnect with the comics people will loose interest.
To make a compairson, consider what happens when a book is translated into a movie. It's not always successful.
Eh, personally there is only two people out of all of the DC comics I consider the best, the others can go take a tube of kryptonite and shove it up their arse.
The two I'm talking about is Batman and the Joker, they are, to me, the two most unique characters in comics.
And yeah... The style used for the joker looks good on paper, but my god that is hideous in any other spectrum, and Harley Quinn looks like some mad old hag. God, I'd rather see the style used in the animated batman cartoons, the classic one, and the newer cartoon version, where he came complete with a straight-jacket and wild hair. Both of those versions would translate better to 3D in my opinion.
Hm..ok.. This does not sound like a mmoRPG to me. and well they said it them selfs..its a mmoG .
Probaly will be a great casual game but not the type of game that will be big.
This whole instance and going back tot he city thing makes me feel that its a game were you get into a room (city?) and make a team to do the story driven mish.
Its fairly the same system as CO has (or CO has the same as them) but CO seems to become way more Complex (powers/skills) and far more a mmoRPG style game then DC.
EDIT: oh and I totaly disagree whit the "soe has a edge cource DC is more populair" DC is known for its super duper mega I know it all hero's .
This is what manny people like but also manny hate.
I personaly would never wana play along side Superman or batman.
To people who think that hardcore mmo's can't / don't work on consoles: please take a look at FF11.
And that was on the PS2...
FF11 isnt a great example, its a hardcore grindfest and thats it, otherwise its standard MMORPG through and through.
This game is, as stated. more like Marvel Ultimate Alliance and such, so it would be handled a little differently than that game.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure SOE wont put an 18+hr boss fight in DC Online :P
The Joker is ruining this game for me. He doesn't look like a damn human being. They really need to fix him. Looks utterly terrible.
Cryptics Champions Online is going to be much better then this.
Yeah only 4 active seems a little boring. I really hope we will see at last a combo system to make this powers even more powerful or change them into something different.