DCUO- will be out November 2. Can apply for beta on main site now.

[bhodi]

I want to try this game, but this thread is very 50/50 on the impressions.

Consider: we have several people already giving reviews of end game raiding. It's been out less than a week. Come back in 6 months when there's more than 2 weeks of content.

[Chinchilla]

I couldn't get into the overall gameplay or feel of the game.  Dunno why, but I just couldn't.

[Threash]

I assume this did not launch with a free trial?

[UnSub]

I assume this did not launch with a free trial?

It had a pay-for-beta, so that'd be a no.

I'd wait at least 3 months for things to settle in - there will probably be a Green Lantern expansion announced and you'll be able to see if SOE is delivering on their monthly content / quarterly major update promises. Plus you can see what the cash shop holds.

Regarding powers: my biggest bitch was that you can only have one pet out at a time, but the Gadgets / Traps (?) tree is loaded with them. It is the central line of that power tree, so if you wanted to progress you had to buy redundant powers. There never seemed any reason to use the 'lower' weapon turret if you'd got a better one, while the combat drone was weaker than the Iconic one that anyone could get.

I've seen Chris Cao out talking about how even they have less powers, they are better powers than the competitors, but DCUO is still using slightly reskinned repeat powers through a number of the trees.

[stray]

Hmm.. well, it could be that I haven't played an MMO in (years?) or that it's on the console, but the game is pretty fun actually.. not sure what the naysaying is about. It feels like CoH, but with more polish in the quests.. not to mention that it's DC, which is far cooler world than CoH was. Like all mmos there's a lot of room for improvement though..

[Khaldun]

The quests do have some pretty good storytelling polish to them. If ever there was a game that needed phasing of some kind, though, this would be it--it's pretty jarring to the storytelling that's gone on that all of what I've already done is still there, because the narrative hook is not "I have to go kill ten boars in a forest full of boars", it's "I have to stop a sinister plot/set a sinister plot in motion".

I have to say that having the Joker as a mentor on the villain side is kind of a hoot, given how great Hamill's voicing of the role is.

[Morfiend]

The servers finally stabilized in the evening and I got some solid playtime. I really enjoyed it. I like the console style combat, and the feel of the locations is well done. I leveled a villain and hero to level 5. It was really cool how the two different bases really felt different.

I am hoping to meet up with some people to play. I created a Hero on Public Enemy, and a villain on the super high population pvp server, Death and something I think. Anyway, I dont mind rerolling, but I am hoping to play on a PVP server.

[Modern Angel]

I don't really know how to react to the slowly emerging consensus that this is actually pretty fun. 

[NiX]

It had a pay-for-beta, so that'd be a no.

I got a beta key without pre-ordering.

Probably should have used it.

[Draegan]

I picked this game up and it's fun as hell.

[Kageru]

I don't really know how to react to the slowly emerging consensus that this is actually pretty fun. 

Low expectations + honeymoon period. CO was fun for a week or two as well.

[ghost]

CO would have been better with some form of PvP.  

Edit: And the developers of this game will likely not pull the Cryptic trick of "hey here's a pile of shit, don't step in it" by not improving it really at all. 

[Kageru]

Obviously not, SoE has a wonderful reputation for rapidly adding new content to their games.

[Draegan]

I don't really know how to react to the slowly emerging consensus that this is actually pretty fun. 

Low expectations + honeymoon period. CO was fun for a week or two as well.

I thought CO was dogshit when it came out.  I never liked COX.

I've played this game a lot over the last two days.

Just my perspective.

[jakonovski]

I just came back from a questing session that devolved into a giant pvp melee around a demon-infested police station in Metropolis. Fights are furious, death penalty is nonexistent and there's a repeatable quest for pvp kills. At one point I was ganking some lower level dudes and soon they all ganged up on me and beat me to a pulp. Ten minutes later there's a whole bunch of max level dudes clearing out everything. Emergent gameplay fuck yeah!

[ghost]

Obviously not, SoE has a wonderful reputation for rapidly adding new content to their games.

They have to their games that are worth a shit, e.g. Everquest 2.  Of course that's all they have right now that's any good.   Why put money into the shitty games like Vanguard?

[UnSub]

I don't really know how to react to the slowly emerging consensus that this is actually pretty fun. 

It's fun, just not in a "I want to pay $15 a month (or US$20 a month if I live in Australia) to keep playing" kind of way. I'm sure some people will, but I'll be interested in the number of F13ers who actually play the game past the first 30 days. Cao's said that the game is designed for people who play 5 - 7 hours a week, so if you've already reached max level and spend your time in PvP, that's your likely game experience for a while.

[Malakili]

I like combat, the voiceovers, the general look of the game.  Things feel more intuitive and faster than CO.  I would really be hooked on this if it had roughly 4x the content and twice the number of powers.  Its obvious this got dumbed way down for console (6 powers only at any time).  Plus, as others have said, you are much more reliant on your weapon than your powers.

I'm starting to think that cityscapes aren't the best setting for superhero games.  All the buildings are pretty, but 95% of them have nothing on top.  Its like if a standard fantasy MMO zone had 5 minute stretches of absolutely no enemies before you came to a small clump of them.  I actually think the game would be better if the cities were shrunk considerably, but more was going on everywhere.

This pretty much describes Millennium City in Champions Online, but no one heralded that as a good MMO city.   The problem is that when a city is totally busy with enemies, it sort of stops feeling like a city, its hard to justify that kind of density  of villian and still feel remotely city-like.  Its goofy to see people walking down the streets when 3 floors up in the residential district there are villains on every rooftop mulling around.

[Modern Angel]

Yeah, I guess I'm just shocked that it didn't immediately crash and burn, regardless of the longevity for MMO vets.

[Morfiend]

So, is anyone playing on a PVP server. Bloodworth, where are you? This game seems right up your ally.

[stray]

I don't really know how to react to the slowly emerging consensus that this is actually pretty fun.  

Low expectations + honeymoon period. CO was fun for a week or two as well.

I thought CO was dogshit when it came out.  I never liked COX.

I've played this game a lot over the last two days.

Just my perspective.

CoX had a better pace for the first 2 weeks it was out.. that's the CoX I was comparing this to above. I would have stuck with it longer, but for whatever reason, Statesman wanted it slowed down to typical MMO combat. Then I thought it sucked. Instead of moving away from that crap, he embraced it. They didn't set any foundation for PVP either, of course. While this game has some great ideas right off the bat, even if you're on a PvE server.

This would still be more fun though even if I didn't PvP and it had a slower pace. The button mashing is right up my alley. And all of the little cosmetic touches make it a better experience. Jim Lee is an MMO vet, just like Statesman - so there's someone who's immersed in both "genres" providing some vision for the overall feel of the game.. except he's Jim Lee. In a comic book geek fight, Jim wins.

That said, I don't exactly care about how it will develop one year from now or whatever.. I'll leave the forecasting for other people. The game is fun enough right now. I'm pretty much in the casual category, like someone mentioned above.. so maybe I'm just a good fit. I was never expecting some end-all-be-all MMO experience to replace WoW. I think that shit sucks anyways. I have two other friends who are casual as well, and this is just simple fun.. like playing any other action game online, except with more room for exploration.

[Trippy]

Jim Lee is an MMO vet, just like Statesman

No he's not.

[stray]

I think you misunderstood me.. I mean he is a vet in the sense of being a longtime fan of MMOs. That he's a guy like any of us with genuine input on the genre (rather than being in it for other reasons). And Jack Emmert was just a writer/artist like he is. I think the closest he came to actual developer experience with RPGs before City of Heroes was in pen and paper. As far as creative comparisons go though, I'm just partial to Jim Lee. I suppose I've been a fan of his art since I was a little kid. I don't think we have the tools to exactly recreate a Jim Lee universe, but it's cool that there is someone like that guiding it. Second, he has a license that's more iconic. Gliding around Gotham is fucking cool.

[UnSub]

Jim Lee is an MMO vet, just like Statesman

No he's not.

Jim Lee was an EQ addict; first player on his server to get some kind of armour or kill something big (or something - I'm not watching YouTube videos to find it).

There's a grand irony in using Lee's EQ experience - the multi-hour sessions, the hard grind he played - and use it to help somehow sell DCUO, where you can hit max level with 1 day played.

Actually, that's been genius - the number of people I've seen post, "Jim Lee is involved, he'll make sure things are done properly!" or "Jim Lee did that artwork and Marv Wolfman did the story and Mark Hamill is voicing the Joker, so this is gonna rock!" has been astounding. And makes me worry about our future as a species. But mostly astounding.

As far as creative comparisons go though, I'm just partial to Jim Lee.

As I said: This.

UPDATE: Not meant as a dig at Stray.

[stray]

No offense taken. I suppose I am in that camp, whatever it is.

Anyhow, the game is out. I don't think we have to speculate too much that having Jim Lee (and Mark Hamill for that matter) worked on some level. I've only played the lower half of levels.. both on Wonder Woman's and the Gotham side, and the atmosphere is cool at least.

[Cyrrex]

Gods dammit but I'm tempted.  Tempted!

Hey Stray, long time no see.

[Sky]

Ah, f13. You never fail to disappoint when it comes to disappointment. Make sure to set up a Bat Country chapter on a pvp server so we can add another abandoned chapter to the list!

Also, hi Stray!

[ghost]

Cao's said that the game is designed for people who play 5 - 7 hours a week, so if you've already reached max level and spend your time in PvP, that's your likely game experience for a while.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  That's about how much game time I have, and if the PvP is decent and reasonably even then they'll probably have my money for a while. 

[Nebu]

I have two friends that were long-term CoH players and both are enjoying this game a lot.  I'm sure that the shine will fade quickly, but I'm going to give it a shot with them for a month.  I'm just debating when that month will start. 

I also see no reason to play on a PvP server.  There is plenty of access to pvp on regular servers and you can opt in when you're in the mood.

[Cyrrex]

So being a naturally weak-willed individual, I just rushed out an bought this.  It apparently DOES come with 30 free days.

Anyway, I got the PC version.  Seems we should start talking about what servers we're on, no?

[Khaldun]

Trying questing as a villain on a PvP server in an area camped by heroes. Problem is that the lack of death penalty plus the speed of combat turns it into a never-ending zerg mosh pit. You barely have time to notice who you're fighting, if it's someone of your level, or whatever: it's a if red then dead sort of thing. Had a bit of a frantic-fun feeling for about five minutes and then got old fast.

Also briefly tried to do some RP'ing on the public chat as a psycho-villain, kind of a cross between Ambush Bug and the Joker. Haven't done that for years. Big mistake. Lots of "shut up fag" and "wut you doing" from 18-year olds trying to level to 30 as fast as possible.

The comparison to CO is very strong in that once you've done the content, I don't see anything at all that's going to keep this interesting, and I don't see how on earth they're going to provide content at anything but a glacial pace. Hopefully they can at least avoid Cryptic's tendency to hopelessly fuck up a newly launched product with bizarrely incompetent changes to gameplay.

One thing I really do NOT like in terms of the genre is the weapon dependency. I accidentally equipped a different weapon last night and couldn't figure out why none of my abilities were working at all--there are a lot of classic superheroes that don't seem to me to have a "weapon" focus at all.  I also wish there was at least one more mode of fast travel: I don't like the default Spider-Manishness of acrobatics, but for non-flying non-speeding characters it's the only thing you can do.

[stray]

I like acrobatics.. I started with a flight character, but this is more involved, I guess.. Plus, it's not all spider-man-ish. My favorite part is that you can glide like Batman and kind of substitute for flight, depending on how high you are.

[Draegan]

I like acrobatics.. I started with a flight character, but this is more involved, I guess.. Plus, it's not all spider-man-ish. My favorite part is that you can glide like Batman and kind of substitute for flight, depending on how high you are.

Rocket glide is even better.

As far as endgame, I'm only level 11, but there are a bunch of things you can do.  Hard mode alerts.  Gear tokens, that sort of thing.

[Stormwaltz]

Seamus Young critiques the UI.

The chat filter is brain dead. It will turn “You have to hit its head” into “You have to hi####s head”, because it thinks you said “tits”. It will turn “petition” into “pe###ion”. And it will turn “Oh hush its not that bad” into “Oh hu#####s not that bad” because it thinks you said “shit”. You can’t disable the filter. The “tits” ones comes up often, and makes a mess of the chat window.

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=10387

[ghost]

While a lot of those issues could be viewed as a problem, the game is still fun in spite of the UI.  I think the autotarget issue that he brings up is the biggest flaw I've noted so far.