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

[Triforcer]

A shardless game?  How is that even possible unless you are designing Gotham to be the size of a small country?  And if you do that, and less people play, isn't that a problem too?  

Or do they mean they are using that dimensional zone bullshit from AoC?  Hai guyz, everyone is standing on X but it takes 20 minutes to get us all in the same VERSION of X!

EDIT:  wanted to say I am still more excited about this game than SWTOR or STO.  At least DCUO is trying to be an MMO, not a single-player game where you and your ten AI-generated group members pew pew away in your own private instance. 

[Lantyssa]

Guild Wars has one server, potentially many instances.  Usually only a few because people are so spread out, but during holiday events there can be hundreds of districts.

The question is how many per.  Guild Wars can hold quite a few people in one.  AoC not so much, which still has servers on top of it.  CoX is kind of a middle ground between the two.

[Triforcer]

Meh.  I don't like the district model, particularly for PvP.  Unless there is a "scent dimensional trail" ability to follow people, that would be  

I am glad we are going to see PvP servers though.  I don't like STO's PvP model, which sounds like it will be a tiny sandbox of neutral zone PvP amidst a giant PvE game.  

Also, teleporting foes into one-shotting guards is of course of a must. 

[Triforcer]

schild, you should have started a DCUO fansite.

http://www.dcuosource.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47:deathstryker&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=56

[schild]

I don't understand.

[Triforcer]

He was just some guy with a website, and now he has a job IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY.  He's the next Lum! 

[schild]

You don't follow f13 very closely.

[Triforcer]

Wait, what?  Off to the front page once I googe its URL. 

[schild]

I should totally try to get a job in the gaming industry, you're right.

[rattran]

I should totally try to get a job in the gaming industry, you're right.

You filthy sellout!

[Yegolev]

Once you do, schild, be sure to pad your payroll with friends and relatives.

[Signe]

I should totally try to get a job in the gaming industry, you're right.

Wait.  Didn't you just get a job in the gaming industry?     How many do you need?

[tmp]

Imagine if having a fan site about a celebrity could land you a job as their personal fluffer.

[Triforcer]

Where does he work?  His Linkedin page doesn't have anything new.  I'm honestly confused here.  Is he a WoW developer? 

[Lantyssa]

I'll give you a hint.  It's somewhere under the MMO Discussion forum, and it's not in Eve.

[Sky]

And he lives in Austin.

[UnSub]

No sub fees for DCUO, cross compatible servers between the PC and PS3. Or so it is claimed.

In a surprising move, Wes confirmed that not only will there be no subscription fee for DC Universe Online, but that the game will feature completely platform-open servers; this means the servers will be cross-compatible between the PS3 and PC versions, no matter where you play.  While this is all well and good, Yanagi neglected to elaborate on the means through which the game will be making its money.  Whether it ends up with a Free Realms-esque microtransaction service or a more Guild Wars-inspired system of free play supported by numerous paid expansions, we’ll do our best to keep you updated as time goes by.

[Evildrider]

Imagine if having a fan site about a celebrity could land you a job as their personal fluffer.

Time to start my Scarlett Johansson website.

[Kageru]

Probably a very reasonable decision when you want to pull in a massive number of console gamers who are probably more comfortable with micro-transactions. I can easily imagine them being lobby / mission based as well to keep the action up, grouping informal and the cost of servers down.

[Venkman]

No sub fees for DCUO, cross compatible servers between the PC and PS3. Or so it is claimed.

In a surprising move, Wes confirmed that not only will there be no subscription fee for DC Universe Online, but that the game will feature completely platform-open servers; this means the servers will be cross-compatible between the PS3 and PC versions, no matter where you play.  While this is all well and good, Yanagi neglected to elaborate on the means through which the game will be making its money.  Whether it ends up with a Free Realms-esque microtransaction service or a more Guild Wars-inspired system of free play supported by numerous paid expansions, we’ll do our best to keep you updated as time goes by.

This kind of cross-platform server is actually something worth exploring first.

Wondering about subs though. Maybe FR is paying for itself with MTX? DCUO seems like the kind of high-cost investment one doesn't risk with a model that so far hasn't work in the west outside of the much lighter Flash based experiences.

[DLRiley]

I think Guild Wars only real problem wasn't the budget concerns for their expansion based system they had, they ran into apparently a game play wall. I think considering the nature of superhero games your better off not having a sub system, your content is not made to compete with the fantasy treadmills. And you will probably make more money with expansions anyway.The only problem is that the DCUO budget is probably bloated due to using the DC IP. In which case the micro transactions, something GW kinda avoided for PR reasons not for business reasons, will probably be the primary way to make money beyond the box sales before any expansions are planned.

[UnSub]

DCUO launching November 2010. It's in the last 10 seconds or so of that video.

To my knowledge, DCUO hasn't started any kind of public beta. Even closed.

As a title it is planned to launch on both the PS3 and PC simultaneously, although the servers may not be linked.

Now, allegedly the in-game footage used in that video is actually from 2009 and things look better now. I'm guessing this new footage will be shown off at E3. Probably Gotham.

So... 6 months to launch, including all public testing over two different platforms. 

[Triforcer]

That is- strange.  The game still doesn't even have a real website. 

[Ollie]

The site is beyond awful. They seem to luuurve Facebook, though.

DCUO had a weird hiatus visibility-wise. I remember SOE making all sort of noise back before Champions Online launched, but then the game sort of drifted out of sight. Didn't they have a semi-playable demo at E3 last year, with heroes and villains fighting in opposed PvE missions, or some such? If memory serves, it looked somewhat engaging, though not release-ready by any means.

Who knows, maybe it's all the cross-platform stuff that has held the launch back.

[UnSub]

Same Jens Anderson interview, but this time with new Gotham footage.

I'll leave my comic book nerd hat over there about some of the fights, but really wasn't impressed that all the melee fights were stationary affairs. As soon as players get to them, they won't be.

[Malakili]

Meh, not that impressed by the video.  Talked a good game, but what dev video hasn't said all the same things.  If/when they actually release on the PS3 I think they'll have a good following, but I don't know about the PC, where the super hero MMOG genre is pretty saturated already.

[Grimwell]

I don't know about the PC, where the super hero MMOG genre is pretty saturated already.

The super hero MMOG genre has never left the "smaller game" leagues.

Not that CoH and Champions haven't had numbers in the six digit range, but really, that's only saying that they have had the attention of hardcore gamers. Not that it's reached out beyond to the potential audience.

[Margalis]

I'm going to hazard a guess that people were tired of paying for the development and it's just being sent out to recoup whatever it can.

I could be totally wrong on that.

[UnSub]

I can't prove it, but anecdotally CoH/V brought in a lot of first time MMO players who weren't interested in fantasy games.

DCUO might do the same, especially on the PS3. Depends on the business model and how well it plays, of course.

[Malakili]

I don't know about the PC, where the super hero MMOG genre is pretty saturated already.

The super hero MMOG genre has never left the "smaller game" leagues.

Not that CoH and Champions haven't had numbers in the six digit range, but really, that's only saying that they have had the attention of hardcore gamers. Not that it's reached out beyond to the potential audience.

I just don't think there are that many people interested in a super hero MMMOG.  I mean, played a lot of Champions when it was first released and the last phrase I would use to describe the community there is "hard core gamers"  I suppose its possible that a truly exceptional super hero game could draw a bigger crowd, but I'm not convinced the market for it is all that big.

[Lantyssa]

I can't prove it, but anecdotally CoH/V brought in a lot of first time MMO players who weren't interested in fantasy games.

DCUO might do the same, especially on the PS3. Depends on the business model and how well it plays, of course.

It might have had an impact if DC hadn't turned their brand to complete shit during the development period of this title.

[Malakili]

I can't prove it, but anecdotally CoH/V brought in a lot of first time MMO players who weren't interested in fantasy games.

DCUO might do the same, especially on the PS3. Depends on the business model and how well it plays, of course.

It might have had an impact if DC hadn't turned their brand to complete shit during the development period of this title.

To be fair, DC has almost played second fiddle to Marvel in my opinion.  They have batman and....well thats about it.

[UnSub]

DC has the Trinity: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. They make mad money on the merchandising.

Forget about the comics. The group who reads them regularly are a small, weird group that I'm not even sure that the comic book companies care about. It's about the characters and IP. There are people interested in DCUO who have never picked up a comic in their lives because they want to fight alongside Superman or spend time in Gotham.

(Not to say that SOE won't have made some decisions that will drive these folks away, but no-one cared about what was happening in Detective Comics when Batman: Arkham Asylum came out and sold 3m units.)

[Malakili]

DC has the Trinity: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. They make mad money on the merchandising.

Forget about the comics. The group who reads them regularly are a small, weird group that I'm not even sure that the comic book companies care about. It's about the characters and IP. There are people interested in DCUO who have never picked up a comic in their lives because they want to fight alongside Superman or spend time in Gotham.

(Not to say that SOE won't have made some decisions that will drive these folks away, but no-one cared about what was happening in Detective Comics when Batman: Arkham Asylum came out and sold 3m units.)

Hmm, perhaps.  But there is a difference between playing as Batman, and playing as a shoddy knockoff of Batman, at least in my opinion.  Also, Superman and Wonder Woman are pretty much terribly cliches at this point, I don't know who really cares about them.   Maybe you are right, but I don't see how this would draw more fans than something like Champions.  Maybe it will sell more units just based on the brand of DC being more known/popular than the brand of Champions, but I can't seeing it have any more retention past a month or two.

[Sky]

But there is a difference between playing as Batman, and playing as a shoddy knockoff of Batman, at least in my opinion.