DC Universe Online in the Playground

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I couldn't find another thread about this so...

DCUO is an MMORPG set in (a version of) the DC Universe. Players take the role of new superheroes or supervillains, formerly ordinary people empowered by a convoluted series of events involving Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and time travel. It uses an FTP model; subscribers get access to all expansions and monthly allowances of in-game cash while premium players can buy those things individually.

Picked up the game in August myself, and it's my first MMORPG (unless you count a short stint in Wurm Online) so I don't have any reference point for my opinions. The stuff that I'm gushing about may be standard MMO fare for all I know :smallwink:

So far enjoying myself, currently idling in Tier 3 with a Acrobatic Gadgets Hero (former martial artist, switched to bow) on the USPC server and progressing on a steady diet of Duos and hard Alerts.

What really got to me, when I first started playing, was how easily you could change your character's appearance. Your character's color scheme can be freely changed, and your outward appearance is not locked to what you're currently wearing. Once you equip an item, it's style is "saved" and you can use any of your collected styles in your appearance. It's not unheard of to get a new item, equip it just once to get the style, then ditch/sell it. It helps that you get achievements for completing style sets.

I also like your ability to fly, glide, or super-speed up walls as you explore the open world. As a DCAU fan, I enjoyed hearing all the voice acting from various characters (not all are from the animation series, but many are).

So, anyone in the playground play? I'd like to hear your thoughts, good or bad (the game does have some issues).

[Duck999]

I do not play myself (though I may in the near future), but I know many people who do play. I learned that you have a mentor, and depending on who that is, you have different quests.

There may not be a thread for it because it is found in Steam, and there is already a Steam thread.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I don't use Steam, and I'd expect that not everyone who plays DCUO does since it's free to play and you can download it straight from dcuniverseonline.com :smallconfused:. Unless I'm misunderstanding what Steam is. But thanks for the tip.

BTW, is there a search function on this forum? I haven't been able to find it in ages. Had to do a Google search and the last thread was in 2012.

About the mentors, they do provide unique quests. One when you start out, one around level 15 or so, and one at level 30. Beyond that point, they cease to make a difference. I don't know if SOE plans to add more mentor-specific stuff in the future, but for now that's it.

[Pronounceable]

It's a great game, one of the best free "themed" MMOs you can find. Combat system is great, visual customization is only surpassed by Champions Online, comiclike cutscenes are awesome, there's a very clear and practical (if grindy) PvE progression and this specific version of DC world is perfectish. None of those are standard MMO fare.

That said, I never paid anything to it so my experience is limited to free stuff and limitations on free players are severe (not that I particularly care). Also it has an option to turn off all nearby players so you can spare yourself from the :smallfurious: inducing sight of all those Darrknights, xHulkxs, Supermann96s or Dedp00ls running around (mind numbing triteness of the average players is one of the biggest problems with superhero games). And the pretty long gear grind and the glaring gameplay and story seperation might trouble some (such as going toe to toe with Doomsday like a champ in one instance, followed by getting your ass kicked by Penguin in a higher tier instance).

Overall, it's one of the best investments you can make in MMOs, considering the cost is zero.

[Partysan]

While I'm not playing at the moment, this game is the only MMO where I ever thought the combat was actually fun to play.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Oh, don't get me started on the batttmen and the j0hn_stewarts that are all over the place. If you like the look, fine, they provided the style pieces and you put it together. But at least spend a few minutes cooking up a (more) original name.

All the good names are probably taken so I get that your first (and second, and third) choice might not be available. But still, just being a bit creative with synonyms or even leetspeak would be preferable to garbage like 10101robin01010. I see junk like that and I can think of two options: spambot or brain dead. :smallannoyed:

[Haruspex_Pariah]

So Update 31 (the big PS4 one, apparently) dropped recently, and people are making noise about the glitches. Hotfix inbound; no surprise there.

Myself, I haven't noticed any major graphical changes since my computer is pretty slow and I play with all the settings down anyway. The Earth does look nice from the Watchtower though. I have noticed one thing, that some of the side quests have reopened and now offer Marks of Triumph as rewards. So at least that's working as intended :smalltongue:

[Jonzac]

The combat system lends itself to a Xbox type controller as well if you like to PC game with one.

a great game and if you spent $5 bucks to upgrade to the tier above "I'm never paying tier" you get 6 character spots instead of 2 and some other areas open up. They do have a "lair" option for free players now as well.

All in all a great game (not as awesome as Dark Age of Camelot, but awesome enough)

[Haruspex_Pariah]

A lot of the reviewers have mentioned how the game seems built around consoles and thus works well with a controller. The concept of playing an MMO with a console is foreign to me but apparently a large proportion of DCUO's population is on PS3/PS4.

It is very difficult to progress completely free, and even Premium has some annoying cash caps, which is the point of FTP really. Drop thirty bucks for Ultimate Edition and you should be able to reach Tier 4 rather comfortably.