So I'm in the closed beta for DCUO. It's still under NDA so my ability to discuss it will be limited. But if anyone else is in please let me know.
I'm in the PC beta and the message I received suggested that I will get a code for the PS3 beta shortly as well. I'm allowed to give it away if I want to and I certainly have no use for it. So if anyone wants my PS3 code for DCUO closed beta just let me know.
Cheers,
Vil
Okay, early report.
Ummm ... holy f**k.
I know I've complained a lot about how FFXIV was build for a console and hence sucks as a PC game, but somehow DCUO is built for a console too and I barely ever notice. Wow gameplay is smooth.
I know I can't say a lot (NDA, etc.) but I'm definitely going to be wasting a lot of time here. If people have any really general questions I'll be glad to address them. PS3 beta invite (which I don't yet have) is still up for grabs.
I hadn't looked at the game before your post. Now I've watched a few videos and checked the website. It doesn't really say much.
Is it a hack and slash game where playing with a less than optimal ping time will result in getting slaughtered, or is there more to it than that?
You ask a good question. So far my gameplay has been very smooth so I can't entirely comment. I can say that bad ping in DCUO is probably no more a problem than EQ.
What I don't yet know is strategy. Like any game, the early levels are beset by (a) players who don't know what they are doing yet anyway and (b) relatively easy gameplay. But the game has the building blocks of complex strategy, I just haven't seen it in action yet.
There is very very little public information out there. That's very true. But the game in beta is very fully fleshed. I'm actually amazed. Those who enjoy making pretty, unique looking characters are absolutely going to s**t themselves. For real. And that isn't even my thing so much.
For the rest ... it really is worth a look. Really really really.
QuoteI can say that bad ping in DCUO is probably no more a problem than EQ.
Thanks Val. My Eq play is fine so no problems there.
QuoteFor the rest ... it really is worth a look. Really really really
You tempt me!
Darn, I see I've missed the pe-order beta key deadline. Release date 31 March 2011 is quite a wait too.
With Rift and that Star Wars game on the horizon, choices will have to be made.
From the few screenshots I could see, it feels like the PC tech requirements might be very high. Can you tellus anything on this (the official website has no faq) ?
Save the franchise, how is it different from CoH/CoV ?
I'm honestly not sure about requirements. I haven't seen them referenced in beta either. I can say I have no problems at all running the game, but then I have a high end system at present so I wouldn't expect any. Unhelpful, I know.
I did play CoH a long time ago so you'd think I would be qualified to give a reply. I think more attention has been paid to group play and to balance in this game. They've got a fairly innovative approach to this I think, where your actual abilities and function vary depending on whether you are solo or grouped. I don't want to say more than that due to NDA. But it's a good idea and I approve of the approach.
Storylines are good here. That was a weakness of CoH. Far too repetitive. I'd say this feels more like a traditional MMO in some regards than CoH ever did - but mainly in a good way.
Can't say more than that yet. Beta level cap is still very low. I haven't experienced much of the content, so I'm sure there's a lot left to learn.
Hope that helps.
P.S. Maybe I should move this to a more private area, lest then MMO police find me.
P.P.S. I forgot, this is a Sony game. Don't we have guildies who work for Sony? Please don't bust me....
I was listening to this song by The Parlotones (a great young South African band, currently in England on their world tour, just finished US tour) and the lyrics reminded me of this game. Just had to post them. ;D
Remember when we were young, playing superheroes in our underpants
Then the oldest told us batman wasn't real
So we grew up rather young
We bled real blood just to act real tough
We realised pretty soon real life is really real
So we cry and crawl and we learn to walk
Pretty soon we all fall down
We laugh and we dance we all make love
And we break our hearts, we all fall down
They say, "That's life!"
We're born into this world with no book of rules
Welcome to the hard knock school
They say, "That's life!"
Remember when we were young, playing cops and robbers just for fun
Then our neighbourhoods filled up, filled up with real guns
So we learnt real quick that life is sick
when we couldn't fix the problem with a crucifix
It was times like these we wished batman was real
So we cry and crawl and we learn to walk
Pretty soon we all fall down
We laugh and we dance we all make love
And we break our hearts, we all fall down
They say, "That's life!"
We're born into this world with no book of rules
Welcome to the hard knock school
They say, "That's life!"
When days are dark and it all goes wrong
We'll just hum a long to our favourite songs
They say, "That's life!"
We're born into this world with no book of rules
Welcome to the hard knock school
They say, "That's life!
We're older now but not braver,
Voting for supposed saviours
And it's times like these we wish batman was real
Here's the song on YouTube: The Parlotones - Remember when.... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VZKiXk-8i0#ws)
Okay, so now after my bout of classic EQ1, I'm spending all my time in DCUO. Lame, I know. I'm REALLY shopping for a new game I can love and grow into. I've always been a one game at a time kind of player. Anyway, I'm still enjoying it, and steadily deconstructing the way I want to play it. I wish I could say more without the NDA, but in character design there are basically three major variables that all contribute to different skillsets and abilities, and so determining which to take is very interesting. Adds depth, for sure.
Anyway, hope more people can join me in beta at some point. Let me know if you're there!
I'm there, but I'm on Beta1, sadly. Currently enjoying the heck out of the rifle weapon style. :D
Don't know how much more to say, at least until the NDA is lifted.
Funny you should post that just now. Not sure if you noticed, but they lifted the NDA today. So if anyone has questions about the DCUO beta I'd be glad to answer them, and I'm sure Namae would too. Once she confirms I'm not messing with her. =)
I'll post something more extensive in a bit. But if anyone wants to jump in with questions that's cool too.
Is release still expected in March 2011?
I'm not tempted by the Eq2 expansion that has been announced, so my next pay-to-play venture comes down to Rift, Star Wars or DCUO at the moment. Don't know how I'm going to decide!
Okay, I guess I've to a question so I'll do something proper here. Hold on for core dump.
RELEASE DATE - Not sure. Beta is in a very advanced state so I'd say March 2011 at least. Some people are talking even earlier. Wouldn't shock me.
BASIC CONCEPT - Heroes and villains in the DC Universe. According to back story, you are a "new" hero or villain created by a major event that involves time travel, world ending, etc. It's a bit contrived but it works. It also explains why we are somewhat similar to existing supers because their powers were copied. As backstories go, come to think of it, it's good. Also gives us some minimal reason to cooperate where required. Haven't seen much of that yet, but who knows? There are thus two "teams" and also some common enemies that we share.
CHARACTER APPEARANCE - I'm very happy, I've heard others suggest it's limited. Three basic sizes for male and female. Various costume elements. The tools aren't elaborate but you can do a lot with them. I've yet to see two characters look very similar unless they were both trying to be clones of something cannon. Others bemoan lack of more options, slidable size adjustments for body parts, etc.
POWERS AND DESIGN - There are only six primary power sets in game at present. Each have two sides to them. Because of the number of powers you'll get a player is almost inevitably going to specialize in one or the other, so it isn't quite as limiting as it sounds. Still, there's a lack of power sets. They are (at present) Gadgets and Mental (Control), Fire and Ice (Defense) and Plants and Sorcery (Healing).
ROLE - See Control, Defense, and Healing above. One of the most innovative things DCUO has done. In fact, I think it's brilliant. Your power implies a role. You are either (in EQ terms) CC, tank, or healer. You have that role as a chooseable option (at level 10+) in addition to your basic setting as DPS. So everyone has a Damage role, and then one other. When you are in your chosen role it affects your stats, your powers, etc. I haven't extensively tested it yet, but in theory I love it. It makes perfect sense. It also means that everyone can solo more or less equally well.
WEAPONS - You also have a weapon, choice of up to 10. Feels a bit artificial. Too many "heroes" running around with swords. Ah well. Anyway, what you'd expect - hand blasts are in there, martial arts, pistols, etc.
TRAVEL POWERS - Only three at present. Flying, acrobatics, and super speed. That's the bad. The good is that they are also usable as powers! So you have, effectively, a secondary power set that does stuff.
ICONIC POWERS - Everyone also has access to a list of iconic powers for additional customization. That's good. I find that (a) too many mirror powers from existing sets and (b) there's obviously good ones and bad ones at present. I fear this will contribute to a lot of sameness.
PLAYSTYLE - Very arcade like. Based on combos. It's not so much twitch style (FPS) as Street Fighter. I find rhythm is far more important than reflexes. I'm good at it, anyway. Anyone who can pressure cast in a game like EQ probably is.
INTERFACE - Some complain it was built for a console. After playing FFXIV and seeing what console design did to that game (grumble grumble) I can understand the complaints. But frankly, even though I use a keyboard and mouse for DCUO, it doesn't bug me at all. Concessions may have been made but they are well hidden. I'm fine with it. Oh, except for chat. Chat sucks. But it's still beta, so I have hope.
MISSIONS ETC. - You have one of three chosen mentors. That's Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Lex, Joker, Circe. They give you missions. But so does everyone else. Frankly, the particularness of your chosen mentor seems very trivial very soon. There are really two meaningful choices that will give you different games at present. Hero and Villain are very different experiences. Different mentors are not.
That's all I have time for at present. If there are more questions fire away. I'll think of more later, I'm sure.
I really like the way that the weapon sets work. Which is good because for some reason powers drain a lot of well.. power. You need to use your regular attack to get your power back up (The reason you want to do long combos is they regenerate power faster.)
As you level up or gain Feats (think Achievements in EQ2) you get skill points, which you can spend on weapon skills or movement powers. Skill points can be spent to unlock special maneuvers, attacks, raise stats, or learn another weapon style. In theory if you had all the feats in DCUO you could probably use all ten of the weapon styles out there. In practice you'll probably only ever need one, but it makes it possible to mix and match for some interesting results.
I like Rifle a lot right now because it's got a nice mix of melee and ranged control effects, and lots of defensive rolls to keep you safe and moving. It includes grenades, mortar rounds, and a flamethrower move, along with plenty of damage and almost every move is a stun or a knockdown. It's a nice controller set, and because of the autofire feature I don't have to click like crazy.
Here's an hour long video of the game: GameSpot Now Playing - DC Universe Online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB6K4_V9mpw#ws)
It starts with the intro movie and character creation. Still downloading so haven't seen the rest yet. :)
This vid makes DCUO look pretty fun!
Like most MMOs, I doubt I would be very into the "endgame" of infinite PvP and raiding. But it looks like it would be a blast for a few months while I run a hero and a villain to max level.
I'm definitely looking forward to DCUO more, after watching this video.
It is fun! However, remember that they are pushing the 'action/console game' thing pretty hard. This game is fast. It would not be difficult for you to go from level 1 to 30 (beta cap ATM) in like four or so several hour gaming sessions. It's broken up into little story arcs (e.g. 'You + Teen Titan vs. Brother Bloods cult' or 'You + Giganta vs. Wondergirl') And you can do virtually all of the Hero or Villain ones regardless of your mentor. The mentor only gives 2-3 exclusive missions over the course of 30 levels, so content-wise this game is more Hero/Villain than it is tied to your Mentor. The biggest consequence of mentor choice so far seems to be that it limits which 3 of 9 different endgame uber armor sets you are allowed to purchase.
This is not a game that will let you spend a ton of time below the level cap, and the way that the journal is set up you are likely to do 85% of the content on that Side (Hero/Villain) on just one play through from 1 to 30. Once you get to 30, earning that awesome endgame armor will take time though. You need a massive number of tokens from two group raids. I haven't actually done one yet, but I'll let you know when I do. ;)
That's what is bothering me about this game. It looks like a glorified console single player game, where you take a few seconds breather between smashing up things.
Since you can race to the current max level in no time, virtually without any help (though I imagine it wouldn't hurt to have some), does that mean that all of the content takes place at max level? You mention 'a massive number of tokens from two group raids'. Is that what the game is about? Rush to max, then do raids to get tokens to buy the endgame armour? Is there a reason to get the armour aside from just getting it?
I don't see myself buying a game that will last me a month or two before I lose interest, though I admit it does look like it would be fun for that time.
I fully agree with concerns that this game may play out fast. But then I think I'm okay with that. Of all the games I played for just a short while and didn't continue, City of Heroes is the only one I have fond memories of. It was hella fun. Got old fast, but so what? Good memories are still good memories.
For me, DCUO might turn into one of those games I play sometimes in bursts and then put down between updates. It probably won't fill me need for a long-term immersive MMO. Still looking to Rifts or something for that. But still, for what it is it may be good.
For Namae's benefit - check this out. You CAN do the remaining missions on other mentors. You just need to have someone else in your group go in first and stay there with you the entire time. I formed a group with different mentored heroes and ran all of Scarecrow, Grodd, and Faust in one go. We all got the headlines, renown, feats, and investigations credit for each one.
I haven't got to the point of looking at end game armor yet, but if the difference in availability is based on getting to maxiumum renown ... well, suddenly all three are available.
Not sure entirely if this is an intended feature or an unintended work around. I vote in favour of the former just because we DO have those feats available to us, where as we don't have other feats that are entirely incompatible with design choices (become a Controller if you aren't, etc.). In either case, it's interesting to know.
P.S. I don't entirely agree that you can "max" out your character as quickly as some are claiming. There is still quite a lot of alternative advancement (aka "feats") that you can do and that would take a long while to complete. As many figured out early, and as the game has now made explicit, further skill points are the way for your character to be all (s)he can be past level 30. So you aren't really done until you have all your feats completed. And that's a hell of a lot of work/content, depending on how you feel about feats.
Quote from: Valquiss on December 09, 2010, 10:05:50 AM
I fully agree with concerns that this game may play out fast. But then I think I'm okay with that. Of all the games I played for just a short while and didn't continue, City of Heroes is the only one I have fond memories of. It was hella fun. Got old fast, but so what? Good memories are still good memories.
For me, DCUO might turn into one of those games I play sometimes in bursts and then put down between updates. It probably won't fill me need for a long-term immersive MMO. Still looking to Rifts or something for that. But still, for what it is it may be good.
For Namae's benefit - check this out. You CAN do the remaining missions on other mentors. You just need to have someone else in your group go in first and stay there with you the entire time. I formed a group with different mentored heroes and ran all of Scarecrow, Grodd, and Faust in one go. We all got the headlines, renown, feats, and investigations credit for each one.
I haven't got to the point of looking at end game armor yet, but if the difference in availability is based on getting to maxiumum renown ... well, suddenly all three are available.
I mean the Origin specific stuff you can see in either the Watchtower or in the Hall of Doom. When you choose Batman for a mentor, for example, your origin is Tech and there are three different suits in the Tech Wing of the Watchtower you can qualify to buy (A Batman or Robin mech suit, and a third one I forget.) If you pick Superman as a mentor, your origin is Meta and therefore there's 3 different suits in the Meta wing you can buy (One looks like Superman and even has the classic "S" emblem.)
You can't pick Batman as a mentor and buy the Superman suit or vice versa; you are locked in when your Mentor/origin is selected. It's probably the only case where your mentor choice restricts you from something, so that's why I was pointing it out.
Quote from: Valquiss on December 09, 2010, 10:05:50 AM
Not sure entirely if this is an intended feature or an unintended work around. I vote in favour of the former just because we DO have those feats available to us, where as we don't have other feats that are entirely incompatible with design choices (become a Controller if you aren't, etc.). In either case, it's interesting to know.
P.S. I don't entirely agree that you can "max" out your character as quickly as some are claiming. There is still quite a lot of alternative advancement (aka "feats") that you can do and that would take a long while to complete. As many figured out early, and as the game has now made explicit, further skill points are the way for your character to be all (s)he can be past level 30. So you aren't really done until you have all your feats completed. And that's a hell of a lot of work/content, depending on how you feel about feats.
This is true, but just doing some general exploration of the city and being scrupulous about completing all the side missions for a storyline, you will never want for skill points at level 20+, unless you're trying to outfit yourself with a secondary or tertiary weapon.
My point is that even if you're not rushing, level 30 comes really darn fast. I'm used to a lot more grinding, I guess. Honestly I don't miss the grinding, I'm just concerned about what there is to do at level 30 once you have no more power points, and your skill trees are capped.
Thanks to both of you for the feedback.
Quote from: Namae Nai on December 09, 2010, 12:46:57 PM
My point is that even if you're not rushing, level 30 comes really darn fast. I'm used to a lot more grinding, I guess. Honestly I don't miss the grinding, I'm just concerned about what there is to do at level 30 once you have no more power points, and your skill trees are capped.
Obviously this is what I'm wondering about, but...
Quote from: Valquiss on December 09, 2010, 10:05:50 AM
I fully agree with concerns that this game may play out fast. But then I think I'm okay with that. Of all the games I played for just a short while and didn't continue, City of Heroes is the only one I have fond memories of. It was hella fun. Got old fast, but so what? Good memories are still good memories.
Val makes a good point. I didn't play City of Heroes, but I did enjoy playing the single player offline Marvel game, Ultimate Alliance or something.
If the game does play out fast, it'll save me a lot of monthly subs! :)
Then I can move on to Rifts or SW:ToR, and later to The Secret World. O0
@Namae - Yeah, my point wasn't about capping your primary weapon skill though. You'll do that on leveling skill points alone. My point was that it weapon skill points translate into more HP, more Power, more % crit chance, etc. You can never have too much (or even enough) of that, right? So heck, yes. You spend into a second, third, and fourth weapon skill. Just for the bonuses.
I'm not saying you have to, necessarily. But for those of us who want the best character possible ... yeah, it's motivating. =)
I've been in the beta, too. I love the graphics and the feel, but the console-converted-to-mouse combat physically hurts. I developed pain in my elbow from the rapid left and right clicking tonget combo moves. It might be better with a controller.
So far I haven't encountered any group content, or seen how one forms groups or "guilds". I have no idea if it will have the social aspect of any of the fantasy MMOs, but it is an entertaining game.
Can I suggest Rifles Quince? They're it's more click and hold, and you only let go when you want to move to a new target. If you have a neato game pad dealie, you can even have it automatically hold until you click again. You still would have to click your powers, but at least the auto attack stuff can be taken care of.
Had an insight from the Beta forums and it really helped me to understand the game. Combat in DCUO is basically paper/rock/scissors.
- Melee attacks, charges and stun damage are beaten by blocking. Literally! The NPCs don't block much, but when they do, your melee damage and stuns actually reflect onto you. This happens a LOT in PvP, and you can take advantage of it when tanking big bads in PvE since they are almost without exception melee heavy. You would be surprised what you can survive and annihilate if you watch your enemy and block the bigger attacks.
- Blocks can be beaten by special ranged attacks called Block Breakers. If one of these attacks connect on someone that's blocking, there's a stun and massive damage inflicted. So if someone starts Blocking like crazy, you should back up and start your Block Breaker attack. Every weapon set has a Block Breaker in it.
- Block Breaking Ranged attacks have a weakness as well.. they take a moment to cast and can be interrupted. That's where the melee charge and stun comes in. While you are getting a ranged attack off, you're wide open for a stun.
So the trick in DCUO seems to be to figure out what kind of maneuver your enemy will be using and pick the maneuver that defeats it. Until today I dreaded going into Tank mode in DCUO because it meant I got all the damage. But now that I know how useful Block actually is, and when I need to roll back away and use a Block Breaker it's actually a lot of fun.