DCUO Woes

Wow, I love this game! Wow, I hate this game! So many things are so right with DC Universe Online. Sadly, when it misses, it misses big. Read on to see the highs and lows.

Graphics are underrated. I grant you that gameplay must come first. Without a quality design, the shiniest game will still suck copious quantities of vacuum. But graphics must be a close second. Photo realism is not required. But a conscientious effort at a discernible design and its intentional execution is. Any real chance at immersion is out the window without a convincing and compelling world to look at and operate within.

Although the graphics in DC Universe Online seem to be designed with console hardware in mind, (read: low draw distances,) when they do finally draw in, they are gorgeous. Textures are crisp and the overall art direction is a skillful mix of realism and traditional comic book sensibility. I love to look at my character. Even at low level, the costumes and gear have been nerd wood worthy.

SOE, in a burst of brilliance, included the ability to cosmetically equip any piece of gear you have previously equipped. Few games have included this fashion forward necessity. There is nothing more frustrating to me than running a max level toon that looks like Ronald McDonald after a week long bender. In DCUO I feel super and I look super. Super.

Power animations are convincing, but lack the customization available in other Super themed MMOs. Your power animation color is based on your base skill set. If you are a dual wielding pistoleer with psionic abilities, your .45 caliber man stoppers fire in a terrifying blaze of mauve colored death.

DCUO is a smashemup. It's a button masher with a dimly illuminated stat pool behind the scenes. It feels great to pummel the enemies of your chosen faction with furious fists of flame. The power pools seem on the surface to be quite flexible, but every time I have deviated from proscribed builds, I felt immediately gimped.

Right around level 20, of 30 possible, gear becomes ultra important. Up to that point, I could be wearing taffeta and lace and do just as well as the next guy. Once I hit 20, I began to visit the respawn hub with alarming frequency. This sent me running for the Auction House. Shortly after arriving, I found myself running from the Auction House. At least on my server, prices are out of hand. At level 19 I was wondering what I would ever do with the $10k fortune I had amassed. At level 20, I realized that $10,000 is good for exactly one hat and a ham sandwich.

Missions are great. They are fast paced, and well voiced by professorial actors of name. Mark Hamill, Wil Wheaton and Adam Baldwin to name just a few. Mission Hubs are sensibly placed and make sense within the narrative. They provide great XP and you can blaze through an entire arc in roughly an hour, without feeling cheated out of content. I have found no shortage in the content department so far. The mission rewards tend to be sub par with the occasional powerfully featured piece.

Got to go for now...check back later.

Gaming Biography

Please note, in the interest of brevity, I will not include pen and paper gaming in this letter.

I was born in 1975. Predictably, playing Pong in my cousins' basement was my first gaming experience. Shortly thereafter, I discovered the Atari 2600, followed directly by the NES. By the late 1980's I began to explore PC Gaming. Adventure and sim games mostly, like Space Quest, Yeager, Battlezone and Mechwarrior.

BBS Door games served as my first introduction to the joys and disappointments of the multiplayer experience. I began to seek out titles with comprehensive multiplayer features. X-Wing Alliance comes to mind as the most potent of these gateway drugs.

The list goes on to include staples of the 1990's era FPS and simulation genres; Quake III, Counter Strike, the Falcon series, Mechwarrior III, IV and Mercenaries, Starlancer, etc.

I didn't really understand the appeal of an MMO until I played Digital Anvils' Freelancer in 2003. I had followed the development of the game, hanging on Chris Roberts' every word and scouring the web for anything related to Digital Anvil.

Historically, I had steadfastly refused to pay a subscription fee. My position, “the subscription model is merely a money grab by faceless technocrats bent on exploiting our heretofore unblemished nerd culture.”

In truth, I was broke most of the time and didn't have a credit card. But Freelancer, with its 128 player, persistent world server, RvR combat, healthy economy and compelling universe had no such barrier to entry. It was an MMO Lite, I just didn't know it yet.

Freelancer, and what Chris Roberts had accomplished with it, convinced me to return to college and pursue a Game Development degree.

During my education, I met a number of like minded gamers. We designed a couple of entry level 3D games, won high marks from our instructors, and developed what appear to be lifelong friendships. One of them has been working for Blizzard for some years now.

Among my schoolmates, there was a die hard Star Wars Galaxies player. SWG had released only months before and had tempted me mightily on numerous occasions. Day after day, this guy filled my head with tales of droid engineers and creature handlers. I abandoned my arguments, and picked up a copy after class one day.

It took only days for me to become fully occupied by this sandbox of a world. Grinding Rancors on Dathomir, happily on my way to the rank of Master Swordsman and harvesting every mineral I came across. I was recruited directly into a guild, Death Before Dishonor, which had been continuously operating for some years. I discovered the ever captivating mini-game of guild politics and a passion for PvP.

I took the name Zeb, and spent the next few years jumping from game to game with DBD. We established a guild presence in nearly every new AAA MMO alpha, beta and release available to us before moving on to the next opportunity.

To name just a few; WoW, CoX, Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa, AoC, Lineage II, EQ II, Eve, PotBS, DDO, LotRO, Planetside, Fallen Earth, Champions Online, STO, Global Agenda, and the list goes on and on.

Today, I try my hand at nearly every new MMO I come across. I am delighted by the industry wide move to the free to play model. It allows me to whet my whistle at every cantina and grog house this side of Mordor, then move on if it doesn't quite fit. Typically, I prefer Sci-Fi and modern day themes in an MMO. I will usually get a taste of the classic MMORPG genre, due to the deep and abiding love my friends have for High Fantasy.

Usually, I keep two active subscriptions and a rotating stable of F2P games going at all times. My current favorites are STO and DCUO. DCUO is a new addition to my desktop, and I have not had enough experience with it to render an educated opinion.

Star Trek Online is a natural fit for me, as I am a lifelong Trekker. But sadly, I did find plenty of disappointment after my initial load last year. One of the most entertaining aspects of the franchise has always been person to alien contact and diplomacy. The possibility of resolving any issue between commercial breaks with the dignity, intelligence and resolve which only a Starfleet Officer can bring to bear. In Star Trek Online, the ground combat seemed to be tacked on and shallow. Few things feel less Trek than putting down alien hordes with a hand held phaser cannon.

However, after a year spent in continuous development and a shift in leadership and direction, STO has begun to claim the Star Trek name in earnest. There is of course far to go, but additions like the burgeoning diplomacy system, weekly episodic content and more subdued ship design coupled with copious amounts of fan service, make for a bright future.

In Star Trek Online, I currently have three max level Federation characters and one Klingon. In most games, my first character will be a tank. Followed shortly by DPS, then Support. Invariably, the DPS toon will lie fallow while my tank rockets to max level. Followed shortly by a control build support character. This consistency allows for a good baseline comparison between games.

Crafting is not usually a passion for me, at least not since the idyllic SWG days. Most crafting systems are just too simplistic or poorly implemented to capture my attention. Notable exceptions include, Fallen Earth and Eve. I always try it, if for no other reason than to see what I might be missing.

Given my penchant for short stints in virtual worlds, I rarely have the opportunity to epically equip or otherwise fine tune max level characters. I have done it, but whatever lies just beyond the next rise will usually steal my attention. The undiscovered country keeps me inspired and enthralled. I simply can not wait to see what comes next.

Ok, bedtime.