DC Heroes MMORPG Revealed

[Evil Avatar]

DC heroes enter online arms race (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050617/en_nm/media_superheroes_dc) is a Yahoo news article talking about SOE's plans to launch a MMORPG based on the DC Comics universe and their acquisition of Monolith's failed MMORPG, The Matrix Online.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are set to announce Friday an exclusive long-term licensing agreement that will let gamers share a universe with DC Comics' Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Sandman and other action immortals.

The companies also disclosed that Sony Online had acquired Warner's "The Matrix Online" game. All 25 staff members currently operating the subscription-based massively multiplayer online game have been offered their existing position under the new ownership.

"We see DC as a very valuable brand," said Jason Hall, senior vp at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment which, like DC Comics, is owned by Time Warner Inc. "There's a lot of opportunity sitting in the DC universe, and we're looking at those gems and how to present them in a compelling way to the consumer."

[Kefkataran]

YES. I pray this is done well. Like I said in the Matrix Online post a couple days ago, I'd love to see a viable MMORPG in the DCU.

[Klade]

Comic hero mmorpg can be done well as we have seen with City of Heroes. Really the only reason I'm not still playing that game is that the overall gameplay gets very very repetative very quickly, but the basic idea is sound.

That being said I do not trust SOE to do a good job of it. They have made nothing but crapy MMOs since they took over Everquest. Maybe they will learn a lesson from the thrashing WoW gave them.... But I doubt it.

[Cha-Ka]

I'm very sceptical of this project. Sounds like the entire game premise is based on the following equaiton:

(City of Heroes) + (DC licenses) = $$$

The WB track record with using their licenses in the game industry is shoddy at best. They like money. I'll give them that much.

[Kefkataran]

Hell, I'd play CoH with DC skins if it gave me the chance to take part in DC-lore-based story arcs and fight DC villains/team up with DC heroes. Still, I have higher hopes than that. We'll see what happens when a couple previews are out.

[Blue]

So how exactly is this going to work? Will there be different cities that one can travel to throughout the game much like one might go from Iron Forge to Stormwind in WoW? Can I hop a plane and go from Metropolis to Gotham City, each with their own unique settings? Or are they just licensing the characters so I might happen to run into Two Face while on a mission?

[A Lusty Alien]

Back in the summer of '99 I sent Stan Lee an email telling him him that he should push for the development of a Marvel Universe MMORPG. (I'd become hooked on EverQuest, but I wanted a game I could fly in.) I never heard back from him, have no idea if he even read it, or if some flackey just deleted it.

Ah well, their loss.

[Kefkataran]

A Marvel MMO is supposed to be in development, but not much info has been released on it.

Blue: In order to take advantage of the DCU to its best, they would have to put in various cities, yeah. One can only hope that's what they do. And hopefully it's not just the big guns like Metropolis and Gotham but also some of the smaller locales such as Coast City or maybe other planets like Apokolips.

[Freakshow Billy]

I bet this will be a crappier version of SWG with comic characters. Way to screw up another MMO SOE... Suck it

[Blue]

I bet this will be a crappier version of SWG with comic characters. Way to screw up another MMO SOE... Suck it

Oh excellent! You've played it. Some questions for you:

How do Guilds work? Will it be a Superhero team where the higher lvl characters are the ones running around doing the actual people saving and the side-kicks sort of have glorfied assist positions? How many cities are being used? Is Apokolips on the roster cause I could fully see myself spending a good amount of time there.

How does meeting up with DC Heroes/Villains work? Will it simply be an in-game event or more of an ongoing thing? And, most importantly, will "Guilds" get 'bases?' You know, like our own personal Hall of Justice to run around in?

Thanks for all the details!

[Jetherik]

More companies means more competition and we the consumers are the winners. Remember how EQ was the only game in town? We have choices and will have more choices. WoW made Sony take notice. If they did not learn from the lesson, which I doubtthey did, they will continue to offer multiple games that suck with the all access pass, and make their money on selling expansions pack that are supposed to make the game better, but only take your money.

[A Lusty Alien]

A Marvel MMO is supposed to be in development, but not much info has been released on it.

Blue: In order to take advantage of the DCU to its best, they would have to put in various cities, yeah. One can only hope that's what they do. And hopefully it's not just the big guns like Metropolis and Gotham but also some of the smaller locales such as Coast City or maybe other planets like Apokolips.

Don't forget Smallville.

<grin>

[mister_slim]

Wasn't it Crisis On Infinite Earths that compressed all the DC universes into one? Maybe they'll ignore that bit of continuity.

[Heretic Machine]

Remember how EQ was the only game in town?

No, I really don't. UO came before EQ, and was still out when EQ was out. I'm pretty sure the same can be said for AC. Both were superior games with a large enough community to make them fun. AC has gone down hill since then, but at the time, there was no reason to play crappified EQ, and there still isn't one today.

[BloodAngel]

As long as they don't try to do it in the Teen Titian Manga style.

I think SOE may have learned something from the ass kicking Blizzard gave them, and lets face it the Franchise is very choice.

I would love to see missions involving Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy and the like. Also to have settings Like Arkham Asylum, Wayne Manor.... there is just so much coolness there.

Of course there was so much coolness in SWG, and look what SOE did to that.

[Crabby]

Pretty cautious about this one myself. A SOE and Warner pairing smells like bad fish.


No, I really don't. UO came before EQ, and was still out when EQ was out. I'm pretty sure the same can be said for AC. Both were superior games with a large enough community to make them fun. AC has gone down hill since then, but at the time, there was no reason to play crappified EQ, and there still isn't one today.


Preach it, brother. The only people I ever saw stay with EQ at the time were people unexposed to the alternatives. Naturally, I did my part by illuminating them. :D

[Kefkataran]

Wasn't it Crisis On Infinite Earths that compressed all the DC universes into one? Maybe they'll ignore that bit of continuity.

Yes, but that wouldn't really affect the locations in the game. Just the fact that there wouldn't be a confusing number of multiple earths.

[mister_slim]

Yes, but that wouldn't really affect the locations in the game. Just the fact that there wouldn't be a confusing number of multiple earths.
A near-infinite number of earths would be good for instances, though. "Your mission is to go through this portal and help Superman 42X on HTRAE, where everything is backwards" or something. Gives the designers a lot of flexibility and allows the use of characters from a variety of different eras.

[Rommel]

The problem with having MMo's in pre-existing worlds is that everyone wants to be the major player, the known characters. This is because those universes are more associated with the characters than vice versa. Instead, like in SWG, you get to be a no-body and gawk at the GMd playing Vader or, in this case, Batman. In CoH or WoW, however, you could really be that somebody without wanting to be Statesman or some WoW NPC.

[Kefkataran]

Rommel: I'm not sure I'm seeing how it's any different in WoW or CoH. You're still a nobody, just a small guy among hundreds of them. There's still major players who you'll never be. And the Warcraft world was pre-existing, just not as popular as Star Wars or DC universe beforehand. But still, you just do the same quests as everyone else. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying WoW and CoH (which I both play) haven't fixed that problem at all.

[RMan]

Bah, I think using an existing universe allows you a level of history and "celebrities" that can really enrich the gaming experience. I don’t think it takes anything away from the player, the player, like the real world, will almost invariably have someone else that’s more famous/notorious than they are. The fact that the unattainable level of popularity/power was created by a series of comic books or the social misfits that have no life and play the game constantly wouldn’t affect the average player’s level of drive. In fact, if handled properly these “legendary” NPCs can add tremendously to the game if you can ally yourself to their cause and build relationships with them (they’d technically be more like corporations than actual people).