by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer and filmmaker

It’s no secret on how much I express my love and affection for DC Universe Online. It is the premiere MMO for the PlayStation 3, and whether you agree or disagree, it’s one of the best the PSN has to offer.

DCUO has been through a lot of bumps and overcame some hefty criticism, and even to this day you can view some of it on their Facebook Page; one could say it equals to that of the Sony Home Forums. While some of the panning would make sense, often times people would complain just to be seen, if not heard.

I can appreciate the finer qualities about this game and what makes it unique, aside from its free-to-play marketing. Sure, the game offers a bevy of DLCs and developer-to-community interaction which you won’t see from other major MMOs these days. The problem that I have here is that while it’s great to see more downloadable content and iconic styles, the crucial bugs that have existed in the game since the title’s F2P era began on November 2011 have been overlooked. What most would hope to see resolved by any announced game update are left with a bit of frustration to see that these issues are not reconciled.

And for me, this is the end of the line.

I’m hyped for the next Sons of Trigon DLC and everything that follows, but while that is gearing for a fall release,  it’s about that time to state my own criticisms on this game.

For starters, I believe there needs to be a balance on the damage scaling in this game, mainly on the enemies in certain alerts like Bludhaven. It’s one thing for a low-level player to go in with lacking knowledge on how to fundamentally complete the mission without taking so much damage, but it’s another for a seasoned-character geared with tier-four armor and proper mods to take the same amount of damage as the low-levels, literally ignoring that I’m wearing the correct gear to nullify the heavy attacks from the enemies alone. It’s not only embarrassing and insulting to my intelligence, but it makes grinding for the skill points too much of a chore than what was attended to be. This holds especially true for Premium Access players that don’t have that kind of cash to go to the Vendor to repair their gear. 

Which also brings me to my next issue: the economy in this game really needs a good nerf. I don’t have a problem on holding a good seven- or eight-figures in this game but if you were to look in the Broker on some of the items being sold by the players, that sudden feeling of things not being right in this world starts to settle in.

The outlandish prices that I see on the chat log jerks me a bit because it’s something that not any player needs in the game. Sure, it’s cool to grind for the cash just to meet the quotas of the items that you seek from the Broker for mods and certain styles to complete a feat, but lets be real honest here; you mean to tell me that for me to obtain some much-needed feats in the game to get to where I need to be for my League and anybody else that I wish to legitimately help, I have to spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars for just two skills points? 

I understand we all can’t have it too easy these days, and in DCUO, grinding for some feats and gaining the combat rating is necessary. But I’m not down for paying eight-million dollars for a Collection piece needed to complete a simple task. I would like to see a monetary cap on how much you can sell an item in the Broker, because granted, while there will be others that will work around the system to fill their needy void, this has turned players off for a long time and it’s becoming a nuisance.

Aside from the small perks this game presents which needs heavy updating (more movement options, freezing issues, better League features), this love/hate relationship that I have for DCUO has started to grow in an immense state of discomfiture. As previously mentioned, I’m not downing this game at all, and I won’t join the wolfpack that loiters on SOE’s page and threatens the suspensions of their legendary access if they don’t get this game fixed. I’m happy with what I’ve invested in and I’ve had a lot of positives than negatives regarding this MMORPG. However, these bugs and glitches have lain dormant in DCUO for far too long and it’s about time they start addressing the backlog of issues before it comes to the point of dropping the love for this game and finding something else to invest in.

The Kikai “GameOver Vacation Package” sounds relaxing right about now — as longs they serve me some peanuts.

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2 Responses to “The Frustrations That Runneth Deep: DCUO”

1. EleventyThreve says:

   August 22, 2013 at 10:44 am

   I completely agree Jin, and I was an avid fan of DCUO from opening day until about a year ago, right around the Amazonian DLC. a lot of the issues you addressed, have been around since day 1. and some born from the many DLC’s that came out. I had a love/hate relationship for DCUO for quite a while until tht balance was tipped in one direction. I do think that labeling it F2P is a little harsh too, since anyone know has played it for more then the beginner quests, find out that you must pay to get your money, pay to play any dlc piece, and pay to excell in any endgame raiding or group endeavor. It’s a fantastic game, one that outlast a similiar title in City of Heroes, and a great platform to open people up to an MMO environment.

   great read, thank you ^.^

   Reply
2. Tyler Sparda says:

   August 22, 2013 at 7:19 pm

   As a legendary member I can tell: As most of your articles, you are right Jin, I mainly agree in the currency management, the broker is just crazy with certain items… I mean there’s people selling skins for $30,000 -- $50,000, skins that you can buy in Metro (hero) or Gotham (villain) by $1500 maybe and the poor new people who has no idea buy them. Its Ok if DCUO thinks the broker its a market from users to users, but it needs a control. And I honestly think premium members need to have more currency capacity that might encourage some people to become from free to Premium. Just my thought.

   Reply