DC Universe Online has been all over the map since it released in January. The game sold out in a lot of locations, tons of people were playing, bugs started cropping up, people left, and then SOE got hacked and was offline for a long time. On top of that, there have been a bunch of game updates since its launch; the latest being the Fortress of Solitude, Superman's arctic base.
Today -- in the wake of the new DC Universe Online Megaservers -- I (IGN's Greg Miller) battled it out in the raid with some other superheroes. Nick Kolan -- IGN's MMO Editor and the mild-mannered reporter who reviewed the game -- kept asking me questions about it.
This is the super-nerdy conversation that followed.
Greg Miller: Nick, I just popped my DCUO Fortress of Solitude Raid cherry. This was my first raid in six months -- since the raid that broke my spirit and drove me away from the game.
Nick Kolan: Which raid was that? I never broke into DCUO's raiding scene. The PC server I was on was more dead than Steve Rogers, unless he's not dead anymore. But I have done a great deal of raiding in other games.
Greg Miller: This is the new raid. This is the first one that has us going to Superman's arctic base. See, Brainiac is after some sunstones, and buddy, that's bad news. There are a couple of bosses, and then I had to stop Krypto in the end.
Krypto is Superman's dog. He was under Brainiac's control. He has superpowers, too. It's... weird. The dog thing. Not the raid.
Nick Kolan: You fight Superman's dog? That pretty much sounds like the greatest raid ever conceived. Did you beat the entire thing today?
Greg Miller: Well, you focus on Brainiac's goons. Take them out, and Krypto goes back to normal. And, yeah, I beat the raid today. Got the Feat -- which is like an in-game achievement that helps you become stronger -- for doing it in less than an hour.
Nick Kolan: And when did this raid come out?
Greg Miller: Last week. I tried to get into it a few times then, but there weren't that many people on my server. Now, all the servers have been combined into one Megaserver, so there were plenty of people on.
Nick Kolan: See, here's my issue with DCUO: there doesn't seem to be any emphasis on challenge. Your typical MMO raid can take weeks to conquer, and not only did you beat the raid on your first try, you beat it in under an hour a week after it came out.
Greg Miller: I also beat it after taking six months off from hardcore playing.
Nick Kolan: Exactly. A lot of people complain that World of Warcraft has gotten "too easy," but this is almost farcical. It feels like there's no achievement to clearing the content, and it also raises the issue of players beating stuff waaaaay faster than the developers are capable of putting it out.
How long was that raid in development?
Greg Miller: How the hell do I know? Am I DCUO's biographer? I first heard about it a few months ago when they were talking about life after Batman content.
But here's the thing -- I like that it's beatable. When I got to level 30 in DCUO and started doing raids, I was getting rocked. I was wasting hours upon hours playing and getting nothing. It sucked. That's not the experience I want -- that didn't make me feel like an accomplished superhero. I want to jump back in when new content comes out and be able to have a chance. I want the new suits and the new collectables.