Difference between 'DC Universe' (MMO) and 'City of Heroes' (MMO)

[mgelhaus]

'City of Heroes' (http://www.cityofheroes.com/): A superhero MMORPG. No previous DC or Marvel characters can be created/playable.

'DC Universe': A superhero MMORPG. No previous DC or Marvel characters can be created/playable.

Granted I have never played 'City of Heroes' nor have I seen or played any 'DC Unverse' demos, but I wanted to know what will be the major difference 'conceptually' between City of Heroes MMO and the upcoming DC Universe MMO.

I know that DC and Marvel had put their own property rights on City of Heroes to prevent any playable characters that resemble any of their properties/characters/heroes. However, the same goes for the DC Universe MMO in that no one can play "Batman" or "Superman" or so on and so forth.

I guess the main reason I ask "What is the Difference" is ... is DC Universe just an updated City of Heroes (as CoH is a few years old now)?

Side Note: Keep in mind City of Heroes was low on the radar in the MMO genre games, and only obtained a Cult following (no offense). Can DC actually compete with the MMO market where CoH failed?

[az0madman]

As far as I know (haven't played CoH), the mission style is that you get to fight along side DC heroes and fight DC villains. It's not just a super hero world, but one you've come to know through the comics. Although I'm sure there are more technical differences since it's not being created by the same people.

I always wanted to play CoH but the subscription model for gaming always turned me away. WoW's the only one I found worth subscribing with but even then, I ended up quitting. At least DC online will be free as far as I know.

[capnhulk]

An updated CoH might not be such a bad thing. CoH has a fairly decent following and after some tedium at the lower levels you really do feel like a powerful superhero. My friends and I had quite a bit of fun for a month or two. Hopefully, DCU won't fall into the same pitfalls as CoH has, though there's not really a lot of information out there to make a decent comparison.

You should also be on the lookout for Champions Online, which is sort of the spiritual successor to CoH. It looks pretty neat so far and is supposed to be a lot more action-oriented than CoH.

[poltah]

I played a good bunch of CoH, and CoV, and I have to say DCU looks to me, almost exactly like the same game.

And that isn't a good ting. CoH was fun at first, but it really turned out to be boring after a while.

[scootman]

yeah i just quite playing CoH/CoV a month or so ago. it was fun for a bit but then i start getting bored and wouldn't play it as much so i cancelled to save some money

[geneocide]

I've sorta come to the conclusion that current MMO technology does not allow for the proper production of a superhero MMO. While the idea sounds cool, make your own superhero and be a badass, it cannot be delivered.

Superheros in comics are badass because they get to use their powers in creative ways, and the situations are new every time, and designed by authors to make them badass. The generalized nature of MMO's, and the limitations of current computer games, doesn't allow this.

This problem is compounded by the need for "balance" and "leveling" which is somewhat counter to the superhero mindset. No superhero gets beat by 3 muggers, ever, even if they're level 30 muggers wearing green shirts instead of blue ones.

I only played CoH for a little bit, and that was before CoV, and I've got no direct experience with DC, but I can't imagine running around with my two super abilities and getting a job from to save the city, while Superman and Batman stand over in the corner and give encouragement is going to be very fun.

[poltah]

One of the biggest problems with MMOs for me is that combat is almost never skill based (WoW is a great example of this) and always just very repetitive, and not very fun.

If you look at the trailers for Spider-Man Web of Shadows. That kind of combat looks fun, why can't I do stuff like that in my MMO? Why does it have to be a session of pressing 1,2,3,2,1,1,2.

[mgelhaus]

I always wanted to play CoH but the subscription model for gaming always turned me away. WoW's the only one I found worth subscribing with but even then, I ended up quitting. At least DC online will be free as far as I know.

Is it going to be free as far a subscriptions go? That would be bold. Expect the game to not get too many updates then... as there will be no 'income' once the game initial sales go away.

[scoobydiesel]

if its free that just changed my mind and i will give it a try, otherwise its jsut another mmo and i dont think at this point care

[evilbaby]

This problem is compounded by the need for "balance" and "leveling" which is somewhat counter to the superhero mindset. No superhero gets beat by 3 muggers, ever, even if they're level 30 muggers wearing green shirts instead of blue ones.

I only played CoH for a little bit, and that was before CoV, and I've got no direct experience with DC, but I can't imagine running around with my two super abilities and getting a job from to save the city, while Superman and Batman stand over in the corner and give encouragement is going to be very fun.

The big difference is that this one is also available on consoles (PS3 I think). That means that the control scheme is going to be very different. Not that anyone in the press or industry has actually gotten a chance to play the game. I imagine that the controls will be set up for console first so you'll probably only need four or five buttons to be effective in the game. Compare that to using most of the keyboard when it comes to running wow.

What sold me was the idea that the villain end game would probably include "raiding" the fortress of solitude with Luthor or the Batcave with the Joker. That just sounds cool from a comic nerd perspective.

At this point though no one can really say either way cause the games not finished. All the stuff the showed at E3 and comicon we just watchable stuff. We don't really know how it will be played, just concept stuff really.

[poltah]

It was playable at Comic Con as far as I've heard.

[geneocide]

Uh... yeah. The TRS guys talked about playing it. You can fight on the side of buildings, Alex said the characters they give are generic which he thinks bode poorly since they probably would make them as cool as they could, Jeff was somewhat disappointed as well, but commented that it's pre-alpha so many things will change...

[evilbaby]

Was it playable or did they watch someone play it? Or was it pre-recorded gameplay footage(links?)? All the E3 Comicon stuff I saw on 1up didn't mention anything being playable. Of course I'm still trying to play catch up cause my iPod is acting wonky.

[geneocide]

Wasn't playable at E3, was at ComicCon.

[rsk_taker]

Uh... yeah. The TRS guys talked about playing it. You can fight on the side of buildings, Alex said the characters they give are generic which he thinks bode poorly since they probably would make them as cool as they could, Jeff was somewhat disappointed as well, but commented that it's pre-alpha so many things will change...

I didn't get what Alex was saying, he was complaining about your character basically not being able to be god, like EVERYONE is WoW is, he wants you character to have like, fire, ice, flying, super strength, healing etc.

I think what the game does (and this better friggin be the case) is that each character has one superpower, and all your actions and abilities build off that as you level.

So if you're ICE, you will be able to feeze ppl, get ice projectiles, ice armour, maybe ice slide.

If you're fire, you may get to burn ppl if they hit you, lots of radials, projectiles

If you're flying, you can avoid stuff and learn aerial attacks, maybe help transport an ally, or pick up bad guys and drop them, even random objects

etc. etc.

that's the way it should be, because your superpowered character should just have one base ability, like a mutant in the Marvel universe should have one ability/power/physical abnormality.

I can't stand characters when they can fly, have super strong skin, and regnerate and absorb energy or whatever. That's very poor design and uncreative.

[aerodash84]

I'm pretty excited to see it. I always wanted to try CoH/CoV heard good things for awhile and gets old. I like the idea of the end game in a Super Hero game such as raiding key places as the Bat Cave, Fortress of Solitude, and I'd like to see themaskeera(sp?). I can't really think of any equivalent for a hero side. I had hope for the Marvel Universe game because I would've loved to see a Secret Wars raid/battle ground. This could be interesting, and as for updates it sounds like WarHawk gets some pretty good attention and that's free right? So this could be promising when it gets closer to Beta. Plus, what MMO hasn't changed between announcement and release. I saw WoW in Beta testing and it didn't look good at all. Now it could qualify as a state or maybe small country.

[poltah]

I didn't get what Alex was saying, he was complaining about your character basically not being able to be god, like EVERYONE is WoW is, he wants you character to have like, fire, ice, flying, super strength, healing etc.

I think what the game does (and this better friggin be the case) is that each character has one superpower, and all your actions and abilities build off that as you level.

So if you're ICE, you will be able to feeze ppl, get ice projectiles, ice armour, maybe ice slide.

If you're fire, you may get to burn ppl if they hit you, lots of radials, projectiles

If you're flying, you can avoid stuff and learn aerial attacks, maybe help transport an ally, or pick up bad guys and drop them, even random objects

etc. etc.

that's the way it should be, because your superpowered character should just have one base ability, like a mutant in the Marvel universe should have one ability/power/physical abnormality.

I can't stand characters when they can fly, have super strong skin, and regnerate and absorb energy or whatever. That's very poor design and uncreative.

I don't think that's what Alex was saying. But you need to be able to do more than just regenerate for example. Otherwise it's not going to be fun to play.

But I think his point was that you didn't feel like a SUPERHERO, but just like maybe a c-level nobody hero guy who could do like one or two things.

[geneocide]

When everyone has superpowers, nobody is a superhero. The very best people are just normal heros compared to the average joe who can shoot fireballs. /shrug

Like I was saying, the whole superhero MMO has lots of basic issues. It would be great if someone fixed them... I'm just going to assume nobody has until I see some compelling evidence.

[weshareblood]

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[aerodash84]

I would like to see more. Champions Online sounds pretty interesting. They bought the rights to the name so they will have more control over the property this time.

DCU Online sounds like it'll be interesting from a fan basis.

What sounds like these games wouldn't last long is what is the equivalent to WoW's lvl 70 stuff. Beyond raiding the Fortress of Solitude, Batcave, maybe Apocalypse what is there? What is the point of a suit if you can't upgrade stats etc. I can't imagine gear. I think what would be cool is boss items and a hideout. Kind of like a Fortress of Solitude or Batcave that you get items you can put in like Two-Face's Penny, Penguin's Umbrella, and stuff like that.