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2 week wonder?
erikk3189
Member Posts: 306
Seriously,
Is this game a 2 week "wonder." I mean, talk about a game that faded faster then an ice cube on a hot fire.
This is what SoE has reaped since their SWG debacle. A stable of games, all with empty servers.
Couldn't happen to a nicer company. Maybe once they fire Smedley, their luck will change.
Or, maybe not.
Comments
It certainly seems that way. All the charts I've observed have shown MASSIVE declines.
But don't get too excited...Smed isn't likey to go anywhere.
So, has this been a conscious attempt to milk an IP for box sales mainly? (Seeing how shallow some people say the actual content is).
Or do you think this product was intended and fully expected to retain a lot of subs and become a long lasting success?
If the first is true we'd do well to distrust the companies behind this for eternity and then some.
My brand new bloggity blog.
at a guess.. (with SOE anything other than guesswork is unlikely to work.. logical decisions are as likely as a railway timetable!) i'd say that this product was meant to garner more longterm subs, but.. its aimed at the wrong demographic, again.. no change there perhaps, i think its likely that subs to DCUO are a temporary thing.. players will sub for a month, leave it off for a month or 3.. and then sub for a month again.. or perhaps not.. it depends on whats out at the time, and seeing as this game will be competing for attention with game releases that don't require repeat payments, it was always going to be a bit dodgy.. but.. it seems like SOE were probably the only ones who didnt realise this.. like i said though.. anything other than guessing at SOE's strategies are a waste of time
The first is true, for sure.
And what is interesting is that MMORPG.COM jumped on the bandwagon and gave this game a GREAT score. They really need some more experienced reviewers on this site who can see that this game is nothing but shallow eye candy with a sexy license.
My gaming blog
Now wait a minute...
DCUO was a great game for the review period. Think about it, it was just a launch so all the servers were pop full. SOE promised a monthly content update. SOE stated there would be bug fixes and whathaveyou.
The problem with a review is that they are given the content of a game within a limited scope and are told... here... review this for 2 wks... go!
For 2 weeks the game was incredible. People were rushing to max level. Raids were forming. There were a couple of bugs but those were reported and RadarX responded they would be fixed. The problem? It wasn't until 2-4 wks AFTER the first review that the first patch came out. And that patch didn't fix HALF of what it was supposed to. The monthly update for V-day was off by almost 2 wks. The first content update was a catwoman mission which, while cool in context, was not as bountiful as the comic faithful would have held.
While I sometimes agree/disagree with the reviews here, atleast they TRY. They noted the discrepancies and if you go back and READ the review, there are a lot of IF's in their conclusion. Once again, SOE kicked us gamers while they were down.
It is very good as a "side" mmo, I have said this all along. I have a LTS and I am happy with it, I will play it with a bunch of friends while we wait for The old republic and we dont have to play endlessly to get anywhere.
What it is NOT good for is high volume of play, the content is fun but not deep, its fast but not fulfilling. It is a casual gamers game in many ways.
SoE could have had a massive hit on their hands with this game, as it is, I think they will keep a reasonable amount of subscribers but they will be on and off subs not many will play it solidly.
I really couldn't get past playing an mmo on my ps3... gameplay was ok I guess as far as console gaming goes.
Emberlord ~ Defiant to the End!
They should have made it a freemium. Had deco items for your costume in shop. Unlock certain areas for SC. Would have made them more money in the long run.
Have you finished it? Go try Rift.
Guild Wars 2's 50 minutes game play video:
http://n4g.com/news/592585/guild-wars-2-50-minutes-of-pure-gameplay
Everything We Know about GW2:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
Okay, first, you say "atleast they TRY." Um, do you realize just how low a standard you have? My 3 year old can try advanced calculus, but doesn't mean it is useful. Anyway, I infer from your comments that the game has materially changed SINCE the MMOPRG staff wrote their review and impressions. If that is the case, I believe MMORPG should be compelled to retract their original review and issue an ammended review. This game is still relatively new and people looking to buy a game might believe the review a few weeks ago is accurate of the game. I know the staff is always moving onto the next game, but leaving a review that is now inaccurate so quickly deserves some attention.
Your comment also says that they used a lot of hedging language about their review, which also suggests that they need to come back and do a re-review quickly so that they can make some more definitive comments, or at least take the numerical rating down and issue a statement that the game is under re-review.
There is of course the other point: MMORPG staff stands fully behind their initial review of DCUO. While normally I would discount a review of an MMO if it was a year or two old (and thus there is no need to re-review every single game, that's too much to ask), I would expect a review of a major release game by a major developer (SOE) done 1-2 months ago to be fairly accurate. I'd like to know if MMORPG still would give this game a glowing review. My standards I guess are a little higher than just hoping they "try."
P.S. -- Not trying to personally insult anyone at MMORPG, but my opnion of the review of this game was that it was reviewed like a console game and not as an MMO. Probably easy to do as the console aspect of the game is innovative, but I do believe you missed the forest by focusing too much on one tree, as the saying goes. I just want to point it out because I actually want to use the reviews of this site. If I didn't care, I'd just simply go somewhere else and not even bother posting this.
The PC side of DCUO is all but dead. Everything is broken and no one is playing which breaks other things in the game. Servers are all low in pop most of the time. The few people left ont he low pop servers are mostly leaving b/c SOE is not going to merge servers.
HOWEVER, the PS3 side is medium to high in population on all servers. And they also have more servers than the PC. Its a really big mistake to buy this game for the PC. This game should have been launched PS3 only b/c that's the only side SOE is supporting.
I had fun with it for a few days... but 2 weeks is about right. Became bored with it pretty quick.
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I bought the game over my vacation on a whim. I didn't follow it religiously as some may have. However. I took a chance and played and actually had quite a bit of fun. I had quite a few fun sessions with friends and random people through the game. I got to the endgame and found it to be empty. Two raids and some other events to occupy a person but it felt dry after going through the motions for the 10th time. 2cents.
They really should have added more content. The game ended too quickly. What the little it had, I really liked. But too little.
Guild Wars 2's 50 minutes game play video:
http://n4g.com/news/592585/guild-wars-2-50-minutes-of-pure-gameplay
Everything We Know about GW2:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/287180/page/1
I wrote this a couple months back and think I hit it about right (ignorance about the PS3 billing, aside):
The PS3 servers will do fine, the game seems built for the PS3 anyway, and they don't (or do they?) have the same monthly sub fee as PC players, so players are more likely to stay with it longer.
On the PC side, because it is lacking many features many MMO customers are accustomed by now, and the sub fee, and the lousy UI for comp players without a game controller, I think the PC servers will see more serious declines, faster.
Even the most ardent supporter can not claim that this gme will have much long lasting appeal past a few months, and with other anticipated MMOs on the horizen, the PC numbers will get hit even harder.
Overall, PS3 results ok, PC ones not so good.
I also should have added, historically crappy SOE CS and QA for patches and updates will likely hurt the PC numbers as well, and as sure as anything, there it is.
Since I am naive and dumb, I never expect evil intend unless I know it for sure. The bane of humanity is stupidity not evil. It's just strange that SOE did this. EQ2 should have taught them enough about the basics of a good MMO: tons of content, good UI asf. All virtues SOE by all means SHOULD have been able to produce.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
This^
They had 2 other superhero games to study and find out what they did right or wrong. They have a whole stable of MMOs that they could look at and say'what went wrong?' They could have taken their budget which was significantly greater than the last super-h MMO to launch and make something greater. Thay had an IP to die for. All these things SEO have just pissed away.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
Basically, what this tells "us" is that, although Smedley is at the top (and therefore the one primarily consistent participaint in all of these endeavors), SOE has no true organizational learning built into it. I've been one of those realists/optimists who has stated that SOE should be given a reasonable shot with any new game they produce, but at this point I don't see it happening while Smedley is running things. I realize that sounds like a very "swg-vet" thing to write, but organizational culture starts from the top and SOE won't be fixed until they get new blood and a new attitude. It's disappointing given they have such a vast stable of games...with potential.
In terms of its IP DCUO I think it does it absolute justice so that would not be a fair criticism; the game reeks of the comicbooks and cartoons, a lot of effort has gone into the presentation and few if any previous IP's have been afforded more respect or delivered with such conviction.
The issues raised against DCUO really come from the fact that certain generic mmo staples have been ommitted or implemented poorly.
Reviews and more often comment 'it's fun but....' which is odd for me as anything after the 'but' somehow seems secondary - but each to their own I guess. I won't claim it's the greatest mmo out there, it needs time to grow, but I would suggest it is one of the most individual and engaging; a great foundation on which to build....and in this field that makes it rarer than rocking horse manure.