Ask SOE #9

Question #1

Q: Will you always be accompanied by an iconic for an indoor/instanced mission? This one's being asked quite a bit. Good to have an official word about it.

A: One of our big pillars is “Dive into DC”. We want you to interact with the iconic heroes and villains as much as possible. So, whenever we get the opportunity to put them into the story and action, we will. That doesn’t mean they are always there to help you. Sometimes you’re going into a mission with Batman at your side. Other times you’re going solo against the Joker. Of course there will be things you get to do where you pop into a place and complete an adventure on your own or with friends; there might not be an iconic in the mix at that stage of the adventure.

All answers from Jens Andersen, Creative Director, DCUO

Question #1

Q: There has been a lot of talk in regards to "moment to moment" gameplay, and trying to keep much more of an action feel to it than MMO games of the past. How does healing fit in with this type of gameplay ideal?

 

A: Well we’ve always said we want people to be an active participant in the fight, no matter what tactical role you are fulfilling. This ties into damage, defense, support roles and the objectives we have in the missions. The support aspect is about keeping your friends in good shape but we’re doing it in a way that feels more superhero and less bystander. For us, with our rally mechanic, it’s about motivation: The drive to keep going despite injury and harm. We want to present it in a way that doesn’t appear to magically erase your wounds as if they never happened but rather let’s you push through them to victory.

 

All answers are from Jens Andersen, Creative Director for DCUO, and Wes Yanagi, Senior Producer for DCUO.

Question #1

Q: DCUO was named best of show by Tentonhammer.com at the New York Comic-Con. How does the team feel about receiving accolades such as this so early in development?

A: As you mentioned, we are early in development, so being named best of show by Tentonhammer.com was a very pleasant surprise to the team, especially after all the hard work they've put into crafting the game for public demos. It is also great validation that our outside the box concept is going to deliver something special for all kinds of gamers and DC fans.

All answers from Thomas “Blixtev” Blair, Lead Systems Designer, DCUO

This Ask SOE features a number of questions which were selected from among a couple dozen that were submitted by the forum members at DCUO Source. If you would like to contribute questions for future editions of Ask SOE, feel free to register for the website and start posting!

Question #1

Q: Does the game physics apply to the character's weight? For example, if my character weighs 100 pounds and has "Level 10 Leaping Ability" (or whatever the power would be called) does he jump farther than a 500 pound character with exactly the same leaping power? If both are hit by a car, do each of the characters get thrown the same distance?

A: Whoa! Lots of questions wrapped up in that one. To start with for gameplay reasons all characters size/mass is assumed to be the same, simply because we would like to avoid players having to choose being a small/light character simply because it was more advantageous than being a large character when it comes to jumping or being thrown. We want the player to fulfill their superhero fantasy and not be penalized because their character is large or small physically.