14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Online Entertainment presented its upcoming PC and PlayStation 3 MMO, DC Universe Online, at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show 2009 and there's new stuff about the game that MMO players and fans of the comic book universe will find very interesting.
The big reveal related to the way the super hero MMO will work is that traditional party roles, which have made their way into MMOs coming from the Dungeons & Dragons background, are being abandoned in favor of a new approach based on “stances.” Basically, all characters can adopt an offensive stance, becoming a DPS class, a defensive stance, becoming a tank, or a support stance, which fits neatly into the role played by the healer class. This will give DC Universe Online a new level of flexibility in the creation of groups and parties.
Sony is trying to make sure that players don't spend a lot of time looking for a party, with one preview noting that something akin to the public quest system from Warhammer Online will be implemented, with players fighting together through an instance without being part of the same group.
There will be four main characteristics defining a character in DC Universe Online. The “Super power” characteristic allows the player to choose their offensive power, “power source” generates a weapon to use, “movement modes” allows the player to choose if they want to fly or float into battle and other options are put into a “traits” group.
It's nice to see that the people at Sony Online Entertainment have also thought about those poor souls that don't have the time or the interest to fiddle with a lot of sliders in a character creation screen. Players can also choose to select one super hero from the vast DC Universe line up of heroes, like Superman, Batman, Green Lantern or any other, in order to be “inspired by” his powers and get right into the fight.