Top 25 PS3 DCUO Beta Issues

Welcome to the Top 25 DCUO Issues we've identified in the Beta. We've deemed these things the most in need of fixing, addressing or revising. There are some aspects we haven't included because we just anticipate these things will be rectified. Things like lag, freezing, and inconsistent voice chat we can only surmise are the results of lack of servers online and just plain old beta-ism. While an indepth tutorial is a necessity, we'll assume it, increased damage and range on the spawn defenses and the list of text commands will be included in the retail version. A well-done Player Search should be there as well. The following list? These are the things that we think need polishing, cleaning and sometimes a complete revamping. Read on for the Top 25 Issues in the DCUO Beta.

NOTE: While we glossed over issues like freezing, lag and other technical issues. We certainly don't mean to cast aside these issues as unimportant. In short, these issues have the ability to devastate the game if they are properly handled. SOE has a clean slate with us, so we are choosing to look at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.

25. Immersion Tidbits - Yes, these things aren't critical from a gameplay standpoint, but cleaning them up would go a long way into making the "Immersion" aspect of DCUO much better. Why not make acrobats climb faster instead of having them flip "up" walls and buildings when they're in travel mode. In the same sense, running across water? Really? Shouldn't this be specific to speedsters?..Wouldn't an animation where we swim "faster" fit more than one that makes us think our characters might be divine? Lastly, the gliding for acrobats may be a semi-cool way to travel, but let's have it turned into a purchased ability with a focus like glider wings if people want to possess it.

24. Sitting/Crouching -We're amazed by many of the things we can do in DCUO. Why is there no ability to crouch down? The ability to sit on park bench or other items is conspicously absent as well.

23. Appearance Respec - People make mistakes. ALL THE TIME. Sometimes they just change their minds. Giving us the ability to redesign our character after he's been created is paramount. Should it cost people to respec their design? Certainly. But giving them the ability to change their appearance with access to all of items in the default menu is vital.

22. Delete Mission - Clutter is bad, and sometimes we discover we've bitten off more than we can chew and we need to wait for teammates before we can retry certain missions. Having the ability to remove them from our Journal would be really, really nice.

21. Journal In-Combat - Boy is it cumbersome to have to press start during gameplay to access the new objectives during our quests. You can't imagine how many times we've been sucker-punched while doing this. Wouldn't it be a great idea to allow us to use a command and toggle to the chat-box (which would hold objectives during combat) and use it to access new objectives without having to tell our teammates to "cover me while I press start!" yes..yes and MORE yes.

20. ShoutBox -While this is a nice feature, it can become a bit cluttered and spam-heavy at times. We love the way server text is in red and tells directly to us are in purple. Let's see more color-coded elements so that we can disregard more of the text that has nothing to do with us.

19. PS3 Screenshots - Do I sense some console-envy? Only PC users get the ability to take great in-game screenshots without UI everywhere? Careful...PS3 users have been known to riot when discriminated against.

18. Attribute Breakdown - Might? What does it do and how does it affect us? What about Precision? Does increasing it make us more accurate? Having the answers to these questions gives us good insight into equipping items, choosing weapons and gives us a more broad view of DCUO in general.

17. Text Size - FIXED. Gotta love SOE. Who said complaining isn't effective?

16. Shared Traveling Abilities - If my teammate can lift a car, why can't he lift me? It happens in comics all the time. Wouldn't having a flying teammate be so much more useful if he could lift us into the skies with him instead of leaving us on the ground where its difficult to follow? We think so.

15. Body Sliders - People have harped on this aspect endlessly, so we'll make this short and sweet. There simply aren't enough unique body types. We can't be slim without being little-kid sized? Giving us sliders would greatly enhance the customization aspect of creating our characters.

14. Teammate Icons - We like to stay with our teammates but it's often difficult. You see, after about 50 feet or so, their Name Icons disappear. We're reduced to looking at the mini-map to find them instead of looking at the actual game world.While this is fine for heroes just passing by, the people we're grouped with we sorta-kinda have the intention to stay WITH. What about a system where we can still see their Name Icons out to 100 yards are so? It would make staying in our groups sooo much more efficient and easier. BELIEVE US.

13. Movement Restriction - We've seen several people comment on this aspect on the Beta Boards, but we've got to chime in as well. The movement restriction we are subject to isn't balanced along the three movement types. We created a flying character just to be certain. Acrobatic characters are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to escaping from attackers. While flyers can still fly in combat, and speedsters still move at a high-rate of speed, acrobats all of a sudden move at a walking pace? This imbalance needs to be resolved and it's probably a good idea to have acrobats retain all of their movement capabilities whether in combat or not for game balance--aren't they supposed to be evasive?

12. Fall Damage - Maybe we're just a stickler for details, but we can't just seem to get over this one. Shouldn't characters without invulnerability or some manner of protection (like an armored suit for instance) have to respawn after falls from enormous heights? We say YES...it adds some element of realism and would just give the DCUO World a much-needed physics element. And the respawns aren't that long, people.

11. Down Teammates - Our down teammates are awfully tough to locate and we have to get to them pretty much immediately in order to resuscitate them. That's no fun! How about a system where we had a longer time to tend to them and a medic icon (that is visible through structures) that shows us where they are and maybe even how far away (in meters) they are from us?

10. Difficult, Cumbersome Interface - FIXED. Isn't life grand?

9. Character Creation Options - Gamers are spoiled. They always want more, but let's not kid ourselves, when people are paying a monthly fee the expectation goes up considerably. While we know the great minds at SOE are already heavy at work adding new creation options, this must be said: Hardcore players are going to be the ones that support this game consistently. The hardcore player already has a vision of his character and not being able to bring that character to life hurts the game. This may sound silly, but the color of a character's power effect is a big deal to some people! As an example, not seeing Ringmaster with her whip, The PeaceKeepers with their emblem or a character like Addonexus brought to life in stunning detail is a bit of a letdown--it just is. We're sure these aspects will be a non-issue months from now, but we certainly wanted to stress the important nature of options in customization.

8. Faction .vs. Faction Combat - Some will say that this isn't needed in the game, we'll say there should atleast be certain zones where it's possible--villains and heroes fight each other all the time. Whether it's in a training area or because of a dispute, it needs to be one of our options. Maybe we could type a /hvh command into the commands prompt and it would allow us to smack another hero around a little--or vice versa. But this is a needed element--sooner than later!

7. Merged PS3/PC Server - Yes, we knows it's difficult. Yes, we know from the back-end its a logistical nightmare, but just think of the possibilities. Invest the time and money into making this option a reality. That is all.

6. Environment Damage - In the same vein as Fall Damage, there are just some things that would bring the game full circle and make the DCUO universe more alive. Recently we completed the Gorilla Island Mission and we couldn't help but notice the numerous amounts of lava fields around. We naturally avoided them, but when we stepped into one just to "see" what would happen? nothing..not a spec of damage from molten lava? Does this strike anyone else as odd? The gameplay elements that are added from a world full of potential hazards with minor damage from lava, being hit by cars, falling and a number of other real-world dangers would be unimaginable. Using the environment to our advantage would add so much to DCUO.

5. Voice Chat -While we can understand that a world where people are broadcasting over audio channels at will may be scary to some, give the mature types that frequent MMOs some credit (and there's always a Mute Player option) the chat system needs an audio component to bring it full circle. Maybe as a checks and balance a player could only transmit over channels to players on their level or lower--maybe some other criteria can be used, but something has to be done. The typing aspect of DCUO is a nice extra but it simply can't be our only method of communication. Quick prompts for speaking to heroes in our direct vicinity with voice chat (and hearing villains nearby as well) and also for the ability to select a player and communicate to people NOT close to us on an audio channel is a necessity. Had the subscription fee been $4.99 or $9.99 perhaps we wouldn't have expected so much, but 15 dollars takes the user-friendly expectation up another level.

4. Missing Powers - Teleportation (what could be easier than pressing start, choosing a location on the map and appearing there after a short animation?) Regeneration (should it be costly? sure...but the power to heal during combat is needed) Growth & Shrinking, Duplication, Invisibility (perhaps after invisible character's attack there could be a visible outline around them for game balance) Invulnerability, Summoning, Astral Projection, Mind Control (costly here again, but how easy would it be to make enemies attack their teammates or themselves for a short period?) Electricity, Light, Wind, Water, Magnetic and Earth Powers, Intangibility (costly here as well, but also a minimum time of say 30 seconds in the intangible state would prevent the hit-and-run-tactics we'd be sure to see) and Energy Constructs are many of the abilities that haven't been revealed yet. As long as these abilities are part of the reason players are paying $14.99 a month this isn't an issue. We understand the developers can't be expected to have the total pantheon of superpowers ever created available upon release.

3. Brawler Powertype - C'mon guys, a flat-out brawler character without gadgets or weapons? You're telling me this isn't possible? NO WAY. Someway, Somehow--this needs to happen. And it needs to happen in DCUO.

2. Game Imbalances - We're concerned with some elements of DCUO that just aren't as balanced as they could be. Grounded characters seem to be at too big a disadvantage when defending themselves from airborne attackers. It isn't so much that grounded characters can't defend themselves, but the alerting/targeting leaves alot to be desired. There's also the issue that we often don't know when airborne attacks are present until it's too late. Looking at the mini-map during combat is just not conducive to victory. A better mechanic would have an on-screen indicator that shows what direction attacks are coming from and have our targeting reticle not leave an airborne attacker until we choose another target. Bleed damage is also another pitfall, we understand that Fire and Nature powers may have continued effects after the initial hit, but why would the damage stack? That just makes it overpowered! And unless we want a game where EVERYONE is spamming fire and nature powers (news flash: this is the win-at-all-costs-if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em world of Online Gaming, after all) this perk has to be extended to the other powersets as well. Who's to say a martial artists doesn't have some brand of kung-fu with cumulative effects or that super-strength blows can't continue to effect you after the initial barrage? In short, cumulative effects need to be a perk that is customizable on ANY powerset--it's just wholly irresponsible and short-sighted to give it to a select and exclusive group.

1. Cheating/Glitches - Many people hated the Fire and Amazonian Deflection exploits that have been so popular recently, there were also rumors that people were able to hack their way into level 30 armor and other foolishness. We were ecstatic. Welcome to the World of Online Gaming, where people will seek to use any exploit, glitch and advantage that they can get their hands on. This is a major test of what DCUO is made of, FACT: No one in their right minds will pay money to be glitched to death. Cheat Prevention must be swift, effective and thorough. FACT: Nothing can prevent the game from being successful more than rampant cheating and the abuse of exploits.

Well, that's it gang, but those are just our observations. Is there something you noticed that you didn't see on our list? Be sure to use the comments section, The feedback that we give SOE is more important than you know.