DC Universe Online Interview

NowGamer interviews DC Universe PR Manager Ryan Peters and Community Manager Tony Jones about the recently-launched MMORPG DC Universe Online. It is a four page reviews covering topics from the reception of the launch, cross-platform design to questions on the monthly subscription costs..

You mentioned the different currency types the PSN wallet limit currently prevents the purchase of the annual and lifetime subs for DCUO are you looking to fix that?

RP: Yeah, the wallet size on PSN unfortunately doesn’t go big enough. But we’re working to hopefully amend that. Tony’s probably seen a lot of feedback on that.

TJ: Yeah, I was actually very surprised. Because PS3 customers aren’t necessarily used to a subscription, I hadn’t considered there would be such a high demand for lifetime subscriptions. We’re definitely looking into a way to offer that to them because it’s been very popular.

RP: It’s been interesting for us as a developer and publisher to see that console players are interested in making that large an investment for something that they’re not familiar with.

Your monthly subscription costs the same as World of Warcraft, an established MMORPG…

TJ: We also have the multi-month plans which make the cost cheaper, similar to other MMO structures…

RP: Buy in bulk, we’ll give you a discount!

(…)

Your level cap at the moment is 30, which sounds quite low.

RP: People say that because 30 doesn’t sound as high as 90. It’s all really relative. It’s just a number. You could play for a really long time and not hit that level. It all depends on hw you approach the game. Some players are just all about getting to the next level, but me, I describe myself as more of an ADD gamer I might start a quest, then pick up a side-quest, then do a collection, then on of my buddies my cue me up for some group content, and next thing I know four hours later I haven’t gained a level. If your only goal is to gain levels, then you’re going to reach it faster than a player that enjoys the breadth of the content we’re offering.

TJ: And for the veteran MMO player, they know it’s about the end game. It’s what you do when you get to that last level. You can spend your time and enjoy the story, but that only fills a certain number of hours of content. It’s about what you do every day and that’s what we’re providing. There is a huge chunk of content that begins at level 30 we have something called Duo mode, which are a number instances you do with one other player. That’s something else you don’t see in other MMOs.

RP: It’s important to keep in mind that this is a brand new game, so the level-cap is obviously going to be raised multiple times across the longevity of the game.