CBR: Grodd, Gorilla City Part of "DCU Online"

[CBR News]

Sony Online Entertainment and DC Entertainment have unveiled the latest character making his presence known in the upcoming "DC Universe Online" MMORPG: the super-powered simian known as Grodd!


Full article here.

[Zawisza]

Thank goodness the gorillas look like gorillas!

[KnightErrantJR]

I love Gorilla City. I must live there. It shall be so.

[NeoStar9X]

Really glad new info is coming out as we get near release. Have this pre-ordered for the PS3 and really looking forward to it. I just hope the PS3 version has a decent population. Just need to get another USB extension cable for my head set and I'm good to go. I already had one for my USB keyboard that I used for Home and White Knight Chronicles. Was cheaper to do that then get the official small keypad and bluetooth headset.

[Hawkman]

I just hope the PS3 version has a decent population.

Well, there will at least be two of us, anyway. Though I have to say, with the official release just over a month away and still no beta, I'm beginning to get concerned. I doubt the game will be delayed at this point, but I'm wondering just how smoothly the launch is going to be, especially given this will be the first MMO on the PS3.

Anyway, pics look good. Wish the game had more of an official website, though. I don't use Facebook and the SOE site is pretty bare in terms detailing in-game content. At the very least, a forum would be nice to allow us folks outside the social networking loop to have a way to communicate with the devs (and other players, for that matter).

[Aziz Abbasi]

Reading the first part of the title alone I thought it meant news on a game based on Grodd

[NeoStar9X]

I'm hoping the lack of beta is due to the game following console game procedures and not normal PC MMORPG procedures when it comes to development. If the PS3 version is the lead version maybe due to having to optimize it for one system initially they worked out a lot of problems at the start.

They are using the Unreal 3 Engine or is it Engine 3. I recall when EA was having the Ultima X Odyssey MMORPG developed it was built on the current Unreal engine at the time. All reports and video showed that the game was incredibly stable and very playable in it's alpha stage. The current one is more powerful. I wonder if it's possible that an actual beta as we know it for MMORPGs might not be even needed other then to test server loads.

[Hawkman]

I wonder if it's possible that an actual beta as we know it for MMORPGs might not be even needed other then to test server loads.

That's actually what I'm thinking at this point, as it's pretty late in the game now to do any massive bug corrections and retooling. Now that I think about it, I do recall someone on the dev team saying something to the effect that the beta will be geared more towards determining how entertaining the "testers" find the game rather than using them to find glitches. Hopefully, the relative lateness of the beta is actually a good thing rather than a bad one.

[Alex]

To be totaly honest, you might not see as many open betas soon.
Beta or not, when they go open, these games can get trashed, and when they get trashed enough during beta, it affects sales in a really, really negative way.
With mmos dropping left and right, and a new wow expansion and that star wars game coming out, i think they are insane for even trying this.

[Hawkman]

To be totaly honest, you might not see as many open betas soon.
Beta or not, when they go open, these games can get trashed, and when they get trashed enough during beta, it affects sales in a really, really negative way.
With mmos dropping left and right, and a new wow expansion and that star wars game coming out, i think they are insane for even trying this.

The thing about DC Universe Online, though, is that there hasn't be any beta, at least in the traditional MMO sense when it comes to letting potential future consumers aid in testing the game. As far as I know, not even a small group of players outside of the dev team have been selected to test the game yet, something that SW: TOR is already in the early stages of nearly a year ahead of that game's release. In fact, at this point I'm thinking the only phase we're going to get is an open beta, ie, one in which all you had to do was apply and you're automatically in. It's just getting so close to release now that I can't imagine it taking on any other form.

As for the competition, DCUO has a slight advantage on both WoW and TOR in that neither of those games are going to be on the consoles. The only immediate competition I know of on the PS3 is FFXIV, and it's not out on the platform until March. Plus, from what I've read, it will have to improve pretty dramatically (or DCUO will have to be pretty dull itself) for it attract anyone who isn't already a SE/Final Fantasy fanboy or weeaboo.

[Castel]

The thing about DC Universe Online, though, is that there hasn't be any beta

Yeah, what's up with that ? Game is scheduled for November and still nothing.

The release is going to be one hell of a bugs fest and server crash orgy, i tell ya.

Well, it's almost always the case for a MMO launching anyway but in this case, without even a serious beta to list and resolve the most obvious problems...Ohh boy...