We Want You For A New Recruit

When I saw last week that Digital Ink had revamped character creation and the tutorial for DCUO, I was torn. Half of me wanted to ask "Why now?" while the other half was yelling "About time!" 

DCUO has been around for well over a decade now. If I remember correctly, there's been more than one overhaul of each of these systems in the past. When you hear a company has spent time and resources on revamping the very beginning of a twelve-year old MMORPG, you have to wonder why they've bothered.

It has to be remembered that the considerations involved in changing the tutorial and the character creation suite in an ageing game are completely different. After a dozen years in service few, if any, MMORPGs are enjoying any kind of continued growth. Most of the people playing have been playing for a while and newcomers, if any, are most likely to be formers players coming back after a layoff.

Not many of those players are going to be interested in the tutorial, especially when the game allows them to skip it entirely as DCUO does, either going straight to the starting zone or, by way of a level boost, directly to endgame. I'm not sure why a company of DI's size, with limited resources that need careful management, would decide, out of the blue, to revisit the one part of the game you can almost guarantee most of your customers don't care a whit about. Then again, as it turns out, I do have an idea about that...

The finished article. Hmm. That's a name for another character...

Character creation, on the other hand, is a perennial and it's even more important in a super-hero game, where what how you design your character is considered crucial. DCUO is also reasonably alt-friendly, with a decent number of character slots, two major factions, multiple starting zones and mentors, and an extensive backdrop of customization options, including costumes and housing. It's more than likely that seasoned players will be revisiting character creation repeatedly throughout their time with the game.

As I say, super-hero games do rely more than most on having a lot of options at character creation. The demographic that's drawn to the sub-genre tends to enjoy spending hours designing both costumes and power sets, not to mention trying to re-create their favorite branded heroes and villains with as much verisimilitude as possible. 

DCUO's character creation has always felt cluttered and confusing to me. I've been through it many times and the expreience has rarely felt great. I often couldn't find what I'm looking for in the overcomplicated menu system and when I did, it frequently didn't look like I hoped it would or even like the description suggested it should.

Back when the game began, it used to be even worse, although I can only vaguely remember why. The original version was even more clunky, that much I do remember, but it was a long time ago and it's all a bit of a blur. The version we've had for a while wasn't as bad but the new one is a lot better again.

All the relevant information, tidily presented.

Gone are all those confusing, nested menus with their arcane subroutines and overdramatic aesthetics. Instead, there's a brief list of top-line categories at the head of the screen and a neat, simple menu of major options on the left. 

When clicked, those in turn reveal another very straightforward set of more detailed choices for each subcategory. No more of the old version's spinning wheels and swooping arcs and good riddance to them all. The revamp may not be as flashy or futuristic but it's a heck of a lot easier to navigate and easier on the eye, too.

Visually it's a clear win. Functionally, my impression is that it's a great improvement too but I'm a very occasional and casual player. The feedback thread on the forums from when the update was on the Test server (There's absolutely no indication on the regular forums that anyone else has even noticed the changes.) points out a number of drawbacks I didn't notice. Some are nitpicks but others seem quite significant, like many of the Style options not becoming available until you get into the game itself and there being no option to change the colors of your outfit, something that seems like a rather surprising omission. 

The testers also know far more than I do about the costume changes and additions, most of which I wouldn't have been able to pick out of a line-up. I did notice a generally improved level of detail, though, and some of the really awful clothing choices seemed to have been consigned to the recycling bins, thank god. I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by the choices on offer but consider me decently whelmed, at least.

When you select a power, there's a visual demonstration. (Where appropriate.)

I went through the full customization but you can skip the fine tuning if you just want to get on with the game. The new character creation suite includes a number of templates based on iconic characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or Lex Luthor. You can just pick one of those, maybe make a few, quick cosmetic changes and you're done.

There are also now some indications of "difficulty" although as some commenters in the thread point out, it's not really clear what makes one archetype, power set or weapon choice more or less difficult than another. Then again, I guess blasting enemies with fire, ice or electricity is always going to be pretty straightforward compared to fiddling around with gadgets or learning to perform a martial art to such perfection it counts as a super-power.

All things considered, I'd definitely call the Character Creation revamp a success. What's more, I can easily see the reason for it. The tutorial, which I played through immediately afterwards, I would also classify as a considerable improvement but the reason for doing it is less readily apparent.

It's not like there wasn't a viable tutorial already in place. DCUO has always had one although it has changed several times over the years. I've played through different versions but I don't have a clear memory of any specific iteration. They all merge into one. As far as I can remember, the gist of the thing has always been the same: Escape From Brainiac's Ship.

That looks hugely more impressive than what I remember of Brainiac's old ship.

You log in to the game for the first time in the ship as it hangs above Metropolis. You fight your way through waves of drones, bots and minions, encouraged by Oracle over a comms link, until you draw the attention of Brainiac himself.

 Superman is there to assist you although, somewhat unconvincingly, he expects you to do most of the work. Eventually, after a lot of fighting and a stream of typical tutorial instructions on how to do some very basic things, you either either defeat Brainiac/blow up the ship/escape or something of that kind. As I say, despite having done it a bunch of times, I forget the exact details and anyway I think they've changed more than once.

The new tutorial is basically that but faster, tighter, slicker and a lot more fun. I remember the earliest version being a slog and later ones still taking a while. This one zips along. The fights are easy, there are a lot of bots but they die fast, there are some nice set pieces and the final battle with Brainiac is quick and satisfying.

Of course, that's my impression as a casual. Almost everyone in the Test feedback thread disagrees. Some of the detailed criticisms are very valid, like there not being time to study the tooltips before the fighting starts or things being mentioned that are then not explained. The bulk of the complaints, however, seem overly concerned with the tutorial's ineffectiveness at preparing new players for DCUO's admitedly challenging endgame.

Good to be able to see out the windows at last. And to have windows.

This I find bizarre. Who expects a tutorial for brand new players to teach endgame tactics and gameplay? Why should it? This is the same tutorial that begins by telling players how to use WASD to move! Having bounced hard off even some of DCUOs simpler group content, I completely get the need for some kind of introduction to its quirks and complexities, but a New Player Tutorial is not the place for any of that. 

Call me old-fashioned (Actually, I'd rather you didn't. Seriously.) but isn't that what those first thirty levels are for? And, yes, I know the game positively encourages you to skip the levelling process with a Level Boost these days but that just suggests there should be a separate, high-end tutorial that comes with the Boost, not that you should scare the capes off the genuine newbies by throwing a a whole load of endgame detail at them on their first day.

What almost everyone does seem to agree on, and you can count me among the crowd, is that the new tutorial is a huge graphical improvement. Everything in it looks way better than it used to. The surfaces and textures all look sharper, the ship's rooms and corridors look more luxurious and most impressively of all, you can see outside!

Brainiac's ship has always been a looming presence in the game itself, hanging threateningly in the sky above Metropolis. Now you can look out of the portholes to see the great city laid out beneath you as you speed through the corridors, seeking your escape. It makes the whole thing feel more immersive and makes your predicament that much clearer.

Like the revamped character creation tools, the new tutorial isn't flawless but it's certainly an improvement. Unlike character creation, however, it's a lot less easy to see why it was deemed necessary. 

I'm no engineer but should it be sparking like that? And on fire?

As those testers say, it does nothing for anyone seeking to learn how to play the game beyond a basic, introductory level, so it's not going to be much use to current players looking to refine or improve their skills. It has to be meant solely for new or returning players and frankly I can't imagine many returnees bothering to go through it when there's a Skip Tutorial button right in front of them.

That really just leaves brand new players. Are we to imagine Digital Ink thinks there's a sufficient number of people who've never played the game before to justify this use of resources? I suppose we must. They've just done it, after all.

Thinking it through, there is one reason that makes sense: it has to be aimed at a hoped-for influx of new blood from the upcoming launch of the game on the newest generation of consoles, PlayStation 5 and XBox Series X. According to the Development Update issued in August, that's happening "this Holiday Season", by which I think they mean next month.

DCUO has famously done very well for DBG on consoles and those consoles have themselves been selling like crazy, at least when would-be players could get hold of them. It looks as though the developers have decided to do their damnedest to make a good first impression with all those juicy first-timers that might roll in when the game appears on the new tech.

I always take a selfie in front of Bibbo's billboard.

And that seems like a sensible use of resources. If a lot of people get shiny new consoles under the tree, perhaps at least some of them will give the old game a try. There's more competition on consoles for MMORPGs than there used to be but DCUO does at least have the advantage of a major IP that almost everyone likely to get a games console for Christmas is likely to recognize - and it's free!

I'm not getting a PS5 but I might play, too, at least for a while. Inevitably, in making what was supposed to be a throwaway character just to see what had changed, I've ended up with one for whom I already feel a mild affinity. I mean, just look at the name I came up with - The Foxecutioner! With a name like that, I pretty much have to play her, at least for a while.

I might even try to play her properly; figure out what all these "Rock, paper, scissors" references are all about; see if frying baddies with electricity is more fun than setting them on fire...

At the very least, I need to get her to Level 9 so she can have her base. Shouldn't be hard. She's Level 5 just from doing the tutorial.

And that's how they get you.