Just how "free to play" is DCUO?

The game DCUO is FREE. You then have the option to PAY for DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT like EPISODES and other perks. Originally DCUO was getting to level 30, it's also why the achievements are to get characters through the story. That is the game. Anything on top of that is what you pay for (that includes bank slots, cash etc because you don't need those during the FREE GAME which is the story). Stop moaning and being a clear cheap ***.

Guess what, if you cannot afford to pay for things in this world then they shouldn't be gifted to you for free. It also feels like you want to keep going on and on to either convince yourself or you really believe that you'll make a difference to how Daybreak do things.

The DLCs are apart of end GAME content. They are core GAME features. If i cant access them then the GAME is not free to play.

Learn the definition of free to play please.

I understand where you are coming from but take a look at these top most helpful reviews that I pulled off of STEAM.

Most of these players that are giving these reviews like this because if how the game is being marketed as Free to Play. There was one on the first page that brought up WOW and how no one ever complains about how much it costs. That is because that WOW posts it up front about being free trial up to a certain point and it will cost money afterwards.
I'll post that one here↓
POSTED: JUNE 7

The only fun MMO i've ever played.

Ya it costs money. I love how many people complain about the cost it's like they think games should be 100% free and magically cost $0 to run. You ever play world of warcraft? I bet half the people "at least" complaining have played WoW. This game has been out for MANY MANY years. Play WoW $60 a expansion when they first came out + $15 an month. But that's ok??? what???

This games combat is by far the best to me. I've played stupid amounts of MMO's even off ones like Red Moon, slayers, and many others. DC is the closest to achieve an actual action game in an MMO. City of Heroes and Villians tried back in the day but it was a noticeable queue based system. I did like it though but DC is just better in "nearly" every way.

Music 10/10
PvP 10/10
Combat 8/10(it's still got it's multiplayer limits holding it back)
Story 5/10(this could be better)
Costumes 5/10(a lot of the villian ones just look stupid and not cool)
Over all still an amazing game and lots of fun.
I have had many intense feelings in this game. Something I haven't experienced much of in many years and it still happens on here
I don't totally disagree with what he is saying above but...........
most of the reviews are because of how DCUO is advertised as a Free game.

POSTED: MAY 16

The cost is just way to high for a product like this, you have real free to play mmorpgs that are further developed.
If you buy the DLCs you will have to spend 90 $ and 35 $ to unlock all powers/characters, so you have a 125 $ Videogame with restrictions.
The other option is to pay 120 $ per year you are playing it, what means you could by 3 games a year for that money.
Compared to what is out there it is just way to expensive.


POSTED: MAY 26
THIS IS A SUBSCRIPTION GAME - don't be fooled by the free to play label (its free to drool over... right up until you cave in and pay-to-play it!)
One of the most fun mmos and greatest hero games ever made, however, sadly pay-walled to death. As a Free player you can barely end game where you promptly find you are not even allowed to carry enough gold to pay for armor repairs and npc basic health potions unless you purchase a subscription.... buying the game outright really affords you nothing as you then need to subscribe anyways if you want to play at the most basic levels and afford simple armor repairs and npc merchant basics. While i had most the content behind the pay-wall i was still locked out from it based on subscription fees... hardly free to play. I played this game since release and it has been chopped to pieces, DLCed, over priced and pay walled to death which is sad because its an amazing game mechanically and a wonder of classic MMOs. On a POSITIVE note: Behind the unnecessary suffocating paywall is an absolutely amazing game and i would love to see them make the free to play version truly free and remove some of the market models locks and walls to make it more playable like more recent mmos. Absolutely Great Game - endless hours of single player and co op fun - Bad Market Model - over restricted/paywalled to death = GHOST TOWN!

( This one actually goes with another thread about down load issues)
POSTED: MAY 29
Needs to stop f'ing crashing on load mayte.


POSTED: JUNE 5
Best Superhero MMO. Not F2P its more like a free trial, if you want to keep playing the latest content you either have to buy it or pay for a membership.

POSTED: JUNE 1
This game had everything to be one of the best mmorpg out there, but greed ruined this one big time.
IDK what developers were thinking, the game aged bad and they didn't move a finger to try and save it. As greedy as they are, they should have focused on having a bigger community that would surely support it throughout time.
Don't get me wrong, gameplay had much potential, the storylines were awesome and having superpowers was almost like a dream coming true.
Problem is, even after buying some DLCs the game was very incomplete to me and I had to keep buying more and more, it sucks your wallet dry and it doesn't even wash the dishes.
So, unless you keep buying, you start feeling left behind, you can't evolve much, any paytowin player is stronger than you and, although it shouldn't be, the game becomes a pay to win kind of game and they should as well sell to EA.
Is this EA?

POSTED: JUNE 7
THIS IS A SUBSCRIPTION GAME

POSTED: MAY 25
A good game that could be great with some changes made to it,
1. Even with a subscription, there are a lot of things that still require real world cash to play and you are flooded with drops that require you to pay real world cash to open.
2. They allow to many gold sellers to spam the channels making the use of chat almost pointless and their reporting system is a long involved process to report them and they still don't remove them.
3. same as with #2 reporting an issue requires you to go through same process only to get a form letter answer that 9 times out of 10 doesn't even touch the matter you are reporting.
4. Absolutely 0 in game support anything and everything forces you to stop what you're doing to go to the website so once again you can get a form letter response with 0 help.
Basically if you don't mind no support, and a massive money grab, and don't mind taking 5 minutes every day each time you zone to a new area blocking gold sellers then you might enjoy this game.
As for as recommending this game for others in all honesty I am 50/50 on that issue.
But until Gold sellers are more actively taken care of and the Company money grabbing greed is lowered I would have to say no.

POSTED: JUNE 8
What came first the account or the customer support? In order to get help with an account that is glitched you have to create a new account and submit a ticket for the old account. Just read the other negative comments and you will have an idea of what this game has to "really" offer. All games start with customer service unless they don't believe in having customers meh this game is definitely behind the power curve for what it has to offer compared to the price


If you move on to the second page the helpful reviews just get worse. DCUO really needs to look at how they are marketing themselves because what they are doing is the reason for these helpful reviews. DCUO needs to either make the game Free as advertised or change how they are advertised. If not they will continually lose more players than they bring in.

If you were looking for a game and you read these reviews would you play or expect others to play?

This is why I agree with the players that complain about DCUO not being what it advertises. DCUO is not and like I said before. People in general do not like being mislead.

All I can say........... People can deny all they want but the proof is in the pudding. It's up to DCUO to rectify this issue.

Then again, people are obviously willing to crack there wallet open and blindly pay hundreds of dollars for a free to play game so what do i know? Daybreak is making money off of those so willing to just open the there wallet so i guess its working for them.
There gonna continue to lie and somehow continue to make money while people, for some reason, defend this. It baffles me.

But it’s not, and isn’t, so I guess that’s the thing.

We defend it because it's not a lie. You purposely skip the fact that the label free-to-play doesn't ever mean in any MMO that you can play everything for free.

You're acting like a spoiled child, lol.

Some MMOs offer access to all content, but they make money in different ways. For example, they have definite pay-to-win systems that DCUO doesn't where you purchase gear with stats (important stats) directly off the marketplace. These games typically have enchantment systems that are either slightly or strongly pay2win, as well as events with special items that give important stats or effects only availble if you purchase them. In DCUO, you have to play the game to get your stats.

Another big difference is the amount of content provided. Many of these MMOs you refer to that offer all content, only release expansions a max of once or twice a year, with what? One raid, one skirmish, and a small open world area?

The bottom line is, every MMO is different and makes its money in different ways. To suggest that you can compete seriously in any MMO without spending a dime is pretty credulous.

We understand that $15 is a pittance and feel it's worth it. Others decided to spend $5! on the latest DLC and play it for 3 months. Oh, but no! Not $5! Paying $1.80 a month is a lie!

Lol.

No one force you to play in DCuo. So just stop crying and go to garbage aka PoE or whatever, that you think is truly f2p.

DCUO is not free2play. It is more like free2try and after that buy2play like guild wars. Subscription is not needed, but you need to buy content to play. What is so hard to understand about that?
Correct me wrong, if you can access all DLCs without spending money. Then i admit that DCUO is f2p.

In March 2015, DCUO started calling their DLCs >> "Episodes".

Here is the Link >> https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dc...hanges-coming-to-the-dcuo-marketplace.239780/

There is a difference between the Core Game... and the extra DLC Episodes & Features. (Keyword: Extra)

Both of you need to learn the difference.

What is a DLC?

A DLC is Downloadable Content, which is extra content for a video game you download from the internet, either distributed by the game’s official publisher or by a 3rd-party content producer.

DLC 'extras' are NOT part of the core game. Never have been. Never will be.
You both seem to think they ARE, but No. They are not. They are EXTRA. And 'extra' stuff costs money.

• Extra cheese on your burger.... Costs money.
• Extra toppings on your pizza.... Costs money.
• Extra miles on your rent-a-car.... Costs money.
• Extra bets you make at the Casino... Costs money.
• Extra sprinkles on your ice cream cone.... Costs money.
• Extra days added to your hotel reservation... Costs money.
• Extra guests who attend your wedding reception... Costs money.

That's pretty much how things work.... in the real world.
Extra (anything) costs money. It's usually NOT given away for free.

DC Universe Online (The Core Game)

The 'core game' was initially released on January 11, 2011.

You can download, install & play the ENTIRE 'original version' of the core game that was released on January 11, 2011... without spending a SINGLE nickel. (Keywords: original version of the core game)

Hence, that's exactly what makes their "Free to Play" claim 100% accurate.

However, what you BOTH continue to argue for (but will never admit)... is to be able to Play ALL of the latest ADDITIONAL DLC content... plus you want to have unfettered access to all the EXTRA DLC features of the game that have been created ever since January 12, 2011... without paying ANY money whatsoever.

You are expecting to get 'free access' to MORE features that were not included in the original core game, on January 11, 2011.

But that's not going to happen. (Not until Daybreak changes their current 'business model', that is.)

Because Extra (anything) costs money. It's usually NOT given away for free.

And at this point... after 7.5 whole years since the CORE GAME has been released....

The Usage is Free.
The Features cost money.

Simple as that.

Toxic players like you are another reason people are quitting this game.

It may not be a lie, but Daybreak aren't very forthcoming about how much of the game you can access for free.

I agree that they really should approach it the way Blizzard do with WoW.

Whether Daybreak did it intentionally or not, a statement such as "create an account and play for free" generates a certain expectation in a player's mind.

Ideally it should say "create an account and play the base game for free" or something similar, making it clear that there are some things in the game you won't get to play for free.

Bottom line, Daybreaker is not clear on what is and is not open to free to play players.
It sucks running into a paywall every time i turn around. Its hard to "get into" or "lose myself" in a game with so much behind a paywall.

Want access to ALL the cash you earn in game? Paywall.
Want access to more item slots, ether inventory or bank? Paywall.
Want more utility belt slots? haha, Paywall.
Want to crack open that loot chest that just dropped, better crack open your wallet.
On and on and on and on paywall after paywall.

So what you want are all those perks that members get. Why would anyone sub up then?

I think there is no realy "definition" on free-2-play.
Others said it.
You can play the game for free. And even recent "endgame" as event version and open world versions. The Devs helped there alot.

You just want to play a full MMO that's like 7 years old for 100% free without paying anything. That's not how gaming works.

7 pages in and still make believing DLCs and perks should be free?

Make everything in the game "free" and everyone who pays for subscriptions or DLC's will scream foul. And the people who pay for subs or DLC's are the people who pay DayBreak's expenses. Do you think a game company can give away 100% of it's content out of celestial desire to bring happiness and joy to everyone? They can't. They have to pay bills and salaries and overhead just like every other business. Free To Play means many things in many different games. There ARE games out there that will cost you nothing. Usually they're pretty threadbare. Or they fill their content with clickbait ads for companies that pay them for access to a group of potential customers. One way or another, someone will pay a game company to stay open. That's just fact. If you want truly FTP, you might try Solitaire or Minesweeper.

During the base game and story please tell me the following:

Where will you need to use all the cash? You don't. So it's as intended.
Why would you need more items slots than currently given for the quest to level 30 in story? You don't.
Do you need a utility belt or extra slots to get to level 30? No you don't.
Is the loot box essential to the story mode? No it is not.

So the base game which is free to play you do not require any of the extras. Those come with progressing through the DLC. OF which you still believe you should have access to for free. I assume you walk into a supermarket and just take what you want and leave?

Ah, so what you're saying (again) is that you should get free access to things that are clearly listed as membership benefits?

https://www.dcuniverseonline.com/shop/membership

That's what 'good marketing' is SUPPOSED to do. (i.e. create a 'desired result')

Accuracy in Advertising.

The test of 'accuracy' is NOT whether you can play the ENTIRE game.... including all DLCs.... and use every last feature that is available to 'paying subscribers'... in every DLC that was released for 7 years.

The test of 'accuracy' is whether you can accomplish EXACTLY what the Developer claimed (or promised) you can do.

1. They claimed you can create an account...
2. and play the game....
3. without spending a nickel.

And you CAN do exactly that. For absolutely FREE.

If you read their **advertisement** that says: "Create an Account and Play for Free" >> and you were able to download, install & launch the game >> then create an account >> then log-in >> and play the game as it was (originally) intended >> then the advertising WORKED!!! >>> and you received the 'full benefit' of what the Developer promised >> and you were NOT lied to. Period. End of Story.

Marketers are not responsible for your personal ASSUMPTIONS about 'how much' of the game you can play.
Especially not if they have already provided you details (upfront) in the "Terms of Service", which you probably ignored.

That's on YOU.

Stop & read the "Fine Print", next time.
That's what responsible adults do.

Whenever you buy a house, or a car... you read the WHOLE contract.
- So you know what you are getting yourself into.
- So you can know 'how much' you are paying / every month.

That's what responsible adults do.

They don't complain that the Car Salesman down at the local Dealership told them they could leave the lot with a vehicle that was "No Money Down"... but now (6 months later) they feel 'lied to' because they keep getting BILLED to pay for the cost of the vehicle, in monthly installments.

Sorry to break it to you... if you think Daybreak isn't very forthcoming about 'how much of the game' you can access for free.... then you might have an over-inflated "sense of entitlement". And you might be in for quite a shock, whenever it comes times to buy a house, or a car... on your own.

If you think Daybreak isn't very forthcoming... wait until you have to deal with Banks & Loans - lol

Wait until you find out 'the real cost' of that Mortgage (or that Car Note).... as you give a 'blank stare' at the Ad that got your interest & motivated you to buy, in the first place.