What warning would you give to someone who hasn't played DCUO in over six years?

Hi,
What warning would you give to someone who hasn't played DCUO in over six years?

Warning seems like you're trying to get others to dissuade you from playing lol
Here are some new stuff you'll need to know if you want to jump back in:

- Stat revamp happened. You'll need to relearn everything about how to use your powers and sp spec.
- PvP is broken so if that's your thing, you might want to duel in HQ/ outside safehouses or play LPvP instead.
- New Artefact system that you'll need to put a lot of effort in to level up to help with your play style. Choose wisely and at the very least get 3 of them to lvl 80 to get their unique powers.
- Augments replaced coloured equipment mods. Salvaging gear will give you exobytes to level them up.
- DCUO has it's own loot boxes in the form of time capsules, though you can trade most drops and run the Stabilizer Fragmentation duo daily to assemble keys.
- Event version of the latest episode is now a thing so you can play an "easier" version of endgame content when you're not there yet (or lack subscription), which also lets you earn scaling gear to raise your combat rating and/or other episode related drops.

Try looking at Oracle's Database or Youtube videos for a more in-depth exploration of the latest game state.

if you're a Player that likes to get to the top or max out Skillpoints, dont even bother coming back unless you want to spend a lot of Money. If you dont care that much and just want to have some fun, give it some time and you might enjoy it after you leveled up some artifacts (for free ofc)

I came back in August after a six or so year break. (I left soon after Lightning Strikes was dropped) Catastrophic Repercussion's response was very detailed and well thought out.

However, let me add my two cents and just list the things that I noticed were added / changed when I returned:

1) lairs and bases - Generators - Dispenser
2) utility belts: Henchmen / Backup, Sidekicks , Orbital Strikes, Supply Drops
3) artifacts - Nth Metal, Catalysts and Seals
4) Weapons SP trees - Weapons Mastery (Still don't think I have the hang of this...)
5) Auras / Accessories / movement effects / OP items
6) Movement: Gliding
7) Weapons: Shield
8) Powers: Water, quantum, atomic, munitions, rage
9) Source Marks / Victory Tokens / Episode specific currency
10) Tactical Mods and Augments (the role of exobites have changed as well)
11) Time Capsules- Stabilizers and Stabilizer Fragments
12) Replay Badges
13) Suicide Squad / Task Force X - cross factional play. (Not sure if this was a thing before, but now it's an actual in-game scenario)
14) Event versions of episodes - allowing easier versions of raids for us pugs. (Back then they were impossible...)
15) Boss loot drops: I believe back in the day the entire group would have to roll for the big drops. That's not the case now.
16) The way we level up our CR is MUCH faster than before. (back then you'd grind for a week just to buy a piece of chest armor... now you can get 10 new pieces a day through drops, raising your CR anywhere from one to five levels in a day.
17) Constant weekend events (double source marks, double nth metal xp, etc...) and we get gifts quite often (Batman orbital strike, Batman t-shirt etc.)
18) Daily shutdown of world for maintenance (Back then it was very random and for longer periods of time)

But it's good to know that some things haven't changed:
1) Horrible Lag
2) Constant server Crashes

But on a real note, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. To be honest, it was a bit overwhelming the first few days back. But you'll get right back in the swing of the grind in no time. Welcome back!

My biggest peeve by far is the ridiculously priced broker and the feat attached collections
or the gear they reward. I think I have at least 10 skill points on the broker with the most
expensive $700 million earlier today for Particle Dampener collection piece!

The broker is insane. Been a member 8 years never had close to 700 million.

-End Rant-

Oh yes... I've been constantly impressed with the different ways the Devs have come up with to keep players on the grind. Completing the 15 tasks (which will take 5 days) to unlock one piece of armor is definitely up there. Though I've heard OP items is much crazier.

Strange or maybe it's just me, but uh...

There used to be discussions on money and how players valued their time on DC.

Has the gaming community changed that much to where hardly nobody wants to spend any money on games or is it just because some don't see the value in investing in this game.

This in no way meant to be disparaging to you, it's just that it sounds more like frustration on your part, which is easily dismissed.

This game has never been truly a free game to play, those who are returning from a 6 year break would probably not care anyway, there is a lot of content to cover and they would have to purchase a lot to even begin to play anyway because they more than likely had a sub when they left and would not even be able to run anything of importance unless it is the event.

A returning player would already know this and would probably sub though.

OP, my warning would be that the community has changed, so just be aware that it probably is best to try and find old friends to help transition into the new community.

If not have a lot of patience for the community and the devs, for that matter. It's still cheaper to play the game, but the attitudes towards the game has no end.

My warnings list:

Do your research. Especially in the area of purchasing items. I've bought a few things I didn't need to, and mistakenly purchased a few things as well. There is no GM assist in these areas - it's all 'caveat emptor'.

Don't chase the end game. Take time to grow into your role and character, you may not like the gameplay. I'm a staunch believer in leveling your character without buying boosts. Learn the good stuff, and the not-so-good stuff first hand; end game content will still be there.

Understand that the meta changes. Track game updates and dev plans and realize the build you are trying to make may not be competitive in the future.

Know what you want out of the game and set goals. Have a plan forward, and stick to your plan. There's always time to expand your scope, but stay focused on your goals or you will be like a fart in a whirlwind, being blown everywhere with no real substance and a bad aroma.

Be prepared to open your wallet.

Turn Back, Go Away! It's not worth it!

be ware of daybreak games

After 6 years, you need to be aware that most of the powersets now have this weird Power-Click-Click mechanic. Back at the point you left, only Lanterns had power combos, and Earth did have the aftershock clicks on jackhammer. Basically every new powerset since then has those combo-powers, so if you're using something other than the old ones, just be aware it involves a change in gameplay style.

Speaking of change in gameplay style, powers now continue combos instead of breaking them, and they implemented this Play-From-The-Tray approach where it is possible to play without using your weapon at all.

Lightning strikes is a long time.. All the instances you will see in the duty menu below tier 9, you will have a problem getting into unless its a solo. Sorry but the majority of the player base is playing close to end game episodes, so you won't have a lot of players queueing into earlier instances. And if you do get into a queue, it's most likely with some high Cr player that could blow through the instance.

If you can and if there is such a thing, I would look for a league that is active in members that level up their toons through the tiers. This is the only way to enjoy the instances with players that are closer to your cr.

However, if your not interested in the lower instances and just want to jump right in; you can buy the cr skip to 210, less grind, play the event versions of the current episode and find yourself among the rest of the players.

A lack of the old content does not prevent leveling, however. Most people simply use the Event version of the most recent Episode, accompanied by some attunable gear through the Vault and free Time Capsules. While older content does have some longer queue times, I have had zero difficulty gearing up new characters. And generally due to the large number of high level players capable of crushing all the old content, when you do eventually get the queue to pop, you can steamroll your way through most feats with little difficulty.

The warning is not for levelling using old content.

It's for the expectation of a new or returning player going into DCUO seeing all these instances available for them to enjoy and getting into these two scenarios: 1) it will take a long time or the queue won't pop since very few people still go into these old instances 2) when it does pop, you are in there with a few high cr player that blows through the whole thing.

A new or returning player may feel frustration or pissed off that they didn't get a chance to enjoy dozens of content and get pushed into the limited number of content as us endgame players.

I definitely agree. I just wanted to clarify on your original statement so that it didn't sound like leveling was impossible. Essentially, everybody gets funneled into the same bracket of stuff. Event, Regular, Elite, it doesn't matter which flavor; 95% of what you're running is going to be the newest Episode.

It's still really easy to play catch-up and get the gear you need to blitz to the endgame, but if a returning player doesn't understand about the episode Event Modes and tried to play through the normal progression content, they would find a far less accommodating gameplay experience.

yup

You missed most of Weapons Mastery, all of Advanced Mechanics and the CR Differential debacle. The game is actually more like it was when you last played than it's been at any point in time since then, the differences being mostly as follows :

Augments replaced Exobyte Modding - this is the biggest and to be frank, best difference. Instead of switching Exobyte Mods in and out constantly, you just add Exobytes you get to your Augments. The Augments are permanent, switchable Stat boosts - Might, Precision, Dominance, Vitality, Restoration. Build them and equip the ones you want.

No Power Points or Trees - All Abilities unlocked; you'll have access to any Ability your Character has. No more deciding between Builds.

Cross Weapon Combos - The Ability Damage Boost Window from Weapons Mastery is gone - the actual combos themselves, however, are still intact. Weapons combat is alive and well.

Also

This.

its going to be hard.

you may as well start over from scratch with a new character.

avoid all cr skips and ptw routes. avoid power leveling. this means no time capsule gear, no quark gear, no gear from that special vendor near them, no buying marks, even unlocking feats and from your old toon. stay away from buying artifact and augment stuff. resolve yourself to spending at least a few weeks running old content to get as much as you can out of it. What you consider "old content", how fast or slow you go...its all on you but i think if you want to get the most out of the game hold off on power leveling and artificial advancements.

its easy to get to end game content. without spending any rl money or using the resources my developed characters have access to i can get a fresh toon into t9 gear in a matter of days... but then i'm stuck with a character that will be deemed useless by end game raid parties. you won't be having much fun in this position unless you join a league that is okay with carrying you indefinitely or will go back and run old content with you til youre caught up. my magic eight ball says "highly unlikely".

event content open to all players also makes it easy to power level. take advantage of the extra marks, feats and gear you'll earn there but try not to make this the crux of your characters progression. save those top tier marks for when youre ready to run the actual content, use the dropped gear as you see fit and take advantage of the extra source marks to set up your mainframe.

a little research wouldn't hurt. there are maps and guides available that show the locations of all the classic briefings and investigations, how to complete all the contact missions, chest locations, exploration feats..try to get as much of this stuff done as possible.

when you get yourself to this point...thats when i think you'll be good to go meaning you can attack the game full force.