DCUO 2018 Top Ten (Part 3)
#4 Resurgence I & II
I put the 2 resurgence events together because to me it's more that this is a the general feature of packaging capsules at a discount. This was a game changer for the patient player that stocks up and doesn't spend right away. Basically these packages are the price of 7 capsules, but you get 9 total + a bonus style (power aura for I and power material for II). The bonus item itself can be somewhat valued at $5-10 based on other marketplace products. These events changed my habits because I stopped opening regular capsules. Now my method of attack is to just stock up on stabilizer keys for months and only use them at resurgence. I may get all of the items later, but it saves a lot of stabilizer event runs with the 2 full capsules free.
#3 Mainstream Materials
The 2 waves of releases that really allowed the masses to start using materials as an everyday thing were the Champion Material Pack (bronze, silver, gold) and Resurgence II (poer materials). Befire these 2 releases as well as the various ones that came with updates and content, materials were so rare that I felt it hurt the game. A lot of design effort went into the best visual styles. But with so few of the population owning them, it meant they showed up less in social media and were not marketed or helping the game look good. By making materials mainstream, the game gets a lot more free advertising and will attract more new players in.
#2 Lifetime Membership Offer
The Lifetime sale was completely unexpected. This is a feature that typically becomes available early in the life of a game because it's a gamble at how long it may or may not last. I really never thought I would ever see this with DCUO (I wasn't in the game when they initially did it). While this still is a gamble, as someone familiar with the development & design side of things, I know that DLC releases takes months to years of planning. Even if DCUO halted production now, they would still have enough content to release for the duration of the lifetime to pay itself off. I personally jumped at this offer for these reasons:
I put the 2 resurgence events together because to me it's more that this is a the general feature of packaging capsules at a discount. This was a game changer for the patient player that stocks up and doesn't spend right away. Basically these packages are the price of 7 capsules, but you get 9 total + a bonus style (power aura for I and power material for II). The bonus item itself can be somewhat valued at $5-10 based on other marketplace products. These events changed my habits because I stopped opening regular capsules. Now my method of attack is to just stock up on stabilizer keys for months and only use them at resurgence. I may get all of the items later, but it saves a lot of stabilizer event runs with the 2 full capsules free.
#3 Mainstream Materials
The 2 waves of releases that really allowed the masses to start using materials as an everyday thing were the Champion Material Pack (bronze, silver, gold) and Resurgence II (poer materials). Befire these 2 releases as well as the various ones that came with updates and content, materials were so rare that I felt it hurt the game. A lot of design effort went into the best visual styles. But with so few of the population owning them, it meant they showed up less in social media and were not marketed or helping the game look good. By making materials mainstream, the game gets a lot more free advertising and will attract more new players in.
#2 Lifetime Membership Offer
The Lifetime sale was completely unexpected. This is a feature that typically becomes available early in the life of a game because it's a gamble at how long it may or may not last. I really never thought I would ever see this with DCUO (I wasn't in the game when they initially did it). While this still is a gamble, as someone familiar with the development & design side of things, I know that DLC releases takes months to years of planning. Even if DCUO halted production now, they would still have enough content to release for the duration of the lifetime to pay itself off. I personally jumped at this offer for these reasons:
1) We're long past the stats revamp. That was the one major update that could have destroyed the game, but it turned out to be a better system. Some people left because of it, but overall, more new & returning players came in.
2) Augments replacing mods turned out OK. To the vast majority, this was a non-factor because most didn not craft anyway. But this was as much a make-or-break for me as a dedicated crafter. During major updates like this, if a character does not come out equal or stronger, I consider it a failure. So I'm happy this worked out, even with my non-textbook builds.
3) Completely unrelated to DCUO, I've been following news of the Kingdoms of Amalur franchise/assets. This is the one IP that I would leave DCUO for. At the moment it's at least 2-3 years away from even having a chance of getting ressurected. The original company went bankrupt years ago. Currently the assets are owned by THQ Nordic. So a gaming company does have potential to put the pieces back together, including a partially completed MMO code named Copernicus. While an MMO that implements the combat system of Knigdoms of Amalur would blow away DCUO, it's far enough away from when DCUO Lifetime Membership pays itself off.
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