I've always been a "have to see it for myself" kind of person. So I loaded up DCUO last week, and started in on character creation. I've also found that you can't really judge these games until you get to the "premium" level, which is to say, you've dropped more than $5 on the game, and thus unlocked most of the commonly-used options. So I picked up the Green Lantern DLC, and built on that.
The character I built is basically a kind of homage to the Animated series. A kind of what-if, exploring what you'd get if the Star Sapphires built their own version of Aya, the AI nav computer which developed personality, and eventually wound up in a rocky relationship with the Red Lantern, Razor. I went in, knowing that a lot of people and reviewers have panned it over the last few years, and that it's got a more console-y feel than other games.
My impressions so far are that it isn't that bad. They've made some good choices for the VA's. They clearly drive this offering. Adam Baldwin as Superman, Kevin Conroy as Batman... Those two have pretty much clinched their respective characters for the last while, and using them has really driven the feel that the player is in an extended Justice League episode. I haven't heard enough of the Wonder Woman VA in the past to know if it's the same woman, but I suspect it is. She plays the character well, although I did sometimes feel like she talks like she's got a steel rod shoved up her backside. She needs to loosen up a little.
I just recently finished a Titans storyline, involving the summoning of Trigon. They didn't used any of the Teen Titans VA's from the cartoon, which would have sold it for me, but that aside, the characterization was pretty good. Although the latest rendition of Starfire is somewhat more adult, they don't have her parading around in the thong and a smile she was wearing for a while in the past.
On a character creation note, I recall somewhere that the options for defining character looks were limited, and while they weren't as massive as CoX, they weren't bad, either. The three-color setup is a tad annoying, but it also prevents garish color nightmares I've seen. It also prevents unfortunately the kind of character I saw once upon a time in CoX named "Cuppycake Gumdrop." An inspired rainbow-colored sprite who flew in a dazzle of rainbow light. I don't know how many creative substances her creator had taken before making the character, but it was truly a work of art. I'm not sure if DCUO would allow a creation that inspired.
I'm still in the mid-teens, so nowhere near level cap. I like the power selections, which although cater to the console control scheme, are fluid enough with a mouse that I can chain attacks fairly effectively. The Lantern powers are varied, and allow me to tailor a character with Lantern powers as I like, without feeling like I'm being railroaded into specific power choices. The ability to pick up "iconic" abilities and tack on abilities used by heroes across the DC spectrum to my build is nice. It lets me add a few abilities not commonly found in the standard build. I picked up a GL-based shield early on using Iconic powers. When I level up enough to get the shield through the GL powers list, I'll respec and drop that in favor of something else.
That's something else I liked, actually. Respeccing is fairly cheap, game-wise. So far, anyway. I have no idea if the costs can eventually rise to the point where a premium player couldn't actually cover the cost without paying a subscription fee. I'll have to discover that along the way. But in-game currency is common enough if I spend wisely that I can always make enough to cover my needs.
So far, I'm actually moderately impressed with what I see. I may pony up for the Lair option, and see what a personal fortress looks like when tricked out. I like the fact that these lairs offer special bonuses to people who invest in building them up. Everything from stat boosts to the ability to call in an orbital strike. Plus henchmen on command, and the ability to summon a sidekick. I'm probably going to enjoy exploring that one.
So, all that said, is there anyone else here who also plays in that game? I wouldn't mind seeing what teaming looks like in-game, if there's others.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

I came upon this in a roundabout way, but it looks like the Culture author has inoperable gall blader cancer.

See http://friends.banksophilia.com/

I was thinking just now that with a bit more effort than I'm willing to put into it at this point, a possible April Fool's article would be the discovery of a "Godzilla particle" at one of the high-energy research labs, so called because unlike normal matter when it encounters an anti-Godzilla particle only the anti-Godzilla particle is destroyed. "You can't really create or destroy anything when you get to this level, only change its form," one researcher noted, "but with Godzilla particles, you can only hope to survive how it changes you."

Something like that, anyway.

Right now my mind is occupied with a (mecha) hand-held maser cannon gunpod for the wooly end of the Flashback 1942 tech tree - it has a folding dish to protect the operator, possibly two if I want to parody the sniper railgun from Macross F, but I'm trying to figure out how to make something that looks like a film scratch energy beam in 3d.

FOR SCIENCE!
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Has anyone used this writer's utility site?  Or know someone who does?  Is it worth the time necessary to enter stuff into it?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Okay, to start this new iteration, here's something special. You may want to read this article, which has this video embedded in it. 
Behold "The Philosopher".

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

So, back in 1978, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan sat down together over several days to brainstorm a movie idea Lucas had had, which he was calling Raiders of the Lost Arc. 
And they tape-recorded it all.
And the transcript is online.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/26/41497 ... ron-swartz]Citing a "crisis of conscience" over the journal's online licensing terms  This leaves the Journal of Library Administration without any editorial staff whatsover and its next issue dead in the water because its owners are less than open to the idea of charging anything less than thousands of dollars for access to the journal.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

See http://peabodyawards.com/2013/03/72nd-a ... f-winners/]here.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Hey troops, I'm making a variable Me-262 Schwalbe (plus HG.II version with 35 degree wing sweep instead of 18) but I have two nearly equal variants of the robot mode I can't decide between.

Considered on its own I tend toward Type A, but with space-tech versions of the Lorins a VMe-262 HG.II would be able to make orbit on its own, and "get earth ready to fight the aliens" is basically the whole justification for Germany being the aggressor (by wiping out undesirable "weak" strains of humanity, communism, etc. - I never said they were the good guys!)

Got sidetracked. Anyway, givn the emphasis on capability to fight space-based enemies, fighters that can get up there or back down without needing a mothership have obvious importance - otherwise, the only option for that mission type until the 70s style original designs that only appear very late and if you put particular effort into creating them is the variable V-2.

So, do you prefer TYPE 1:




* can use OTL landing gear
* V-shape folded backpack is common element with variable V-2
* less time to pop the wings out for boost jumps
* arms have room to swing back for melee or holding a gunpod

or TYPE 2:




* flatter backpack
* better field of view from head & cockpit
* easily mounts OTL Lorin ramjet boosters



It is possible to have the normal transformation use type 1 but switch to type 2 with optional equipment attached, but this still means I have to come up with different landing gear... for voting purposes, call this TYPE 3

Game design is not a democracy, but I will count audience response when making the final decision.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Does anyone know of a Windows personal finance application that can read Microsoft Money 1998 files?  Failing that, does anyone know where I can get a copy of Microsoft Money 1998?  I have a CD, somewhere -- it's just been misplaced for at least a year.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.