role-optional-alerts
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DCUO's game update 9 brings the world together with role-optional alerts and team buffs
DC Universe Online's Game Update 9: Assemble For Battle is now live and operational, and it brings with it a few very interesting features, especially for players interested in group content. One of said features is the addition of role-optional alerts. As any MMO player knows, there's often a rather large population disparity between various roles. Generally, there's a ton of DPS with much lower numbers of tanks and healers, which can make finding a group a PITA if you're in the former camp. As of this update, all alerts are considered role-optional, which means the longer a group waits in the group-finder for a certain role (such as a tank or a healer), the less picky the group-finder will be about filling that role. For instance, if a healer can't be found after a substantial period of time, the role will be filled by another available role. This is possible thanks to the team buff. Any time three or more group members are within range and line-of-sight of one another, the whole group will gain a buff to compensate for missing roles. For instance, a group missing a tank will get a damage mitigation buff, a group without a healer will get a health regeneration buff, and so forth. The official post notes that "the buffs are by no means a replacement for having the actual role in your group. But with some self-reliance, it will... allow you to complete the Alert successfully." For the full details on the new system, plus other features such as Novice Raids, click on through the link below to the official site.
DC Universe Online's upcoming game update is all about easier grouping
If you've been enjoying DC Universe Online ever since the game switched business models, odds are good you're looking toward the endgame by now. Game Update 9, which is coming soon, will make getting into that endgame even easier via the addition of Novice Raids. This new difficulty setting still allows players to experience all the storyline of Fortress of Solitude, Kahndaq, and the Batcave, but the difficulty will be notched down so that players can get a better feel for what they're doing. Of course, if you're not into the endgame rush, you've still got something to look forward to with the new role-optional alerts system. In essence, players will now be able to queue for Alerts without needing to put together a balanced group; in the event that a role is missing, a team buff will be applied to ensure that the area can still be cleared. That means that even with nothing but Damage characters, you can still explore all of DC Universe Online's group content, something that should allow for some novel player approaches once the update goes live. [Update: SOE has also issued a statement about plans for the game's PvP in 2012. The full quote is after the cut.]
