An updated version of DCU Online — DCUO — pre alpha demo was available to all attendees at the San Diego Comic-Con, showing vast changes to the version shown at the event during the previous year. Some of the more recognizable features plucked elements from both World of Warcraft and City of Heroes, yet adapting them to improve the user experience, at least in concept, anyway.

It’s impossible to know until a beta version is released since so much of a good MMO (Massively Multi-Player Online) game relies on the entire experience. The developers seem to understand this concept and they’ve done a hell of a job integrating the 70-plus year history of the DC Universe into the recognizable elements of an MMO. I’ve listed a few notable occurrences from the revised demo at Comic-Con…

High Level “Instances”
It’s nearly impossible not to refer to the epic battle areas of an MMO that requires a load screen as anything but “Instance” — as they’re called in WoW. That’s the term DCUO Creative Director Jens Andersen used when describing the high-level battle areas that will take the form of classic DC Comics landmarks like S.T.A.R. Labs. But while WoW makes their Instances disposable after achieving higher character levels, I don’t know that DCUO will want to do the same.