DC Universe MegaServers go live

Sony today begins its conversion of the servers running PC and PlayStation 3 MMO DC Universe into four MegaServers.

The move "greatly" expands the number of players available to play with, Sony Online Entertainment said.

Sony said gamers will enjoy much larger populations, will have access to a much larger pool of people to join in Alerts, Duos, Raids and Legends PvP, it will be much easier to play with friends who were previously on other servers, you'll be able to switch between PvP and PvE style play by using the phase shifters in the Hall of Doom and JLA Watchtower, and there will be a larger number of items in the Broker.

One thing to watch out for: your character name may have been changed as a result of other players having the same name.

"We have implemented the fairest system possible to determine which players would be able to retain their name without change," Sony said. "Those players whose names have been changed will be sent an in-game email which includes a free Name Change token and instructions as to how to change your name if you do not wish to keep the name assigned to you by the system. We know that your character names are important to you and if there are any issues our Customer Support Group will be happy to assist you."

The game's new servers are now arranged in Phases, which can be thought of as a combination of all of the shared world areas of the game: Metropolis, Gotham, Police Stations and Night Clubs, the Hall of Doom, and the JLA Watchtower.

"The great thing is that regardless of phase or whether you are playing in PvP or PvE, all other players on the MegaServer will be available to join you in all of the queued Alerts, Raids, Duos, and Arenas," Sony said.

When a region and platform are converted to the new MegaServer configuration, Sony expects the game to be unavailable for play for around 10-14 hours. The official DC Universe website has the schedule for this conversion.