A few community things I enjoy in random order :
-The moderators. I’ve been a part of many forums over the years where the mods in those “communities” clearly played favorites and blatantly ignored people all while claiming they were good at their jobs and knew what they were doing (they weren’t and they didn’t). The DC Universe moderators do an EXCELLENT job of managing the community.
They’re great people and I hope to meet even more of them in person as time goes on. The sooner the better too
-Civility. We can agree to disagree when necessary. We all seem to realize that getting outright angry at each other over entertainment is a magnificently stupid thing to do. Someone doesn’t revel in what you do? That’s okay. Just take a breath and accept we have different tastes and interests. Move on.
-Passion! Oh, I do LOVE to nerd out over DC! I’m glad there are so many people here we can just dive right into the wonderful fun of everything DC with! Getting your nerd on with fellow fans is a hoot!
-Community Hero rewards. Where else online do you get physically rewarded for being a friendly and upstanding member of a community? We should all be friendly and upstanding to begin with, that’s an absolute 100% given and basic tenant of good humanity and citizenship.
That said, it’s nice to get a lil’ bonus that serves as a metaphorical pat on the back too =)
-Member events. Last month’s fan event was alot of fun. Fans were asked to show up (if they could) to have fun on WB and DC’s behalf. I will happily attend every single event like this in the future that I’ve the time for. FYI to TPTB of any future events in the works: I can always make time for more functions =)
-Inclusion. No one fan is asked to fit into a mold in order to be accepted here, nor should they ever be. Whether you’re a DC fan of several decades or brand spankin’ new to the wonder of the magnificence of DC, everyone is welcome here and everyone matters.
-Watch Alongs. It’s fun to unite with fellow fans and watch things together. Enough said.
I’ve followed DC Universe since the very first day a “DC streaming service” (as DCU was known long, long before it had an official name) was announced. I’m as Day One as you can be. When the service got a title and there was an initial summation of content, I got very, very excited. Last year’s Batman Day was the best ever simply because it was the official debut of DC Universe.
When a community section was announced in the very first trailer for DCU, I shrugged and said “Meh.”. It was the only thing I wasn’t excited for as I was seriously burnt out on forums and how foolish, ignorant, illl-mannered, repugnant and blatantly stupid many of my formerly favorite communitues had become over time.
I dipped my toes in the water here very, very gingerly at first. Over time I came to see that there was and is something special about this place. I truly hope it stays that way.
Fun Fact: In over 20 years of internet use, the DC Universe community is the very first place I have ever used “lol” in online conversation. Prior to DCU, I swore up and down I’d never use “lol” as its literally the equivalent of saying “I am laughing. Now you on the other side of the screen know this too. Ha. Ha.” and it just seemed like a stupid notation to me.
There are more creative ways to indicate laughter in internet conversation but darn it if DCU didn’t finally get me to use the internet shorthand I swore I’d never use. You done good DCU =)
As a whole I love everything about DC Universe. Is it 100% fault free? No, but the things that stand out to me as imperfections are very minor and can be easily fixed. The major selling points of the service are doing triumphantly well and the future appears to be tremendously bright.
DC Universe has become one of the major touchstones of my DC fan experience and I will continue to do everything in my power to spread the word about it and to support it (I’ve already had a handful of people sign up for it since it began and they love it).
Let’s go off note for a moment and talk about the Shop. I plan on making the DCU shop the sole place to buy select types of merchandise so long as said merchandise continues to be offered there. Yes, you can find several non-exclusive items elsewhere for a few bucks less, but I’m okay with paying DCU’s prices because they go towards a wonderful outlet and help to keep the lights on for said outlet.
To sum it up: I’m 100% behind DC Universe and will be for years and years to come. Tell me to jump and I’ll say “How high?” =)