Vrain Matari
ZionTCD
761
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Posted - 2013.08.29 00:34:00 -
[1] - Quote
It's really a multi-step process. Before content gets a chance to seduce peeps, core mechanics will drive them away.
Right now, players leave this game long before they see all of the limited content or experience all the game modes.
There's a lot to take in, a lot to puzzle through, and a lot to adapt to, because DUST isn't built with the usual FPS sensibilities we're all so familiar with. And this isn't a bad thing.
So these players who are interested stick around and start making the effort to understand what the hell is going on. We all know from experience that early days in DUST can be rough on a player. But that's cool too, many peeps enjoy the challenge and can see the obvious potential we have here, so they take their beatings and soldier on.
And then CCP betrays them. In the worst possible way.
So here is our potential new citizen of New Eden, invested in this strange hybrid game where the developer is asking immigrants to make an exceptional effort to adapt and learn, where there is virtually no hand-holding, no walkthrough, no tutorial, no opportunity to practice.
And the player begins to understand the fitting screen, the skill system, the HUD, the TACNET, the weapons systems, the maps, the equipment, the squad tools, the voicecomms, all the while going hands-on with the game......and it gradually dawns on our player that the game, at its most fundamental level, does not work. It's broken, not finished, half-baked.
The first thing players prolly notice is the AFKers. They don't understand the dynamics behind it, but everybody recognizes it as deeply lame - for both the community and the developer.
Some time after this this awkward aiming, lag, detection, the sticky terrain and objects, the clunky, slow unreliable controls reveal themselves.
And that's it. By the cold light of day most players will realized that they got duped by a three dressed up as a nine, that there's a lot of other fish in the sea, and they move on, prolly warning their friends not to make the same mistake they made.
But for some poor slobs, it's too late. They've seen below the surface, they've somehow managed to fall in love against their will. They can't stand to stay but they can't bear to leave. These sad creatures are called bittervets. In DUST we sometimes call them 'Noc's', i'm not sure why.
It's only one scenario. There are others but the one presented covers the bulk of cases, i'd wager.
The good news is that CCP is attempting to address the core issues in patches 1.4 and 1.5.
If they're successful, then the content will have a solid chance of keeping players.
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