CCP just doesn't have the balls, HTFU.

+1 IWS. That was a good summary article. It's sad to see Hawken struggling like that, imo their devs produced a solid mech shooter right out of the gate - one wonders what it could have developed into if they had the time to grow and refine it.

DUST, like other online multiplayers, is seeing the effects of multiple big releases and the start of the school year. Our numbers should be a lot lower, tbh.

My interpretation of this is that two factors are at play: new player retention has improved owing mainly to the revamped/refined shooter mechanics, and DUST, flawed as it is, has more staying power than traditional mmos.

Regarding the NPE, i'm finding it hard to gauge the effects of the academy, even at an intuitive level.

And as far as match making goes, my purely subjective impression is that when online population goes above ~4000 peeps matches start to get more balanced and more fun. Below ~3300 it 'feels' like the matchmaker is struggling. I'm joining matches solo and the matchmaker most likely identifies me as an average player - peeps on the far ends of the spectrum or squads are prolly having a rougher time of it.

who the **** are you to complain about a game they let you play for free?

FREE.

Go mow a lawn and play ffxiv if you like SE so much.

its september, kids have to go to school again and do homework.

Allot lower? lol

You think 3k is high? You're talking about a game that reached a record of 9k people online at 1 time, to having 3k-3500 now. Blame it on new games coming out. The reality is, DUST is dying. This isn't even doom and gloom cuz when the PS4 lands, that's it. What would the excuse be then when 2k people are online? Or maybe 1k?

CCP disappointed allot of people over the past few months. This last announcement of 1.5 content being pushed to 1.6 is the final nail in the coffin. They bringing in new content the same time PS4 coming out? This a joke? People gonna care about DUST when they have spanking new next gen games to play? lol

I guess there will be a few diehard fans staying. Good luck with that.

I would personally be playing KZ, BF4, PS2, and every other launch day game I can afford by then.

This is silly understanding... Most people during Summer vacation aren't even home to play video games... When school and work roll's around, then you get a consistent playerbase logging on in the routine of life.. almost everyday for their daily recreation.

Dust hasn't focused on player retention... they have focused on new player's experience... and core game mechanics... There really should be no surprise that a mass exodus occurred of players who have been here for a while. Choices and actions...

And the record of over 9k players was 4 days after game launch, player count's didn't even start till it's official release. Beta had numbers far exceeding that.

Hit the nail on the head. We wouldn't have the issues we have now if they didn't outright throw NPE out the window, spent more time in beta, (or people STFU about merc packs) and player feedback was taken into account on crucial game mechanics. (CaLogi suit, anyone?) I'm not saying the game is dying, but we'd probably have a much larger player base, not to mention more positive reviews. Still, CCP is doing a better job with this game than Capcom is doing with their company. Guess which one will survive past the next fiscal year?

Problem is its too little to late once a game gets a bad rep it's done for what I see here is a company not used to having a game fail nothing wrong with going we gone goofed if u leared from it and can relaunch a fresh a product

100% agreed, but to be fair whoever is setting direction for Shanghai now has inherited the sins of the past. I'm impressed with the direction that has been set since 1.3, focusing on core mechanics and NPE, followed by vehicles, corp tools, squad tools, comms tools - it's exactly the order i would have chosen.

I and many other have been hammering at CCP for more than a year to get the core mechanics in order, and that is finally starting to happen. The tragedy is it took the game tanking on release before CCP started to listen.

But core mechanics is the foundational component of the NPE, so i'm seeing it as a big positive notwithstanding the fact that it's long overdue.

CCP has proven this wrong through EVE and some adversity in DUST probably won't sway them.

EVE for its first 5 years was considered an open beta by every MMORPG review or website. Because of non stop expansions and massive patches every few weeks and months.

CCP in general was just a small office of 20 people in Iceland.. and now is growing to be one of the biggest grass route developers...

Their choices and ignoring people who told them exactly this was gonna happen was aggravating because it was the consensus and they did it anyway.

Through CCP's track record of EVE shaking bad review's have been their specialty... It has put most developers bankrupt, but CCP seems to buck that trend.

I basically tl;dr'd this whole thread. Though I had to comment on OP's comment about "Square Enix showed you how".

Squeenix is doing the EXACT same thing that CCP is doing with Dust. Seriously, all of their forums have the SAME bullshit doom and gloom threads that these forums do.

It's ridiculously easy to get to the level cap and there is very little endgame content in FFXIV. It's a huge problem in that game, it doesn't even have PVP yet. lmao

So if anything, Squeenix is taking a page out of CCP's book. The "fanboys" in that game also pull the "this game has a 10 year plan and I have hope" card.

Though surprisingly, the most prominent members on those forums AREN'T trolls. I guess it's the RPG mentality over FPS.

Why are you comparing DUST to an MMO? 16v16 is not massive...

DUST is a lobby shooter with SOME elements of RPG in there.

Maybe 4-5 years from now when player count goes up and this game ends up on PS4 you can add the MMO title to it.

Sad when more people beta tested the game than there are people currently playing the "launched" version.

CCP has proven this wrong through EVE and some adversity in DUST probably won't sway them.

EVE for its first 5 years was considered an open beta by every MMORPG review or website. Because of non stop expansions and massive patches every few weeks and months.

CCP in general was just a small office of 20 people in Iceland.. and now is growing to be one of the biggest grass route developers...

Their choices and ignoring people who told them exactly this was gonna happen was aggravating because it was the consensus and they did it anyway.

Through CCP's track record of EVE shaking bad review's have been their specialty... It has put most developers bankrupt, but CCP seems to buck that trend.

I'll give you a tip CCP.
It is 2013 and people expect 2013 FPS mechanics. /shocker
At least you got more beta testers for this version than most games get.
Looking forward to the PC version of Dust 514, bigger & better scale - without console limitations.
It'll be fantastic. We just don't know when (roughly 10 years if EVE is a decent estimate).

Damn that daily login bonus really did it.
And by did it I mean, wasting more dev time on important things.

I thought you'd be the magical patch.
Maybe 1.5, 1.6 or even 1.7 could be it.

Don't give up hope, guys!
It's never too late pulling the whole thing and redo it (Square Enix showed you how).
Of course that would mean you lose money, so I guess we're out of luck.
CCP just doesn't have the balls, HTFU.

I'll give you a tip CCP.
It is 2013 and people expect 2013 FPS mechanics. /shocker
At least you got more beta testers for this version than most games get.
Looking forward to the PC version of Dust 514, bigger & better scale - without console limitations.
It'll be fantastic. We just don't know when (roughly 10 years if EVE is a decent estimate).

I am not going to chime in on whether this game is or is not, in fact, in its death throes. However, I am 25 and I haven't been able to play as much as I would have liked since 1.4 arrived because I am in graduate school. Some people do pursue a post-graduate education. As a matter of fact, it's pretty standard to be in your mid thirties when you complete a PhD. I know it may come as a shock to you, but some of us do have lives which take us away from our hobbies at certain times. There is no SINGLE explanation for anything, causation is subject to a multitude of factors.

Question any closed beta vet still around happy with dust? I would ask ingame but they don't log in anymore

Does not mean there were 256 player on the same battlefield