alten hilt
DUST University
Ivy League
52
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Posted - 2013.10.03 20:28:00 -
[1] - Quote
tl:dr - You launched a game that shouldn't even be in Alpha testing. Now you pay the price as your customers realize they have been deceived and flock to other major competitors. You have one chance to redeem yourself by following My Recommendations and START OVER. You may have to go the route of Final Fantasy XIV.
Dear DUST 514 Devs,
Your vision currently exceeds your production capacity. You have over-promised and vastly under-delivered. You are alienating your player base at an alarming rate. As a long-time EVE Pilot, and a Dust 514 Merc since closed beta, I ask you this: What can you offer me that the following list of games cannot do better and in a more timely manner? I've already walked away from Dust 514 numerous times. Each time I come back for a shorter period of time. Eventually I will never return, unless you completely rethink your development approach. Please make good use of the money I have already sent you, because you will not be getting any more till you deliver the amazing game you promised.
Major Competitors to Dust 514
Battlefield 4 - October 29, 2013. Arena based combat with a good balance of infantry and vehicular combat. Ability to select maps that are vehicle heavy or infantry heavy. PVP/PVE
Call of Duty: Ghosts - November 5, 2013. Arena based infantry combat. AR users rejoice. PVP/PVE
Planetside 2 PS4 - December 2013: Already a great game, soon on PS4. Open world combat with a good balance of infantry and vehicular combat. PVP only, but done so well.
Titanfall[\b] - Early 2014: A FPS with Mech warriors by the developers of COD:MW2. PVP
Destiny 2014: Open world MMO style shooter. These guys brought us Halo, what more can be said. PVP/PVE
The Division 2014: Open world MMO style 3p shooter. An amazing concept. PVP/PVE
Star Citizen 2015: 1p/3p Space sim where your character can fight on board ships, on space stations, and on planets. PVP/PVE with both spaceship AND ground combat.
[b]My Recommendation: START OVER
You should never have "Launched" the game, at most it should be in alpha. But you already messed that up. But you have a chance to redeem yourself.
o Hire a new production manager who knows the FPS industry and knows how to manage a programming team.
o Hire experienced FPS developers/programmers who know the FPS industry and have a proven ability to deliver top-notch content.
o Divert more money from CCP Reykjavik. You will not long be able to fund CCP Shanghai based solely on your efforts
o Stop trying to fix the broken system you have currently (you are only making things worse)
o Split your studio into two teams: Current DUST 514 and Future DUST 514
o The Current DUST team will exclusively work on patches that improve the core FPS mechanics; Lag, controls, rendering, optimization, hit-detection, shooter mechanics, etc. Release these updates to your current DUST 514 player base as they are ready.
o The Future DUST team will START OVER by doing the following.
o Remove all tiers except for for militia and standard.
o Introduce all racial skills, dropsuits, modules, equipment, weapons, and vehicle classes.
o Balance the game with all elements introduced but only one tier of technology/complexity
o Merge the optimization efforts of the Current DUST team, with the content of the Future DUST team
o Refund all player SP and release the NEW DUST 514 with all the advantages of core mechanic optimization AND fully featured content.
o Let the players stress test your optimization efforts and content efforts BEFORE you introduce ADV and PRO tiers.
o Now that you have a solid base of FPS core mechanics and well balanced content, you can begin to add additional tiers and features
o Only introduce ONE tier at a time, and introduce that tier ACROSS THE BOARD! Every weapon, every module, every dropsuit, every vehicle gets the next tier AT THE SAME TIME! This way you have a solid, well-tested base to build on, and can focus on balancing only the effectiveness of the newly introduced tier of equipment.
o Welcome to the DUST 514 you always should have been. |