DUST Search - Announcement:[Dev Blog] The New Player Experience in Uprising 1.5

Vell0cet wrote:

IAmDuncanIdaho II wrote:

Good stuff, this is nice progress. Don't forget you lot that this is the start, it's not fully fleshed out by a long way, only so much can be delivered at once. Getting the core stuff done first makes sense, and the blog says they decided the target audience is those who already have some FPS experience. That means you don't need to teach someone how to switch weapons or throw grenades.

I'm not sure if you've ever watched video clips of people playing dust for the first time while "thinking out loud" into a mic, but there is a lot of confusion about really fundamental gameplay mechanics that seem so obvious to us (like "cooking" a grenade) shooting the enemy MCC, what supply depots are and how they work.

The other point is that a massive portion of DUST's audience may not be FPS vets. I have played very few hours of FPS online multiplayer games prior to DUST, myself. I think CCP may find that marketing DUST to RPG fans who "finally have a shooter that rewards strategy and character growth" may end up yielding the best returns by a big margin. These players have the potential to be the most dedicated of them all, and may need more schooling in FPS gameplay mechanics than FPS junkies who are always moving to the latest shiny release.


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IAmDuncanIdaho II The Southern Legion The Umbra Combine 95	Posted - 2013.10.04 07:51:00 - [1] - Quote Good stuff, this is nice progress. Don't forget you lot that this is the start, it's not fully fleshed out by a long way, only so much can be delivered at once. Getting the core stuff done first makes sense, and the blog says they decided the target audience is those who already have some FPS experience. That means you don't need to teach someone how to switch weapons or throw grenades. The active booster idea is good, gives more incentive to play the game after completing tutorials. Perhaps a 7-day booster though, activated when the merc wants, but that cannot be sold or traded. If there's concerns about closing the SP gap, then there's better ways of doing that than using passive boosters imho - if there's a need for more SP without playing, just increase the starting SP - don't forget new chars starts with 500K SP. I also think it might be useful to perhaps gift an extra SP bonus after graduating from the academy to help close this gap too and spread that warm feeling. Or to at least loose the merc on the world with the idea that they should plan what they want to skill into with the extra SP you just gave them. And finally, a way to spend skill points across multiple categories in a single transaction might be useful to help plan SP investment and avoid frustration. Dropping points into something only to realise you missed a pre-requisite that will take you a month is probably annoying as hell.
IAmDuncanIdaho II The Southern Legion The Umbra Combine 95	Posted - 2013.10.04 22:05:00 - [2] - Quote Vell0cet wrote: IAmDuncanIdaho II wrote: Good stuff, this is nice progress. Don't forget you lot that this is the start, it's not fully fleshed out by a long way, only so much can be delivered at once. Getting the core stuff done first makes sense, and the blog says they decided the target audience is those who already have some FPS experience. That means you don't need to teach someone how to switch weapons or throw grenades. I'm not sure if you've ever watched video clips of people playing dust for the first time while "thinking out loud" into a mic, but there is a lot of confusion about really fundamental gameplay mechanics that seem so obvious to us (like "cooking" a grenade) shooting the enemy MCC, what supply depots are and how they work. The other point is that a massive portion of DUST's audience may not be FPS vets. I have played very few hours of FPS online multiplayer games prior to DUST, myself. I think CCP may find that marketing DUST to RPG fans who "finally have a shooter that rewards strategy and character growth" may end up yielding the best returns by a big margin. These players have the potential to be the most dedicated of them all, and may need more schooling in FPS gameplay mechanics than FPS junkies who are always moving to the latest shiny release. No I've not watched that but can imagine it happens. I was just pointing out the target audience CCP has identified as mentioned in the blog. I'm not an FPS player myself, never have been until DUST, but I picked up some of these things from just playing and reading forums. Either way, I agree with you - if the majority is as you say, then they do need to be shown those things - but CCP aren't focusing on them. They're focusing on those who already realise how that stuff works and need do nothing more than learn which keys or buttons to press to take those actions. Ideally you'd "teach" it all - and maybe that will come. But CCP were pretty clear in their reasoning for their target audience.
IAmDuncanIdaho II The Southern Legion The Umbra Combine 109	Posted - 2013.10.07 21:01:00 - [3] - Quote Yeah those are great ideas. Here's to hoping the NPE is popular enough to have them add more every month. As I remember back to when I first downloaded the game and why I did it, I think it was because I'm a casual player in EVE, haven't had much enjoyment out of any other FPS I've picked up, and figured it was worth a try. I was always going to give it a good go, regardless of the quality and depth of any tutorials. It would be a pity if people put it down fast without realising there was more depth and cool variations than they got exposed to in a few days or whatever.