Aisha Ctarl is my character's name, and she like many other mercs of DUST 514 is just a string of code and pixels formulated to make an image.

While this is not a pressing issue, CCP I ask can you please consider giving our mercs souls. Our mercs need something that makes us connect with them, something that either makes them feel like a genuine character we have created or an extension of ourselves. Right now, my character Aisha simply feels like a filler of "Clone slot 1 of 3 in DUST 514 build 1.5." Something that would help Aisha feel "alive" is to give mercs voice acting. For example say I'm being injured in battle and am losing health, if I double tap left on the D-Pad maybe she could cry out something akin to "I need reps!" If her health becomes critical, her voice could even become more hysterical, more desperate sounding, more pleading asking for reps so I get a sense of EMPATHY (magic word there) and actually connect with my character and feel her sense of impending death.

While EVE does not have voice acting, one still has a sense of connection with their character because of the great customization of your avatar. EVE players can see their character's face, their outfit, their mannerisms and nuances, even this gives a player a greater link with their character. Currently our mercs are dropsuits....yeah dropsuits. It's implied there is a person inside but I've never seen my actual character therefore my character is an Amarr Prototype Logistics a.k0 Suit. Our characters are silent, stoic, space soldiers that never remove their armor and never socially interact with each other - for all I know, my character is some sort of robotic drone programmed to be mute and loyal to the Amarr Empire. Think of John (Master Chief) from the Halo universe, he's a like-able guy and one can easily connect with him and his story. Now, imagine a Halo universe where John kept his armor and helmet on at all times and never uttered a single word - never even interacted with Cortana or anyone else for that matter - that right there is our current DUST Merc.