DUST Search - TIme to kill needs addressing

Awry Barux wrote:

Vyzion Eyri wrote:

Maybe I haven't played enough but I really don't notice all this about TTK going down since 1.4 or something. Is this really all everyone is putting down the problems of the game to? TTK? Three letters... Maybe it's because it's so easy to type.

Someone please explain to me how fixing TTK will do anything. How do we even begin to fix so abstract a concept as TTK?

I will subscribe to this thread and your opinions will be read, so prove me wrong. Go on.

Ttyl, k. Idea

Many of this game's unique and defining concepts rely on having a long (2+ second) TTK. Tactics take a back seat when getting the DPS on your opponent 0.5 second earlier will allow you to cut them down before they can react. Similarly, things like speed tanking and profile dampening are rendered less useful, because the time from being seen to dying has dropped sharply, to <1 second for many suits and <2 seconds for heavies. All that matters now is having more tank and more DPS than your opponent, and twitchier aim. This is what many shooters are, but it's not what I want Dust to be.

edit: Also, TTK is not even mildly abstract- it's quite concrete. EHP divided by DPS = TTK. Changing it is similarly easy: increase EHP, decrease damage, or do both.


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Shion Typhon Intara Direct Action Caldari State 314	Posted - 2013.11.06 07:42:00 - [1] - Quote Awry Barux wrote: Vyzion Eyri wrote: Maybe I haven't played enough but I really don't notice all this about TTK going down since 1.4 or something. Is this really all everyone is putting down the problems of the game to? TTK? Three letters... Maybe it's because it's so easy to type. Someone please explain to me how fixing TTK will do anything. How do we even begin to fix so abstract a concept as TTK? I will subscribe to this thread and your opinions will be read, so prove me wrong. Go on. Ttyl, k. Many of this game's unique and defining concepts rely on having a long (2+ second) TTK. Tactics take a back seat when getting the DPS on your opponent 0.5 second earlier will allow you to cut them down before they can react. Similarly, things like speed tanking and profile dampening are rendered less useful, because the time from being seen to dying has dropped sharply, to <1 second for many suits and <2 seconds for heavies. All that matters now is having more tank and more DPS than your opponent, and twitchier aim. This is what many shooters are, but it's not what I want Dust to be. edit: Also, TTK is not even mildly abstract- it's quite concrete. EHP divided by DPS = TTK. Changing it is similarly easy: increase EHP, decrease damage, or do both. This shows how little people understand how TTK affects an FPS, in reality it plays out in reverse. By the way, I'm not arguing for one or the other but they both design choices. One favours one type of player, the other favours a different type of player. High TTK games (ie where you have lots of EHP compared to damage and die more slowly) favour players with superior eye hand coordination. Tracking a moving target to keep the damage on is a twitch skill, not a tactics skill. With high TTK if you get surprised by an enemy player you have time in which to engage your reflexes and turn an ambush around into a contest of movement and accuracy. In general a high TTK favours players with good eye hand co-ordination and fast reaction times, bunnyhopping and strafing matter much more. This often, but not always means younger players or players who practice relentlessly. Low TTK games (ie where you have low EHP and die quickly) favour players with superior map knowledge and sneaking skills. Given everyone dies instantly your main skill is not tracking, its making sure you shoot first and, if possible, make sure the other guy never gets a chance to return fire because odds are if he does you'll both die. Visibility and cover matter much more. In general low TTK favours players with less genetically endowed prowess because they can use knowledge and experience to make up for their reflex shortcomings and their high reflex enemies are forced to move more cautiously like they do. High TTK games also tend to be more high speed whereas low TTK games tend to move slower because being exposed usually equals dead. Of course every game contains elements of both sides but there is usually a bias in any one particular game's design model. Both Dust and Unreal require twitch, eye hand co-ord, map knowledge and canny movement but the cocktail is different to say COD or PS2. So Tl;dr you can prefer either type of game but make sure you REALLY understand what you're asking for.
Shion Typhon Intara Direct Action Caldari State 314	Posted - 2013.11.06 08:02:00 - [2] - Quote Rei Shepard wrote: You are absolutely correct on the matter of TTK vs Player skill, but the point really is that, i don't feel like i am wearing a suit of armor anymore, even less so for my opponents. Its not a lore thing though, offense has always outclassed defense throughout military history. You just need to remember you might be wearing super-future armour but the other guy is shooting at you with a super-future gun. That railgun firing a gravitically compacted anti-matter mini-nuke at you at Mach 12 is going to go through anything. So, lore aside, its just a preference in style. Preferably a game should stick to its original style, I'd be pissed if COD turned into a strafing shooter.