DUST Search - ADS Reports - Ch1 Defining Racial Themes

Azri Sarum wrote:

Pokey Dravon wrote:

snip

This effectively means that the Amarr and Gallente are backwards in their slots and bonuses. Going by EVE themes, the Gallente should have a similar amount of high and low slots with a bonus to armor repair module repair rate, whereas the Amarr should have many more low slots and get the bonus to armor plates. However as I stated in the scope of this document, I would avoid violating strong existing Dust theme in my suggestions and analysis, so I kept with the current setup, even if it is a bit backwards.

I would suggest however that CCP consider reversing these suits to make it continuous with traditional EVE themes. [/i]

Glad to see some others voicing this. As someone who came from EVE to DUST the backwards nature of these two drives me crazy.

All the little things DUST either got wrong or decided to do differently than EVE are just rough spots that are going to need to be fixed sooner or later. Better to do it now with fewer assets in game, and before the connection between the games is strong. As that connection grows every one of these mistakes will come to light. If these two games are truley supposed to occupy the same universe, then the two games need to mirror each other in all the fine details.


Author	Thread Statistics \| Show CCP posts - 0 post(s)
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 946	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:03:00 - [1] - Quote I highly suggest you download the PDF available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Pqc0ScXKN7eHlXYVk2SW5XazA/edit?usp=sharing The PDF is much easier on the eyes than the forums here and includes images and reference links. However GoogleDocs does not display everything properly, so I suggest actually downloading the file for best results. EVE DUST514 ADS Reports Analysis - Discussion - Suggestions By Pokey Dravon CHAPTER I Defining Racial Themes O V E R V I E W In order to unify the overall themes within the Dust/EVE universe and provide a more stable, consistent basis for the development of the mechanics in the game, a stronger baseline for Racial Themes must be established. As it stands, the attributes and abilities of dropsuits, vehicles, weapons, and gear, are largely lacking in uniformity and organization. This document will establish an updated baseline of racial themes in the game to form a foundation of future reports. S C O P E This document is conceptual only. As such I will avoid using absolute numbers as it will detract from the concepts at hand. This is also largely due to the fact that we as a playerbase do not have access to a testing ground to directly test and attempt to balance these mechanics, and as such any attempt to balance would be pure speculation. This documentGÇÖs purpose is to give the development team a direction to consider and work towards. Each race is broken down into a series of key concepts. These concepts are the foundation for all other racial units and must be adhered to as closely as possible. Tee developers have done a fair job in establishing themes within the system; however clarification and organization are needed to form a more stable foundation for future content. These themes are designed to match closely with EVE for continuity purposes. Some constant themes present in Dust514 are inconsistent with EVE. In these situations, the Dust514 precedent will be used The ultimate purpose of this document is to define a nomenclature which gives each race an easily recognized theme. These themes can then be applied to the Roles on the Battlefield (discussed in a later report) to create unique and easily recognizable combinations. This not only creates a clear and easily understood system for players, but also streamlines and simplifies the design process for future content. This document is largely opinion and should be evaluated as such. C A L D A R I The Caldari are traditionally are shield tankers with a moderate amount of HP. Because they rely on shield systems to buffer their limited HP, Caldari tend to fight from a distance. This style of combat favors very accurate long range rail-type weapons as well as missile systems. Technically, Caldari rail weapons are a very similar technology to Gallente Blasters as they use Hybrid ammunition. However for simplicity I am going to simply define Caldari Hybrid Weapons as GÇ£Rail WeaponsGÇ¥ and Gallente Hybrid Weapons as GÇ£Blaster WeaponsGÇ¥. In addition, damage types vary depending on ammo used, but again for simplicity IGÇÖm going to say that Rail Weapons do Kinetic Rail damage (Not to be confused with Kinetic Projectile damage) and Missiles do Explosive damage. Traditionally they are able to fit a number of damage modifiers allowing for massive damage output; however for infantry in Dust, this is generally not true as infantry damage mods take up the same slots as shield defenses. The weapon range advantage is balanced by an unimpressive speed with above average endurance. In addition, their uniquely high shield HP pool and shield recharge rate is countered by slow movement speed and moderately low effective HP. Slot layouts should favor more high slots over low to facilitate the use of shields over armor, as well as bonuses and resources to support the use of shield extenders. In addition, Caldari weapons should be low fire rate with high damage shots, usually requiring a short charge time for Rail Weapons. In terms of lore, the Caldari are cold and calculated. They value efficiency and precision over all else and their designs and mechanics should reflect this. Summary: Caldari should be encouraged to play long range via the use of accurate Kinetic weapons and long range missile weapons. Their bonuses should focus on increasing total Shield HP as well as the damage they deal with Caldari Kinetic and Explosive weapons. Their total HP should be moderate to discourage close range play, and their shield recharge/delay low to offset the heavy weight on shield HP. Weapons should be low RoF, High damage, and very accurate.
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 946	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:03:00 - [2] - Quote Reserved
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 946	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:04:00 - [3] - Quote Reserved
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 946	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:05:00 - [4] - Quote Reserved
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 947	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:29:00 - [5] - Quote Jackof All-Trades wrote: Reading through it now, and though I hate for my first comment to be somewhat negative... "Because they have a high amount of Shield and Armor HP but low number of slots, the Amarr should favor replenishing their base HP instead of extending it. With a high amount of Shield and Armor HP but a low number of slots, the Amarr should favor replenishing base HP instead of extending it." You repeated that in the Amarr section. Aside from that, looking awesome! Thanks for pointing that out, I've got a mess of formatting between InDesign, Word, and the forums here, so I must have accidentally transposed that line twice. Updated in the original post, I'll be fixing the PDF in a moment.
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 952	Posted - 2013.11.16 09:58:00 - [6] - Quote Jackof All-Trades wrote: Or... maybe just one thing. I completely agree with you on the whole Gallente/Amarr reversal. It may make a lot of players unhappy with the change, but it is much needed, and better sooner than later. I didn't know Gallente could shield tank. Anyway, completely agree with you on that last point, thanks for an excellent write-up! Its not really a common practice, but there are a few Gallente ships that can put up a decent shield defense. Admittedly I'm more of a shield guy in EVE, but from my understanding the Amarr always had massive armor EHP and the Gallente revolved more around repairing that armor more quickly, but with less EHP. This is why the Amarr Logi bonus confused me. I'll be covering my thoughts on bonuses for each suit role to better reflect these racial themes in Chapter II.
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 965	Posted - 2013.11.16 19:43:00 - [7] - Quote Azri Sarum wrote: Pokey Dravon wrote: snip This effectively means that the Amarr and Gallente are backwards in their slots and bonuses. Going by EVE themes, the Gallente should have a similar amount of high and low slots with a bonus to armor repair module repair rate, whereas the Amarr should have many more low slots and get the bonus to armor plates. However as I stated in the scope of this document, I would avoid violating strong existing Dust theme in my suggestions and analysis, so I kept with the current setup, even if it is a bit backwards. I would suggest however that CCP consider reversing these suits to make it continuous with traditional EVE themes. [/i] Glad to see some others voicing this. As someone who came from EVE to DUST the backwards nature of these two drives me crazy. All the little things DUST either got wrong or decided to do differently than EVE are just rough spots that are going to need to be fixed sooner or later. Better to do it now with fewer assets in game, and before the connection between the games is strong. As that connection grows every one of these mistakes will come to light. If these two games are truley supposed to occupy the same universe, then the two games need to mirror each other in all the fine details. I'll be releasing my report on battlefield roles hopefully this weekend to provide a more clear and concise definition of what each specialty actually means and how their skills and bonuses should be built around those definitions. ADS Reports - Defining Racial Themes
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 1028	Posted - 2013.11.22 07:01:00 - [8] - Quote Chapter 2 is now available here: Defining Roles of the Battlefield ADS Reports - Defining Racial Themes
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 1035	Posted - 2013.11.22 07:59:00 - [9] - Quote I actually touched on that a bit in the Caldari section and admittedly stated that for simplicity I would call Caldari weapons "Rail" because that seems to be the current direction the development team is taking it. As you know Dust is very simplified in terms of EVE, and that's perfectly fine. What I think is most important is consistency which is often lacking from Dust in many aspects. EVE is the obvious backbone to build consistent themes off of, however if they deviate from EVE but remain consistent within Dust, I'm perfectly fine with that. The point of the matter is much of the system feels disorganized. While this is likely due to time and technical constraints on the part of the Dev team, it is an important issue that needs to be addressed. It is my hope that we see some overhaul changes with 1.8 in terms of Dropsuits. ADS Reports - Defining Racial Themes
Pokey Dravon OSG Planetary Operations Covert Intervention 1041	Posted - 2013.11.22 09:07:00 - [10] - Quote Im sorry if you find my interpretation of the lore not to your liking, but hostilities are not conducive to a productive discussion. ADS Reports - Defining Racial Themes