Heinrich Jagerblitzen
D3LTA FORC3
1221
   |
Posted - 2013.12.10 10:25:00 -
[2] - Quote
Alright, time to get my thoughts in before this all goes live.  I didn't want to post on day one and be the Grinch that stole Dustmas, because I know many of you are excited about this feature. However, I do have many reservations about how this was implemented as well as some fears about the feature's success. I certainly hope I'm wrong, and I look forward to seeing how this plays out regardless in the coming weeks/months.
All of the following I've already hashed out with Team True Grit in detail over the last couple of months, so they already know what's coming. Essentially, the TL,DR here is that while I love the overall FW package and its direction - I strongly believe it was a mistake to release all of the Faction Warfare features at once. I'm also fine with going on the record here and sharing that I actually urged TTG to NOT release all of this in time for 1.7, because there are supporting features needed to make this FW package a success that are not yet in place.
If it were me, I would have released this in phases - regardless of whether the work was already done or not. I'm super proud of TTG's heroic effort to complete this in time for the holiday patch, but unfortunately the lack of a team deploy option as well as the secondary marketplace both hamper the FW system from becoming all that it is meant to be.
Many of you have already pointed out the synergy between Team Deploy and the enabling of Friendly Fire, so there's no need for me to go into detail about why those should have gone hand-in-hand. I will however state that I have always been a staunch proponent of enabling FF in FW, and continue to be. My vision when working on FW for EVE last year as the FW CSM rep was to create a high-risk, high-reward environment - and that vision applies all the way down to Dust514 as well. I want FW matches to be much more of a challenge than public contracts, I want FW to attract the hardcore and the competitive, I want people to fight like hell to win the neverending war. That being said - I also strongly believe the barrier of entry to FW should be as low as possible, and I strongly oppose artificial barriers preventing newer players from getting into FW early in their career, should they be bold enough. FW in EVE Online has always been a refreshing mix of veterans and noobs, a chaotic cacophany of violence and bloodshed, all in pursuit of racial pride or lucrative rewards. Dust's FW experience should mirror this.
As for AWOX-ing, I'm taking a firm "we'll see how this pans out" stance. I spent all last year being told that this proposal or that proposal of mine would "destroy FW" or "enable rampant alt antics" and all sorts of melodrama, and very little of it actually panned out. Yes, there was spying, there still is AWOXing, and plenty of people have alts in both militias for various meta-tactics. I don't see that being any difference here, but I expect the relative frequency to be the same (and in a minority compared to those that fight straight-up). People will use FF mechanics as an emergent war tactic sometimes - this is great, in my opinion. People will also just shoot blues for fun - but its also going to get boring and repetitive fast and I'll be shocked if it becomes rampant enough to make FW unplayable in Dust. In either case - New Eden is a cold harsh world, FW is completely optional, so I fully support cranking up the danger level and inviting mayhem.
Now this risk is only justified if paired with great reward - and this is the part where I believe releasing the full FW package for 1.7 also fails. On paper, it looks great - a new shiny LP store, and some specialist weapons with stats that invoke a Pavlovian response in minmaxers. However, without a marketplace to liquidate these rewards into isk, we now force Dust players to grind only for the Faction they want gear from. Nothing could strike me as more against the spirit of Faction Warfare than this - I want people to fight for the race they want to win, and to get rich in the process. Instead, for the foreseeable future, Dust's FW system will be driven by the gear meta.
The reason I'm comfortable saying this is because unless I'm pleasantly surprised here in a few hours on launch, the LP costs for most of the gear offered will likely be such that running FW matches won't seem like it pays particularly well compared to running Public Contracts*, and at least in Public Contracts people can spend isk on whatever they want. FW rewards are much less flexible, and for players like me that are specced into Amarr gear but (traditionally) loyal to the Minmatar faction.....the ability to liquidate via a secondary market is the ONLY way to make the Minmatar FW rewards worth grinding. What will I be doing when this goes live? Fighting for both factions, in opposition to each other, because this is the only way I'll be able to sustain my gear losses.
(continued next post)
*Specialist gear being the exception. But mercs cannot live by specialist rifles alone - we need all the other bits and suits as well, and FW will not be providing that unless you happen to want to support the faction whose gear you wear. |
Heinrich Jagerblitzen
D3LTA FORC3
1221
|
Posted - 2013.12.10 10:26:00 -
[3] - Quote
So - with LP payouts being more restrictive than simple isk earnings, combined with the need to actually win matches in order to earn enough LP to sustain losses, I think many of you will quickly find out how difficult it is to stay supplied unless everyone suddenly reverts to using BPO's, and I doubt that will be competitive enough to win against the inevitable proto stomp squads fielded by the elite with PC income that are after the specialist gear and don't care about being able to live off the FW rewards. It easy to hand-wave here and say "FW isn't meant to be a career path" or "We need people to run public matches too", but I strongly believe that FW should be a viable career for those that wish to fully immerse themselves. |