Let me start by saying I've had DUST for a total of approx. 2 weeks. I'm not a newcomer to shooters, and my background stems mostly from FPS in several systems. Delta Force: BHD/TS, HALO, Original COD(Not the recent trash), BF2/BF2142, ARMA Series, etc. I consider myself to be a fairly average and on good days above average FPS gamer. When I originally heard of DUST over a year ago I was damn excited because I'd always loved the concept of EVE but couldn't get into it at the time. Now that I've got myself a PS3 I rushed to grab up DUST.

My first reaction was this, okay not much in the way of a tutorial, but just takes some light reading and you've got the jist of it. Unforunately I was an IDIOT and spread my SP all over the place which lead to needing to make a new character. Second reaction was, okay woo I'm in Battle Academy and we're good to go. Get some kills, take some objectives, doing pretty darn well. Then, all of a sudden after 2 matches in Academy, those kills are nonexistent and every time I try to take an objective I'm getting sniped by a rail rifle toting heavy from halfway across the map behind a corner. Rinse, repeat, respawn.

After running into this stonewall that is proto/aurum weapon toting enemies, I'm starting to lose that initial excitement. I originally read that Academy was supposed to last until 10k WP or 1 mil SP, but come to find out it's only 1200 wp now. Anyone that plays half decent will have it in 1-3 matches of IBA. My question is, where is there, if any, incentive for a new player to continue on? Getting steam rolled by people who have been playing, or paying, more than you are really isn't my idea of fun. There's literally a 3/10 shot for me to successfully cap an objective now, and I am emptying almost a full clip into people only to have their shields shrug off the damage and drop me in 3 seconds, if that.

I realize most players who have been here a while will respond with HTFU, but I really don't care about those opinions. Majority of people I have seen yelling HTFU are people who are already 10 mil+ SP & Proto geared, spouting this garble at new players. My question is whether there's going to be any sort of easier transition for the newbie player who might need just a few more inches of help before they step off the MCC into a warzone where you're equipped with the equivalent of a BB gun against a howitzer.

I would like to see Geto Pub matches added. Have any item above Meta 2 be invalid fit in these matches, but have them award less Skill Points and Less ISK than a standard Pub match.

For lore purposes, these matches could be a result of a gentlemanGÇÖs agreement between Corps for settling minor disputes. Then the normal PUB matches would be when the Corps are really pissed at each other and donGÇÖt want to stick to any gentlemanGÇÖs agreement.

Metal level restricted battles could also be system security related. Much like how gameplay is organized in EVE. I feel like the "Welcome to New Eden" line kind of fails since EVE is actually much less harsh for new players than in Dust. A new player in EVE starts in high security space where there is no PvP.

It would be interesting if Dust gameplay was organized by system security ratings like EVE, but sadly the player base is too low to make that work right now.

Something like this would be interesting:
1.0: PvE only
0.9-0.8: Militia gear only (max 5mil SP)
0.7-0.5: up to Advanced Gear
0.4-0.0: No restrictions