Cal Predine
StarKnight Security
51
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Posted - 2014.01.05 12:20:00 -
[1] - Quote
I can't help but notice that Dust is in trouble. That troubles *me*, because Dust is a noble project which deserves to do very well. The Dust Devs have certainly noticed that their charge is in trouble, as well.
The problem is, those same Devs don't appear to be listening to the *only* people who can point them on the right path to correctly prioritizing the problems.
Let's look at a few "rough groups" of people playing Dust:
1) There's a small group of people who were waiting literally *years* to get their hands on Dust. They were probably existing EVE players or otherwise followers of New Eden. They pulled all tricks they could to get early/ closed beta keys, and joined the game as soon as they could. They gave feedback throughout closed Beta, into open beta, and after release. They really want to see Dust grow into an economic success.
2) There's a (probably rather larger) group of avid gamers who keep abreast of new game developments in general, and read about the project on the web. These guys have no affiliation with EVE or New Eden, but maybe decided a FPS with more depth sounded awesome and wanted to be involved. They probably joined as soon as they could, maybe getting a beta key via the PS Home "event horizon lounge" mini games.
3) Finally, certainly the largest group would be existing PS3 owners who perhaps became aware of a new free-to-play FPS through the PS Store. They would have joined either in open beta or after launch. These guys are probably skilled and avid gamers, but have no real affiliation with Dust or New Eden. These guys represent the market, and are absolutely essential for the large playerbase that commercial success requires.
And commercial success isn't a derogatory phrase, without that success, there will be no Dust.
Once a player gets their hands on Dust, their experience could be broadly broken down as
A) This runs like a dog, is full of bugs, and is largely unplayable. It's unusual for these guys to complete any given match, it's so painful to play. Pretty much every game feels like they're fighting the game rather than the enemy.
B) Yeah, this game needs work, but I can usually play several games in a row without technical problems being a bigger pain in the backside than enemy tactics.
C) Gameplay is perfectly acceptable, and my only request is more content.
Now, imagine how groups 1, 2 and 3 would face situations A, B and C.
The FPS player in 3 (whether they be casual or hardcore player) with no affiliation to Dust as a project will probably not stick around if facing the gameplay mentioned in A. There are plenty of great FPS games out there, with various merits of their own. They'll just find another FPS to play. They may leave a parting note on the forums, or they may simply not bother. Said note may vary in quality from "This game suxxorz, l8r fanbois!!!!!111111" to a detailed list of why they feel they need to move on. But they won't hang around.
Broadly speaking, I think it's likely that you'd get consistent feedback as follows:
Group 1 would comment on A, B and C. They're willing to put the time in to make Dust all it can be.
Group 2 would comment on B and C. Class A problems would probably make them look elsewhere, but they see the worth in the project, so would be willing to help guide it through Class B bugs.
Group 3 would comment only on C. They've no reason to spend time on an un-polished game.
So let's put that in real terms - assuming that not everyone suffers equally from all bugs (and that's certainly the case, forum feedback would suggest) you are receiving feedback about the real show-stopper problems (A) from the very smallest group of players (Group 1).
Conversely, the single largest group of dissatisfied players is giving little to no feedback to that effect. They already left. If there is any doubt about this, look to "professional" reviews dust has received and free-falling player numbers.
As a Dust Dev, sifting through player feedback, there must be a temptation to listen to "the big names", the high-profile players with big scores. The people who have become famous in the community for making videos or writing add-ons. They're great, the problem is, these are not the people who are truly facing the showstopper problems. You don't become a FPS god by putting more effort into fighting the software than the enemy. You don't get famous for videos of stop-time followed by death-cam.
There must also be a temptation to listen only to the "bulk" of feedback. That makes sense after a fashion, but it's simply not very scientific - all feedback is coming from a self-selecting subset of players who care enough about the game to give their time and keep on posting despite their setbacks. All players can agree that we need a full set of racial dropsuit types. That only makes sense. And if that's the worst problem a player is facing, they may well hang around long enough to see it implemented somewhere down the line.
But if Dust is simply unplayable. Why are they going to wait? Only one reason - they care about the project.
So next time you see a few diligent old-hands who are *still* reporting that Dust is unplayable because they are getting framerate problems, or lag, or any other real showstopper which means they spend more time fighting the game than the enemy. Just ask yourself - "What percentage of our playerbase are invested enough in Dust to bother helping us work through a bug this severe? How many already left without even bothering to tell us about this? How many more are we going to lose because of it?"
And then, perhaps, you should reconsider how Dev time and effort needs to be applied?
EVE learned this lesson some time ago (iterations, anyone?). Maybe it's time for Dust to learn the same lesson, but hopefully at not such great cost.
I wish you all the best - now go make Dust all it can and should be 
PS3 Slim -
Hybrid hard drive with 8GB SSD -
South Coast UK -
Virgin media cable BB, 20Mbps down, 2Mbps up.
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Cal Predine
StarKnight Security
53
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Posted - 2014.01.11 09:50:00 -
[4] - Quote
SCAR KOLOS wrote:Very smart, detailed and rare to find this quality in a post. Agree with everything but i wonder if CCP already knows i tend to presume this so i don't say anything but if not then amazing advice hope to play with you some day.
Thanks for your kind feedback SCAR, but I'd argue that people like you are exactly those who CCP should be hearing more from.
All the best!
PS3 Slim -
Hybrid hard drive with 8GB SSD -
South Coast UK -
Virgin media cable BB, 20Mbps down, 2Mbps up.
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