Being on a console really doesn't mean much for the lifespan of Dust because it is fundamentally different than any other console game, or shooter for that matter, that has ever been released. Dust will be here 10 years from now, just not on the PS3. At some point this will become a cross platform game. I might be playing on my PS3, you on a PS4 and some other dude on his PC. All in the same match, using the same characters and isk that were created a year ago when we moved to Tranquility. When Dust gets released on a new platform it'll probably be just like it was a brand new game.

People will also play Dust longer than other shooters because they've been looking for that sense of permanence, impact and meaningfulness of fights. I started playing shooters in 1996 and the way I played was kind of ridiculous. I'd be playing sometimes until the sun came up. But the last shooter I played seriously was Battlefield 2142, which was a fantastic game. In the end I wound up quitting because I got to a point where I learned all the little tricks you could pull with the maps, unlocked all the weapons and was working on getting all the obscure little badges. Like playing entire matches using only my pistol. There simply wasn't any reason to fight those battles anymore. Dust's link to Eve will give people a reason. The link is small now, but over time it'll grow and we'll all look at the people running instant pub matches like Eve players do at high-sec miners and mission runners - people who aren't experiencing the game as it is meant to be played.

I get where you're at, you're burned out. It happened to me for a few weeks, and it happened to a lot of people in my corp. You just need a space-vacation when it happens. Most people come back after they've gone and played some other games for a month or two. I think the active SP system sort of drives us to the burnout stage, since right now developing your character is the only big goal and if you're not playing every night you're "wasting your cap".

We all know what this game COULD be, what it will eventually work itself to be, we all know about the constant fluctuation and patching and fixes that will be coming, we all know this is a game that rewards you for investing yourself into it, we all know what it's like to be a new player in this harsh game, some more than others, and we all know that even after you have put so much work into this game you can still get knocked on your ass so much it makes you not want to get back up sometimes.

None of this is necessarily a bad thing, if a game is challenging, engaging, I call it well made, I mean think about it this game gives you emotions other than rage, fear of losing expensive stuff, excitement from close matches where winning doesn't even matter, what other shooter can say that? Like I said maybe I don't play other games actively enough but I haven't gotten that same effect since my days in MGO. But it becomes a problem when we vets having our fun drives away others, even other vets, from having the game be something they enjoy, it's a problem when this learning curve isn't a curve so much as just a brick wall that someone is slamming your face into. In this state the game punishes you for not getting into the fit of the month, or not investing enough time and in alot of cases money, for new players the game punishes you for not punishing yourself trying to get your skill points.

Have any of you tried to make a new character recently? You can have all of the aiming prowess in the world, quick reactions, knowledge of the game and the maps, but when you're stripped of all of your skills and your gear you're still worthless when you face other players with the same abilities, you put 0 skill points in anything and even the best player with a new character will be a noob, how the hell is a brand new player who hasn't mastered the mechanics supposed to survive?