Gemini Cuspid
Amarr Templars
Amarr Empire
3
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Posted - 2014.02.03 03:28:00 -
[1] - Quote
Straight and simple -> IMPOSSIBLE TO DO PERIOD. I'll also back this up with a simple fact: there is no technical "cap" on abilities. You could have been playing since Beta and have had all the boosters active until then and you still haven't had capped all skills. I bring this up because in a FPS game it does add to a bit of sense: players who have played longer, have had an active character longer or are skilled and fill in the prior two slots will always have a significant advantage in the game. I made my 3rd clone since it's been 13 months since I've played and I was getting smoked by players nearing 1k in armor and shields with logi armor.
This is not an issue of game balance but rather skill balance and learning curve: if you're constantly getting killed by even a single player that often and they are playing in a corp so there are 4-6 of them then it creates an instant imbalance. You can also cry the usual defense of "well you need to play more" but that also means little since by the time someone has upgraded a bit the veteran has upgraded a lot more; they will still get more kills, WP's and basically everything versus a newcomer even if that person has some experience. Face it my militia rifle even if i'm playing with a group that knows what they are doing isn't going to put a dent in a group who also knows what they are doing but is armored to the teeth.
For players (I know you're out there) who played Resistance 2 & MAG, you had a enforced limit meaning you either capped out and learned quite a bit and actually managed to increase your skill level versus the veteran with more skill points advancing further than a newcomer.
Players don't have an opportunity to learn and become experienced once they're getting stomped constantly; likewise game dynamics in this area aren't any friendlier. That same player with 1k armor and shield could also have a full skills in scanning still giving them a good jump on me.
That's kind of the problem we're facing in the game and what makes this a hard game to really maintain except for the hardcores. CCP is at the stage where enforced limits aren't possible and, likewise, it can't really do anything much either to attract new players nor make a more balanced curve where new and less experienced players don't get stomped and accrue skill points at a slower rate than skilled.
It's a catch-22 and why I had a lot of hope for this game I just don't feel optimistic about it. People will get stomped and imbalance is less weapons based than it's more time-invested and played based. Not saying you shouldn't be rewarded for playing longer but for other FPS's the reward was really learning and gaining experience and skills to win because, at some stage, you had everything you're enemy had access to and it was simply a case of luck, skill or terrain advantage that made one live or die. You can't really have that as the overarching situation in Dust514 and that's why players get stomped and why matches feel easy or insanely impossible. |