Crimson ShieId
Psygod9
D.E.F.I.A.N.C.E
19
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Posted - 2014.02.07 22:55:00 -
[1] - Quote
So, over the past year or so (Give or take, most likely take) since I've been playing this game, I've noticed something... It is NOT friendly to new players... at all.
Take the above however you like, whether that be saying "Well, yes, that's how MMO's work" or "No, really, Sherlock?! How'd you figure that out?" but think about it for a moment. If no new players come into (and stay) within the Dust community, how long before the game dies out? How long before the veterans get everything there is to and leave? A year? Two at best?
As it stands now, there's currently a training mode (if it can be called that) for rookie players that teaches them how to make fits and such, even puts them into a few games against other newbies until they reach a certain warpoint level. The problem with this (Even though it is a great thing and I honestly wish I would have had it when I joined the game) is that the set warpoint level is so low that it's impossible for any new player to be ready for the protostomping that occurs right outside the academy! They get, oh, what is it... 1200WP... 1500? Somewhere around there, and then they're tossed to the wolves to be devoured. This might be fine in some cases, but in a lot of them... it just makes players rage quit and never come back.
Most vets will say to this "HTFU" or "Get good" to which I partially agree with them, but mostly, I'll just point back to the idea that Dust could and likely will die very quickly if it stops making money. Yes, the dedicated player, the person who's willing to push through the dredges and get their militia butts handed to them a thousand times in order to get good and get good gear are better customers, but they're few and far between. I was talking to a new player just the other day (They've probably only been on a few days at most) who said they "hated this game" which got me asking the simple question of "Why?" The immediate answer was "The losses, mostly" so we talked for a bit and I offered to squad up and try to help them. Got disconnected immediately afterwards and ended up in a full squad before contacting them again, but they're now in my contacts. It got me thinking though, again, about how hard this game is to get into for new players. Even the CEO of my corp said if he had to start over for whatever reason, he wouldn't bother.
Now, PVE would likely solve all this, but perhaps something simpler to program is in order? Since there's no matchmaking for this game, the only idea that seemed to stick over and over again was a game were only militia suits could be used. None of the "Get 1500WP to graduate to the protostomping fields and proceed to rage" stuff, but an actual mode dedicated purely to militia gear (No tanks, mind you, because let's face it... trying to kill a militia tank with militia gear is like trying to kill an MCC with melee...) This could give newer players a chance to go up against similar gear and most likely, similarly skilled players. Not only that, but it might help even out teams (Come on, we've all seen those games where half the team is going 0/15) as less of the newbies would be joining standard pub matches.
Granted, this isn't without its' flaws. If the mode wasn't locked to players with a certain WP or SP total, then more skilled players would still start heading in to stomp the newbies, but it still wouldn't be as bad as getting stomped by proto gear (To balance this, the ISK payout could be much lower than for regular pub matches, perhaps even the SP payout lowered to keep higher level players from wanting to stomp in newbie rooms) And of course, there are players who have core skills maxed out and such that would have an advantage (But really, this advantage would be so small that it wouldn't make much of a difference in the long run if vets decided to come in)
Again, nothing is perfect, but it seems like keeping players in Dust would be easier if they had a place to go where they wouldn't immediately be faced with a squad of proto suits.
P.S. If the coding was done for this, it could even be transferred over (I believe?) to advanced and proto gear perhaps. Give the veteran players a matchmaking system of a sort, something that they could use to get into games against other reasonably leveled players.
Thoughts? Ideas?
Sometimes I miss never seeing tanks in a battle... then I remember the mystical flying soma, and I can't help but smile.
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Crimson ShieId
Psygod9
D.E.F.I.A.N.C.E
20
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Posted - 2014.02.08 16:48:00 -
[2] - Quote
Shadow Archeus wrote:To test the whole militia gear only thing i made several characters and played battle academy with them
Most matches I played the free medic suit
Most matches I went 25-40/0-5.....that's ridiculous....not to mention I was on average getting at least 2000 wp per match which immediately booted my character into the abyss that is what the vets play
A militia only mode won't help new players much at all
Battle academy needs to be split like this
You cannot join a corp until graduation
The player starts a new character...
The first match you play is an ambush and only ambush till you reach 1200wp
During this phase only the starter fits and militia gear can be used
After 1200 wp you move to your second "quarter" in battle academy
In this second quarter basic gear can be used which opens up all gear to be tried by the new guys
Game modes available: ambush and domination
After your character has accumulated 10k wp you move on to the third quarter
In this quarter advanced gear is legal to use
In this quarter you can play all game modes except fw
After your character reaches 20k wp you enter your final quarter
Proto gear becomes available for use
All game modes are available including fw
This is your last grouping before graduation so making allies will be important
After 25k wp you are a graduate of battle academy cue a badass speech and cinematic explaining your new " mercenary status"
Because of this status you can NOW join a corp of your choice or make your own.....from here everyone is in the same grouping
A longer battle academy would definitely be nice, something like this would be pretty awesome, but... it still holds that problem of newer players who don't necessarily know what they're doing getting stomped by superior gear.
It's a bit hard to remember (for all of us, I'm sure) but when I first started playing this game when the open beta first started, I didn't know a thing about what I was doing. It took me weeks/months just to learn the basics, and until recently, I'd only just figured out how the heck passive scanning works. A player that knows what they're going for (Someone making an alt) would be able to dominate those players who don't know what they're getting into. Obviously, skill still makes this possible, even with better gear, but if I unlock a combat rifle and I'm still facing mostly militia stuff (unless there's another person with an alt on the other team) I'm likely going to wreck everything on the opposing side. This goes for any other player who's been on Dust for awhile that makes an alt. With militia, this would still be a problem, but it wouldn't present the same pub stomping chances as someone who'd gotten their scrambler rifle/rail rifle/combat rifle early on and who then proceeds to dominate every game with it.
Sometimes I miss never seeing tanks in a battle... then I remember the mystical flying soma, and I can't help but smile.
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