Vespasian Andendare
Subsonic Synthesis
RISE of LEGION
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Posted - 2014.03.13 15:40:00 -
[1] - Quote
I read an article I saw linked on reddit, but I wanted to comment on it here, because I'm curious to hear the Community's take on it as well.
Quote:Remember the beta tag? Yeah, that should still be on the game. That is someone's response to the article, and I think that's the meat of Dust's problems, philosophically speaking. I think it speaks for the sentiment of many Dust players, and it's going to be tricky to shake for CCP. I'm not saying its not a little misplaced; it's the product of CCP sharing its vision of what Dust will be in such scope and detail but doing so very early in development (and honestly, without any way to deliver). CCP miscalculated the amount of "selling" needed for the game. We already wanted Dust. We wanted it badly. We didn't need the "whole vision" to be sold on a cold universe that thrives on the backs of others through their merciless actions. We didn't need to be sold that bullets make the isk flow. We already knew that from Eve Online. Turning us into mercs that pew pew like the spaceships do was a no-brainer. Everyone was hyped on that basis alone. But CCP felt we needed more. CCP thought we needed to be hard sold on the idea. So they opened the flood gate of information. They showed us an epic concept, then a demo, then a "white board" of the whole shebang. Therein lies the problem.
Compounding the "stuck in beta" idea, there's both concrete and conceptual things missing from the game to make it feel more complete. CCP, however, is doing its damnedest to rectify both of these things. They have been in a sort of "developer overdrive" this past year to bring to the game what it needs: richness. Concretely, CCP is bringing racial parity into the game. This is fantastic for Dust. Since the game happens in a already-established universe with rich development and history, there's tremendous pressure for Dust to deliver on this richness. Dust doesn't have the luxury of building its lore and racial philosophies over time like Eve did. On the one hand, the Dust devs shot themselves in the foot by releasing the game (I'd argue in beta as well as "live" 5/14 gimmick launch) without a better semblance of racial parity. There should have been all lights, mediums, and heavies in the game representing the four factions. There wasn't. There was the Caldari assault, Amarr heavy, Minmatar Logi and Gallente scout. While these archetypes work within a vanilla FPS setting, they utterly fail to deliver on the richness of the flavors of the four races of New Eden. The Caldari are more than just assault. The Gallente aren't thinly tanked speedy scouts. Shoehorning the races into four roles was a problem. Adding to that, racial weapons were wholly lacking. There was a Minmatari HMG, a Gallente AR, a Caldari FG, etc. One-race-per-weapon. It felt so...limited.
Weapons--at least one racial set of each (e.g., racial rifles, sidearms, and heavy weapons) should have been included at launch. Coming up on Dust's anniversary, we still don't have any information about Gallente or Amarr heavy weapons. We still have only Caldari and Gallente ground vehicles. There's but a sole Caldari supplier of RDVs, apparently. Only the Caldari and Gallente know anything about installations. We have no Amarr or Minmatar maps--no flavor of their "brand" of the universe. Where's our quad bikes? These things all lend to the "still in beta" feeling.
But there's hope on the horizon. Changing the leadership, CCP is righting the course. They are bringing racial parity and delivering some of that richness of Eve's interstellar space to the boots on the ground. They've delivered a Gallente map, and we've seen progress shots of a Minmatar one. It likely won't be long before we see a pretty Amarr map, too. Racial parity is creeping into Dust, and it's being welcomed with wide acclaim. With 1.8, we'll have all racial suit types, with still room to grow with other variants. In addition to all racial rifles delivered with 1.7, we'll have racial sidearms in 1.8. Hopefully this year's Fanfest will show us some real up-and-coming additions to Dust. Things that'll both add to the richness of the universe and the playability of the game--things like new vehicles, maps and game modes. PVE is coming, someday.
Throughout, it's important to remember that we as players have to remain both vigilant and critical. We have to remember that this game is made for us! A game is nothing without its players; the finest one in the world doesn't matter if no one plays it, and it's important for us to remember that it's our job to voice our concerns to CCP about the health of the game and how we'd like to play it. But it's also critical that we remember that CCP wants to make the game we want to play. They want the game to be as awesome as we want it to. CCP is a developer that stands by its product and improves it, ever so slightly, over time. It's important we remember that Dust on the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
And it's also important to remember that we should support CCP when we can. Give constructive and honest feedback. We have to explain the why we feel the way we do about something. Why would PVE be so good for the game? Why is it important that we have more racial vehicles? Why do we love and play the game?
I plan on supporting CCP by continuing to voice concerns whenever I see them. I'll continue to offer honest feedback, and I'll continue to play the hell out of the game. This weekend, I plan on supporting them by playing in the Million Clone player event. I'll show CCP that I love the game so much that I'm willing to die for it, over and over. (Well, for the love of the game and perhaps some sp.) And you guys should, too.
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