Joseph Ridgeson
WarRavens
League of Infamy
867
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Posted - 2014.03.30 10:16:00 -
[1] - Quote
My Submission: "DUST 514: The Real Game"
So you have no doubt seen the reviews or heard people talk about DUST 514 (Oh, how CCP loves those acronyms). Many people that talked about the game, positively or negatively, likely mentioned a certain other game franchise: "This game is basically trying to be Call of Duty.GÇ¥ It really does seem that way when you first look at the game, at least at base levels. You have a 'nameless' soldier (and since all gamers want to be twelve years old, the name given to the formless clay is generally "Loveztospooge on-Yew") that fights against different "factions" or "corporations" each match, you shoot at other dudes, Warbarge Strikes are your kill streaks, ironsights aiming is awfully familiar, and you even get 50 'points' for killing someone.
The statements such as "DUST is just COD in space" focus on fairly minor details that make up the game. Those statements are a very strange way of looking at it. It is basically saying "This game is like something popular therefore it is bad." It discounts what is in the game simply by implying that it is the same car just spray-painted a different color. This is missing the real game in DUST, at least the real game in my opinion. Sure, you can have fun running around shooting Gallente in the face with Rail Rifles, tea-bagging Gallente corpses, blowing up Gallente and watching them ragdoll, or waste the reader's time by going on and on about those god damn Gallente; that game is certainly there. But if you want to feel like the game has got you by the ear, there is something far more insidious and ingenious: The Skill Point Tree.
At first, it mostly just seems like it is there to unlock stuff and provide progression. For the most part, it is but there is far more to it than that. The Skill Tree requires planning if you want to make the most of it; it requires careful, excruciating thought lest you make a terrible decision and sit there forever regretting it. Allow me to use another game as an example.
Amnesia is one of the best horror games ever made. I don't think I really need to talk about it too much: there are hundreds of videos on "the internet" that show people nearly defecating from the wonderful horror that comes through the experience of playing the game. All the game needs to do is turn off the light, have the presence of wrongness following you throughout game, and keeps you moving forward because DEAR GOD THERE IS A MONSTER RUN RUN RUN RUN! Imagine the game though if you were a machine and completely incapable of emotion: "Game is not good. Textures are poor, little game play beyond simple puuu-zzles, little challenge in running from monsters." That would be about most true horror games though. It is the experience[/b that is noteworthy rather than the game play itself.
So what does this have to do with DUST? Simple...
The deeper aspects of the game want to target you; yes, you in the chair reading this. It wants you to agonize over parts that you never thought you would agonize over.
"Cool! I get 400,400 SP a week if I log on every day.GÇ¥ Now where are you going to spend those points? Getting those quick 1-3 levels in Sniper Rifle will get you to advanced weapons but how are you going to use the advanced Sniper Rifle with your other gear if you donGÇÖt have the CPU/PG.
GÇ£Okay, I guess I will just throw 3 points in Engineering and Electronics this week.GÇ¥ Glad that you decided on that. But, isnGÇÖt it kind of aggravating that you are not getting any bonus this week? Maybe you should have put those points elsewhere?
That is the game. It is an intense thought experiment on how you are going to save and spend a very limited resource. The player will have oh-so many thoughts and ideas on what to do but every little bump in the road just sends those hopes and dreams down, down the toilet. But donGÇÖt worry at all; there isnGÇÖt anything else to really worry about. Just go play the game and have fun!
GÇ£Oh, it seems like you made a mistake when [b]you decided to attack that Amarr Heavy toe to toe with your Minmatar Assault. DonGÇÖt worry though, it is just a game. DonGÇÖt forget to restock the suit. Owww, 84k a suit? Wow, and you lost 3 that match. You are never going to be able to afford those new Sniper Rifles when, well, IF you ever get them.GÇ¥
By having expendable resources, one that can never be recovered, that are the playerGÇÖs job to manage, DUST creates a level of depth and complexity that is rarely seen in other games. It may just seem that the Skill Point system is there to offer advancement and bar entry for certain things until you play a bit GÇ£LIKE CALL OF DUTYGÇ¥s different weapons. That is part of the case. But there is a psychological element there that I am not sure most people are aware of.
If you divide the SP needed for a skill by the first increment needed to get the skill to level 1 you end up with the numbers: 1, 3, 7, 14, 25. This means that getting a skill from 4 to 5 is the same exact price to get the skill to 1-4. At EVERY single rank, you are putting equal to or more than the SP you had previously put into the skill. We have our GÇ£Person in ChairGÇ¥ targeting dilemma. Is it better to get multiple skills to rank 3 or get a single to rank 5? Just like in EVE: GÇ£Would you rather grow tall or wide?GÇ¥
The beautiful thing is that the more casual player never has to see this aspect of the game. They never have to spend their time making spreadsheets, calculating cost to effectiveness of their equipment, never have to worry about all those SP that could get GÇÿwastedGÇÖ by making a poor choice. The GÇ£run GÇÖnGÇÖ gunGÇ¥ game in DUST is there.
Just donGÇÖt let it fool you that the game isnGÇÖt looking at you with hungry eyesGǪ
"People that quote themselves in signatures confuse me." -Joseph Ridgeson
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