Aeon Amadi
Edimmu Warfighters
Gallente Federation
5278
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Posted - 2014.03.18 23:26:00 -
[1] - Quote
So, a buddy of mine who I used to play Eve Online with a few years ago has a playstation 3. After much deliberation and convincing I managed to get him to download Dust 514 and create a character. During this time, I sat with him and decided to see how things progressed from a completely fresh standpoint. This gave me a very unique opportunity to see the new player experience from the view of a mentor, rather than a squad/corp-mate.
No alternate characters.
No direct interference.
No ISK transfers.
I literally did nothing but sit on the couch and watch him play.
Controls
The first issue we experienced was what he faced as a mouse/keyboard player, saying that the mouse didn't feel like 'raw input' and felt more emulated than anything. Like it was a mouse trapped in a controller's input - trying to be a mouse but suffering from a cap. This was somewhat expected when turning full circles with his suit (Gallente starter fits) but it seemed that it was affecting the ADS as well. After some screwing around with the mouse settings on both the PS3 and Dust 514 (notable jacking up the sensitivity and turning off mouse smoothing) he said that it was much better but still not perfect, stating that it felt sort of laggy.
Keeping in mind that we spent some time in the Merc Quarters playing the settings, one thing I did admire was when he would shift the mouse in seemingly random, jerky movements. When I inquired as to what this was, he said: "In every game like this I like to focus on something and try to snap the mouse to something to try and make it a reaction."
Another thing I want to mention is that he seemed to alternate between the DS3 and the KB/M as apparently he couldn't figure out how to move the camera around the map in the spawn screen with the mouse and keyboard. Noting the fact that he kept the DS3 close-by was sort of a red-flag to me as it meant that controls for the KB/M weren't in a good enough position to lack necessity of the DS3.
Matchmaking
Minding the obvious input issue we soldiered on to a few matches. He didn't spend any SP (other than what was required in the tutorial) because he didn't know what the skills were for - something I commended. I gave him a few tips as to what to skill into early on, notably dropsuit upgrades to get a bigger bonus to his starter fits, since they were free and he could rack up much needed ISK for expensive skill books later on. Not having set a preference for either Skirmish, Ambush or Domination - he set himself up for a battle and jumped directly into the first contract that was available; a Skirmish match.
Now, I know a lot of the Dust 514 community by name, voice, general playstyle... So when I say that a new player -SHOULD NOT- have been matched up with players like Sssabil, Infurious Kin and OZAROW right from the gate, please don't mistake me. Considering the amount of SP, ISK, Experience and general skill-level that I know those three names to have in this game, there is no doubt in my mind that something is very very wrong with the Matchmaker (not to state the obvious); this was 100% definitive truth as opposed to simple speculation.
Curious, I informed my new player friend to open up his character sheet and check out his KDR (at the very least this should have been considered) which was a STAGGERING.... 0.93... 27 Kills and 29 deaths. Total. Yet he was being matched with PC and Faction Warfare veterans who give -me- a hard time despite my having nearly 40,000,000 SP and more ISK on Dust 514 than I have in Eve Online. This wasn't their fault, though. It was the fault of the matchmaker.
The battle went terribly and his team wound up losing to the point that the enemy's MCC still had half of it's shields. Despite seeing three names that I knew by heart on the enemy team, I couldn't find any on his team that struck me as familiar.
Flow of Battle and Specialization
Bearing in mind that he was terrified to invest SP into skills for fear of investing them wrongly (a fear he attributed from Eve Online) he continued using the starter suits with Dropsuit Command 4 being the only skill he had. A skill that he did hallmark having no prior knowledge of considering that anything about 3 does absolutely nothing for the player. This was a wasted investment and it only aided the fear of investment in other skills.
In battle, he often chose the Sniper starter fit, stating that he was undergeared and didn't stand a chance gun-to-gun with people in close quarters even when he got the drop on them. Experiencing that a few times, he got frustrated and chose to go with the sniper and stated, quote: "I am very good with leading targets, when the mouse works right."
Watching him play as a sniper on Iron Delta, at first he started to try and take a sniping position at grid G-8 until I informed him that he could traverse the mountain farther east. Having done this he had successfully evaded most of the conflict while being able to shoot down-range at targets; though at those distances he had some difficulty hitting his targets.
Bearing in mind that he was not in a squad, his next question came as sort of a surprise to me, if only because he had noticed something was amiss: "Why do the little triangles over their heads disappear..? I mean, why can I see them sometimes but not other times?" to which I informed him, based on my own speculation, that it was due to friendly objectives revealing location of nearby enemies and also, in part, due to their chevrons lighting up when he passed the reticle over them.
Useful Links
//forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=133588
//forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=134182
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Aeon Amadi
Edimmu Warfighters
Gallente Federation
5278
|
Posted - 2014.03.18 23:27:00 -
[2] - Quote
Post game
Commenting on the hit detection for the sniper rifle he noted that in some cases a shield flicker would occur, indicating a hit, but no damage would be applied. When landing shots however he did mention that "It feels like a headshot should be a bit stronger" and "targeting seems good, not way overdone with the sway like on Planetside 2."
When asked what he'd like to see done differently, he said: "I think i'd actually like it better if they backed off of making the modules and skills so eve like. I mean, make it it's own game in a way. I'd like to see some more linear and easier choices for someone like me to make that didn't involve a calculator to go into combat"
Have any experiences you'd like to add from a new player's perspective? Differing, alternate views? Discuss!
Useful Links
//forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=133588
//forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=134182
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