And I am strongly working doing the opposite for the reasons stated 20 times in this thread :)

Insert long post here.

*snip*

I put a lot of effort into formatting it. It's not that hard to read.

And it's more than just Dropsuit Command doing nothing at level 5.
*SNIP* Character count issues. :\ *SNIP*

Secondly, many here are making the argument: "The present skill tree is EVE's skill-tree, and EVE's skill-tree is perfect so why are we changing it?"
There's two parts to this argument so let's break it down:

1: "The present skill-tree is EVE's skill-tree,..."
Actually it's not.
EVE's system relies upon Attributes, implants, neural remaps, solely Passive learning of a specific skill, subscriptions, and EVE bonuses are granted by the Ships after checking the Skill level while Dust bonuses are granted by the Skill to the Dropsuits (which sounds like the same thing, but is different and subtly causes massive issues for balancing), ...to name but a few.

2: "...EVE's skill-tree is perfect so why are we changing it?"
EVE's skill-tree was not pulled from the Ark of the Covenant. Nor is it Euler's Identity, nor a pyrite crystal.
It's a "messy" solution cobbled together by human hands in response to a very specific problem.

It has had both in the past (eg: Learning Skills) and today (eg: Drone Skills) many issues.
It is not an immaculate solution to a shared problem.


Lastly, there is another argument people are making: "Dust/Legion should be EVE, but on the planets. And thus we should be mimicking EVE's gameplay as much as possible."
This is obviously related to the above statement, but comes at it from the angle of gameplay as opposed to the skill-tree.
As such, I'll respond to it from a different angle.

Allow me to be straightforward:
EVE is an amazing sandbox,
with battles where thousands of players led by gods tear away at each other,
filled with spying, politics and altruism,
where your cunning and ambition shape your future as much as any character stats you may have.
EVE is a glorious story-engine with one teeny-tiny problem:
It is not fun to play.

Do you want Planetary Conquest 2.0 to be a 5 hour POS grind?
Do you want PvE to be so simplistic many people bot it with trivial programs?
Do you want to have to run two accounts at once to have access to basic reconnaissance?
Do you want Dust to also become the "game you play while you're doing something else"?
Should Dust be "Spreadsheets on Planets"?

If you think that sounds great then you know what? That's fine!
Only you know what you find fun. No one can tell you otherwise. :)
But here's the thing, that game already exists, it's called EVE Online.
EVE is very, very, very good at being EVE.

But if you want a sandbox/MMO/FPS, well we're going to have build that.
And since no other game has done that, we'll have to invent.
Which means iteration.
Which means occasionally tearing down the old and replacing it with the new.


Our present skill system works.
But by no means does it work well.

Let's find something that does. :)

*SNIP*

First off I'd like to say that often times when people find themselves pushed towards opposing sides on an issue, they tend to reflexively take defensive stances and the conversation becomes more of a pitched battle instead of a seeking towards a shared truth. (Akin to the blind men and the elephant.)
You responded to the ideas put forward, I'm very happy to see that. :) (Okay, that sounds super insulting, not meant to be.)
My goal is-and-has-been to help us figure out what's going on with the issues surrounding the Progression system. Not trying to score "right" points. :)


My post was a response to some things I was seeing people argue (either directly, or as a strong undercurrent to other arguments):
- The current progression is fine and should be left alone.
- The current progression has problems and should be fixed in the way EVE's progression has been "fixed" (certificates, ISIS, etc..)

My post was meant to show that:
1: There are intrinsic problems with the current progression.
2: EVE's progression has a mosaic of problems unto itself, thus shouldn't be considered a panacea for Dust.
3: EVE is fundamentally different from Dust, thus a fix for one won't be a fix for the other.