Aero Yassavi
Praetoriani Classiarii Templares
Praetoria Imperialis Excubitoris
8679
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Posted - 2014.07.01 07:38:00 -
[1] - Quote
The whole idea of having a lot of importance focused on specialization is that higher specialized players in a specific role will perform much better than those who are not. Someone who invested into all the HAV related skills should win most engagements with those are only put a few days or weeks worth of SP in HAVs for example, so if you want a good shot at eliminating that threat you'd need someone similarly specialized in HAVs or taking out HAVs. Same can be said for any of the other roles in your video game.
Having a focus on specialization turns your game into a bit of a role-playing game (RPG) where having the combat is balanced by the idea that one player cannot max out all the skill trees, as the higher up the tree you get the longer it takes, and thus create relative balance. Newer players still fit into this relative balance because the more specialized you get the better you become at one thing and the less flexible you become, while newer unspecialized players may not be the best at anything but will be more adaptable, thus still achieving the relative balance. This is opposed to more classical style video games that have no skill trees and instead work around the idea of absolute blance in that every player, new and old alike, is given the exact same tools and abilities as every other player and it is up to them to make it work.
Both systems can work, though the latter is definitely easier to design while the former has a much bigger potential to create a sense of investment in the player thus keeping them coming back. The problem with DUST 514, however, is that it doesn't abide by the idea that one player cannot max out all the skill trees. Some people around these forums may complain about things they deem as "SP Sinks," but those sinks are absolutely necessary for a game focused around specialization. In DUST 514, there are not enough skills/sinks and thus you have created this dilemma where only a year and a half after the last SP reset you have a large portion of the player base who is completely specialized in many or even all the roles in the game. The balance of the game between those players thus shifts from one of relative balance around being highly skilled in different things to one of absolute balance of everyone having the exact same tools and abilities. The reason this shift is a problem is because it then leaves no place for newer players to have a role. You have a large portion of the players that are not just better at a specific role than newer players but at better at every role than newer players and more flexible as well.
If CCP really wants to create a game that survives for 10+ years, let alone stays balanced after a year and a half, they need to really up the amount of time it takes to fully specialize in something. Sure some may say, "There are over 221 million skill points worth of skills in Dust 514! No one can max all that out!" but you must keep in mind most of that is variations of the same role where you only really need one of each. It may not be a popular opinion, but there really needs to be a lot more sinks in these specializations. Either that or CCP needs to come up with a lot more carefully intertwined roles, but that would take up a lot of resources.
TL;DR
Hit the Backspace key.
Amarr are the good guys
Their way of the Commando seems right and noble
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