Can we agree that solo players are going to end up killing Dust much sooner than it would have died if matches were competitive more than 5% of the time?

Seriously though, when I was a noob and in PRO I found a group of players (with whom we later formed ML) that I liked to play with. We were going up against some very good players in closed beta. They would straight kick your ass. The shotgun twins, the freakin tanks back then, the Imps. It was scary out there. I would say the skill level was much higher in individual matches. People were crazy about the game and they wanted to win, pub or not. You thought about what you needed to do to beat them and tried different things.

Fast forward to now and all it takes is a simple check of who they are up against and they roll over before the match even starts. Dudes are still AFKing. Why in the F would someone AFK right now? These noobs aren't even trying.

Meh, I sound like Biatch. I'm just sad. It feels like it's actually going to die now and it sucks. This is still the best game I've ever played and I haven't found anything even remotely close. I just wish there were more people actually playing it WHILE they are in matches. Not this cowardly BS that fills most matches.

Can we agree that solo players are going to end up killing Dust much sooner than it would have died if matches were competitive more than 5% of the time?

Seriously though, when I was a noob and in PRO I found a group of players (with whom we later formed ML) that I liked to play with. We were going up against some very good players in closed beta. They would straight kick your ass. The shotgun twins, the freakin tanks back then, the Imps. It was scary out there. I would say the skill level was much higher in individual matches. People were crazy about the game and they wanted to win, pub or not. You thought about what you needed to do to beat them and tried different things.

Fast forward to now and all it takes is a simple check of who they are up against and they roll over before the match even starts. Dudes are still AFKing. Why in the F would someone AFK right now? These noobs aren't even trying.

Meh, I sound like Biatch. I'm just sad. It feels like it's actually going to die now and it sucks. This is still the best game I've ever played and I haven't found anything even remotely close. I just wish there were more people actually playing it WHILE they are in matches. Not this cowardly BS that fills most matches.

They did. It was called corp battles, but once again, CCP found a way to ruin the best thing about dust...

There is an ingame mail system. Have you tried inviting? Three man squads always attract a decent player or two. Utilize channels. Do something. Crying is counterproductive.

I think you misunderstood the OP. He was complaining that players other than himself don't squad so that his proto squad wins in pubbies. He was basically complaining that he doesn't get enough challenge in the game mode designed for amateur play. Instead of you know, just using PC which is the actual competitive side of Dust.

The problem was player count........ Can't have 5000 players split between ambush,dom,skirm, fw,pc AND corp battles. That would be overkill.

My objectives in DUST, in order are:

Win, and have fun
If you can't have fun, win
If you cant win, have fun
If you cant win OR have fun.....
edit your fittings.

Where is an acceptable place to pull out Proto gear? I played the game for 2 years to be able to wear my best fits.....1 game a day? or 2?
Only pull it out if somebody else does? So I should tank my first death in a starter suit to "Get a feel" for what the enemy team is doing?
There are some really weird perspectives in the community I promise. It's cool because we are all here to play our own game I guess....

I personally feel like I do a bit better in my ADV gear because the tension of losing ISK (which I dont know why it's tense I have tons of ISK) makes me alter my playing, but I do like to whip out the easy mode here and there. The same reason I try to play as much of the match as I can NOT in my heavy suit, it does feel a bit cheap. However, everybody should be free to do what they feel, run what they want, and get whatever result they want. After all it's "just a game" right?

Edit: I also only squad with people I enjoy playing with, and when they aren't available I do run solo. I'm only available to play when I have the time, and I would rather not waste it trying to fill a squad with people I can count on to watch my ass, if I cant trust players for that Id just as soon not have any green dots deluding me.

So, you are saying that people partaking in the team element of a TEAM based game are destroying the game. Not the fact that the team based game is being played predominantly by solo players not trying to successful defend or capture the objectives within that game mode?

This is so DUST...two good vets at odds, both making rational points.....because of CCP's crap game design and matchmaking.

Rattati, if you were looking for something meaningful to work on for hotfix Delta, we've got a solid candidate right here in this discussion.

My contribution would be to lose the passive in-match sp dole - it a poison that's been hurting this game for too long.

That just means we are all buried under the conundrum that is DUST. Disparities exist, and people exploit them. This game certainly does not give you a clear understanding of what it is when you walk through the door, and what it is...is NOT casual. The playing field certainly isn't level, and new players are fighting uphill, but what the OP is saying, is that if not eliminate...there are definitely ways to close the gap, such as squadding, joining a corp, learning the ropes during the grind. Many players are not down for that, and this game doesnt have a kiddie pool where you can go splash about and figure it out(R.I.P Oceanic.). I spent TONS of isk getting shot down and crashing dropships before I learned how to fly, because there is no flight sim, or training ground, and this is just one example of how you have to fake it til you make it.

At the end of the day, maybe some of these stomp squads and Q syncs are emotionally childish, unstable individuals who want to feel like god by walking through 60 mere MLT mortals without dying, being the quintessential Action Hero. If they have the gear, and are able to use it....well....

This game really is geared toward the team player, the communicative player. You are at a significant disadvantage otherwise before you even factor in the Meta Levels.


But yeah it definitely is what it is lol

Not really.

If you come into FW solo and expect to win.....quite frankly you deserve to have your **** packed in....... if you are not willing to commit your time and effort to furthing the goals of a faction (assuming this is FW) and squad up then you do not deserve to win, nor do you deserve any LP if you do win.

Why would I want to play with you? Or anyone? If I wanted to play with children I can find better places than a video game.

COD is an easy place though.

I was a dude with a .4 KDR when Ugg Reset found me in a pub and invited me to PRO. I didn't want to get my teeth kicked in all the time. That's why we left PRO and started ML. We were tired of being around people that didn't want to win. Why is this so hard to do for the masses? Find people better than you and play with them. Figure out a way to contribute.

Thor, its a frickin pub match. Do you really think people will care MORE now that the game is dying? Especially when you guys come in with 6-12 members and 2 or 3 tanks/ads? I dont understand the mentallity of people stomping pub matches, then crying about lack of competition... maybe tone down the proto and vehicle spam and you'll find decent matches..

This is the take right here that I read in response to calls for team deploy or payouts based on winning, etc OVER AND OVER again.

Newcomers to the community would have found out pretty quickly they needed to get in a group if CCP would have built Dust around team play. But they didn't. They were worried about the new players to the point that we got nothing for new players.

No new game modes or ANYTHING. PC is the one game mode that is the acceptable place to run proto and stomp as a team. But you have to schedule it 24 to 48 hours in advance!!!!!

Drop Noobs in a Chat Channel... might as well try that...

I don't think it's an issue of difficulty for the masses; I think it's more that few of these individuals (more apt description considering we're talking about folks who are by definition solo players) are inclined to invest the time and energy it takes to meta. This included owning/belonging to a corp, squadding, aspects of PC, forum participation, and statistics (like KDR, WP, etc.). Most individual players don't care an iota about any of that stuff. They just want to pew-pew.

I personally have no problem being teamed up with rando AFKers--actually, ending a match on the losing side with 20+ kills and a few deaths, against at team with a proto/PC corp squad, is always a huge ego boost. Maybe it's just me?

I would point out, too, that you could send messages to these players going AFK, offering to train them in teamwork and help them improve their own performance. Might be a better path to the Dust you say you want than posting plaintive comments on the forums.

Great OP.

I remember pub matches of old. Absolutely memorable. Me, young in New Eden and scrubby, fighting in some matches that felt absolutely epic, win or lose. People fought, back then in pubs and they fought hard. There would be close matches that came down to the wire, involving close watch of clones or MCC ticks. Guys giving it their all. Strangers from different corporations working together. It was great.

Then it all sort of dissipated. This is a bit before FF too. AFK increased. Folks would run to sniper fits whenever a lil blood trickled from their mouths. Mercenaries quitting and leaving the match.

It sucks man. It really does. Like you said, Dust is unlike anything I've played before. I didn't play MAG so Dust 514 was my first...let's say...mature FPS experience. I was a fiend man. Logging in day and day out.

It's just not the same no more. I know why and I understand it. But pubs are laughable. You can't post up scores of going 50 and 1 from a pub match and get respect, IMO. Maybe in the old days, where competitive players were all around. From those who mainly played PC and sometimes pubs to mercenaries aspiring to become better in pubs, using it as a training session to prepare for PC.

I'm sad how things turned out. And I'm disappointed in how pub players don't even play in pubs anymore. Now even playing competitively in pubs translate into protostomping or unfairness. No marbles.