Avallo Kantor
846
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Posted - 2015.07.20 21:09:00 -
[1] - Quote
Mining is one of the most boring activities possible in EVE online.
It is mainly done, in my experience, by two groups:
Those who want the profits of mining
Those who want to do one of the most peaceful / relaxing activities possible in EVE. (As far as EVE can have peaceful activities)
I will say with a fair degree of certainty these two things:
Very few people will actually enjoy mining on a map with a repair tool like item. It is quite honestly not a fun or engaging activity.
If it is possible to do in a combat match by single players it will become a dangerous distraction, reducing the number of people actually playing to win, and encouraging an ideology of single player activity that is contrary to the team-based goals DUST is built around.
Honestly, if you wanted mining to be added into the game it would be far more useful to add it in either as a variant of an existing game mode or a new game mode.
For example: Multi-point Acquisition. Each point appears and disappears in a manner similar to Acquisition but with multiple points on the map at once. (3 or 5 depending on map) each point represents an "Extraction site" where valuable resources can be extracted from. Pts are generated in the same way and at the end of the match the Pts are then translated into the resources you were mining and distributed fairly across the two teams.
example: Team one wins with 500 pts, and team two loses with only 200 pts. Each team converts their pts to resources (in this example we are doing a 1 to 1) and then divides them up, rounding up. Team one gets 500/16 = 31.25 -> 32 resources. Team two gets 200 / 16 = 12.5 -> 13 resources each.
This provides incentive for teams to try for points as payout is directly tied to how close a game is with very close games potentially giving very little to no difference in payouts.
"Mind Blown" - CCP Rattati
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Avallo Kantor
846
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Posted - 2015.07.20 22:48:00 -
[2] - Quote
Again I have to stress that one of the worst things you can do for game development is combine the following things:
- Activities that are uninteresting and repetitive to do.
- Activities that do not utilize the game's core engagement mechanics (i.e FPS gameplay in DUST)
- Activities that earn items or resources the players deem valuable / necessary.
- Activities that can easily have social pressure applied to them.
The thing you are suggesting with a district map for just mining does all of those things.
Let me explain through them in detail:
The players more often than not center their play time on activities that generate value for their character, even if those activities are boring or annoying. Look at things such as Destiny's Loot Cave, or just the general concept of MMO grinding. Very few players cite such activities as being enjoyable, yet they are done in large quantities over long periods of time by players simply because they can provide the most benefit to their characters.
This doesn't mean they are having fun, and often they are distinctly not enjoying the experience, but they will continue to do the activity because of the value it provides them long term. This desire to do so is further exasperated by the choice to make it a map where multiple corp-mates can enter the same map (and only corp-mates) making players feel even more pressured to participate via social means. (Even if the Corp is not verbally giving any pressure)
Then, on top of all of that, it has players do an activity that doesn't even play into the main reason they play DUST, the FPS gameplay. The act of mining is unlikely to ever develop any FPS engaging features short of not having players mine and having some other automated device do it. Players ultimately play a game to get some core engagement value out of a game, no matter if it is solving puzzles, skill challenges, or other engagement. Players, as a rule, can enjoy having different activities in their game in small quantities, but will grow annoyed of it when they have to do it for long stretches, or have it be required. (And as we stated earlier players will feel an activity is required if it provides good or unique rewards that are valuable in the rest of the game)
As a quick example, think of the recently released Arkahm Knight. Remember the bat-tank segment(s)? The first one or two may have been fun but after the 10th one... a majority of players had become annoyed at the feature. Just look on various reviews and forums to observe this sentiment.
"Mind Blown" - CCP Rattati
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