All CCP attentions are currently being diverted to feeding the hamsters. Please come back in 3 weeks.

But I want to know people's opinions on this NOW

In my eyes, Dust 514 is a chat lobby shooter, but that's not a bad thing at all.

OP you had me at "DDRxpokemon with anime girls". Wif is school idol festival. I need it now !!!

I haven't logged into Dust in the past month, which is very unusual for me.

Even if other games distract me for a while, I usually come back and get on to chat with people or to see what the "new" thing is. Heck, I even bought 50 officer suits so I could just mess around in one every time I log in, but I still have 49 left.

Except I haven't come back this time.
At the end of the day, every other game I play regularly is not only more accessible for me to get into, but also has something to offer on a weekly or semimonthly (twice per month) basis.

With Dust 514, that used to be the updates I would look forward to, the sweeping changes to make me redo all my fittings, the occasional event that got me to play for hours on end just for some extra visual customization. Before that it was playing with the people I had fun with casually. Before that it was grouping up with members of the same corp to practice for corp battles. Before that it was to see what new thing I could unlock that day and try out.

Broken down to its purest form, I've run out of stuff to unlock, and all my friends stopped playing.

Yet some of my favorite memories of this game are simply the connections I've built with other players. That's really why I kept coming back.
SO WHY HAVE WE NOT FOCUSED ON THIS ASPECT?

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What games am I currently playing instead?

SIF (School Idol Festival)
-Mobile game best described as DDR x Pokemon with anime girls
-Semimonthly events for unique rewards
-Withheld content released weekly
-Premium currency earned by skill
-Continuous progression, always more stuff to collect, unlock, upgrade
-EXTREMELY LIMITED PLAYER COMMUNICATION

Splatoon
-Wii U competitive shooter
-Monthly events for rewards that upgrade your gear
-New inventory of gear cycles daily
-Maps and game modes cycle every few hours
-Shorter, less competitive "turf war" gamemode
-Matchmaking between battles is so short I can't even check facebook
-Withheld content released weekly
-Matchmaking based on "ranks"
-EXTREMELY LIMITED PLAYER COMMUNICATION

Destiny (occasionally)
-Weapon mechanics work properly and feel good
-Game has solid framerate on PS3
-PvE
-VERY LIMITED PLAYER COMMUNICATION (only voice chat in fireteams)

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MAIN POINT

In my eyes, Dust 514 is a chat lobby shooter, but that's not a bad thing at all. You play it because your friends play it, and no other game lets you have this much freedom when it comes to meeting new people online. Heck, I have more people on my friends list from this game alone than I do from every other multiplayer game I've played COMBINED.

It's not like other MMOs where you can still feel alone in such a big world...if you even play for a small amount of time, you will eventually start hearing people on voice comms in team chat. The squad finder also has plenty of squads with people mic'd up. And after figuring out what chat channels are popular, finding the same people to play with often becomes simple and easy.

We can't just keep focusing on what this game is lacking and what it could do better to keep people here. I originally wanted to make this post about how Dust could learn from other games, but that might not be the best idea at all. We need to focus on the game's strengths into the future if this game is going to move forward. This community is proof of that strength, where so many people are well known and can have their own impact on the game.

I think that by emphasizing on what Dust does best, it can have just as much success as the relaunches of A Realm Reborn, Elder Scrolls Online and Rocket League

Seeing as Dust players are mercs,obviously paying them extra incentives for squadding up is called for.

Bonus added to payout.

Pub squad
-formed (one member) = bonus isk + sp of 0%
-two members = bonus isk + sp of 1%
-three members = bonus isk + sp of 2%
-four members = bonus isk + sp of 5%

FW would be the same up to 10%.(possibly Lp bonus instead of Isk)
Up to 7% and the 8th member giving 3%.

PC would be a bonus to DK.
Up to 15% and the 16th member giving 5%.
All members would be required to be from the same corporation.


This would encourage players to fill squad slots,and motivate corporations to recruit to fill PC slots.
It would also diminish the value of "ringers",in exchange for DK.