DUST Search - Progress Vs. Proto and Isk Vs. Reward

Swiss Forsaken wrote:

How can we define progress in the game Dust 514? Is it more kills? More war points? More butthurt? More hatemail?
But is it really progress to gain 3 kills, lose one less suit and spend 4 times the ISK? I dont think so.

After some consideration I think "To be a more effective player while at the same time minimizing the cost of your loadout" would be the best way to define progress. Just because my Viziam laser does a bit more damage than my Elm-7 doesn't always justify the price jump from the Elm to the Viziam. Instead of paying 50k for the Viziam, it would be much more progressive for me to simply slap on a damage mod and skill into proficiency, ammo capacity and rapid reload. Then I'll only pay 50k for the entire fit. I might lower my K/D for the match by a hair or two, but with a little effort I can achieve the same results for much less ISK.

The cavemen who figure out how to kill two mammoths instead of one have made real progress. But the cavemen who drive a herd of mammoths off a cliff and partake in a feast haven't made any progress at all. In fact they've eviscerated the mammoth population, eaten very well for a few days and are now left with a bunch of spoiled meat and no more mammoths to hunt.

I've noticed a very concerning mindset amongst some Dust players, they want to drive the herd off the cliff and eat well for a day.
But at the end of the match they've lost more ISK from dying in just 1 suit than they've gained. That's not progress. That's fiscal irresponsibility. 15/1 in an ambush is great. But if you lost 600k isk from that one death and only made 200k from the battle you haven't progressed at all. Instead you could've gone 15/5 (still an excellent K/D in any battle) only lost 150k and made 200k by running a well-tuned basic or advanced fit, investing a little sp into prof, ammo cap, and rapid reload, and trying a little harder.

I'm not saying you should never run proto. Everyone loves a good proto suit. I'm simply saying that instead of being on the edge of your seat to finally get LVL5 Rail Rifle Skill because you can then buy a Kaalakiota. You should be on the edge of your seat for the 25% recoil reduction on your advanced Rail.

Just some food for thought, hope some of you are hungry and none of you are starving. Have fun out there and don't go broke doing it. o/


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Alena Asakura Caldari Logistics Reserve 134	Posted - 2015.11.23 11:30:00 - [1] - Quote Swiss Forsaken wrote: How can we define progress in the game Dust 514? Is it more kills? More war points? More butthurt? More hatemail? But is it really progress to gain 3 kills, lose one less suit and spend 4 times the ISK? I dont think so. After some consideration I think "To be a more effective player while at the same time minimizing the cost of your loadout" would be the best way to define progress. Just because my Viziam laser does a bit more damage than my Elm-7 doesn't always justify the price jump from the Elm to the Viziam. Instead of paying 50k for the Viziam, it would be much more progressive for me to simply slap on a damage mod and skill into proficiency, ammo capacity and rapid reload. Then I'll only pay 50k for the entire fit. I might lower my K/D for the match by a hair or two, but with a little effort I can achieve the same results for much less ISK. The cavemen who figure out how to kill two mammoths instead of one have made real progress. But the cavemen who drive a herd of mammoths off a cliff and partake in a feast haven't made any progress at all. In fact they've eviscerated the mammoth population, eaten very well for a few days and are now left with a bunch of spoiled meat and no more mammoths to hunt. I've noticed a very concerning mindset amongst some Dust players, they want to drive the herd off the cliff and eat well for a day. But at the end of the match they've lost more ISK from dying in just 1 suit than they've gained. That's not progress. That's fiscal irresponsibility. 15/1 in an ambush is great. But if you lost 600k isk from that one death and only made 200k from the battle you haven't progressed at all. Instead you could've gone 15/5 (still an excellent K/D in any battle) only lost 150k and made 200k by running a well-tuned basic or advanced fit, investing a little sp into prof, ammo cap, and rapid reload, and trying a little harder. I'm not saying you should never run proto. Everyone loves a good proto suit. I'm simply saying that instead of being on the edge of your seat to finally get LVL5 Rail Rifle Skill because you can then buy a Kaalakiota. You should be on the edge of your seat for the 25% recoil reduction on your advanced Rail. Just some food for thought, hope some of you are hungry and none of you are starving. Have fun out there and don't go broke doing it. o/ Excellent points. I would go even one further and say that running basic weapons is even better. A basic suit with basic armaments and if you're a good player, you'll still be able to rack up the kills, but it will cost almost nothing. The Kaalakiota gear will give you damage just by itself, so you don't have to "waste" any slots on damage mods. But yes a single Kaala RR will cost as much as an entire suit using ADV fittings and weapons. I tend to use ADV fitted suits but die a lot so I will sometimes go back to basic fittings and/or BPOs, either APEX or MLT. Obviously I die more but the cost is much more acceptable.