DUST Search - Re-thinking player progression for EVE:FPS

Lex DOCIEL wrote:

If I am fond of the idea of specialization, and if you propose a nice alternative for the current progression system, it is however reducing drastically the interested of grinding skill points.

First of all, tactical change of a suit, if the idea is seductive, would be difficult to make playable on the battlefield:
-1 primary weap
+1 secondary weap
+grenades
+more than one equipment most of the time
+half a dozen modules

You have no time to rethink which will do what on the battlefield. You swap in two clicks for the dropsuit you conceive beforehand for a particular type of situation, and you don't think twice.

Second, all dusters love the 5-tier system of progression AND the passive bonus related to those tiers. Why?
-Because this is indeed what make the difference between the noob and the vet. (for the braggers)
-Because, it makes the difference between the troll player and the guy who knows what he is doing. (for the play-to-win)
-Because, it makes the difference between a complete fit, and a sub-optimal incomplete one. (for the perfectionists)

The list can be long, but overall, I think we can agree that this fills a lot of desires.

However (third), I think your idea would be AWESOME when it comes to rigging a dropsuit. Rigging is basically a specialized modification of a dropsuit (or ship when it comes to EVE, as we never saw it in DUST), which boost an attribute while disregarding another one. Improving the related skill is simply decreasing the drawback. Having the possibility to have on-field adaptive rigs could be an interesting idea. A tactical switch allowing inverting the drawback between the two attributes.

Last but not least, I think that your skill system could be use too for officer version of weapon, introducing a new layer of specialized skills.

PS: really nice document, and good thinking.


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Shaun Iwairo Simple Minded People Pty. Ltd. 533	Posted - 2016.02.15 06:46:00 - [1] - Quote https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Zq14JdRSe0moUsl9nCUBC4chqL2GqwLMylCL9mDa2Cc/edit?usp=sharing TL;DR - I propose a progression system that moves away from increasingly powerful tiers of skills and gear over into increasingly specialized tiers of skills and gear. Something is killing new player retention.
Shaun Iwairo Simple Minded People Pty. Ltd. 534	Posted - 2016.02.15 10:41:00 - [2] - Quote Lex DOCIEL wrote: If I am fond of the idea of specialization, and if you propose a nice alternative for the current progression system, it is however reducing drastically the interested of grinding skill points. First of all, tactical change of a suit, if the idea is seductive, would be difficult to make playable on the battlefield: -1 primary weap +1 secondary weap +grenades +more than one equipment most of the time +half a dozen modules You have no time to rethink which will do what on the battlefield. You swap in two clicks for the dropsuit you conceive beforehand for a particular type of situation, and you don't think twice. Second, all dusters love the 5-tier system of progression AND the passive bonus related to those tiers. Why? -Because this is indeed what make the difference between the noob and the vet. (for the braggers) -Because, it makes the difference between the troll player and the guy who knows what he is doing. (for the play-to-win) -Because, it makes the difference between a complete fit, and a sub-optimal incomplete one. (for the perfectionists) The list can be long, but overall, I think we can agree that this fills a lot of desires. However (third), I think your idea would be AWESOME when it comes to rigging a dropsuit. Rigging is basically a specialized modification of a dropsuit (or ship when it comes to EVE, as we never saw it in DUST), which boost an attribute while disregarding another one. Improving the related skill is simply decreasing the drawback. Having the possibility to have on-field adaptive rigs could be an interesting idea. A tactical switch allowing inverting the drawback between the two attributes. Last but not least, I think that your skill system could be use too for officer version of weapon, introducing a new layer of specialized skills. PS: really nice document, and good thinking. I agree with your first point. An alternative for the Tier 3 would be even further specialized modules that push the bonused/penalized balance. Using the Shield Extender example again the Tier 3 Restrained would be +50HP, +4dB and the Layered would be +150HP, +12dB. Ed: But for the swapping of specialization of the Tier 3 stuff, I was imagining a radial menu. Don't know if you've played CS:GO but after a bit of practice you can set up your whole loadout in a couple of seconds. I do not agree with your second point, in fact it's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to eliminate. Why should the noob be happy to see a system that actively penalizes their performance just so the vets can brag? What if the noob is also a perfectionist and wants to come up with a fairly optimal fit but instead they're stuck in STD gear with half the HP of a vet? These kinds of things have no place in a PvP game. The rigging thing is true. I don't like to think about officer stuff because they were the pinnacle of the "Hey lets just give the vets stupidly high stat modifiers and screw the consequences" attitude. Something is killing new player retention.
Shaun Iwairo Simple Minded People Pty. Ltd. 534	Posted - 2016.02.15 10:42:00 - [3] - Quote Derpty Derp wrote: The current system works quite well, but only if everyone starts playing the game at the same time. And because of this it will never work well. Something is killing new player retention.
Shaun Iwairo Simple Minded People Pty. Ltd. 534	Posted - 2016.02.15 11:24:00 - [4] - Quote Lex DOCIEL wrote: Guys, don't misunderstand the subject. We are talking about a new skill system / RPG progression. If you are looking for helping new players go against vets, you only have one option: repair the match making. I beg to differ. I fact I've presented an option in a nice easy to read google doc. Lex DOCIEL wrote: Which cannot be repaired at the moment, as the player base is too low to make it work at all. Good match making, with a large enough player-base, means new players VS new players, and vets VS vets. In this regard, modifying the skill system to help new players catch up with vets become irrelevant. Good matchmaking needs a large playerbase, yes. Good matchmaking in a game where you've got massive differences in the HP/DPS/EWAR/etc of the noobs and vets and everyone in between? That requires an impossibly huge playerbase. How do you grow to that playerbase when you can only attract the most masochistic of new players? Something is killing new player retention.