Joseph Ridgeson
warravens
Imperium Eden
4526
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Posted - 2016.10.31 22:12:00 -
[1] - Quote
Why hello my defunct mercenary allies and adversaries! I have returned from that there EVE Vegas with, well, not a whole hell of a lot of news on anything that might interest us here on this space, for the most part (no, title is NOT clickbait). For the tl;dr when it comes to DUST, Nova, and Legion here ya go:
* Rouge is still the head of CCP Shanghai
* No one is actively working on Legion; Nova is U4 with Legion being the heavily modified U3 so Legion, as we know it, is gone.
* Some admission that that the announcement of Legion, at least how it was done, was a misstep (also, water = wet)
* From CCP Falcon: Why isn't Nova here? "It just wasn't ready yet." Not even a trailer, or anything? "No, just not ready yet." (Does that mean the game could be going through an overhaul like DUST did, not being the more simplistic FPS that we saw at FanFest? For my money, I don't see CCP making a game THAT straightforward)
* CCP Shanghai is "actively working on Nova"
* This is *mostly* my own projection of what I got from some of the devs but the answer to "why was DUST cut; why not just let people play it as is if it was making money, just don't do anything to it?" mostly had to do with the kind of 'dickmove' that would have been. Keeping people playing a game that had zero future in it's current state and continuing to sell stuff was skeevy to CCP. Despite me still wanting to be able to occasionally run some people over in my tank, use my jump suit to get on top of buildings, or even finally learn how to master the flying sarcophagi that were dropships, I can completely see the reason to shut down DUST from that perspective. Sure, there could have been more ("this is an embarrassment", "the longer we let people play the more 'expecting' of a "meaningful transition they will be", or as a positive "let's cut it now so those guys don't get even more ahead when there is a transfer") but the notion of CCP being the shady used car salesman going "well, I TOLD you the car wasn't that good!" is still slimy.
But EVE Vegas is fun. Seeing the passion that people have for the game is magnificent, even if I cannot stand the game myself. It is a great opportunity to also interact with the devs to get your voice in. Dear old dad and I certainly got to do that with Valkyrie. He pointed out an issue with the flight calibration in the game, where it does not tell you which direction to turn the joystick in order to calibrate so you have a 50/50 that 'turning right' is going to 'turn left.' For me, I pointed out that a game mode like Titanfall would be a good idea; "when I first started playing TF, I got owned by these twitch shooters. However, I could still be useful to my team because I could wipe out a bunch of the enemy creeps and help my team win. Valkyrie is a game with such a massive skill cap that something like that would give new players a chance while also filling the map with 'stuff to shoot.' Even with only 6 people on each side, TF matches never felt empty. Valkyrie matches can."
Consensus was "that's a great idea, I sent that idea out, it will be rough to do because we are starting to run into memory concerns with how much stuff we can populate in each match." The irony of that is not lost on me  though the up-gradable nature of computer games makes it less of an issue than it was for dear old DUST.
Going back to the event itself, it is always a pleasure. I again got to pick Guard's little ass up and shake him around like a ragdoll in a bear hug. FOUR YEARS RUNNING! Was actually hilarious. Walked up to him, said "back for the bear hug. 4 years in a row." He looked at me, smiled, shrugged, and said "can't break tradition!"
But the important news: the backroom dealing and skullduggery that got out the potential bombshell of what 514 meant.
Now, last year, Falcon cryptically said "looking into the cultural heritage of the Caldari." This year, he neglected to add anything more than that. The possibility is there that the lore might still be important or, as he has always agreed with, he is a "rat bastard." BUT! Luck was with me.
Entering the smoke filled haze of the room, the smell of bad intentions, violent sweat, and the blood of the fallen hit my nostrils. Whether that smoke was some narcotic gas or the smell itself sent me into a headspin, doesn't matter. The effect was the same...
The Operative had me exactly where she had wanted me.
As I looked at (now) his face, it shimmered like oil in water. The big grin shook as human teeth became snake fangs, The Operative spoke in a voice not meant for mortals.
"You have come ssseeeeking The Truth? What gives you that right?!" I nearly fell over as I stood there, unable to answer. The voice echoed in my head causing a multitude of sensations. The Operative spoke again. "Have you not already reee-ceived your information?" I mustered my energy and spoke "but it makes no sense."
"FOOOL!" It's voice came from all around me, the smoke swirling faster and faster. "What are the Caldari? What IS their culture?" My mind went blank as I spoke a voice that was not my own, "Samurai ideals of culture with Ayn Rand-esque capitalism and meritocracy."
The voice became far lower, as if it was an elephant speaking as a human would. "And remember, it is NOT 'five hundred fourteen', but FIVE-ONE-FOUR!" I blinked and The Operative was gone, the smoke gathering to form words "Japanese meaning of the number five." I blinked again and I was suddenly no longer in the same room, but out on The Strip. For the life of me, I know not how I came across The Operative nor how I escaped.
"This is B.S! This is B.S! I paid money! Cash money, dollars money, cash money!"
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