I actually think it would better if he let Rattati keep going and keep his mitts off Nova. Hilmar is not trustworthy as far as the game goes. I still think he is the reason 1.3 didn't release.

True. A little hard to forget that.

But that was in the past and that is not likely to be repeated for several reasons.

1. They clearly don't want a repeat of what happened with World of Darkness. Devoting 8 years and millions of dollars in development that resulted in not only the project getting perma-shelved but also the rights to it sold to another game company. Not something they are proud of bringing up let alone repeating that mistake. Dust 514 was the same thing except it actually did finish and was released. CEO Hilmar said that the game was actually making a profit at that time. Though probably not by much, it still made something in return for CCP's investment into the project. So there is that hope with Nova.

2. CCP Rattati is still in charge of development of Project Nova. As you and I have seen in the past, ever since he took over managing the dev team, Dust 514 greatly improved for all of us in a very short time. Unfortunately it was too late. The PS3 was already dying and CCP Rattati mentioned that the game can't possibly be further optimized at that point given the nature of the legacy code and the limits of the hardware.

3. Project Nova is no longer using the same base code as Dust 514. Dust was using Unreal Engine 3. Nova is using Unreal Engine 4 which required scrapping the original code. Thankfully, the assets were transferable and the dreaded legacy code that plagued us all was thrown away.

3. Development has been moved to Iceland. Home of Eve Online and where the entire Eve devs are located so that the game can finally be done right this time.

4. CCP Games now has prior experience in developing first-person shooters thanks to Dust 514, Valkyrie, and Gunjack.

5. Last, but most important, it will be on the PC. This is huge because now we can have a chance of having our own test server access to try out changes to the game en mass BEFORE it gets deployed into the main server itself. This is what was not available to us at the time with Dust. If we can finally get a test server for Project Nova like how Eve Online has one, that would be awesome. Overwatch has it's own PTR server on the PC as well. I am not sure if the console versions of Overwatch having PTR access as well but then again they are running on more advanced consoles like the PS4 and XBone.

When I said assets were transferable, I was referring to the visual models for the dropsuits and weapons. It was already confirmed that the dropsuits like the CalAssault, Amarr Heavy, etc. along with weapons like the HMG, Nova Knives, etc. were included in Nova. So on the bright side we can rest assured that you can finally enjoy your CalAssault while I get to enjoy my MinScout.

It will be hard for him to enjoy his Cal Assault when you are cutting him up with your Minja.

Not to mention allowing EVE players who have gotten tired of the grind; or sitting for hours on gate camps; who find themselves wanting a more immediate and engaging experience, to switch to playing an FPS for a while without leaving the New Eden IP.

Agreed.

They don't even have to go all Star Citizen on it, trying to make it one game. They can just do some sort of loading screen while EVE shuts down and Nova boots up. Say, while your character is in the elevator, or during a Jump Clone process. Maybe they could make your Merc Quarters a separate program that could stay open while EVE shuts down and Nova opens.

They could both remain totally stand alone games, but if you have both, you get the ability to move your character between them.

I know they made archetecual changes to the way characters are saved on Tranquility a few years ago to make this possible. They even talked about the possibility at FanFest (2013?)

I favor two standalone games that connect if you have both. Allow a character from one game to transfer to the other, but keep the skill trees and such separate.

Really all you would have to share between the games is the name and the avatar (if we ever get to remove our helmets when not fighting). If a shared market economy is introduced later on, then a shared inventory for a character that is in both games could also be introduced at that time. I mean, both item databases will be on Tranquility.

I would probably maintain separate characters for the games myself, as Fox has a reputation from DUST, and I would not want to give up Renier's Killboard.