Drazzan Tsukiko
Zumari Force Projection
Caldari State
3
   |
Posted - 2012.07.02 02:02:00 -
[1] - Quote
Hello CCP,
I've had a blast playing Dust514 and I thoroughly believe that you can deliver not only a fantastic FPS, but a great connected persistent world to EVE Online. Being a student in Games Design myself I can understand the frustration you must feel when people shun a BETA version of a game. I would also like to point out that I don't often play FPS at all, though Dust514 intreged me so much, I had to try it.
I thought I would create my own post to summarise some feedback that I've written down during my time playing across Assault and Skirmish this weekend. Thanks for the opportunity and I hope this feedback will be of use.
1) Militia Vehicles
I'm not sure on the general conseus of Militia Vehicles; though I can see the developers reasons for placing them into the game. It gives the players the ability to create large scale vehicle conflict right from the get-go. Though, this does create some issues. With equipment that is purchased, it is generally seen that when you die, you lose an instance of that gear, essentially, you become more aware, more careful and less "Run&Gun" and more strategic play. The same should be true of Vehicles, when a user uses a Vehicle, he shouldn't be using it to drop out onto an advantage-point above the enemy, nor should he be using it transport himself, and then dump. This creates many vehicles across the battlefield that are not doing their correct job, and are instead being used to gain cheap kills.
A few solutions could be put in place in order to solve this:
- Create a limit or cap of vehicles currently in play by Team, this would lessen the amount covering the battlefield. A cap would also mean more people would be combatting on Infantry rather than forgoing infrantry setups in favour of consistant vehicle battle.
- Allow players to start with a very small number of Vehicles, not 'Unlimited' like Militia Vehicles are. This will encourage people to use vehicles strategically, and actually care for their beginning vehicles, but the small amount also gives players an opportunity to use all vehicles.
- Allow Vehicles to only be purchased for a high number of ISK/AUR, value depends on the vehicle. This combined with the aforemention points would make players much more caucious about using their vehicles, and the justification would come from the amount of kills and ISK that could be gained in comparison to using one. Player's would become wary of their vehicles and would play it-safe, rather than currently when they have an unlimited amount of them.
Ultimately, I'm in favour of Militia Vehicles being scrapped, or only providing 3 or so types of vehicles per new character at a time, in order to lessen these cheap tactics that are currenty plagueing the BETA.
2) MIlitia Equipment
Militia Equipment is a great idea for new players, it allows anyone to jump into the game, and still play fairly without the need for touching the Marketplace. The problem arises from that very issue, there is no reason for a player to obtain the basic set of equipment as the stats are the same other than CPU/PG. In favour of promoting Market Use and the purchasing of basic gear, I think it is essential that Militia Equipment have less stats than basic equipment in order for players to push themselves into the Marketplace and explore possible build options. Players will rely less on hand-out Militia Gear when they realise that basic gear is better, not only this, but the players will have a more sense of strategy through realising once they die, they will lose that equipment. The risk to reward ratio increases, and as such, people begin to play more strategically.
3) Crouch/Prone
I believe Prone should be an option in the game, though as we've only seen this single map so far, it can be hard to see how Prone could potentially break the balance of the game in the future.
My only promotion of adding Prone to the game is the ability to lessen Sniper "Wobble" without the need for several hundred thousand skill points in order to start purchasing the upgrades relevant. Perhaps offering the Sniper Wobble Skill books at level 3 Sniper Usage instead would be a better idea. Either way, it would be good to see Prone added to the game, as it feels empty slightly clumsy without it.
4) Tutorials
Tutorials need to be added to cover in-depth systems. May I suggest Video Tutorials on the Main Menu under Tutorials for new palyers? The only reason I know how some of these systems work is because of my time with EVE Online. From looking around the internet and reaction to the beta, many people are overhwlemed with the depth of the Dust universe. As such, Video Tutorials would really help new players. If they cannot be implemented in the game. Perhaps Dust 514 Companion PSN Download could be provided with this Video Tutorials contained within.
5) Respawn
When the player chooses to Suicide, or is killed; he is brought to an overview of the map. At this stage I have to select a respawn point, re-select my class (despite me setting one as Default already), and then wait 10 seconds from that moment in order for me to begin playing once more. A couple of suggestions in order to eleviate this issue would be:
- Allow players to press an different button, i.e. Square, in order for them to change class. I want to respawn with the class that I have already selected and have as default.
- Have a global countdown timer so that players can spawn in waves for more chance of survival rather than one at a time at random times.
- Finally, have more spawn-points at bases. Players always spawn at the same point when spawning at bases, this creates problems due to people camping the spawn points at the command posts. As soon as someone appears they get spawn-killed and then rinse-repeat.
*Character Limit Reached, Posting Next Post* |
Drazzan Tsukiko
Zumari Force Projection
Caldari State
3
|
Posted - 2012.07.02 02:02:00 -
[2] - Quote
6) Revival Markers
If a player has the Medical Equipment for Revives equipped. He should be present with UI Markers showing which players need revived, this could also be combined with a distance marker, or markers that only appear within a specified 5~10 second sprint to the target. This would allow more revives on the field and less people to waste their equipment due to people not realising their team-members are down. An more obvious animation for downed members could also be implemented.
7) Team Differences
I often find that when driving a vehicle or even running around, I often get shot at by my own team-mates due to the fact that there is no obvious difference between the two. I can understand why you haven't used obvious bright Red and Green colours due to the environment changes, but perhaps something could be implemented in order to counter this isuse. Here is a few ideas
- Allies are highlighted with a blue overlay
- Allies always have Name/HP/Shield displayed over them.
- Enemies, once aimed at, appear in a red overlay.
8) Enemy Markers
Enemy Markers that show where an enemy is via an arrow icon needs adjusting. I often find myself aiming thinking they are going to poke out from a corridor, only to then realise that they are infact over the other side of the map. Perhaps changing this to encoproate a Distance Market next to the arrow, or only display enemies that are within a line of sight area would be a more viable option.
Conclusion
Thank You for your time reading this thread, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dust514. I can see the game become a great asset to the EVE Universe and I hope I can also be considered for future testing sessions. I look forward to seeing how the end product turns out and I can definitely see myself become invested in an FPS for the first time in recent years.
Thank You.
Drazzan Tsukiko |