J'Jor Da'Wg
KILL-EM-QUICK
RISE of LEGION
648
   |
Posted - 2012.07.21 01:57:00 -
[1] - Quote
So, after several weeks of playing, I have reached a point where DUST has seemed to kind of hit a wall for me. And I have
thought quite a bit about it along the way. Some good, some bad, some downright ugly. But, I will attempt to clear up my thoughts in a logical manner for you all to pick apart.
DUST 514; my holy grail of shooters. After playing... (yes, you can scream now!) MAG for several years, I have been extremely attracted to the idea of a MMOFPS. Currently, I think DUST 514 is going to achieve that dream of the MMO part, it seems to be on the right track theory-wise.
However, I have had some time to sit down and organize my thoughts together coherently and present them.
Firstly, I feel there is something slightly off with the risk vs. reward system in the game ATM. As a militia, I supposedly mean nothing. However, the fact that I can get a free militia HAV, LAV, or dropship whenever I want feels off to me. I think that honestly only a militia LAV should be provided, and maybe not even that.
As a militia, there is nothing for me to risk for greater reward. I am given all of my stuff for free and let to run wild. I understand the fact that you need something to start out with to even be able to get better, but to me it feels like everything is cheap with militia gear. I think each merc should be given possibly a random allocation of gear from the market on first joining, something to be careful with. Just a premature thought, but I feel the whole militia attitude needs a little work.
Secondly is what I call the Infuriating Loop of N00b0sity. While playing, I feel frequently outclassed by better gear than what I have, and not necessarily better skill. And this is OK. I believe that there should be better gear available.
However, one thing that does annoy me slightly is the way the game gives you SP. Currently, SP is focused on getting hacks and assisting your team if my analysis is correct. However, the ISK portion of the game is focused on kills, which leads many players on a mad kill hunt.
This means that objectives are the places where kills are obviously going to happen.
Now, if the only way for me to be more survivable is to get hacks, then getting killed isn't a good option. So I try to kill those guarding the objective to save my skin. However, I am a low level. I cannot grind all day to get Proto gear on the first day of a new build. I can play for an hour or two at most a day. I have a life, ya know?
But back to the scenario. I go to find the inevitable campers. Upon finding them, I try to sneak around and kill them with as little warning as possible.
Surprise! It is a prototype suit wearing mercenary! They survive the first several seconds of firing, and turning, kill me near instantly with a CreoDron Breach AR. -_-
I am currently in the situation where unless I grind and grind and grind 30 matches a day, I will not be able to unlock higher end gear. Partially because due to my lousy survivability. The game seems to give an infinite loop where the only way to get more SP is to get more hacks, and the only way to do that is to be more survivable, and the only way to do that is to be able to kill better, and the only way to get that is by getting SP!
So I am stuck earning a measly 30,000 SP per match as I try to grind for over one million SP to unlock the ADVANCED suit, not even the Prototype.
And that is not even with going after my gun skills to get a better AR.
I feel that the SP earning aspect of the game needs to be improved. Hacking is easily camped, and for low levels like me, it gets infuriating to spend a half hour getting 30,000 SP. And going 5 / 18.
Just a thought, I know people will say "LoL no Skills", "git Gud" "scrub tbh". Ok! Great!
I admit I am not the best FPS player ever. In every other game I go at least positive, if not getting a 2.0 KDR. Not that KDR matters to me, but it is not my aim that is making me lose.
I cannot quite think of any easy answers to this without ruining the hard edge I love about DUST. But I feel it will be even worse once the beta is over and we are earning 5,000 SP per match since we lost the passive boosters in place for the duration of the beta.
I just generally think that the SP earning mechanism needs to be enhanced. I don't believe in artificially leveling the playing field outside of High-Sec. I just feel that doing ANYTHING that benefits your team should get SP.
For me at least personally, the current state of DUST is an intolerable grind to level up my gear until I can actually start to compete. It is not quite something that makes me all crazy about firing up my PS3 to play.
TL; DR? - Dust feels too grindy right now, and needs more methods for a new player to be able to contribute to his team. Hopefully, the addition of medical skills and repairing, as well as grouping will end this problem. I hate having to QQ, but it is kind of annoying.
Grouping also needs to be added ASAP IMO. That alone might fix the whole SP problem since you will actually be using teamwork and not just rushing in to hope a blue dot covers you while hacking.
So go ahead, tear apart my post for your amusement/argument! |
J'Jor Da'Wg
KILL-EM-QUICK
RISE of LEGION
648
|
Posted - 2012.07.21 02:08:00 -
[2] - Quote
Another thought;
Since I have chosen front line grunt for my vocation in DUST for now at least, there seems to be very little ways for me to get SP without being forced to branch out into other areas. In fact, it reminds me of MAG; where you were practically required to have a med kit to level up very fast at all, and only after achieving the top level could you branch out in other directions.
Like I said, CCP needs to think hard about including more ways for grunts to get SP. Not everyone can be a medic. But if hacking and being a medic are the only ways to get SP for a basic grunt, then its gonna force people in a certain direction...
EDIT: This is not a ragequit. I am simply trying to make DUST better. I don't want it to be easier, I want it to be more free. Forcing people down a certain path seems to go against the mantra of freedom CCP likes to have in its games. If you want people to branch out and specialize, the game needs to provide you with SP for trying to do so in your specialized direction, not for doing one of 3 things that might not be fitted at all to your specialty. |
J'Jor Da'Wg
KILL-EM-QUICK
RISE of LEGION
648
|
Posted - 2012.07.21 02:18:00 -
[3] - Quote
howard sanchez wrote:beta test
Of course its a beta test. I am not an idiot that doesn't realize this and simply wants to QQ "Wahhh its too hard".
I see a problem, and I think it could be better tackled than the current direction it is taking.
It may come off that way at face value, but this post is not saying, "it should be easier."
it is saying, "Ok. Nice. Its tough. But currently, there aren't enough ways for me to be creative and level up without charging head on into the thick of the problem."
Instead of being smart and discovering a niche, the game tends to make you grind for SP until you can compete, and ONLY THEN can you find that niche.
It isn't exactly what I had in mind when the FF presentations were discussing how there "are no classes".
Well, uh, yeah. Currently, there is the Heavy Forge Gun/Swarm Launcher user, the Scout with SMG and RE, the CreoDron Breach assault rifle user, and the tank driver/dropship pilot.
Sounds kinda like classes to me...? |