Also you CHOSE to spec all your SP into proto gear to get an edge rather than looking at all the skills available like i did. Granted ive only been in the game 2 weeks so i have the benefit of coming in after all the changes(which is why you guys should have gotten a wipe).

But first thing i realized was there would be no way to sustain high tier gear for long. Instead i took what AUR i did have and get tier I militia BPO suit and modules and tier I armor gear.

Instead of trying to get fancy dropsuits ive left my dropsuit spec at 2 and speced into shiled boost, shiled enhancement, and field mechanics, to get native boosts to my character regardless of what equipment i have on, same with weaponry, 1 weapon operation and sharpshooter.

This gives me the most bang for my buck regardless of gear. Perhaps if you did this you wouldnt feel iike you wasted SP in gear you shouldnt be using yet anyway.

If you take the security model into acct it makes sense that you first buildup your character then you buildup equipment. Its like trying to curl 150lbs before you can even bench press 150lbs.

Thats just the way you do it in RPG's. YOu dont get the shiny toys before youve got the base stats built otherwise their bonuses are just a waste.

Edit-Stop blaming the devs because of the way you chose to spend your skill points. That was your choice to go that route just because it isnt reaping the benefits you like doesnt mean the game is wrong. You just mismanged the points. Do what i did and create a new character and dont expect to be a god inside of a month let along a week or two.

QFT

QuotedForTruth

lolwut?
if both players are equal skill then with how it is currently the guy with better gear has an advantage already
i never said everyone should be even yall just want the gap to be too big

why should only the rich corps be allowed to play FW?
why shouldnt a poorer corp that is alot more skillful be able to come into FW and **** rich EVE funded corps who might be terrible?

competitive clans wont take this game srsly if better gear wins u battles and skill takes a back seat.

And here is where the divide between FPS minded and RPG minded players come crashing head to head. Since i play both i can easily sympathize with both. If they buff the protos they dont need to necessarily cost too much to be worth using the rewards in highsec need to be low enough to deter them from being used. Conversely Mavado, if the ISK rewards are high enough in nullsec you will be able to use them there and generate nice profits, because your corp has the skill to earn those yields, it would just take a while establishing your smaller corp to get the funds to get there. If you could just go in with militia gear and do well because the stats line up nicely enough, then that would make having the protos useless(yes i finally understand the fundamental argument that players asking for a buff are talking about, it just took a while for the light bulb to click) as everyone would run militia gear everywhere and since the loot drop is partly determined by the gear of your opponents it would just plain suck being in nullsec, why run proto if you can compete in militia. Like anything else you buildup you save and then you invest. Thats the RPG side of this game and it does need to be there as well.

Is this basically the divide that sums up the philosphical difference b/w the two camps?

The game needs to stop being balanced around these meaningless pub matches

THIS.
and berserker u know me alot better than that to even assume i am arguing to balance anything for lolpubs
im talkin about strict corp v corp matches no pubs

ppl that want gear to be buffed per tier want to feel invincible
guess what? only the rich corps would always have an a HUGE advantage

And mikegunnz is right mediocre players could of easily beat 2-3 in lower gear regardless of skill because they can tank a stupid amount of shots. As mike said ur higher tier gear still gives u a bigger bonus as it is against someone lower tier...those 8 or so shots extra u can tank? yea if ur good that makes the world of difference facing someone who can take 8+ shots less not to mention ur faster kill time since on ur upgraded suit which has more PG and CPU so u can fit a gun that allows u to hit harder + able to fit damage mods that allow that gun to hit even harder while still having more shields than the lower tier guy

what competitive shooter decides fights on gear? the advantages u get are fine as it is minus the heavy which needs more slots almost no reason to upgrade a heavy and price for vk.1 heavy is too high.

if a corp cant fund proto gear but they know FPS SKILL WISE they can take a proto corp using adv gear then why shouldnt they take on that handicap and play? thats how it is now and that allows corps without EVE backing or the very top corps to actually be able to somewhat compete altho at a disadvantage. With the buffs back how they were? well nullsec and FW will be rather EMPTY if only the RICH corps that can constantly run proto gear can play not because of skill but just gear.

And once more skillful corps can get in and play and start making ISK themselves from w/e planets they hold only natural they will upgrade to proto gear but if u keep it locked where proto only or gtfo because of the old buffs then corps wont have much of a chance to break into FW or nullsec.....and besides we all play this game for competition right? what fun would that be NOT having any challengers because u are the richest?

Sorry but if thats the case DUST will be a joke as a competitive game. My opinion.