So Dust will be F2P and will (hopefully) be around for several years after launch, yes? I, personally, didn't even hear about EVE until it was a decade old. Now, imagine you're a new gamer who just got his first PlayStation. He finds Dust and begins to play. Of course, the proto geared players stomp his militia fit. But, in this scenario, the newb has no hope of catching up... EVER!

Everyone is thinking short-term at the moment, how to keep the casuals and the no-lifers (not my term) on an even playing field from launch, but what about the late comers or the alts? Take a step back and think, "What will work long-term AND short-term?"

I saw one article about a global SP cap counter and syncing SP gain based on current SP versus global SP cap counter. See that thread here: https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=49132&find=unread

That could work if there was an established maximum SP gain per match, say 20k. That seems like the best solution so far when compared to daily/weekly caps. Mostly cause if I don't play for a week because of life, I don't want to feel like I'll always be 500k SP behind.... always...

@Deveshi:

How about the case when after four months you have everything, EVERYTHING there is to invest SP in? Now that means that instead of (perhaps painfully) slowly getting more new skills, you will have absolutely nothing new to play for.

Consider that, please.

Actually, it took me about 5 weeks to train into sniper rifles as much as I wanted to. Now, I'm throwing skills into ARs, some into vehicle turrets, anyway I really desire.

My comment is: What are some options for SP for the new players when Dust has been open to the public for over a year? Do we expect them to catch up eventually? Do we want them to progress faster than those who were at launch? Things to consider. Please, place your ideas below ^^

Disagreement. It's not hard to catch up, so long as you don't try to catch up on everything at once.

Also, I wish there were EVE and Dust commercials on TV. I have yet to see a single Television Ad about EVE.

youtube is free :-P

Doesn't matter. People don't actively look for trailers for things they are not yet interested in. That's what television advertisements do. They make people who aren't interested, interested. If you spend your time in YouTube watching TF2 Machinimas, My Little Pony, World of Warcraft satire, and Music Videos, it is very unlikely that you will come across a "related video" that has to do with EVE, and it is even more unlikely that you will watch it just because.

Correction, I can garrantee that there are a lot of people who watch My Little Pony AND Eve trailers :-P

Wanna think on a long term?
I play EVE for more then 6 years. That's a long term.
If you would start playing now, you would never catch up with all mys skills. Would that make you a noob? Maybe yes, if you would compare only to my total SP.
But if you plan your skills wisely, you could be a specialized pilot in under 6 months. Trust me, I have alts that were flying T3 ships with specific weapons specializations that could take on almost any "veteran" player and they were "noobs".
Same thing would apply to DUST, veterans will be veterans and noobs will be.. veteran-in-training :)

Exactly, so why do we need a cap?

Cause it's CCP choice.
Wouldn't you find boring if all the games would have the same game mechanics and the only difference would be graphics and the back-story?

Veterans will be all around beasts.
Newbies will be beasts in only one place.
I.E Veterans have skills into AR's, SR's and can use all suit types, while newbies can only use Assault and are skilled into AR (can choose other things of course)

Essentially with the SP cap you are simply making a COD in the making. What is beautiful about both Dust and EVE is that SP are limited and precious and as a result pretty much every character in EVE is different with stengths and weaknesses in different areas.

With an SP cap to allow new players to catch up with vets you are basically putting everyone on a level playing ground and the only difference between characters will be if people are actually good at FPS, using aimbots or enjoy a substantial amount of bunny hopping.

I dont want to play another COD, I want to play Dust where my character and its abilities are unique to me, and my individuality as a merc has not been raped by a skill cap!

YES ! Exactly ! The SP in EVE and Dust is limited, that's what makes them unique. That's why we need a SP cap in a way or another. Without it, anyone would just catch up with a veteran (SP wise) in no time.
I don't wanna play another COD either. I do want my character skills and time combined with my own FPS skills to count.

I think you've missed the point of the SP cap. It is intended to bring n00bs on a closer par to vets whilst they are not playing as much. I fail to see how a SP cap in the current or proposed fashions promote individuality.

The SP cap is intended to ONLY level the SP some ppl can get IF they started at the same time.
It would not allow some n00b who start playing after 1 year to catch up with you. I would not even allow one who starts playing 1 month after you.

Ask my 8 million SP EVE character how CCP balanced noobs and veterans when there is a 400mil+ SP character.
And yet, I can do things as good or even better in specific areas than the 400mil+ SP character, why?
Because I specialized, and that's what new players will have to do.

So we agree that there is a need of a SP cap (in a way or other)?
This is why we have the forum so we propose a SP cap model and a amount that would satisfy players (ofc we can't satisfy all of them but we can come up with one that could do it for most of them).

No, i do not agree that there needs to be cap. This game is meant to be competitive!

What is beautiful about both Dust and EVE is that SP are limited and precious and as a result pretty much every character in EVE is different with strengths and weaknesses in different areas.

With an SP cap to allow new players to catch up with vets you are basically putting everyone on a level playing ground and the only difference between characters will be if people are actually good at FPS, using aimbots or enjoy a substantial amount of bunny hopping.

That said in a shooter a person expects to be crushed by vets, but they also expect to have unrestricted opportunity to grind and play heavily on the front end to catch up to vets so that the only disparity that exists b/w them is skill in the game and NOTHING else.

With regards to the CAP, people need to understand the cap is a good thing to prevent players from maxing every skill in a short period of time but also need to realize that the CAP shouldnt apply to new players, or players who dont play every 23/7. That there is a need for a global SP total that is factored into a persons SP progression as to when diminishing returns begins. This way a person who is not at or near the global cumulative level can grind and grind until they reach or get near the global SP day 1 to present cumulative level.