doesnt really help when u have a squad of the old buffed up suits
and tbqh with ppl actually wanting to roll pubs with full teams then u will also soon have full teams with full old build buffed proto gear. Please tell me how a newer guy/squad/team is suppose to focus fire when an entire/squad/team is in the gear and doin the same to them.

Either way it makes no difference to me
I had proto suits early build, game felt alot easier back then imo because the ppl that couldnt fund it had to gear down so i was constantly at a big advantage over these peeps.

Ppl want to feel their upgrades are worth it thats kool but is buffing back to the ridiculous lvls of old build really the solution?
mixing a FPS and RPG ur gonna run into these problems. DUST is an FPS 1st and foremost so imo the FPS side of the game needs to take preference over the others and make sure its done right and balanced.

CCP has a tough task on their hands tbh.

Iron Wolf, I'm guessing you know about suit variations coming up (or maybe not, I heard it as a rumor). If suit usage could progress into variations, with more versatile options, then this problem would be solved. Higher end suits wouldn't dominate, but would offer and open up a multitude of better options.

FPS on PS3 will not grow like EvE did, especially not if the PS4 is announced and a port would take time.

I think that better matchmaking would solve most of the problems you had with proto versus militia in the old builds.

If you faced equally geared competition in high sec matchmaking, then it would be more forgivable to have proto gear be more powerful and better.

Where we run into trouble is that new players were thrown against the proto players of old. The nerfs kind of eliminated that problem but made less incentive to upgrade.

So, if we fix matchmaking, then we can buff back the proto Heavies to over 1200 eHP. We wouldn't have to worry about turning new players off, and of course in low and null sec anything goes, but for high sec, keeping people ranked based on the level of gear (probably determined by the average skill levels they have in whatever their respective skills are).

The time to do that would be now, before open beta so we can make sure matchmaking works as intended and is ready for the masses.

Thoughts?

Does anyone else out there not want DUST to be a "competitive shooter"?

I don't mean I don't want competition; I mean I don't want this to forego fun gameplay to make it appeal to the "competitive" crowd who wants everything to be perfectly balanced and fair. I've run into these people in other games and they basically seem to want to suck the fun out of everything to make it "competitive".

So if it comes to a choice between RPG elements and consistency with the EVE universe over "competitive" suitability, I'd prefer the former any day.

Also in before "you don't like competition just because you suck so bad at this game". I can already see it coming.

Dunno what to say as you have 2 distinct audiences, you have the eve crowd who want every thing as complex and unforgiveing as possible.

Then you have the fps crowd who want a fun and fluid balanced shooter and ccp cant decide which camp they are in and niether crowd is willing to give an inch hence the game cant decide what it is

Were there ever Rocket Propelled Grenades in this game?

I thought the RPG elements where the fact that a militia weapon can do more damage than a standard or advanced because the player has put more SP into it?

And the fact that you can modify your suits to best fit your needs?

Cant say never played the game , but you have to see where I am coming from in that most fps's to date your choice is limited by your level and not left wide open for you.

Not saying either is bad just that it's a bit strange for an fps.

Plus 1 Wolf .I agree with you bud but ...dont get amnesia CODEX was .....bad.Retribution or the build before CODEX what ever the hell its name was....I would play 2 matches and it would freeze....it was so bad with bugs I thought it was gonna brick my PS3.Chromosome is way better the game isnt clipping,hardly lagging,it feels more fluid there working on your characters movement let them fix the FPS aspects of the game....I dont want to be losing Proto gear because of rubber banding lag spike when Im running a PVE mission against drones......

And there lies the problem you risk alienating the fps crowd who are used to how things are done mainstream, you end up running the risk that this will turn into a niche game that only a few will want to invest time in.

As i said previously you have 2 different crowds how you pull them together and keep both happy is 1 big head ache.

If this was a pc game I could see it working but on console ccp have there work cut out for them

Its not that FPS players hate the rpg side of Dust , its that the FPS side of dust is literally broken and never gets fixed.

Spawning
Grenades
Player Tracking
What should be hardwired and what should be a skill
Lag
Map Design
Player counts
Squad Commands
mixing up tactical and arcadish shooter
game modes
etc

Its just after spending all that time through spreadsheets and fits with the wrong customization concept that FPS players hate you finally launch into a battlefield that is grey, bland, UN unique , and lack luster.

Matchmaking or Pve is not good for dust since you want to make the planet conquering as epic of a battle as possible. You want to funnel as many players into that as possible or it just becomes who cares to people that dont play Eve.

I hear you man , about the no skill book but im trying to compromise with the Eve RPG skill progression. To this day i really dont feel that Damage and Range are skills that someone holding the same weapon differs.

Also you cant mess with a FPS players radar and tell them you have to be level 5 for your items to work properly.

Tech , and ablities skill upgrades are fine in my eyes. i keep hearing about customization of dust but keep not seeing it. The duovolt know its spelt wrong looks and fires the same way the gek does that the militia weapon does.

Also the more modules your run the slower and heavier you should be . its such a FPS no no to have a scout class have more hit points than a heavy.