Vrain Matari
ZionTCD
Legacy Rising
404
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Posted - 2013.01.16 04:59:00 -
[1] - Quote
Come open beta, it's all about the new player experience, and the public assessment of DUST's core mechanics - the whole industry knows this is an ambitious project and will cut CCP some slack for a thin feature set at open beta. Hell, just getting a handle on the game will take peeps a couple of weeks.
What CCP won't be forgiven for is poor core mechanics or things that make for an unpleasant player experience.
In order of priority(agonized a fair bit over the relative urgency of points one and two):
1) Controls. DUST doesn't feel right, when making fine adjustments to aim the reticle feels sticky and initial motion is abrupt, sensitivity adjustments don't give us the control over the right stick sensitivity at the center position that we need. Aiming should be fluid, precise and predictable, and a physically pleasurable experience, not a fight with awkward controls. Industry reviews won't be gentle with CCP on this issue.
2) The skillpoint mechanic. Don't make DUST feel like a grindy second job CCP, it's very unpleasant. And imagine how it will be for the noobs who will be getting their asses handed to them and their noses rubbed in it every match. Enough to make a player quit and go play something a bit more fun and a bit less masochistic. Implement Rasatsu's algorithm and everybody will find the grind a lot more pleasant and reasonable.
3) Put team comms on by default. I know it opens us up to mouth-breathers and such, but you've provided a lovely mute feature so no worries there. What's important is that you get the new peeps involved socially asap, you don't want to do anything that isolates peeps from the community. More peeps in comms means the game feels more populated and dynamic, and gets DUST a better review from the industry press.
4) Nade timer. Personal tastes aside, the 2 second timer encourages nadespam, and gives the game a mickey-mouse arcadey feel. Battles of skill and tactical maneuvering get cut short before reaching their poetic and just conclusion, players hide behind cover with hives and just lob nades endlessly, etc. It doesn't play well and doesn't look good. Another second to second and a half on the timer would fix this.
5) The hacking/swarm locking/forge charging reset bug. It is nothing other than flawed game mechanics. It's disheartening, frustrating, infuriating. And it makes DUST look like amateurish code. And it definitely detracts from the player experience.
I'd say that if CCP could address these points before we go open, then the new players and the press would be free to assess DUST on the basis of its potential, not its temporary but highly annoying faults. Untroubled by fundamental flaws and needlessly poor gameplay, they would see very quickly what most of us know: New Eden rocks. Bigtime. |