RydogV
Shadow Company HQ
101
   |
Posted - 2013.01.19 16:16:00 -
[1] - Quote
Yay Adski wrote:...this game I don't hate but I think it's become very stale... No doubt I'll get some hate, so I'll just put on my flame suit now 
I think it is important to try and put things in perspective. We are now just days away from the Open Beta, something many of us who started this experience last Spring/Summer thought would have occurred last fall. Of course it didn't and with good reason. But now that it is here and many CEO's make efforts to deal with an influx of tens of thousands of players I look back and I find myself amazed that I have been playing a Beta for over 7 months. To me, that says a lot about the game.
The game feels somewhat stale to many because it is still so limited. Maps are limited, game modes are limited and despite the extensive customization, even some things like dropsuits, vehicles and equipment feels limited. But that does not change the fact that I have been playing the same game mode (mainly Skirmish) on basically the same 4-5 maps for over half a year. To top it all off I have had to "start over" multiple times. There are not many full games I have put that kind of time and dedication into, much less a Beta.
I know that there is still much work to be done, but I accepted that reality a long time ago...as I am sure many of you did also. I am confident the Open Beta will help in those efforts. But that in itself will be a challenge for many of us who have been here so long. This game...our game...is about to be placed under a pretty big microscope and viewed by a lot of strange eyes. That is something we need to prepare ourselves for. Sure some of you are looking to kill a bunch of n00bs, but are you also ready endure all the criticism that is sure to come as well? There have already been a lot of harsh "debates" in these forums but I think through the evolution of such discourse many have come to find some level of respect (or maybe just toleration) for those whom which we disagree. Some still are critical of various aspects of the game, but having played it so long, we feel that we are somewhat justified in those opinions. But in a few days, players with less than a couple hours playtime are going to start talking trash, and complaining about things that we have already seen move from bad to better to good. I think as a community we need to prepare ourselves for that.
I come from a large community of gamers...hundreds of players, across multiple titles. Of course with a Closed Beta only a small fraction of those players have been represented here. As a leader within that community I have worked hard to keep Dust 514 in the forefront of peoples minds and to outline its potential. And now I am spending these last few days before the Open Beta goes live, trying to prepare them for what to expect the first time they log on...to press upon them the importance of patience and resolve...to remind them that this is not your average shooter...that it is something more.
The State of the Community in Dust 514 is probably the most stable it will ever be. Going forward it will always be changing. always evolving. Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. But at the heart of it all, we have a pretty special game...not perfect, but special. |