Matobar
Pink Fluffy Bounty Hunterz
146
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Posted - 2013.03.23 15:10:00 -
[1] - Quote
So one thing I've been mulling recently was how different this game was vs. EVE in the live event scene. To give an example, remember the Live Event we did a few weeks ago on New Caldari, where the DUST mercs had to either defend or attack the Kaalakiota protesters. And this event was followed up with the EVE capsuleers having to defend the same protesters in their shuttle in orbit over New Caldari.
Here is my problem.
In EVE, the capsuleers had/have immediate feedback about their success. They could see the health of the ship that contained the protesters, and saw it blow up, which told them they had failed to protect the whole group, despite efforts to rescue some from the wreckage.
In DUST, by contrast, the mercs only knew we had succeeded in protecting (or failed in subduing) the protesters in a news blurb released after the battle, which told us we had succeeded in protecting the protesters long enough for them to get on a ship, and then get killed in space.
My point is, with EVE being a sandbox, it is very easy for CCP to show the capsuleers how well they are doing in Live Events. Whereas in DUST, with our match system deciding who wins what, it is hard for us mercs to tell how well one side is doing over the other. In fact, a less trustworthy group of developers might only say that one side is "winning" or that the contest even really matters, and just go with the outcome they wanted in the first place.
Now I'm not accusing CCP of doing anything like that. But context is still important. Here is an example. This thread was recently updated with the status of the ground war on Caldari Prime. This is the first time CCP has ever done something like this for a live event, telling us outright who is winning during the event so that people on both sides can have a sort of idea of how well the event is going for them.
This needs to happen more often. In fact, I'd say it needs to happen constantly.
Generally I warn against comparing DUST to other games. It's stupid and useless. However, in this case, a comparison can and should be drawn. Battlefield 3 recently launched several challenge events that had the different console/PC playerbases competing with each other for in-game gear and bragging rights. Their website had a stat-tracker that told anyone who wanted to know how well each console/PC playerbase was doing, in real time. On top of that, DICE released several blog posts encouraging players to participate and giving a state-of-the-event address about who was winning and how close things were.
Again, this thread is not to criticize CCP. For what this game currently is, you guys are doing a fantastic job But in the future, a system that gives as much feedback to the DUST players about the status of the Live Events as possible should be implemented. Not only would this provide much-needed context for the participants, but it would increase the popularity of the events in general and deepen the extent of the metagame you guys have built.
I suppose I should include a TL;DR
Institute some sort of system for future Live Events that tells DUST Mercs how close their chosen faction is to winning/losing/ accomplishing the Event's objective. |