Im approaching it from a FPS game and how free reign from an outside source just making entire areas automatic deaths would ruin that game. Im approaching it from a realistic expectation of a video game and ability to balance based on what weve seen in DUST.

Some of these things CAN work as gameplay. And they could provide awesome, dynamic battles.

Shield generators and ground cannons being an example.

In matches where intel suggests neither side has an eve precense, these tools will just not be used. But once one side gets air supperiority, now the ground forces have a choice.

Step one would always be to set up a shield. As without a shield, the enemy fleet just bombards you and wins. So you call one in, and you 100% have to defend this otherwise its game over. One shield should protect the whole planet, its binary, either strikes get through or they dont.

Now once a shield is up, you can deploy cannons to fire up. These can chase off or destroy the enemy fleet, which means you no longer need to worry about your shield and can focus on the normal objectives.

This would work well as a gameplay mechanic. Pretty much dynamic, player iniated objectives for both side that come into play when EVE players get involved.

Imagine being an EVE player, getting hit by cannons. Your yelling to the mercs on the ground that they need to take out those cannons or take out that shield generator or you have to pull out.

Or maybe the DUSTIES just have a shield generator up while they wait for their allies in the sky to come chase off the bombarders.

These two simple mechanics will suddenly make unlimited strikes reasonable and they are something we could potentially see in the game we currently play.

What is an OB in DUST game terms? What is its purpose? Not just as a magic link to EVE, but soley in terms of DUST.

You need to consider the answer to that before you start designing a system to deploy them.


The OB is the one attack to which there is no counter. The enemy just designates your area and you die. Neither your suit, your SP level, nor your personal FPS skill matter one whit. You die.

It is the unfair arbitrariness of war, and we have experienced it to a degree from day one. We've seen it rare and we've seen it called in several times a minute.

How much of that do you want in your game of skill?
How much can it tolerate before it ceases to be a FPS and morphs into a war simulator?
At what level will the majority abandon any high cost fitting as not worth the risk of losing?

very good suggestions. and balanced as well. all the writer is trying to do is start the dialogue that pushes the game.

like the person earlier pointed out, eve ships cant be attackers without also defending. you have to give up something, many of you are totally against boarding ships. it may be time to entertain that side of the interaction if it can make sense from the lore side.

ur obv an EVE player. sorry, no I Win buttons or ways to rack up cheap kills without risking anything yourself.

gaming doesnt work if one side has an attack which cant be countered. this thread has suggested multiple counters. good ones too. from orbital weapons to shields.

ur the kind of guy that will take protogear into a match with players under 1M SP and act like ur good afterwards.

...being able to embargo Moon Goo, which is a giant source of EVE revenue and would definately make a big step for Dust being worth fighting for.

And why would I want to spend 1M for 10 strikes to hit a planet 110KM below me when the effective range on my regular lasers is at 200KM?

isnt that 200km through the vacuum of space tho? i can imagine that range would probably be shortened in an atmosphere. there's ur lore explanation right there.