DUST Search - First Impression

Matakage wrote:

Biven55 wrote:

Played for the first time today...hope this info helps out. This is not meant to troll or flame, just let you know how it went.

First Impression was frustrated and over-whelmed. I've played lots of FPS and MMO over the years. Dust seems like a great concept, but the learning curve is steep. By the time I sat through all the tutorials, I had enough time to play two skirmishes. Both times over-run by superior fire-power and spawn camped.

Just my opinion. I would have preferred to get a tutorial on how to fight, capture, and whatever. Let me fight and show me how to level afterward. Let me pick factions afterward. I had no idea what I was picking when I made a character, it didn't mean anything to me. Let me get invested in the fight before I start picking sides.

If I lose my equipment when I die, then I should be able to loot corpses. This may be possible, but I do not know how to do it.

I'll be back. Thanks for listening.

I just want you to know that you're absolutely right, and that the people in these forums will never believe you. I plan on making a very detailed description on what it's like to play this game and make one message clear:

The biggest thing this game has against it is how unfriendly it is to new players.

Here is a quick list of a few things that all new players need to hear but never will:

1) When you enter combat for the first time, you will be under-powered and under-armored. Your ability to tactically outwit your opponents is irrelevant, because you simply cannot do enough damage to capitalize on good planning.

2) Choosing the correct starting skills is incredibly important, and if you mess it up there is practically no way of being successful without starting over or accepting defeat until you gain enough skill points to cover your mistakes.

3) Even when you're moderately well established, you will run into players who have put more time into the game and simply have better gear than you. The fight will not be fair. It will not be even. The difference in power and defense is so heavily reliant on skill and gear in this game, that there are times you will be out-gunned to the point where you shouldn't even bother trying to fight.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Consider this for a second -- you veteran players know who is here. We all talk, we all understand the game (some better than others), and we're more than likely gonna stick it out until the game comes out. What you don't see are all the people who couldn't make it through those first couple days of hell and gave up on the game entirely. This game was well advertised on PSN and I'm sure many people downloaded it. However, jumping into the game is such a frustrating and annoying experience, that I'm sure many people gave up on it right away.

This is the number one problem facing the game, so if you care about how well it does I would make damn sure that you help new players as much as possible.


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Biven55 Sinq Laison Gendarmes Gallente Federation 0	Posted - 2013.04.12 15:36:00 - [1] - Quote Played for the first time today...hope this info helps out. This is not meant to troll or flame, just let you know how it went. First Impression was frustrated and over-whelmed. I've played lots of FPS and MMO over the years. Dust seems like a great concept, but the learning curve is steep. By the time I sat through all the tutorials, I had enough time to play two skirmishes. Both times over-run by superior fire-power and spawn camped. Just my opinion. I would have preferred to get a tutorial on how to fight, capture, and whatever. Let me fight and show me how to level afterward. Let me pick factions afterward. I had no idea what I was picking when I made a character, it didn't mean anything to me. Let me get invested in the fight before I start picking sides. If I lose my equipment when I die, then I should be able to loot corpses. This may be possible, but I do not know how to do it. I'll be back. Thanks for listening.
Biven55 Sinq Laison Gendarmes Gallente Federation 0	Posted - 2013.04.12 17:12:00 - [2] - Quote A five minute guided mission where I shoot, capture, respawn would have been great. Felt like a total tool when I got to Alpha and realized that I had no idea how to capture it. I get the concept, but I didn't realize that I had to find the control panel and hold a button. Some games you just sit in the window, some you arm stuff like this one. I like the idea of a tiered tutorial that pops after a mission or two. Learning all the back story and and upgrades is great, but the main thing I care about when I log in for the first time is whether or not this is going to be fun. Take Wow or DCU. Character creation to combat is a few minutes. Lead me through all the deep stuff once I realize that I need it. Anyway, we'll see how tonight goes. Thanks for the response.
Biven55 Sinq Laison Gendarmes Gallente Federation 2	Posted - 2013.04.15 15:25:00 - [3] - Quote Matakage wrote: Biven55 wrote: Played for the first time today...hope this info helps out. This is not meant to troll or flame, just let you know how it went. First Impression was frustrated and over-whelmed. I've played lots of FPS and MMO over the years. Dust seems like a great concept, but the learning curve is steep. By the time I sat through all the tutorials, I had enough time to play two skirmishes. Both times over-run by superior fire-power and spawn camped. Just my opinion. I would have preferred to get a tutorial on how to fight, capture, and whatever. Let me fight and show me how to level afterward. Let me pick factions afterward. I had no idea what I was picking when I made a character, it didn't mean anything to me. Let me get invested in the fight before I start picking sides. If I lose my equipment when I die, then I should be able to loot corpses. This may be possible, but I do not know how to do it. I'll be back. Thanks for listening. I just want you to know that you're absolutely right, and that the people in these forums will never believe you. I plan on making a very detailed description on what it's like to play this game and make one message clear: The biggest thing this game has against it is how unfriendly it is to new players. Here is a quick list of a few things that all new players need to hear but never will: 1) When you enter combat for the first time, you will be under-powered and under-armored. Your ability to tactically outwit your opponents is irrelevant, because you simply cannot do enough damage to capitalize on good planning. 2) Choosing the correct starting skills is incredibly important, and if you mess it up there is practically no way of being successful without starting over or accepting defeat until you gain enough skill points to cover your mistakes. 3) Even when you're moderately well established, you will run into players who have put more time into the game and simply have better gear than you. The fight will not be fair. It will not be even. The difference in power and defense is so heavily reliant on skill and gear in this game, that there are times you will be out-gunned to the point where you shouldn't even bother trying to fight. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Consider this for a second -- you veteran players know who is here. We all talk, we all understand the game (some better than others), and we're more than likely gonna stick it out until the game comes out. What you don't see are all the people who couldn't make it through those first couple days of hell and gave up on the game entirely. This game was well advertised on PSN and I'm sure many people downloaded it. However, jumping into the game is such a frustrating and annoying experience, that I'm sure many people gave up on it right away. This is the number one problem facing the game, so if you care about how well it does I would make damn sure that you help new players as much as possible. Thanks for seeing my point. This is a deep game, but it almost lost me on day one because I had no idea how to play. I see the point Rhino is making about just jumping in and shooting. I agree with that to a point, and I also concede the point about it being a beta. I never like being the weak link in the chain and going 0/13 and 0/12 right out of the gate sucked. On top of that, I had a pool of skill points that I was asked to dump into bins that I did not understand. I just hate to see good games get written off early because people don't understand how to play. The one thing I will say is there is plenty of help here once you get on to the forum.