Arramakaian Eka
Tronhadar Free Guard
Minmatar Republic
379
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Posted - 2013.04.21 17:57:00 -
[1] - Quote
As Mr Knife above said, in FPSs player skill rules above all, and that's how it should be in Dust as well. Dust must not have pub matches where proto geared mercs can pub stomp militia geared noobs.
Now, there are two ways to get there: matchmaking or skill system design.
Matchmaking can utilize gear or SP limitations, or group players in matches based on lifetime WP or SP. The problem with these is that they fit the EVE universe poorly. SP/WP limitations are hard to justify. I can see that secure space may be so tightly controlled that mercs can't bring higher than milita gear in.
Even if RP/lore reasons are ignored entirely, matchmaking solutions will fragment the player base. Dust in its current state is not a high-population game, so fragmenting the player base will lengthen queues for everyone, more games need to launch without full teams, and you end up playing against the same people all the time. Things get progressively worse the higher WP/SP or better gear you get.
If we some day get more game modes in addition to FW and PC, it will split the playerbase further, making MM even harder. Matchmaking in Dust needs a lot of love, but we haven't seen any improvement since August when I started. Therefore I don't see SP/WP/gear limitation as a solution in the short or medium term.
I feel the best solution is to have a skill progression which is a shallow curve, ie. difference in damage output and survivability between a 100k SP character and 10m SP character can't be dramatic. Same with militia gear and proto gear. CCP did the right thing when they did just that, and Dust must not go back to the way it was - we'll see how Uprising changes things.
I know you EVE players and MMORPG fans cry foul. Many don't find the notion of getting owned in a proto suit by a skilled FPS player in militia gear distasteful, and find a level playing field against MMO design principles. But Dust is an FPS first and foremost: it survives or dies based on its FPS gameplay mechanics. No FPS out there has steep character skill curves. There's a good reason for it: FPSs are about player skill, not who has the most time to put into the game, or who puts in most hours to grind for gear.
Note that corp battles should be looked at separately. Also, organized corp teams will always be able to pub stomp, although this can be discouraged or eliminated with matchmaking if deemed necessary. But that's another discussion. |