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Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
56
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Posted - 2013.04.26 19:57:00 -
[1] - Quote
Proper training and better match making. Saying "heres a gun, HTFU" to newberries gets old.
1 - 5 min training sim (mandatory)
2 - Optional other training sims (DS, HAV etc)
3 - Weapons training areas so people can learn the mechanics before having to invest in them. (also, allow these areas to be adjustable so you can see how the weapons progress at various levels/skills) |
Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
56
|
Posted - 2013.04.26 20:09:00 -
[2] - Quote
Jikt Terlen wrote:I completely agree that this is a major issue, though as others have pointed out many times, this is still a beta. The fact that Uprising is such a huge change from where the game is now shows that many, many things are still in flux. It's still true that a lot of people will hear about Dust, download it, get dumped into a match against multiple squads of veterans, get utterly annihilated and uninstall, and that's unfortunate. Matchmaking would help this, the weapon lab and other out-of-combat practice features will help this, Planetary Conquest and incentives for veterans to spend less time in pub matches will help this. But the fact remains that CCP has a very long view for Dust, and the changes that will really, finally give new players a clear path into Dust may be a long way off still.
That would work in a vacuum but this is the real world. Enough people moving on to the next FPS game and enough bad publicity and the slow death of this game will begin. In the FPS world, pretty much everyone has already heard of DUST so either they have tried it or will be trying it in the near future. That means that there is a small window to get people hooked on the game.
Putting on Marketing Hat: Video games follow the same product adoption process that almost everything else does.
Product Adoption Curve
Innovators - The very first people to get into the game as soon as it went closed beta
Early Adopters - All the closed beta vets
Early Majority - This is the early Open Beta guys
We are now moving into Late Majority now. People can debate all they want about whether the game is commercially released or not but that doesnt matter at all. What matters is what people believe. Once you get into the majority, people dont give a f*ck what its called, they are picking up the sticks and judging the game for what it is. If they have a bad impression, they are gone. You can cry BETA all you want. |
Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
56
|
Posted - 2013.04.26 20:31:00 -
[3] - Quote
DS 10 wrote:Higgs flagrantfool wrote:Canari Elphus wrote:Proper training and better match making. Saying "heres a gun, HTFU" to newberries gets old. LMFAO  this is how it was in my day, and I'm still around (actually I rather enjoyed my time as a nooby, but then perhaps I am some what of an anomaly *shrugs*). Plus, in my day, we had to walk up hill both ways thigh deep in snow just to get to and from a battle.  That may be the case for you, and props for doing it that way, but you're part of the select few. If CCP wants Dust to compete with other FPS titles, they need to do something to get new players interested for longer than a couple days.
Its not just the new guys but the vets as well. There will always be elite squads that can rout a match but it even gets frustrating for them as well. Having it so the only way you can win an ambush is that your squad accounts for 80% of the kills and less than 10% of the deaths gets old really fast. |
Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
59
|
Posted - 2013.04.26 21:05:00 -
[4] - Quote
hooc roht wrote:Canari Elphus wrote:Jikt Terlen wrote:I completely agree that this is a major issue, though as others have pointed out many times, this is still a beta. The fact that Uprising is such a huge change from where the game is now shows that many, many things are still in flux. It's still true that a lot of people will hear about Dust, download it, get dumped into a match against multiple squads of veterans, get utterly annihilated and uninstall, and that's unfortunate. Matchmaking would help this, the weapon lab and other out-of-combat practice features will help this, Planetary Conquest and incentives for veterans to spend less time in pub matches will help this. But the fact remains that CCP has a very long view for Dust, and the changes that will really, finally give new players a clear path into Dust may be a long way off still. That would work in a vacuum but this is the real world. Enough people moving on to the next FPS game and enough bad publicity and the slow death of this game will begin. In the FPS world, pretty much everyone has already heard of DUST so either they have tried it or will be trying it in the near future. That means that there is a small window to get people hooked on the game. Putting on Marketing Hat: Video games follow the same product adoption process that almost everything else does. Product Adoption CurveInnovators - The very first people to get into the game as soon as it went closed beta Early Adopters - All the closed beta vets Early Majority - This is the early Open Beta guys We are now moving into Late Majority now. People can debate all they want about whether the game is commercially released or not but that doesnt matter at all. What matters is what people believe. Once you get into the majority, people dont give a f*ck what its called, they are picking up the sticks and judging the game for what it is. If they have a bad impression, they are gone. You can cry BETA all you want. I think CCP is following more of an MMO approach to Dust then an FPS approach. Should also point out CoD and BF3/4 and Bungie's (makers of Halo by the way) Destiny are shifting their business models closer to an MMO model. Destiny basically is an MMO and CoD and BF3/4 are already using subscription models. The market has changed and is changing for FPSs. I thinking your analysis would have been great for say 2009...but that is not where the market is going. Don't get me wrong Dust can still fail...but it will be because it failed in this new market environment not the old FPS market of 5 years ago.
FPS or MMO, the curve will remain the same. Yes, game makers are shifting the focus of their products because people are demanding more out of them but that really wasnt my point. Rarely do casual purchasers go back to a product that they have had a bad experience with. Sure, you have some people who are dedicated to the cause and are willing to forgive issues, but those are the vocal minority.
DUST's opportunity is now and CCP has to capitalize on this. The reasons for that are as follows:
1 - Lack of competition - COD:BO2 has been out for a little while now and the initial push for gameplay has died down. BF3 is tinkering out as well. There is always Defiance but I have not heard of many people mass migrating to that and away from DUST. This will not be the case forever though. There is Destiny and numerous un-announced games that will be coming out now or within the next year.
2 - Buy in from gaming clans - There are a lot of non-title specific clans that have bought into DUST. The camaraderie of these clans which are now Corps are keeping people in place for now. However, a decision by one of these clans to evacuate the game would see others following which would be a massive amount of high tier player loss. Given that a lot of the casual FPS'ers tend to follow in the wake of these clans, they would eventually move to the next game that becomes popular with said clans.
3 - Its relatively new - The media hype over DUST is now entering its prime. This is the time when they can grab the most potential gamers while it is at the top of the adoption bell curve.
IWS - Products always attract new consumers. Just ask Coca-Cola. However, I guarantee you that when you account for players that leave as well as compare it over the long term, the pattern will still show itself. This became real as soon as DUST became marketed to the mass public with Open Beta. |
Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
59
|
Posted - 2013.04.26 21:58:00 -
[5] - Quote
hooc roht wrote:Canari Elphus wrote:[quote=hooc roht]
FPS or MMO, the curve will remain the same. I think this is where we disagree. Look at minecraft, look at Dayz, look at EVE. Look at what Destiny is trying to be (I mention this because Bungie is a, if not the, original console FPS maker...what they are doing by making an MMO rather then a one shot fps is not some random choice for the fun of it. they see how the curve for community grown MMOs is very different then one shot FPSs) and finally look at the billions that World of Warcraft made for a long long long time. The MMO curve is a broad swath of community building. CCP's experience with EVE and their ever growing for 10 whole years community fits this curve. This is the target CCP is going after. Will they succeed? Who knows.
I think I get where you are coming from. This is actually two different things.
I was speaking about actually acquiring a new customer which is where the curve comes from. It does not take into account how a customer behaves once they have been acquired.
The reason that many of these companies are moving to an MMO style is customer retention. There are only so many times you can jump into a match without it having any type of persisting effect. Many of these developers are drooling over what is called Customer Lifetime Value in marketing. The previous model was that a customer plunks down his/her $60 and maybe pays for a DLC or two. What they are now seeing is that someone who is involved with an MMO can end up spending hundreds over the course of their involvement.
While I agree with the CLV part of it, the key is getting them to stick with the adoption phase. Without that, the long term value is shot. |
Canari Elphus
Pro Hic Immortalis
RISE of LEGION
59
|
Posted - 2013.04.26 22:08:00 -
[6] - Quote
Knarf Black wrote:Marston VC wrote:Bling Blaine wrote:Easy fix would be a simple matchmaker
Nuff said That "simple matchmaker" is a little more complicated to make then you or I probably think it is bud Especially considering how complicated Dust is compared to say, Halo. Bungie created a truly amazing matchmaking system over the course of their franchise, but the players in a given Halo match are all on relatively equal footing, which makes it easy for the game to determine who the better players are. Win often against better players and you move up in the system's rankings (which are crucially hidden from the player), lose against total n00bs and you drop like a stone. The Dust metagame and deep RPG elements would completely break such a system. CCP has their work cut out for them.
Which is why they need PVE. There needs to be something for everyone. If you arent that great at the gun-game side, you can still have fun playing in other ways. |
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