Rowley Pup
Kang Lo Directorate
Gallente Federation
0
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Posted - 2013.05.08 04:26:00 -
[1] - Quote
First, I'd like to mention that I've played EVE for many years. Never been deep in the alliance/null side of things, but I have been enjoying fighting for the Matar Republic in FW. I enjoy EVE, and I know what it's like to lose my stuff... and believe me, I've lost a lot. I've also played MAG extensively, with a large group of friends, and quite enjoy large meta-games, like DUST and MAG. Considering that, I'm not sure I understand what CCP is attempting to do with DUST. Believe me, I want DUST to succeed. I want to invite my console/MAG friends into my small FW corp and play together (either from space or on the ground). But I just don't see how CCP is going to win the general console crowd over with the current situation in DUST.
I got into the DUST beta months ago, made a merc and didn't enjoy the poor optimization, so I took a break. I've been sitting on a large pile of skill points and came back today to try the new patch out. I pumped a bunch of points into HAV and set my skills up to begin my push into Dropships, and have been playing all day. I did a mix of driving and footslogging, and ultimately came away with more frustration than I can remember having in an recent FPS game.
The thing CCP seems to have failed at, is the balance between old and new players. In EVE, it doesn't take long to get into a solid PvE boat, or a solid PvP boat, and this is because, those veteran players are limited in how many of their skills they have trained that can be put to use vs a new player. DUST seems to utterly fail in this point. I believe it would have been better if CCP had simply stuck with the EVE method of handling skills, but it seems that in their push to entice more money out of the pockets of DUST players (boosters), the skill system has been warped a little. What we have, is a game, with a lot of skill point dumps, and a vastly unbalanced playing field when considering new vs old.
The FPS genre is a different beast than the MMORPG world. I know DUST is an attempt at merging the two but I just dont think we will see DUST survive in it's current situation. It gets a lot right, but it also get a lot more wrong. It's fairly absurd when a new player, in medium armor, dies to a player in light armor, because the light armored player has 5 times a much armor as the new guy. I'm not saying dumb it down, but I am saying that something has to be done to fix this disparity. The new guys need to be allowed to figure the game out in those crappy starter kits before being expected to patiently handle the bigger aspect of the game. The battles in DUST are a small part of the entire experience in DUST, but for those new players, it's all they know, and they deserve a chance to learn, as you all did, before being forced to watch their bullets bounce off a lighter armored foe.
I think the easiest way to fix this is to rework the skill charts, provide more branches, and allow for a wider diversity of builds (like EVE does), as this will limit the number of skill points a player will be able to bring to bear in any given loadout; this would give an older player more diversity in play than a new player, but maintain some semblance of balance between old and new in a firefight situation. This would also mean that CCP should drop the entire booster concept, so that they do not become distracted with the money that manipulating skill progression will bring.
Now, for those of you who have actually read the entire post, and are preparing your arguments, take a breath and consider that this game will live or die by those new players. You guys have the luxury of playing for a while now, and you've been allowed to ease into the game, as the balance between old and new has become much larger in the time you've been playing. For the time being, I'm sad to say, but I am not sure I want to convince my friends to try DUST just yet, as first impressions are everything, and I fear that I will lose my window to convince them to play. |