Ivan Avogadro wrote:I honestly believe there are problems beyond the gameplay mechanics that need to be addressed to make the game more fundamentally sound. The only major gameplay element is to out kill your enemy. People have grumbled about this before, that even the game modes that have asset objectives (Skirmish and Domination) you can revert to out killing rather than out performing your enemy.
Whatever the intention for the Scout, Logistics, or Sentinel classes were and whatever the intentions for the Pilot and Commando classes are, everyone will simply figure out the best way to DPS. Everyone is just a different shaped Assault at the moment.
Organic battles, like the one in EVE several months ago that had over 2000 players, simply canGÇÖt occur in DUST. We are unable to storm enemy planets without a 24hr warning timer. We canGÇÖt abandon a lost cause or initiate a route to a different district. The only strategy is: announce yourself, show up tomorrow to fight, and play in a normal Skirmish mode. Why canGÇÖt I log in, look at my Starmap for a warzone, and drop into a massive fight? What other FPS, or MMO for that matter, operates on a day long timer? In EVE you are allowed to fly around and attack whoever you stumble upon. In DUST I need to stand in a queue for several minutes with a list of my allies and opponents readily available. ThatGÇÖs how a sporting event works, not a paramilitary operation.
Another problem is that players in DUST donGÇÖt really own any assets on a map, which is why objective play is hard to achieve currently. Defenders technically GÇ£ownGÇ¥ the whole map, but there are no individual assets really worth protecting aside from GÇ£half+1 lone cannonsGÇ¥. If there were legitimate assets that held meaningful impact on the flow of battle, people would gladly sacrifice themselves in order to hold them. Planetside understood this, and gave players military bases to defend and attack. Getting inside a PS base was tough work, and laying a hack deep inside was worse. Then if you did turn it to your side, it required time to bring all its functions online (like the spawn beacon or vehicle depot). In DUST, all you have is empty building one or empty building two, and each maybe has a good vantage point. But if you get kicked out of a GÇ£good spotGÇ¥ in DUST there is no reason to go take it back if it will cost more clones. The maps are almost completely non-interactive.