I have a lot of sympathy for folks who feel the way Duran does. I don't agree, however, that it is in the interest of the DUST 514 player community or CCP to leave the players he's talking about by the wayside.

Any community needs new members to thrive and grow. Most people, especially when an activity is supposed to be fun, don't want to make big changes in their lives to get to the fun part. If you like playing miniature golf with your friends and have a choice between a close-by but easy course and a more challenging course an hour's drive away most folks will go for the close-by course GÇô unless something about the drive is fun too. DUST 514 has to make the trip to the deeper game fun for as many players as possible.

Overcoming a series of increasingly difficult challenges is more engaging than being thrown into the deep end of the pool and being forced to face a big, life-threatening challenge. Challenges crafted so they not only bring immediate rewards but also reveal new ways to be rewarded can give the player insight into new ways to have fun.

Here are some examples...

You kill a drop ship by heroically ramming it with your LAV just after it gets dropped off by the RDV. You tell all your friends about the epic engagement. And for a few days the smouldering wrecks of the two vehicles are still there on the battlefield for you to show off.

You're trying to break thorough the enemies defence in your tank but they are tucked behind a row of low hills. Your heavy guns chip away at the hill and destroy their cover. You team pours through and takes the base. When you return to the planet the hills are still gone.

You are a combat engineer and block the compound gates with containers. You loose a lot of drop suits and gear but the compound is saved. You're blockade stays in place and your team pesters you to clear the road.

In all those cases your exploits are recorded in the history at your DUST 514 website. You can review them, share them, work to improve your performance , or laugh about your epic fail.

Notice that each of these examples does several things.

• It provides a persistent link between your charater and it's public history.
• It provides a way to share your experience with your friends.
• It shows players they can change the world in which they play.
• It reinforces that the changes players make impact the teams and corporations they play for
• It gives a way for their history to impact the way those teams and corporations view them.

Taken together they send a message that the player is part of a bigger community and makes a difference to it.

Even with all of that some folks won't get it, won't care or won't like the idea. But many more won't get it if we have no mechanism in place to foster their progress.