I wondered if there was a plan to apply some scaling system to SP caps in terms of people under 7 or 5 million lifetime SP. That way the veterans will still have their SP advantage and newer players can at least be competitive while playing.

Something like sub 3 million you have 500k cap. 3-5 million you have a 400k cap. Then 5-7 million you have a 300k cap.

Militia & standard gear only matches. Much better.

This would potentially solve everything.

Militia & standard gear only matches. Much better.

Gear isn't the issue. It's what people want to blame when they either don't know or don't want to admit what the real issue is.

Dust, and EVE for that matter, are a lot like real life. You have to play within your means. Know what you're capable of and stay out of situations that you are incapable of handling. You can't go Rambo in Dust. It won't end well for you..

If you aren't in a squad and you are getting wrecked by proto's then get in a squad. If you are in a squad and you are still getting wrecked by proto's then odds are their squad is just better. It ain't the gear.

I played a string of 4 games today without a single squad being formed on my team and absolute silence on team chat. I'll give you 3 guesses how that went. THAT'S the real problem.

Besides if gear was the be-all-end-all then how is it that I can take out 100k+ isk proto suits in 2 or 3 hits with a 600 isk militia shotgun suit?

A standard gear only game mode would help a lot.. however.. given how many different weapons are adv tier only.. I think that would be a better standard to follow.

i.e. Exclude proto gear from IB.

Adv gear is fairly quick to skill into, so new players should be competitive pretty quick. This way every weapon can be used in IB, just not the proto variants.

Maybe exclude adv plus from the academy though, until people get comfortable, they have less to think about.

Then lift the 10k WP requirement, leave it at 2m SP, and allow an option to queue into academy, as well as, normal IB until 2m SP at which point academy disappears.

and... we're good to go.

But I doubt there is enough of a playerbase to actually support breaking it up too much, as it is on the oceanic servers many of the game modes are nearly empty and every game against the same ppl constantly.

This would potentially solve everything.

ok this **** needs to go away, the difference between 30m sp and 999m sp is insignificant it only allows you to run more stuff.

past a certain point you are as powerful as every one else just less adaptable. So no, new players should not be allowed to catch up with vets, that said they do need a little more love in the beginning then just the academy battles maybe a lower pay out matches that are gear limited to std??

Militia & standard gear only matches. Much better.