DUST Search - Two Things I Noticed About Those Supporting Respecs

Maken Tosch wrote:

Over the course of 12 calendar months I have been observing the folks around here on the forums to see why so many of them have posted constant requests for an optional respec system. During that time I have noticed that there are two sides of these supporters.

First Side: Misplaced SP

This is a very common one, but not as common as the other one. These people say that they have misspent their available SP into skills that didn't work out for them and thus feel that they should be allowed to rearrange the few SP they misplaced into other skills they are interested in. The opponents of this would say that choices need to have meaning and that requires accepting permanent consequences of those choices whether you failed to do your research or not. I am among those who against respeccing over the excuse of missplaced SP mainly because we are operating under the rules of New Eden that have been established for ten years already.

However, there is one compromise I found in regards to this. I thought about it and figured this may be a proper solution.

Source:
https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=86041&find=unread

Major Lee High wrote:

Skillback Booster (3 days) - Fits into Passive Booster slot. Returns ~300,000 sp and only one skill can have it on at a time, as long as there are no skills that depend on it. You can't use the skill and lose it's bonuses once its active. If the booster timer expires before the skill points are returned, you lose all remaining skill points for that skill. Passive SP gains are disabled while this booster is active.

I find this to be completely fair and something that will suit those who misplaced their SP. Please note that this is not a typical respec primarily because it is slowly pulling away SP from a skill book and you are forced to lose precious time that you would have used gaining the passive SP. It also increases the risk of potentially losing some of the SP you already gain if you misuse it. The discussion is still going on. In addition to that, CCP Cmdr Wang noted that this is being looking into.

Source:
https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1009985#post1009985

CCP Cmdr Wang wrote:

[SUGGESTION] Skillback booster
Update: An intriguing idea that the dev team will discuss further.

Second Side: Respecs Make It More Fun

This is the most common excuse we see. To be honest with you, this will just make the game more boring much quicker in a game that is suppose to take 7-10 years to max out. Besides, there are better alternatives to this if these people are looking for more fun. Some of the alternatives can be implemented now or within the next 2 months (considering 1.3 is content locked).

1. Better Matchmaking.
2. District owners to change the layout of the structures and installations of their districts for PC battles.
3. Trade window of sorts since we already have ISK transfers.
4. Bringing back Skirmish 1.0 - https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=89032
5. Fighters and hover bikes.
6. The cloaking equipment module. This is mentioned in the Dev Blogs.
7. The bubble shield equipment module. This is mentioned in the Dev Blogs.
8. More racial variant suits, vehicles, and weapons.
9. Ability to commingle with other mercs without having to go into battle.
10. Better tutorials.
11. Basic frame suits with some minor bonuses so they won't be so useless.
12. Some basic form of PVE against rogue drones.
13. Remove the entire red zone that covers the entire terrain during factional warfare or during PC battles but keep the red zone for public matches.
14. Fix hit detection and aiming.
15. Resolve the issues of the constant disconnects.

These and more can do more than enough give players more content, more fun, and will likely help retain more players introduced to Dust 514. As you can see, the respec is not the end-all-be-all of game development. Halo doesn't have a respec system and that game is doing just fine because of the content alone.

In conclusion, there are better alternatives to those in both side of the pro-respec camp.


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Mobius Wyvern BetaMax. CRONOS. 2446	Posted - 2013.07.13 18:54:00 - [1] - Quote Maken Tosch wrote: Over the course of 12 calendar months I have been observing the folks around here on the forums to see why so many of them have posted constant requests for an optional respec system. During that time I have noticed that there are two sides of these supporters. First Side: Misplaced SP This is a very common one, but not as common as the other one. These people say that they have misspent their available SP into skills that didn't work out for them and thus feel that they should be allowed to rearrange the few SP they misplaced into other skills they are interested in. The opponents of this would say that choices need to have meaning and that requires accepting permanent consequences of those choices whether you failed to do your research or not. I am among those who against respeccing over the excuse of missplaced SP mainly because we are operating under the rules of New Eden that have been established for ten years already. However, there is one compromise I found in regards to this. I thought about it and figured this may be a proper solution. Source: https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=86041&find=unread Major Lee High wrote: Skillback Booster (3 days) - Fits into Passive Booster slot. Returns ~300,000 sp and only one skill can have it on at a time, as long as there are no skills that depend on it. You can't use the skill and lose it's bonuses once its active. If the booster timer expires before the skill points are returned, you lose all remaining skill points for that skill. Passive SP gains are disabled while this booster is active. I find this to be completely fair and something that will suit those who misplaced their SP. Please note that this is not a typical respec primarily because it is slowly pulling away SP from a skill book and you are forced to lose precious time that you would have used gaining the passive SP. It also increases the risk of potentially losing some of the SP you already gain if you misuse it. The discussion is still going on. In addition to that, CCP Cmdr Wang noted that this is being looking into. Source: https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1009985#post1009985 CCP Cmdr Wang wrote: [SUGGESTION] Skillback booster Update: An intriguing idea that the dev team will discuss further. Second Side: Respecs Make It More Fun This is the most common excuse we see. To be honest with you, this will just make the game more boring much quicker in a game that is suppose to take 7-10 years to max out. Besides, there are better alternatives to this if these people are looking for more fun. Some of the alternatives can be implemented now or within the next 2 months (considering 1.3 is content locked). 1. Better Matchmaking. 2. District owners to change the layout of the structures and installations of their districts for PC battles. 3. Trade window of sorts since we already have ISK transfers. 4. Bringing back Skirmish 1.0 - https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=89032 5. Fighters and hover bikes. 6. The cloaking equipment module. This is mentioned in the Dev Blogs. 7. The bubble shield equipment module. This is mentioned in the Dev Blogs. 8. More racial variant suits, vehicles, and weapons. 9. Ability to commingle with other mercs without having to go into battle. 10. Better tutorials. 11. Basic frame suits with some minor bonuses so they won't be so useless. 12. Some basic form of PVE against rogue drones. 13. Remove the entire red zone that covers the entire terrain during factional warfare or during PC battles but keep the red zone for public matches. 14. Fix hit detection and aiming. 15. Resolve the issues of the constant disconnects. These and more can do more than enough give players more content, more fun, and will likely help retain more players introduced to Dust 514. As you can see, the respec is not the end-all-be-all of game development. Halo doesn't have a respec system and that game is doing just fine because of the content alone. In conclusion, there are better alternatives to those in both side of the pro-respec camp. As another example of your second point, Hawken - which is currently in Open Beta - uses an experience system wherein you only earn XP for a single asset at a time while it is in use. Each asset can be leveled to a maximum of 25, and XP from one asset cannot be transfered to another. Thus, just like in Dust, once you reach that max, anyone who is also at that limit will be evenly matched with you, and you cannot go any higher. What you see most of the time in that game is players picking up new mechs to max out, and thus making themselves more verstatile. Dust is not the only game that uses this type of progression system, as you can see, and Hawken is doing quite well, so any arguments that this leads to a stale game experience or will drive away players are rather misguided.