but I want discussion. I want people to tell me if this is how they think the game should be, and if they want it to be, or otherwise.

Nonetheless, I see your point :p

I was wondering when you were going to show up. Feel better now?

Basing your statements about performance of the "original build" on its stage demo doesn't really make a lot of sense. That's a very limited and controlled environment with none of the factors that go into a live game.

Which is why I made a further statement to support your own. I wasn't contradicting you.

It's awesome (: It's almost as great as it looked four years ago! Great stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIPDUh7NmM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvZawAaliSA

Seriously, CCP. You will never stop balancing and rebalancing weapons and dropsuits, and granted, many of them are extremely underpowered and many are overpowered. But that's how it is in EVE too, and DUST needs to catch up with that kind of playerbase to make this game a game worth playing. The above trailers showed extremely basic combat, but in compensation for that, it has incredible ideas implemented. Sensor booster installations! Commander MCCs! Do you realize that the new Black Ops or something is going to have something similar - and even are going to call it the 'Commander mode'? Do you really want your incredible idea to look like a copy of something like BLACK OPS??!! I don't!!!

The current gameplay shows no depth whatsoever. Mercenaries fight over repeated landscapes without interest. We were promised one universe, one shard. The only thing communicated across the two games of EVE and DUST is the fact that we can tell EVE players to nuke about fifty meters of space... after getting something like 1500 war points. There is no depth. Keep the instant battles for new players, but you cannot have exactly the same map on two different planets - it just doesn't happen, and I expect better of the people who invented EVE. I say expected, because I know this is a developing game, and things take time. But you need to sort out your priorities.

The gameplay is fine. People complain about it, it can be terrible, but it works. Now you have to remember why people play this game. Space mercenaries going anywhere, with as much freedom as the capsuleers themselves, roaming the universe. Why is there an MCC? What's the point? Why do we randomly appear cloaked on the battlefield? Oh, gameplay. That's a fair excuse for games these days - but not an CCP game. That's why CCP is so much better than the rest of the gaming world. Each ship in EVE stays true to its size, and each function has a reason and purpose - and beyond that, it makes sense. Let MCC's be player commandable, let them be shielded, give them the achilles heel of low fuel like you said you would all those years ago in 2011 in the blog by CCP Remnant here: http://dust514.com/news/blog/2011/11/the-future-of-war-dust-514s-mobile-command-center-mcc/. That was a good, and inspired method of gameplay! Why isn't it here?

Instead, I feel a shallow shooter that is loosely themed around the EVE Universe. But it isn't the EVE Universe. And I truly wish it were.

I will continue to play this game, but I have to say it is wearing on me. I am constantly being reminded over the time I've put into this game and the little rewards I've been given. Why play this game when all I can get is shallow entertainment over the glorious depth of EVE. Already I've pulled out of the game substantially, and am rarely hitting the skill cap. And still I play too much some say. I am inclined to agree with them. But it would be okay if I could brag about how deep this game is, how extraodinary its stories are and really tell people about how games can be as interesting and thought provoking as any fast paced and intellectual book or movie. EVE gives me that experience. Let DUST have it too.

When I began playing this game, I saw an amazing dream of mercenaries dropping onto hostile planets from orbit, Starships quietly relaying information to them. I saw their tactics and chess like strategies as they tried to out think their opponents more than they tried to outgun them. MCCs quietly hidden behind mountain ranges with fuel depots supporting it, an array of sensor boosters on the top of the mountain giving the taskforce the information they needed to take the base. All the while the defenders are trying to find where their base is, and more importantly, their MCC. They call in favors and cash to bring in Starships of their own, and the fight truly begins. Maps as big as the world is, limited by only how much is was really worth going. Why would you need a redline when the enemies are the other way? When the loot is the other way... When the wealth to fuel empires is in your hands. You could fly over to another continent, but why? Still, it is a big map, and vehicles are needed. LAVs and speeders deploy them relatively close to call in HAVs, while the aerial vehicles reconnaissance and set up small outposts to supply troops. This fight isn't planned. It isn't scheduled. It comes out of nowhere, and like in EVE, troops of both sides need to gather themselves to fight. The battle of the mind more than the battle of brute strength. There could be plenty of other explorations and industrial operations as is seen fit. But this is an FPS and this is what I see makes it an FPSMMO.

Again, thank you so much for this game, CCP. It has been an honour to play in your closed beta, and I am enjoying seeing it grow every month. But I may decide I will have to come back to it when its ready, which unfortunately, it clearly isn't yet. Till then, you can find me flying in the stars, and fighting on the ground.

I hope you share the same dream for this game as I do.

I don't think they like where they're at right now either, given everything they said they wanted to have by this point even at FanFest last year.

I'm betting they're making that new model because using the old ones wouldn't really fit with the design direction they have now, or something to that effect. Honestly, I prefer the concept art they've shown for the Caldari Light better anyway.

When I think of Dust, I try and think of what EVE was 10 years ago and what it is today. I don't play EVE online but I have had conversations with people who say it was pretty basic back then and has evolved quite a bit.

I truly and honestly hope I can tell a similar story about Dust 10 years from now. The future seems bright, we just have to enjoy the ride.

I want it to be a serious tactical MMO where teamwork is valued above personal gun skill.

Well said.

However, I think we can both agree that a marathon works best over a good, solid path.

I think it's important to strike a balance. We are, of course, talking about being super-soldiers that are faster, stronger, and overall better than normal humans.

I think that's why most of us were psyched to hear about an upcoming Skirmish 3.0 that takes many of the design elements of 1.0 into account. I, for instance, love the idea of allowing an MCC to be fitted just like any other vehicle, with the caveat mentioned in the DevBlog of needing enough power to let it run all its equipment. With the full 5x5 km maps made available, you could have multiple power stations on the map that could be hacked to transmit power to the MCC, as can be seen occuring in some of the concept art that has been released.

CCP said at FanFest a few months ago that their yearly theme for this year was "Focus". As far as it appears to me right now, I don't think that focus is on the right goals.

Dust can have perfect "mechanics" and unique features like deep vehicle and suit customization, but it will always be "just another shooter" unless you guys capitalize on the biggest trump card you seem to want to keep hidden under your deck: EVE.

We all came into this looking to be mercenaries hired my starship-piloting PC players who would build and sell all the gear we needed on the largest player-driven market in the industry, roaming the stars in massive War Barges that carry all our gear and deploy our MCCs, while also providing support drops of turrets, supply depots, and CRUs.

We came into this looking to be able to stake our own claims on planets, and not just have a square on the map interface, but a massive chunk of land that we could build on the way we wanted, and that we could defend with the use of powerful cannons that could bring those PC guys in EVE to their knees with one shot.

Concepts like that are what had all those industry guys you used to do so many interviews with psyched about this game, because those are the things that had never been done before, and would make Dust 514 completely unique among shooters.

I'm saying your focus is misplaced because no matter what is done on the Dust we have now to make it "competitive" will leave it as another sci-fi shooter in an ocean of them.

When you guys first showed off Dust, and for a year or so afterward, that Dust logo always had "EVE" in it, and that's what your focus needs to be on, because that's what all of us are here for. We're here for an MMOFPS that doesn't try to be it's own universe, but actually delivers on what you said you wanted it to be: a brand new window into the already vibrant universe you've spent 10 years building with us.

I'm all for the concept of "Focus", but I think it's time to get back to "Deliver".

Why did they make it officially released so early anyways?

That's the $64,000 question. My theory is that they were getting pushed by the impending release of next gen consoles and wanted the game to grow its player base before everyone focused on the PS4 games. Probably also other reasons having to do with what men in suits who care only about money wanted.

Did you guys all sign up for your Dust 514 fanboi cards???

If anyone seriously thinks this is a good game the I feel sorry for you as your gaming experience must be pathetically small.

I'm a fanboy




...of boobs...




...and cake.

This...expresses my hopes for Dust.

Well, after yet another match of LAV + Flaylock spam by stacked proto teams amid various game bugs and other assorted fail I realised I can't play more than 2 matches in a row without quitting out in rage and wishing explosive diarrhea on the whole dev team. I even tried afking in the MCC for slackass-SP gain and even this made me angry.

Time for a long, long ragecation from this toilet of a game. I really really really tried to like Dust and my OCD pushed me far past my usual BS tolerance levels but enough is enough. I think this game has even managed to poison my enjoyment of EVE.

I'll look in on 1.3 to see if its some sort of cosmic miracle that fixes the 20 greatest issues of the game. With common sense suggesting this is unlikely I think I'll say goodbye for 6 months and check back to see if CCP have developed a clue.

That's actually the position I'm in due to not currently having a PS3 available. I've only been able to play the game when I visit a friend of mine, but those play sessions usually last no less than 6 hours, so I've been getting a good idea as to the mechanics of each patch.

http://flewda.cghub.com/images/

It's a debatable source. Either way, I wouldn't source your claims on it.

Yeah, there was earlier concept art of this both at FanFest and other designer galleries.