I never understood why some folks think that the graphics back then were better than the graphics we have now. Yes, there were folks that actually said that. I have been around since Replication build early last year and I have seen the videos from the 2009 Fanfest regarding Dust 514 back when it was operating under the Carbon Engine and back before Microsoft tried to shaft CCP's wallet (which led to the PS3 exclusivity).

The graphics back in 2009 were just from the Carbon Engine which is actually an entire gaming architecture that CCP created mainly for Eve Online. If you look closely, the graphics were nowhere near as good as some people make it out to be. The level of details were limited such as the assault rifle which looked really bland and the ground textures didn't look all that crisp compared to now. The sound effects were also not that great either back then. Then there are the lame rag doll physics that you saw in the 2009 Fanfest demos that made them look like they fell like a 2-ton sack of potatoes going straight down. Of course, the current rag doll physics we have now is a bit buggy, but your body fell appropriately depending on how you were moving every now and then.

Let's also not forget that those old videos were tested with only a limited number of players (extremely limited) and within a test server that was most likely in Duality or other. Yes, you read correctly. Duality. Tranquility and Singularity are not the only servers that CCP operates. If you look at www.eve-offline.net you will see a large number of minor servers that CCP controls that can be used for anything. Keep in mind that Tranquility is the only LIVE server in the list which is where Eve and Dust players are operating in now. So this may have played a factor on how fluid the earlier gameplay looked back then considering that the game back then didn't have to worry about too much lagg and stuff like that. But once you put a game into the LIVE server, things change.

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 stated that things change once the game went into the Live server.

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

Ah, ok. I misread. I injured my toe earlier and the pain is still distracting me.

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'm still interested to see what their new hire from Dice will add into the mix, particularly when you consider that one of the games on his resume is Battlefield 2142, a game that Dust would benefit greatly from integrating more concepts from.

Anyone else want to be able to board and capture the enemy MCC in PC instead of just blowing it up?

Damn right, I have been mentioning this for a while. It may be what turns this game around. Ha we can hope.

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.

dude......i need some of your motivation and enthusiasm to rub off on me....everything you wrote is spot on...i just wish i could see the bigger picture...its really hard for me to do that with anything

Nope but hopefully a visit from the PS2 bomber will cheer me up.

This thread needs to stay at the top until it gets some dev responses. Great job, Jack. You hit the right notes on every level.

CCP, if you can deliver on the promises you've made over the years, this will be a game that I'll be proud to say I supported. But until that glorious day of fulfillment comes, you'll need to do everything in your power to reassure us, the dedicated players, that you have not lost sight of the dream that was, and is, Dust 514.

-1 for reminding me of those videos. Now I'm sad...

God, I remember seeing that video when it first came out, I was so damn excited for THAT game. Then as we got closer, more epic trailers like the 'EVE Forever' and 'Mercenary' videos came out and we all got giddy.

Then the closed beta came out, and I think everyone who got in had a moment of "...wuuuuhh?"

I enjoy DUST, i bought a PS3 just to play it, but...I seriously miss THAT game. CCP put so much work into it, only to realize the PS3 couldn't handle the game engine, so everything had to be remade for Unreal, and with Sony demanding a release, we got a partially-finished game.

The dev's put on a brave face, but I think this whole thing has worn on them too. I doubt they're happy about the whole situation either.

Still, I have faith in CCP, and hope for the game.

And if a dev reads this...why don't you just use the player model from the trailers as the Caldari scout suit? You already made it, and it looks great.

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.

they don't like where they're at? This whole time I thought this was where they planned to be at right now and the only reason they've decided to do monthly updates is because the community was tired of CCP's BS

The guys who are leading the team right now are the same guys that showed off all that cool stuff for the stage demos in past FanFests, and who seemed legitimately psyched about being able to offer all of that.

Do you really think they're happy with how things are now?

I can tell you from experience that there's a difference between providing an appearance of acceptance and solidarity out of necessity for marketing purposes, and what someone really thinks.

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.

Im taking a quote from someone else that I saw the other day which I think sums up quite well "this game is not a sprint it is a marathon and im going to enjoy every mile."

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

There is a lot of work that needs to go into this, but otherwise, it has improved on this point since chromosome.