u do know that there is only one 3 point map right?? i think it would get really boring really fast, and as for the 8v8 i dont know about that either, what ccp needs to do is bring back corp battles, where corporations looking to be competitive can specify a time, number of players and a wager, but i do agree that ccp should open a new pc region though.

how often were the old battles 8v8, couldnt u always just bring a full 16 if u had the people??

Also, I would point out that the 16 person team doesn't have to be fielded from a single corp. Make some friends, put out some feelers. There are probably a lot of corps in that situation. Contact some of the corps with few districts and play with them, convince them you're good, and offer to assist in future attacks or defenses

While you do make a good point, I'd argue that in a gaming world where BIGGER is better, it would be better for DUST 514 to allow MORE players onto the battlefield with larger maps. And as I've stated. Open World.

Smaller teams will allow a smaller team of 'crack troops' to control even more territory. While you cater to small corps, the large corps that already dominate would be able to spread their influence even further... with the ability to DOUBLE their PC teams. Giving smaller corps an even harder time getting in, as they suddenly face a world where EVERY district is held by top-ranking corps.

Numerical Superiority is a valid tactic, and one that SHOULD be employed in this game. You have 400, they have 900... You MAY still be able to win... but geez would it be a good fight.

So, I vote no to smaller scale, and want to see the game upscaled.

Larger numbers, larger maps, more tactics and strategy, and the removal of the 'built in' match timers we have at the moment. Battle should last until the invading force has lost it ability to fight.

Good thoughts and suggestions but ultimately like in EVE those who are the best at what they do will own the lions share of...well everything and will always have the vision to keep taking whatever they can.

Doesn't mean the lion wont rip his face off and stuff the rest of his mangled corpse down its throat.....

A restructuring of PC battles is definitely needed. They don't currently feel at all like a conquest when fighting smaller corps and when facing groups from the top of the Leaderboards they can often be extremely challenging. Current mechanics allow, anyone dedicated to ruining a Corp, the ability to force mercs into a situation where they have to be online during their timer window or lose the district, causing a burnout effect when facing a stronger corp or one that has more isk. This battle of wills can cause a problem for mercs economically if they lose their battles as well as if they win as they are forced to field the best gear possible, totalling in the millions range for tank drivers, often totalling 2-5 million for players with who suffer massive losses whether they are in a tank or not.

A two fold solution to the problem should be made available, rather than just more seats at the table, the value of PC districts should be increased to allow mercs to deploy to their district at any time for a undetermined length of time that. This would allow us to train for PC and also explore our planets. This would allow an implementation of PVE to be actively pursued by devs and remove our shackles of Lobby matches in which we are all starting to hate Scotty the matchmaker a little more each patch.

Part two of this fix would allow mercs to board Eve spaceships for transport to planetary surfaces or to buy tickets to planets where the battles occurring in High Sec space could be "observed" and interacted with as they are happening. Would you flood the battlefield with Corp mates and wreck two other teams of mercenaries focused on killing each other in an ambush where you need no lobby timer around infrastructure you have no plans on controlling? Or would you bring with you a backup force to help support an overwhelmed Team fight back from the brink of destruction and secure the infrastructure against the attacking or defending team? Only time will tell.

Deploying without the need for a PC battle to the planet's surface is key for both parts of this solution and would solve many issues people are having about boredom, frustration and an inability to train for PC in a meaningful way. Since we are without a test server I suggest open the worlds. Open station doors to the possibility that Eve // Dust is One Universe // One War, isn't it time to walk side by side?

Okay I really like the ideas, but feel that a smaller team is not the answer. The answer is to make a varying size of battle based on map size, not just reduce the team size. It should allow for matches on districts varying from 4vs4 to 100vs100 and varying clone count maximums appropriately. This allows for a uniquely tactical style of PC battle instead of one size fits all. This would also allow for more corp participation in corps who have both many and few PC ready players.

Who is to say this couldn't be a thriving game (5k+-2k at a time doesn't count) on the PS3. Wouldn't the ability to have larger battles and smaller battles draw in a bigger audience with a few more options? I also feel that although it is a big undertaking, the open world idea should be given more thought and at least extended in small parts not only on Dust but Eve as well. With Rubicon on it's way (November 19th) the Dev conversations on Twitch.tv have led me to the conclusion that this is the direction they are headed sometime in the future if not tomorrow or the next day which I agree is a fairly agressesive aproach to the situation considering walking in stations (not in MQ or the Captains Quarters) will take a fair bit of design and testing to get right considering they are not only tweaking the Dust universe should it happen but the Eve universe as well.

This is of course something I believe they have implied by the advertisement of One Universe // One War campaign and feel that it would greatly increase CCP's market share in the genre that it has seemed to dominate and really mold over the last 10 years leading to expansion and growth we are now seeing. World of Darkness and Dust being only two of the projects that have come out of diligent work and careful planning of Eve to create a solid revenue stream to be able to do this sort of thing. The massive undertaking to mold each world has already been partially completed with the system to randomize map making and implement variations for each planet surface along with a reduction in map sizes originally during closed beta due to the real need to have smaller maps to be able to find targets to shoot has brought us to what we have today. With the implementation of an open world system the redzones would be removed and it would be necessary to use vehicles to get around, something I know many people really do not care for but are here to stay.

Many people have been asking for the new vehicles slated to come out such as fighters and speeders. The addition of open world game mode would allow these types of vehicles the ability to really shine, both for solo PVEers on speeders looking for drones to kill and for Fighter Pilots travelling long distances on reconnaissance or bombing/fire support missions for teams engaged in battle and allow a meaningful use for the dropships we have now for transporting troops. Can you imagine what it would be like to have an air borne company flying the ground troops in to battle in pythons with fighters escorting them to the battle field on a neighboring corporation's district while they are busy fighting off some overly aggressive drones?

Rome wasn't built in a day and I know Dust won't be completed in one either. This is all just feedback on where we want the game to go, better ideas should make a better game, unfortunately we have to start somewhere. I believe the randomly sized districts and battles is a good place to start as well as allowing us to explore planets. We don't need to start off being able to ambush a group of mercs already doing battle right away but I feel the move away from a solely lobby based shooter will add some uniqueness to the game as well as allow us the ability to really enjoy the fantastic maps that we have only ever been able to see small portions of. Dust is somewhat unique in the aspect that we have the choice to tell devs what we want to see done with our universe we are creating. This is what I absolutely love about the game.

The problem with this is that it still won't really bring smaller corps into meaningful PC. PC requires a lot of logistics and diplomacy (meta gaming) to have a true meaningful impact in the universe. Decreasing the amount of players for a battle won't make it easier to hold more than a single base.

I do know PC isn't simple at all right now, but think about how big PC will suddenly get when both EVE and DUST have to be fighting at once !!!

Lastly with the whole idea of "more MMO in the MMO for dust" should mean larger player battles, not smaller ones. So I think it should scale clear up to 32v32 or 64v64. Perhaps scale districts accordingly. Have some districts only have 8v8, larger districts 64v64. Scale rewards accordingly.