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[Vincent Pryce]

Clunky. Cumbersome. Crap.

I would be slightly more enthusiastic if it dd the Need Esna described. It's just another Incarna now, wasted money for a barely a product. I think Dust would have far more potential had it been a PC game as the core who wanted to play it and seemed passionate about it is on PC. But yeah eh. Seen better, played better. I'll stick to Payday 2 thank you very much.

[Lyn Farel]

How is it compared to planetside 2 and its RTS-like scale at a tactical level ?

From what I gather, much smaller.

For now.

The maps we're playing on have been getting larger over time.

The thing I was impressed with planetside 2 was not the FPS Halo-TF2-like gameplay which is quite common, but rather the scale of the toy. The fact that you have the infantry/armor soldier individual, yes, but combined with many like them, they need commanders that sit in front of a map hologram and relay their order to squad lieutnants, etc. Which make them like RTS players, with a real strategic and tactical planning, as well as coordination heavy.

[Morwen Lagann]

One upside Dust has over Planetside is that, well, it's on a single platform, the PS3. Which means if you buy a PS3, you can play it.

Can't guarantee that with a PC, as a number of Backstage users who play(ed) Planetside can attest.

[Anslol]

It needs spiced up, way more. Meaning;

(1) More Eve/Dust Interaction. I wanna see a dread get blapped by a skyfire cannon
(2) Meaningful impact of DUSTies. "Oh, claiming sov here from [INSERT OTHER ALLIANCE] will be so easy, we have way more ships and...wait what? Why can't we cap the planets?...So what, how many DUSTies could they ha-HOW MANY THOUSAND?!?!"
(3) Maps. Moar Maps. Dynamic as can be. Give variety. We have a giant fucking universe with who knows how many worlds. Let's see them. I mean for goodness sake, Phantasy Star Online II sets itself up as hyperfuturistic and when you combat drop on a city needing defended you SEE it's hyper futuristic. Let's see some city combat dammit! BIG cities!
(4) Player commanded Airships. Air carriers with fighter craft for epic dogfights right above the ground.
(5) I may get flamed but; quests. A storyline. What ever happened to those proto-types? What about those Sleepers? How about a mission to deploy inside a Sleeper construct with an NPC capsuleer or something? Console shooters have had stories. Do that.

I could go on.

[Havohej]

All that stuff.

Gods, how I wish.  I would become serious and get good at DUST and possibly defect altogether like Aria did if DUST had all THAT cool shit going on.

Sadly I don't think they're even planning to do half of that.

[Reyd Karris]

Console shooters have had stories. Do that.

It's supposed to be an immersive and persistent virtual world MMOFPS linked to an MMORPG. The player's interactions take center stage, not the story.

 

[Anslol]

Console shooters have had stories. Do that.

It's supposed to be an immersive and persistent virtual world MMOFPS linked to an MMORPG. The player's interactions take center stage, not the story.

 

Yeah how's that LOL U NUB HEDSHOT, I C@/\/\P U story going?

[Aria Jenneth]

All that stuff.

Gods, how I wish.  I would become serious and get good at DUST and possibly defect altogether like Aria did if DUST had all THAT cool shit going on.

Sadly I don't think they're even planning to do half of that.

Actually, they kind of do seem to be. I wrote a post on their forums a week or so into trying the game out that said, substantially, this stuff, and essentially got the response, "Thank you for the great feedback; that's what we're trying for."

We'll see whether they can pull it off.

Yeah how's that LOL U NUB HEDSHOT, I C@/\/\P U story going?

Surprisingly well. When the game forces you to make a budget if you're going to run quality kit, that "LOL U NUB HEDSHOT" is a bit more meaningful.

One of the things that makes DUST interesting is the persistence of gear. Killing a proto-runner with basic or advanced gear is like downing an assault ship with a Merlin-- right down to the relative expense of the loss. Killing someone running full prototype gear by using kit that cost a fraction of what his did just brings a grin to my face. Better still if I can bait a handful of them onto a remote explosive, or teach a tank driver the dangers of overconfidence.

It's like PvP in Eve, over, currently, somewhat smaller stakes. Better still if you can fit in some character motivation behind it all beyond wanting more ISK, which FW is good for.

[Silas Vitalia]

Clunky. Cumbersome. Crap.

X gets the square.


It has a fantastic original concept and potential..... abysmal, and I do mean abysmal, execution.

The things that make other FPS games successful, be they amazing story, innovative controls and multiplayer gameplay, "polish", or sheer WTF holy jesus spectacle, none of these are present in DUST.

It's a kernal of a possibly fantastic game, weighed down by so much clunky and unresponsive gameplay as to be ignored by just about everyone.

[Aria Jenneth]

Clunky. Cumbersome. Crap.

X gets the square.


It has a fantastic original concept and potential..... abysmal, and I do mean abysmal, execution.

The things that make other FPS games successful, be they amazing story, innovative controls and multiplayer gameplay, "polish", or sheer WTF holy jesus spectacle, none of these are present in DUST.

It's a kernal of a possibly fantastic game, weighed down by so much clunky and unresponsive gameplay as to be ignored by just about everyone.

Yep, that was pretty much the impression it left on an awful lot of folks at release. CCP's been polishing furiously ever since, with a roughly 1-month patch release cycle.

I'm a little concerned, actually, that they're polishing so furiously that by the time they're ready to start linking the game more closely to Eve, the player base will have wandered off to play something else. There are some recent indications that this link is on the back burner while they work on hit detection and such-- and in fairness, (1) aiming and hit detection needed a lot of work and (2) they're both much better now.

Without a closer link to Eve, DUST is way too similar to the likes of Battlefield for comfort-- "for comfort," mostly, in the sense that it's in serious danger of being wholly overshadowed by the likes of Planetside II and (oh-God-this-looks-good) Destiny.

A lot of coordination is going to be needed to link the games more thoroughly (through the market, for example), and apparently it's not looking like there's enough contact between the development teams for that to be a realistic possibility this winter.

The main thing I really do not understand about all of this is why CCP insisted on releasing the game in May with a pile of new and untested features. It's only now getting back to where the gameplay was BEFORE they decided to update the shading.

[Katrina Oniseki]

The main thing I really do not understand about all of this is why CCP insisted on releasing the game in May with a pile of new and untested features. It's only now getting back to where the gameplay was BEFORE they decided to update the shading.

To start the clock early. The earlier they release, the earlier they can get out of the PS3 exclusive contract.

[Lyn Farel]

There is a pattern, since Incarna.

[Reyd Karris]

To start the clock early. The earlier they release, the earlier they can get out of the PS3 exclusive contract.

If it's not a success on PS3, what would be the point of shopping it around elsewhere?

My guess is that CCP had a release window, and if they didn't make that window, there would be consequences. Star Trek Online and Defiance are two notable MMO examples of what happens when that release window comes close without being able to develop the game properly. You fix the major holes, you patch it as much as you can, and "Iteration" becomes your mantra.

[Aria Jenneth]

To start the clock early. The earlier they release, the earlier they can get out of the PS3 exclusive contract.

If it's not a success on PS3, what would be the point of shopping it around elsewhere?

My guess is that CCP had a release window, and if they didn't make that window, there would be consequences. Star Trek Online and Defiance are two notable MMO examples of what happens when that release window comes close without being able to develop the game properly. You fix the major holes, you patch it as much as you can, and "Iteration" becomes your mantra.

Sounds about right.

I'm hoping that they're also planning some Eve-style major expansions, but there are starting to be indications that they're not. Yet, anyway.

[Reyd Karris]

I'm hoping that they're also planning some Eve-style major expansions, but there are starting to be indications that they're not. Yet, anyway.

With STO and Defiance, there was talk before launch of expansions. Featured Episodes in STO started almost immediately, and "episode" missions for Defiance started a week or two after the game started if I remember correctly.

The events for DUST might count. However, STO was on PC and Defiance is on PC, PS3 and 360. Defiance even had a past EVE EP as Lead Developer (who was canned not too long ago, a few weeks before Trion consolidated offices), and a horrible patch history for the first few months, and are turning out content faster now despite the company downsizing. I don't think DUST should be in the state it is in, and really wouldn't be if DUST was anything more than a high-concept boondoggle.

Signs point to DUST needing resources, publicity and marketing to keep from completely drowning as CoD and Battlefield and Halo and Defiance and Destiny and... well, do I really need to go on? CCP might be happy with a niche game for the time being, as they probably already got enough stake to develop WoD and Valkyrie.

Yes, I'm very, very cynical.