If you’re a follower of the MMO Update, then it should be no surprise to you that I’m excited about all of the MMOFPS titles launching this year.
With that said, however, there is one title in specific that I’m worried about: Dust 514.
While I’d love to see it succeed, there are a few things about the title that rub me the wrong way and give me the impression that we’re going to get a sub-par MMOFPS at best – if we get an MMOFPS at all.
It all starts with the hardware…
When it was announced that Dust 514 would be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, my jaw dropped. As far as surprises go, it wasn’t exactly welcome – and for numerous reasons.
The first, and probably most obvious, is that CCP’s primary title, EVE Online, is a PC only title. Without a doubt, there’s a good portion of EVE Online players that would love to get in on Dust 514 that will be excluded due to such a move. After all, how many people are willing to drop money on a console just for the sake of one game?
Considering the link that CCP wants to play up between EVE Online and Dust 514, there seems to be a very obvious problem that is created by isolating Dust 514 on the PS3.
Corporations that wish to be successful in EVE will almost certainly have to have a Dust 514 component – likewise, the same thing can be said about Dust 514 players. While they’ve promised that neither side will have a distinct natural advantage, I find that hard to believe with how complex and deep the EVE universe is.
And then, of course, there’s the problem of the mouse and keyboard.
For many gamers like myself, the mouse and keyboard is simply the only acceptable way to play an FPS. Likewise, in actuality, with everything else equal, the traditional mouse and keyboard will outperform absolutely any gamepad that you throw at it.
While, at one point, playing on a console meant that everyone had the same controller – and therefore had a level playing field – things have changed. It is now possible to purchase numerous devices that allow you to use a keyboard and mouse to gain an upper hand. To make matters worse, these devices are often expensive, meaning that players with considerable extra play-money will have a massive advantage over their console friends.
While you could argue that the same thing is true on the PC, there’s no mouse on the market that will give you such a drastic advantage over your opponents.
Even if you consider differences in hardware, most competitive players choose to play on low settings – and as the PC market has been slow to evolve over the past few years, even a three or four year old system can play a current high-end game at those settings.
In a game that will have very real (and potentially costly) consequences, that just doesn’t seem fair. Speaking of…
Fear of the secondary market…
The way CCP talks about the secondary market – or the trade of real world currency for virtual things – scares me. They’ve been very quiet on just how much of an advantage an ample supply of cash will give you, but judging on their hints and interviews, it’s looking to be pretty sizeable.
As if it wasn’t obvious enough, this brings up serious balance questions. Does CCP intend to give battles away to the highest bidder? Just how expensive will it be to wage digital warfare – or more importantly, what sort of disadvantage can you expect as someone who doesn’t want to spend their cash on a virtual world?
Listen – I have no problems with spending a few bucks on cosmetic items that don’t upset the balance of the game, but the insertion of in-game advantages completely rubs me the wrong way. Shooters are traditionally games built on strategy and twitch-based skill. Inserting monetary advantages into the game completely upsets that balance.
While CCP promises that money only gives you a temporary heads up – as everything you’ll be able to buy will be attainable through “in-game” methods – just how much of a gap will there be? Will putting an extra $50 down negate two months of grinding, or are we talking minutes and hours?
Imagine how silly any other MMO would be with such a system. Or hell, imagine any game period. What if spending $1 bought you an AWP on the first round in Counter-Strike? Sure, you could save up a few rounds and “earn” it the normal way – but imagine the massive temporary advantage that such a purchase would give you.
It doesn’t look massive…
From all the screenshots, trailers, interviews, and dev blogs, Dust 514 doesn’t look like an MMOFPS.
Ever since PlanetSide came out in 2003, there have been a slew of FPS titles that have been advertised as MMOs only to be anything but. Face of Mankind, Global Agenda, and Huxley all come to mind. Each of these games seemed to promise combat on a massive scale – playing up the MMO card as much as possible.
The reality was much different: while the above games provided typical “RPG-like” systems such as stats, levels, and experience, they were missing the other, more important MMO part of the equation. Instead of providing massive battles, they simply offered up small-scale warfare. In some cases, even non-MMO shooters such as Battlefield 3 provided a more “massive” feeling.
Dust 514 feels like the same thing. It simply doesn’t look like it is going for a massive experience. Truly, without that key component you just can’t seriously call yourself an MMOFPS – nor can you expect to go head-to-head with PlanetSide 2. Likewise, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would pick Dust 514 over any other similarly scaled shooters if that’s the case – especially if my other two fears are realized.
If CCP did plan to bring massive battles to the forefront of their game, you’d think it would be something they’d advertise on – and yet the size and scale of combat is something that has been left mysteriously vague.
As it stands now, Dust 514 comes off as yet-another wannabe MMOFPS from a company that has never produced a shooter. I do not think CCP realizes just how different an MMOFPS is from an MMORPG, nor do I think they realize the different sort of community that is going to be attracted to their upcoming game.
While I still can’t wait to see what CCP manages to produce, I can’t say I’m holding my breath for the final product – and I’d warn others to follow my lead.
Chris Hornyak is an editor at Piki Geek. When he isn’t spouting off his crappy MMO ideas, he can be found on Twitter @nutinmuch, or slamming his face into whatever game happens to be on the menu.
Some good comments.
I would, most notably, agree with your final point on the community shifts.
FPS games, usually, attract younger gamers (especially on consoles) which can conflict with the mature community that EvE has established.
Making deals or co-operative play will be an issue, no doubt, between these separate age groups.
Not to mention, the steep learning curve of understanding EvE can be quite off-putting for the younger gamer. You would think that it’s necessary to understand the intricacies of the universe in order to co-operate efficiently with EvE players.
If there is a correlating effect between both games, it would be essential to understand the way both games operate. Restricting, what’s essentially one universe, into two separate games, as well as on different platforms, is going to create a divided experience. This would be antithetical to their intentions Of creating an mmersive ‘New Eden’ thAt is cooperatively controlled both: in space; and interplanetary.
I think I read somewhere that they were trying to simplify the UI/experience (yet carry most of it over) for Dust 514.
Regardless, I don’t think the problem is the meshing of two different groups, I think it’s the unrealistic way CCP seems to be coming at developing an FPS.
MMO players tend to take “abuse” a lot better than shooter fans. You won’t find many fans of the FPS genre praising a lot of EVE’s design choices, basically.
I dont agree with you that you fear that ccp is an another wannabe fps company becouse of the nature of the experience is deep down SANDBOX/TEAM WORK/RTS kinda game
But this won’t sell to the FPS market. The bread and butter has to be solid or no one will bother with it.
Let me hopefully put some of your worries to rest.
Hardware: I am an avid eve player as I have been for the last six years. I realize six years into Eve Online is more than most but I have to say Eve has always been one of the few MMO’s out there that have really grown with the players. When I heard Dust 514 was to be on the PS3 exclusively, like most I at first became slightly worried due to the possible disconnect a console could have with the current Eve player base.
After watching the videos and ready the Dev Blogs about Dust 514 I realized quite quickly that this was a smart move.
Why you ask? Diversity.
Now let me say… in 2001 I found myself buying an Xbox for one reason and one reason only. Halo CE. It was fantastic due to its simplistic nature of keeping the core focus on gameplay and it’s visual excellence that was far ahead of most games of its time.
1 month ago I purchased a PS3…for the same reason. Now don’t get me wrong, I grew up loving PC FPS’s like tribes and CS, they were terrific but I in no way would let my admiration for these games affect my ability to spot the competitive and fun nature that was Halo CE on the console. That being said, I know the differences in causal gaming and hardcore gaming. Years of national tournaments taught me the intricate details console games can have just like PC games.
Consoles can be just as competitive and fun if the games are designed well. So in this sense I feel a games potential is built on the games developers and not the hardware it is played on. Dust 514 can be successful no matter the hardware, just depends on what CCP wants to make of it.
Your “Fear of the secondary market” section made me laugh. Eve has always been great for 1 reason. It’s cold….oh so cold. The man with the bigger wallet will usually win. Is that fair? No…that’s mirroring life. That’s what makes Eve so great currently, it weeds out the players who just want to build a virtual life with no real life like consequences.
When you die, you die. When you put more money in…you get more. It’s simple. Now does this mean one would not be able to compete with a trust fund baby in a firefight? Of course not, it just means they would have an advantage. Now in a situation where the maps are always different, where teamwork will be oh so crucial, is having a bigger wallet that much more of an advantage? I think not…there are just too many other factors like teamwork, skills, and the ability for me to stick my scope on someone’s dome and fire away from an unknown location
.
I for one will love using natural skill to take down players who pour real life money into their characters…in fact I encourage it.
(It doesn’t look massive)
Like you I have been following potential MMO FPS’s for quite some time. I had high hopes for Huxley only to find out it would never make it to the states. What makes this game massive? The maps, they will be large. Can you imagine a tank rolling around in a level like de_dust or chill out, not really…..
There will be vehicles and there will be must needed space for those vehicles. Why choose Dust 514 over something like battlefield?
Adrenaline.
As much fun as I have killing people and talking trash in pvp in FPS’s…nothing comes close to putting it all on the line like you do in Eve. Your heart begins to beat harder and your thoughts immediately turn to all the training you’ve done, all the skills you’ve trained and road to that very moment knowing it will be all or nothing…it’s terrific.
Dust 514 will have this. Having the ability to lose something elevates the high of having something to gain.
I have always said Eve Online is that adult version of MMOs. I expect Dust 514 to be no different. It may not have the biggest market like Modern Warfare but it will give you a truly unique experience that can be found no place else. I know this because CCP has been doing this for years and years…they know what makes a game great. It may not sell millions upon millions but it will be original and definitely worth playing. I know that much.
Two main points:
1 — Dust 514 will be a niche inside of a niche. It’s going to be an MMOFPS that isn’t an MMO, and demands its players to play in an unfair cold world — as you said. How many gamers, do you think, will want to play an unbalanced shooter in which a fat wallet gets you a massive advantage?
Likewise, you can’t have a “cold, unfair world” and a balanced, competitive one at the same time in a video game. You have to pick one or the other, and to me it’s pretty clear what CCP has picked.
2 — PlanetSide 2. If it wasn’t for PlanetSide 2, I could forgive a lot of Dust 514′s potential shortfalls. Unfortunately for CCP, PlanetSide 2 simply looks like the better game at this point. Not only will it absolutely focus on “massive” combat, but it also promises to -not- do many of the things I’ve listed in the above article.
And really, unless you are in love with the EVE universe, I just can’t see anyone choosing it over PS2.
It will be niche: it will be hardcore clan based market. that is a small market, but a specifically psychotically loyal market. get it right and you are golden. get it wrong and you will never get another shot. casual gamers have DESTROYED gaming. their inability to deal with challenge, their overinflated sense of entitlement and skill. etc. has brought gaming down to nothing. if CCP tries to make this a “casual friendly” game, it will fail in huge and glorious ways. if they focus on the clans and hardcore gamers, they have a chance. It is NOT an MMOFPS. it is a PFPS: persistant first person shooter. INSTANCED gaming is not mmo gaming, never will be. Unless it is open world, like say Entropia, then it is not an mmo, no matter how many rpg elements are in it. Will a PFPS work on console? maybe. maybe not… MAG was sposed to be a PFPS but in the end it just became a casual FPS because the devs listened to the casuals and ignored the clans. Will console players shell out money? HELLLLLLL yes they will… if it’s worth while to do so. I both agree and disagree with the writers statement that only aesthetic gear should be available for purchase. If they go with functional gear, then go all in and don’t stop. If not, then NEVER make anything functional for sale. GRIND has been missing from console gaming for so damn long I can’t remember the last game that had it. Everything has been codstyle kid stuff ezmode bullsh- for so long that it will be a refreshing change for the adult marktet when this game drops… if it’s done right. Peace
Mouse and Keyboard is confirmed for DUST 514. Along with PS Move and obviously the DS3 Controller.
CCP is aiming for 32vs32 players in the battlefield. Someone saying it could be like MAG, but they are wrong. Also Clans of MAG and a lot of people of EVE Community are looking forward this game, is just depends also on Sony and CCP doing a good Advertisement of this game, also PSN is free and the game it only $20 without a Subcription model to gather more people.
CCP have a long term vision, planning to avoid the outdated feeling when Next Gen consoles comes out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsleGHCSN54
The real problem is with the PS3 Crowd. Because this game needs similar thing of EVE as an MMO which is something that is new on consoles.
As an FPS is for sure it will require Skills, but also have RTS elements and as an MMO it will require Logistics, tactics and a lot of communication.
http://dust514base.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-will-i-be-fighting-for-in-dust-514.html
The CEO of CCP said: ”Dust is not a sequel – it’s an equal!”
https://twitter.com/#!/HilmarVeigar/status/156771228051456000
There are a lot of things we don’t know. Also CCP said that players will have different tasks to be engached in the game, and not only playing as a Mercenary. This means it could have other type of things we don’t know what exactly are until they reveal the whole content.
“After all, how many people are willing to drop money on a console just for the sake of one game?”
The PC is more expensive than the console.
The PC also has more uses in the home.
Likewise, this point is also irrelevant from the PoV of the article.
The game will be balanced. Guns, skills, vehicles will provide that balance for sure.Will the game be fair? No it will not and no EVE player wants it to be. The whealtiest and most cunning people will have the upper hand, but again skills>whealt.
I am playing EVE for also quite some time and i am incredibly poor. But i manage to have a ship ready whenever its needed and kill others with multibillion ships. And in EVE the best PvP alliances are not the whealtiest ones. EVE universe will provide to everyone a way to earn enough money for their daily PvP
I have no problem with it beeing it on PS3, will be something new, interesting, will bring different kind of gamers in one universe. I will buy a PS3 just for playing DUST. And as last PS3 has man audience big enough for DUST.
Also DUST aint ment for multi million audience, Dust is there to cover a niche for hardcore players.
I agree. But the problem is with the PS3 Crowd, this kind of audience is different to PC Community for many reasons.
Skill will trump wealth. Seen it a million times in most fps, where lvl1 players outplay lvl40 players even though they only have access to basic equipment. While dust may provide some advantage to players who perfer to buy their equipment early on, my understanding is that they will still need to train in skills to be able to use it – though I may be wrong on this.
Secondly, consoles have gained a lot of their reputation because the games created don’t promote teamwork – the ‘CoD noob’ springs to mind. However, while these gamers are in the majority, there are still many others who are looking for a more serious, tactical shooter where you are rewarded for teamwork and perseverance over casual lonewolf play.
The game will NEVER be balanced because you cannot balance player skill. The problem lies between the chair and the controller, not the controller and the internet. Nerfing will ruin this game. Keep it difficult, hell make it super hard and then being good at it will be a sign that you are a good gamer. Make it ezmode so the casuals can clog it with incompetence and it will prove only that ccp was in it for the money. Then watch as EvE takes a dump due to the incorrect decisions by the devs in re: Dust. Skill will not triumph wealth. If i dump in a thousand dollars on day 1 that cuts about 2/3rds of the competition out permanently, they will never catch up. Console players have thin skin and they will give up quite easily when faced with adversity. What will win this game will be 2 things: clan loyalty and decades of experience. Not years. Decades. So that cuts out most of the younger clans. DUST will hopefully be an “old mans game” that the kids are allowed to play and not a “kids game” that the adults play because there is nothing else. Peace
This will fail. A niche within a niche, like nutinmuch said. end of story
How many PS3 players here ?
Cause i’m one. Was more of PC type before but console fits me better now.
You all seem to think that all console players are crappy young kids who can’t understand the value of a game like EVE.
And it’s foolish. I append to be setting up a french team and most of us are attracted to DUST mainly because it could FINALLY ask more work and implication from the players.
And there’s a lot like us.
Choosing PS3 for DUST ? i dont see the problem. It’s a smart choice if you want your company to expand on new markets. microsoft didnt want to be part of it. too bad for them.
Also, with the next generation of console coming in a few years. Veigar already said that they would update DUST when necessary just like they did with EVE.
So, good idea to try something now and maybe learn for the future.
Regarding your worries on the AUR/ISK system.
Isnt it already how it works on eve ? Did they find balance ?
I dont play EVE much but if it lasted 8 years. I guess they found it.
On the controller issue. I remember an interview from december in wich Wang says they want the player to be free of choosing its controller : Move, DS3 and mouse keyboard combo.
Then for the scale of the battle. I m almost sure they said 24vs24 at least.
And said it could be upgradable in the future.
Has CCP an habit of lying ?
Regarding battle’s scale : http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/11/28/vehicle-dynamics-in-dust-514/ see the comments by Wang the CM
And the interview with the controllers reference :
http://dust514.org/home/item/everything-we-wanted-to-know-about-dust-514-and-weren-t-afraid-to-ask?category_id=1