Aug
18

DUST 514: Odd but good

10 Comments

For those that have not seen this video yet, please do so over here.

Some of the details are just fascinating in terms of how they are connecting DUST 514 with the world that already exists in Eve. DUST, will apparently play a part in system sovereignty:

Hilmar said, “DUST battlefields will dictate who control specific planets inside the EVE MMO. If a player contracts a DUST mercenary team to go and conquer this district of a planet. Then ultimately he will be able to control the planet, and therefore the solar system, and therefore the constellation, and the region.”

He explained more about the interplay between EVE Online and DUST 514. Hilmar said, “You will increasingly have to fight with your fleet [in EVE Online] but you will also have to contract people who play DUST, the console MMO, which then feeds into the sovereignty control system of EVE. Then EVE feeds back into that again by funding the mercenaries, giving them goals.” In a nod to Starship Troopers, he said, “The fleet does the flying, the infantry does the dying.”

…fascinating.

What I find odd about this is console only. I’ve always been of the strong option that the window for console MMOs for this generation has come and gone. I think it’s a bit of a waste of time, but CCP is not stupid by any stretch so I wonder what they know that I don’t.

I also find it odd how this type of FPS gameplay cannot/will not/should not make it’s way on stations. I find it a bit unbeleiveable that as troops are fighting on planet, the only thing people will be doing on stations orbiting these planets is playing mahjong.

Assuming that if this does go forward on the current generation of consoles (…doubtful…) as an MMO plugin to Eve Online, you’ve got to wonder how many DUST players will want to participate in Eve and how many Eve players will participate in DUST. I’m thinking, for sure, every serious 0.0 corp member will now own a console to participate in their sovereignty objectives. The big question then becomes: will this be a nice little gateway drug for console players into the Eve Universe? Probably not for many, but it will for some.

Great idea though and I can’t wait to see it in action…but I’m thinking that PC players are getting the short end of the stick on this one for now.

D out.

Posted in Editorial
10 Comments Posted by Darren

10 Responses to "DUST 514: Odd but good"

  • Jason says:
    August 18, 2009 at 11:51 am

    Since FPS MMOs on the PC have all been lackluster at best as far as success goes, I can absolutely see why they are trying out the console market where even bad FPS games sell more copies than the number of people who played Planetside and Tabula Rasa combined…

    The biggest “wait and see” element for me is the pricing… will DUST players have to pay the same monthly fee as EVE players? Does paying for a subscription give you access to both?

  • Andrew says:
    August 18, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    The door hasn’t been completely shut on a PC version of Dust 514… see here:

    http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1151387

    Specifically:

    “4players.de has talked to Petursson after the show, asking why there will be no PC-Version. Petursson smiled and stated, that he cannot comment on it right now. The only thing he can say at the moment is that there will be ca console version.”

    So I hold out hope we’ll see a PC port. I can’t believe I’m excited for something EVE-related…..

  • syncaine says:
    August 18, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    It’s also very possible that they could release on the 360 now, and just create an upgraded version on the next Xbox. Given that the art assets and the overall game design would already exist, why not make MORE money selling a newer-console version of the same game? As with all things CCP, it’s clearly going to be something no one else in the MMO space is even dreaming about, and given their track record with all things EVE, I’m guessing DUST will at least do better than Planetside or similar games. The gateway drug angle is also something to consider, especially given the size of the Xbox player base and how big FPS games are in that market.

  • Tim says:
    August 18, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    Imagine playing an FPS where the outcome of your battle actually effects the war going on, in the heavens above, between powerful interstellar corporations in their bids for conquest and power. Now imagine that this isn’t just some nice back story thrown in at the last minute by the developers of your little shooter game, but those corporations are actually controlled by players in a completely different game. Imagine having those players interested in the outcomes of your battle. Or, from the EVE players perspective, imagine having a bunch of FPS players fascinated by who control which sector.

    I think this idea is really cool. I really hope there is a PC version of Dust 514 too.

  • We Fly Spitfires says:
    August 18, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    I’m excited about Dust 514. I think it’s a really clever and innovative idea from CCP. I love seeing developers take risk and try to push the gaming barriers a little.

  • West Karana » Daily Blogroll 8/19 – L2Test edition says:
    August 19, 2009 at 8:00 am

    [...] good feeling. Darren of Common Sense Gamer doesn’t see any way they can pull off a new MMO in the current generation of consoles. Heartless_ wonders at the connection between Dust 514 and the technology for EVE’s announced [...]

  • Rob says:
    August 19, 2009 at 11:53 am

    I think that for gamers like me, who play on both PC and consoles and who are not totally oblivious to the world of EvE online, but who have never actually given EvE a fair shake, this “gateway drug” could be just what I need to ease my way into EvE. Eve is a daunting MMO for people to sit down and just play. There is a learning curve, and every time I try to get into it, it feels like I am trying to drink from the firehose, being bombarded with a ton of information.

    Back in my SWG days, the Jump to Lightspeed expansion fascinated me for the simple reason that it was essentially an action paced space flight sim game that you could play in SWG. Your actions and performance in the space game sequences earned you items and money for your character on the ground. I love that there were two wildly varying game styles in a single online game.

    It sounds like DUST could do that for EvE, and I love that.

  • Scott says:
    August 19, 2009 at 1:04 pm

    Exactly Rob, I’m in the same boat. I’ve never managed to muster even the least bit of interest in actually playing EVE but I’m fascinated reading the EVE blogs. Unless they’re just blogging about skilling up offline or mining, which seems to be 90%+ of the posts… But Dust 514 gives me the chance to do something fun in the EVE universe, and that’s fine by me assuming this will be a somewhat more strategic shooter and not some Halo/Unreal Tournament arena crapfest.

    I’m not exactly sure how the window has come and gone for this generation though. There’s been… Final Fantasy XII. And it’s FFXII so who cares? A lot of developers are hoping MS and Sony hold off several more years before releasing the next generation of hardware (id’s John Carmack is the latest to say so, last week). Hell, most devs still can’t get the PS3 to perform the way it should; they need the extra time to figure the thing out.

    Hell, this can be a Global Agenda clone with a persistent war and charge for DLC expansions rather than a monthly sub and they’ll make a shitton of cash on XBL alone.

  • Dblade says:
    August 20, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Darren, I’m not sure that the window has gone. I think it’s getting close, and companies like SOE need to stop talking and start releasing games like Free Realms on console or miss the chance. I definitely don’t think dust will act as a gateway drug. the kind of people it would act for are not the FPS players, but the people who play games like Disgaea-the stat-crunching grinders. They tend to not play FPS at all.

    Syncaine, that won’t work at all. Square-Enix tried to do that with FFXI for the 360, and they wound up making a worse port of it than the ps2 version, despite it looking better and in higher res. It’s really hard to do that without totally redesigning the game for the new console, or just giving a next-gen gloss to it. 360 launch titles were like that, and they were lackluster.

    Andrew, that is not good at all. In every console/pc FPS hybrid, console users get the short end of the stick. USB keyboards and mouses aren’t adapted much by players, and you’ll soon see balance issues arise.

    I’ve been pretty negative on this on other blogs mostly because I can’t see why CCP thinks this will work. It’s ironic to me-the one thing this console generation doesn’t have it what they could have provided-serious space combat action, either EVElike or action based. But they seem willing to ignore their strengths to compete in something they have a ton of competition for in non-MMO FPS, and no record of success in.

  • Fantine says:
    December 26, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    Bonjour, plein d’info merci pour cette article !

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