Player Interviews: EnglishSnake

EnglishSnake, some would call him a MAG pioneer in the art of getting massive groups of people to organize for one goal. His Clan of Valor (=V=) was a perfect example of how many individuals can unite for a single purpose. We have confirmed that he is currently inside EVE and that he is certainly among those making the exodus to Dust. Keep reading for the rest of our interview.

1. Tell us about yourself for those who don't know EnglishSnake.

I dunno what to say really, most players in MAG will know me for abusing the crap outta blue dots for being useless and raging at the enemy but outta game im relaxed, dark sense of humor, enjoy films, im lazy, dont think we should have a royal family, dont like the current goverment, England football team is shit and wont win anything for at least 10years and the olympics is a waste of space with the logo being lisa simpson giving head. 

2. We're continuing to hear about MAG clans joining together for Dust, didn't you pioneer this with the clan of Valor?

Not really, =V= was more of a MAG thing. For DUST it would be even harder because of more egos but also due to how much more complicated DUST is in general and plus there is the issue of trust between the various clans and who wants what position and alot more drama in general.

I cant be arsed with all that just yet, im looking to take a bit of backseat role and relax before the beta hits and see what options are available.

3. What excites you about EVE?

The ablity to do what you want, ratting/mining/trading/manufacturing/salvaging/archeology etc. Essentially its open world and you can do anything you want to mostly as long as you have the required skills, just dont complain if you get your arse handed to you in some way or another because CCP doesnt really intervene unless its serious like account stealing, so anything goes.

4. Your group already has a presence already in EVE, why?

Essentially to back ourselves when we do hit DUST up in terms of ISK at least and hopefully weapons and equipment if we are given that option. i went in for the sole reason to learn about EVE and its mechanics so that when it comes to DUST i will have a better understanding of the links between the 2 games but also the lingo/equipment/weapons/ships/skills etc which will be put into DUST.

5. Have you formed your corporation yet?

I havent since we already had one set up, we already had a member in EVE who has a corp set up and income coming in so at the moment we have decided just to use that corp since its easier than starting from scratch, as for the DUST corp no idea on it yet to be honest,  we havent even got a name for it we just know we are going to be there.

6. What elements of MAG would you like to see in Dust?

Large scale battles - The maps are 5km x 5km and we worked it out its 5 times bigger than a domination map so i do expect at minimum 64vs64 tbh but i would like to see 128v128 or more if they can handle it since they do have the servers to spare so lag will be under control to an extent.

Other than that i really cant think of too much because frankly i dont want DUST to be like MAG in any way and i dont think it will be because it has CCP backing it who are going to do what they want to do and not favor one side or another.

7. What MAG mistakes should CCP avoid?

Pick a number we could be here all day.

Random Bullet spread - No way should this even be in a game, where you aim is where the bullet should go unless you factor in a bit of recoil.

Balancing - Good thing with EVE is that everyone can fly all ships and use all weapons as long as they have the required skills so essentially weapon and vehicle balancing should be fine mostly due to the ability to train skills and buy the weapons and vehicles that you need, so the only limitations are the skills that you have or require and how big your bank balance is. Thus if a vehicle or weapon is OP everyone can probably buy it but then if everyone is using just 1 weapon then its outta balance, basically we dont need a one weapon game like what happened in MAG with the LMG back at release.

Lack of clan support - 8man groups when the biggest game mode is 128 just on your side, even clan deploy 32 ppl was an improvement but it was too late and also clan deploy was broke since if you tried to put more than 32 ppl into it when you launched into a game it would leave anyone outside the 32 players, so 2 platoons was a no-no. So far what we have heard DUST will have clan support in spades and shouldnt be a problem

Invisible walls - If my APC can fit through that gap i should be able to drive through not get stopped by thin air.

Skill points - I dont think CCP will go this way but i hope they stick to the EVE way of leveling skills where it takes x amount of time for each skill, recently in MAG and KZ3 all you do is play a match get so many points and unlock points to whack into anything which is easy to do.

Favoritism - MAG got ruined by the devs favoritism for SVER, the way EVE is this shouldnt be a problem at all.

All the other things like the weapons/vehicles and maps we will only be to see when the beta finally lands but with how EVE is alot of it in general should already be quite balanced it will just depend on how the beta testers see it and how CCP see it but right now i see CCP making alot of positive moves.

8. We recently released a Top 10 list of reasons to be excited about Dust http://tinyurl.com/3jdhpqm which one peaks your interest?

Espionage - The ability to be a spy, not James Bond with a pimped out car but the ability to infiltrate a corp, gain the trust of the highest members, rise to a seat of power if you will then on a quiet night with a few click of buttons demolish everything that they worked for. It happens in EVE and it destroys alliances and corps and reduces them to nothing in an instant, but that instant took weeks/months and in some cases even years to pull off, i expect the same in DUST and a simple grudge on the console will mean plenty of spies around but only if DUST allows alts, if no alts are allowed then it will be harder unless you use a diff account to play the game from scratch.

Consequences - Everything you do has a consequence, in MAG there was no consequence if you quit out (that was the communitys fault tbh), drop leadership, play for personal gains either way you got ribbons/XP. I do expect that in DUST if you dont win you get nothing, if you win you get everything and your rep will either go up or down.

I cant pick 1 outta them 2 since i think they do go hand in hand, let in the wrong person the consequence is that your corp may go bye bye and bust.

9. Can PC players and Console Players co-exist?

Short answer - Yes - I dont see why not to be honest.

With EVE its been going for 10years i think dont quote me on that and in that amount of time ther will be corps who have been in EVE since the beginning, most corps will have been going longer than MAG has to be honest and DUST bunnies will be the noobs going into new eden

Egos will get in the way, you will have the EVE corps basically telling them how its going down and you will have the console crowd coming in with ther KDR and other egos saying we gonna fuck you up and all hell will break loose between some sets of players

Sure for the console crowd and alliances they have to have a bit of an ego to hopefully get backing from EVE corps and ultimatly the contracts but the EVE corps dont have to put that much work into it ther rep will speak for them and if they shaft a console corp rest assured work will get around likewise if a console corp trys to shaft an EVE corp

Either way PC and console players have a choice, they can abuse the fuck outta each other or they can choose to get along but its ther choice in the end

10. What have you learned from your EVE research?

Its complicated and time consuming and im still at the tip of the iceberg

11. Does it make you feel better that DUST is being developed by CCP, a developer with a track-record of games with a learning curve?

Well EVE is hard, before now they didnt have tutorials so its was even harder back in the day. With DUST i do think tutorials will be put in place since learning about DUST will also meaning learning a bit about EVE at least since the 2 are connected but also they may release a manual like they did with EVE but i do have faith in CCP simply because of how well made EVE is.

 12. So given a choice, will you be infantry, a driver, a pilot or a commander coordinating back at the command ship?

I still dont know, i will make that choice at the end of the beta but i do like running ppl over and if we can fly in DUST i will also have a crack at that, as for leadership it wont be as frustrating as MAG since it will be your corp and your players and no random blue dots to carry or blame it on but also its RTS i heard so you watch the battle from above which will definitely bring in a tactical element to it as you will see it all unfold

I would like to be a jack of all trades but the problem for me will be that i could be a leader and watch something play out and i spot a problem and i want to jump into a tank and solve that problem but i might not be able to so

I may have to specialize in just one thing until i have the time to level the other skills

13. Many MAG players are celebrating the potential lack of blue-dots (i.e. players who disregard the game's objectives for foolish individual goals) but are they really prepared to fight an enemy just as organized and skilled as they are?

We will find out on the battlefield, it will be a completly different kettle of fish in comparision to MAG, simply zerg right or left will not cut it in DUST i think. Ther will be many elements which will decide on who wins the battle

1 - Players

2 - Leaders

3 - Tactics

4 - Backing

5 - Skills

6 - Teamwork

7 - Roles

8 - Equipment

Just a few that i can think of off top of mi head but then take into account that the maps are 5km squared and EVE pilots can intervene but also they may be a war raging above our heads where the EVE pilots are fighting ther own war so we can fight ours on the ground

14. Whats your one wish for DUST 514?

To revolutionize the gaming industry and make it actually move on from shit titles like COD which get churned out every 6months or so, but then again that also requires the player base to change and i dont see it happening just yet.

15. What would you like EVE players interested in hiring Dust Corps to know about your group?

Hard question

On the one hand i would say 'trust' because to get a job done you have to trust them and vice versa but also it will be based on results on the battlefield, you can write an awesome C.V so to speak but on the field you could be crap

Talk the talk all you want but you will have to walk the walk and it will be results on the field which will determine how successful you are

But then again EVE corps will want to see that you are organized and serious about it

So really you need the complete package, to be able to show how organized and serious you are and then take that onto the field and win basically

Only time we can do this is in the beta if it allows us to, that is where we get a grip on the actual game and to see what we the players will be working with in terms of weapons/equipment/maps etc

16. How will you know if DUST 514 is successful?

MAG beta had around 80,000+

Alot of MAG vets are looking to DUST as a replacement and EVE players are also looking so maybe 100,000+ in the beta would be a success but for me if it maintains a solid growing playerbase with CCP backing it and adding to it then it should do well considering MAG sold over a million copies and i have 2 of em lol

17. Are you considering joining any of the alliances you've seen forming so far?

ATM im keeping my options open, i already know of the alliances being made and have already been contacted by several MAG players who are also making the move to DUST but im also keeping tabs on the alliances and watching what is happening

The beta is where we will see the alliances and corps being made but we will finally get the chance to test out the mechanics of the game and how it all works in general

Im not rushing in, i want to see how the game works 1st and where my own qualities lie

18. The newest DUST Fact sheet mentions multiple game modes, anything you hope to see?

I would like a convoy mode tbh with vehicles as the main aspect of the game

Maybe a hostage mode or special ops where you have a team which has to break into a base to save ppl or just for intelligence

I wouldnt want an out and out TDM tbh bores the crap outta me these days but i dont have any ideas for modes really

19. You've been a frequent poster on the http://www.dust514.org/ site. What's your opinion of it?

Its the only decent fan site around to be honest.

Well made, got members which know what their talking about and serves well as a DUST hub until CCP make some official forums