Dreams of Dust

With more gameplay videos, information and Dev Blogs forthcoming and with CCP's FanFest quickly approaching, Mordu's Private Trials aren't far off. We were thinking recently about some of the things we can't wait to experience in Dust 514, so we decided to list a few.

The Pitfalls of New Eden

As a brand-new Dust 514 Mercenary Corporation you must understand the often cold, unforgiving place that is the galaxy of New Eden. Tread carefully as there are pitfalls that swallow new residents whole and spit out nothing but bleached bones. Along with EVE's fabled "leaning cliff" and accepted treachery here are a number of pointers, advice and recommendations that some pod pilots have been kind enough to share with us--we hope you put them to good use.

Necessary: Information Portal

Something that is an absolute necessity in today's online world is an application that informs players about updates, fixes, issues, events and even things like server downtime. Game developers shouldn't make the assumption that all of the people that play their game have their web app, read message boards or follow them on Twitter. As such, they must make communication with their player base more user-friendly.

GP Report: B Clone Group "Very Different"

  
"Technology can be such a vile thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other."--Amarr Philosopher

The End of Spawn Camping

Recently we covered some of the outdated, poorer aspects of FPS but we neglected one that many of our writers believed deserved its own blog post, altogether. Spawn Camping. We've all heard of it, experienced it or subjected others to it at one time or another in FPS. Its essentially the practice where an overmatched opponent is pushed back on their position so far that they cannot advance past the spawn point. The enemy is literally on top of them and as they spawn they are mowed down or forced to huddle together for fear of being killed instantly. Easily one of the worst aspects of modern-day shooters, it dilutes the experience for those being ''camped" and those pushing the enemy back to their spawn as well. With the depth we anticipate in Dust 514, we hope that the days of spawn camping are long gone.

Basic Rights Groups: "Kill Switch Unethical"

GP - This week marks another round of protests by Basic Rights Groups against a recent judgement that allowed the clones developed by corporations to be designated as property.

Weeks ago it was revealed that the new generation of clones were hard-coded with "Kill Switches" in their DNA that allow researchers to end their lives immediately by remote. When this information was revealed by a confidential insider, Basic Rights Groups immediately went on the offensive.

 EQ-CA's Lead Counsel argued in court today that "There isn’t any doubt that convictions and opinions concerning the indisputable fact that no one is given the legal right to take another person’s life. We're appalled at the legal loopholes afforded some of these corporations so that these people--these clones are considered property instead of what they really are--LIFE." Could we see a reversal in the court's decision? Only time will tell. Until then, these corporations will have the ability to play God with the lives of the clones they generate.

Leadership

In many online shooters with any kind of leadership system (whether its only squad leaders, or leaders of entire teams) there has always been a lack of real power over the subordinates. KILLZONE 2 has squad leaders that could act as mobile spawn points for their squad-mates. Squad leaders in BATTLEFIELD 3 have the power to designate objectives as the squad's priority. MAG had the most in depth leadership system out of any shooter in recent history; squad leaders, platoon leaders, and company leaders (OIC/officer in charge) that direct the actions of 128 players. Though leaders in MAG possess a variety of strikes, tactical maneuvers, as well as abilities like setting waypoints as well and FRAGO (marking objective as the squad priority), but something was still lacking. MAG, and all these other games lacked the power to truly make someone follow orders. I don't expect Dust 514 to give the commanders and squad leaders the ability to subvert the will of other players through some sort of magic, but there needs to be better ways on incentivising players to follow orders.

New Dust 514 Interview

The latest bit of information on Dust 514 comes to us courtesy of Ten Ton Hammer. While some of the interview also relates to CCP's World Of Darkness we get some great tidbits regarding Dust from Chief of Marketing David Reid and CCP CEO Hilmar Pétursson including why "EVE could be the biggest game in the world at the end of 2012."

Interview

Is the Specific Racial Memory Breakthrough safe?

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our mercy, sense of justice and common sense. That we have also arranged things so that almost no one fully understands the implications leaps in science and technology without restraint. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."--Amarr Scientist

Honor Among Thieves

"And then the pirates came, when ISK is the motivating factor Men will surely steal from other Men. Some even say some of the top-tier corporations employ divisions within their ranks whose primary responsibility are black (or pirate) operations. It continues for one reason: IT WORKS. Its too lucrative to stop at this point. The most popular methods currently used are salvage or ransom. God help us all if those miscreants ever find a way to subvert shields and board vessels."