DUST 514 Review from the eyes of a Khanid Capsuleer

Update
Monday, May 20, 2013
I still stick by my F-This-Game, Play EvE statement.  But, it is unfortunately growing on me.  Sniping is actually pretty easy, when you get the hang of it, although the hitbox setup makes leading targets a bit problematic.  Saw CEOPyrex's MCC Sniping video and immediately put that on my list of things to try, as I already trained dropships in order to get to the top of buildings easier.  The climbing is clunky(holding the square to climb a ladder makes me think that my character has to take the time to weigh the advantages of higher ground when it comes to sniping in the middle of a furious battle), and it never gets you where you really want to go.  The lack of the ability to prostrate in order to reduce your silhouette sorta stinks, but it's limited usefulness in the DUST 514 battle scenarios, limited mobility generally meaning quick death, makes it a non-issue.
My earlier furor over moving like a whale, it seems, was caused by the lag produced by having the PS3 on too long, my PS3 rarely has a moment of peace, though it's neighbor, the 360, well...  It's either that or I am an idiot who didn't get the fact that stamina had to recharge a bit before jumping.  Still hitting the sticky/rubber-banding areas around obstacles.  That needs to stop.

Now that the game is going, when are we going to get other maps?  Forests, swamps, deserts... No way any of those places could contain valuable resources worth commandeering/defending.  

For a free to play fps, DUST 514 isn't that bad, though my heart is still nestled deep inside an Apocalypse or Hulk.

Update
Friday, May 17, 2013
Not really bitching this time, as I have figured out the semi-organic movements I have faced:  the frickin Sony Move thing.  Don't have it, but it is on the list of things to get.  Almost got it, but, in a purely democratic decision, my GF decided that the Kinect was the way to go.  Meh.
So, I have found a small niche to play in the game, not at all in keeping with the Assault direction of my character:  sort of a drop-lav-blitzkrieg, pushing into an area that is completely unguarded 90% of the time and capturing whatever I can while merc-ing the idiots who use the blaster and rail turrets.  Not many kills, but a ton of war points that way.  Still haven't had the opportunity to magically summon the orbital bombardment-been killed by three so far- but I am inching closer to getting one.  Just gotta find the right squad, I guess.
One bone to pick is how you can't sell your salvage.  Can't even use most of the crap I salvage, on account of my noobness in my new character, but I can't sell it either.  It's like a guy having a vibrator.  Unless...  Eww, perish the thought.  You get my drift though.  CCP, I WANTS TO SELL STUFFS!

I can has finger of gawd?

Why do I keep playing? Why do I really keep playing EVE?  I love the punishment, I guess.

--------------------------------------------

Update
Thursday, May 16, 2013

I guess this is going to continue, sort of a bitch page, until they change the game.  I am whining about the movement of the Character now.   You are running around, and you sprint like an 800-pound fat man being forced to do calisthenics.  It's terrible.  I exercise fairly regularly, and I can run for more than twenty seconds at a time.  Now, to remind you, you are doing this running in an advanced power suit that should be enhancing your abilities.  So, I guess that, not only did the mercenary corporations not hire experienced personnel, they used fatties for the clone reserves.  Nice.

This is what CCP is trying to pass off as the "Futuristic Super-Soldier"

---------------------------------

Where to start?  How bout the beginning.

I am an avid participant in EVE Online, and a fan of Halo and Borderlands, Doom... all the way back to Wolfenstein 3d, lets be real.  I'm old.  Been playing shooters since they were first conceived, I believe.  I was ecstatic about the idea of a shooter taking place in New Eden, and when I received access to the beta, I was thrown.  Awesome.  All except for the game.

I'm not going to go into the beta, because, after all, it was a beta, an unfinished product.  I am,however,  going to start with a new-player slant, since I was generally so disappointed that CCP would attach their name to this thing, even during the beta, that I never took it seriously, and my main, like my EVE main, is all over the place as far as skills are concerned.  So, he sucks.  Basically.

So you create a character, watch a movie, listen to the usual "you will be a great space-warrior" spiel so familiar to EVE pilots...  Movies and trailers, all stunning, in standard CCP fashion. They do know how to put on a good show.
Character: Sif'vey Kor'Tanil.  "...jump into a galaxy..."  Decent explanation, letting you know the "use it and lose it" aspect of the game.  And here begins my biggest pet-peeve with the game:  You, a mercenary, start out not knowing how to use ANY equipment necessary for battlefield excellence.  Assuming, from the info provided by the trailers, the only really new development in the game-world is the implant necessary for instant -cloning after death, what is the reasoning behind a mercenary literally knowing nothing required to survive under fire?  Not to mention, even though you do start with a cool(re:measly) five-hundred thousand xp, and a couple hundred grand in ISK, that is equivalent to giving a ten-year-old raised by ravenous yuppies a Glock and telling him to survive in Detroit. 0 rating.  For what, who the [expletive deleted] knows, the game has pissed me off so much, it gets a 0 to start out with.

OK, off on a tangent:  I was in the Navy, I served aboard a submarine, and had the opportunity to converse with more than a few SEALs during war games and the like.  They, in no way, give the impression of being so untrained that they needed to go to academy drops in order to learn how to fight.  And their skill set is immense, even though they generally stuck to certain roles within their unit.  I know more than a few who actually went to work for "private security firms" after they were finished with their enlistments and commissions.  One I still sort of know( a rather scary individual you wouldn't be able to pick out of a crowd if you tried) let on that, unless you are hot shit, and REAL good at your job, you're not going to be a mercenary.  And thus my dreams were crushed.  Even I know how to use just about every crewed(heavy) and non-crewed(light), and even a few bigger, weapon in the standard US Military arsenal, was in the best shape of my life, and had no real chance.

These guys swam home after killing everyone's DUST 514 character IN New Eden.

So, imagine my surprise when I started playing the game, and you are little better than that nub who just got his/her head shaved at the beginning of bootcamp.  I mean, literally, you are given what amounts to a cap-gun and a hospital gown and are expected to survive against whom I assume to be rather hardened Battlefield and CoD players who were in the beta.  Yeah.
Enough of that.  Now, to the technical aspects of the game, graphics and controls.  The controls are awful, from a PS3-player perspective.  They are standard for any shooter, and you get a few options to choose from, in order to get you to a more comfortable control scheme, but you are not allowed to fully map out the controls as you wish.  They are generally a bit sluggish, which has a bit to do with your internet connection, I know, but still.0 rating.
[expletive deleted] don't even get me started on the vehicle controls.  It's like they just threw something together at the last minute to appease the yutzes who have nothing better to do than run people over in LAV's, and even they have rather obvious trouble doing that.  There are three different vehicle settings, default, a default for leftys, and "reverse/drive".  None of them are even close to the ease of driving found in another shooter, one that uses Unreal also...cough...Borderlands 2...cough... Flight controls are terrible also, reminding me of the GRAND old time spent flying banshees in Halo: Reach.All-in-all(-1 rating, though 0 really).  Too much time playing Grand Turismo 1-5 has given me a taste for more intuitive driving control, whether by d-pad or steering wheel.  DUST isn't GT5, but come on, at least make an effort.
Graphics, on the other hand, are pretty awesome for a shooter.  The maps, repetitive and boring just like any other shooter, are thoroughly fleshed out, even though most areas make me feel like I am going to have to undermine the walls of York to gain entry.  The enemy players have a tendency to get lost in the morass of blinking red lights found in some areas, the minimalist red chevron floating above their heads might as well not even be there, since, if your internet access is a millisecond slower than your enemy's, you will be dead before you have identified them as an enemy.  +1 rating, though it could use tweaking.

Gameplay is meh.  Like most shooters, if the hill is above three feet in elevation, you won't be able to climb it, and will probably die as you get stuck on the invisible sticky tape that seems to surround any object a one-armed two-year-old can summit.  The Amarr god forbid you want to jump on a box!  Who would think that advanced power suits would be able to jump?  Not me! But those aren't the best parts about EVE gameplay.  Try aiming.  Now, it may just be me, but I have a really easy time aiming using any type of gun sight.  I've been shooting since I was twelve.  Not since I was fifteen or so have I experienced sway anywhere near as bad as this game.  And that is with super-advanced power suits helping you.  The gameplay is [expletive deleted] terrible. You have an easier time winning a carnival stuffed animal than you have of shooting someone twenty meters ahead of you in this game.  Driving the vehicles?  It is easier to flip the LAV than it is to drive it in a straight line, and then, well, bullet to the head.  This is made somewhat easier by the fact that you start out doing instant academy battles against people who are supposed to be around the same skill range as you.  Great.  It allows you to at least prepare to get schooled by the beta-survivors later on.  Good luck.  Gameplay-0 rating
For a non-rated section, I am going to go into the skills.  The fact that you go into the game knowing only how to use militia-level equipment(let's be realistic, in EVE, at least CCP had the courtesy to call modules of a similar level civilian) and are hired by a mercenary outfit is insulting, I would assume, to modern mercenaries... er, "private security personnel".  I mean, crap, SWAT teams would be the modern equivalent of militia personnel, and I have a hard time believing their skillset is as tiny or restricted as the beginning DUST 514 player.  [expletive deleted], they are retired marines and sometimes spec ops of some sort for crying out loud.  You have to learn how to use a shotgun in this game.  A shotgun.  At least one of the newer merc recruits had to be a space red-neck before being hired, grew up using shotguns and hunting(ie, sniper) rifles, and he can't even use a shotgun until he can buy the skill.  Come the [expletive deleted] on, CCP.  You could have done better than this.  I give DUST 514 1 out of 5 points.

  Click Here, nubs, and be forever changed. Capsuleers, you already know the drill.

I play video games because they are fun.  EVE is very fun for me.  This game is not, and I love first person shooters.  Fuck DUST 514.  Play EVE.  Sorry CCP.
(nub- n. U.S. Navy slang,: Non-useful Body)

EVE Online Tribulations: Incarna, Noble Exchange, and Whatever Else

Liu-Alt

I haven't had the luxury of playing Incarna yet, however, all this hullabaloo about NEx, Aurum, actually makes me WANT to play EVE again. With the amount of interaction and integration being introduced through Dust 514, I am waiting till next spring to FINALLY buy a PS-3, pretty much for D514 only.

One must understand that CCP is a corporation, and as such, has responsibilities to it's shareholders as well as it's players. I imagine that keeping these two balanced is a bit hard at times, as one side wants profit while the other want's a bad ass game. For everything that is going on, EVE Online is still bad ass.

Anyway, I believe that people may be overly critical at the moment. I have looked at the history of major EVE changes, and, as usual, History repeats itself. Outrage, gnashing of teeth, and unsub threats abound... Subside... and those who DO leave... sneak back onto the scene three or four months later, just to realize, "This isn't all that bad." It had to happen eventually, and if CCP does the NEx thing responsibly, it can be a good thing. Just sell the gold ammo bpc's&bpo's, not just ammo. And if not, if people do start buying ships and ammo from Noble Exchange, just make or join a corp that has "Beemer-hunts" and kill the silver-spoonfed bastards.

If someone wants to wear a sparkly thong with skulls hanging on chains, just make a note on their peculiar fashion sense. Vanity items are nothing to me, I just wish they would let outsiders design some.

To me, EVE is the BEGINNING of something great. I hope it evolves into a perpetual world that lasts. With NEURAL NETS being developed, there is a possibility that we, one day, will be able to hook into a virtual world Matrix Style. I want that world, for me at least, to be EVE.

So, be easy on CCP. o/

EVE ONLINE: Transhumanism's Most Brutal Supporter.

The problems of transhumanism and EVE Online are many, from detractors to an incredibly obtuse misconception of the actual goals involved. The first is a political/science based Futurist movement, and the other is a massively-multiplayer-online game that is a bit ahead of it's time. Transhumanism is run and understood by the very brainiacs that make it incomprehensible and scary to the public. EVE is controlled by the myriad people who "play" the game, unlike most mmo's that are controlled by the corporations or programmers that created them.

Each operates demographically in an out-of-the-way place respective to popular culture, and each tends to be sort of tough to wrap one's head around. One place that the two intersect, strangely enough, is transhumanism itself. The players of EVE are exposed to transhuman theory and goals every day, and seem to understand what they are exposed to in a layman's view that would mystify most of the thinkers currently associated with the movement. All except the science fiction authors that brought it to the public during the twentieth century.

Two problems seem to float to the surface, in my opinion: ability to interface with the public, and ability to explain itself without being dismissed as science fiction fallacy.

Ponderings, and, Maybe, Something about Transhumanism

I've been out of the way for a while. My little sister was killed, so I got a little depressed, and didn't give a crap about anything for a while. Also, the economic meltdown finally hit my town, so my only source of solace, working like a dog, was taken from me. Also, I'm an asshole, I guess, and got fired by my Faux-liberal boss(he's a Republican who thinks he is a Democrat). I actually expect people to do what they were hired for, and get fired for it. Go Figure. Last time I actually stay in management after second thoughts.

Man. Had those "Also"s goin for a sec. OOOH!!! forgot one. Also, I finally found a place to lose myself: EVE Online. Great game, and not one for the weak minded. That's why they don't have the massive fan-base that games like WOW and... Well, that's the only huge game I have played extensively, and while it can be fun, it's not challenging in the slightest, and any troglodyte or 5-year-old that can tie his name or spell their shoe-laces should be able to solo-hack-and-slash their way through it's many missions. Also, unlike Blizzard, CCP(the game developers) don't make a habit of screwing long-time players by taking something they have worked for and making it trivial. CCP at least tries to make the in-game effort and time pay off.

The game itself is sort of a smash up of Star Wars,The Sixth Day, Wall Street(stock market, not film), the Somali coast(pirates included), and unabashed true-to-name free market capitalism. Trans-humanists and Anarchists alike should love this game.

Your character, or Pilot, spends most of their life in the capsule, an egg-shaped space craft that keeps the pilot safe from all the rigors of space, save other pilots. Also, your body has been specifically re-engineered to survive in space for extended periods of time. Your pilot is effectively immortal, since if one is killed, they are immediately cloned at a station of their choosing, while the clone quality is determined by the amount of Isk(intergalactic standard kredits= cash) spent on your future new self. One can also, if one has the skills and cash, jump from one body to another across great distances in game.

The only rules in the game that are set in stone refer only to areas known as Hi-Security space. Do not attack other players, civilians, or members of the game establishment. In Low-security and Null-Security areas, you tend to have carte-blanche. The establishment does not extend very far into Low-sec, and not at all in null-sec. Even in hi-sec space, though, the rules can be bent, or, if you're fast enough, broken.

All-in-all, this is a game where one has to be very careful: in one fell swoop, all your hard work can be lost, and there you are, sitting in a space station, floating in a green football, angry at so-and-so because they just taught you a hard lesson. The learning curve in the game is so steep, many people aren't mentally tough enough to make it past the free-trial.(If you would like an extended free trial-21days- hook me up with your e-mail, the extra week is worth it for a broader view. I don't spam.)

If we, as a species, were smart, we would take a look at this "game"(I prefer simulation) and plan on making it a reality. Over-population, pollution, even in a small part war, could all be solved if we took the next step into space. If we, as a species, turned our creativity away from Ipads and towards human expansion into space, I don't think it would be two or three decades before we at least settled Mars, the Moon, or Space stations.

Transhumanism itself could solve the physical problems associated with travel in less than twenty years. Even EVE's capsuleer notion isn't that far-fetched. The human body is incredibly modular. The core components for individuality and survival can easily be separated from the rest, put into an artificial body, and connected to everything needed for control of that body as well as a craft and remote vehicles for exploration. This isn't exactly the capsuleer notion, but it is realistically achievable for us at the moment. 

Even with the spectre of death hanging over me, I managed to find a small connection to one of my passions. The only way to see the future is to create it.