DUST514

[patsu]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/06/06/introducing-dust-514-a-persistent-shooter-from-ccp/

When playing your FPS title of choice, have you ever wished that there was something more to it beyond your rank, weapon unlocks, your kill/death ratio and leaderboard prominence? Those things are all great – but what if those matches you fought in actually meant something? What if your successes and failures against your opponents impacted the course of events in a vast setting, potentially changed a virtual world and the gameplay experience of thousands of other players? More than that, what if that impact was felt across two separate games – one on PS3 and one on PC/Mac – that share the same sci-fi universe?

DUST 514 is that game.

Some may know CCP as the creator of EVE Online, a sci-fi MMO with an open galactic setting. It’s a game perhaps best known for its sweeping fleet battles involving thousands of players, its dynamic player-driven economy, and for having (and allowing!) espionage and spycraft. We think of EVE as the ultimate sci-fi simulation, and that’s where DUST 514 comes in. It’s a whole new way of experiencing the EVE universe through what we call a “persistent shooter”.

Long post on the official blog explains economy, persistent shooter, events, etc.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Haven't read the post yet, but does it mean that if a faction wins or loses in DUST 514, it'll affect events in EVE online?

How will that interest me, a person who's playing just Dust 514? Or will they make sure EVE 's events change DUst 514 too?

 

[patsu]

Probably Eve Online will in turn affect the DUST514 world ? I'm keeping an eye on the game. Sounds intriguing.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Probably Eve Online will in turn affect the DUST514 world ? I'm keeping an eye on the game. Sounds intriguing.

Yeah ! Read the whole post. They aren't going into details at all, but both are supposed to affect each other. Not really sure how though? Will it be like someone from EVE hires a mercenary group to do something, our clan enlists for the job from DUST 514, and our success or failure affects his story like a real event in EVE online ?

 

[patsu]

I am interested in the game because people told me the Eve Online players take their "job" very seriously. I'd like to mess with their lives in the Eve world so to speak.

(I mean what else can you do in an FPS other than to destroy ?)

 

[Npl]

from the PS Blog:

Your fights impact the entire EVE setting, comprised of both DUST 514 mercenaries and EVE Online starship pilots, known as “capsuleers“. When you capture or destroy planetary structures, you are asserting dominance over regions of that planet – perhaps eventually the planet itself. As you profit while wiping out your opposition in DUST 514, the outcomes of these conflicts can affect territorial control of vast regions of space in EVE Online, something of great importance to EVE’s starship pilots.

But making allies of some capsuleers makes rivals of others… and that’s where things get even more interesting. (Can you say, “orbital strike“?) Players of both games will have ways of influencing each other, and actions will ripple between DUST 514 and EVE Online.

 

[saf1]

This could actually turn out to be a very interesting and ground breaking concept of which MMO's and FPS games haven't hand in a long long while. MMO's have been pretty stale has of late and nothing earth shattering come about. Take WoW for example and their loss of subscribers (which isn't a huge deal until you convert it to percentages and money).

Tieing the two together and the whole cause and effect of each is neat. Now the question is, can they pull it off?

More importantly how will they address the unlimited server population in space vs that of traditional MMO's on the ground. Most client/server type MMO's don't handle a large number of people in the same area very well.

 

[Npl]

yeah, could turn out interesting, but im not sure how much Dust will tie in into the online world. I mean for a FPS alone you wont care for the "big picture" much, if you get help from "capsuleers" it will either appear as orbital strike (triggered by him or added as bonus-attack to your arsenal), perhaps weapon/vehicle drops or something similar (you certainly wont see ships in orbit in realtime).
To me thats not different to randomised events/bonuses in a FPS. you might feel better if a human stands behind it instead of a random number generator.. but its essentially the same.

what should be interesting is how prices for (groups of) dust-mercs will be handled, should be way more involving, dynamic and fun than any leaderboards and championships.

 

[patsu]

Probably only loosely coupled ? In multiplayer games, it's usually the players' behavior that intrigue and inspire me. As long as the map size and design are balanced, and there is no severe lag, I'll poke around and see who/what comes after me.

 

[argor]

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=54843&highlight=dust+514

 

[patsu]

Ah, didn't see the earlier thread.

GAF has a DUST512 thread now if you're interested:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432468

Very informative !

* Dust will be an MMO in its own right, not just an extension to EVE.
* Dust is planned for release on the current generation of consoles, with no PC version being mentioned thus far. (I'm sure there will be a PC version. It would be stupid to not have one.)
* Dust players will be privy to a form of the EVE cloning system.
* Dust players will be able to buy configurable, modular vehicles and weapons.
* The Dust battlefields will include a Battlefield-style commander system and RTS elements.
* Permanent structures can be deployed inside battlefields for a particular session of the game.
* EVE players will be able to fund and arm the Dust troops.
* Planets will be divided into distinct districts, and battles will likely take place over individual districts.
* EVE players can contract Dust mercenary groups to invade planetary districts on their behalf.
* Dust will form part of the EVE sovereignty system for faction warfare and 0.0 territorial warfare.
* According to the game-play footage in the video presentation, attacks may be planned from the control deck of a kind of orbital station or ship.

I am still most intrigued by the player base. *If* people take their virtual jobs seriously, how would a game like MAG play out ?

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, very interesting. The guys on the Eurogamer.net podcast seemed to be stoked about it too, and they apparently know some of the guys involved personally.

 

[KKRT]

Dust isn’t just a console game, it’s changing how EVE Online players will interact with each other in the universe in a major way. Dust players will share the same chat channels, will be able to join the same corporations and be involved in the same rivalry and backstabbing shenigans that grabs gaming headline news every month or so.

Farrer told me that while playing EVE Online on the server where DUST was being tested, he saw some activity on a planet as he was flying by it in space. He got close to the planet and looked close, and he see the combat raging below, and got a sudden message in his chat box: “Hello!” It was the Dust player on the surface of the planet who had seen his ship above him in the sky and sent a message of greeting.Let me state that in simple terms: a PC EVE Online player flying a space ship could see and communicate with a PS3 player shooting on the ground of the planet.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/08/e3-2011-what-could-dust-514-mean-for-eve-onlines-pc-gamers/

Eve players can bombard planet from orbit and dust players can strike back!

 

[patsu]

Yeah... the more they let me interact with the existing Eve players, the better. That is the main draw of the game (for curious people like me anyway). I want to see what these people did for the past 8 years (?) in the game.

I read a thread a few months ago where Eve players where looking for a translator in real life to mediate a conflict.

 

[KKRT]

I read a thread a few months ago where Eve players where looking for a translator in real life to mediate a conflict.

Strange, havent heard about this. Was those alliances big? Because i know that only russians has problems with english, but big allianced like Stain Empire, RA and AAA have english speaking leadership and most of them lead fleets in english. Maybe some corps from Drone Region, dunno.

Ps. I'm eve player since 2007, but currently have a break

 

[argor]

found something http://uk.playstation.com/psn/games/detail/item379479/DUST-514®/

Players:
1 - 48

 

[patsu]

Strange, havent heard about this. Was those alliances big? Because i know that only russians has problems with english, but big allianced like Stain Empire, RA and AAA have english speaking leadership and most of them lead fleets in english. Maybe some corps from Drone Region, dunno.

Ps. I'm eve player since 2007, but currently have a break

I saw it in GAF.

If I remember correctly, a Chinese gamer launched some sort of EMP device (?) against a convoy in another alliance. They were supposed to be in a cease fire agreement ? I don't know. An officer in the friendly alliance came to GAF to look for a Chinese translator to understand what his new Chinese teammate was babbling about.
He had to answer to his superiors and the opposing alliance.

EDIT: So.... wanna tell me what you do in Eve ?

 

[KKRT]

New interesting interview
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-dust-514/715865

So.... wanna tell me what you do in Eve ?

I'm fleet commander in polish corporation that lives in 0.0 space [Beach Boys], we were in big alliances like IT and Atlas, and worked with AAA and old Band of Brothers alliance, so i've been in all those big alliance wars that were reported by gaming sites, like Delve War 1 and 2, or MAX campaign against Northern Coalition.
We try to be as close to big encounters as possible and shoot down as many ships as we can, we're strictly PVP corporation

 

[patsu]

New interesting interview
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-dust-514/715865

Pretty cool...

I'm fleet commander in polish corporation that lives in 0.0 space [Beach Boys], we were in big alliances like IT and Atlas, and worked with AAA and old Band of Brothers alliance, so i've been in all those big alliance wars that were reported by gaming sites, like Delve War 1 and 2, or MAX campaign against Northern Coalition.
We try to be as close to big encounters as possible and shoot down as many ships as we can, we're strictly PVP corporation

What is the ultimate goal of the game ? Own your own alliance ? It doesn't sound like you need to kill everyone else to win right ?

I remember Eve Online from that Gaf post because the poster "sounded" so sincere and earnest... as if he's talking about a real conflict. ^_^

 

[KKRT]

What is the ultimate goal of the game ? Own your own alliance ? It doesn't sound like you need to kill everyone else to win right ?

There isnt any ultimate goal, its a sandbox. Its all depend of ambitions of corporation leadership, some want to control a whole region, other ones want to be best mercenaries, some just have a fun from game, other want to control a part of market or be production kings, or just become wealthy.
For most hardcore players, the end game is mostly is about region control, because its giving You peaceful space and high passive income from mining moons, but sometimes where they [alliances] are bored with peace, they start wars - this how MAX campaign started for example.
When some alliance control two/three very rich regions and are not liked much, other makes coalitions and starts war to push them out of those regions [Delve War 1 and 2] and those wars run for months.

as if he's talking about a real conflict. ^_^

Because they are Delve War 2 for example had 60k accounts involved.