After spending last weekend at the EVE Online Fan Fest, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood came away with a lot of new information both about the game as it is now and what CCP plans for the future. In today's article, Jon takes a look at "A Future Vision" as presented by CCP during Fan Fest. See what Jon has to say about it and then leave a comment or two below.

With Incarna starting to roll out, I wonder if some folks aren’t going to see this video and look for the moon, when the short term reality is actually significantly less. Sure, walking through stations and getting involved in all kinds of political intrigue sounds completely awesome, and it’s something I’m looking forward to in the game, but that’s nowhere near where the developers are going to be when Incarna starts to roll out this summer.

Read more Of Jon Wood's EVE Online: A Future Vision - Commentary.

My first comment to this "commentary" is that I have my doubts as to whether DUST will ever see the light of day.

My second comment is in regards to concerns of some EVE person using that "space bombardment" to take advantage and grief some other player in the proposed ground game. As much as it might SEEM that this could take place I must point out that this is a TRAILER and not actual gameplay footage of any kind. You can take any of CCP's such type trailers and you will see that they all have things that are NOT ACTUALLY IN GAME. These trailers are only to get interest and nothing more. To keep the public eye on CCP/EVE. They are representations of things that do not look or occur at all like things in the actual game.

In other words, don't worry about it.

Ok, I guess people see different things. I was happy to see the bomardment dont by a dread. It would logically follow that the way they plan to balance it is to require a dread to bombard, and probably a sieged dread. Now, how many people are willing to siege a dread in orbit (beeing locked down for 10 minutes) just to nuke a few people on a planet?

Not many, unless something more is at stake.

Try watching again, and consider everything in the light of the dread beeing sieged. Everything will make much more sense.

Haven't really been following this but the video was excellent.  But after reading some of the comments and hearing the word "console" mentioned a disturbing number of times, my excitement has pretty much deflated.  If the ground-based game is being developed for console jockeys (which is just my impression and I may well be wrong) then yeah, use that orbital bombardment button with free abandon.  You won't be nuking anything you can't do without anyway.

What a waste if this is true since I would love to be involved in the EVE universe, just not as master spreadsheeter.  Thought this might be what would do it eventually.  I'm not so hopeful now.

Anyone surprised by CCP promising the moon and stars without any ability to deliver hasn't been paying attention.

CCP does a LOT of things right and EVE is a great game, but the dev team has always managed to convey a "pie in the sky" optimistic opinion of what is on the horizon...and then taking years to deliver a watered-down and kneecapped version of whatever it was. Any EVE player not used to crushing disappointment at CCP probably left a long time ago.

It would seem that from the Roundtable on DUST (I've only read blog coverage, but I think it captured the gist), the only unanimous takeaway message is that EVE players want there to be heavy interaction between DUST players and EVE players.  Given the usual method of interaction between players in EVE, screwing over from both camps is virtually expected as a game feature.

DUST is a pretty grand experiment on CCPs part.  I'm no shooter fan, but as far as I know there is no precident for a persistent game world shooter on the level DUST is pitched at even in its most basic incarnation.  I think DUST will have to grow its own crowd of players that accept it isn't a normal shooter experience.  I expect actions will matter more than your typical console / FPS player is accustomed to.  (wild supposition on my part - could be wrong)

I do agree somewhat though that the trailer really sets a high bar if taken at face value.  CCP has usually been very good at keeping things close to the vest (look at how much information has been released about World of Darkness for instance).  This trailer could very well create a hype backlash - but then I'm not sure people who would fall victim to such hype would spend much time in EVE to begin with.

I'd have to agree with Jakin, EVE isn't really a game that caters to hype-type people.  It's an amazing game that takes patience to master, most people with hype ADD would be almost incapable of playing the game.

On to the orbital attack concerns.  I think that such a weapon should be available, but at the same time, depending on how DUST is implemented (if ever) I'm pretty sure there will be massive planetary defense systems that can be setup to defend against such an attack.  To say that it will be a concern is probably justified, but EVE is a game where gigantic risk is a part of the game experience.

"Nothing would make me quit playing a game faster than knowing that some douche in space could wipe my entire map out with the push of a button. And anyone who thinks this system wouldn’t be used to by douches everywhere, just for kicks... Well, they’re wrong."

You've heard of this game called Eve, right? It's "PvP" is BASED on being a douche to other players. This fits perfectly with CCP's idea of PvP in Eve. And, btw, to an "immortal" pilot/commander of a giant space faring ship, a grunt on the ground IS a second class citizen...

I avoid PvP in Eve for these reasons...

Originally posted by eric_w66

"Nothing would make me quit playing a game faster than knowing that some douche in space could wipe my entire map out with the push of a button. And anyone who thinks this system wouldn’t be used to by douches everywhere, just for kicks... Well, they’re wrong."

You've heard of this game called Eve, right? It's "PvP" is BASED on being a douche to other players. This fits perfectly with CCP's idea of PvP in Eve. And, btw, to an "immortal" pilot/commander of a giant space faring ship, a grunt on the ground IS a second class citizen...

 

I avoid PvP in Eve for these reasons...

The thing about being a douche, and pressing the shiny i-win button "just for kicks", is that people will remember you, not so much the friends you betray, but also your enemies, and the allies enemies, including those spectating the battle for the sake of politics or commerce. they will remember such people who would throw away days to months work of resources for 20 seconds of herp derp without weighing the repucussions and outcome carefully.

these douches, the "smart" ones that plan out their extreme actions (betrayel, robbing a guild bank just to name a few) tend to have some doors open to them from other avenue's in the EVE universe; even if they are of the darker more sinister kind.

the dumb douches however, will have a very hard time to gain trust to any mega corp's , if ever. mostly force them to change their identity or roll with other scum with the hope they themselves dont get screwed over.

co CCP's future vision of eve is to play dust? ok... doesnt speak much for eve itself.  the recent changes are a step backwards to cater to the 0.01% of the game who posts on scrapheap and who couldnt adapt to the last changes, expecct a good 30% drop in subscribers after the 5th when CCP decides to screw over the vast majority of players to cater to the whimpers of the outdated few.

and for those that wonder, no eve is no longer a sandbox. you are forced to play exactly the way CCP wants you to or they simply change the rules on you until you do.

not worth starting, nor worth continuing to play.

I play Eve. I love Eve.

Nothing in that video is ever going to happen. Dust, if it is ever released, will flop because it's going to be a console shooter that becomes forgotten as soon as the new shiny comes out after its release. Console kiddies are the most ADHD people on the planet so the fact that they are spending so much development time on something doomed to fail is depressing.

I play console games and PC games.

Why do people think that there's a line drawn down the center of 'gamer'?

I plan to play DUST... when it releases (which it will)

and I'll play EVE Online for the first time ever.

The game has an amazing future... I don't understand why people have to be so negative about it all. Then I remember that thats what humans (on average) do with anything.

well, maybe i'm totally wrong, but my best guess is:

- the intersection between dust541 (console game) and eve (pc game) are the orbital plattforms from which planetary attacks with groundtroops will be launched. the pilot can dock at these plattforms and provide the troops (the dust player) with supplies (weapons, vehicles, medkits etc). all these things can be produced by the normal eve player in the regular eve universum.

- orbital strikes are a special attack which can be set up by a commander in dust 541. maybe its an ability which has a huge cooldown and you have to buy for this attack before joining a battle or you have to complete a special goal (like conquering the orbital strike command center). i see this attack more like an artillery attack like we know it from 'battlefield' and not depending on pilots in the normal eve universum, because its hard for me to imagine that you can synchronize the pc game with the console game in such an important and time-dependent manner.

- incarna and the captains quarters are only the first step. its the same engine ccp using for world of darkness, isn't it? so why shouldn't be it possible that ccp finally grants the pilots the possibility to walk on planets and doing missions down there?

I still don't get it why everyone took this trailer so literary. It's not like you'll be able to do a orbital bombardment spam. If anything, your corp is gonna have a reputation to uphold, very much like it does already in EVE Online.

Originally posted by hfztt

Ok, I guess people see different things. I was happy to see the bomardment dont by a dread. It would logically follow that the way they plan to balance it is to require a dread to bombard, and probably a sieged dread. Now, how many people are willing to siege a dread in orbit (beeing locked down for 10 minutes) just to nuke a few people on a planet?

Not many, unless something more is at stake.

Try watching again, and consider everything in the light of the dread beeing sieged. Everything will make much more sense.

The answer to your question is another question... How many Goonies are there?

Its a great video, and very much in keeping with what we've come to expect from CCP over the years. But I totally agree that it flies in the face of their usual expert management of player expectation.  Even a bleeding edge system would have a difficult time handling that level of detail at this point.

No doubt in time(four to five years)  given the current rate of hardware evolution that type of system will become more main stream.  Not to mention that the ultimate I WIN button, that orbital strike represents, would have to be managed VERY carefully.  But certain realities within the game would have to be addressed, if DUST 514 is to find its own audience.

Originally posted by Lanfea

well, maybe i'm totally wrong, but my best guess is:

 

- the intersection between dust541 (console game) and eve (pc game) are the orbital plattforms from which planetary attacks with groundtroops will be launched. the pilot can dock at these plattforms and provide the troops (the dust player) with supplies (weapons, vehicles, medkits etc). all these things can be produced by the normal eve player in the regular eve universum.

 

- orbital strikes are a special attack which can be set up by a commander in dust 541. maybe its an ability which has a huge cooldown and you have to buy for this attack before joining a battle or you have to complete a special goal (like conquering the orbital strike command center). i see this attack more like an artillery attack like we know it from 'battlefield' and not depending on pilots in the normal eve universum, because its hard for me to imagine that you can synchronize the pc game with the console game in such an important and time-dependent manner.

 

- incarna and the captains quarters are only the first step. its the same engine ccp using for world of darkness, isn't it? so why shouldn't be it possible that ccp finally grants the pilots the possibility to walk on planets and doing missions down there?

Unless things have changed, you are completley wrong.

The interaction is just between an EVE player offering a contract to the mercenary Console player to attack the planetery infrastructure of another EVE player.

Thats it, its that boring.

Yes when the mercenary Console players collect enough isk (thru contracts) they well have as an option of orbital support (thru bombardment), no different that BF2 or BF2142. Or they can spend that money or points or whatever it convets too, on sensors, or air support, or vehicles, or armor upgrades, or weapon upgrades, and so on.

Here are two videos of Torfi (I think) playing and commenting on the aspects of DUST514. With video 1 showing gameplay, and video 2 more on the lobby part of the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUlJbah93tM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHxYk-ZdvCQ&feature=related

I agree with the OP's assessment, however, as relates to the possibility of nuking the console players like that from space I would agree to it on 2 conditions, both keeping with the Eve universe.

1) Require enormous time spent in gaining the skills and resources to press that button and...

2) Be 100% assured of Perma-death before you can get back to your pod, or at least knocked back to a zero skillpoint clone.

Originally posted by burmese

I agree with the OP's assessment, however, as relates to the possibility of nuking the console players like that from space I would agree to it on 2 conditions, both keeping with the Eve universe.

 

1) Require enormous time spent in gaining the skills and resources to press that button and...

 

2) Be 100% assured of Perma-death before you can get back to your pod, or at least knocked back to a zero skillpoint clone.

Even that wouldn't stop the Goonies.  Orbital strike is going to have to be handled in a totally different fashion.  DUST 514 looks like it could be fun(but I really question an FPS on console), but its audience is likely to be really different from the typical EVE audience.  That being the case, if the game is going to be anything but an expensive failure, the interaction is going to have to be seriously researched, and many of the issues addressed.

Jon it almost sounds like your whining. If your that worried about getting your ass blown up have someone else review Dust or build a bunker. I'm sure that Dust 514 will have the same tools that EVE has in respect to being able to be the screwed and the screwer. Dust 514 is at least a year and a half away. The only inflated expectations I see are from the EVE forum griefers, trolls and I guess Jon Wood. I don't know maybe they should have named the trailer something like "EVE: A Future Vision".

Originally posted by Sabaticus

Jon it almost sounds like your whining. If your that worried about getting your ass blown up have someone else review Dust or build a bunker. I'm sure that Dust 514 will have the same tools that EVE has in respect to being able to be the screwed and the screwer. Dust 514 is at least a year and a half away. The only inflated expectations I see are from the EVE forum griefers, trolls and I guess Jon Wood. I don't know maybe they should have named the trailer something like "EVE: A Future Vision".

 

I'm sure it will too. I'm just saying that with the total lack of info about DUST and how that's going to tie in, it's a dangerous marketing tool to say that the only thing we DO know about is this planetary bombardment. 

Shoot the messenger if you like, but it's an honest to God issue that many potential DUSt players are going to notice.

Do I think that CCP is going to do something that balances the playing field? I do, actually. But it never hurts to bring these things to the forefront BEFORE they become an issue. i'm sure you'll agree.