Saturday 12 October 2013

I went to Fanfest and all I got was this patch....

Following the disappointing news that vehicles were not to get their rebalancing in 1.5, it emerged that nearly all my Christmases were coming at once.

Corp Roles were on their way. 

Not only that but the member list was getting a coding revamp, eliminating the need to make a cup of tea while waiting for it to download. A Squad Finder, familiar to those that play Eve Online was making its debut too. Along with several needed nips and tucks and a rendering improvment. And the beginnings of a relevant and considered New Player Experience was being added and will grow based on feedback.

Not exactly the new content that many have been clamouring for... 'where are our new weapons?' was the refrain being wailed in the forums, like the loss of a beloved pet. And yes, in the traditional sense of what is expected in the gaming world, it wasn't new content...

It was far better than that.

This is the begining of a new phase in the development of Dust 514. The beginning of its true integration into New Eden. Dust is maturing. And corporations will pave the way. The creation and development of new corporations in Dust are vital to it's long term growth. It will be where new players can come in meet others with similar goals in the game and create their own Corps. And making these corps easy to run and maintain is essential.

We have seen many corps in the game burn out and blow away in the wind. There are the usual reason given by those who chose to gloat about the demise of an enemy. 'We ran 'em out of Molden Heath.... We beat them every game.... We scared them.....' blah, blah, blah, bblllaaaahhhh.

The truth is far more mundane, dull and really only known to those who run or have run a Corp in Dust 514.

Running a large Corp or Alliance is hard work.

Seriously, once you get past fifty memberrs, the work load leaps up to the point where it's a second job. And then when you have to take several time zones into account.... you start jumping at sudden noises.  Security is the main bug bear for many in New Eden but an essential part of it. The meta game is strong and there are plenty that would stab you in the back for a few million ISK. But for the longest time the only role was Director, other than the CEO. A complete nonsense if all you wanted was someone to process applications while you doing something else important, like sleeping.

Obviously there comes a point where you have to start trusting people. And thankfully I did. I've got a great team of players wanting to do what the Uni does. Help others. Some have moved on to do their own thing in Dust 514 but the work they've done carries on. And I want players to move on. It's how this game will continue to grow.

And grow it will. We will likely have player trading in place by Christmas. In order for that to work its logical to asume that some sort of revised inventory system needs to be in place in the game. Once thats in place, its only a small leap of faith to imagine a corporate inventory to be be needed. All of these steps will and have always needed roles in order for a corp to funtion at its best. 

You still going to say that all this isn't content?

We also have a new Excutive Producer joining the good ship Dust 514, CCP Rouge. The appointment of such a senior figure should speak volumes as to CCP's long term commitment to the game. There are still those with a narrow minded field of vision that believe that CCP should ONLY be concentrating on Eve. That the distraction of Dust, Valkyrie and World of Darkness is taking funding from the parent game and its development. Well, a quick check on the Sisi test server of some of the stuff coming up in Rubicon frankly rips that arguement to shreads. Eve's development is being harmed by CCP's spliting of focus? I'm calling out bullshit on that one. It's just the bittervets bitching as usual.

Its like saying that Blizzard should ring-fence all its profits from WoW, only using them for further development of that game and not on Starcraft. Or that Apples iMac profits shouldn't have been spent on the R&D of the iPod. I think we should be thankful that these folks aren't in charge at CCP.

So welcome CCP Rouge. It'll be a while before we are able to see the direction he wants to take the game. But I'm liking the future as he see's it from the interviews he has done and the attitude he showed, when I tweeted him about the community poking CCP with sharp sticks because we care..

'Bring it on. Thats how great games are made!'

No comments:

Post a Comment