The Year of the Horse

As the Shanghai office of CCP winds down for a few days, to celebrate the Chinese New Year, I thought I'd use the animal of this new year, the horse, as a ridiculously tenuous link to my real life occupation.

For I am a purveyor in false hope and dreams....

I manage a betting shop.

I also know something about odds and percentages and now a good long term bet when I see one. Just over two years ago I paid off the flight tickets for my first trip to Fanfest. Back then I was an enthusiastic but still limited in experience pilot in EVE University and Eve Online. It was to be honest the only game that I played a lot on the PC. I'd dabbled a bit in Civilisation V on the format, a couple of bargains on Steam but the format I'm most comfortable with is consoles. 

At the time specifically the Xbox 360. I didn't own the PS3, not because I'm xbox fanboy, though I admit choosing the Xbox One over PS4 for reasons I'll came back to later. No, I chose the Xbox 360 for two reasons. First of all it was cheaper and secondly for Xbox Live.

I'm a proud owner of the number 10 on my Gamertag tenure, shortly to be 11. In fact I was one of the UK beta testers for Live before it was launched. It was easy to be in that beta if I'm honest. Fast and stable broadband a decade ago in the UK was the heady speeds of 120kb a second. Ooooooo. And the cabling of the UK was still going on, so it was fairly rare to have broadband, almost by default I was in the beta. 

Halo had already fired up a love for FPS games which had started in the seedy seaside Arcades o my youth, so when Halo 2 (still the best in the series) arrived with the Live option it's predecessor lacked, I was hooked. I swear that disc didn't leave my Xbox for 9 months. 

So you've noticed that so far I've owned all three Xbox consoles and claim to not be a fanboy. How does that compute. Well, put simply there were no games on the PS2 or PS3 that I wanted to play that  there wasn't an Xbox version of. Don't get me wrong, there's been some great games on the format but nothing that floated my boat so to speak. 

So back to the Fanfest of 2012. I'm a console gamer, in a place full of PC players. Who'd just learned that the FPS that CCP had been working on wasn't coming to PC but was going to be a console exclusive. And not only that, on the most consolely of consoles, the PS3. 

They weren't happy. Not happy at all.

Seriously, the day they opened to door in Harpa main hall, to show the hastily gathered PS3 demo units and allow us to have a go, you could feel the contempt, heavy in the air. It condensed on the walls and you'd think you could hear it drip. As someone who was a console gamer at heart, that happened to love playing Eve, it was a very uncomfortable feeling. I dared not tell anyone. 

It was like getting a cheap ticket for an FA Cup match and finding you're the only Leeds fan in a crowd of Man Utd seating. 

The problem was for me however was that I liked the game. Don't get me wrong, it was a festering pile of kak in terms of the problems that build had. The controls, the UI, map design, the lack of variation in the them. It was using an inferior controller... It was bloody awful. 

But I still liked it for no good reason I could identify. Part of the package for those that attended Fanfest that year was a beta key. Well I'd had some experiance of beta's, the last one prior to that was the Open beta for Halo 3 (I flipped when that email arrived), I couldn't play the game on the 360 and I'd heard rumour of some survival game featuring a middle aged man and a young girl coming onto the PS3 that was promising. The price had dropped since launch, so I took the chance and got a PS3 slim. And waited.

The closed beta started. Some improvement since Fanfest. An active forum for testers. Chromosome came. It was going good. And I'm still playing the game now. Like I said, I know a good long term bet when I see one. It's survived its first year despite the hurdles it's had to jump and a poor launch build.

It's as playable and as enjoyable as it's ever been. The last couple of point builds (other than the over enthusiastic AV nerf of 1.7) have been really good and the promise of 1.8 and its full racial suits has me giddy.

So back to the choice between Xbox One and PS4. I'm a home cinema nut. Pretty much everything is routed via a really nice Sony Reciever and a fabulous Panasonic LED TV. My music is streamed to it all and I needed a console to fit in with all that with little fuss. The Xbox One.

Also, the PS4 is again not offering me something that I can't get on the Xbox One. Nothing floating my boat in Sony's immediate road map.

Unless CCP change that of course. Let's be honest I didn't get a PS4 because I can't play Dust 514 on it. But I think I'll be getting one this year...

I know a good long term bet when I see one.

CPM Election Fever.

So election fever is upon us in New Eden thanks to CCP Saberwing firing the starting pistol a little early perhaps...

The Council Chamber is now full of candidate threads from the full spectrum of players in Dust. From the established big hitters to the smaller guys whose opinions are just as valid. I look forward to the inaugural CPM elections for many reasons.

First of all, because all the rumours are saying that it will be STV, single transferable vote. For a community as varied as Dust's but limited in number, its essential that such a system is in place to avoid the bigger Corps and Alliances filling the positions on the council. Secondly because there has been a perception, incorrect in my view, that the current CPM have no mandate purely because CCP chose them.

While its true that the players had no real say in the matter, the fact that they had benefited from the work and meta content that the CPM members had and still produce for the game, did give them a mandate by implied consensus. 

And part of the work of CPM0 was to create the white paper and processes that the future CPM's would need to do their job in the future. With the gun being fired we can safely assume that they've succeeded in that role and the community team, headed by Saberwing can proceed with the elections proper.

And it's important that this CPM do have a direct mandate from the players. Current CPM member Jenza posted an open letter, stating that CPM1 would have a much harder time than they did. Completly understandable considering.

It's beginning to come clearer now as to to the direction that the new EP CCP Rouge is wanting to take Dust and he's not afraid to ruffle a few feathers to do it. The frankly over the top reactions to the equipment and suit changes is indicative of the job that the new CPM members will have on their hands.

For the record, I have little sympathy for those that specced into FOTM in pursuit of KDR, a measure of excellence that for me is on par with middle aged men buying Ferrari to compensate for inadequacies elsewhere.

1.8 it would seem to me is the where the game that should've launched on May 14 last will finally be available for us to play. With a quick hotfix for problems found in 1.9, I'm confident that Fanfest 2014 will be the introduction of 2.0, a build of the game that demonstrates Rouge's vision of the game and how it grow from there. 

Whatever format it's on...

As to my CPM candidacy. I still intent to stand but I feel it rather jumping the gun to post a manifesto or announcement thread till finalised details are released by CCP. I'm old fashioned like that. Plus I don't want to bore people with a protracted campaign. That allows cynicism to creep in with the electorate and I want the community to be as engaged as possible without that. 

But I think with what I've spoken about before in the threads and with the Dev's themselves over the last two Fanfest's should give you some clues as to what I'd hope to promote within the CPM. 

An expansion of the New Player Experience to make it easier and more enjoyable for the new player to get to terms with the complexities of the game.

Helping to promote the growth of the games playerbase using the expanded NPE, an enhanced and valid Eve/Dust link and introduction of a form of PvE.

Working to ensure the continued expansion of the game onto new formats and the value that can be goined from that.

Engaging with the CSM and Eve playerbase to show them the potential value to them of the Eve/Dust link.

Pushing toward the ultimate goal of making the UI for Dust more robust and better suited for the running and expansion of Corps and Aliiances on the Dust side of New Eden, free from the requirement to use the Eve client.

There are a few other details that I want to speak on but for now that should give you some clue as to how I stand on various issues. 

So hopefully you agree with me on a lot of that and think my current work in DUST University have contributed to the community and its growth. 

Thanks for reading.

In with the new.....

So 2013 is nearly over and the first anniversary of Dust 514 joining the Sisi test server prior to the beta going open is nearly here.

January 10 is also the date I consider DUST University being 'born'. It was when we could finally accept people into the UNI proper, without the need for my temporary corp 'Kevall's UNI Dust Bunnies' which served us well in the closed beta.

Nearly 8 months from the official launch of the game I'm relieved to say its in a much better state. Oh, it's still buggy as hell and has quirks that I no longer consider as those of personality but rather as just annoying as hell and wonder why they still haven't been fixed yet. Yet despite of these handicaps I still enjoy playing and raging against the game in equal measure and I still can't shake off the potential future that the game has.

However, it is also clear to me and to anyone else that plays it, that future is not on the PS3.

This is a debate as old as the game itself but the truth of the matter is that it was business reasons that the game has started its journey on the Playstation 3. And it's those same business reasons that ensure that its future MUST be on console and console only.

I don't claim to have inside information, it's just simply what I would've done if I'd have got the job. But I think its a safe bet that that the first thing that the new EP CCP Rouge did, once his feet were under the desk, was to re-evaluate all design decisions made with the game up to the point when the EP role became vacant.

It's no secret that the game started development on the PC. But if the history of game design proves anything at all, it shows that the beginning is never set in stone. Halo, that seminal Xbox shooter, defining an entire genre for over a decade, started life as an RTS game on the Mac. 

The brutal truth is that had CCP continued developing the game for PC, it would never have left beta. Some might argue that it still hasn't but there simply isn't a business case for it to be on PC. 

In a bloated freemium FPS PC market, it would remain a niche product, of only any interest to Eve players. It could not survive as a Freemium game on that format only, once the economic link between the games becomes established. The way the game funds itself, Aurum, would be rendered moot by the vast ISK wealth available to the players of Eve. And as to the notion that Aurum items allow you to use items earlier than your skills would allow, well, you'd have to get rid of the passive SP accumulation for a PC version and make all SP gain active.

I've been playing Eve for nearly five years and ISIS came in Rebicon and showed me that I needed 80 days to gain mastery of a Veletor. But I'm patient. I set up the skill plan and I'll wait 80 days for that to happen, while I tootle around New Eden in my Assualt Frigates. 

You seriously think that Eve players would stand for having play a game to earn SP for it after a decade of the Skill Queue? Not going to happen. And besides, CCP have those players subscription money anyway. 

And what about those players that fund their Eve time paying PLEX in game. That would be two games that CCP would be providing free of charge to them. 

Not a good way to make money I'd hope you agree.

It's future is on the consoles. It's earning ability and expansion beyond a niche product can only be found on the consoles. Because despite its problems, there is still nothing that will provide a link to a gaming universe as rich and diverse as New Eden. And that is nothing that console players have experienced before.

And as to those that cling to the hope that it will at some point arrive on the PC, well the truth is that such a move would kill it dead within a month on both formats.

The console players with their controllers wouldn't last 5 minutes against the gaming mouse and keyboard rigs of PC elitists and they'll leave the game. By the same token, those same PC elitists wouldn't stand for having their precious KB&M gimped so that the console players had a chance. CCP would be spending all their time combating player hacks to get over the gimping. 

Waste of development time all round putting it on PC now. The PS3 can't hack it anymore however. It doesn't matter how 'laser focused' CCP are on the PS3 when you keep banging up against its technical limitations and mind-buggeringly complex programming language. 

In order to ensure the game can show its true promise, it needs to jump to the next gen consoles. The Xbox One would be my prefered option if Microsoft allowed CCP into its 'Walled Garden' of Xbox Live but we all know that is unlikely to happen. A shame because despite the huge improvments to Sonys Duelshock 4 (a fine controller by the way), the controller for the XBox One STILL kicks the snot out of Sony's. 

Both the next gen consoles are based on PC's and so are easier to programme. We know from experiance just what CCP can do on PC. 

But this transition must happen sooner rather than later. And don't tell me that CCP haven't already done at the least a feasibility study about a move to the PS4. It would remarkably dumb of them to not have done that. The galling thing is that I'm reliably informed that the compiling of the code and port over the PS4 is not an insurmountable task given the power of the newer console.

With the monthly iteration pattern now ended (don't expect 1.8 before the tail end of January) and the subsequent longer gaps between patches now expected, CCP need to announce some movement of the question of a move from the PS3.

And what better time of the year is there to signal change than in the new year? 

So.....Where's my flying car?

So for those of a certain age, growing up in the UK in the Seventies and Eighties, Micheal Rodd was the technological equivilant of Yoda. He, along with his fellow presenters on the seminal BBC show 'Tomorrow's World', showed us the future. And the future was cool.

http://youtu.be/vix6TMnj9vY

Some of it, like the example above they got spectacularly right. I'm still waiting for my flying car however Michael.

But to be honest, would my life be vastly improved should such a marvel be finally here. Not really, I'm reluctantly forced to admit. The mobile phone is a different matter...

Now why do I speak of such things? Well, I'm using it as a analogy I hope. The fact that something that seemed so cool as a flying car, could be completely usurped by something as mundane as being able to make a phone call from a wood. 

Dust 514 is suffering from a case of the 'Tommorow's World' syndrome as well. What seemed so cool just a year ago like the Rail Rifle hasn't really blown me away or effected my day to day enjoyment of the game like the simple ability to delete all my mail. It the easy to navigate mundanities that conspire to make the biggest impact I find. And I've found that this way of thinking is making the glacial development of the game almost bearable.

That may sound defeatist but I assure you it it not. Just two days ago in my previous blog, I admitted that that I'd pretty much lost all hope of the MTAC's making it to Dust anytime before the inevitable arrival of the game on the PS4. But thinking back to the flying car and Tommorrows World, is my current level of enjoyment of the game diminished by them not being here yet? And the answer is no, it is not.

So is there anything else in the games future, as yet not arrived, that could withstand that level of inspection, one is forced to ask. The answer is that there isn't. They are an unknown factor. They're merely cool to have if possible.

And they are the product of a design process that was being led by another who is no longer in charge of the game. Should they made surplus to requirements? The answer is of course not. They are cool things to have as aspirations for the future. 

But they shouldn't shackle the current man in charge to a course that he might not want to go or more importantly, a path that he thinks is unnavigable. CCP Rouge has been brought in for a reason. You don't hire someone of his qualification to steer a course charted by another. Particularly if the compass was too close to a magnet when that courses was charted in the first place.

As to what course Rouge may chart for Dust 514, we are not yet sure. CCP likes to keep things close to its chest, always has. But I think its time that we as a player base should no longer hold him to promises made by another. We are likely to come away disappointed and disillusioned. 

But I'd still like Tomorrow's World to have the odd flying car some time...

'We want ponies in our dropships'

http://youtu.be/wE3fmFTtP9g

So the word around the campfire is that the marketing team is finally getting round to having its first real meeting with the CPM.....

Skipping past the fact that its taken a full six months to get to this point and leaving that to others to explain as to the reasons for it, this is an excellent oppotunity to get some SERIOUS monetisation into Dust. 

The simple fact that the current offerings from the store are to be blunt.... piss poor.

With the removal of the BPO's there is nothing of value to a player. Burning through an earned in game currency with a system that costs when you die is no problem. As long as you earn the SP and actually learn to play the game well, you can comfortably budget for your drop suits and should you wish to use Aurum items till you're skilled enough in SP to purchase the ISK equilivant then there is no problem and still a market for them. 

That need for those type of items is going to around for as long as the game is. But burning through real money once your skilled enough to fund your needs in game is kinda dumb.

The stampede to purchase the militia BPO's and the Veteran and Elite Packs before they 'retired' should make it obvious to even the most jaded marketing suit, what it is that the Dust players want....

Permanence. 

Seriously, since the packs were announced as being phased out, how many Drens, Covenant and Blood Raider LAV's have you seen? A hell of a lot is the answer. 

Now, without going into all the economic reasons for this, trust me when I say that keeping the BPO's as sale items was going to scupper CCP's plans for the player market in Dust. They had to go and they're going to cause some problems till CCP decide what to do about them. For the record, I'm in favour of them being used for manufacturing in Dust and Eve but that is some way away. 

But what of permanence? The beauty and value of the BPO was that you could create a free fitting that, with the correct use of Skill Points you could make it as good as an advanced level suit. How it looked was irrelevant.

But the Dren suits do look rather drab don't they.... 

If only there was some way to add a bit of colour to your suits. Suits that relected the NPC corps and factions of New Eden. Suits that reflected the player corp you are in. A Mercenary quarters that better reflects your tastes. Art on the walls perhaps? Spoils of war, kept on a shelf...

And what if thet were permanent and you had some way to show them off to other mercenaries? Not only in your corp but others as well as you fight on the planets of New Eden. How much would you pay to have the latest designs to chose from? 

How much would you pay for a Golden Gun?

How much would a CEO pay to have a corp Uniform in game? An MCC decorated with the flag of his corp on the walls. How much is a Limited edition camo pattern for your troops worth? Corp insignia on your Vehicles? Patches and ranks on the suits of your officers?

They wouldn't have to just be purchased with real money. Perhaps a discounted price in the store for the cost of some ISK (another handy possible ISK sink to control inflation in game). 

This kind of vanity item market has proved very successful for other Fremium titles in the past and continues to be so. The only mystery is why haven't CCP pursued this before now ans an Extra income source..

And how annoyed would the Eggers be if the Bunnnies got Ponies before them?

From a drip to drinking from a fire hose.

For those that are unaware there has been some movement on the CPM's role and how it works with CCP. The main problem is that a lot of the playerbase are currently saying 'CP...What?'. 

Now this is not the fault of the members of the CPM and indeed CPP Dolan posted a sit-rep on the  status of the CPM here.

https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=117975

In it he makes clear that the CPM have been working hard but that CCP have dropped the ball, so to speak, as to how they integrate an advocacy group such as the CPM into the daily working practices of the development team's. As I've said before, this was likely the result of the change over to a monthly iteration pattern, to quickly address the problems that were evident in the release of Uprising in May.

But how should the working relationship between the CPM and CCP progress in the future now that the Dev's have acknowledged the problems of the past and spoken about rectifying them?

Before that however, we must first reveiw the reasons as to why there is a need for the CPM in the first place. In the above discussion thread there has been some heated debate as to the legitimacy of the CPM and some calling for its removel. Some of the reasons given on both sides of the arguement have a good deal of merit and some has been tin foil millinery of the finest quality. But ultimately I think the pro's of such a group, far outweigh the cons and that the playerbase should really have no fear of embracing it. 

The main need for a small advocacy group is one of speed and turnaround. There are many ways feedback can be gained from the playerbase in a detailed way. Forums, questionares, mailshots and such like. But the main problem with them is one of time. It takes time to organise, distribute and analyse the data this sort of data collection returns, which is so much better used in terms of long to medium term goals and objectives. In the case of day to day development when a problem may crop up, such methods are useless. Feedback may be needed in a very short time and a fresh set of eyes may spot a potential problem that hadn't been envisioned.

People can become myopic when laser focused on a particular problem and concerns for the 'bigger picture' often not come into the equation. Games developers are not immune to such problems and need the occasional reality check from an outsider to slap them back onto course.

Another reason for the need of a CPM is the sheer scope of a game such as Dust 514. Changes in design don't just effect individual players, but large groups of players, each with a different way of operating, that because of the sandbox nature of the game, the Dev's aren't even aware of. A small group of players, picked/elected from the whole playbase can identify problems that CCP didn't even take into consideration. And thats before we even take into account that we are being integrated into an established gameing universe..

Now, I've been chipping away at this blog for a few weeks now and its seems that in the time since Dolan's above post there has been a substantial upsurge in the CCP/CPM relationship. Indeed from his own weekly reports thread in The Councils Chamber CPM member, Heinrich Jagerblitzen, has stated that they have have gone from a drip to drinking from a fire hose.

https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1579391#post1579391

This all very encouraging and for those planning to stand for CPM, knowing that CCP are now actively involving them in the future development of the game, after so many stop and starts, and that the CPM is now having an impact. The main problem however is that, short of the for lack of a better term, politically motivated hard core of players, the general community is unaware of the turnaround of the CPM fortunes. 

And this is of huge concern to me. As someone who is going to stand for the CPM the very fact that the majority of my potential electorate are oblivious to this is deeply troubling. It plays to to fears of those against the concept of the CPM because they're worried that it will become an Elitist group, serving only themselves and those that voted for them. We've all seen the lack of faith in our real life elected officials grow more with each suscessive election after all. Why should internet politicians be any different?

With this growing involvement of the CPM in design changes to the game, its now time for CCP to start really pushing the CPM as a way to work with the community. They already have several ways to do this that I've mentioned before. Mailshots, questionares, forums and such like. But these are a scattershot business, reliant on the recipiants taking part.

But a more direct approach is needed for the electorate of Dust 514, to ensure they are made aware of the CPM and they job they do. We now have the Daily Update when we first log into Dust. This should be used more often for items of interest to the community, Extended Downtimes, hotfixes, reminders to read the forums for the up to date news from CCP and New Eden. For the December Events, special contracts have been coming up to fight the Dev's. Why cant this be extended to members of the CPM or those standing for election for it? Emails, direct to each Mercs mailbox (a hint from me that mailing lists in Dust would be a good idea), direct from CCP would be a huge help as well.

We now have a dedicated community Manger with CCP SabreWing, who has been making great inroads in his time at CCP already. CCP Logibro, a respected former member of the community, is now acting as the CPM liaison. And with the regular tweets and forum trolling of CCP Foxfour and CCP Nullabor, those that take the time to find out, know what is coming up.

But its important that CCP now play their part in this exercise, to promote the CPM becuse its members have a handicap of CCP's making. The NDA.

I'm not going to debate the merits of the NDA here. I perfectly understand the reasons for it being there but with a community, as hungry for infomation as the citizens of New Eden, it causes real friction between the CPM and the community they represent. 

For many, the explanation 'It's covered by the NDA', is one so infuriating that it's makes them question the need of the CPM in the first place and resent those that are on it. This is counter productive for CCP as the CPM is an important tool and to have the player base resent them is not at all helpful.

Now I'm not saying the wall of the NDA should come crashing down but CCP should learn from the mistakes of the past and be more a Reed in a breeze and less Oak in a tempest. It would be enough for CCP to say that something is being worked on and the CPM are involved. Nothing given away but acknowledgment that work is being done and the concerns of the community are being addressed. 

For too long we have had an eduring attitude of secrecy from CCP and its work on Dust. I understand why. We've had so many promises that are yet to bare fruit, CCP are now afraid to say anything at all. I personally now dont believe for a minute, that the mythical MTAC's and Fighters will make an appearence in Dust, till it makes it debut on a more powerful system. The fable of attacking the ships of Eve from within, will remain just that for at least 3 years at the current rate of development. We still just have the one racial knife after all...

Ultimately, the success of the CPM is up to CCP themselves and how they promote its real value to those that doubt its need. It's not up to the CPM to do that job and until CCP make the effort to educate the community as to its value, the real life attitude to 'politicians' is the likely winner in any election.

'I want to praise you like I should'

So the song goes.

But I cant do it without exception CCP. Oh, don't get me wrong. The work you've been doing since the flawed release of Uprising has been great. I've been loving all the point builds that have fixed the core stuff and if the foundations that 1.6 today will put in place, will allow for the 'content heavy' 1.7 to have just some of what I suspect is in it, then I'll be very happy.

But its the little things. Those features that have fallen through the cracks because they should've been added to make new features work even better. But for some reason, they've been overlooked. Missed and more worrying perhaps, not even been thought of as being required.

Like the Roles of 1.5, many in the community would consider them as merely 'Ease of Life' stuff, not real content in any way. But I assure you, the cumulative effect of them would be a massive boost to the game and to the community. And while not an expert in any way, I can't imagine that it would require a huge ammount of Dev time to add them in a hotfix rather than wait till a point build.

Corp Mail

Now hang on I hear you all cry... we got that in Uprising and you Fleetfoot, was the one that was screaming the loudest for it! What more do you want?

Well, that is all true of course. But it's introduction and how it was implemented necessitated the addition of two support features for it, that inexplicably and for no good reason didn't get added.

Mark all as Read and Delete All. (UPDATED) CCP FoxFour tweeted me shortly after this blog first went up with a picture https://twitter.com/regnerba/status/397773742232727552 Hows that for service folks!

Seriously guys, why did these get overlooked? And what makes it so difficult to add them? Now, to a new player these don't mean nothing to them. But to the veteran player base... they would be awesome. Why?

This all starts on the 10th January 2013. The day Dust 514 went live on the Tranquility server. Now, without boring you with the details, the mail system in Eve is quite extensive and when the game was moved to TQ then mails that were in the system, including any corp mails sent the old way, welcome mails, Alliance mails and notifications started to build up in in players mailboxes.

All of them.

So come the day of the Uprising we had a LOT of mail to sort. Hardly the best use of a Merc's time. And if you were a CEO or Director in a Dust corp you got a notification for every application and one for every acceptance of a player that had happened since the 10th of January to the 15th of May.

By the time of Uprising, we'd had around 1500 players go through the Uni at that point. That was a lot of mail to delete. And with no 'Delete all' option.... I shudder at the thought of how bad it would be now it the mail system came in now. We've had closer to 4000 players in the Uni by this time.

The silly thing is however, that the Dust Mail system uses the Eve Mail system and most if not all its functionality. It's why I use the Eve client to send a corp mail. I can increase the font size and colour. Use paragraphs and formatting and when it arrives to the members on the PS3 it's easier to read on a TV screen. The Dust side is just lacking the UI to access it all. But seriously, how hard to add the delete all button.

It's also limiting the use of the corp mail in Dust. There are players who aren't as OCD as me so see the red circle with 900 mails and dont even bother reading them. Sort it out CCP.

Chat Channels

Again, something that is not thought off as content but it is the primary way that Dust players co-ordinate operations both in and out of corp. They, like the mail, share the same system as Eve. So why can't a channel created in Dust have the same admin controls as in Eve? We don't perhaps need much but surely the creator of a Dust Channel in the Dust client could have basic mute and kick powers of those in their channel? I'm sure Drunk Night would love that. 

Inviting to Channel shouldn't mean having to add a player to you contacts first either.

We have a couple of channels in the Uni created Eve side so as to give us more control. We could have passwords Dust side to stop unwanted players joining the channel. But its better to create it Eve side and change the settings so that only members of your own corp can join it. You can also block known trolls as well. Ease of use perhaps but still bloody useful to have in your quiver. So why should only those corps that have access to Eve have that advantage.

Forum Access

Directors and the CEO have access to 'The Board Room' in each Corps forum on the offical Dust Forums. It would've been nice to include the option for Non directoral roles to be able to access The Board Room too. 

Message Of The Day

The average TV screen size is now 40 inch or above. Thats a lot of screen real estate that can be used for informing your members of chat rules, procedure, standing orders, whatever you want in fact, at the top of a chat channel when they log on. It can be added on the Eve side no problem. Why can't it been seen on the Dust side? Why can't it be added Dust side while we're at it?

Theres probably a lot of other things that I could think of as well as others that the player base could mention too but these are the top 4 that annoy me. None are very big in of themselves but combined they would make corp building much easier, prevent burnout and provide much needed polish to a UI that is in need of a newer finish.