Go Big or Go Home

Some games have such an enormous learning curve you need to either dig in and focus to play successfully, or just don't play at all. These games have no middle ground for casual or even semi-hardcore gamers. You have to be invested. EVE Online is one obvious example. It takes months or even years to learn enough about the game to become successful. On top of that, the character development system in the game requires further commitment: it actually takes months to train a passable frigate PVP character. Want to fight using larger, more expensive, more powerful ships and equipment? You'll have to wait more months. Probably years. I have a four-year-old character who still cannot pilot the simplest capital ship. Granted, I never really focused said character at capital ships. He's decent in battlecruisers and battleships. But still - he's four years old. One would think he had reached the endgame content, no?

So when Jester mentions DUST 514 has an EVE-like skill system that takes months or even years to develop the more fun, useful abilities, I know exactly what he means. And I agree with him; I don't particularly want to go through it all again, either. At least, not in a free-to-play action game where I'm more interested in player skill rather than character skill. That's not to say EVE isn't based on player skill - it most certainly has a player skill component. But the fact remains it's very frustrating, especially to new or casual players, to be saddled with things like slow-responding sniper scopes simply because you haven't logged a requisite number of hours in the game.

As a solution, I would recommend taking a look at Enemy Territory, the free, standalone multiplayer release based on Return to Castle Wolfenstein. It's an FPS of course, but your character earns experience and levels up based on your actions in the game. Due to the action-oriented nature of the game, your character can reach maximum level by the time a server's round rotation is over (usually between 30-90 minutes of gameplay). Once the server rotates to a new round, all characters are reset. This is great because endgame is attainable but not frustratingly long and drawn-out. Advanced characters have definite advantages, but a low-level skilled player can still best a max-level player at any time.

I want Dust 514 to play less like EVE and more like Enemy Territory.