EVE General Discussion

I do not understand why the official DUST forums are not hosted in the same place as the Eve forums.

Isn't this supposed to be the same universe? So let us easily interact with the DUST pilots, at least through the forums. Let them see the cool stuff we do. Let us see the cool stuff they do (is there cool stuff they can do?).

forums.ccpgames.com works for me.

As it stands, I do not see DUST impacting the Eve world at all. Combined with zero visibility into the world of DUST, it might as well not exist to me.

If Dust were a seamless transition from Eve, similar to the captain's quarters transition from the ship hanger, I'd be into it. Especially if there was some (financial) way that Dust would benefit my Eve existence and vice-versa.

It's where it belongs. It's a FPS game and FPS games have faction foes.

FPS games don't get into the character development and all the stuff MMORPGs get into (like the drama of nerds), they're action games and need clear targets to constantly attack. EvE is blob warfare now, and too expensive to fight like in FPS games (where there's no cost in dying but the loss of stats).

At best DUST will become is a cross between Deus Ex and BF2142. DX for it blending MMOFPS and MMORPG elements of gameplay, yet still is a shooter; BF2142 for the features of combat (like Titan warfare and podding...which is different from EvE's podding).

The most fun I ever had in a game was BF2142. The variety in a FPS shooter was refreshing, as much as that box of endless 'nades.

And that's where you're wrong.
You'd be surprised, but some of the most fun events that the Dust community responded positively to were lore developments, and surprise surprise, a buttload of role playing on the forums.
Since at the time you couldn't pick sides, if for example someone from the Gallente was fighting at the side of the Caldari, they would a lot of times start suiciding to drain the clone count so Gallente win.
And it happend a lot.

And there is a cost of dying in Dust, it's just that we are more likely to die instantly from a bullet shot out of nowhere, so they take it into account when deciding the price of dropsuits, weapons, modules, etc'.
They expect you to die multiple times, so the prices are set accordingly.
Of course there is prototype gear, which is extremely powerful, but if you lose a single prototype weapon and suit, you won't make a profit from the match.
Another one and you're losing money.

that whining has won the EVE client a TON of polishing and fixing, maybe DUST bunnies should try it some time, now whos laughing?

I would not mind a revamp in PI, and if that revamp includes Dust, I don't see a problem with that. PI is pretty lame as it is now.

I keep going back to the basic premise of real life conflicts. One side can have all the "air" superiority it wants, and that superiority can have a devastating impact on an enemy, but in order to "occupy" or "conquer" a country (planet) (system) you have to have boots on the ground controlling the population. No country has ever been bombed into submission.

Eve does a good job or segregating itself to make it "appear" to be less dependent on events that happen on the ground or on a planet. The economy is mostly found in space. This makes sense because Eve is a space ship game, and will probably always be a spaceship game. However, DUST has the potential to introduce a "boots on the ground" concepts to the Eve universe.

What's interesting is that neither Eve or Dust have a pre-set connection. That makes the potential connections virtually limitless. It allows for full integration with faction warfare as an example, it allows Dust to have an effect on something like planetary interaction. It allows a exploration "escalation" to another pocket of dead space that would require a team of Dust mercs to fully exploit. (Which would allow for nearly endless back stabbing, crosses and double crosses.)

Eventually, Eve could introduce a player sovereignty element that is supported by Dust Mercs. Instead of just the tried and true methods (POS bashuing) that Eve already uses, the players could hire a Dust Company to capture sovereignty from the inside.

In the end, I think a few things come to light.

Dust must become a popular game in its own right. It has to have a significant and passionate player base that can revile the Space side of Eve. Frankly it needs a player base as strong as Call of Duty or Battlefield Earth. Whether it can meet that challenge remains to be seen

Dust must matter to its players, like Eve matters to its players.

The integration of Dust into Eve and Eve into Dust must be gradual. Baby Steps. Neither game can overshadow the other. Ideally CCP would want the interaction to be both voluntary and beneficial to both games. (Dust players could hire a corp to supply Air Cover and interdict supplies and keep supply lines open and perform direct aerial bombardment and interaction. Eve players could receive boosts from the station, or could get reduced costs from vendors in the station. Raw material costs or supply could be enhanced or diminished. An entire economy dependent on supporting the ground troops from food and water to guns and ammo may need to be supplied.

The integration must be beneficial to each style of player. An additional layer of content is needed probably needed.

Lastly, I think that from the Eve perspective only, the game can go on without Dust, much like it does today. But with Dust added the meta game can have so much more depth, layer and layer of military conflicts, economic influences. Heck Eve could introduce entire ship categories that support Dust, and nothing but Dust. The Eve player can choose to participate or continue to fly super caps that have little influence other