Todays announcement of Dust 514, the console based FPS/RTS from CCP, based in the EVE universe, took a lot of people by surprise. I’ve been doing some rumination over the implications of what Dust means to the current players of EVE.Hilmar’s announcement included a few salient points:
- Dust was deisgned to open up the EVE universe to console gamers, the implication being that this will not see the light of day on PC.
- Dust will have a direct influence on the sovreignty and politics of EVE. Taking a planet in Dust will be an essential part of gaining control of a system in EVE.
- There will be two way traffic of funds and other economic activity between the two.
- Alliances and corporations will have divisions in EVE and in Dust.
Lets take a look at these points, in no particular order.
The biggest point, and the one which will no doubt occupy the attention of EVE players the most, is the interaction between the two games. Soldiering activity in Dust will have a direct effect on EVE. How much the gameplay of EVE will be affected by Dust has not been made clear, its being touted as a big thing but personally I don’t see it playing that big a role (more on that later). Hilmar mentions in his talk, that player corporations and alliances in EVE will be able to hire similar organisations in Dust to take planets for them. The Dust players will spend this money on equipment and weaponry to use in their assault. A couple of questoins this raises: Who will be supplying the weapons and equipment? Will organisations in EVE be able to produce this equipment and supply the Dust players directly? This leads me on nicely to the next point.
It was mentioned in Hilmar’s address that, to begin with at least, Dust players would form their own corporations and alliances. These will eventually become, it is hoped, more integrated with the existing politcal and economic player organisations in EVE. Whether it will be purely ISK which changes hands between the organistaions in Dust and EVE or whether equipment purchased and manufactured by EVE corporations will also be transferrable is yet to be seen. If the latter is the case then I expect to see whole logistics chains springing into existence in EVE, affording many more options to the industrialists and bringings an unprecedented depth to EVE’s already huge economy.
I have left the most contentious point till last, the implication that Dust will be a console only title. There has been no mention made of a PC version, and this is a question which is on the lips of nearly all those discussing the announcement today. If it is confirmed that Dust will be console only I have a few issues with this, that go beyond me being a PC fanboy (TBH it doesn’t bother me really whether its on consoles only, apart from if its a PS3 exclusive, as I already own a 360).
The thing about consoles is that they have a very limited shelf life, basically the time between one generation and the next, and releasing a title which interacts in a fairly fundamental way with an existing online world is a big risk. If the manufacturer of the chosen platform doesn’t allow for backwards compatibility (which is limited on both the Xbox and PS3) then once the new hardware comes out you lose a large part of your playerbase.
There is also the attention span of console gamers to take into account. This is in no way meant to put console gamers down it is merely the nature of the market. Console games are “fast burners”, hugely popular for a short period after release, but with interest waning as newer titles are released. There are of course exceptions to this rule, Halo 3 and Call Of Duty 4 being the most notable, but they are rare and are phenomenal games in their own right. To become what CCP are touting it to be Dust must usurp both of these games from their slot at the top of the multiplayer pile, no small task. Even if Dust does manage this, it will then have to defend its position from any newcomers.
Another problem with releasing titles on either of the big consoles (not including the Wii, thats not the market Dust is aimed at) is the fact that you almost have to make a deal with the devil to get a license. The hardware manufacturers get to dictate terms and keep tight control of games that appear on their machines. There is also the possibility that if CCP puts a foot wrong at any point, they either lose the chance to release on that console or are sued to within an inch of their lives. Either of the big 2 console makers could eat CCP for breakfast if they were of a mind to, tying them up in litigation for decades or driving them to bankruptcy, which would obviously mean no more EVE.
The sad fact is that something will come along eventually which will drastically reduce the playerbase of Dust if it is solely a console release, either through technological progress, or a newer shinier game coming along. This is why I believe that the actual effect that Dust will have on sovreignty in EVE will be minimal and CCP will have other mechanics in place to take the strain when Dust players are in short supply.
Having a PC release of Dust will mena that current players of EVE (who are PC gamers, natch) will be able to jump into dust with a deeper understanding of why they are fighting and the whole background behind it. Releasing on PC will also mean that CCP are beholden to no-one and can do what they like with the game without having to get the hardware manufacturer’s permission. The hardware problem will also be assuaged as upgrading your PC is not something whic (in most cases) leaves you unable to play a game. And finally Games on PC are generally more long lived tha their console counterparts, people are still playing the original Counter-Strike more than a decade after its release. I realise that the chances of there being a PC version of Dust is slim to none, and I understand that CCP are trying to bring the EVE universe to new market, who wouldn’t necessarily have encountered it otherwise, but I can live in hope can’t I?
Personally I’m looking forward to Dust immensely. Even in the slightly grainly and shaky cam video in the previous post it looks absolutely gorgeous (and once again CCP are being accused of handing out concept art and claiming them to be screenshots, when in fact they are screenshots.) Dust is the direction I’d like to see EVE moving in (as evidenced by my AVA in EVE post of more than a year ago.) There is a wealth of material and depth available in EVE which can be used in a whole slew of genres. Dust is just one of them.
Till next time, good hunting and don’t let the reds get you down.
