Readers’ Choice: EVE + DUST 514
“What are your feelings on what CCP is trying to do with Eve Online and Dust514? …” – JW It’s interesting. I find it intriguing to tie multiple products within the same IP together. It seems like some people will really love it, especially those who play both styles of games. I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of tying games so very different from one another together so tightly.
Some people will really want to participate in one game, but will have no interest in the other. This might facilitate cross-game communities, or it might make the communities resent one another.
More unsettling than that, to me, is that they’re essentially taking something away from EVE players that they’ve had for some time and making it cross-game. Creating an interdependency where one did not previously exist is dangerous and will create quite a bit of discontent.
Do I see this trend continuing in the future? Definitely, to some degree. It’s natural to tie products together in some way, but I’d generally expect most of those ties to be a bit looser and less interdependent in most games. That said, CCP does as CCP does, and I respect them for sticking to their guns.
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I’d be happier if they weren’t limited DUST to consoles. If it were for PC and console, I think I could get into it more.
As an EVE player, I’m very excited about DUST514, to the point of me planning to actually purchase a 360 or a PS3 when it is available (undecided at this point). I’d love for it to be on PC, of course–but I just don’t see that happening with the tight grip both Microsoft and Sony have on their cash cows.
Ryan’s very correct: there will be blowback from the EVE community because we’ll no longer have full control over everything in New Eden (the game universe), but I think CCP is smart enough to mitigate the effect of this by pacifying us with the upcoming expansion, Incarna, which will introduce the fabled “Walking in Stations” (WiS), also known as Ambulation.
With a relatively low barrier to entry into DUST, the EVE players who are interested will be happy to make a one-time purchase of the game, as opposed to adding another subscription plan, which most EVE players would not have done.