o7 all. Chance Ravinne here, EVE nutjob and old Dust514 player. I wanted to start off saying this June update is HUGE and a big step in the direction Vanguard should be going. The world here feels so much more like a “game” with real things to do, challenges, choices, and of course doing it all in a dynamic PVP environment. The addition of stuff like the mining/salvage sites, as well as having some kind of real loot, even if not complete, helps Vanguard feel much more like a game.
I’m sure others will talk about gunplay, graphics, optimization, balance, lot, etc… and I’ll leave that to them. I think right now, now that we see the game can be a real game, we are at (or will soon be) at a juncture where CCP needs to deliver a vision for what Vanguard is going to be, both for itself and as part of EVE.
Right now, the top complaints on Twitter/reddit/Youtube are related to not knowing or believing what the game is supposed to be, or what the end product is going to be. Right now, nobody knows:
- How many maps there will be
- How Vanguards get to/choose locations, or if they can
- How content is synched or related to EVE events, if at all (does a ship have to crash for the “ship crash” map to happen? Does a skyhook need to exist somewhere important for the “skyhook map” to happen)
- How Vanguard interacts with EVE’s economy, warfare, sov, FW, etc.
- What the “social structure” of the final game will be: corps, alliances, planet ownership, etc.
- What the gameplay loop looks like, e.g. what do you DO with credits/loot, and why
- What “modes” there are, if any, and what kind of time commitment the game will have
In the past, CCP has created grand trailers and presentations showing off what the goals of Dust were. Showing planetary control, FW impact, orbital bombardment, etc. Then with Legion, showing ship/station boarding, interacting with structure onlining, etc.
I assume CCP’s trailer department is working on this. But I think it’s also important for CCP to have a more public “here’s where we are going” other than just Discord chats that, while cool for diehards, aren’t being seen by 98% of the playerbase.
…just saying 
