Do not release the game until it's working perfectly. It's better to wait two years for a game that works than wait a few months for a game that doesn't work.
They should avoid making any mistakes that Space Marine already went through. Space Marine was a great foot in the door but had some failures that need to be learned from.
First let me start by saying that i love playing Space Marine and my biggest issues with it dont even apply to EC since it's an MMO which means P2P and campaign mode dont even apply.They really nailed feeling like a space marine and there's much positive EC can learn which it already seems they have after watching the dev videos they posted. I'll discuss Space Marine multiplayer. First we shouldn't be able to spam heavy weapons like the plasma cannon, lascannon and vengeance launcher. The lascannon also shouldn't be used as a sniper rifle. Personally i think sniping shouldnt even be a big thing in EC because you sure as heck cant feel mighty and powerful when you get killed from someone so far away you cant see them. Still there, especially for Eldar, but not as convenient as it is in Space Marine. Then theres the desolate maps. They just seem like empty ruins, theres nothing to them. You dont really notice it until you play another shooter and realise how much more detailed it could be. We're in the 40k, even soldiers armors are decked out with personal iconography. Now this isnt really anything wrong but could be improved upon: maybe just me but i didn't care for most of the armors either. With loyalist astartes they did good because theres not much selection anyways but the chaos marines seemed not all that chaosy. You can pick any colors you want but all the variances seemed very bare for both teams. That's really the only issues i can see with the game that Eternal Crusade might unfortunately adopt. So since you guys made me be specific with the problems i might as well provide solutions: 1) Regarding astartes only, make the bolter and heavy bolter the most functional weapons for killing infantry with the plasma gun coming in at third. Just look at all the room for customization with them here: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Bolter. The rest should be poor options when fighting enemy soldiers. No self destruct system on armor either! Otherwise assaults will kamakazi into vehicles for cheap kills. Tactical marines should be allowed swords. It can take up a utility slot or something so we dont all have chainswords but it'd be real nice to have that option. 2) For the maps, have tons of terrain with maybe some isolated architecture sticking our of the ground every great now and then to make it seem like there are ruins buried beneath the earth you walk on. Then the enemy bases should feel like bases. Details shouldn't go all the way down to the "#1 Astartes" on a cofee cup on a work desk but there should be some signs that business goes down here, or at least used to, at some point. Have statues in various places as well as other symbols of their worship. Have computer stations and tactical rooms with hololithic maps, even just one per base is enough. Unopened ammo crates to add to the scenery as well as provide cover. Defensive towers. Large ceilings and walkways aren't uncommon in the 40k but not everything is created with astartes in mind. Lets have some less room so we can feel like giants instead of tiny soldiers in a huge empty open pit (SM maps). Anything to make the base feel like a base instead of just a map. Think of the maps in Space Marine, its hard to tell who would ever go there for anything. 3) The obvious answer is make some awesome armor. The not so obvious one is allowing player created content! I havent played it (yet, just installed it though) but Dota 2 makes its money from Visual content, much of which is created by users. Valve then cashes in on the players content by allowing it in their game and giving them a cut for making it. Planetside 2 started this as well, allowing the community to create custom content and then they decide what is good enough to be sold in their game. It's an excellent way for Behavior to make some $$ because the amount of content generated has to surpass what they could make in house without spending a ton of money. It also gives the community a greater attachment because it feels like they are apart of the game itself. Look at Skyrim, i dont even have to explain that one. Now when the creators even get a small percentage of the "mods" they make for EC, you're just making people even happier! it was hard but i think i managed... phew
I think they should try to get an actual consensus on what the community wants rather than just saying 'we care about the community' and meanwhile they are putting in the features only they think is good. Many other games have done this and the feedback was less than positive.
Dont make the game too easy! I was very sad seing xbox/ps among supported platforms Why? Because all console games are way too casual, every 8yo can play em with one hand, eating pizza with other. I think we want skill-based game, meaning knowledge/reflexes/tactics
Good points all round though i dunno how much "quality" community created skins can bring. I mean i saw what Skyrim modders do and that is quite impressive but havent seen the work of modders to that extent anywhere else. If it were regulated and only the top notch quality is released i guess i could work, though id still rather leave it in the hands of the devs. I had to bold that one part of your post cause i couldnt agree more, Chaos in Space Marine was so underwhelming with its visual representation that it was lame. Basically SM with purple glowing eyes and colored differently. And dont get me started on the DLC Death Guard! A green reskin with a new helmet variant, didnt looked Nurglish at all! Word of advice for the devs is that they should avoid being lazy on intricate designs when it comes to Chaos, cause they sure arent lacking in those.
In Planetside 2 the players can create their own armor models/skins and send them to the dev team for review through a relatively new addition to the game called "Player Studio". If their submitted stuff is good enough, the devs put the items up in the cash shop with the creators name next to the item and then allows the creator a percentage of the profits from the sales of that item as well. They have a whole system for it and it works. EC should look into something like this as well. There are many talented people out there who can produce quality stuff and it'd increase content for players all around. All the devs need to do is provide a pipeline for these people and they'll gladly create fantastic stuff for them.
I think APB did the same thing...not sure..never played it... Custom paint themes are great (Painting models is what GW games are about anyway), but they need to go through review by the devs first...even the best looking skin will not be fun if you get more friendly fire than enemy fire because you look like a heretic...unless you go the espionage route...
