Biomassed: Who are you? Who do you play DUST 514 with, and what style of play do you enjoy?
Breakin Stuff: I am Breakin Stuff (there is no G in there anywhere) and I am one of the very few AV primary players. I prefer berserker-style “disposable hero” assaults that can potentially draw attention away from someone in a position to do more useful things. In other words, I play a big, metal, walking distraction.
Biomassed: Tell us a bit about the “real you”. Who is the man (or woman) behind the merc?
Breakin Stuff: I’m older than I sound, and I’m just as acerbic in real life as I am on the forums. I prefer to enjoy humor in all things, my stock in trade is sarcasm, something most already know. I was actually drawn to DUST because I was an EVE player, and when I started the game the instant applicability of things I had learned in the military to the game, which was still in beta, grabbed my attention.
Biomassed: Why did you decide to run for the CPM this year?
Breakin Stuff: Because I think I can actually represent the interests of most of the community in one way or another, just not all at once, and not always on the same topic. I actually enjoy good argument and reasoned debate, and ideas that point at angles I hadn’t considered are especially interesting. I see a lot of good ideas die on the vine, and would like to see some of those ideas brought up rather than fade away. And if the good ideas have to die, maybe, just maybe we can shed some light on why.
Biomassed: What are the strengths you think you can bring to the CPM? What is your biggest weakness you’ll need to contend with?
Breakin Stuff: I bring with me a functional understanding of the mechanics behind the game. Not only the math side, but on the look/feel side. I like playing with numbers, but there’s a feel one must have when playing the game. Trying to balance the two (and articulating that balance to the people in a position to make it happen) is the kind of challenge I enjoy.
So far as my willingness to crunch numbers and actually do the legwork to back up my opinions, I offer my HAV/AV rework proposal and my Battle Rifle Normalization Proposal, both submitted via the CPM. I welcome constructive feedback.
As far as weaknesses, I’ll admit I have a low-to-nonexistent tolerance for arguments bereft of evidence or at least the admission that it’s an opinion. I can be abrasive and hard to get along with sometimes, even when I am paying very close attention to what is being said.
Biomassed: What do you feel is the role of the CPM?
Breakin Stuff: The CPM is an advisory group intended to be a communication bridge from the community to the developers. It’s the job of the CPM to bring to the attention of CCP important facts, interesting ideas or burgeoning problems that CCP might otherwise miss while trying to trawl through that thing we loosely call “communication” in this community.
Biomassed: How do you feel about the previous CPM? What was done well, and what could have been done better?
Breakin Stuff: I have little to no opinion of the CPM’s performance. I know a few of the CPM members and get along fairly well with them. While my interactions have mostly been professional and friendly, the Non-Disclosure Agreement sharply limits my knowledge of what has gone on between the CPM and CCP proper. I do not have enough information to make a judgement for or against them.
But yelling at Cross Atu to push my agendas just never gets old.
Biomassed: What are your thoughts on communication between the players and CCP? The CPM and CCP? The CPM and the players?
Breakin Stuff: Players’ and CCP communication lines seem to go feast and famine in cycles. Right now we are at the famine point at the time of this writing. I’d love to say that one side or the other is clearly at fault, but the problems with this communication are a two-way street, as with everything else.
I have no clue how the CPM interact and communicate with CCP because I have never been privy to those conversations. If you were looking for tears and recriminations, General Discussion can be found here. Pick a thread, odds are you’ll find someone cussing about it. Tears can be collected there.
Communication between the CPM and the players is stunted, mostly because until someone gives the nod, they cannot share a lot of the information they are privy to. This makes it very hard to gauge the usefulness and efficacy of the CPM from an outside eye.
Biomassed: Where do you hope to see the game by the end of your term?
Breakin Stuff: As the game is now in a better state than it was when CPM1 was elected, I hope when I leave that we can say the game has similarly improved. Some specific examples I have in mind…
- Vehicles not only brought into closer balance with AV infantry and each other, but also adjusted to be a financially sustainable profession path within the game.
- Core weapons, what I refer to as battle rifles follow the progression curve style that the dropsuits are undergoing.
- Able to finally achieve racial parity in mechanics and play if not art assets.
- PvE game modes to provide more variety in play.
Biomassed: If DUST is able to be ported to another platform, which platform would you prefer, and why?
Breakin Stuff: On the PS4 or on PC, either way for me. I prefer both, in order to broaden the demographic beyond a single community base. From a technical standpoint, the PC and PS4 are very similar overall, and if CCP can bridge that ungodly Python hodgepodge they call EVE to DUST 514 on the PS3 for orbital bombardments, I’m relatively certain they can figure out how to bridge PC/PS4 multiplay.
Biomassed: How can players reach out to you if they have further questions for you?
Breakin Stuff: On Skype, or on the forums. If you have a burning need to talk to me in private, I’ll make arrangements, but as far as CPM stuff goes, I prefer to keep my involvement and what pies my fingers are in to be as transparent as possible rather than playing the “deals in private” game. If I get elected, we’ll see just how far the NDA allows me to hold to that.
Hatemail and rants will be posted on the forums for the amusement and mockery of the community.
