Biomassed: Who are you? Who do you play DUST 514 with, and what style of play do you enjoy?
Kevall Longstride: I’m Kevall Longstride, the DUST Merc of Dennie Fleetfoot, CEO of DUST University, and currently a member of CPM1. I tend to do a lot of soloing to understand the game mechanics without boring others to death as I take mental notes. That said, I often squad up in the Gallente FacWar channels, and if someone sends me a squad invite I’ll nearly always accept if not already in a match.
My play style is assault, mainly, with some commando and scout work thrown in for good measure. Save for Level III on the sentinel, I’m completely maxed out for Gallente suits and weapons, Dropsuit Upgrades is finished and I’m currently speccing into Minmatar suits and gear.
Biomassed: Tell us a bit about the “real you”. Who is the man (or woman) behind the merc?
Kevall Longstride: I’ve been a gamer for over 30 years, all the way from the ZX80, through nearly all Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles, stopping off on the Amiga and Atari Lynx on the way before ending up right now on the PS3, Xbox One and a half-decent gaming PC rig. I still have an N64 for the odd game of GoldenEye.
In RL, I’m a betting shop manager with over twenty years under my belt so far. I’ve also trained many overs to be the same over the years.
Biomassed: Why did you decide to run for the CPM this year?
Kevall Longstride: I could tell you all the laudable reasons for doing so and they would be completely valid and heartfelt on my part, but the main reason is that it’s been a real pleasure to be on the CPM this year, working with the other CPM as well as CCP themselves. The Shanghai team are all super enthused with the DUST 514 project and I want to carry on helping them liaise with community.
Biomassed: What are the strengths you think you can bring to the CPM? What is your biggest weakness you’ll need to contend with?
Kevall Longstride: My experience with not only the time I’ve already spent on the CPM, but speaking to CCP in the past can do nothing but help the new members coming onto CPM2 with me should I be successful again in running. But more than that, my continuing commitment to running a training corporation gives me the opportunity to build on the work that CCP have done to improve the NPE and make it even easier to get new players into the game and stay once they join.
Biomassed: What do you feel is the role of the CPM?
Kevall Longstride: The role of the CPM is first and foremost an advocacy group for the players.
The notion that the CPM is there to dictate to CCP what to do is one that has been fairly successfully demolished by CPMs: CPM0, CPM1 and CCP themselves. It is worth, however, repeating as often as possible that isn’t what their job is. It is a conduit by which player concerns can be directly given to CCP in a professional but informal manner.
It’s also best to make clear as well that the role of informing the players of changes made to the game as a result of that feedback is one for CCP themselves. The CPM is not the community team for CCP. Fortunately, CCP Shanghai have gotten much better at that over the last 14 months especially since CCP Rattati took over the day to day running of DUST 514.
Biomassed: How do you feel about the previous CPM? What was done well, and what could have been done better?
Kevall Longstride: Well, as I was and still am at time of writing on the CPM my view is likely to be more favourable than perhaps an outsider might be.
What we’ve done well, I feel, is bringing CCP to the table as to how important player feedback is. This has been made much easier by Rattati’s huge enthusiasm for the game and those that play it. The partnership that we’ve developed with CCP Shanghai has also been noted and taken onboard CCP as a company with Rattati’s use of Trello and public roadmaps being seen as something to emulate at all CCP studios.
What might have been done better was DUST’s presence at Fanfest. But that was mainly as a result of the mistakes made at the previous Fanfest and CCP’s new corporate strategy of low key promises but over delivering on them.
Biomassed: What are your thoughts on communication between the players and CCP? The CPM and CCP? The CPM and the players?
Kevall Longstride: Considerably better than they have been in the past but once again I’d make the point that the job of informing the players of what’s going on in the game is CCP’s. If the player’s main source of information about the game is the CPM then CCP aren’t doing their job.
Biomassed: Where do you hope to see the game by the end of your term?
Kevall Longstride: By the end of CPM2 I’d hope that a port to a new format will, if not been completed, be certainly announced. I’d also like to see the beginnings of some industry and crafting within DUST 514 itself and not as part of an overall link to EVE. The game isn’t yet in the place for that to happen and is unlikely to be for some time yet.
I’d also hope that Faction Warfare be given the sort of attention that PC 2.0 has received during CPM1’s term. FacWar is, to me, an important step to PC but one that should be a goal in of itself for those players wanting to concentrate on that aspect of DUST.
Biomassed: If DUST is able to be ported to another platform, which platform would you prefer, and why?
Kevall Longstride: As a predominantly console player when it comes to first person shooters, I’d obviously prefer either the PS4 or Xbox One.
That said, it’s my opinion that the game’s long-term interests will best be served by going to PC before that. The PC is a format that CCP is very familiar with, and for those players still hoping for a more entwined connection to the New Eden universe, the PC is the format that is best placed to see that vision come to fruition. A greater link between the two games will only really have a real chance of success if developed for the PC.
Biomassed: How can players reach out to you if they have further questions for you?
Kevall Longstride: In DUST 514, ‘Kevall Longstride’ using the mail client or joining the channel ‘Comms.D-UNI’ which I’m always in when online.
In EVE Online, ‘Dennie Fleetfoot’ using either the game’s mail client or again joining ‘Comms.D-UNI’.
Or they can mail me at dennie.fleetfoot (at) hotmail.com using a proper email client, and follow me on Twitter @DennieFleetfoot
I’d also like to remind them that I’m in the European timezone so I might not get back to right away due to being asleep.
