“When I was a kid.” Mike leaned back in his chair and balanced his drink on his knee, “what I wanted the most was ice cream cones. So whenever I saw money, earned money, talk was about money I would convert it into how many ice cream cones I could buy with that much money. Later, the object of my value system shifted but numbers and isk don’t mean nothin. It is never how much ya have but what you kin do wit it.”
“So what is your current ice cream?” The commander of the merc unit also had a drink in front of him but it had hardly been touched.
Mike shrugged. “I think that, right there, is my problem. I ain’t got one so the isk is just becoming numbers without meaning again.”
“You know how this sounds to someone who works and dies for fractions of what you toss around as ‘ice cream’.”
Mike nodded. “I do and I apologize. Thing is, I want you to understand that outfitting your unit may give me some new measuring stick. A reason to watch the isk once more. Now I know you are under contract to some Minmatar defense league right now but if there is some shortfall in their supply chain you let me know.”
“We normally have been infantry but tanks . . . ”
“You’re welcome.”
The soldier shook his head and grimaced. “You can be a real goof ball, sometimes. I mean that tanks and better suits do run the bill up quite a bit. More than a single contract usually pays.”
“So a crew could run itself into ruin if they lose a lot of equipment?”
“Right back to basic assault loadouts, yup.”
“That would well and truly suck. Especially if you are going up against a well supplied outfit.” Mike paused. “Don’t get into that sort of corner, okay?”
“We’ll do our best.” Was the dry response.
************************************************************************
Lessons
I don’t know about you but I am really curious about how the economics of Eve are going to overlap with those of DUST 514. I asked a Dusty about it on Podside and the prices for tanks and such are relatively low, from a pilots point of view but the payouts for their missions will scale appropriately.
I wonder if the Angel Cartel Live events are a crossover to give the DUST folks a ground enemy when contracts are sparse . . . their version of our Sansha incursions.
I keep looking at store prices on the PS3 and thinking about whether I can justify the expense, especially considering I am an old non too twitchy kinda guy who doesn’t get these two joystick new-fangled controllers.
fly it like you won it
m
A Missioneer in Eve 
So far the two planets hit are in Minmatar low sec that is not part of factional warfare. Might be a good idea to keep track of where future events are held.
Oh, and I’m in the same boat about getting a PS3. The new ones look good and I could use a blue-ray player, but I’ve never been good at console games. Think Pac Man comes with it?
Oh I will be keeping an eye on it. basically it comes down to where things are happening and what they are after. Sansha were less picky as what they want is people.
I actually have used the concept of the BR player and the fact that the PS3 makes a decent media networked console as part of the ‘wife sales pitch’
m
Look into pawn shops and on craigslist as well as ebay. You never know when a good deal will drop in your lap. I don’t have the twitch I had in my younger days either and I am moving which costs a ton, but I am still thinking on if I want one for Dust. Wish they would port it to PC.
I want to see what kind of port we can do with voice coms. I can hear it now:
“This is Deth Delkanara on final approach to insertion. Ground commander, prepare for insertion in 30 mikes.”
“Ground commander reports ready to deploy”
“Orbital support just bridged in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride dust bunnies, give ’em hell your resupply is 2 min out.”
“Squad is away and clear, insertion successful, clear the dropzone. Thanks for the lift.”
“Roger that, Deth Delkanara moving to bombardment support tac 1. On station in 1 min 30, priority calls for support available now through Sledge1.”
Yeah, I think it could be fun.
Or, it could be a mess beyond comprehension. . .
I am sooo curious as to what CCP vision of this crossover is. I don’t mean the initial release but the final form. Will we be flying the drop ships? Can you interdict a planet from Dusty insertions with enough of a fleet?
m
Good one.
I am in the same boat, really thinking about getting into Dust.
For me there are two reasons why I not already purchased a PS3:
– time. I enjoy Eve and can’t see how I can find time for Dust.
– Game controller: I want a keyboard and a mouse.
The cost for the PS3 does not bother me and I was always reasonable good at FPS games. As long as they have mouse and keyboard. I don’t need a blueray player though, because I already have one.
Don’t mean to be a sales rep but I googled and found this http://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/B0040UAYI4 . damn, another argument shot down
m
Dust is basically a ghost town right now. At most, back a couple months when there were more maps, there might have been four or five hundred players on. Now, nightly, there are considerably less as you wait a lot for matches to start. Granted, it’s beta, but as a long time gamer who has been in tons of betas, this is a very tiny beta population/show of interest considering the size of the effort. Something tells me it’s gloving to fizzle.
On the twitch note, have no fear. Any. USB keyboard will work on a PS3. I went to the local ‘mart and got a cheap-ass twenty dollar wireless keyboard and mouse, plugged it in, and it worked flawlessly right off the hop. The keyboard and mouse are controls I’m more used to anyways but it’s much easier to keep rock solid cross hairs on things now with the mouse, rather than try to config the controller for my tired, busted up old hands. Eve has a config especially for a keyboard and mouse too.
Before buying a ps3 for dust, see if you can borrow a console and try it first. Might be a waste of time if you buy a console specifically for dust.