We didn't have any PSU staff on the ground at GDC 2012 this year but the community stepped up in a big way! Both Captain1nsaneo and Mnementh2230 represented both PlanetSide Universe and more importantly the community as a whole. Combined with basti's skills for question collection on the forum we were able to get a bunch of information. Below is the result of last nights Q&A with the Developers in San Francisco.

Also don't forget to tune into the Auraxis Global Network this coming Saturday March 10th at 7PM Central time! We will have several community members that attended the GDC event as well as the normal round table discussions.

Game Tech

Q: In what ways can we use Smoke besides Smoke Grenades on the Light Assault class? Leader barrage unlock, vehicles, etc... ?
A: Nothing concrete at the moment but there are a lot more smoke effects than just from smoke nades. An example given was that when you fired a rocket you'd be given cover by the smoke produced. Also I believe that there was an implied affirmative that vehicles can pop smoke which I believe was covered in an earlier interview.

Q: Can you go into more detail regarding the mission system? (limitations, requirements, types of missions, etc.)
A: There are limits to the types of missions that can be created. Over time they plan to add in more types that can be selected from

Q: How will leaders communicate with each other? Will command chat make it into PS2?
A: They're working on this currently but there will be some way.

Q: Are resources are gained both individually and by empire? will there be a correlation between them ensuring the players are mindful of both and not just their own?
A:Resource gain is based on territory held by the empire and paid out like dividends to everyone.

Q: What will the MAX crash dynamic be like in PS2?
A: "Dynamic as ****."

Q: How will Infiltrators be able to sabotage enemy equipment?
A: By blowing equipment up. Gens will now be interactive things and not require heavy fire power to bring down.

Q: If you're going to enforce one empire per server, and the game is free to play, what incentive is there not to make second accounts for empire hoping?
A: There is none. But things you buy for one account obviously won't transfer.

Q: Can an empire capture large facilities in sections, or is it just the "one cc, all or nothing" gameplay like PS1? If they can capture a section, and they grab one that has a spawn point in it, can they now spawn at that spawn point?
A: You can capture bases in sections and when you capture a barracks you can spawn there.

Q: Is/will there be a system in place to prevent grenade spam? In PS1 is wasn't much of an issue since taking grenades had to be a choice, and it took up a weapon slot but with every class having their own grenade types plus any generic grenades and grenades having their own "slot", could get out of hand really quick.
A: Grenades cost in game resources. (It should be noted that Higby really stresses the difference between ingame resource cost vs station cash. Grenades will not be station cash items as that would make them pay to win items.)

Vehicles

Q: What functions can the Galaxy perform when in a landed state as opposed to a deployed state? Specifically with regard to defensive turrets, terminals, and spawning. Expanding on that do troops spawn internally or externally and is there an interference radius?
A: Difference between landed and deployed: "It looks different." (They're working on it, T-Ray was occupied when this was asked but Higby said he had a bunch of cool design ideas drawn up.)

• There will be an interference radius for deployment similar to AMSs. Higby agreed that there should be some way for pilots to see where they can deploy but there is nothing like that currently in the game.
• There will be an equipment term that becomes available when deployed. There will also be mannable guns that are "Powerful".
• Troops spawn externally. See GDC video for example.

Q: In PS1 you couldn't ever choose which AMS to respawn at. You could only respawn at the closest one, is this staying in or can we hop to whatever deployed Galaxy we want?
A: Right now you can spawn at any point inside a radius around your death. If there is no respawn point inside the radius it grows bigger. You will always be able to respawn at the nearest biolab (should note that I don't know if he was using this as an example of the nearest base or that biolabs are unique in that they may always be spawned at.)

Q: Will PS2 have the same deploy radius limitations for deploying Galaxies as PS1 had for AMS's? If it does, can we please ensure that Galaxy pilots are able to view the deploy radius for currently deployed Galaxies so that you can land and deploy in a valid area?
A: There will be an interference radius for deployment similar to AMSs. Higby agreed that there should be some way for pilots to see where they can deploy but there is nothing like that currently in the game.

Q: Will there be vehicle ownership system? If yes, will it resemble PS1 ownership system?
A: Yes, Yes, will also have outfit lock in addition to squad.

Q: Will the scythe drift when changing directions?
A: Yes. Their goal with the scythe is to make it as UFO as they can.

Q: Could you please explain your reasoning for going to "Jack of all Trade" type vehicles? Example: Why give Vehicles like the Vanguard the Option to go AA,AV,AI.
A: Higby said they wanted vehicles to have options and not feel like "I really want to drive my vanguard but there's too much air out." It's all about trade offs, e.g. a tank that's good at AA will be easy to kill with an RPG.

Q: Will vehicles still have specific entry points?
A: You can not enter a Reaver from the tail but you can anywhere near the cockpit. Evidenced in GDC video.

Q: Will vehicle occupants still need to get out to change seats?
A: No

Q: Will there be limitations on when pilots can get out of their aircraft?
A: No, but there is fall damage when you lack upgrades.

Q: Are there any plans to let driver/pilot and gunner mark targets for each other on their respective HUDs?
A: Yes, there are spotting mechanics in the game.

Weapons

Q: What is the desired average range of infantry weapons and the engagements they'll often take place? (shorter range akin to cod, long as in a game like armed assault or the middle ground similar to battlefield.)
A: For normal grunts 20m to 100m (middle). Sniper rifles are another topic.

Q: How many slots will be upgradeable/sidegradeable for standard firearms (such as an infantry's primary weapon). Barrel, magazine, sight/scope, under-attachment? How will it work?
A: 2 slots for game modifiers, 2 slots for cosmetic.

Q: Does the beamer fire a beam rather than a projectile, will the pulsar act in a similar way?
A: Projectiles for both.

Q: What kind of Empire Specific equipment will a pulsar have on it?
A: No weapon ES upgrades, there will be ES sidegrades however. A difference would be something like the red dot sight styles. Some ES weapons can be upgraded to be better than the other two in certain areas. Like rate of fire for TR but everything comes at a price.

Q: Since the Beamer has "self-charging" cells, does this mean it will never run out of ammo?
A: This is a side grade. So yes, but you lose damage.

Q: Will there be multiple fire modes for weapons? Specifically in regards to assault rifles (Full Auto/3 round burst/single shot)
A: They want to have this but not currently

Q: Whats the difference in weapon handling "at the hip" versus aiming down the sights? Extreme like CoD (hip firing being essentially worthless at anything beyond point blank) or A: PS1 accuracy at hip with ADS being a slight improvement, maybe reducing CoF expansion? Empire Specific and Weapon dependant. eg. TR have better hip accuracy.

Classes

Q: What is the VS MAX special ability that's replacing JumpJets?
A: Don't know yet.

Outfits:

Q: What kind of features will the outfits have in the new game. What kinds of cool stuff./ abilities features goals beyond the cosmetic?
A: Mostly a coordination system at launch. Such as an outfit mission system. Later they plan on adding more things (see outfit bases tweet). There will be no limit to the number of ranks you can create inside an outfit.

Post Launch

It's no longer a 3 year plan, it's a 5 year plan.

Random:

Q: Do we still have /em cabbagepatch?
A: There are no current good dance emotes ingame but that's definitely on the list.

Q: Will vehicles once again get riddled with bullet holes and blast marks on them?
A: Yes, currently they lose their markings when repaired though. After some talk about awesome vehicles that lived for hours, Higby said he'd consider having the repairs not remove the bullet holes.

Other - These items were not on the formal list but came up in the conversations.

• Biolabs use teleporters to get from the ground floor to the top as stairs would take ~15min to climb to get up to the top.
• No common pool vehicle can currently float in water, they may change the Sunderer to be able to do this.
• There will be upgrades for aircraft (including gals) that when you bail from them you will deploy in drop pods rather than just falling. Drop pods will accelerate to the ground and will deal damage on what they hit. Higby said you could kill gals mid air with them by knocking them about. He also said that the balance team hate it as they can't find a spot to put it in their spread sheets but as Higby said "It's fun! You can't put fun into a spread sheet." These drop pods will also be aimable and will be the method that squad spawning works. Higby wants this to happen: "A squad leader is under fire and stuck behind cover when two drop pods fall and crush two enemies and then MAXs get out of the pods and tear up the attackers. And that's your trailer." These are effectively living OS.
• You can have a maximum of 3 implants and implants have tiers. They will be consumable similar to a buff. There will be an exp booster implant that can be bought from the store with station cash.
• PR won't let Higby post girls as they are wanting to use them for a cover of some sort it seems. Also there is a plan to use MAXs as a hype builder.
• And I'll leave the part about PR wanting Higby fired out as I believe that was just a running internal joke as both parties were present and were smiling about it. They actually seem to be quite amiable with each other.
• Certs are no longer the method that players are limited to roles. That job has been taken over by the class system and limits on what gear can be equipped at the same time. There was indication that certain combinations would not be allowed.
• T-Ray is a stickler for the art style and is making sure everything looks just right. This is another reason why he is awesome.
• Asked about only being able to pull the Gal from tech and warpgates as that would seem to make getting a new one difficult when neither is close. Higby said that they want the bases to have unique properties and that there will be other methods of spawning besides the Gal (e.g. squad, towers, barracks).
• If there's a quick image of an NC MAX in the GDC videos it is in fact a reskined TR MAX as the designs are not yet done.

Observations

The entire team loves the game and wants to make sure that it's the best out there.

The dev team does not get enough love for what they're doing and how accessible they are. The fact that Higby took the time to go through "tiny minutia" with me while the rest of the crew was watching the pool game involving some Devs and some players shows his serious dedication to the community. They were talking about how PSU is the first thing that Higby looks at in the morning and the man himself said how he was laying in bed that morning thinking of making a post about how much fan support means to the team.