Planetside - For better or for worse?

[Untouchable]

Well, I've been seeing alot of complaints in the last couple of months, and I think this has been mentioned a few times. Was wondering what your guys' thoughts were about having planetside rolled back a few patches, to around the time the liberator and skyguard were implemented, or perhaps to just before Core Combat, therefore removing BFR's, flails, maelstroms and all those other seemingly pointless weapons. I know this probably (or should I just say definitely?) won't happen, but it seems like PS was a much better game earlier on. I wouldn't even need some BS story to tell me why the BFR's and caverns disappeared or why I couldn't get my maelstrom anymore. I'd happily take the old bugs back that came along with it, just give me back "myplanetside."

[Hamorad]

I say just let the BFRs wear out, just like everything else that is new.

Remember thunderers? Tons of threads like THUNDERERER IS WAAAYY OVERPOWERED NERF IT NERF IT...

Now you hardly see any thundys.

[Lartnev]

Do you know how many bugs would make a comeback and how many positive changes to the game would be lost if you rolled back to last July (Liberator release) or even October (Core Combat)?

You're mad to even think about it imo. :lol:

[Doppler]

I find the addition of mechs to the game wihtout ever doing the proimised from way back in the day wrevamp of base defenses just disgusted me more then typed text can properly convey.

[2Seksy4MyModem]

Yeah, I'd rather have new bases or actual urban fighting areas. The caves are nice, but I'd rather worry about a sniper in a building that I have to run up the stairs to get to than one in a giant crystal on the ceiling =(

Edit - I'm not saying roll back to pre-cc, I would just rather have that than bfrs (oops)

[Ghryphen]

Well I had to vote for #1 as best choice. #2 will never happen, #3 may happen on its own but is dumb to wish for that.

[GreyFlcn]

I can deal with BFRs

It's the flying ones that I'm going to make certain are removed from this game.

[Baneblade]

CC was the start of all things ebil in PS.

[drsomewhere]

Now why did they release an expansion so soon after the release of the game. I think it drove away more than it ever brought in.

[Lartnev]

Money.

And I suppose to get new content into the game quicker....

[martyr]

CC was the start of all things ebil in PS.


i disagree. the OF whiners were "the start of ebil" - and they've been around since before beta.

[Lartnev]

Since before the dawn of (atomic precision) time!

[Rbstr]

PS was at it's hight jsut before BFR's i think, but i can't say about now, my comp died for a month and i havent played scence as every one i've played with left or is constantly playing other stuff.

i don't know, this game has been good all along, when ever one thing has been in place. A group of coordinated people. Especialy for me, leading a squad on an objective is awsome.

[SecondRaven]

PS was good untel BRF's nuff said

[EarlyDawn]

PS was good untel BRF's nuff said:nod:

There's still hope, but we need less of the shiny toys and more interesting gameplay systems / character development.

[Doppler]

They really (and those of you who have been aroudn the board a bit are most likely going to know the refrain by heart) to rework base defenses and base layout. Give defenders some serious tactical advantages on their home turf to hold onto. That was it doesnt take a 2:1 ratio to hold a base and even then your most likely going to loose it.

This whould force both attackers to think more tacticly rather then just throw troops at the problem until you've got people corraled inside the base to a point where its damn enar impossible to break a siege.

It whould allow defenders to counter attack without taking away their sheer warm bodies ability to do so.

That and they could really stand to loose BFR's and i'd shed no tears. No single crew vehicle should be so unilateraly powerfull.

[GeneralRazor]

That and they could really stand to loose BFR's and i'd shed no tears. No single crew vehicle should be so unilateraly powerfull.

I for the life of me cannot understand why they are made to be manned by one person. It completely baffles me. Any MBT (which BFR's take care of easily) is manned by at least 2. The do-all BFR only needs to be manned only by a single person. I can't get it through my head how the developers ever thought they would be good for the game. There is nothing that they cannot do. And only need one person to do everything .

It looks as if the developers are pretty content with BFR's as they stand now. So, much to my disliking, I won't be coming back anytime soon. Sure they can be solo'ed, buy why should I have to play killtheBFRside instead of what I used to love, Planetside.

[GeneralRazor]

The thinking majority seems to not want BFR's. I personally cannot understand why the devs would implement something that:

A) Is one manned.
B) Has shields.
C) Can fly.
D) Can go thru water.
F) Can fight vehicles (AV)
G) Can fight aircraft (AA)
H) Can fight infantry (AI)
I) Can siphon NTU.

What else am I missing?

[Cauldron Borne]

HEY! you just named what every other vehicle in PS can do! and it's all in one neat can-do-all-beat-all vehicle! YAY DEVS!

/endsarcasm

I say: get rid of every bad thing since right after the Lib/Sky Guard patch. Keep the good stuff (IE gameplay patches) get rid of all the 'content'. Make new content that doesn't involve:
a) vehicles
b) weapons
c) 'new worlds'

INSTEAD, add:
a) new buildings
b) more reasons to play with a team
c) new little stuff that's fun to do, but doesn't affect game play (read: cabbagepatch) terribly.
d) etc.

(Bring back the 10min HART!)

[KIAsan]

I for the life of me cannot understand why they are made to be manned by one person. It completely baffles me

Because they are moving this game more toward a FPS and less toward a teamwork/strategy game. Just examine the new & proposed improvements. Everyone of them cater to the "I want kills", FPS, shootem up crowd.

That's why you will never see base defense's that force tactics. That's why you won't see enhancements (merits) for support classes. That's why you DO see things like "battle islands", BFR's, Anti-bail mechanisms, merits in general, tracking of kill stats, and broadcast warp gates.

Face it, the new direction is simple. They didn't make the $$'s selling this as a global strategy/FPS game, so now they are catering to the powergamer kiddie crowd. I expect more and more of these FPS shoot-em-up type improvements, leaving all other "strategy" improvements to linger on the tail end of their list. And even though it looks like PS is dieing, if they can eventually tap into that powergamer kiddie market, it will boom again. It just won't be a game I want to play anymore though.

[Lartnev]

That's why you won't see enhancements (merits) for support classes.

why? :huh:

[GeneralRazor]

Because they are moving this game more toward a FPS and less toward a teamwork/strategy game. Just examine the new & proposed improvements. Everyone of them cater to the "I want kills", FPS, shootem up crowd.

That's why you will never see base defense's that force tactics. That's why you won't see enhancements (merits) for support classes. That's why you DO see things like "battle islands", BFR's, Anti-bail mechanisms, merits in general, tracking of kill stats, and broadcast warp gates.

Face it, the new direction is simple. They didn't make the $$'s selling this as a global strategy/FPS game, so now they are catering to the powergamer kiddie crowd. I expect more and more of these FPS shoot-em-up type improvements, leaving all other "strategy" improvements to linger on the tail end of their list. And even though it looks like PS is dieing, if they can eventually tap into that powergamer kiddie market, it will boom again. It just won't be a game I want to play anymore though.

Sadly enough, I think your exactly right. After the deli varients came out, all I wanted was a good set of Command Abilites (http://www.planetside-idealab.com/idea_command_abilities.shtml) to make teamplay more meaningful. Instead they do a 180 on me.

We get the bending (more like the breaking or shattering) which takes away Oshur which was one of my more favored islands, and we get 4 zergfest islands instead. The linking of the BI are hardly worth the effort globally, especially since no one ever fights there. As a "bonus" we get a map that, if you want global strategy, you have to click more than when in an intense battle. Then the real whammy, BFR's, which make strategy a disaster.

The devs, like you said, don't give a shit about strategy and teamplay and instead favor the killwhore individual. It's quite obvious. It's very sad to me that they are more concerned about the fast buck instead of keeping their core playerbase and slowly increasing it by reinforcing what made PS original, teamwork and strategy.

At this point with the direction it's headed, it's not possible for me to come back. As you pointed out so well, PS is obviously steering to the powergamer FPS market. Actually it's pretty much already there. Killwhore mertis will seal the deal. There are many other games that I don't have to pay a monthly fee to do the same thing.

With all they had going for the game, it's really sad and disheartening to see what PS has become.

R.I.P Planetside

[Lartnev]

If they wanted a fast buck, they would have released battle islands and BFRs as priced expansions tbh.

[GeneralRazor]

If they wanted a fast buck, they would have released battle islands and BFRs as priced expansions tbh.

Battle Islands would not be good a good market for expansion material. BFR's have a much greater benefit for the individual user, thus, why they are included in the expansion pack.

[Baneblade]

Battle Islands almost have to be force fed players, the last hotspot I saw there was a movie location.

[KIAsan]

Battle Islands almost have to be force fed players, the last hotspot I saw there was a movie location.

That's because they screwed up the implementation. Hmm, I do recall saying this before they came out. If they wanted them to really be attractive, they should eliminate the warps, instead allowing each empire to spawn at any of their bases on any of the 4 islands AND each side should have one non-capturable facility (i.e. capital) per island. Put something in the middle for everyone to fight over and then allow folks to move between. Then you would be ABLE to fight on the battle islands, and they wouldn't be subject to be zerged.

[Lartnev]

AND each side should have one non-capturable facility

Sounds like Desolation (when all sides are playing on it). But the battle islands don't really have room for a base per empire.

I honestly don't see how those changes would improve battle islands. They're like the caverns in that they're only truely appreciated when a lot of people are fighting over them. For some reason they're forgotten about in the grand scheme of things.

[Warborn]

For some reason they're forgotten about in the grand scheme of things.

On TR/Emerald our short-bus CR5 crew bitches like a bunch of women when people fight there ("OH THANX GUYS ON TEH FAILURE ISLANDS NOW WE R GOING 2 LOOSE CERY WTG FAGORS!!") and never, ever tell people to go there that I've seen. I agree, when there's a lot of fighting going on they are fun to play on. It's not like which continents you get make a damn difference considering they'll be the enemy's in a few hours anyway, so I don't see any problem with going to the battle islands myself. If anything, it would be cool if taking a given island would give a global bonus to whatever that island's theme is. So taking Desolation might give some kind of global vehicle bonus or what have you.

[Lartnev]

If anything, it would be cool if taking a given island would give a global bonus to whatever that island's theme is. So taking Desolation might give some kind of global vehicle bonus or what have you.

Great idea! Think it's been brought up before but :D

[Warborn]

Great idea! Think it's been brought up before but :D

Probably. They've been out long enough it's probably been suggested a number of times. But until it or something like it is done, it can't be suggested enough.

[Phaden]

I think that if you continued and make continents give bonuses trhat would be even more cool. Right now it doesnt meen to much other than placement and amount of links to other conts. But by doing so, you wqould have benefits other than broadcast gates by cont dominating someplace.

[KIAsan]

Look, am I wrong that the intent of the battle islands was to provide a place for smaller scale battles? If so, then why in hell put the thing in a position to be zerged over at any given opportunity? Each island is a theme. Now just assign a base to each empire, cover it with a force dome, and bingo, you have an arena for a fight at anytime.. To make it attractive, put something in the middle that helps your empire, and then the game is on. Plus, it stops problems with being pushed back to a single locked continent, since I doubt with todays pops you could lock a continent and a battle island.

[Boomer]

I say: get rid of every bad thing since right after the Lib/Sky Guard patch. Keep the good stuff (IE gameplay patches) get rid of all the 'content'. Make new content that doesn't involve:
a) vehicles
b) weapons
c) 'new worlds'

INSTEAD, add:
a) new buildings
b) more reasons to play with a team
c) new little stuff that's fun to do, but doesn't affect game play (read: cabbagepatch) terribly.
d) etc.

(Bring back the 10min HART!)

Alot on that. I agree completely. I started playing planetside right when they nerfed the 10 minute Hart.. which automatically increased the solo-ers in the game. I liked the skyguard/lib patches, i think they evened gameplay. The caverns suck really bad. Urban combat is what we all really need. No BFRs. Deli Variants can stay. I dont know. I didnt agree with the TR AA max nerf, i did however agree with the TR AV max nerf. I think weapons right now are pretty balanced, with the exception of the BFR.



Look, am I wrong that the intent of the battle islands was to provide a place for smaller scale battles? If so, then why in hell put the thing in a position to be zerged over at any given opportunity? Each island is a theme. Now just assign a base to each empire, cover it with a force dome, and bingo, you have an arena for a fight at anytime.. To make it attractive, put something in the middle that helps your empire, and then the game is on. Plus, it stops problems with being pushed back to a single locked continent, since I doubt with todays pops you could lock a continent and a battle island.

Nobody plays on batlle islands anymore. They suck. I think this is a good idea.

[FatalLight]

I thought I heard the Devs say that the facility benefits would work across the cluster? Might be a bit off subject but thats been bothering me...

[Polgara]

I just wish theye'd get rid of the BFR's and bring in actual Urban combat. it would be cool to have to try and take a city while being hit by people firing from windows, and tanks coming down the streets crushing everything in there path.

[DeepStrikeck]

The BFR's don't bother me too much, you don't see a whole ton of 'em any more. They have definetely lost there "I'm brand new! Look at ME!" appeal. They should definetely impliment global benefits for owning the battle islands if not all contintinents.