So what do you want?

[DviddLeff]

I want:


New terrain with unique bases
City combat
Modular vehicle weaponry (see my other post).
Head shots and vehicle weak points.
Night
Command as it is now but ALSO requiring a cert investment, just like a support tree.
BFRs requiring a gunner per weapon, but buff the armour back up
Free trial up to BR6 and CR1, buy the box for BR15 and CR3, or subscribe for max BR and CR.
Americas Army style training system


That's it for now...

[Firefly]

A full-spectrum marketing and media blitz by SOE.

A full-spectrum PR campaign by SOE.

For SOE not to take developers from Planetside 2 and move them to Everquest 2.

Everything from Planetside except those god-awful BFRs. Or, failing that, keep BFRs out of bases. And for fuck's sake, make up their goddamn minds about whether a BFR is a walking tank, or a walking piece of shit.

Naval areas, similar to (for example) Delta Force: Land Warrior offshore oil rigs or Battlefield 1942/Battlefield 2.

[Dorest0rm]

Moaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar favorite slots.

[Ait'al]

The return of restricted communication(I know that's hard with voice chat servers) for more realism. I preferred not being able to communicate upon death. Gave a reason to have to be healed as a starter. And it back then people relied on knowing how to play with one another based on the situation(edit: which was the immersion!). Which takes a lot more experience and is a lot more fun than voice chat. Voice chat has a way of making you lazy and not be able to play as well pretty quickly compared to being immersed that heavily, especially when this game was made based on that and was specifically not meant for voice chat except how it was implemented in game. And you have faster reaction times and more competence when you play solely without voice chat. (Without needing to type much either.) It was all part of the community and empire feel at one time.

This needs to be said better than this but I'm not sure how to atm. Or to tired.

[Ait'al]

One of the other problems is this game has not be used up yet. It development was slowed as far as experience goes and all the lessens weren't learned like they should have been till the software seemed old and simple like with other games and genre developments. It was one of the problems developing with how the game was run. They were too afraid to let it be used to death.

If I'm saying this right(I'm not saying it well 89. It's an old software development thing that atleast I knew about and I hope to god most software writers know. always use the software till it can't be use anymore and people are saturated by it not just in the fast sense but in the long run. still not put well there. lol I used to know how to word that.) someone else was saying this basically in this or another thread when they said they were worried about all the lessons being learned from it before development started. It was the OP I think of one of the threads.

[Ait'al]

Return of the ANT BOMB!!!!

[Dorest0rm]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/ps/view_potd.php?id=90

I want that stupid thing to actually work.

It would be so awesome to check the courtyard with that thing.

[BUGGER]

:lol: I always thought that would be so sick if that was possible.


Night combat would be cool. I think it sweet too if you could kill drivers of open cockpit vehichles.

And needing to cert to use the abilities of a CR5 would be sweet too.

[Seryll]

Man, when I heard about PlanetSide 2 that made my week. I'd like to see Naval combat like someone said, maybe if they're going to do Planets like I think they did later on? Instead of continents, maybe have an expansion for Space Battles. Bring back the Wendy's ingame spawn commercial "Stuck in the Middle with You". Haha, maybe not. I want the VS's dagger to glow again when I'm in a stealth suit, because that was smart to keep in through the first few months of the game. More customizable armor and tattoos. ;[

WHAT SIDE?! PlanetSide!

/edit/ Oh yeah, and I don't know if they added this or not, but keep in the lockers and maybe have "garages", kinda like Vehicle Lockers. I know I stored mad enemy stuff in my lockers, would have loved to save a few enemy vehicles to roll around the sanctuary in once in a while. Oh and bring back Oshur.

//edit// Oh yeah, and it'd be sweet to go back to the homeworlds, maybe even back to Earth through the wormhole that was stabilized with the Aukland Fluxfield! Yeah. Or to meet the original aliens the Vanu got their technology from. Something to keep some sort of background story going I guess.

[Kyonye]

I want real cities. Not just bases.

I damnit I want to be able to swim. I can't let Karma get the best of me, after the amount of people I jettisoned from my Galaxy, into the waters.

[BUGGER]

I want real cities. Not just bases.

I damnit I want to be able to swim. I can't let Karma get the best of me, after the amount of people I jettisoned from my Galaxy, into the waters.

haha i remember when i first got PS and I thought I could play on dialup....so I flew a bunch a dudes over a body of water on Cyssor...

AOL kicks....

[Tikuto]

Gunships (I prefer to call them Titans) - One per continent. Only available when battlefields are huge. Remotely controlled with prioritized access involving Command Ranks, so the CR5 of an Outfit summons (not creates) a Titan gunship for their Empire. When CR5 disconnects, priority is instantly given to someone else: first any descending CR of the Outfit, or then any descending CR of the continent.
These Gunships are incredibly huge, slow and dangerous not like the cheap Galaxy Gunship - they are the gunships. Vulnerable to Orbital Strikes and Artillery. Can move in and out of Auraxis atmosphere, and from-to different continents.
Destructable content (NERF THE TREES!)
Naval Warfare
Cavern urban-style combat.
Space combat (segregates vehicles and foot-soldiers: Space vehicles outside a Orbital Station; Infantry inside the Orbital Station)
Falling debris from sky (Meteors, Space ships destruction)
BattleFrame Robotics - ## per continent at any time, available only to CRs, visible on map [M] to all friendlies. Charge a huge leaping jump (immobile) and able to glide (not fly), and able to combat in naval warfare (morph itself to float on water) giving an ability to be amphibious.
Only one BFR for each Empire (no variations). Truely devastating coordinated attacks.
Aliens - Scarcely-seen Vanu exiles!
Alien environments and ancient habitats
Darklight on all high-quality armors (not as an Implant)
Cloaking revamped and potentially very exciting (some awesome graphic effect)
Able to create camps, dominate vacant land or compete (Where there's land no-one fights on, a Lodestar comes and permanently entrenches a camp of sorts)

[Kyonye]

I loved the idea of Command Rank. The problem was, after a year, there were so many CR5's trying to give orders to everyone and no one wanted to listen to 20 people. I would like to see some system implemented where players are voted to top commanding spots, for the entirety of a single faction. If person has shown competence is commanding, they could be voted to a "General" type spot, and so forth. Then only a couple people would be giving out commands, and shit would be easier to understand and follow.

[ColMirage]

There's a few things I'd like to see.

First, the return to a single planet with continents. Having a single planet and watch as your empire's color spread over continents is way cooler than a planetary view. Basically, like Auraxis.

Second, a hugely improved weather system. Here I'm talking about different varieties and sizes of meteorological events, from overcast to hurricanes passing through wind, fog, rain, lightning (That actually hits the ground), supercells, tornadoes, sandstorms, snowstorms, etc.

This is important to provide the feeling of a natural, living planet, and also gives something to do if you happen to be bored. Let's drive ATVs straight into a tornado for the hell of it!

This leaves the players in command more to think about than just having a liberator raid on a tech plant. How about waiting a bit for those clouds to come in and provide some cover?

I'd also like to see a full planetary day night cycle.

As for bases, I believe each base type should have a default layout, but, each base itself would be unique as to how it is constructed around that layout.

The default layouts is mostly to help out the newbies in an already complicated game, while the rest of the base provides additional tactical possibilities unique to each base.

Flame away :rofl:

[Kyonye]

Col,
Why don't you just go back to not posting, you stupid penis licker. you and you're horrible ideas.


In all seriousness, I don't feel that there should be one single default type of base. What they have already, is the default's for a base, but should build on all of them. I feel like big cities would give this game a boost. Plant a base in the middle of the city, and how much fun would that be? Also, make it so you can enter the city buildings.

[Firefly]

Anyone ever play Mechwarrior 4? I enjoyed the fuck out of some city combat.

[Furret]

Definitely cities.
Maybe one capital city, one or two minor cities, and then the regular bases spread throughout the continent.
The base is either at the highest point of the city, or at the center.

And destructable trees wouldnt work. The whole planet would be a wasteland

[Kyonye]

Yeah, destructible trees would only work if battles were based on Instances. Because then I would spend the entire first couple of months trying to bring down every tree, just so no one else can have the fun in doing that.

One thing I didn't like was that all continents were islands. I'd prefer some connected continents (like earth). This way, you don't need to use a warpgate to get places. You could fly/run/drive to another continent. It makes it more realistic.

[Furret]

I can just see a bunch of people running around in MAX suits AV-ing every tree...
It'd be pretty hilarious to watch

[Penda]

Well just registered here after hearing of the mere possibility of a new Planetside :eek: . Theres actually alot I'd like to see and its a bit on the long side but who cares its exciting after all this time to have even a glimmer of hope!

1) First and foremost is an extensive and determined marketing campaign, not only in the months leading up to release but long after it as well. Planetside had next to no marketing outside of PC gaming magazines and that swiftly vanished a few months post-release. Core combat had even less.

2) Secondly, I would really really like it to be in the same setting as the first game. The NC, TR and VS are good factions with good concepts for a FPS. What I would like is for them to return, with their differences refined a bit more so we don't end up with a 'common-pool empire' like the VS initially but without compromising their uniqueness at all (in fact enhancing it). I appreciate this is difficult to do but it should be sought after in my opinion.

3) I would like Auraxis to return obviously, preferably as one planet with everything we are used to (warpgates, rebirthing, the bases etc) but not necessarily identical. There are several things I'd like to see in this regard.


Reshape the world. If the new game picked up the NC-TR-VS conflict then it would presumably be after the original so war has been going on for awhile. Rather than remake Auraxis exactly as is now, change it around. Have the planet littered with ruined bases from the original, with some still in existance, some new ones built and others just bombed out husks.


Different Base layouts, add more variety, make some bases compact like the originals and make others massive fortifications with mutiple rings of defences inside and out.


Along major land routes between some bases (not all) have fortifcations and chokepoints established. By this I mean pillboxes, more towers, trenches, bunkers even walls to form large defensive structures to give people places to hold the line at. Since this is a harmless what if post, make them destroyable but with massive amounts of health and likewise repairable but only very slowly so once an invading force has broken through they can rebuild them for their own use but repairs can't be done as effectively whilst under attack.

Have a few new continents, preferably linked to one another rather than 'islands' but have each 'region' function the same as a normal continent. Put heavy chokepoints/forts (not bases) along the land borders between each 'continent'.

As part of the above, add faction capitals. Lots of people want urban warfare and how I always imagined it for the original was adding a new continent for each empire. As a rough explanation, put the only enemy usable warpgate at one end of the continent, put a large city at the other end where members of that faction recall to/cert at/ HART from etc, bases/fortifications in between and let the other empires invade it if certain objectives are met (e.g hold continents x,y,z and caverns a,b,c). This would allow for the urban warfare everyone wants, add some uniqueness to the factions (with the different cities) but not make it more common than the open battles/base assaults we have now. If an empires capital is taken then they respawn/recall to Sanctuary which could be identical to now except only used for training/as a retreat point if the capital is taken. Add in some bonus' for taking the city/defending it and you've got some really nice battles going. Probably far from practical but no harm in throwing it out there.

3) Mostly gameplay/mechanics stuff but: -


No NPCs, just don't go there, I have yet to play a FPS where people actually liked bots.
Better hit detection.

More variety in armour/appearance. Optional camouflage/armour patterns for each empire, but keep the empire colours on key points regardless (e.g shoulder pads/shinpads, boots). Maybe even a armour between pyjams and agile which is only a breastplate over standard vest/trousers?.

No empire swapping (one empire, per account, per server), no Black ops.

Achievements - yeah I know a bit gimmicky and everyone does them now, but they're a fun laugh and a nice way to see how your doing in the game + an easy way to maintain enthusiasm for those who love to chase them. Possibly add entirely non-gameplay effecting items/appearance options to certain achievements ranging from the merit ribons to berets/armour styles.

Artillery - We had the flail which was okay, but I'd really like a full blown range of artillery. Everything from AA guns, through AT guns to Howitzers. Give each faction one of each + a common pool selection, and make them towable by the transport vehicles (e.g sunderer (?), deliverer, harrasser etc)

Heavy Bombers - The Liberator was fine as a close support bomber, but I'd love to see some old fashioned Lancaster/B17/B52 style heavy bombers carpet bombing from high altitude.


4) Day/Night system where it actually does get really dark at night but on something like a 6 or 12hr cycle as opposed to a real 24hr one. Better weather.

Bit excessive I know got a bit carried away (weee PS2 *cough*)but flame away, we've got a long time to wait....

[Dorest0rm]

Easier color coding for macro's, squad names etc.

Gliding out of aircraft.

Instead of dropping down when bailing, you should glide forward and be able to glide to ur location, like a gal dropping passengers 50 meters before a BD, so the troops glide towards it instead of on top.

[ANaKeR]

Three factions but instead of islands for each of them.. have a floating sanctuary for each faction like the ship in the movie District 9.

[Dorest0rm]

Three factions but instead of islands for each of them.. have a floating sanctuary for each faction like the ship in the movie District 9.

It'd be so awesome to just jump off that with a bunch of tanks :lol:

[Furret]

I'm not sure why you would want a floating base. The sanctuaries should definitiely be invadable, assuming the empire who's sanc is getting invaded has lost every single CC on the planet.
No towers, no bases, no nothing.

Maybe the sancs have radar, but they're open to all until every last troop is cleared out.
And have a 5-6 hour timer, at which point everyone is kicked out, the empire who got shoved back into their sanc gain a point, and the empire regains their two home continents.

Example.
TR and VS decide on a temporary alliance to wipe out the NC (Bad idea). The entire map is cleared of NC Control Consoles, and the NC sanctuary is opened.
The possible ways this battle can go are as follows:

1) The NC, with the advantage of infinite respawns, tons of vehicle terminals, and only three bases to defend, hold off, and kick off the TR and VS. If they do so in 6 hours, the NC retake control (completely; towers and bases) of their home continent and one cavern, do not gain a point, and the massive battle resumes.

2) The NC hold off the assault for the 6 hour limit, when the NC retake control (completely; towers and bases) of their home continent and one cavern, do not gain a point, and the massive battle resumes. The NC are given one point. (Points are bad)

3) The TR and VS manage to wipe out the NC forces even at their own sanctuary, at which point the empire that captured 2/3 of the control consoles loses a point, the NC gain a point, and the NC retake control (completely; towers and bases) of their home continent and one cavern, do not gain a point, and the massive battle resumes. (Losing a point is good)

Assuming the first time any sanctuary has been invaded, the scores would stand:
TR -1
VS 0
NC 1

At this point, the game also shifts so that the NC are given a temporary 5% exp boost, and a permanent 1% exp boost (6% boost for 6 hours). The TR are given a -1% exp 'boost' and a temporary -5% exp 'boost' (-6% for 6 hours).

Instead of exp, SOE could also edit the amount of damage each empire does.

Just to go slightly more in-depth, the VS could "sanc" the NC again, and while the VS are doing that, the TR "sanc" the VS.
The scores would be:

TR: -2
VS: 0
NC: 2

Obviously, this would lead to a -2% 'boost' for the TR and a 2% boost for the NC (re-activating the temporary 5%)

Sanctuaries are complicated, and I think the 'home' team should be given an overwhelming bonus during and after their sanctuary is invaded.
I don't think "sanc-ing" would happen all that often, maybe only when servers fail, or if the VS and TR actually allied (not very likely).

But it would be a hell of a motivation to fight for your sanctuary because losing would result in a point (that are hard to gain and lose) that would last forever.
Maybe the threat of having your name be posted along with all of the other members who failed in the defense.

[Kumoblade]

I'm hoping they actually use a good developement platform for the game that has decent physics. (if they used Euphoria or Endorphin for Animation behaviors instead of prefixed animations, that would be incredible)

Some things that I'd like to see.

1 living, Breathing planet (not literally) at first With a weather and day/night cycle. It could be divided into Very large zones (10-20km) with very high flight ceilings (honestly, I'd love to be able to take out enemy satellites used for oribital strikes to assist in HQ/Sanctuary Captures)

Urban/city combat. Cities that stretch far into the sky. (preferribly the high tech, Cyberpunk kind, or metropolises like the ones seen in the anime "Metropolis") Flying between skyscrapers 2km off the ground would be incredible. And falling from a platform from that distance would be even greater =P

NO 2 BASES SHOULD BE THE SAME!

Freedom of movement (Goes with physics). No Magnets stuck to the bottoms of vehicles and people. why can't we barrel roll, do loops in a reaver/mosquito to evade attacks? Aerial Combat should take place much higher than what the flight ceiling allows. Flying around in planetside almost seems suffocating in some spots.

A sticky cover system. Some love it, some hate it.

A working economy and resources to improve/tweak your gear and vehicles. This would also give the factions a reason to fight.

To go with the Economy, There should be a somewhat hidden RTS element playing in the background. Faction based NPC harvesters should go out and collect resources. There could be outfit harvesters that could be driven by certified members to collect resources for the Outfit.

As well to go with the economy, Outfit rankings and levels which will determine what kind of allowance an Outfit will have. This allowance is what members will use to customize Gear and vehicles.

Semi-modular/Customizable Vehicles and items/gear that tie in with the economy and resources. Instead of purchasing stuff over and over, I'd propose that vehicle modifications and gear modifications would have an "upkeep" value that comes out of the allowance.

Vehicles should have Targetable locations and weak points.

Every Certification should have a Training course/challenge to go with it to get authorization for the Cert. A mission associated with the Certification that you want.

Great physic/Ragdolls with SOME blood and gore.

And get rid of Client Side Hit detection. Its horrible. Make a great network code and revamp. This is a high speed internet world.

3 Playable Factions + 1 NPC Faction of Pirates/Raiders who attack.

[Kumoblade]

Oof, I just realized I was starting to sound like I was trying to make a Dune MMOFPS. Artreides, Harkonen, Ordos and the Tuskan.. errr I mean Fremman =P

My points still stands though!.

Worm Sighting o__o

[the_k1lroy]

A Dune MMOFPS would be awesome. I would like to see Don Ferrone return to make the music for Planetside next. Planetside 1's music was amazing.

[JackEarthrider]

I haven't been playing this game long, but what is always fun in other FPS's might work here.

That being:
* A few urban environments to fight in (not all urban though)
* Semi destructable environments (certain walls, certain buildings, etc)
* More infantry cover (how many times have you been caught in the
open and then splattered)

Other than that this game seems great by its orignal formats and is one of the most increadible, and epic experiences i've seen in any FPS so far.

[JackEarthrider]

Now that I have played it a bit more I'd say that the Anti-Air is a bit too strong in this game to make aircraft any fun to fly.

That being said I don't think they should be gotten rid of, just toned down so the pilot being fired at has a chance to evade and make another pass. (although the missles are the only truely overpowered AA I have encountered so far).

[Sifer2]

I agree on Urban combat. I agree on making it a single Planet with continents again. I kind of agree on the idea of large warships. Like in Battlefield 2142 the "Titan" gunships were essentially flying bases people spawned from an had big mounted guns on them as it slowly moved around the map. And you could board it, destroy the security panels to gain access to the core, an then destroy it to bring the whole ship down. And it was always fun trying to escape it alive before it blew too haha.


As for my own ideas I would like to see them keep it set in the far alien future. More creativity with weapons an vehicles that way. Though they might consider a more "realistic" style this time. Once again kind of like Battlefield 2142.

I also want them to adopt the free to play but subscribe for bonus features business model. I think to the average FPS player this will be far more acceptable. My ideas for bonus features are as follows:

Free players are Enlisted men and can achieve near or complete BR rank. Subscribers are Officers an can achieve complete BR rank and can also advance in CR rank. They may have access to exclusive Officer lounges an such in Sanctuaries just for kicks. BTW no locking of any certs for Enlisted should occur. They should basically be able to play the core game in its entirety.

Additionally after maxing BR rank subscribers can gain points towards spawning as an Elite trooper. This is sort of like Black Ops was you are like an extra powerful an cool looking soldier of your faction. When you die though the death is permanent an you would need to earn another spawn as an Elite. BFR's if they decide to bring them back could be like the vehicle equivalent of this. I am thinking it would typically take several hours worth of earning points to get another spawn. So it wouldn't be a constant thing to see Elites all over the place.

[Tikuto]

I also want them to adopt the free to play but subscribe for bonus features business model. I think to the average FPS player this will be far more acceptable.

I've always disliked bonus content by having to pay. I'd rather it be more simple.
A free-to-play service allowing people to play and keep a population active with targets aconstantly available. Cannot access certain features, limited on weapons (Common-pool weapons only with maybe few exceptions & maybe other limitations like armor)
A subscription service as normal allowing the player to access everything in-game as normal like on PlanetSide 1.

[Tikuto]

Now that I have played it a bit more I'd say that the Anti-Air is a bit too strong in this game to make aircraft any fun to fly.

That being said I don't think they should be gotten rid of, just toned down so the pilot being fired at has a chance to evade and make another pass. (although the missles are the only truely overpowered AA I have encountered so far).
I'm hoping the continent sizes will be much more incredibly huge alowing for high-speed jetfighters to speed in and somehow avoid AA weapon, and with that the AA weaponry could be much more interesting like a Chaingun for ripping aircraft wings off: YouTube- mini gun

[Kumoblade]

I just thought of something that I think would be pretty cool.

Outfit ranks can purchase Licenses which give them access to various upgrades/parts for crafting of their weapons/vehicles A LA mass effect when you could purchase Licenses for the Quartermaster on your ship.

I think it should tie into Outfit rank. After purchasing the licenses, players can apply available upgrades to their loadout/configuration at an appropriate upkeep to use it in accordance with the allowance provided to your character based on your BattleRank/Command Rank.

individual players could go about getting out of outfit upgrades for their gear illegally by running missions/doing quests for Illegal marketeers/black market'esque operations.

[Sifer2]

I've always disliked bonus content by having to pay. I'd rather it be more simple.
A free-to-play service allowing people to play and keep a population active with targets aconstantly available. Cannot access certain features, limited on weapons (Common-pool weapons only with maybe few exceptions & maybe other limitations like armor)
A subscription service as normal allowing the player to access everything in-game as normal like on PlanetSide 1.


I think that's the opposite of what they should do. The goal of the Free to Play Subscribe for Bonus's model should be to insure lots of people always play. Since that's when Planetside is at its best is when tons of people play it. Makes it better for Subscribers and the Free players as well as more interesting to anyone on a trial.

Your type of restrictions would make Free players almost second class citizens that can't use any of the good guns. Hence no one would want them in their squad. And they would get owned all the time an say screw it an stop playing. I feel a Free player should be able to reach a high enough BR rank to afford a reasonable amount of certs. And should have access to ALL certs. So that it still retains that sense that a Free player can hold his own in the field of battle an is worth having.

In my post I suggested that along with some side goodies you could give subscribers that would make it worth it without really overpowering them I think. Probably some more things they could get. I just don't think it should be exclusive certs.

[Fishsticks]

I am absolutely 100% against the idea of having a "free to play" game. I know enough about MMO's to tell you that, by asking for a F2P game, you are asking SOE to build you a game with very little depth and watered-down content. There is a certain process that goes into making games built for subscribers, and games built to be free (these things are decided even before the game starts the development process).

On top of all of that, I'd rather not see any sort of in-game advertisement...I get enough of that just driving an hour to school and work nearly every day.

Somehow, I feel some of you are asking for features in a game you aren't going to stick around long enough to play :P.

[ANaKeR]

a few features that i envision for PSN:


single planet with each faction having a spaceship to launch from and initiate orbital strikes. the ships occasionally move and hover over different continents to switch up planet battles
seamless transition into atmosphere from space ship and possibly space fights using the flying vehicles
moons that are opened up for battles occasionally and give you special rewards
destroyable environment the regenerates over time and random asteroid strikes of varying sizes that leave impact craters and kill anyone in the blast radius
radical weather during day and night and environment effects such as solar flares, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes that affect your health/armor/abilities
NPC animals that roam the planet and appear randomly

[Tikuto]

I want:
Player-triggered Events


By this I mean there are sets of events available to be triggered by coincidence, covenience or consequence either accidently or deliberately.
For example: Gathered resources and technology and so-on can trigger an 3-Empire-wide event allowing players to use BFRs for the duration.
Gathered resources and technology and so-on can trigger an 3-Empire-wide event allowing commanders to remotely navigate a huge hovering death machine in the sky.
An Empire exposes the elusive invisable (cloaked) Vanu alien exiles. Something consequencial or beneficial may occur.
Empire-specific global objective(s). Vanu Sovereignty may want to protect a sensitive location, New Conglomorate may want to sustain battle, Terran Republic may want to destroy a sensative location.

[Kumoblade]

I want:
Player-triggered Events


By this I mean there are sets of events available to be triggered by coincidence, covenience or consequence either accidently or deliberately.
For example: Gathered resources and technology and so-on can trigger an 3-Empire-wide event allowing players to use BFRs for the duration.
Gathered resources and technology and so-on can trigger an 3-Empire-wide event allowing commanders to remotely navigate a huge hovering death machine in the sky.
An Empire exposes the elusive invisable (cloaked) Vanu alien exiles. Something consequencial or beneficial may occur.
Empire-specific global objective(s). Vanu Sovereignty may want to protect a sensitive location, New Conglomorate may want to sustain battle, Terran Republic may want to destroy a sensative location.

If there is ANYTHING resembling those Accursed BFR's, they'd better be more comparable to this.
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/18/0,1425,sz=1&i=183182,00.jpg

Or this
http://rfg.levels4you.com/screenshots/ss_1320.jpg

And they better not be for Battling either Unless its smashing each other with their Forklift Hands! otherwise, I expect em to be picking up crates of resources and getting back to the mines.


At the very worst, they should be of about this scale. The Zion battle Suits from the Matrix (APUs).
http://www.fredericmichaud.com/portfolio/apu/01.jpg

[Tikuto]

Definitely cities.I'd like for them to be Earth-like futuristic but still alien to us all. By alien I do not mean slime, goo and metaphysical flesh or whatever.

In development of these cities PlanetSide is never-ending war. A huge sky-scraping building would have already collapsed, hills of metalic rubble. Smaller buildings remain strong and indestructable.
All buildings provide foot-soldiers provide multiple cover from aircraft. Unique benefactor of fighting in urban land unlike a Cyssor continent.
Very few indestructable trees. WOOT! LOL
Where would this city be? Half continent with multiple unique objectives (mini-facilities) to capture the land?
Would this urban land work as a huge Sphere Of Influence on a continent? Makes a change from facility-jumping all the time.
Purpose of fighting on urban land? Each Empire would have a unique purpose for it, I suppose, and thus recieve and unique benefit from capturing this territory. Terran Republic: Decreased weapon & vehicle spawn timers.
New Conglomorate: Decreased soldier spawning time.
Vanu Sovereignty (i hope this empire gets ditched): Increased defenses or something more interesting.

[Firefly]

Your type of restrictions would make Free players almost second class citizens that can't use any of the good guns. Hence no one would want them in their squad. And they would get owned all the time an say screw it an stop playing.
You have no idea what you're talking about.

I used to run squad and platoon operations where everyone wore Standard Armour and carried a Suppressor or a Punisher. Not only did we remain a cohesive unit for over two hours, but we also killed a Vanguard tank, several MAX units, and a Reaver (to say nothing of the slew of player kills).

It doesn't get much more "second class" than Standard/Suppressor.

[Sifer2]

You have no idea what you're talking about.

I used to run squad and platoon operations where everyone wore Standard Armour and carried a Suppressor or a Punisher. Not only did we remain a cohesive unit for over two hours, but we also killed a Vanguard tank, several MAX units, and a Reaver (to say nothing of the slew of player kills).

It doesn't get much more "second class" than Standard/Suppressor.


Perhaps but what works for your little group of skilled coordinated players wont work for the general population. There just going to see they cant use most of the strong weapons an conclude that subscribing is required to play the game worth a damn an quit. Thus kind of defeating the purpose of the free to play option which would be to make sure there is a big population.

I am not SOE so I don't know what level of profits or subscriptions they want to reach. Perhaps my preference for a game where casual people can play the game reasonably well for free an the more die hard players can subscribe for some nice extras would be unacceptable to them an their business strategy. But I do think that if they make it like the current game where subscriptions are required either literally or if you want to have access to enough of the equipment to be effective that they will have to implement serious changes. Since that model was already proven not to the work with the first game.

The game will have to have far more depth or lasting appeal an very regular extensive content updates or something. And if they are not willing to do that this time then I think some level of free to play will be needed.

[ANaKeR]

I think it should be Monthly Subscription + Free Reserves (with heavy restrictions).

As a reserve, it shouldn't be able to get the full experience of the game without subscribing. Allow them to only use basic weapons and armor and restrict most vehicles and make them a support role.

This system allows for new players to get a feel for the game and increase populations and furthermore, having a reserves in your squad can be beneficial as they can provide support for your squad members.

Here's a problem though:

Cheating players who get banned can easily create a new account and try cheating again without any big repercussions.

Just some things to think about..

[Furret]

First off, the reserve system should be put in permanently.
And in-game advertisements should also be in, just to lighten the load on subscribers.
Does it really matter if the NAVY is recruiting in the sanctuaries?
Not particularly.
Hell, even if on the sides of guns, they had real-life manufacturer's names on it, I wouldn't give a fuck.

On the topic of balancing Reserves and Subscribers

I think that everyone who plays PlanetSide should only be allowed 11 certifications.
In order to give subscribers an advantage, they would have access to more exotic (but not more powerful) weaponry/vehicles, more fire modes for weaponry/vehicles, and perhaps weapon/vehicle packs.

For instance, If you get an Air Assault I and Assault Buggy certifications, it costs you 6 Certs. Light scout has all the same vehicles, but for 5 certs (but no access to Air Assault I)

So, a Reserve could get Medium Assault (2), Heavy Assault (4), Air Assault I (3), and Air Assault II (2) for 11 certifications.

A subscriber on the other hand, could get the Heavy Assault Pack (Med and Hvy assault) for 5, and the Air Assault Pack (Mosquito, Reaver, and Wasp) for 6. All of the certifications combined is 13, but because they get a 'package deal', they get more for their 11 certs.

Also, for that subscriber, the heavy assault pack would include a flamethrower (which would have the effect of plasma).

Another bonus the subscribers would get is when you get a certain number of achievements in a category. Lets say you enjoy carpet bombing the crap out of people, so you and your friend regularly get a Liberator and start carpet bombing the shit out of stuff. After 20, 50, and 100 kills, you'd get a Bronze, Silver, and Gold Achievements (possibly displayed on your shoulder). Once you get to gold, you are automatically awarded a Liberator, no certification points need to be spent. This wouldn't mean you get the whole Air Support certification, only that the Liberator is available in the vehicles list.

If you also enjoy spraying people down with your MCG, and get a certain number of kills with that, you would gain Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranks. If you achieved a Gold rank, you'd be able to access an MCG whenever (not giving you access to all Heavy Assault Weaponry, just the MCG)

Once you get your first category to Gold, the game will ask you whether or not you want to save it as your free cert. If you choose to not get the free cert for the Liberator, and instead wait until Gold for your MCG, you still get the Gold bar on your shoulder, just not the free vehicle.

Choosing something to get free could either be irreversable (possibly a bad idea) or have a very long cooldown timer (month or so).

Would make the game more interesting for subscribers, without completely unbalancing the game for reserves.

Also, reserves could achieve the Bronze achievement, at which point they stop getting credit for kills. This process would work the same way BR currently works, at BR6 you stop gaining experience, and any experience gained does not carry over if/when you upgrade your account.

The only flaw with the system is deciding what the reward is for having a higher Battle Rank. Possibly, when the game decides who gets onto a pop-locked map, after separating the subscribers from the reserves, go by BR experience. That way, you have the more experienced players on the maps with the most contest.

Anyway, if you have any ways you'd like to change the idea, that's fine. I'm willing to go with anything that will make PSN a better game.

And I hate typing these long responses because PSU always logs me off while I type them =D

[Toimu]

Tall grass. Like in Delta Force 2.

[DviddLeff]

Regarding subs and payment models, here are my thoughts:

Free Unlimited Trial: Up to BR 10, enough certs to specialise in one field, and be adequate in others.

Pay for the box: BR up to 15, CR up to 3 (keep in mind that under my scheme each CR would cost cert points and you could only use the abilities if you were leading a squad or platoon). Enough certs to specialise in 2 fields.

Subscription: BR up to 20 and CR5. Enough certs to specialise in 3 areas.

The key to Planetside has always been the equality of all players, if you break this by giving subscribers elite equipment then you take away one of the main selling points of the game.

Oh, under no circumstances should certs be packaged up, bring back the old days when each item cost points; we saw individuals specialise and have to rely on each other for support, not be a one man army able to take on everything that could be thrown at him. Oh and no more than BR20 of course, any more and its just too many cert points.

[Tikuto]

AIR STRIKES
My brief concept of a Command-Uplinked "Air Strike" includes incredibly fast, highly-elaborated NPC aircrafts hailing towards their target from whichever direction. Players can hear this thundering sound (slower than Orbital Strike) and Empires can counter the aircraft with Anti-Air or resist by taking cover.

Comparable Differences:
Orbital Strikes in PS1 are remotely positioned and beamed from a robotic AI Orbital Station (presumably), impossible to counter, can only retaliate ("Run!!", "Take cover!") and only lasts for a brief instant few seconds greatly comparable in speed, accuracy and devastation.
Reavers, Liberators/Vultures and the lame "Galaxy Gunship" are an undefined version of an unofficial airstrike in PlanetSide, also greatly comparable in speed, frequency and devastation.