Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.)

[Timantium]

This is a message for general comments and ideas on PS:N.

I love the discussion, excitement and the ideas for PS:N. I am proud to be a six-year vet and preparing to play the sequel with all of you. But can I please just say to some of you who have super complicated ideas on how to restructure the game - K.I.S.S. (refer to title post if you missed this acronym).

The reason PS works for us is that the system is not bogged down with too many rules. It empowers us to have 3 faction sanctuaries, open (freely moving) populations, different strengths and weaknesses and tons of neutral ground to fight over.

Honestly, what else can you say about the "structure" of planetside? Anytime we try to add a new system (LIKE CORE COMBAT), it makes this system more complicated and throws off the delicate balance. The gameplay structure is cool as is; no need to add more factions, PvE encounters, free reserve units who follow different gameplay protocol than subscribers, MT for upgraded items/weapons/armor, massive cert restructuring or many of the super complicated ideas in these threads.

Once again, I love the enthusiasm, but please, let's remember why PS was fun in the first place - it's simple. And in it's simplicity, it's beautiful. Have a great afternoon :)

[Bags]

Amen.

[Raymac]

Now we've expanded from Captain Buzzkill to Club Buzzkill?

I kid, I kid. But really, we have almost no information to go off of but a ton of excitement. Sure we are grasping at straws here, but right now thats all we have. I say let the imaginations run wild. Speculate like crazy in as much depth as you want. Soon enough we will have more details (unless Smed is a total cock), and when we get more info we can obssess over those. Until then, we are limited only by our imaginations at this point. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Plus, nobody is making any of us read and comment on every single little thread. This is the time of maximum speculation so have at it.

[CutterJohn]

Theres a need to add a great many things. You just don't agree with it. Simple does not mean better, it just means more limited since you have fewer options.

Delicate balance? Funny. This game has been full of almost worthless vehicles, and OP vehicles, worthless weapons, and OP weapons, since the beginning. Certain playstyles are far more effective than others, or far more rewarding. Certain implants are far more useful in far more situations than others. Certain certs are far more useful or cost effective than others. You even get 5 certs worth of things just by virtue of having had a character for a long time, and a pocketfull of useful tools(and the ability to annoy everybody) by virtue of having a bunch of people join your random squad enough.

What PS got right was the idea of a never ending battle with no interruptions or distractions. All that exists is the fight. No silly quests or NPCs. And hotdrops. Those are totally right. They got a bunch of stuff wrong, as evidenced by their lack of success.

[DviddLeff]

As someone who has spent more time working on PS ideas than most, I always aim to keep things as simple as possible. Putting in rules that get in the way of the flow of the game is bad, but everything I suggest is designed to make individual roles more involving, or make underused features of the game more useful.

Planetside is not balanced as CJ says; air cav is dominant outdoors while HA inside. This is a major balance problem that has only gotten worse as populations have dwindled and available cert points have gone up.

[Bags]

Guys, he's not saying no ideas, he's saying less ideas along the route of, "if a Cr5 logs in at 5:00am on the third Tuesday of the fourth month, and punches in the access code, and only if it's sunny he can then .." with a million rules.

[CutterJohn]

Perhaps my threshold for complexity is higher then, since I really don't recall any ideas that would be more complex than areas of PS already are. Aside from, I concede, that weird fodderside idea.

[Raymac]

"if a Cr5 logs in at 5:00am on the third Tuesday of the fourth month, and punches in the access code, and only if it's sunny he can then .." with a million rules.

I like this idea. Tell me more. ;)

[Baneblade]

Simple is not the same as having a lack of variety. PlanetSide's main flaw was the singularity of it. There was only really ever one goal, despite the many methods of doing it.

[Traak]

Simple is not the same as having a lack of variety. PlanetSide's main flaw was the singularity of it. There was only really ever one goal, despite the many methods of doing it.

Well, that's the same as eating, and it never gets old.

[Baneblade]

Well, that's the same as eating, and it never gets old.

Some people require a deeper aspect of warfare to find it interesting.

[Lonehunter]

I do love the enthusiasm of the ideas, and even if their complicated it's ok by me. But some people are doing too much assuming about the game. We have no details yet, don't assume it's just going to be a copy of release day Planetside with new skins. I know your list of new certs took a lot of effort but we don't even know if they'll be using certs, or stamina, or hovercraft etc.

So please keep the ideas coming! Just be careful not to set yourself up for disappointment if PS:N doesn't have a certain mechanic or feature.

[Grimster]

I do love the enthusiasm of the ideas, and even if their complicated it's ok by me. But some people are doing too much assuming about the game. We have no details yet, don't assume it's just going to be a copy of release day Planetside with new skins. I know your list of new certs took a lot of effort but we don't even know if they'll be using certs, or stamina, or hovercraft etc.

So please keep the ideas coming! Just be careful not to set yourself up for disappointment if PS:N doesn't have a certain mechanic or feature.

Well the chinese publisher of Planetside:Next The9 said in a interview that Planetside:Next would have all of its all features(almost) that Planetside did.

Sure its not from SOE themselves but I think The9 is a quite reliable source as they probably have good eyes in the development of the game they will be publishing in China.

So I think it is safe to say that PS:N is going to be in general on the major points much like PS.

The9 also said that there would be more features than in original PS.

[Jonny]

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - Ma man Einstien

[Tikuto]

I agree for a simplified PlanetSide.

[Traak]

Some people require a deeper aspect of warfare to find it interesting.

Such as?

[Bags]

Trenches. Ba dum tsssh.

[Lonehunter]

Well the chinese publisher of Planetside:Next The9 said in a interview that Planetside:Next would have all of its all features(almost) that Planetside did.
Then it seems to me like they shoulda just fixed the first game instead of creating a whole new game with same attributes.

But the original is pretty screwed, maybe we just need a fresh start with better developement

[Bags]

I imagine they won't be keeping the BR 40 cap and other obvious balance issues.

[Vancha]

I largely agree, and tried to express a similar sentiment in the CE thread (I'm terrible at explaining myself.)

A lot of the ideas I see being thrown around here come from brilliant concepts or mental scenarios, but end up becoming incredibly convoluted or clunky when transferred from mind to forum.

[wolfkrone]

OMG Naval units, with different ships for different days of the week, and you can paint them too!

[Baneblade]

Such as?

More than just the rush in, die, respawn, rush in again. Yes, PS has more than that, but not much. Every fight ultimately ends up the same way assuming there is an actual fight.

[Timantium]

Then it seems to me like they shoulda just fixed the first game instead of creating a whole new game with same attributes.

But the original is pretty screwed, maybe we just need a fresh start with better developement

This is what I really would like to see, rework the first game to solve the MAJOR issues:


network performance
modern graphics
system integrity (anti-hacking)


If all they do is this, then it would be worth it to play (for me). In order to appeal to a larger audience, I agree they need to adapt it to current FPS and MMO trends. However, I do not want to adapt it so much that it loses the elements that made it so special in the first place.

That would be like taking a classic Corvette and adding modern ground effects and trim to it... (I don't care how many more people would buy one with automatic transmission, it's a friggin Corvette, it needs a clutch).

Now we've expanded from Captain Buzzkill to Club Buzzkill?

Sounds like an excellent outfit name <Club Buzzkill> Who wants in?

[Bags]

I'm already in Fun Overload, sorry.

[Traak]

Trenches. Ba dum tsssh.

That made me laugh!

[CutterJohn]

This is what I really would like to see, rework the first game to solve the MAJOR issues:


network performance
modern graphics
system integrity (anti-hacking)



I'd say the bland, uninspired, and claustrophobic infantry combat areas that are pretty much one massive choke point after another is a major problem, if not the biggest one. The field combat for vehicles is great. Needs some work in the vehicle representation department, but other than that its wonderful. The infantry aspects of the game are woefully inadequate and need a complete redesign of bases, areas around bases, and base interiors.

Everything else is secondary to that consideration imo.

[Highwind]

I'd say the bland, uninspired, and claustrophobic infantry combat areas that are pretty much one massive choke point after another is a major problem, if not the biggest one. The field combat for vehicles is great. Needs some work in the vehicle representation department, but other than that its wonderful. The infantry aspects of the game are woefully inadequate and need a complete redesign of bases, areas around bases, and base interiors.

Everything else is secondary to that consideration imo.

I think everyone would agree that the core gameplay is critical to the games success, but I think its just as important to implement solid interface features right from the start. Simple gameplay doesn't mean it should avoid depth in other aspects of the game. Like for example they really need to be full fledged stat tracking and score keeping page both in game and online in my opinion. Things along these lines were too simple when planetside launched, with your profile page barely showing your total kill count and spec.
These features were improved years later when the merit system came but the data was always only from that point forward.

Having systems in place to chart progress can be just as important to players as those who desire overarching war-like strategy from the core game. Although I have no doubt "stat tracking" will exist if for no other reason they to spark achievement milestones I could see how calling for a "simpler planetside" could be extended to effectively dumb down the game as a whole, when all it really needs is an "advanced stats" or "additional" button.

Freedom to play your soldier how you wanted, when you wanted was one of the best parts of planetside. I see PSN as a great opportunity to both preserve that core seed of gameplay most people are talking about while at the same time expanding the tools and interfaces that allow that to happen in a smooth and fulfilling way. Focusing in on the one piece of the game is ignoring all that it could be in the big picture. Remembering that PSN will be compared to your Battlefield 2-3 and your Black Ops and Halos, whether you like it on not, so every part of the game deserves the best polish it can get. Nothing is secondary to making a great game as a whole the way I see it.

[Bags]

Stat tracking is not a deep gameplay mechanic. (I'm not against it)

[Traak]

I would like to see PS become even more complex than it is now. A game that actually heavily rewarded actually reading the instructions.

[Daala]

I can get my ass handed to me and still want to play original PS.

If they can pull that off, Next will probably last 8 years again.

[Hamma]

A bit more variety for PS is certainly needed but at it's core PS is a simple game that has been played for some time. I think if PSN can pour that secret sauce into the next game and add a little spice we should be set for a hit.

[Teek]

I for one would like to point out that maybe simplicity or lack there of is not the core issue for the main expansions of the game. Rather, I think we could chalk most of that up to very poor design and even poorer implementation.

For example, I think the basic idea of the caves was a really good idea: an environment that emphasizes infantry often in close combat. Spawns are placed together, vehicles are limited to a few light units that have limited access to the battlefield, and so on. Now, the level layout of caves was way too complex, but that doesn't mean the overall idea was. BFRs were also pretty simple, just really not thought through. At all.

I, for one, would like to see planetside get changed. Of course, the core ideas of large scale combat to take and hold territory with a selection of vehicles should all stay the same. But I honestly think it would be a bit of a disservice if SOE just put out the old planetside with nicer graphics. Planetside was fun, but it was also flawed, and its an 8 year old game.

Now is the time to tweak stats, introduce new aspects of gameplay and remove those that didn't work. Past development mistakes shouldn't mean that nothing new should be introduced into the game. SOE just needs to make sure that its doing things right, and thats hard for us to tell since they are so damn quiet...

Also, I don't know if this is just me, but I never thought of Planetside as being simple. Sure, for an individual player, you can just run around and shoot, but this game definitely had a lot of structure to it, and a lot of rules.

[Timantium]

It has a simple structure by having a simple goal: to hold as much territory as possible for as long as possible. The three faction system helped create this perpetual warfare scenario and prevented the massive stalemate that would have resulted from a two-empire system.

Yes, there are many varied ways to complete the goal, and yes, some of them are complex, but that does not mean the overall goal is complex. This is what is beautiful about this simple system - it enables the players to create complex methods (or simple ones) for advancing towards the goal.

I did not write this K.I.S.S. request to discourage people from talking about new ideas for PS:N or for the developers to simply re-skin the original PS. I simply wanted to remind people of the core simplicity that allows PS to be playable in the first place and to keep that in mind as they make their suggestions.

I have listed the three things I feel they must do in order to capture the same magic that the original PS has for me. That does not mean that I only want them to update the network capability, reduce the hackability and update the graphics. For instance, I would love to see them do a few things to slightly increase the abilty of an organized attacking force to assault a base (and hopefully speed up combat in the process).