Matt Higby doing a Q&A at reddit!

[artifice]

I wonder if it will be possible to have neutral outfits and alliances (if alliances exist).

[Bags]

Yeah, I only played on non-crit TF2 servers. Crits were amusing for a few days but then got tedius.

There's plenty of reasons to support headshots... but "IT MAKES IT LOL RANDOM" is not a good reason.

[Senyu]

really don't see a problem with crits as long as their totally not ridiculous. Like some bonus damage, not roflpwn

[Bags]

really don't see a problem with crits as long as their totally not ridiculous. Like some bonus damage, not roflpwn

Because whether I win or lose a gun fight should come down to skill and tactics, not random chance?

[artifice]

Damage should not be determined by a roll of the dice.

[Lazza]

Need more info about the netcode and if its still possible to play competivly from Australia...arg...!

I'm an Aussie... I would like to know this as well.

[SKYeXile]

I'm an Aussie... I would like to know this as well.

preach it.

[Bags]

Everyone's an aussie these days.

[Kran De Loy]

Everyone's an aussie these days.

They're finally figuring out how to get around their stupid country's internet laws.

[Lazza]

preach it.

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

[Bags]

They're finally figuring out how to get around their stupid country's internet laws.

I though they were too busy fighting spiders with health bars.

[Kran De Loy]

I though they were too busy fighting spiders with health bars.

They use bullfrogs for that now.

Next thing you know they'll have natives with touch screens on their penis gourds.

[SKYeXile]

I'm an Aussie... I would like to know this as well.

hrm i jsut watched the G4TV interveiw at about 44 they start talking about netcode, what quovtas said was exactly right, though why they say makes no sence at all "ping will have less effect on gameplay" but then goes onto say that they aim to support a 100-150ping max....so i would say ping is more important...but anyway.

Smed then said that Planetside used one sort of hit model (aka: clientside) and PS2 will use another obviously Severside, thats not exactly a bad thing for us, but given the amount of players planetside 2 wants to support, i doubt they can use hit prediction like in the source engine, i think that would put to much strain on the server, so...we're probably proper fucked.

Though I was talking to somebody today on the team who did tell me to just shutup, wait for beta and see then. :P

[Livefire]

I hope as the squad spawning is a skill for squad leaders they also make it make sense where the squad leader has like some kind of machine on his back that people spawn though so it can help you target him to and makes sense. I hate it where people just appear by there team leaders for no reason like magic, please add it in to the story line SOE and make everything explained and make sense.

[SKYeXile]

I hope as the squad spawning is a skill for squad leaders they also make it make sense where the squad leader has like some kind of machine on his back that people spawn though so it can help you target him to and makes sense. I hate it where people just appear by there team leaders for no reason like magic, please add it in to the story line SOE and make everything explained and make sense.

they said they will come down in drop pods.

[Kran De Loy]

they said they will come down in drop pods.

Probably the sweetest way to spawn enter battle, imo.

Imagine that one in a thousand chance that you're squad is eyeball deep in **** creek and pinned down by enemy fire from all sides than you drop in with you're MAX (or something almost as heavy) and land on some poor bastard's head.

[Gandhi]

I hope I can pimp out my drop pod so that whenever I spawn people will know... shit is about to get real.

[Lazza]

They're finally figuring out how to get around their stupid country's internet laws.

I think your thinking of china.

[Kran De Loy]

No, China uses their inmates for Gold Farming in WoW.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20066594-501465.html

Aussies just have terrible legislature on their internet.

[2coolforu]

Lol, I love how the quote at the bottom of the news article is something like "It will haunt him for the rest of his life"

That's some hardcore fucking WoW playing right there, I thought I only disliked WoW.

[Tikuto]

I see questions in-game arising:
"WTF I SHOT HIM IN HEAD HE SHOULD BE DEAD!?!?!"
with most weapons.


The clarification may be clear but, honestly, it's still fucking shit.

NO OSOK HEADSHOTS.

[Masahiko]

Bonus head-shot damage could come like everything else that is specialized in the game. Like they keep saying, when you specialize in one thing in the game you become really good at that. Allowing every day one sniper to have OSOK would be awful.

[Kran De Loy]

Having a fully specialized sniper with all the passive certs like (I'm gonna just throw up some ideas here): +Stability, +Accuracy, +Bullet Speed, -Scope Time, +Scope Zoom/Toggle Scope Zoom, +Weapon Damage, +Ammo Effectiveness, +Specialized Ammo, +Ammo Capacity and having an active ability on some 45s cooldown that tightens up their aim for a brief time (8 seconds) for a single shot only would be pretty cool as long as the kill isn't OSOK on anything except an Agility suit's helmet or having a similar active ability on a 2 or 3 minute cooldown that increases damage by 5% or HS damage by 25% would be fine.

Having these abilities in combination with natural Headshot damage has a major potential being too much tho.

Another ability that could go on long cool down, a normal round that does -10% damage, but disorientates the victim. Screen gets a little blurry for a half second and they stumble a bit somewhere between a walk and a run for about 2 seconds or so.

[Firefly]

Damage should not be determined by a roll of the dice.
This is why I like tabletop BattleTech. If my Gauss Rifle hits you, you're taking damage. Not a percentage of what it can do, you're taking the full damage.

[Uberculosis]

I see questions in-game arising:
"WTF I SHOT HIM IN HEAD HE SHOULD BE DEAD!?!?!"
with most weapons.


The clarification may be clear but, honestly, it's still fucking shit.

NO OSOK HEADSHOTS.


Why? How is a OSOK headshot different than:

Being run over by a vehicle
Turning a corner and getting boomer'd
Getting corner-looked by a guy camping a staircase with HA
Direct hit by tank round
Getting bombed
getting OS'd
Engaging a HA foe without HA
Running into a anti-personnel MAX
AMP'd by a cloaker
Minefield

and the other entries in Planetside's robust library of instantaneous death. Matter of fact, I'd honestly prefer getting shot in the face by a guy who can aim rather than dying in any of the above ways.

[Bags]

>List a bunch of methods that include aiming
>"I want to die to people who aim"

?_?

[Uberculosis]

>List a bunch of methods that include aiming
>"I want to die to people who aim"

?_?

Hitting a head from ~300 meters is aiming. Driving into a relatively stationary target(guy on foot) is not.

The only thing I listed that I genuinely wouldn't be offended by is the DH tank shot, and there likely wont be an icon to distinguish that.

[Gandhi]

Why? How is a OSOK headshot different than:

Being run over by a vehicle
Turning a corner and getting boomer'd
Getting corner-looked by a guy camping a staircase with HA
Direct hit by tank round
Getting bombed
getting OS'd
Engaging a HA foe without HA
Running into a anti-personnel MAX
AMP'd by a cloaker
Minefield

The difference is in all of those situations you have a chance to react, except maybe the boomer around a corner and the unlucky tank shell to the face.

[Raymac]

The difference is in all of those situations you have a chance to react, except maybe the boomer around a corner and the unlucky tank shell to the face.

Actually, you really don't have time to react in those situations. You may have time to crap your pants, but I don't think that's the "reaction" you meant.

[Volw]

Actually, you really don't have time to react in those situations. You may have time to crap your pants, but I don't think that's the "reaction" you meant.

Really? So you've never managed to run away from the OS and when you see a minefield you speed up and close your eyes?

[Rbstr]

>List a bunch of methods that include aiming
>"I want to die to people who aim"

?_?

Because shooting someone in the head requires less aiming than any of these other methods...

FFS listen to yourselves.

You simply can't use "it doesn't require skill or aiming" arguments against location damage, It's hypocritical.

[Raymac]

Really? So you've never managed to run away from the OS and when you see a minefield you speed up and close your eyes?

Sure, if you're towards the edge of an OS it's avoidable. If you are towards the middle, don't bother running, you'll just die tired. And sure, minefields are avoidable IF you can anticipate where they are like a bridge and slow down. If you run into a minefield at full speed you didn't anticipate, if you arn't in a MBT or AMS, then you are toast.

In theory anything is avoidable with the right preparation, including OSOK sniper headshots. In practice, in PS1 now, there are alot of ways to die instantly. Maybe you are just that 1 really good or lucky guy that those things don't happen to though.

[Volw]

Sure, if you're towards the edge of an OS it's avoidable. If you are towards the middle, don't bother running, you'll just die tired. And sure, minefields are avoidable IF you can anticipate where they are like a bridge and slow down. If you run into a minefield at full speed you didn't anticipate, if you arn't in a MBT or AMS, then you are toast.

In theory anything is avoidable with the right preparation, including OSOK sniper headshots. In practice, in PS1 now, there are alot of ways to die instantly. Maybe you are just that 1 really good or lucky guy that those things don't happen to though.

Are you sure we're playing the same game? I die to maybe 1/10 OS. Don't remember when was the last time minefield killed me (unless I'm in wrath/fury).

Also, both give you an ample warning. What warning do you get when you spawn and instantly die? Also OS is on a timer and minefields require much more time to set up than just zooming in the scope.

[Raymac]

Are you sure we're playing the same game? I die to maybe 1/10 OS.

I'm not going to debate with somebody who thinks they are immune to an OS.

That short list that Uberculosis layed out is a pretty good short list of situations where you lost before you even try to fire a shot. You may still get that shot off like in fighting a stairway 3rd person wall humper, but you are still going to lose.

[Gandhi]

That short list that Uberculosis layed out a pretty good short list of situations where you lost before you even try to fire a shot. You may still get that shot off like in fighting a stairway 3rd person wall humper, but you are still going to lose.
But you had a chance, however slim, and that's the difference he asked about. The fact that in a lot of cases it's not even as slim as you make it out to be is beside the point.

[Raymac]

But you had a chance, however slim, and that's the difference he asked about. The fact that in a lot of cases it's not even as slim as you make it out to be is beside the point.

Don't get me wrong, I see what you guys are saying. I just think, by the same logic you guys are using to say all those other things are avoidable, you could argue that sniper headshot OSOK are avoidable.

[Gandhi]

Don't get me wrong, I see what you guys are saying. I just think, by the same logic you guys are using to say all those other things are avoidable, you could argue that sniper headshot OSOK are avoidable.
I could go on about how it's not the same, but I'll save the rest of this argument for the beta. Until then I'll just say it's a purely frustrating game mechanic and I don't much care for it at all my good sir.

[Higby]

Damage should not be determined by a roll of the dice.

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

[Bags]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

And there was much rejoicing.

[Raymac]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

Great news! So, whats for lunch? :D

[basti]

News? What are you talking about? It was crystal clear that they wont have some random TF2 critical hits that happen just every now and then.

They have hitboxes, means the possibility of players do do alot more damage, based on their expirience, mood, personality and health. In more common words: The good will be able to hit you harder, while the bad will have less chance of dealing with the good.

Smed said it himself: his son is better in some FPS than him, and is mopping the floor, and that isnt fun. SO why add it? Why add something that is going to just frustrate alot for a few guys that will enjoy this feature? That doesnt make sense.

But right now im completly ignoring the effect ballistic bullets will have, and i have no idea how hard it will really be to hit the head of some guy. Im talking based on expirience from common FPS like CS:S and COD MW2, where bullets travel with the speed of light, or at least as fast as your ping allows them. I also dont know how the COF will work in Planetside 2. Will it be like planetside again, with bullets going everywhere in a cone if you just go full automatic, or will it be like those "realisitc" (lol) shooters where your bullets just land on top of your crosshair? With COF headshots would be rather impossible if you just go full automatic. Next thing is iron sights, we dont know what effect using them have for your aim.

Gah, i should just leave this topic alone till beta. Talking way to much out of my ass. :>

[Raymac]

News? What are you talking about? It was crystal clear that they wont have some random TF2 critical hits that happen just every now and then.


Geez, I was just thanking the guy for popping in. Settle down, dude.

[Firefly]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

How about Alliances?

[Tikuto]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.
Now you say that, I have seconds thoughts about head shots. Yeah not bad but, still, twitching is still something people may dislike. :P~

[Tikuto]

How about Alliances?
???

The idea of your whole Empire as one alliance takes my favor. :)

[basti]

???

The idea of your whole Empire as one alliance takes my favor. :)

It remains to be that way. The idea behind alliances is to give several outfits a way to communicate with each other seperate from everyone else. I would actually like that. Different outfits worked together in the past, and they will work together in the future. Adding the ability to let those guys chat with each other can add alot to the game.

[dsi]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

This is awesome news.

[Tikuto]

Ok. Alliances is a tad miss-use of the word, I suppose is what I'm saying.

How about leaders on their Outfit interface establish 'Co-ordination Links' or 'Intralinks / Interlinks' where communications and map features are shared.

[Firefly]

???

The idea of your whole Empire as one alliance takes my favor. :)

Ok. Alliances is a tad miss-use of the word, I suppose is what I'm saying.

How about leaders on their Outfit interface establish 'Co-ordination Links' or 'Intralinks / Interlinks' where communications and map features are shared.

It's not a "miss-use" of the word, and let's not be a pedantic Mister Literal here either because that's annoying. I mean the word exactly how I said it - ALLIANCE. The same way I used it and meant it is the same way that other MMOs use it and mean it. If I really have to explain this shit then I'm just going to settle for a ten-paragraph all-caps profanity-filled rant instead.

[Higby]

How about Alliances?

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

[Tikuto]

Ok. Easy... God...

[Manitou]

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.
Nice...looking forward to that.

[basti]

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Ohhhh, nice!

brb, relaying this to the outfit. :>

[Desoxy]

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Reassuring to know you guys do not seem to ignore reality in order to enforce a specific way to play on the players.. :clap:

[Straws]

Ok, in regards to the headshot hitbox clarification, I appreciate the imformation given so far, but I would like further clarification on a few aspects of it that have yet to be discussed.

1) Will ALL infantry armour (excluding MAX armour) be OSOK by a sniper headshot, or will Reinforced Exo Suits be given the chance to survive a single shot? (assuming armour grading is the same in PS2 as it is in PS1).

2) Are the Sniping mechanics vastly improved in PS2? I ask this because I honestly feel that, apart from leading your target, it lacked skill to get a basic hit. It was also way too steady and accurate in PS1 and that same mechanic applied to an OSOK system would be frustrating.


Now, because I have the above questions, I need to remind some people that direct comparison to PS1 to PS2 is a questionable approach right now. Not only because the above hasn't actually been clarified, but because the main reason a OSOK system would suck in PS1 is due to how long it takes to get back into combat.

Please, when judging the OSOK system in PS2, please take this into account. No, I am not a fan of "oh, I died, why? Oh, well, nothing I could do about that then, is there?" gameplay, but if I can get straight back into combat with my squad, then the issue there is diminished, possibly significantly. Please note, yes, I am aware that a solo player that get's sniped will have less luck in this regard, but remember, this is an MMO. Going solo is suppose to have limitations.

[basti]

edit: nvm, misread. :(

[kaffis]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.
Does this mean no cone of fire, or simply that the cone of fire is predictable in its cone-ness and bloom?

I'd miss cone of fire if it were removed, but on the other hand, I suppose I can't say I'd be surprised with all this talk of "modern shooter."

[Bags]

Modern shoot bullet spread feels more random than PS... but maybe that's just me.

[kaffis]

Modern shoot bullet spread feels more random than PS... but maybe that's just me.
That's part of why I'd miss a cone of fire. The cone of fire was very good about being transparently predictable. Managing bloom was a great way to promote a shooting rhythm. And when you found the right weapon and the bloom rhythm just *fit*, it felt very relaxing and goooood.

Which reminds me of an article/editorial I read.. on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, maybe? About the tactile, rhythmic beats of games, and how games that seem to be conscious of this effect and use them well to their advantage seem to do well. The example they use was the rapid reload in Gears of War. I put burst firing in Planetside right up there.

[Bags]

At least it looks like our guns will still have bright ass tracers in PS2.

[Raymac]

Which reminds me of an article/editorial I read.. on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, maybe? About the tactile, rhythmic beats of games, and how games that seem to be conscious of this effect and use them well to their advantage seem to do well. The example they use was the rapid reload in Gears of War. I put burst firing in Planetside right up there.

WAIT! Planetside 2 is going to be a rhythm music game? AHHHH!! PANIC-MODE! I want Planetside, not Guitar Hero. ;)

[CutterJohn]

Because whether I win or lose a gun fight should come down to skill and tactics, not random chance?

War has a huge element of chaos. Your skill can put the bullet downrange into the guys body, or the shell into the enemy tank. But that bullet can still hit something vital, or something nonvital. 80% of shots to a thigh will produce a nasty flesh wound. 15% will produce a shattered femur. 5% will produce a blown out femoral artery.

Plenty of men have been wounded or died to a random bullet that was directed at a different target miles away. Plenty of men have survived a grenade/arty shell while their buddies right next to them were turned into pink mist. Plenty have survived because of random duds in the non zero failure rate of explosives, or a chance misfire or jam.

This is a game of course, so that stuff need not happen. But it wouldn't be amiss to include representations of chance. Not that I necessarily agree with it for a game(though I don't necessarily disagree with it either). Just saying in any real combat, random chance is a factor.

[Kietharr]

Another skills tree question that we haven't gotten a chance to answer yet...




If you're BR 10, that's on your character. Classes don't really have RANKS, they have CERTS which are locked or "gated" by the player's overall rank. So, if you're BR 10, you aren't automatically a level 10 AA Max since a level 10 AA max doesn't actually exist in a meaningful way. But, you have access to unlock level 10 AA Max CERTS, those CERTS would still require time to train and unlock.

So, while you can switch into a variety of roles, you'd be playing them completely untrained until you put some time into advancing all of them.

One final note: More advanced roles (Such as MAX or Liberator) may require advancement down a specific skill tree to unlock, for instance you may need to spend some time training Heavy Assault to unlock MAX skill trees, that way everyone can't just spawn an untrained powerful vehicle / weapon and still be very powerful with it despite not having any of the bells and whistles unlocked. This is something we're still playing with internally, we're doing a lot of iteration on these systems - when they're totally locked down you guys can expect to see a full expose on them get released.

Again, huge thank you for the questions and feedback guys... It's really awesome to have this community as a sounding board, sanity check and idea farm on some of these things.


So for clarification, two simple questions.

1) Is there a universal cert cap preventing you from, eventually, obtaining every cert in the game?

2) Are there class based cert caps preventing you from unlocking every single cert a class, forcing you to make decisions on where to take your character?

For the record I'm definitely in favor of both sorts of caps being present. Without having to make any tradeoffs there's really no point in having RPG elements like a cert/skill system. Zero skillcaps means zero diversity.

[Bags]

War has a huge element of chaos. Your skill can put the bullet downrange into the guys body, or the shell into the enemy tank. But that bullet can still hit something vital, or something nonvital. 80% of shots to a thigh will produce a nasty flesh wound. 15% will produce a shattered femur. 5% will produce a blown out femoral artery.

Plenty of men have been wounded or died to a random bullet that was directed at a different target miles away. Plenty of men have survived a grenade/arty shell while their buddies right next to them were turned into pink mist. Plenty have survived because of random duds in the non zero failure rate of explosives, or a chance misfire or jam.

This is a game of course, so that stuff need not happen. But it wouldn't be amiss to include representations of chance. Not that I necessarily agree with it for a game(though I don't necessarily disagree with it either). Just saying in any real combat, random chance is a factor.

RNG does not belong in video games, end of discussion.

[Malorn]

So for clarification, two simple questions.

1) Is there a universal cert cap preventing you from, eventually, obtaining every cert in the game?

2) Are there class based cert caps preventing you from unlocking every single cert a class, forcing you to make decisions on where to take your character?

For the record I'm definitely in favor of both sorts of caps being present. Without having to make any tradeoffs there's really no point in having RPG elements like a cert/skill system. Zero skillcaps means zero diversity.

From Reddit, Matt said this:
Given infinite time and no expansion of the skill tree on our part you could conceivably train every cert in the game.

I believe that answers both of your questions.

[Hezzy]

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

What's your favourite empire? TR, VS or NC?

[CutterJohn]

RNG does not belong in video games, end of discussion.

Wow. Interesting. You should cite this detailed study that tells the perfect way to make games sometime. I'm sure Higby and pals would love to look at it. Would save them a lot of headache.

[Bags]

What's your favourite empire? TR, VS or NC?

He says he plays NC but is interested in "the strict discipline of the Terran Republic" or something. No idea if that was tongue in cheek or serious.

[kaffis]

From Reddit, Matt said this:


I believe that answers both of your questions.
I don't think it does. It answers both if you assume that "training" a cert means that you have its benefit active when you switch to its role from the equipment terminal.

I'm not convinced that's what it means. I think that it *may* mean simply that a trained cert is among the options available to select from when spending whatever points BR gives you for a role.

In other words, the implications have seemed to me to be that you can be trained for more certs (in a role) than you can utilize in that role at BR20.

[bjorntju1]

Will we have the VR training back? I always liked that you could try every vehicle and weapon.

[GTGD]

Hey Matt, just wanted to say that what you guys are doing is really, really awesome. Thanks for devoting so much time not only to the game, but to the fanbase as well.

Here's a couple questions that I haven't seen an answer to yet:

1. I saw that you are able to heal yourself/others, but is the health system like in PS1? Or is it more like Bad Company 2's in that it is regenerating, and healing makes you regenerate health faster?

2. Because of the focus on specialization of outfits, there would really need to be a way to communicate with others. What will the communication system be for it? Outfit command would be a cool idea, similar to squad command. A certain rank or higher that is commanding a squad or platoon would easily be able to communicate with others, who would then be able to relay orders to other members of the platoon. Or...you guys probably already have something cool in development :P

3. What can you tell us about MAX units? It seems like they're going to be sort of like their own "class", or playing style much like how there were grunts, support, infiltrators, and vehicle operators in PS1. While MAXs were powerful and unimax was widespread, playing primarily as a MAX suit wasn't really a viable option because of the limitations (lack of transport besides autorun, no hacking abilities). Are they going to be more fleshed out?

[Bags]

Wait, bad company had regenerating health? My screen never de-bloodied unless I was healed.

[SKYeXile]

Wait, bad company had regenerating health? My screen never de-bloodied unless I was healed.

no health regen in hardcore mode, n00b.

[Bags]

no health regen in hardcore mode, n00b.

I guess all I played was hxc mode then.

[Levente]

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Hi Matt! Awesome game you guys are crafting. When will we see new screens and trailer? Are you guys gonna show ps2 at gamescom?

[LordReaver]

So, will communication between empires still exist?

[Bags]

So, will communication between empires still exist?

At this time it does.

[LordReaver]

At this time it does.

Cool, I loved that. Making "black market purchases", feeding false intelligence, or just having fun talking to people. I feel it's integral to fun warfare.

[Volw]

There's no inventories, so no trading for you.

[LordReaver]

Weapons aren't the only thing you can trade.

[Bags]

Cool, I loved that. Making "black market purchases", feeding false intelligence, or just having fun talking to people. I feel it's integral to fun warfare.

Yeah, and it's a lot easier to see enemies as actual people if you can talk with them. In WoW each faction hates each other and I think this is why; they're some silent, remorseless enemy.

[Death2All]

Without hate tells it just wouldn't be the same

http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/58146997-4.jpg

[Bags]

The only hatetells I ever got were from cloakers and roamcell.

Sadfaceee.

[SKYeXile]

Without hate tells it just wouldn't be the same

http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/58146997-4.jpg

its sort of a minigame in itself, I WIN!

http://future-crew.net/images/skyexile/hackmuch.jpg

[Bags]

So the key to lots of hate tells is to play VS and live in Australia?

[SKYeXile]

So the key to lots of hate tells is to play VS and live in Australia?

and also be a pilot, that adds lots of hate, even when not in a reaver. Also use a thumper, well.

[Death2All]

its sort of a minigame in itself, I WIN!

http://future-crew.net/images/skyexile/hackmuch.jpg

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk58/OoZachoO_bucket/HAX.jpg

I made a crappy collage a few years ago. I certainly have more than this. Still funny none the less. If hate tells aren't in the game I will seriously cry. I can't wait to school some CoD kiddies on their Hewlett Packard's.

And before anyone goes crazy, I'm not trying to wave my shlong around, just posting an example of why rage induced internet people are hilarious.

[Bags]

Thumper is a unfair comparison as half of that hate will be from your own empire. :p

@D2A: Fun to see Mchief's4char on there, when I joined his outfit on my NC because I wanted to leach XP I learned that he apparently really respected me. His whole outfit did. I was kind of confused.

[SKYeXile]

I made a crappy collage a few years ago. I certainly have more than this. Still funny none the less. If hate tells aren't in the game I will seriously cry. I can't wait to school some CoD kiddies on their Hewlett Packard's.

And before anyone goes crazy, I'm not trying to wave my shlong around, just posting an example of why rage induced internet people are hilarious.

oh yea I have way more these are just the ones from in like 2007. i do like crossrealm talk, it does entertain me, but i can see why it could possibly, go without it, yea people just do hate eachother more, while i get hate from alot of people, i still talk to some people on tr and nc.

Another problem with crossrealm chat is if somebody is easily offended its just more work for mods with reporting people and shit.

oh lol you got inspector hate tell too, guess they're nothing special, i swear the guy sends about 4 different hate tells eachtime he dies.

[Bags]

I dunno, I see more cross faction hate in games like WoW that disallow it than in Planetside.

In WoW it's not directed at any one person, but there's a lot more other faction hate.

[Aractain]

Thats because horde players think they are important because they arn't pretty (ignore belfs).

[Firefly]

Cool, I loved that. Making "black market purchases", feeding false intelligence, or just having fun talking to people. I feel it's integral to fun warfare.
I struck up a conversation with an NC player that I "killed"... they were standing still for a long period of time so I waited, and waited, nothing happened. So I shot them with my stolen Mag-scatter. I sent them a tell, and they were playing.

On another part of the game.

Turns out, it was some sort of weird server echo or something. Kinda like a cicada molts and leaves a dead skin clone behind? I don't know how to explain it. That's what I had shot, which was why it didn't die. Turns out, anyway, that it was a female player. Natalie. We started talking frequently, then she gave me her out-of-game contact info. We started talking there. That's all I'm going to say. :D

[NCLynx]

I struck up a conversation with an NC player that I "killed"... they were standing still for a long period of time so I waited, and waited, nothing happened. So I shot them with my stolen Mag-scatter. I sent them a tell, and they were playing.

On another part of the game.

Turns out, it was some sort of weird server echo or something. Kinda like a cicada molts and leaves a dead skin clone behind? I don't know how to explain it. That's what I had shot, which was why it didn't die. Turns out, anyway, that it was a female player. Natalie. We started talking frequently, then she gave me her out-of-game contact info. We started talking there. That's all I'm going to say. :D

Killed people like that a bunch of times, I'd always heard them called ghosts. Although it happens to me a bunch too :/

[Volw]

Turns out, it was some sort of weird server echo or something. Kinda like a cicada molts and leaves a dead skin clone behind? I don't know how to explain it. That's what I had shot, which was why it didn't die. Turns out, anyway, that it was a female player. Natalie. We started talking frequently, then she gave me her out-of-game contact info. We started talking there. That's all I'm going to say. :D

Pictures or it didn't happen! :cry::D

[Firefly]

Pictures or it didn't happen! :cry::D
Of what? Me driving across three states so we could get together, have coffee, and then go hand out Bibles down at the YMCA?

[Raymac]

Of what? Me driving across three states so we could get together, have coffee, and then go hand out Bibles down at the YMCA?

Please tell me thats one of your euphemisms. My respect for you is gonna drop if you drove across 3 states and didn't close the deal. I know you are better than that, dude.

[Firefly]

Please tell me thats one of your euphemisms. My respect for you is gonna drop if you drove across 3 states and didn't close the deal. I know you are better than that, dude.
Negative. I got there, I got myself a hotel room, put on my Sunday Best and shined up my shoes, drove over to a coffee spot because it was a neutral, safe location (well-lit too), and we talked about Jesus. And then I took her to my Durango, opened up the back, and showed her a huge stack of Bibles. Then we smiled and said "YAY!", drove down to the YMCA and started ministering to hobos, telling them about God's love and how Jesus came into my heart. After that, we attended a church service which featured a sermon by the Reverend George P. Stevens. At the altar call I rededicated my life to God and she was right there, weeping tears of happiness and holding my hand and we were both speaking in tongues.

It was more awesome than a tent revival!

[2coolforu]

So you both took acid and went on one hell of a trip!

[Higby]

¬_¬

[Firefly]

¬_¬
I win.

[Hamma]

Topic.. stay on topic... :lol:

[Firefly]

I got him to reply. I count that as being on-topic, since this is a Q&A thread. In the spirit of the thread, yes I was wrong. I humbly apologize.

QUESTION FOR YOU, HIGBY.

How does CR5 work in-game?

[Vancha]

I got him to reply. I count that as being on-topic, since this is a Q&A thread. In the spirit of the thread, yes I was wrong. I humbly apologize.

QUESTION FOR YOU, HIGBY.

How does CR5 work in-game?

I think it's been confirmed that there aren't command ranks, just the leadership skill tree.

[Firefly]

I think it's been confirmed that there aren't command ranks, just the leadership skill tree.
DRAT. Foiled again. Well, hopefully that's a marked improvement over the obscenely retarded bullshit we have now.

Okay. Trying again:

Can we get any details on which vehicles, aside from Reaver/Mossie, are going to be in PS2?

[Vancha]

Can we get any details on which vehicles, aside from Reaver/Mossie, are going to be in PS2?
They're saving the surprises, so all we can know for now is that there'll be 15 vehicles with 2 empire specific vehicles per faction.

I'm getting good at this. Next question!

[Raymac]

I got him to reply. I count that as being on-topic, since this is a Q&A thread. In the spirit of the thread, yes I was wrong. I humbly apologize.

QUESTION FOR YOU, HIGBY.

How does CR5 work in-game?

"Now that I have your attention..." :rofl:

No but seriously, I think it was mentioned somewhere on some panel that the devs intend to keep cross empire communication. I hope they do, not only for the hate /tells but personally, I like giving props (thats still a word, right?) to players that kill me in an impressive way, like getting pwned in a dogfight...then let them know I'm coming for payback. :D

[Higby]

"Now that I have your attention..." :rofl:

No but seriously, I think it was mentioned somewhere on some panel that the devs intend to keep cross empire communication. I hope they do, not only for the hate /tells but personally, I like giving props (thats still a word, right?) to players that kill me in an impressive way, like getting pwned in a dogfight...then let them know I'm coming for payback. :D

Yeah, cross-empire communication will still be available.

[Hamma]

Yeah, cross-empire communication will still be available.

:(

Sad to hear, as much as WoW is NOT related to PlanetSide I really like the way they do things with cross faction.

[Bags]

:(

Sad to hear, as much as WoW is NOT related to PlanetSide I really like the way they do things with cross faction.

You mean how everyone sees the other faction as soulless monsters instead of actual human beings?
If we're locked into one empire cross empire chat is a must.

Oh and guys, can we stop asking questions he's already answered? :p

[Firefly]

You mean how everyone sees the other faction as soulless monsters instead of actual human beings?
Pretty much how I viewed any enemy when I was in the Army.

Oh and guys, can we stop asking questions he's already answered? :p
Sorry. I haven't read this whole damned thread. It's showing 18 pages for me, I don't have time to read all of them when there are trolls to troll.

[Bags]

Pretty much how I viewed any enemy when I was in the Army.


Sorry. I haven't read this whole damned thread. It's showing 18 pages for me, I don't have time to read all of them when there are trolls to troll.

Was talking to Raymac.

And there's no need to read the thread...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DAqjmgQptK1zVwhiWa-6prWH0NlKot3NJo_Umvg8n2g/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Has all of the questions Higby has answered.

[Firefly]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DAqjmgQptK1zVwhiWa-6prWH0NlKot3NJo_Umvg8n2g/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Has all of the questions Higby has answered.
Stop it. You're making me like you. :D

[Hamma]

There's also the VIP Tracker (http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/gviptracker.php) I have linked a thousand times.. :lol:

Plus remember guys you don't have to ask a question in this thread to get it answered. ;)

[Bags]

Yeah, I'm sticking links to these things in my signature.

[basti]

Yeah, cross-empire communication will still be available.

Glad to hear. Hate tells often caused quite some enjoyment, especialy if you just killed someone in a completly retarted way, like landing a galaxy on a cloaker, or crashing a mossy into a door and killing the 3 guys that just wanted to run outside. :D

It also allowed for some nifty stuff like teaming up on a empire. ;)

[Firefly]

Glad to hear. Hate tells often caused quite some enjoyment, especialy if you just killed someone in a completly retarted way, like landing a galaxy on a cloaker, or crashing a mossy into a door and killing the 3 guys that just wanted to run outside. :D

It also allowed for some nifty stuff like teaming up on a empire. ;)
Am I the only damned person who ever got to travel across three states to hand out Bibles with a beautiful young Christian girl because of a cross-empire tell?

[Bags]

I'm pretty sure that's happened to everyone one time or another.

[Raymac]

Was talking to Raymac.

And there's no need to read the thread...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DAqjmgQptK1zVwhiWa-6prWH0NlKot3NJo_Umvg8n2g/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Has all of the questions Higby has answered.

:lol: Oh yeah throw me under the bus, huh? I see how it is. Blame it all on the reaver rocket spammer.

Just for the record, I wasn't asking a question, I was answering a question to the best of my knowledge, and The Higby was just confirming that I wasn't lying to all of you.

[Volw]

Am I the only damned person who ever got to travel across three states to hand out Bibles with a beautiful young Christian girl because of a cross-empire tell?

Depends if she was NC or VS.

[Firefly]

Depends if she was NC or VS.
NC. You know the VS are a bunch of soulless godless heretics.

[Chufty]

ooh ooh, and the PlanetSide 2 Wiki
http://www.planetside2wiki.com

Any more shameless plugs?

[Volw]

NC. You know the VS are a bunch of soulless godless heretics.

Good choice!

Did she pack triple-barrelled shotgun to go after heretics?

[2coolforu]

Am I the only damned person who ever got to travel across three states to hand out Bibles with a beautiful young Christian girl because of a cross-empire tell?

Nah, I only got to hand out Hare Krishna's

[Bags]

ooh ooh, and the PlanetSide 2 Wiki
http://www.planetside2wiki.com

Any more shameless plugs?

Yeah, because it's not like my Q and A with Higby doc has ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS TOPIC.

No, I'm shamelessly plugging my links.

[Raymac]

Yeah, because it's not like my Q and A with Higby doc has ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS TOPIC.

No, I'm shamelessly plugging my links.

I'd have your back, but between throwing me under the bus earlier on this thread, and sticking with My Little Ponys.....you're on your own. :cry:

[Chufty]

Relax mate, I was just chatting.

[Hamma]

Guys please get back on topic or stop responding. The Lounge is a great place for mindless banter.. ;)

[Bags]

I'd have your back, but between throwing me under the bus earlier on this thread, and sticking with My Little Ponys.....you're on your own. :cry:

***x202a;Pinkie Pie - Okey Dokey Loki***x202c;‏ - YouTube

But seriously sorry about that, I could have sworn you asked the question. Guess not.

Relax mate, I was just chatting.

I ain't even mad.


Big question for Higby: how will these "uncapturable footholds" work? How campable will they be? How can you capture a continent with them?

[NapalmEnima]

Hello Mr. Higby. Glad to meecha.

I have several questions:

1) Will we see the return of Smoke Jumper? That guy rawked.

2) How does "you can specify training time up to 24 hours ahead" jibe with "you train faster while online"? If you're on the entire 24 hours (and not getting idle-kicked because you're a PS fiend with a meth addiction), you'll be able to train More Skillz than someone that was offline the entire time. "24 hours of off-line time" sounds reasonable.

3) Classes and skills: Lets see if I understand this correctly. Classes will (to varying extents) dictate what equipment is available. Skills will either modify various attributes (overall health, damage with weapon X), or unlock Addition Stuff (specialty gear, weapon mods, new classes?, new vehicles?).

4) Outfit Skills: Will they be unique to outfits (outfit health +1%, +2% vs player health +1%, +2%..., spiffy unique-to-outfits unlocks (siege tanks! Make It Happen!!ONE!)) possibly stacking with similar player abilities, or will they allow outfit members to simply skip training certain player skills? Sounds like the latter would create Potential Issues when a player left an outfit after buying skills that built on those from an outfit.

Solution 1: Only allow outfit skills to be "leaf" skills, where there's nothing after them to take.

Solution 2: Training built on an outfit-purchased skill "falls down" and fills in the gaps. It trickles down uniformly to fill in the gap. A bunch (all) of the leaf skills would need some additional training to be completed (again).

5) You've stated you want experienced players to be no more than 15-20% more effective than new players. Is that per attribute, or overall?

If I'm dishing out 20% more damage per hit, hit more often (20% smaller cone of fire), and can take %20 more damage, that's significantly more "net advantage".

Lets say they both start off with 100 health, do 10 damage per bullet, and every 5th bullet misses. The experienced player will have 120 health, do 12 damage, and miss with every 6th bullet.

newb: 100, expert: 120
bullet 1: newb: 88 expert: 110
bullet 2: newb: 76 expert: 100
3: 64, 90
4: 52, 80
5: 40, 80 (missed)
6: 40(missed), 70
7: 38, 60
8: 26, 50
9: 14, 40
10: 2, 40 (missed)
11: dead, 30

Not quite as overwhelming as I'd imagined, but decisive none the less.

6) One of the principles of PS was "you never need to worry about buying bullets". Will this carry over into PS2? Given no resources outside what's available in an Empire's uncaptureable foothold on a given continent, will players be able to field anything at all? I presume basic gear is free (or so close as not to matter).

Will resources be stocked by empire, by outfit, and or by player? How would players get access to empire/outfit resources? Mission bonuses?

7) Do you plan to keep the "empire balancing" features of PS, where underpopulated empires are given an experience boost, health bonuses, and so forth? Seems like you wouldn't be able to give empire incentives when a given account is locked into a particular empire on a given server.

Idea: Let people sign up for "OMG, we need help" emails/text messages from a given server, perhaps limited to a particular time range (Don't bug me at 5am). And don't bug me while I'm online, or have logged off within the last N minutes (60?).

Idea: Pull instead of push. Create facebook/google+/twitter accounts for each empire on each server, maybe an RSS feed. They can start calling for aid when needed, give reports on the days events, and so forth. That'd be pretty damn cool.

8 ) What kind of missions will be available? Are we talking "kill that guy", "take that place/facility", "take that continent"? What kind of granularity are we talking about here? And how many missions can a player/squad/platoon?/outfit?/empire? have at once?

Will missions be limited to "take this, blow up that", or will there be Other Stuff (assemble here, patrol there, deploy defenses over yonder).

Low exp patrol missions generated automatically by an empire might be good for getting a few mossy's & buggies zipping around looking for trouble. I suggest XP bonuses for actually spotting intruders, or they could just turn into "blindly follow the waypoints" missions.

9) Back-hacking sucked. The "you have to capture this before you capture that" system forced the creation of Front Lines, where Fighting Happened. Back-hacking turned into a round robin where commanders and players got BEP and CEP (which is gone now, I get that) for standing around and picking their noses. Dull. And it sounds like you're aiming for considerably faster pace than that.

It sounds like you're going to allow back-hacking. What do you propose instead to Create Conflict?

[Tool]

Big question for Higby: how will these "uncapturable footholds" work? How campable will they be? How can you capture a continent with them?

I'm curious about this as well.

[Tigersmith]

I love how cross faction chat is right now. Fantastic

[ShowNoMercy]

I didnt really read through all 26 pages of comments so if someone mentioned this i apologize.

According to Higby's answer on pg 13, you indeed would be able to pull and AA max right out of a term if you spotted reavers outside. The certing system was so valuable to PS1 because it forced teamwork, nobody could be a running 1 man army, but now you can as long as you are by a term. Why cant we just make it so that only a certain number of your skill branches are available at one time? then on a timer base you can activate different sections of your skill tree. Wouldnt make much difference to a newb since they will likely try and specialize off the bat, but later on when vets start getting very complex skill trees they would be able to do everything with the click of an equipment/vech term. Granted they will not be as effective as a mid range player who full specialized, but still an AA max at any skill level in this game can be totally devastating to a reaver as compared to the suppressor that i usually carried around in PS1. I never had AA max certed, but i had engi and adv med, so you bet your ass i was healing and repairing AA maxes as a form of self preservation. Additionally, i was far more likely to get SEP from healing an AA max when reavers were all around. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS.

[Ranik Ortega]

Question for higby : What type of Time to kill (TTK) are you looking at? How many shots from a
MA vs MA player?
MA vs HA ?
LA vs HA ? etc etc

In comparison to PS1 2/3rds as long, 1/3?

1-3 good shots ala BF2/CoD/Arma?

[Straws]

I've never been a fan of cross faction chat. For new players, I think it can be quite intrusive to the learning experience. You do something well for a change and then suddenly a torrent of abuse flies your way.

Not saying that hate tells are exclusive to cross faction tells. I'm pretty sure "hey, you stole my kill" is more prevalent than "stop camping me, nub", mostly because finding the camper and killing them is more rewarding, but it's just something I think the game could do without in regards to making and keeping the game attractive to new players. We all know how elitist veterans can get towards anyone that's making silly mistakes.

HOWEVER, despite this opinion, I do think listening in has a place in the game. I feel that chat channels being secure is important, but to undervalue the importance of spy tactics through such a system is fundermentally against the nature of the type of game Planetside is. It shouldn't be easy, and maybe limited to broadcast and tells being intercepted, and with some form of interruption in the data received.

Local banter between the empires, however, should be allowed. That can be witnessed by everyone and members of each empire can deal with traitors in their own way ;)

To summerise;
Cross faction chatter
Local = Yes (incl. emotes)
Broadcast + tells = yes, via hacking specialisation. Listening only. Communication static present.
Squad/platoon/command/automated faction instructions = Maybe, but maybe allowed for hacking commanders (players maxed in hacking spec and working on being a commander). Listening only. Communication static present.
Outfit = never

[Highwind]

In reply to Straw's Post mainly:

Don't limited direct tells between players just because they are on other empires. The idea of it being an unfair line of communication between spys working for other empires doesn't make sense. Only in the most clutch pre-drop or pre-backhack situations would that intel be meaningful in any way, and even then, its only one to one communication in a game made for more or less team play. Everyone should be able to read the map and the flow of battle easy enough, even more so with dynamic missions etc, that I don't think single tells will be an issue that is insurmountable to the point we should spend any effort limiting it at all.

On the second thought of being able to really "spy" (listen in) on party/outfit/command and spoken VOIP via a talent tree, I disapprove of that (Local "Say" chat is clearly fair game, like any voice macro would). The idea that someone can read your in game chat or hear you talking to your teammates is going to be the FASTEST way to get people to start using Vent or Teamspeak etc rather then in game systems. No one that's even semi-hardcore is going to risk tilting their hand to the enemy that way. Unlike the sending tells issue, there might be 100 "spies" on the other empires around you that "hear" you say X or Y about the game. On the other side of the coin you can't talk to one of your in game buddies or RL-Friends about your life/kids/friends/family/work either over in game systems if 100 random kids can all eavesdrop on you in an often and persistent way, it kills casual talk between people that know each other 'enough' already, some of what can make the MMO experience so great.

The real issue that the Devs want to put in the full spectrum of communication tools in the game, and if they get undermined by their own doing it will be kinda sad to see all that effort go down the drain. If there is "spying" the in game VOIP will go the way of the in game voice chat that "WoW" has, unused, and forgotten for example (imo WoW's fails due to lack of features and performance, combined with late implementation, but that is another story with a sad ending). I am sure there are other example of failed in game chat systems all over the place for various reasons, all I am really saying is lets not encourage the Devs or anyone else to shoot themselves in the foot on this issue. (in the end descent idea, but it wouldn't work AT ALL in this game the way I see things)

In short TL: DR, don't do anything that infringes on a players ability to communicate under "normal" gaming guidelines, and don't do anything that would make a player afraid or unwilling to communicate normally. Done.

[Volw]

If people want to spy they will spy anyway.

There's TS, there's Vent, MSN, skype, steam etc etc.

Not a huge inconvenience either.

[Elude]

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

I always figured locational based damage while predictable is still a dice roll to a degree.

How many times have you accidentally shot someone in the head in an FPS when you were simply just trying to hit them?

[Hamma]

That is true, but Higby also said some weapons will not get bonuses to headshots.

[Malorn]

I have to say I like cross-faction communication. It helped develop the community, as much as it might not seem like it does.

I have several great outfit members with us to this day simply becuase of the fact that we have cross-faction communication. They deleted their characters and switched sides because they liked how we played and liked talking to us.

How else are the NC supposed to free the minds of TR and VS from the tyrannical evils of technocracy and autocracy? Afterall, NC are expatriot TR and VS. Cross-faction communication makes that possible instead of completely alienating the other team.

That and I admit one of the things I missed the most in games since Planetside was the reception of hate tells.

Most FPS games offer this capability today also. Adds some strategic and cultural dynamics into the game. Glad to see it there.

[Straws]

@Highwind You're spot on with the spy aspect I proposed. Side affect of on the fly ideas is that not much thought is given to long term effects.

However, cross faction tells will always be a bone of contention with me. Yes, by looking at the map, anyone can tell where the general flow of combat is going, that understandable. This aspect has been made easier with the tactical overlay that was introduced, but the important thing to remember is that this information is vague, and it's vague by design.

Players abusing the tell system in the past has completely ruined moments of the game for many players, and no matter how brief these moments are, they are in complete contention with the spirit of the game.

Remember back before BWGs and when 'Instant Action' was broken, forward planning and staging was actually part of the game. Now, imagine our frustration back then when we would plan an attack on an enemy HC, only to find them waiting for us because 1 or more members of our empire would send tells to our intended target of our plans. It was frustrating to hell to do that much planning only for it to become a WG campfest.

Now, what I do have to remember is that this issue was made more frustrating because of the amount of time that ended up being wasted. With the introduction, amendments and remedial adjustements to the convenience aspects of travel in PS, this has disappeared, even if only due to the fact that general planning aspects of the game have disappeared.

However, despite this realisation, it doesn't change the issue that cross faction tells allow for specific information to be traded, and that potentially spoils the smaller, more detailed tactical event aspects of the game.

But, to reiterate, as big an issue as I may seem to be making it out to be, it is momentary and is not the main concern to be had with cross-empire tells. However, has long as players can CHOOSE to block incoming tells from opposing factions, then maybe that's the approach I should be lobbying for, as long as the blocking feature is on by default.

[Bags]

I'd have a lot less friends if there was no cross communication chat. And I'd have to play VS to talk to FlyingHippo :(

I dunno, maybe give commanders the ability to vote on a "no enemy talk" kind of cease fire? Something they could enact that would last an hour or two every once in a while? Just an idea, and not that great of one.

Though if people really want to cheat they'll just hop on vent/skype/mumble with each other, which is almost as convenient as in game chat, so I think the devs should allow 100% unregulated cross faction chat.

[BorisBlade]

Question for higby : What type of Time to kill (TTK) are you looking at? How many shots from a
MA vs MA player?
MA vs HA ?
LA vs HA ? etc etc

In comparison to PS1 2/3rds as long, 1/3?

1-3 good shots ala BF2/CoD/Arma?

Curious to this as well, CoD was terrible beyond belief. And thats in a super small scale game. BFBC2 is better but still way too fast.

While we dont want the old REXO TTK's to return, you need longer TTK's in order to allow for teamwork to be effective, fast deaths make workin in a squad rather pointless. You cant cover each other if you all just die instantly ala CoD. Medics are worthless, engi armor repair is worthless too. It also doesnt allow for reaction when fired upon. You cant get hit and take cover or adapt and change tactics. You cant do all the things that make PS fun if you have a CoD TTK. Its just instant death and a respawn screen constantly.

How high do you want the ttk is the question. BFBC2 while being better is still too fast, even more so with 1000+ players shootin everywhere. You are lookin at prob double what BFBC2 does for TTK, which is prob 3-4 of CoD. Thats still much faster than rexo kills of ps1. Its prob comparable to Agile armor. The 100 armor (+100 health) of agile prob has a good balance of survivability without stretchin out fights too much as the 200 armor (+100 health) of rexo.

In short, go with PS1's Agile TTK for the rexo equivalent in PS2. It provides enough time to react and allow for strategy, teamwork, and the all important "back and forth" that makes PS so fun (none of which you get in CoD), while not stretchin out the fight like rexo did and instead speeding up the fight to a quicker pace.

[Gandhi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 1 on 1 HA had a TTK of something like 2-3 seconds in a confined space, and even MA vs Rexo at medium range was around 4 seconds if you managed your CoF. The problems start when people are able to duck behind some cover, repair their armor and health in less than 10 seconds, then come out again good as new.

I'm for a lower TTK in PS2, but I wonder if it would be enough to just limit self repair to either be not as effective or take much longer than it currently does. Either way there should be lots of time to experiment with different settings in beta.

[CutterJohn]

Now, imagine our frustration back then when we would plan an attack on an enemy HC, only to find them waiting for us because 1 or more members of our empire would send tells to our intended target of our plans. It was frustrating to hell to do that much planning only for it to become a WG campfest.

Its a war. Learn some opsec. The people planning the huge all in raid should not be telling everyone else the target until the last possible moment, should spread misinformation, send fake attacks to convince the enemy the misinformation is true, etc, etc.

Its a very fast lesson in a game like eve where the factions are players and there is no such thing as 'empire only chat'. Spies are a fact of life. No info in fleets or anything of strategic value is shared unless its necessary for the people to know it.


And there will be spies in PS2. Smed says a free component is likely. Free component = spies. Period.

[NapalmEnima]

[derp]

[wildcat140679]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 1 on 1 HA had a TTK of something like 2-3 seconds in a confined space, and even MA vs Rexo at medium range was around 4 seconds if you managed your CoF. The problems start when people are able to duck behind some cover, repair their armor and health in less than 10 seconds, then come out again good as new.

I'm for a lower TTK in PS2, but I wonder if it would be enough to just limit self repair to either be not as effective or take much longer than it currently does. Either way there should be lots of time to experiment with different settings in beta.

The Average gun fight was decent enough in time, there were plenty of circumstances where it was way less and felt like instant death with little to no time to react and others where you exchange bullets and do multiple reloads before the firefight is resolved. The TTK was pretty decent in PS1

I believe I picked up somewhere that the self heal/repair will be less effective
(hence higher need for medic's and engineer roles) So your example will become less of an issue in PS2

[Bags]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 1 on 1 HA had a TTK of something like 2-3 seconds in a confined space, and even MA vs Rexo at medium range was around 4 seconds if you managed your CoF. The problems start when people are able to duck behind some cover, repair their armor and health in less than 10 seconds, then come out again good as new.

I'm for a lower TTK in PS2, but I wonder if it would be enough to just limit self repair to either be not as effective or take much longer than it currently does. Either way there should be lots of time to experiment with different settings in beta.

The TTK of the MCG is 1.3 seconds, JH is slightly faster and I assume Lasher is around there too.

The Gauss Rifle's TTK is almost instant. I can kill people with it before the game even tells them they're being shot at.

[Kitija]

:(

Sad to hear, as much as WoW is NOT related to PlanetSide I really like the way they do things with cross faction.

Alot of the beauty of Planetside what cross-faction smack talking and other things. I remember fondly me and my buddy both infiltrators would sneak into nme bases we would sneak up on a AA max and my buddy would whisper to him " Hey buddy you need repairs?" and while he was typing a reply back i would boomer him and laugh and laugh... oh good times...

[1Shotwonder]

anyone ask if there will be anything for ps one players that return to ps2?

[Volw]

anyone ask if there will be anything for ps one players that return to ps2?


Yeah, Matt or Smed answered that they will 'take care of us'.

Probably beta will first be given to us. Then maybe achievement transfer.

[Bags]

I'm hoping we get to reserve names for being in beta.

[Tool]

Alot of the beauty of Planetside what cross-faction smack talking and other things. I remember fondly me and my buddy both infiltrators would sneak into nme bases we would sneak up on a AA max and my buddy would whisper to him " Hey buddy you need repairs?" and while he was typing a reply back i would boomer him and laugh and laugh... oh good times...

Made me chuckle. :D

[Hamma]

I'm hoping we get to reserve names for being in beta.

This would be cool - I haven't seen a game that allows this yet though

[BorisBlade]

This would be cool - I haven't seen a game that allows this yet though

Been in two different betas that did this. CoH and...i think it was SWG maybe? been awhile not positive but do remember gettin to do it twice.

[Bags]

Not to mention this is the first MMO sequel beta I've ever seen... not too much precedent.

[Hamma]

hah also a good point :lol:

[Lunarchild]

Actually, I've been in the beta for another sequel... That was EverQuest 2, and they didn't do anything like reserve your name for beta... Though I do believe you got priority on your name if you had it registered in EQ1 at launch...

[Infektion]

They should give headshots a damage bonus for all weapons. Say:
Sniper headshot +200% (that's fair)
MCG/Rifles - +25%
Pistols - +20%
Knives - Rear/Head +50%

Anyone agree? It seems fair to me, and sporadic headshots will more than likely give incentive to use environmental cover and add to realism :)

[Raymac]

They should give headshots a damage bonus for all weapons. Say:
Sniper headshot +200% (that's fair)
MCG/Rifles - +25%
Pistols - +20%
Knives - Rear/Head +50%

Anyone agree? It seems fair to me, and sporadic headshots will more than likely give incentive to use environmental cover and add to realism :)

It sounds like thats what they will be doing, except I think Higby used the example of +0% for MCG. I like the sound of different weapons having different headshot bonuses, but this is exactly the type of thing that will need to be balanced during beta and the beginning of launch. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays.

[basti]

realism

Your fighting on another planet, that humans reached throu a wormhole, a few hundred years from now, with hovertanks and laser guns, in a war where nobody ever dies because of nanites.

And you talk about realism?

If you want realism, go out, punch yourself in the face. There, thats real, is it fun? No it isnt.

But yea, lets go with headshots, we will make your cry as much as everyone else once you just learned that seeing the respawn screen 24/7 isnt fun at all, because thats what going to happen.

[Bags]

Headshots on MCG would be ridiculous. It's fun in Crysis to use the mini chain gun and just instagib 20+ koreans with headshots.

muahahaahahaa

[Tool]

Your fighting on another planet, that humans reached throu a wormhole, a few hundred years from now, with hovertanks and laser guns, in a war where nobody ever dies because of nanites.

And you talk about realism?

If you want realism, go out, punch yourself in the face. There, thats real, is it fun? No it isnt.

But yea, lets go with headshots, we will make your cry as much as everyone else once you just learned that seeing the respawn screen 24/7 isnt fun at all, because thats what going to happen.

Just because something isn't possible today doesn't mean it isn't potentially real. A few of those things you listed are very real indeed. Wanted to point that out, counter realism arguments don't work very well. But arguments on what would be fun work better.

Then again some players idea of fun in games is more realitic aspects. Heh, guess its all a matter of individual preferences. :D

[Beagle]

I always figured locational based damage while predictable is still a dice roll to a degree.

How many times have you accidentally shot someone in the head in an FPS when you were simply just trying to hit them?

How many times have you tried to hit someone but accidentally missed, or hit someone due to just spraying and praying?

Your fighting on another planet, that humans reached throu a wormhole, a few hundred years from now, with hovertanks and laser guns, in a war where nobody ever dies because of nanites.

And you talk about realism?

If you want realism, go out, punch yourself in the face. There, thats real, is it fun? No it isnt.

But yea, lets go with headshots, we will make your cry as much as everyone else once you just learned that seeing the respawn screen 24/7 isnt fun at all, because thats what going to happen.

While it's true that some games/mods/people can lose sight of fun in their pursuit of realism, that does not mean realism in itself is frustrating/unfun and making an unprovoked multiple paragraph rage post at the mere utterance of the word is a bit odd.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Are resources going to be tradable between outfits?

And so I'm vaguely on topic, if they have an inverse relation between rate of fire and bonus damage via headshots I'll be mostly happy with it. Hopefully the ratio curve is steep.

[FIREk]

I don't think this was pointed out yet. Matt Higby on air vehicles, recently on Reddit:



how do the flight controls in planetside 2 compare to BF: bad company 2 for the PC?It's kind of apples to oranges since BC2 only has helos and what we're doing is closer to jets. The plan is to make flight fun and fast paced without a huge steep learning curve, so they're a little bit less "finicky" than battlefield. We have solid air-to-air, ground-to-air and air-to-ground gameplay avenues to help balance the issue of a master chopper pilot basically wrecking shit as happens in BC2 with a great pilot.

[Bags]

I don't think this was pointed out yet. Matt Higby on air vehicles, recently on Reddit:

http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showpost.php?p=580470&postcount=48

[FIREk]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showpost.php?p=580470&postcount=48
Right, forgot to check the google document. My bad.

[Bags]

Right, forgot to check the google document. My bad.

I'm just too ninja. :p

[FIREk]

I'm just too ninja. :p

Who said that?! Show yourself!

[Graywolves]

I just played 20 questions with him on reddit, we'll see when that get's answered.

[Senyu]

People need to find their balance of prefrence between Realism and Gameplay. Yes it's realistic if you walk off a ledge you will fall down. But its fun gameplay if it doesn't insta kill you if its from the height of a tower. Just a poor example

[Hamma]

I just played 20 questions with him on reddit, we'll see when that get's answered.

Be sure to post them up :D

[exLupo]

Your fighting on another planet, that humans reached throu a wormhole, a few hundred years from now, with hovertanks and laser guns, in a war where nobody ever dies because of nanites.

And you talk about realism?

There's simulation realism and contextual realism.

As I don't believe PS2 will be a Surrealist interpretation of PS1, we'll still have things like death and physics as we understand them. There will be a basic level of recognizable reality.

"Pick up (equip) weapon" leads to "Pull trigger (LMB)" leads to "Bullet fires"

That is an example of contextual realism. Wanting to have an agreed upon reality that, in ways, mimics the physical reality we've grown to understand is not a bad thing. Without it, we can't even establish the concept of "weapon" to begin with.

Asking for some degree of realism in a game is fine. Without it, PS2 could end up being a MMO version of REZ.

[SpLiTNuTz]

Simple question,
Will it be coming to Macs as well as PC and if so will they come out at the same time?

[Hamma]

Simple question,
Will it be coming to Macs as well as PC and if so will they come out at the same time?
As far as we know PC only at this time. Also in the future feel free to create a new thread for these sorts of questions. :)

[SpLiTNuTz]

As far as we know PC only at this time. Also in the future feel free to create a new thread for these sorts of questions. :)

Thanks :)

[Tigersmith]

I really want hear more info. im slowly dying

[Talek Krell]

1

[Graywolves]

1.How will "classes" effect driving/piloting? Will there be an "operator class" or will lighter armored classes be the ones who can pull out the vehicles?
1 - light armored infantry classes can use vehicles - there isn't a "pilot" class, each vehicle have cert trees that are commensurate to the infantry trees.
2.Vehicle animations are gone, budget or otherwise, will there be a time delay in entering/exiting a vehicle or will it be a simple warp-in/warp-out deal?
2 - it's instant right now, this is subject to change though
3.In concept art I noticed the massive ship in the sky. Can you tell us anything about that or linked to it?
3 - secret
4.Sanctuaries are gone and footholds are in. How will this effect outfit/alliance staging grounds, training(skill/cert/tactical), organisation/gathering, continent capturing, and camping?
4 - you'll have a safe staging point, training will be handled through a separate method.
5.Will VR training return?
5 - something like it, but not exactly what was in ps1
6.I remember outfit battles being attempted at one point. Will similar small scale versus events appear in the future?
6 - esports is something im super passionate about, so we have plans for tournament modes that would be along the lines of "outfit battles", we're focused on the primary gameplay mode i.e. open world massive warfare right now, though.
7.Trophies. I loved collecting enemy weapons and just hoarding them in my locker. With the inventory system will this be possible or will there be a replacement that allows us to gloat our victories?
7 - we'll definitely have ways for you to gloat your victories
8.Alliances between outfits. Not that it is needed but is there in-game support planned to allow ease of communication between outfit leaders/commanders.
8 - yes
9.Tower landing gear. Does this have to do with the giant ship? What exactly does this hint at if anything?
9 - i'm not sure whistles
10.Can I still heal, repair, drive, and lead all while kicking ass with my cycler?
10 - healing and repairing are both exclusive to two different classes, so no. Well, you can heal yourself with a medkit!
11.What can you tell us about the new continents?
11 - they rule
12.I got the 1 empire per server. How many characters?
12 - I'm not sure how many characters per server we allow right now, i can't think of any reason to limit it, but, i can't think of any reason besides wanting to be incognito to want to create more than one. Theres no restriction on you creating a character on every server in the game as of right now. this is subject to change based on the whims of our dbas though.
13.Will characters still sink to the bottom of water?
13 - We're still working out what the water / swimming mechanics are going to be at launch, currently you float, but i hope we'll be able to add more here
14.It appears that the NC nearly blend in according to the trailer. Will this effect gameplay or will everyone stick out as before?
14 - the NC have found a cache of newer and more stylish armor
15.As a Terran I will stomp your rebellion. (if we could be 2 empires I'd have an NC alt though). Also....Can I plant flags?
15 - don't try to oppress me, man!
16.Will headshots or damage location be implemented in any way? I personally was fine with the mechanics overall in Planetside, just curious.
16 - yes, we have damage locations including headshots
17.Pajamas. From what it sounds we will spawn in our loadout? I'm really going to miss the pajama parties and fighting my way around with a pistol.
17 - hmm, maybe we'll let you make a loadout for pajamas =)
18.How customizeable will a pistol be? I always loved the idea of a commander running around using a pistol like a pro.
18 - extremely customizable, you'll be able to make a pretty kickass pistol if you dedicate some time to it
19.How much will our character change from BR1-Br20? I always loved the top end TR uniforms.
19 - BR is going to determine a lot about what you're able to unlock skills wise, that will in turn influence how you look
20.How will Leader given missions(quests) work? And will waypoints return in a similar way before or have they been altered?
20 - yes, they're a lot deeper, I think i've gone into detail about the mission system elsewhere so i don't want to repeat myself
Thanks for the questions, sorry it took so long to get back to you!

[Redshift]

6.I remember outfit battles being attempted at one point. Will similar small scale versus events appear in the future?
6 - esports is something im super passionate about, so we have plans for tournament modes that would be along the lines of "outfit battles", we're focused on the primary gameplay mode i.e. open world massive warfare right now, though.
i enjoyed outfit wars, but it's not something i'd like to see too often as it's too small of a scale, maybe they'll do it once a year, like the superbowl

[Graywolves]

I'm sure the amount of times the competitive matches occur will be related to how many people are interested.

[Hamma]

Posted in the news! :D

[Bags]

Looks like I've got some updating to do.

10.Can I still heal, repair, drive, and lead all while kicking ass with my cycler?
10 - healing and repairing are both exclusive to two different classes, so no. Well, you can heal yourself with a medkit!

Game just sounds dumber and dumber with every bit of new info... Wonder how many people working together it will take to walk?

[basti]

Looks like I've got some updating to do.

10.Can I still heal, repair, drive, and lead all while kicking ass with my cycler?
10 - healing and repairing are both exclusive to two different classes, so no. Well, you can heal yourself with a medkit!

Game just sounds dumber and dumber with every bit of new info...

dumber because you wont be an one man army anymore?

I actually like it that way.

[Crator]

Bags, just don't play it then. Jeez.

[Bags]

Can you guys stop calling med/eng/av/HA a one man army because it's not? I can't do anything but grunt. It's as much of a one man army as a lightning driver with a glue gun is, which is to say not one at all.

Stop trying / supporting nerfs to playstyles you don't like.

PS: this isn't what I meant by buffing support, Higby! I meant actually buff it, don't nerf everything else! uhg

[Shogun]

i don´t like this news either :-(

my main playstyle was unarmed mastersupporter and battlefield engineer.

i liked to mix engineer and medic, put on a rexo and carry some backup CE with me to mine tower entrances or put up sensor disruptors while taking care of the fighting troops.

the news sounds like i will not be able to combine these classes anymore. so only medic OR engineer. i´m all fine with medics not being able to carry heavy weapons, but i would miss my "one man salvationarmy" supporter playstyle a lot.

the only weapon cert i use in ps2 is the aa max. i used all my other certs for support and i went up to battlerank 32 with this playstyle.

another thing i suppose not to work in ps2 is the cloaked medic. i sometimes sneak around in midbattle as a cloaker, only equipped with medic-gun and medammo, resurrecting and upkeeping frontline soldiers.

i just hope i can keep any of my playstyles in ps2. don´t want to be forced to play like the typical grunt any other shootergame offers as well. i never found another game that fits my playstyle as well as planetside 1. and that diversity of possible playstyles was one of the 2 reasons, planetside never got old (the second one was the massive persistent warfare of course)

[Raymac]

Can you guys stop calling med/eng/av/HA a one man army because it's not? I can't do anything but grunt. It's as much of a one man army as a lightning driver with a glue gun is, which is to say not one at all.

Stop trying / supporting nerfs to playstyles you don't like.

PS: this isn't what I meant by buffing support, Higby! I meant actually buff it, don't nerf everything else! uhg

Actually, it is one man army. Trying to compare it to a driver that can repair his own ride is the weakest comparison ever.

Most people hate one man armies. You'll just have to deal with it.

[Bags]

Actually, it is one man army. Trying to compare it to a driver that can repair his own ride is the weakest comparison ever.

Most people hate one man armies. You'll just have to deal with it.

No, it's the exact same thing.

He's self sufficient and good against softies and light armor.

[Duddy]

Can you guys stop calling med/eng/av/HA a one man army because it's not? I can't do anything but grunt. It's as much of a one man army as a lightning driver with a glue gun is, which is to say not one at all.

Stop trying / supporting nerfs to playstyles you don't like.

PS: this isn't what I meant by buffing support, Higby! I meant actually buff it, don't nerf everything else! uhg

When people say "one-man-army" I'm petty sure they're getting it confused with being entirely self sufficient.

Though the sentiment remains, if you are entirely self sufficient (which those who have adv hack/med/engy at once are) then you become far less reliant on others to accomplish your tasks.

Being less reliant on others naturally devalues team work, because if someone can't do it for you: "Meh, I can do it myself". So whilst you can only "grunt" your role within grunt is far more diverse than that of anyone else, particularly Maxes. :lol:

If we end up like Maxes and being essentially helpless then it'll certainly be bad, but I doubt that will be the case.

Anyway, one could just as easily accuse you of maintaining a self interest in your own play style (which is as bad as what you accuse others of). Alas we're all biased, even if you are able to be objective, so this is to be expected.

Really, we all need to stop speculating, hard as that may be.

[FriendlyFire]

No, it's the exact same thing.

He's self sufficient and good against softies and light armor.

Like when he is standing outside of his vehicle, repairing, unable to shoot? :groovy:

Letting players be good at "roles" is better than everyone being able to do everything, at the same time. If I can do everything, I will do it my self, for my self.

How it should work:
I am a good Tank driver, my friend is an Engineer. I ask him to gun for me. We eat pie and drink cool-aid.

[Bags]

When people say "one-man-army" I'm petty sure they're getting it confused with being entirely self sufficient.

Though the sentiment remains, if you are entirely self sufficient (which those who have adv hack/med/engy at once are) then you become far less reliant on others to accomplish your tasks.

Being less reliant on others naturally devalues team work, because if someone can't do it for you: "Meh, I can do it myself". So whilst you can only "grunt" your role within grunt is far more diverse than that of anyone else, particularly Maxes. :lol:

If we end up like Maxes and being essentially helpless then it'll certainly be bad, but I doubt that will be the case.

Anyway, one could just as easily accuse you of maintaining a self interest in your own play style (which is as bad as what you accuse others of). Alas we're all biased, even if you are able to be objective, so this is to be expected.

Really, we all need to stop speculating, hard as that may be.

But I want to buff other playstyles too, unlike most people who seem to want to nerf everything so they have no competition.

Regardless, it wouldn't bother me so much if people weren't completely biased. People have no issue with a vehicle driver being completely self sufficient, but they have a problem with a grunt being completely self sufficient.

PS: I always run with friends so where does this devaluation of teamwork come into play?

Like when he is standing outside of his vehicle, repairing, unable to shoot? :groovy:
.

You do realize I can't shoot when I'm repairing/medding myself as a grunt, right?

[Raymac]

No, it's the exact same thing.

He's self sufficient and good against softies and light armor.

Look guy. I'm not going to get into a "yes it is" "no it isn't" contradiction game with you. So why don't you use the search feature on this forum and look up what players' biggest gripes about Planetside 1 in it's current state where people are BR40. You may disagree with it, but at least realize you are in the minority.

[morf]

Guys I've been saying this for a while but I think the reason they are doing this is to make support roles into freaking superheroes. In ps1 support had to be balanced as an addition to a heavy grunt. In ps2 it won't be watered down like that. I'm telling you i'd like to see a medic have a charge that he can throw on the ground that can revive anything in a 10 yard radius. Engineers maybe could have a deployable bot that intercepts enemy projectiles (like point defense drones in sc2) - maybe an engi can temporarily boost a vehicle to do +40 percent rate of fire for a few moments and so on and so forth. These type of abilities would be totally OP in the hands of a heavy grunt. If a person chooses to play a dedicated support role, let them shine in their own way. I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Bags]

Look guy. I'm not going to get into a "yes it is" "no it isn't" contradiction game with you. So why don't you use the search feature on this forum and look up what players' biggest gripes about Planetside 1 in it's current state where people are BR40. You may disagree with it, but at least realize you are in the minority.

I don't like BR40 either, because that allowed you to do FAR MORE than AV/MED/HA/AV.

Grunting is one role. One.

[Raymac]

I don't like BR40 either, because that allowed you to do FAR MORE than AV/MED/HA/AV.

Grunting is one role. One.

:huh:

[Bags]

:huh:

:eek:

[basti]

What you guys completly forget right here is quite a bit of stuff:

1. Who knows what weapons you could carry as a medic/engi?
2. Who knows what new toys meds and engis get to play with?
3. Who knows how this current, let me make clear you understand it, CURRENT, setup plays out? Stuff can change during beta, and it will if it doesnt play out the way it is intended.

[Bags]

He said you can't carry heavy weapons as medic before.

And I'm fine with support being better, just not at my expense.

[BlazeDragoon]

I think you should probably be able to heal yourself, and repair yourself and agree with bags. I know we haven't played it and it's not the same game but it's the closet comparison we can make. Can you imagine only being able to be medic or only engi in planetside? It would be terrible doing ANY indoors fights. Most of all with all of the aoe spam.

People are already afraid to push down or up stairs sometimes because of the damage they will take and not being able to repair yourself, it's even worse.

I dunno though, someone I was talking to made a good point. It also depends on a lot of stuff like how the healing is done. If there is aoe healing or something like that, then I guess I can imagine it working out.

Healing/Repairing in planetside was terrible. Target had to stay still, there was a delay before it actually healed, and there's no aoe. If it's similar to Planetside healing/repairing, which I'm guessing it won't be, both should be allowed. Otherwise, maybe it could work the way Higs mentioned it.

My 2 cents.

[CutterJohn]

i enjoyed outfit wars, but it's not something i'd like to see too often as it's too small of a scale, maybe they'll do it once a year, like the superbowl

Why? If people want to play outfit wars they should be able to. If you don't like it, don't participate.

[Bags]

Because Planetside is an MMOFPS not an arena round based shooter. Plus having outfit wars willy-nilly makes them less special.

[Shogun]

if medics and engineers get that awsome abilitys, i am all set.
supporters should not have big offensive capabilitys, but a nice defensive weoponry should be possible because medics will be the primary targets in most battlesituations.

after ps1 support was overhauled and the assistkill system kicked in, i had no problem advancing my character without weaponcerts at all. in my last playsession i had only 22 kills, was killed 50 times, but had 1200 assistkills and a big amount of xp. i didn´t even miss heavy assault or even medium assault.

but now with all veterans being br40 it is getting harder as a supporter because everybody is selfsufficient and you have to hurry to repair someone before he did it himself. so the one man armys are not only a problem for the enemy, but also for the dedicated supporters of the own team, who cannot get as many assistkills as they would if their team would concentrate on the kills and rely on the supporters for their healing needs

[Bags]

Just about everyone had med/eng at BR25. They need to buff support, but doing it by nerfing everyone else puts too much value in support and we become your slaves.

[Aractain]

Slaves eh? Sounds kinky.

But less seriously I doubt they will make medics (or other support) so required, probably more for rezzing than healing. I don't think you need to worry.

[LostSoul]

Big question I have is if troopers will have an armour value again or if it'll be integrated with their health.

If the latter would be the case engineers would only be needed for vehicles/maxes. (my preference)

It would seem a bit odd to me if a heavy assault grunt would need to rely on two (2) persons to keep him effective.

[Shogun]

yeah! obey your medic-masters! ;-)

oh man i would so love it if matt would contact psu to arrange a Q&A exclusively for us! where we could ask about the medic and engineers nifty superpowers, abilitys and skilladvancement.

i would miss any aspect of ps1 battleengineers because i love every deployable ce option there is. but how much of that will make it to ps2?

[Raymac]

Just about everyone had med/eng at BR25. They need to buff support, but doing it by nerfing everyone else puts too much value in support and we become your slaves.

First, I call BS on your first sentence. But you know what, it doesn't even matter, because it is a complete waste of time for any of us to debate somebody that doesn't think Engie/Med/AV/HA is NOT a 1-man-army. The only things you don't have listed there are sniping and hacking, so yeah, thats not 1-man-army at all. :rolleyes:

Grunts won't be able to do EVERYTHING in 1 loadout. Guess you're just going to have to deal.

[basti]

Bags, you have been diminishing this game for the last month.... It's not planetside... it's planetside 2............. Planetside EVIDENTLY didn't work bro... so they are making it more modern.... I'm expecting BFBC2 + planetside = planetside 2. and that game sitll has 20000 people playing daily... SOOOO.... ya.....


The instant vehicle boarding is going to create problems..... but at the same time, i'm personally gonna abuse the shit out of it. :D

Good point on the first one.

And as for instand vehicle boarding and animations for it: Higby, prepare not a, but THE shitstorm during beta. I wont stop until i get those animations, because they are such a giant part of planetside.

[LostSoul]

Good point on the first one.

And as for instand vehicle boarding and animations for it: Higby, prepare not a, but THE shitstorm during beta. I wont stop until i get those animations, because they are such a giant part of planetside.

Higby, easy solution! Don't let him in!

[Bags]

Guess you're just going to have to deal.

there's no need to get so angry about this

Bags, you have been diminishing this game for the last month.... It's not planetside... it's planetside 2............. Planetside EVIDENTLY didn't work bro... so they are making it more modern.... I'm expecting BFBC2 + planetside = planetside 2. and that game sitll has 20000 people playing daily... SOOOO.... ya.....


I'm probably going to get some flak for this but... okay I like posting too much to say what's on my mind.

Planetside didn't die because people could do too much at once; when it began dying you couldn't do too much at once

It died due to:

1.) Lack of development
2.) Poor support
3.) No game moderation
4.) BFR implementation
5.) Tech requirements too high
6.) Players were not used to subscriptions (comparatively. There were no 12 million subscription games like WoW)
7.) Low advertisement
8.) General poor management

You can't use the logic of "planetside didn't work as a whole thus we need to shove as much modernization into it because games with those features do well", because that's not correct. Could the lack of "modern" features hinder it? Maybe. Is there any proof that this is the case? No.

It's also facetious to compare a modern game with a once purchase model to an 8 year old subscription game.

[Aractain]

It dosn't really matter about PS1 IMO. I belive it to be a bad game design to allow so much 'core' stuff on one character. It has no trade off, instead of making it a trade off (and probably for future reasons) the devs made it a hard choice.

[Raymac]

there's no need to get so angry about this



I'm not angry at all, so don't play that "u mad bro" crap. You're better than that, dude. I actually just wonder what you consider a "1-man-army" loadout in PS1 if it's not Eng/Med/AV/HA? That's what confused me.

[Bags]

I'm not angry at all, so don't play that "u mad bro" crap. You're better than that, dude. I actually just wonder what you consider a "1-man-army" loadout in PS1 if it's not Eng/Med/AV/HA? That's what confused me.

I don't consider any loadout a one man army because it's not possible in PS1.

and sorry

[Crator]

I don't like BR40 either, because that allowed you to do FAR MORE than AV/MED/HA/AV.

Grunting is one role. One.

LOL, grunting is a role? :P

[Bags]

LOL, grunting is a role? :P

Someone has to make the noises.

[Shogun]

grunting actually is the main role in a lot of shooters. in ps1 there are several different "grunt roles" heavy assault being one of them. but in ps1 its possible to combine grunt roles with supporter roles and thats what the devs want to change for ps2.

i guess they have to put in this limit because there is no cap on character progression and without these new limitations we will have the same situation we have now with the br40s.

[Crator]

Grunt is such a general term. Perhaps you mean, ground troops = grunt but those aren't roles necessarily. Those terms could be used to categorize roles into different groups.

[Graywolves]

For all we know the Medical Applicator is going to be replaced with the Med Box from the battlefield games. If Infantry still has armor value I'd want to repair and heal as one role, needing two people to get yourself back to full fighting strength just seems rediculous. Maybe a Medic/Engineer skill will allow you to also heal/repair a little.

And hey look I'm on the front page!!!! Sweet! :spam:



Why did I use the spam emote? Because I love it and used to have my own spam section in my outfit's forums.

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

Way back when BR 20 was the cap I could Rexo/HA/AV/Adv Hack/Engy and then had a choice between med or skeet (I chose skeet). Then when it got bumped to BR 23 (24 and 25 didn't give cert points), I could use both skeet and med (tho I chose to keep using kits and went with reaver/fury).

So your "1 man army" certs have been there since day 1, it wasn't a problem till BR 40 when everyone had everything.


I really hope I can get into beta to see if this will be worth it or not, cause the more I hear about this game the less I like it. I played Planetside because I liked Planetside, I don't want Battlefield: Auraxis.

[p0intman]

Way back when BR 20 was the cap I could Rexo/HA/AV/Adv Hack/Engy and then had a choice between med or skeet (I chose skeet). Then when it got bumped to BR 23 (24 and 25 didn't give cert points), I could use both skeet and med (tho I chose to keep using kits and went with reaver/fury).

So your "1 man army" certs have been there since day 1, it wasn't a problem till BR 40 when everyone had everything.


I really hope I can get into beta to see if this will be worth it or not, cause the more I hear about this game the less I like it. I played Planetside because I liked Planetside, I don't want Battlefield: Auraxis.

I agree here.

[Mastachief]

Way back when BR 20 was the cap I could Rexo/HA/AV/Adv Hack/Engy and then had a choice between med or skeet (I chose skeet). Then when it got bumped to BR 23 (24 and 25 didn't give cert points), I could use both skeet and med (tho I chose to keep using kits and went with reaver/fury).

So your "1 man army" certs have been there since day 1, it wasn't a problem till BR 40 when everyone had everything.


I really hope I can get into beta to see if this will be worth it or not, cause the more I hear about this game the less I like it. I played Planetside because I liked Planetside, I don't want Battlefield: Auraxis.

I echo your feelings

[Crator]

....

[Talek Krell]

PS: I always run with friends so where does this devaluation of teamwork come into play?
There's a subtle but important difference between working with other people and working around other people. Teamwork, specialization, and codependency in PS1 offered no significant advantages over using cut and paste generalist infantry. It was probably worse if anything, which seems to be what they're trying to change.

The instant vehicle boarding is going to create problems..... but at the same time, i'm personally gonna abuse the shit out of it. :D
I'm going to abuse the ever loving shit out of this system so badly that they'll have to put the animations back in. >_>

[Raymac]

Way back when BR 20 was the cap I could Rexo/HA/AV/Adv Hack/Engy and then had a choice between med or skeet (I chose skeet). Then when it got bumped to BR 23 (24 and 25 didn't give cert points), I could use both skeet and med (tho I chose to keep using kits and went with reaver/fury).

So your "1 man army" certs have been there since day 1, it wasn't a problem till BR 40 when everyone had everything.


I really hope I can get into beta to see if this will be worth it or not, cause the more I hear about this game the less I like it. I played Planetside because I liked Planetside, I don't want Battlefield: Auraxis.

Maybe I'm wrong, and I am one of the few that have an issue with a bunch of 1-man-armies running around, or perhaps I'm the only one that even thinks the Eng/Med/AV/HA Tower of Doom Special is even a "1 man army".

It does kind of sound like you guys are saying "It wasn't a problem when I was doing it, but now that everyone else can, it sucks." But I'm probably misinterpreting that too.

[p0intman]

Maybe I'm wrong, and I am one of the few that have an issue with a bunch of 1-man-armies running around, or perhaps I'm the only one that even thinks the Eng/Med/AV/HA Tower of Doom Special is even a "1 man army".

It does kind of sound like you guys are saying "It wasn't a problem when I was doing it, but now that everyone else can, it sucks." But I'm probably misinterpreting that too.

what we're saying, is that when br20 was max... it was still possible without being OP.

now that everyone can theoretically build up to doing everything (theres a difference, mind you, in that there used to be a tradeoff even if you dont think so) and thats why it sucks.

my br20 build was ma/sa/adv hack/adv med/skeeter/engineering/rexo or something like that, i forget. and that was fine, because i was able to mostly be on my own when none of my outfit were on, and i was still able to contribute to a larger group when they were on.

but now that im br31 i have..
ma/sa/expert hack/adv med/ce/skeeter/rexo (free!)/cloaking/scatmax/flamethrowerlol

Now I can still work with my outfit, but I don't need to... because outside of rolling armor, I'm basically a one person assault team.

do you see the difference?

it doesnt NEED fixing, if br20 is the cap. Because then, everyone can build up to that, and it'll still be basically balanced fine.

oh, and i basically can't regard the people who are complaining about 1 person armies as being knowledgeable, because if you were of decent battlerank you'd understand the mechanics and have fought enough to understand why br20 is fine as it was.

[Crator]

I think, if no med cert for all classes doesn't work in beta, then just change it. Let's just wait and see on this one, no?

[Redshift]

i don't count med/eng/HA/AV as a one man army, imho that is a standard grunt, like others have said br20 or even br 25 didn't make you a super soldier, you just had the basic grunting skills and 3 points to play with.

I count the current game as having super soldiers where we all have rexo for free can get advmed CE HA AV some hacking a bit of SA and maybe a few vehicles chucked on top.

I do worry about the role of the bog standard grunt in PS2 because it look like they're just going to be a MAX with no armour.
I also hope they've come up with some way better idea's for handling Med and Eng, because if it works in the same way it does now, i.e point app wait 10 secs on each player not only will the Med's and Eng's find that dull but there's no way it would work

[Erendil]

EDIT: Heh I see a few people beat me to the reply so a lot of this is just a repeat of what Redshift/p0intman said. I'm leaving my post intact here tho in the hopes Matt Higby might actually come across it...


Maybe I'm wrong, and I am one of the few that have an issue with a bunch of 1-man-armies running around, or perhaps I'm the only one that even thinks the Eng/Med/AV/HA Tower of Doom Special is even a "1 man army".

It does kind of sound like you guys are saying "It wasn't a problem when I was doing it, but now that everyone else can, it sucks." But I'm probably misinterpreting that too.

Yes, you are wrong. :D :lol: j/k ....

Seriously though, Self-sufficiency != one-man army.

The term "one-man army" didn't really start getting used in PS1 until after they raised the BR cap above 20. The general consensus that I remember reading on SOE's forums has always been that the versatility provided by BR20 was perfectly acceptable to most of the playerbase that posted there. It was enough to give a soldier more than one role they could play on the battlefield at a given time, but not the best of every role possibly allowed w/in the game mechanics. For example, IIRC before they raised the BR cap to 23, BR20 still gave you 23 certs. With 23 certs my usual setup was something like this:


MA 3
AV 3
RExo 3
Eng 3
Adv Hacking 5
Lightning 3 (I think it cost 3 back then)
AMS 2
ATV 1


As you can see, I have 1 fast response vehicle (ATV), 1 combat vehicle (Lightning), AMS, and an MA/AV/Rexo loadout that could repair himself and hack terms. But in doing so I had to give up HA, and had to rely on medkits for healing. I was self-sufficient, but didn't have the absolute best of everything for the job. This IMO is NOT a 1-man-army.

A 1-man-army is someone who flies into an enemy base in a mossie w/ his Agile/HA loadout, drops on the vterm to hack out and AMS, deploys the AMS in the cy, lays CE around it, switches to cloaker to sneak into the base, slaps a virus on the main term, sneaks into spawns and hacks out an AI MAX to kill any softies there, switches to AV MAX once it's clear to take down the tubes, switches again to an HA/Deci/Rexo loadout before the term hack expires, heals himself as needed, runs down to the CC and slaps on a hack, and then guards said hack.

That's 32 certs worth of action right there, 34 if they also have Reaver, and 36 if they could also rez their comrades. THAT is a 1-man army, because he always seems to have access to the best tool available for the job at hand. And that's not possible with a BR20-level of versatility.

I have to say though I'm feeling some pretty strong reservations about the PS2 class system as I understand it. Yes, being able to perform all roles at once is a bad idea. But being limited to just 1 single role is just as bad. It sounds to me like they might be making their class system too role-specific and not flexible enough. But given the huge size of the maps and the variety of different opponent classes we'll be fighting (Softies/MAXes/Ground vehicles/Air) there has to be at least a little versatility and self-sufficiency in a given loadout because there isn't always going to be a handy term nearby to swap out to a different loadout if you need to.

If the class system is so confining that I can't have access to an infantry loadout that can attack all enemy targets with at least some measure of success, and let me have some minimal way to heal and repair myself, I'm going to have serious objections. MA/AV/Rexo/Eng/Medkits IMO is not a one-man-army, and not game-breaking in the least.

[Bags]

There's a subtle but important difference between working with other people and working around other people. Teamwork, specialization, and codependency in PS1 offered no significant advantages over using cut and paste generalist infantry. It was probably worse if anything, which seems to be what they're trying to change.

Wait, having an adv hacker or adv med gave no advantage over everyone running around with the grunt loadout? :confused:

You can claim my form of teamwork isn't teamwork all you want; but that doesn't make it true. Regardless, forcing teamwork by crippling everyone is boring. I don't want everyone to be able to do everything, but being limited to only ONE thing at a time seems very tiring.

[Talek Krell]

I somehow suspect that adv. medic is common enough to be considered part of the grunt loadout. I mean why not, it's only two extra points. Might as well tack it onto what you've got and then you can all be self healing/repairing anti-infantry/vehicle/MAX troopers that can also res. A homogenous militia of undifferentiated jacks of all trades.

[Bags]

I somehow suspect that adv. medic is common enough to be considered part of the grunt loadout. I mean why not, it's only two extra points. Might as well tack it onto what you've got and then you can all be self healing/repairing anti-infantry/vehicle/MAX troopers that can also res.

I dominate vehicles all day with my striker. And Maxes; they just melt to my decis. Especially Splatters.

When you're ready to have a serious discussion instead of hyperbole let me know, okay? As it stands AV/HA/Med/ENG only excels against anti-infantry in < 50 m ranges. It's decent anti-armor but leaves a lot to be desired.

[Talek Krell]

I dominate vehicles all day with my striker. And Maxes; they just melt to my decis. Especially Splatters.

When you're ready to have a serious discussion instead of hyperbole let me know, okay?

...Did that not make sense as a response to anyone else?

[Bags]

...Did that not make sense as a response to anyone else?

You heavily implied that HA/AV/Med/ENG hard counters everything in the game, which is hyperbole.

"then you can all be self healing/repairing anti-infantry/vehicle/MAX (super) troopers that can also res"

[Sirisian]

I never viewed Med/Eng/HA/AV as a one man army. Having different degrees of healing and repairing should be key. I prefer when players can heal and repair each other, but a medic and engineer can do it much faster or with an AOE along with their other abilities.

There should be an obvious disadvantage to having a holstered med tool or repair tool. In my eyes you're giving up another tool or weapon that could be useful. This is assuming the game branches out with a lot of choices and that switching from "inventory" items to holstered items takes a while.

Honestly though holding a sniper rile, SA, AV, HA, MA at the same time with enough ammo to do something shouldn't really be possible with the holster/inventory system so ideally it would be hard to become an army of one even without classes.

[Zulthus]

Players can't heal and rep at the same time?



Thank you, Higby. This made the game sound a hell of a lot better. Heal yourself with medkits, fine. You should rely on medics and engineers to completely fix you up.

[Senyu]

To me Planetside 1 at first was having lots of people fit different roles in the battlefield and working together. Not one man armies it is now today. Sounds like their enforcing that and I like it.

[Bags]

To me Planetside 1 at first was having lots of people fit different roles in the battlefield and working together. Not one man armies it is now today. Sounds like their enforcing that and I like it.

If you read Double's post you will see that "one man armies" have been possible since release.
Actual one man armies have only been possible since BRr40, AND NO ONE WANTS THAT.

[BorisBlade]

Dont worry so much about not havin med, you are gonna die so freakin fast that you wont have time to heal. They are makin the TTK absurdly fast. Its the other added bonuses that medics will get that will make em more useful rather than the heal aspect.

Honestly its good its not br40 style. But keep in mind you can still do anything ya want just by pickin your class when ya spawn. If you want to be the medic support guy get him, if you wanna go guns ablazing you can pick your HA man. Really, you arent limited much at all, esp since you can change it up with ease. You just cant do everythign all in one set up like br40. And you can bunch things up and call it whatever package you want, but you cant honestly think that its good gameplay to be able to repair armor, repair players, have the best AI (HA) and the best AV weapons all in one set up. Thats absurd. Gotta break it up a bit.

[Bags]

and the best AV weapons all in one set up. Thats absurd. Gotta break it up a bit.


... it's the only AV. And yes, I can honestly think it's good gameplay, because I do.

[Erendil]

Dont worry so much about not havin med, you are gonna die so freakin fast that you wont have time to heal. They are makin the TTK absurdly fast. Its the other added bonuses that medics will get that will make em more useful rather than the heal aspect.

Honestly its good its not br40 style. But keep in mind you can still do anything ya want just by pickin your class when ya spawn. If you want to be the medic support guy get him, if you wanna go guns ablazing you can pick your HA man. Really, you arent limited much at all, esp since you can change it up with ease. You just cant do everythign all in one set up like br40. And you can bunch things up and call it whatever package you want, but you cant honestly think that its good gameplay to be able to repair armor, repair players, have the best AI (HA) and the best AV weapons all in one set up. Thats absurd. Gotta break it up a bit.

The problem is that from what Higby has said they are breaking it up too much. Here's Matt's response to one of Graywolves's questions:

10.Can I still heal, repair, drive, and lead all while kicking ass with my cycler?
10 - healing and repairing are both exclusive to two different classes, so no. Well, you can heal yourself with a medkit!

More and more the impression I'm getting is that it'll be like we'll all be something like a ~BR10 with unlimited re-cert capabilities. Which is something I can live with if I happen to be fighting in close proximity to a term so I can quickly swap out classes as needed.

But class limitations as extreme as it sounds like they might be implementing are going to put an extreme damper on any operations out in the field that require any significant length of time or that call for a very small number of soldiers performing black ops where a vehicle like an AMS might give them away.

In a combined arms game like PS1/2 it's inevitable that you will come across multiple different types of enemy units in quick succession, if not simultaneously. With the PS/2 class system I'm afraid that it might not even be possible to carry both a decent AI and AV weapon Or if you do, that you won't be able to heal or repair yourselves due to a class system that is too confining.

The MA/AV/Rexo/Eng/Adv Hacker loadout that I mentioned above is not at all OP'd or a "one-man army" in my eyes and I see no reason why we shouldn't be allowed to have such a loadout. But my fear is that with the class system we won't even be able to do something like that.

Heck, in PS1 even a BR8 character can do MA/AV/Rexo/Eng. How is that a one-man army?

[Talek Krell]

:boohoo:

[Aractain]

One man army is hyperbole, an exaguration. "No Important Weaknesses" is what I would say. In PS1 you could bypass or counter everything as the "One Grunt". There were many kinds of grunts, cloaker grunts, greybie grunts, MAX grunts, n00b grunts. One Grunt to beat them all, and in the darkness, rape them in the basement.

They appear to be breaking that up and forcing you to make a choice which is going to be more fun for the majority of the player base.

[Shogun]

i wish they would wipe the new ideas and return to the good old cert and br20 system as it was in ps1 in the good old days. paired with the cap of course!

there were no jackofalltrades back then and it played out fine as long as we had a significant playerbase.
the br was risen because there were not enough players any more and so people had to be able to be selfsufficient for you cannot rely on dedicated medics if there are none.

[coLMinigun]

I realllllllly hope they reconsider the idea that you can't heal and repair yourself :( .

[Redshift]

i just hope they don't make it all rock paper scissors which is where it sounds like it's going, i.e meet a max as AI grunt zero chance. meet an AI grunt as an AV grunt zero chance

[Aractain]

i wish they would wipe the new ideas and return to the good old cert and br20 system as it was in ps1 in the good old days. paired with the cap of course!

there were no jackofalltrades back then and it played out fine as long as we had a significant playerbase.
the br was risen because there were not enough players any more and so people had to be able to be selfsufficient for you cannot rely on dedicated medics if there are none.

You can't make claims that PS1 died of indavidual things like self-sufficeint soldiers but you also can't make claims that it "did fine" with them.

All you can really say is that PS1 died before it was even a day old (launch was WAY smaller than they expected).

I can say for sure though I didn't find the design of PS1 as fun as it could be (and you would probably say the opposite and I would eye you suspiciously because only the top dawgs of PS seemed to have fun with the mechanics - which is a terrible design if you want people to keep playing).

[morf]

Besides diminishing the usefulness of support roles, self repair\heal also slows down the game. How much time do people spend ducking behind trees or walls to heal/repair themselves only to fight for 10 seconds and then do it all over again. Stairwell fights become a neverending cycle of people rotating out to the front for 3 seconds, then running back around the corner to heal for 20 seconds. It slows down the game.

Personally i'd like to see it go down more like a 1930's knife fight. 2 gangs meet and its a brawl till the end. Medics and engies can dance around throwing down healing/defensive bots or whatever, commanders give an aoe buff and prioritize targets, grunts mow shit down.

[Crator]

And who's to say the engineers/medic won't be given a utility further up in the cert tree that might do some sort of AoE rep/heal effects. Let's not judge how PS2 will be in regards to this subject until we find out how it will play out.

[Aractain]

Humm I just (like right now) realised something. PS1 had "Bloodscreen, so real".

Since everyone had medical and engy they got hurt, got behind cover and regenrated their health. That is the same system as COD, get hurt, stop being hit for several seconds and regenerate health.

Can't belive I never saw that before lol.