Account wide progression instead of per character.

[Forsaken One]

I'm not sure if I'm the only one but I would love if the game used account wide progression instead of per character progression.

This would allow someone to have a TR/VU/NC and play on what they were "in the mood for playing" and still overall level without being forced to play a character to keep it up with the rest.

Also with all the certs this could easily work, would take nothing from the game and add to the fun time of letting you play what character you want when you want and still be gaining progression overall.

What do you think?

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Edit: I think something that would also be nice as well would be a "reset char" option.

As such those that want to start fresh on a char or server can do so. But as its a option those that won't like it can just not deal with it.

[Duddy]

Good question.

Given that the certs/skills you can use are limited by individual character battle rank I can see something like this working, because even if you have some high tier awesome skill you wouldn't be able to use it on a new character due to a low BR.

However, given that we will be able to switch roles easily anyway... will anyone need additional characters?

If it is one empire per server then I can't see the need, as your one character can "do it all" anyway. If it isn't... then I wouldn't want to see it bridge empires.

Having it do so would only contribute to a the ease of switching empire, which given our problems now I don't think anyone wants to see. Alas, with details on this stuff still unclear it's too early to say.

[Bags]

You're only allowed one empire per server so this is pointless.

[Duddy]

You're only allowed one empire per server so this is pointless.

So quick to dismiss!

There are other avenues to this discussion yet to be explored... what about it being carried over servers? Even if it is one empire per server, sometimes you may wish to play on a different server, need you start all over again?

That begs a better question of whether you should be able to take your characters to other servers. For all it's faults that is one thing I liked about Global Agenda, the fact I could maintain persistence of character and play on both US/EU servers.

Not to mention that it is the currently the plan that it is one empire per server, things can change.

[Sirisian]

I'd honestly prefer a single character for each server and empire. Then just have a very long cool-down between switching characters like 24 hours or something. Meaning you only ever make one character in the whole game and there's no reason to have alts.

The whole idea of having to play on another server with possibly worse ping or delete your character and start from scratch just to play the other faction seems a bit steep. I know I'll probably only be playing VS, but it would be nice if you could play as VS and level up and then go on the login screen as see your character then a drop down for the faction you want to play. You'd train skills for one faction and for the other factions you'd just have an accumulated training time where you can just unlock all the skills using hours you've trained on your other faction. That is basically the empire you play as doesn't matter.

[SKYeXile]

I'd honestly prefer a single character for each server and empire. Then just have a very long cool-down between switching characters like 24 hours or something. Meaning you only ever make one character in the whole game and there's no reason to have alts.



i would also like this, but in the event there is mutiple characters on different empires per server then you should only ever get offline resources for the empire you last played.

[CutterJohn]

I would approve of this. I have no issues with being able to switch teams whenever one feels like so long as there are proper limits and incentives to dissuade hopping to an overpopulated empire.

[Sovereign]

i would also like this, but in the event there is mutiple characters on different empires per server then you should only ever get offline resources for the empire you last played.

This, only add to that in the event there are multiple servers that there's a failsafe mechanism that keeps track of it on account basis to avoid possible exploits.

[Valdae]

When ps1 came out players were tied into one empire per server, and I really feel that it's helped make the game more special. If u read the facebook page or older topics from this forum it's full of people bigging up their own empire, and poking fun at the others. This kind of loyalty has endured for years even among ex players. Sure using different enemy tech is fun, but if it was easy to switch between them, then a lot if the rivalry would be lost.

[CutterJohn]

When ps1 came out players were tied into one empire per server, and I really feel that it's helped make the game more special. If u read the facebook page or older topics from this forum it's full of people bigging up their own empire, and poking fun at the others. This kind of loyalty has endured for years even among ex players. Sure using different enemy tech is fun, but if it was easy to switch between them, then a lot if the rivalry would be lost.

People who enjoy that sort of thing can continue enjoying it if they wish. It does not need to be forced. Sports fans manage rabid loyalties despite being able to root for whoever they wish. SC2 players do as well, despite having a choice at the beginning of each map.

[Sifer2]

People who enjoy that sort of thing can continue enjoying it if they wish. It does not need to be forced. Sports fans manage rabid loyalties despite being able to root for whoever they wish. SC2 players do as well, despite having a choice at the beginning of each map.


But it is undeniably cheapened when deep down you know you could hop sides tomorrow. But when your stuck with your Empire. Then loyalty takes on a whole new meaning. I see nothing wrong with people who like alts just making alts on other servers to fulfill their needs.

[Sirisian]

But it is undeniably cheapened when deep down you know you could hop sides tomorrow. But when your stuck with your Empire. Then loyalty takes on a whole new meaning. I see nothing wrong with people who like alts just making alts on other servers to fulfill their needs.
yeah I don't see that. Doesn't cheap the experience at all. I mean in the current game you can switch characters and the delay makes it not worth it, but the option is there. This is especially true for beginners that have no clue who they want to play.

I hate games that lock you into arbitrary choices when you begin playing. X, Y, Z. Start playing Y and you end up wanting to play as X on that server and know you'll need to delete your character and start from scratch. This is especially painful if you have friends that don't play the same faction as you. I have friends that play VS with me and other that switch constantly between TR and VS and I fear they'll just play TR if locked into a choice so we won't be able to play on the same side.

[Krowe]

There are other avenues to this discussion yet to be explored... what about it being carried over servers? Even if it is one empire per server, sometimes you may wish to play on a different server, need you start all over again?

Um no.

The drawback of starting over with nothing on a new server is a drawback I'd much rather keep.

[Valdae]

yeah I don't see that. Doesn't cheap the experience at all. I mean in the current game you can switch characters and the delay makes it not worth it, but the option is there. This is especially true for beginners that have no clue who they want to play.

I hate games that lock you into arbitrary choices when you begin playing. X, Y, Z. Start playing Y and you end up wanting to play as X on that server and know you'll need to delete your character and start from scratch. This is especially painful if you have friends that don't play the same faction as you. I have friends that play VS with me and other that switch constantly between TR and VS and I fear they'll just play TR if locked into a choice so we won't be able to play on the same side.

I appreciate your opinion on noobs wanting to sample empires before choosing one. That makes sense, even tho it would take a long time to gain enough certs to try all empire tech variants. And I always thought players should be able to defect their character to another empire if required, but only at special request.

In truth the majority of peoples friends are from the same empire. I can't see them making empire switching easy for the sake of a minority of people wanting to play alongside friends from other empires now and again. A part of the games legacy depends on making players die hard loyalists to their empire. It thrives on rivalry

[Sirisian]

In truth the majority of peoples friends are from the same empire. I can't see them making empire switching easy for the sake of a minority of people wanting to play alongside friends from other empires now and again.
Are you sure you can make that argument? I'd like to see other's opinion on this. I remember trying to play PS at a LAN party with four of my friends and we had to wait for one timer to count down since he was playing his NC. Then I have Beachball playing TR now and my other friend Jayes who I have no idea what faction he was playing with last. I imagine it was VS. I'm not sure if anyone else has these "problems" when trying to coordinate a night of gaming but being locked into a faction really complicates things especially in an MMO where you want to play with friends.

A part of the games legacy depends on making players die hard loyalists to their empire. It thrives on rivalry
And being able to switch characters has never really messed with that system.

[Highwind]

The way I envision the skill trees, which might be all wrong due to lack of info, I could see there being a type of "general" tab/tree/window that could be more or less fundamental upgrades along the lines of Battle Ranks. I would like the idea that some of the "general" skills be made account wide, this would kind of be like having a "new game+" feature. If you're BR20+ and you have all of your general skills learned and you are working on your highly specialized Reaver skills or whatever, I could see sharing the base part of your tree with an alt being something that would really encourage extra Planetside2 play.

Briefly something else that got touched on a little is empire population distribution and friend separation. I think this is a big concern, because on day one 1000s of players are going to open the game, randomly pick their server (maybe based on time zones / ping), and then randomly pick their side. They are going to be locked into these choices for what should be forever (minus deleting) all without playing the game for even 30 minutes, what are the odds that everyone picked 33% TR, 33% NC and 33% VS on every server? What kind of "recommend" server system or server/faction swapping will be in place to help build fair teams with the players have little choice to influence it themselves since they are locked into their mains? Anyone that is all kinda off topic, and up in the air until we hear more.

[CutterJohn]

I'm not sure if anyone else has these "problems" when trying to coordinate a night of gaming but being locked into a faction really complicates things especially in an MMO where you want to play with friends.

Not sure about now, but at one time, wow had 225+ servers. It was virtually guaranteed that, if you met someone online or irl, you would not play the same server as them, and even then there were 50/50 odds that they played on your side.

So a roughly 1 in 500 chance of being able to play on with some random person you meet.

I recall meeting someone who played on my server once. And he was on the other side.

In PS, i met more than a few people who played the other factions. I'd have to make a brand new character with none of the stuff I'd earned, and wait out timers, which was the most hamfisted possible solution to the issue of empire hoppers.

PS won't be that bad, of course, as it will be nowhere near as popular, but it will still be an annoying issue. I don't see how that limitation is worth reinforcing some meaningless(to me at least) RP. I guess people have different priorities.

[Azren]

especially because you will most likeley be able to change empires later, this is a bad idea. How would you like this scenario:

You start playing as a VS, who turn out to be underpowered for some reason. You stick around and work yourself up the ladders with hard work and much effort, and finally reach CR4. A new patch comes out that make VS friggin' OP, every little kid will jump empires and join VS, including some CR5 guys, who outrule your hard earned influence. All your effort will go down the drain, just like that.

Don't forget, this is an MMO

[CutterJohn]

Don't forget, this is an MMO

Its an MMOG. A game. Don't take it so seriously. We're here to play.

Your example is pretty unlikely. It would take some very poor dev actions and very specific timing to even occur. And its no issue anyway. So what if people listen to others? Having CR does not entitle you to any minions. Level up and try to outyell them in their cat herding attempts.

[Vancha]

You start playing as a VS, who turn out to be underpowered for some reason. You stick around and work yourself up the ladders with hard work and much effort, and finally reach CR4. A new patch comes out that make VS friggin' OP, every little kid will jump empires and join VS, including some CR5 guys, who outrule your hard earned influence. All your effort will go down the drain, just like that.
Well apart from such a scenario meaning there's a much bigger problem than empire switching mechanics (namely, horrible balance) and the fact that there aren't command ranks in PS2, I agree that there's still no good solution for the 4th empire.

I could see a 24 hour timer working if it triggered upon logging off that character. That way you don't get people logging off at midnight, going to sleep and deciding to play a different empire the next day based on who's winning.

Edit: Though as for account-wide progression? No thanks. While I know some people completely lack any hint of empire loyalty (*cough*Cutter*cough*), seeing the same character go from NC, to TR, to VS and back to NC within a week would be silly.

[Bruttal]

I honestly PRAY to god that its only 1 empire per server and since theres so many certs>ranks>BR that they should let you have 1 alt Empire on a different server that is basicly a mirror of your char but different Empire

[CutterJohn]

Well apart from such a scenario meaning there's a much bigger problem than empire switching mechanics (namely, horrible balance) and the fact that there aren't command ranks in PS2, I agree that there's still no good solution for the 4th empire.

Rule 1. Can't switch to an empire with over 36ish% population. You can still log in if that was your last played empire.
Rule 2. Switching to the underdog gives you a quality perk, like double training speed for 6/12/24 hours, or half price upgrades for a couple hours game time. Oh, and i suppose you'd need to play on that team for a couple hours to qualify for it.

There. Not only will the 4th empire not be a problem(can't switch to the overpopulated empire), people with an ill defined sense of loyalty can be your voluntary force of team balancers to immediately level out a population imbalance.

[MrVicchio]

I prefer you have to level each character. Discourage people from hopping to whichever side/server has the advantage.

[NYRampage]

I'm not sure how I feel about this... I know part of the fun is building up each character and learning along the way. Plus, many of us tend to have blood of one color. (mine being purple) If you threw me into a blue blooded BR25 CR5 character, I wouldn't know where to start. IF something like this were implemented it would have to be on different servers and you would have to have the choice of where to start.

However, I think I lean in the direction of not having this feature at all. There is something about having to have spilled your blood for your empire in order to have earned your rank.

[Vancha]

Rule 1. Can't switch to an empire with over 36ish% population. You can still log in if that was your last played empire.
Rule 2. Switching to the underdog gives you a quality perk, like double training speed for 6/12/24 hours, or half price upgrades for a couple hours game time. Oh, and i suppose you'd need to play on that team for a couple hours to qualify for it.

There. Not only will the 4th empire not be a problem(can't switch to the overpopulated empire), people with an ill defined sense of loyalty can be your voluntary force of team balancers to immediately level out a population imbalance.
Rule 1 wouldn't work, but rule 2 might.

Though I still think the game would feel better with one empire per character (and one empire per server, for that matter).

[Duddy]

I think there is some misunderstanding going on here about his idea:

Your earned skills/certs carry over
Your battle rank DOES NOT carry over
What certs/skill you can use are limited by your battle rank, meaning you can't start a new character and use all your best cert/skills


Also Vancha, curious as to why you think his Rule 1 wouldn't work.

I have my own ideas as to how it would be handled but it also uses a variant of "can't switch to higher pop under certain conditions".

[opticalshadow]

one empire per server please, and i dont want things to carry over either, theres some cheese outfits can get away with if thats allowed, and it encourages server changing. you pick and empire and a server it should like be picking a side in this war, thats your choice for life. you should not get a better character elsewhere cause you put time in here, theres no real justifacation for this.

what if x turns out to be up?

thats the case in any mmo you play, your class could be up, and now you have to level a new guy, to bad, but just because you did this once doesnt give you special treatment.

[Vancha]

Also Vancha, curious as to why you think his Rule 1 wouldn't work.
Main reason: 4th empire logging on to 36%, then having the regular players of that empire logging on afterwards (due to prime time or what have you) to push it up further. Not to mention all the 4th empire people who last played that empire. Sure you'd have other empire's logging on more too, but I still think it could be skewed. Thinking about the odd day I'd played on TR with you, I'd be pissed if I couldn't go back to my usual NC because 4th empire had capped NC to 36%.

Almost irrelevant reason: Alternate accounts.

[Tatwi]

I'm all for removing grinds and blatant wastes of time that do not contribute to the actual fun of games, but there's something to be said about the inertia that is provided by having to level other characters. In a game like Planetside, where all of the content is generated by player activity, the biggest help the community as a whole would be for players to focus on playing one character and sticking to it. That way the empire balance and the social balance can "count on" each player's activity until they quit playing the game all together.

The other side of the coin is allowing players to have a whack of different characters, diminishing the importance of the role of each of those characters due to the inability to play all of them at once, which leads to no one really being able to "count on" any of that player's characters.

Really, it's a game so people should be able to do whatever they want within the rules of the game, but it is worthy of note that having a "main" character is better for the community of the game as a whole. Hmm... it's kind of like the "jack of all trades, master of none" logic applied to a population rather than an individual.

[Sifer2]

The "but I have freinds on other empires so I need to be able to switch back an forth" argument doesn't really hold water to me. If they are really your friends so much or you theirs then you one of you would compromise an play on the same team. Since I know for me being able to play with buddies would be more important that what equipment i'm using.

I think one character, one empire per server is the best system period. So long as there are other servers you can make your alts. Even newbies can do this an whichever character they figure out they like they just stick with that server.

From what I have heard it seems like the PS2 devs vision for this game is one where your attached to your faction an your characters specialization means something. Since it will take a while to train. Giving you more characters an allowing switching would undermine a lot of what they are trying to do.

[Duddy]

The "but I have freinds on other empires so I need to be able to switch back an forth" argument doesn't really hold water to me. If they are really your friends so much or you theirs then you one of you would compromise an play on the same team. Since I know for me being able to play with buddies would be more important that what equipment i'm using.

Rarely is it so black and white, as you suggest.

So if you have friends on different empires on the same server you would turn around to one group of friends and say:

"Sorry guys, my other group of fiends are more important than you so I'll be playing with them, kthxbai"

My outfit in PS is made up of players originally from each empire, would you say that we never deserved to play together due to some misguided idea that 1 empire per server is necessary for balance?

There are ways to maintain balance that do not require limiting the players options.

[Traak]

How about we make it so that you can instantly flip to an underpopped empire, but you have to wait an hour or more to switch to an overpopped empire? So if I had switched to TR because the NC were using Maximum Stupid Overload, then the VS all evaporated, I could instantly switch to VS.

Incentivize switching to the lowest pop empire, disincentivize switching to the highest popped empire. Sort of like a "team switching diode".

[Huma]

Here is my main issue with account wide progression. If it was in place you would be stuck with one type of character across all three factions. Personally, if I have an alt it's because I want to try a different play style than what I currently have. Granted you could change your training depending on what toon your on. But them you end up with a partially trained generalist that's no good at anything.

[opticalshadow]

How about we make it so that you can instantly flip to an underpopped empire, but you have to wait an hour or more to switch to an overpopped empire? So if I had switched to TR because the NC were using Maximum Stupid Overload, then the VS all evaporated, I could instantly switch to VS.

Incentivize switching to the lowest pop empire, disincentivize switching to the highest popped empire. Sort of like a "team switching diode".

and take all of your empires secrets on that server to your new team? the exact reason its one empire per server, because to many people did similure things liek this, have a major plan made out so some douche can switch sides and give it away.

[Valdae]

seriously, this thread should be a poll. its the kind of thing that could get argued all year long unless the greater majority vote on it.

[CutterJohn]

and take all of your empires secrets on that server to your new team? the exact reason its one empire per server, because to many people did similure things liek this, have a major plan made out so some douche can switch sides and give it away.

1. There are cross empire coms. People will spy for the lulz.
2. Smed said he wants some free component. People will have a spy newb on another monitor.
3. Practice some opsec and don't tell your objective. People put months of work and massive profits on the line in EVE. Intel in PS is worth about 5 or 10 minutes.