NO to the following in PS2.

[Eurotrash]

The old maxim goes, if it works don't try to fix it. Planetside was a damn near perfect game imo.

DON'T change the aspects which were great, such as the following:

1) RPG style power progression, BIG NO. its an FPS, ROF/COF/DAMAGE , player heath/armor should remain UNCHANGED between BR1 and BR20.

- The only things higher levels should entitle you to are things that DON'T impact directly on player combat, but INSTEAD effect your tactical versatility or appearance

Acceptable Examples:
- More inventory space (carry more ammo/weapons without needing to restock/re-equip)
- More equipment to choose from
- Reasonable Reductions on Cooldowns on Obtaining MAX's/Vehicles etc.. from terminal.
- Vanity Items - Customise the appearance of your armor/weapons/vehicles with a selection of skins/decals. This is harmless, and keeps the RPG crowd happy, as they can Power Game all day to get a decal for their Reaver :).

2) DON'T add set classes i.e. TF2/BF2 style. The beauty of PS1 was that I could customize my own class, by spending skill(cert) points on what i wanted. Doing this would essentially dumb down the game.

Planetside 2 should essentially be the first game with better graphics, don't re-invent the wheel, it was spinning perfectly before. Players want Depth and gameplay, NOT mindless grinding, unlockables, empty achievements.

FPS skill is in itself provides power progression, it is its own achievement. It doesn't need to be manufactured. If someone sucks at the game, the grind they have to endure is a real one, and that is of getting better - NOT killing 40,000 Wolves/Boars on a minimised screen while listening to music.

If the EQ devs, which are no doubt involved, want an outlet for their instiable RPG urges, focus it on the command rank side of the game. (Suggestions: Improved Orbital Strikes, EMP radius increases, better sattelite, cooldown reductions, increased speed of transport vehicles/ANTS and ofc vanity stuff such as hats and titles (i.e. captain/major etc..))

I am speaking as Veteran of PS1, Quake 3, and someone who WASTED 3 months on WoW.

I simply will not play if this is WOW/EQ with guns.

p.s. please discuss, as we should be very vocal about preserving planetside as an FPS pedigree, and hope that SOE will listen, otherwise this will just be CoD:Space Ops.

FAO devs: look at what Capcom and Warner Bros did with the waning Beat-em-up genre, Street Fighter 4 and Mortal Kombat 9 - Slick Modern Graphics, indepth rewarding gameplay with a vintage feel = big sales and happy customers. Please do the same for PS.

[Peacemaker]

Sorry bud, then your not going to play it. Spend a year of specing and get a 20% boost to your abilities (spread across them all not a 20% to ROF or Damage) there's no health increases. There's no set classes as far as we've seen. Just a different way to chose you loadouts. Not many people want PS with a new engine, sorry. Your SOL. Do some reading on the game and try it before you knock it.

[Timmy]

Well I'm glad we have another vet around to voice opinion and shape the game.
Perhaps try to give some critique and ideas in the threads regarding each individual issue you bring up. They exist in this "Planetside 2 Discussion" forum for a reason.
You are not in the minority by the way regarding your concerns - from an idealogical point of view people are split whether there should be a built in power progression at all considering the lack of details given about it we can only speculate what that means. Even if it sucks beta can and will change a lot of things since Originally Posted by T-Ray
At the end of the day, if it doesn’t work in beta and frustrates people, we’ll remove it and find a way to fix it. So if you are hearin’ something that you’re not too sure about, all bets off when it gets to beta. That’s when the rubber hits the road. We’ll find out what works and what doesn’t and make changes based off player feedback.

[Eurotrash]

I was under the impression that the 20% is dmg etc...

so how can you spread 20% over all the abilities? you mean like 1% bonuses on certain weapons etc.. ( i would be ok with that i guess).

I don't mind playing for a year to spec out, as long as on day 1 - i won't be gimped when fighting against someone 5 levels higher than me. Simply because he has no job, and all day to powergame.

You say people don't want PS1 with a new engine.. i am pretty sure they don't want wow with guns or CoD: Space Ops.

Planetside is a PC game, an MMO one at that, not a cash cow console port.

I have found my self playing less and less new games over the years, yet i still play quake3 and a little Starcraft 2. Why is this? I thougt its because i am alot older now. But no, i have realised that most new games now cashing in their names, producing dumbed down, rigid gameplay, where everything is spoonfed, forcing people to play the game for longer by farming empty achievments (90% of which require 0 skill).

I am a little confused as to what is it exactly that they want to deliver with this game....

[Elude]

I agree with almost everything except this...


DON'T add set classes i.e. TF2/BF2 style. The beauty of PS1 was that I could customize my own class, by spending skill(cert) points on what i wanted. Doing this would essentially dumb down the game.

Planetside 2 should essentially be the first game with better graphics, don't re-invent the wheel, it was spinning perfectly before.

Wrong, the beauty of PS1 was that it was a persistent fps battle with 100s of players competing all at the same time. We already know set classes are in play for PS2 as the developers have already confirmed this, they also mention you will be able to customize said classes to your own liking, but what you wont have is a medic using a rocket launcher. This does not dumb down the game, if anything it makes it more tactical, and less of a random death fest.

There was many things wrong with PS1, it was by far from perfected, the wheel wasn't just awkward in shape, but it span way to slowly. PS1 needs more then just an overhaul in graphics, it needs a whole set of new rules, and conditions.

[Eurotrash]

A medic with a rocketlauncher.... that fine.... BECAUSE

lets say, there are 50 cert abilities. And you are BR 20, with 20 Cert Points.

You can only have 20 of those abilities. You can be a jack of all trades, but master of none i.e. a little bit of everything, or someone who spends all his abilities on Weapons or Flying Vehicles. You have to optimise within those 20 points.

i.e. If you got all the weapons/ reinforced armor/ engi/med in the original. You could not have a vehicle/max in your setup. This means that you have to rely on transport to get you to the next base quickly, thats the price you pay for weapon versatility.


It wasn't a random deathfest, just because one person has the skill to take out 5-6 people by himself in an outpost and capture it, good for him. This is no unbalanced by any means, because the other players had the SAME opportunities. However (like i said above) after being stranded on his own at an outpost, he has to RUN over to the action. This is the Trade off.

Do not try and force teamwork, just for the sake of it.

I don't to have to have some guy with a pistol and light armor running after me healing me. Its a luxury yes, not a necessity. You will then have people whinging "they have more healers, which is why we are losing". - a common cry in wow battle grounds "NEED 2 healers, NEED Tanks" no one plays those as a specialised class, because they are generally boring. However, being a soldier, who happens to have cert points in med, may be inclined to help a wounded comrade.

The first one was a little slow at times, BUT you dont want it too fast. I liked logging on in the evening, and hot spots are the same as they were 5 hours ago... gives a true sense of conflict.

[Elude]

SOE is trying to eliminate the one man army scenario, removing the jack of all trades is the best way to do this.

Why would any one person invest in being a master of one class when they can become decent with all classes and compensate for being a master in all of them with pure skill, it is a horrible way to deal with it. A medic should NOT be able to handle a tank, reaver, sniper, infiltrator, and max unit just because he has the skills, and the gear for it!


This does not force team play directly, it just influences it. Of course your going to have people crying over wanting more of one class, that is strategy! This is not about who has the most medics or any one class on the field, because in the end they can all be countered by a different class. You wont need more medics then the enemy team.

[Eurotrash]

SOE is trying to eliminate the one man army scenario, removing the jack of all trades is the best way to do this.

Why would any one person invest in being a master of one class when they can become decent with all classes and compensate for being a master in all of them with pure skill, it is a horrible way to deal with it. A medic should NOT be able to handle a tank, reaver, sniper, infiltrator, and max unit just because he has the skills, and the gear for it!
.


What is wrong with being able to compensate with pure skill!??!! you should be able to do that! You cant stop the one man army, because, in the original PS, you had people using Medium Armor & Gauss Gun taking down MAX's with armor piercing rounds and good fps skill. Do not change this. Don't make this a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

You can only stop the one one army, by making the game geared around masses of people spamming (in teamwork speak - "providing cover") with nades.

You have 5 idental Players on 1 team, and 1 lone wolf with the same gear. Lone wolf takes them all out, because he is more skilled and smarter. Why shouldnt this be allowed? this is the reward of getting good at the game.

[Peacemaker]

The game will still play like that. The lone wolf player isn't going to beable to do AV and AI AND repair / heal him self anymore. That's good. The game is team based. Being a good shot with a gauss so you can kill 5 to 1 is great, but you shouldn't also beable to rape a MAX, then repair your self then heal your self all after dropping out of a light scout plane. Your acting like because your not the One man army anymore the game will suck.... solution? Get some friends. Got friends? Someone has to be your medic. Now you gotta keep that guy alive.

Better FPS players are still going to do better. And yes the 20% is an overall stats buff across all fields. That is, you could have 5% more damage 2%rof 3% CoF and 10% Running speed. You cant put 20% into just damage, and the numbers I used are probably a little high too. Someone who plays more than you is going to have more abilities, but only marginally so. It should not take you long to get within an area where your speced out and are slightly worse off than a guy who spent a year. So relax and enjoy the new PS. You might like it better. I think I will.

[Aractain]

Did someone say PS1 was damn near perfect?

LOL

One man armys didn't compensate with skill, they run away from the few fights they can't win and destroy everything else because of rock paper scissors design of PS1.

PS2 is moving towards a more skill based enviroment but rather than twitch aiming skill will be more based on positioning and supprise (otherwise known as stratergy and tactics) as people die faster and its more viable to win in situations with unoptimal gear.

[Raymac]

This dead horse has been beat around alot lately. Especially here: http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36903

[Elude]

What is wrong with being able to compensate with pure skill!??!! you should be able to do that! You cant stop the one man army, because, in the original PS, you had people using Medium Armor & Gauss Gun taking down MAX's with armor piercing rounds and good fps skill. Do not change this. Don't make this a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

You can only stop the one one army, by making the game geared around masses of people spamming (in teamwork speak - "providing cover") with nades.

You have 5 idental Players on 1 team, and 1 lone wolf with the same gear. Lone wolf takes them all out, because he is more skilled and smarter. Why shouldnt this be allowed? this is the reward of getting good at the game.

Rock paper scissors is random, compensating an enemies forces by massing more of one type of class is not random. This would be like playing rock paper scissors in turns rather then at the same time, if someone threw down rock, you would throw down paper, this is not random.

You act as if there would be no skill involved because you can't play three types of classes at the same time, you don't need a pocket knife when you have a sharper knife, larger spoon, and better can opener in your back pack.

If the enemy team has a mass of tanks, then switch your class, and rely on your skills to take on 10 instead of 2.

[Eurotrash]

I think the % weapon improvements are totally pointless, they are clinging on the RPG element too tightly, it worries me.

I don't want to be able to rape a MAX, but I also don't want to be raped a MAX because I selected the wrong spec earlier today. Aka - rock,paper, scissors.

Also nothing wrong with healing/repair - thats fine - because EVERYONE can do it. I don't want to rely on having to play with someone all the time.

Also you can't be all AI/AV/AA all at once.....

If you equip a jackhammer + gauss - you are totally specced for AI. Its going to be alot tougher dealing with a max that pops up.

HOWEVER , if you have AV + Jackhammer - you are lacking in range , so when a level 2 VS with a Punisher pops up 50 yards away, you are at a disavantage.

You equip your inventory with what you anticipate you are going to encounter.

I dont want to "select scissors" and cut up all the paper players, and then get steamrolled by rock.

Ideally you want to be at a slight advantage in one situation, slightly disadvantaged in another. Not Uber in one situation and hopeless in another.

I remember one time, i got behind enemy lines in a battle on solsar, took out around 32 players, by repairing between each 4-5 kills, I was around level 14 at the time, and every player had the same set up as me roughly. it wasn't unbalanced, it wasn't unfair, I just won fair and square.

[Eurotrash]

There is nothing wrong with class based games, I thoroughly enjoyed Team Fortress Classic. Everytime you respawn, you could pick a new class. However in FPS the word class makes me shudder, because it basically means u have 2-3 abilities, which you repeat all day long, in the same scenario.

What we should be focussing on is not, Classes, but roles which you play. The previous set up allowed u to select what role you play at a moments notice. You are versatile. I do not want to be pigeon holed into a particular class/role for any longer than i want to/need to be in.

Winning because you shoot your enemy in the back?! is that how you want to win. I want to slug it out face to face (i.e. proper fps- which involves, mind games, constant position re-adjustment, reactions). The old system, everyone had acess to everything, no complaints. Its just that the one man army you were facing was better than you.

[Aractain]

You just said you shot a bunch of people in the back (behind enemy lines is a supprise attack).

PS2 does exactly what you said in the second paragraph but you don't want that in the first???

[Elude]

Without specific classes you in turn end up with a game that requires very little team work at all. Team work comes out instead as individual skill of each player player rather than the overall team being better, if you don't like to rely on team mates I might be inclined to say you have the wrong game.

As horrible as Call of duty is to me it is a perfect example of the jack of all trades being a horrible implementation for a team oriented game. Teams win in this game based on who has the better players rather than who has the right gear for it, this usually ends up with having stacked teams, and no other way to compensate for it except to change up the teams.

The reason I hate Cod is because it involves individual skill in a team based game. If you want to pressure your game into being focused around individual skill then make it a 1v1 oriented game like UT or Quake, not to say that these games don't have team modes, 1v1's are just the most prominent in them.

[Eurotrash]

Also - what also concerns me about a class based sytem, there will be one assault class (which everyone will want to play). Then 4-5 support classes, most of which will be chores "in the name of teamwork". And the medic who dies to a Lasher saying "if i wasnt a medic/engineer/hacker/pilot/AMS driver I would have won that", and the detracted satisfaction the assault class player will get from taking out fodder which is not equipped to deal with him. At least when you lost to a one man army, your failing was your own, he was better that time, sharper, more perceptive, more accurate etc...

You will not see me go near these support classes if they are gimped for the sake of performing chores.

[Eurotrash]

lol in the example I game, I snuck behind the army, as one man. But I had multiple skirmishes, sometimes 2-3 on one, and i won that. 3 on 1... and they lost. They- as a team, could not beat me. All those certs and skills at their desposal.

A team should win because they have better players, teamwork/strategy becomes more important when you are faced an equally skilled opponent.

I am all for teamwork, just don't force it by gimping abilities. Also I hope the weapons actually require skill to aim, as opposed to having HUGE COF's for retards to actually get a sense of achievement and contribution to the "team effort!"

They are just trying to strengthen the weak, by weakening the strong. It doesn't work like that I am afraid. A game with a high fps skill threshold is what is needed.

[Elude]

Vehicles have no place in a game that focus's entirely on a players skill rather than his role, because after all, vehicles are a class which is fit for a specific task just as infantry should be.

Just because there are classes does not mean you cannot take out something you were not meant to though, you can knock a reaver out of the air with a tank designed to handle other tanks.

[Timmy]

Eurotrash, this might shed some light on your concerns rather than debating with speculation you can debate based on what's currently known:

Revamped the certification tree. Classes in planetside 2 are completely freeform, you can switch seamlessly. You’re not creating a character as a medic and locked into it forever. Depending on how you unlock certs, you can specialize your medic, for example. Day one you can play medic, engineer, drive a tank, but later on you can either deeply specialize in any of those trees, or be sort of a generalist and pick and choose from various trees. Certification tree uses a fairly novel approach, those of you who have played Eve online may be familiar with. That’s the idea of time based, offline unlocking. You go into the cert tree and select what certs you want, and over time points are automatically placed into those certs. If you are online actively playing (kills, captures, etc) this process will be accelerated. Players with less time due to jobs, etc, will still be able to progress. This works towards bridging the gap between the most hardcore players and the more laid back players.

[Huma]

My only concern is that with the removal of the jack-of-all trades in the game it effectively puts cloakers back a notch. I really wanna see these trees their going to use so I can se what they intend a cloaker to actually do in PS2.

[Crator]

My only concern is that with the removal of the jack-of-all trades in the game it effectively puts cloakers back a notch. I really wanna see these trees their going to use so I can se what they intend a cloaker to actually do in PS2.

Yup, should be able to see that when beta comes out. Till then we in dark :) Unless they post a picture of the skill trees....

[Hamma]

Planetside 2 should essentially be the first game with better graphics, don't re-invent the wheel, it was spinning perfectly before.
Not going to happen. The game must evolve to include more modern FPS gaming aspects or it will fail regardless if it has massive battles or not.

[HawkEye]

PS1 is broken as hell dude. We have virtually no info on PS2. Chill out.

[Zulthus]

My version:

NO to the following: Generators

[Raymac]

My version:

NO to the following: Generators

But without Generators to blow, what will the VS do with themselves?

[NewSith]

But without Generators to blow, what will the CN do with themselves?

/fixed

[Raymac]

LOL perhaps, but without the CN players, Planetside probably would have been shut down years ago, and who knows if PS2 would even be made, so I don't like to be too hard on them. Plus as an American, I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords.

[Zulthus]

I don't

[Crator]

I don't

The more people on the battlefield the better the game plays. When PS2 comes out I'd imagine it would have massive numbers from each localized area on the globe. So each of the localized areas would be playing against other people from the same area. I'd guess us in the US wouldn't see much of the CN anymore. Just guessing though.

[Zulthus]

I'd take fewer players over crazy lag anyday. But yeah, here's to hoping to local servers..

[NewSith]

I'd take fewer players over crazy lag anyday. But yeah, here's to hoping to local servers..

Why is it so easy to determine a Wernerite when it comes to scaling?

[opticalshadow]

The more people on the battlefield the better the game plays. When PS2 comes out I'd imagine it would have massive numbers from each localized area on the globe. So each of the localized areas would be playing against other people from the same area. I'd guess us in the US wouldn't see much of the CN anymore. Just guessing though.

we never saw them in the first place, they logged on in 4 in the morning to take conts while we slept :P

as far as classes go, i doubt youll have it so simple as medics are pure support. but you wont see a medic with a HA weapon and a AA weapon. the problem they wanted to fix was everyone furfilling every role. there were no priority targets, and no way to tell apart one soldire from the other.

in some ways im sad to see the old system go, but i understand why it has to happen, i do hope they dont gimp our support classes, i know they intend on redoing the inventory system, perhaps they are going to only allow certian cert weapons within a "class" so a medic could have his med weapon, or maybe he can carry one primary slot weapon and one secondary, such as a ha or aa in prime, and a pistol in his second. reducing the ability of supports having just as much power as the assults.


it also gives support a place in teh game. now days in ps you have your rexo running around with his two big guns, alond with a med gun and armor gun. essetially he needs no medic no engie, he can do it all, it turned every soldier into his own army.

[p0intman]

SOE is trying to eliminate the one man army scenario, removing the jack of all trades is the best way to do this.

this is stupid and it removes my gameplay. I LIKE being able to do everything. Dealwithit.

[kaffis]

I don't mind playing for a year to spec out, as long as on day 1 - i won't be gimped when fighting against someone 5 levels higher than me. Simply because he has no job, and all day to powergame.
Then it's likely you'll benefit from the way the power progression is set up. The 5 level-higher guy won't be at a serious advantage on Day 1 because you've both had the same amount of time to train skills, and his playtime will only increase that some. So even if he takes a week off work (or his lifestyle is subsidized by others) to get BR20 while you're still BR3 or whatever, he won't have the time-trained skills yet to leverage that into the 20% advantage.

[Talek Krell]

Dealwithit.

They did. :)

[p0intman]

They did. :)

i can basically promise you a lot of people will not play if this level of customisation isn't available. and its a stupid idea anyway.

[opticalshadow]

i can basically promise you a lot of people will not play if this level of customisation isn't available. and its a stupid idea anyway.

Well, ill reserve my opinions of its effecting players until i see their new system.

but i doubt many people will honestly make all the diffrence to most players, becuause at the end of the day there is no real alternitive to planetside on its scale. there will be better fps in terms of mechanics or what not, but theres only one planetside scaled game, and we plasy it for that reason.

[ECM]

Look, one man army is dumb when you want to play a MMO. It is bad for the game and for the people who want to play them. If you want to be a one man army there are plenty of other games like Halo where you can feel like a badass. Planetside is all about the team and when teamwork succeeds you will have more people playing which then puts massive at the forefront. PS is a game, just like sports and guess what ... the most liked sports on Earth all have teamwork as a common theme. Why is that, because humans generally like to interact with one another, when you don't you go crazy. As far as I am concern when I start playing PS2 I will try to find the best outfit that imploys the best teamwork.

[Zulthus]

Look, one man army is dumb when you want to play a MMO. It is bad for the game and for the people who want to play them. If you want to be a one man army there are plenty of other games like Halo where you can feel like a badass. Planetside is all about the team and when teamwork succeeds you will have more people playing which then puts massive at the forefront. PS is a game, just like sports and guess what ... the most liked sports on Earth all have teamwork as a common theme. Why is that, because humans generally like to interact with one another, when you don't you go crazy. As far as I am concern when I start playing PS2 I will try to find the best outfit that imploys the best teamwork.

I fully endorse this post

[Hamma]

I've never once understood the thought of not blowing a gen to end a dumb fight. :lol:

Blow it up and move to the next base, tactically it makes sense. People can get sand in their vaginas about it all they want.

[Zulthus]

I've never once understood the thought of not blowing a gen to end a dumb fight. :lol:

Blow it up and move to the next base, tactically it makes sense. People can get sand in their vaginas about it all they want.

It is tactically useful for a dumb fight. However, as it stands, noobs are blowing gens at every base and good fight they can get their hands on. There has to be some way to balance them out so that people like Batsteg don't ruin everyone else's fun.

[Senyu]

To OP. Doesn't hurt to try new things. Sometimes finding these that work better helps progress

[Baneblade]

The only things higher levels should entitle you to are things that DON'T impact directly on player combat, but INSTEAD effect your tactical versatility or appearance

Just so you know, tactical versatility does directly impact player combat.

[opticalshadow]

It is tactically useful for a dumb fight. However, as it stands, noobs are blowing gens at every base and good fight they can get their hands on. There has to be some way to balance them out so that people like Batsteg don't ruin everyone else's fun.

when ps1 first dawned our comps this wasnt so easily done. even if you blew the gen that base still stood, the only reason its so effective now is the populations are not big enough to reinforce the base while holding the inside of it.

blowing the gen is the tactically smart thing to do, now a days it basically ends the fights. but i remember once we stormed the gen room in year 2, and our outift and one other (50 guys in this particualr group set up) were deployed specifically to prevent gen repairs. with the gen down it was us as the TR and it was an NC base (the VS were poking their head into it as normal)

in anycase gen is down, pop lock on both sides, still took 3 hours to get teh hack on the base started. so many ams, and so many gals. it didnt matter that the gen went down. it gave us a small push, but it also took 50 guys to defend the gen and surroudning area. back then gen down did not mean base lost. it just ment you had to fight the forces inside and out side now.

[Zulthus]

when ps1 first dawned our comps this wasnt so easily done. even if you blew the gen that base still stood, the only reason its so effective now is the populations are not big enough to reinforce the base while holding the inside of it.

blowing the gen is the tactically smart thing to do, now a days it basically ends the fights. but i remember once we stormed the gen room in year 2, and our outift and one other (50 guys in this particualr group set up) were deployed specifically to prevent gen repairs. with the gen down it was us as the TR and it was an NC base (the VS were poking their head into it as normal)

in anycase gen is down, pop lock on both sides, still took 3 hours to get teh hack on the base started. so many ams, and so many gals. it didnt matter that the gen went down. it gave us a small push, but it also took 50 guys to defend the gen and surroudning area. back then gen down did not mean base lost. it just ment you had to fight the forces inside and out side now.

I realize gen holds were fun back in the day; but I'm just saying with PS's current conditions, generators are blown for no reason 97% of the time. They are indeed tactically smart to blow when a fight has been raging for hours, or you're getting pushed back, but at this point in the game I just want them removed. Not from PS2, of course, if they can find a way to prevent gens being blown by anything less than a squad or platoon of continuous fire. It isn't something that should be able to be taken down by a single man IMO.

[CutterJohn]

i can basically promise you a lot of people will not play if this level of customisation isn't available. and its a stupid idea anyway.

Its not customization when everyone did it. There was too much room for extra tools. Everyone had med/eng in the pistol slots. Some also carried a rek/cud in the bags. And then had HA and a deci

Great. Now you can:

Heal
Revive
Repair
Hack terminals
Call down OSes
Scan for enemies
EMP
Shoot infantry
Shoot MAXs

And still enough room left over for extra ammo, medkits, and maybe an extra tube of glue or some grenades.

That is NOT customization.

[exLupo]

i can basically promise you a lot of people will not play if this level of customisation isn't available. and its a stupid idea anyway.

PS1, through cert unification and cert point proliferation, evolved to have few actual roles.
PS2, through gear locking, is being made to support role diversity.

See: dev quote in my sig.

PS2 won't be played by people who want one spec to rule them all. Instead, it will attract players who enjoy class delineated ability/gear packages. They're patterning it after BF (classes limited ability/gear choices) and EVE (ships were essentially classes and limited ability/gear choices). The market exists. If they choose to keep PS1 running then all of the people who like do-it-all builds will have a place to stay as well.

[Crator]

i can basically promise you a lot of people will not play if this level of customisation isn't available. and its a stupid idea anyway.

Speak for yourself. I doubt that is true. PS1 wasn't like this in the beginning and for a long time after. Battle Ranks were limited then. You could only have so many cert points and were limited in the diversity you were given.

[Eurotrash]

Yes, you were limited to the diversity at the start due to limited br, my argument is based on planetside in its original state. Even if you spent all your points on being a one man army soldier, you couldn't fly or drive or hack anything. That is customization and specialisation. Some people could fly and drive everything, but didnt even have medium assault!!

However, My main concern is wow style levelling, its unnecessary.


P.s. On the issue of teamwork....There is a difference between wilful cooperation to achieve goals when needed, and being forced to hold hands with somone just to fight a small random skirmish.

[Crator]

SOE has already stated that skill-based progression will mainly occur around an EVE-like skill based progression system. So don't worry about WoW style leveling.
Also, PS1 has been around since 2003. The population of the server have dwindled badly since that time. Don't expect PS2 to be like the current state of PS1 out the gate. It takes years to have something like that happen.

[Graywolves]

Some people are better lonewolves than they are at being a part of the pack.

That being said, it doesn't mean the lone wolf should be able to go 25/0 k/d within a short period of time. But no one should be making it that one person can't take a few people on at once. For example, if I used the enemy position to my advantage (getting close so that hit eachother or so that they are easy for me to shoot down consecutivley) then that's just skill.

Teamwork is going to be obviously be important when hundreds of people are fighting eachother. But we shouldn't force it down the throats of people that want to solo.

I don't like the idea of classes much at all. I can see having loadouts and such but it's already balanced by how limited you are with what you can carry. Having classes gives alot of people tunnel vision and makes me feel look working entirely down that one role, then I want to try out another class and I have no progress so it's like starting where I started.

I always felt the certification system worked very well for me.

**Edit** Concidering all the new things and customizations they are providing. The Class system might end up just avoid alot of crazy exploitation. One of the things we may need to wait for beta and test the waters just a little bit before we make a good decision.