Chinese Interview with John Smedley

[Hamma]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-chinese-interview-with-john-smedley-2538.htm

[Ninetailed]

When asked about the business mode and beta schedule, Smedley reveals that the game will be free-to-play, but it may not be the microtransaction type as he mentions the model of buy to play and Diablo 3's auction house.

"Buy to play" as in the thing Guild Wars does where you pay for the game up-front but it's free thereafter? It's a bit hard to get additional context when I don't read a word of chinese, unfortunately.

[Tigersmith]

hmm. well not really what I wanted.


Alien invasions? Really? sigh
And free 2 play.. Eww but would have to hear the specifics.

Going to be strange to see a game so massive you can buy on shelves and f2p.

This brings up big concerns about buying power weapons ect... Too much to Handle this morning, I'll post more later.

And I don't think people will respond well to this news. Everyone please try to stay constructive. Lol.

[Aractain]

Auction house? We can trade jackhammers for real world money now?

Also team up events suck, let me fight the NC WHILE I shoot aliens PLZ.



So is this info legits? As in require clarification of details!

[Vancha]

Cue a thread of premature reactions based off some badly translated chinese.

[Zulthus]

Loved all the news up to this point. But AI invasions, F2P, and AUCTION HOUSE?:confused::confused: This cannot be good, or?

I'll see how it plays out...

[Tigersmith]

These ai invasions better not have teamwork between empires.

I'm open to this but worried. I know they said they are thinking about it. As it's not a sure thing.

Planetside was the only game where i felt actual hate for the other empire. This would 100% detract from that.

WoW even ruined the game with many events that had the horde and alliance work together. Dumb

** I know it's early and they are thinking about it. These are just my opinions based on other experiences.**

[FastAndFree]

"over 2000 soldiers"

This is getting better and better

[Dorest0rm]

2000 soldiers. FAPFAPFAP
AI Invasions sound neat. As long as they occur max once every 2/3 months or so.
F2P. Not sure if want...
Auction House. Not sure if want either.

[FastAndFree]

Auction House. Not sure if want either.

This is not how you spell OH GOD NO! rabblerabblerabble

[Aractain]

I didn't do vanila WoW but I never liked the idea of working with the horde (I like pretty people, not pretentious posers... pitty they got belfs).

I would LOVE dynamic event type aliens digging through the earth (gears/dune style) to break up combat on some days (DAYS not hours). I would hate to have to work along side the NC to do it.

[Jennyboo]

Late 2011 early 2012 well least that something :brow:

[basti]

God damnit guys, would you SHUTUP?

We know about the AI Invasion thing since Fan Faire! It dosent even matter at all right now, its something WAY WAY WAY post release.

And what the fuck are you talking about an auction house? Theres not a single word about that related to Planetside 2. Read the goddamn article and stop just taking random words...

[Tigersmith]

God damnit guys, would you SHUTUP?

We know about the AI Invasion thing since Fan Faire! It dosent even matter at all right now, its something WAY WAY WAY post release.

And what the fuck are you talking about an auction house? Theres not a single word about that related to Planetside 2. Read the goddamn article and stop just taking random words...

I bet he is talking about a auction house. That's why he brought up diablo 3.

I'm guessing you don't know about diablo 3's real Money AH.

[LostSoul]

*hands over a bat to Basti*

Knock some sense in them lad, I'll back you up!

*start running in opposing direction*

[Miir]

It can't be popular in China without an auction house. What would the farmers do?

[dpranker]

The way I read it he was just giving examples of different payment models that are going to be popular in the future as monthly subscriptions become less popular, not that PS2 is going to have a real money auction house.

What would even be on the auction house? I guess you could trade resources or something, but that doesn't make much sense to me

[NewSith]

When asked about the business mode and beta schedule, Smedley reveals that the game will be free-to-play, but it may not be the microtransaction type as he mentions (gives the example of) the model of buy to play and Diablo 3's auction house.

I think that's what was meant, but not that buy to play

I don't think Smed could say that it's going to be f2p, but b2p at the same time with RL money auction house between players.

EDIT:
The way I read it he was just giving examples of different payment models that are going to be popular in the future as monthly subscriptions become less popular, not that PS2 is going to have a real money auction house.

What would even be on the auction house? I guess you could trade resources or something, but that doesn't make much sense to me
You claimed an unfair 1st place. :)

[Aractain]

I didn't take the auction house idea seriously, its kinda dumb in D3 it would be just stupid in PS2. (I read it as "it could be this, or this or this" but Sith's explanaion makes more sense).

More importantly is the 2000 number (scale? size? scope?), the events (meaning this is probably going to happen as it was mentioned before) and the F2P (which is obivous if they want money) also the beta date, giving a mid 2012 release date possibility (as I suspected).

Right?

[Hamma]

Cue a thread of premature reactions based off some badly translated chinese.

:lol:

Pretty much.

It's important to note more than anything that this article is translated and thus, may have some crap in it that makes little or no sense. Of course the general overview is probably sound but the translations are horrible.


These ai invasions better not have teamwork between empires.

Sounds that way to me.

But who says you can't start attacking another empire during the invasion? :lol:

[Zulthus]

God damnit guys, would you SHUTUP?

We know about the AI Invasion thing since Fan Faire! It dosent even matter at all right now, its something WAY WAY WAY post release.

And what the fuck are you talking about an auction house? Theres not a single word about that related to Planetside 2. Read the goddamn article and stop just taking random words...

Basti knows it all. Basti does not allow discussion on the forums. Basti cannot post his thoughts without attacking people.

Why don't you read the article before posting mindlessly? He says he mentioned a buy model such as an Auction House. So, while he 'mentioned' it, it's POSSIBLE that there might be an Auction House. And, since it's in a PS2 article, I'm pretty damn sure it has to do with PS2. Just a wild guess.

[Hamma]

Let's try to be civil and take the article with a grain of salt please.

Smed was giving examples is how I read it, basically examples of how the monthly sub model is dying. No need to get all of your armor in a wad over it.

[basti]

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.17173.com%2Fcontent%2F2011-09-08%2F20110908082808374%2C1.shtml&act=url&act=url



"cost over $ 50 million to create the FPS masterpiece"

" John said "Planetside 2" will use the free model, the specific details of the charges has not been determined." <-- thats about F2P, P2P etc. READ IT OUT LOUD, NO DETAILS!

[Tigersmith]

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.17173.com%2Fcontent%2F2011-09-08%2F20110908082808374%2C1.shtml&act=url&act=url



"cost over $ 50 million to create the FPS masterpiece"

" John said "Planetside 2" will use the free model, the specific details of the charges has not been determined." <-- thats about F2P, P2P etc. READ IT OUT LOUD, NO DETAILS!

Ok basti lol. You made your point. we can at-least discuss it. People have different points of view on these things lol.

:)

[NewSith]

Ok basti lol. You made your point. we can at-least discuss it. People have different points of view on these things lol.

:)

No offense but (the) people are making panic, instead of discussion.

[Malorn]

Maybe folks missed this in all the AI invasion stuff (which we have heard about before) and the F2P announce, but....

Skills directly affect a character's ability of increasing weapon damage, modifying vehicles, and crafting.

But wait, it was mentioned a second time in that same short article...

Territory control is about taking control of resources which offer the necessary materials for creating weapons and upgrading equipment.

Crafting? seriously? I get the resource system and the desire to be eve-like which had player manufactured items.... but that really took away from the action of the game and made economy, production, and logistics full-time jobs that were incredibly boring but necessary to succeed in the game.

[Hamma]

Honestly you have to expect panic before actual discussion.

Things are being discussed that were not in the original PlanetSide and thus people are going to panic before actually discussing things.

I'm updating the main page a bit, stupid translations.

[Dark Atlantis]

LOL, NOW i am able to pay for games (got a job) and now every damn MMO goes f2p ....
I hope there will also be some "large-scale beta testing" for eu :P Would like to be one of the first europeans to play the game.

[Lunarchild]

hmm. well not really what I wanted.


Alien invasions? Really? sigh
And free 2 play.. Eww but would have to hear the specifics.


The Alien Invasions I believe were mentioned before, and they said it won't be in for launch. That means we still have plenty of time to convince them it's not a good idea ;) And I doubt they'll add it in unless it really adds to the experience.

Interestingly enough the 500x500x500 is not the max of the engine... Should provide some interesting ways of expansion later on, that's for sure.

As for Free 2 Play / Buy 2 Play, I was kind of expecting that. Especially the buy 2 play is good for the population of the game. But like you said, need more specifics.

[Aractain]

Isn't "crafting" just "customisation"?

[Malorn]

"Crafting" in an MMO means something quite specific - players making stuff.

It could be the word "crafting" and "create" were used as part of translation issues and maybe he said something different but it was interpreted as crafting.

It could be two-way translation here, first translating what John said into Chinese and then translating the Chinese into English again. Meanings could have changed if that was the case.

Still, interesting word choice at the least, and it does fit if EVE was one of their inspirations and Smed had said they wanted to do a lot more with resources in the future. So crafting certainly makes sense. I am wondering if it is something already in or if it is one of those things in "The 3-year plan".

[Logit]

MORE PEW PEW

Less gay fucking ideas.

Crafting? Aliens?

If I wanted to shoot AI, I'd Play WoW

If I wanted to Craft weapons and sell them, I'd play WoW

I don't play WoW

I'm trying not to panic, I know it's a Chinese translation, but this thread gives me diarrhea.

[Hamma]

Hey Guys,

I have inquired for some clarification on this article. Hopefully we will hear something a bit later.

[Goku]

You cannot really make sense of translated Chinese articles through online tools in my opinion. Reserving judgment till I see a proper translation.

[Malorn]

"crafting" is the only new thing for us to panic about in this article. The PvE stuff was already known from Fan Faire. It was also mentioned that it wouldn't be at release. This new article also confirms that - Smed says "in the future" , as in "not release". I'm not a fan of PvE stuff and I think the game doesn't need it - and that's why it isn't a release topic. I think it's just some ideas they have on how to spice up the game from time to time - world events, which is exactly what Smed calls it.

From that perspective the AI stuff isn't all that bad, but I agree with most that it really doesn't fit in Planetside, but we have plenty of time to give them that feedback and don't need to be freaking out about it now.

[Goku]

Thats the only thing in my opinion that maybe dooms day for the game in the long run. Adding in all this extra stuff they want during the 3 year plan. Depending on how its done the game could be completely different from when people first start playing. That may drive a good amount of people away. If crafting is going to be done it should be added now instead of later in my opinion as that could be a major change. TF2 is a prime example of that. Now you just have idiots running around in pimp hats with fireworks coming out of them :/.

[Malorn]

The actual translation from Google from the original chinese is this:

According to John introduced, the skills system is connected from the "Star OL2" the key to all game content. Whether the player is to improve weapon damage, transforming the vehicle or make night vision goggles and other small objects are use to the appropriate skills. Learning these skills will spend the appropriate time, like EVE, just a few minutes of some low-level skills can be learned, and advanced a few months time you need to master.

"Star OL2" in both online and offline will be two kinds of skills in practice mode offline practice speed will be relatively slow-paid players can get some speed bonus.

Territorial battle system, it is the "Star OL2" core gameplay. "Star OL2" will focus on the PVP content, the game each player can be occupied territory, the resources available in different territories will be different weapons, vehicles, production or upgrade materials. John said that the future of the game may also include some PVE world events, such as the three camps to fight against alien invasion, to enrich the game play itself.


Not bad from a copy-paste translation, but the word "production" was used, not 'create" and it mentions making night vision goggles cost resources, which the reader may have translated into "crafting"

I'm suspecting that there isn't crafting in the game but that items are tied to resources and "production" could mean a lot of things.

Probably just a big false alarm due to poor translation of what John was saying.

[Tigersmith]

Its nice to hear any news. Even though we all know some of the translations are screwy :)

[NewSith]

Speaking of the AI, the only AI I want is a giant holo-projection of Smed, saying (in a grim manner) "YOU. HAVE. FAILED." to TR everytime they lose.

[raw]

It is also quite possible that Sony is adapting a different payment model for the PRC and the "western" world.

[Senyu]

For all we know PS2 version of crafting and PvE (Alien Invasion) could be far different than what is out there today and what we know. I highly doubt its gona be like WoW crafting which is a basic standard in most crafting. Give them a shadow of a doubt, it may turn out you really like the system the implement for both these things.

My take on the alien invasion, I could see it as something they not always but sometimes toss in when fighting is getting low or to spread out. And all 3 empires would fight agaisnt it and each other. I see it as a more constructed and organized 4th faction, the neutrals in PS1.

That being said, we all know most of the people hate these two things from the get go, we get that. There's 3 pages of it on this thread. Lets move on to discussion please

[Draep]

One sec, one sec. You can upgrade weapons to increase weapon damage? Not liking that at all! I can understand giving me a silencer, laser sight, night vision or whatever; but one of the best features in PS1 was the ability for a BR1 to do the same damage as a BR40.

If skills and resources contribute to weapon damage, fuck that. I'd rather play APB. Alien invasions? Yeah sounds about as fun as special ops events in PS1 or having meteors being thrown at you.

[Jennyboo]

Hey Guys,

I have inquired for some clarification on this article. Hopefully we will hear something a bit later.

Hopefully Hamma can get some more info :brow:

[basti]

The Alien invasion was already covered at FF. It was said it would only be some kind of event that happens every now and then, nothing that happens each week. And i actually like the basic idea, if it is done right. Those aliens need to have the number AND the power to force all 3 empire to work together a bit (while maintaining the ability to shoot each other). On the other hand, just let those aliens screw you enemy, and take the remains without much trouble. Would really be fun once in a while, but 24/7 would just start annoy you.

[Crator]

Honestly you have to expect panic before actual discussion.

Things are being discussed that were not in the original PlanetSide and thus people are going to panic before actually discussing things.

I'm updating the main page a bit, stupid translations.

No joke. I don't know why SOE doesn't release an English version of these articles at the same time. Why confuse the community?

[Marsman]

I think we need to be careful how we interpret wording here with regard to "crafting". First, I believe it was mentioned that resources will not be tangible items. There is not going to be auraxium ore, mining, etc...As I understand what has been said, resources come automatically from control of the territory on which those resources exist. Control that spot of ground and you automatically get the benefits of the resources contained there. I've seen a few threads where this interpretation is mis-understood.

That being said, it was also stated that certain resources will be needed in order to produce or perhaps "craft" certain items, addons, or additions to the elements of the game. It's possible Smed used the word "craft" not in the literal sense, but as a descriptive term to describe the process of obtaining these resource dependent benefits. So as Hamma put it, lets not get our torso armor plating in a wad over vague wording until we see something concrete. :lol:

[Crator]

Let me guess, SOE still hasn't learned their lesson about providing good public relations group to sort out these issues and provide good advertisement. <sigh>

And the funny thing is, many folks on these forums would probably give their left toe to provide them the proper PR and advertisement for free.

[Sirisian]

It is also quite possible that Sony is adapting a different payment model for the PRC and the "western" world.
Is this seriously the only person that understands this? The Chinese version being developed for China by The9 is probably not the same game running in the US and Europe.

There's a reason they had to work with The9 in the first place. It's not just to put up separate servers over there. The9 is making actual changes to the game to fit the payment model expected by the Chinese audience.

Until we hear information about the US release I'm not going to pay much attention to things they're planning for the Chinese release.

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

One sec, one sec. You can upgrade weapons to increase weapon damage?

This has been known since FF. They have not gone into specifics yet but said most upgrades are more like side-grades in that they have trade-offs. You can put on an attachment for extra damage (like 2-3%, nothing major) but it will decrease the guns RoF or accuracy.

OT - I don't see a F2P system working with cosmetic only things in the stores. I don't care what color my gun is, or having a cool looking helmet, so I know I wont be buying anything. If I can play for free cool, but maybe a cheap $5 sub along with the store, otherwise I just don't see it producing enough money to keep up with development.

[p0intman]

someone run this past the CNs on gemini and get a better translation ffs.

[Sirisian]

someone run this past the CNs on gemini and get a better translation ffs.
Why not just do this. (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.17173.com%2Fcontent%2F2011-09-08%2F20110908082808374%2C1.shtml) Works fairly well.

[Bags]

WTS [MCG of Accuracy] x 1

Okay, really hoping crafting means putting a silencer or something on your gun.

[morf]

We get signal.

Main screen turn on.

[Bags]

Is this seriously the only person that understands this? The Chinese version being developed for China by The9 is probably not the same game running in the US and Europe.

There's a reason they had to work with The9 in the first place. It's not just to put up separate servers over there. The9 is making actual changes to the game to fit the payment model expected by the Chinese audience.

Until we hear information about the US release I'm not going to pay much attention to things they're planning for the Chinese release.

This makes sense.

[Draep]

This has been known since FF. They have not gone into specifics yet but said most upgrades are more like side-grades in that they have trade-offs. You can put on an attachment for extra damage (like 2-3%, nothing major) but it will decrease the guns RoF or accuracy.

OT - I don't see a F2P system working with cosmetic only things in the stores. I don't care what color my gun is, or having a cool looking helmet, so I know I wont be buying anything. If I can play for free cool, but maybe a cheap $5 sub along with the store, otherwise I just don't see it producing enough money to keep up with development.

Well maybe I'm missing something but I also heard that skills may increase weapon damage. If this and Alien Invasions were known since fan faire (what the fuck is fan faire?), nobody has been mentioning them on the forums until now, in fact they been mentioning stupid things like alternative visuals for tanks or dual wielding. Perhaps also worth noting that those threads get the most replies.

[Hamma]

Ok folks - let's try to calm things down. Smed got back to us with some clarification.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-chinese-interview-with-john-smedley-2538.htm

On Auction House
We aren't doing an auction house like Blizzard. They asked me what I thought of that move by Blizzard and I said I liked it and thought it would help with farmers and that we were doing it years ago with Station Exchange. It has nothing to do with Planetside 2 whatsoever. Ive said before the game will be some form of F2P but we aren't announcing anything specific yet.

On Beta
I did in fact say we are aiming for late this year or early next year. No further comment about that. It's ready when it's ready and we are proud of it.

[Bags]

Ok folks - let's try to calm things down. Smed got back to us with some clarification.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-chinese-interview-with-john-smedley-2538.htm

What am I supposed to do with all of these torches and pitchforks?

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

Well maybe I'm missing something but I also heard that skills may increase weapon damage. If this and Alien Invasions were known since fan faire (what the fuck is fan faire?), nobody has been mentioning them on the forums until now, in fact they been mentioning stupid things like alternative visuals for tanks or dual wielding. Perhaps also worth noting that those threads get the most replies.

The Issue of the 10%-20% Power Differentiation (http://www.planetside-universe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36903) or use the VIP tracker at the top to quickly jump to Higby's responses to that thread. the 20% will only be attainable if you max out your certs and outfit specialization in 1 thing/area, and not all 20% can be on straight damage. They want people to see they are getting stronger, but they are making it so small it really doesn't effect much (supposedly).

[p0intman]

anyone who takes the chineese translation for anything more than a bad tldr of the conversation as a whole is a, an idiot and b, not seeing the trees for the forest. or something.

frankly, the chineese language has nuances and double-meaning phrases that make translation really really really difficult. get a proper translation done, or better yet get smed to do his own tldr here and then read THAT for what it is.

[Aractain]

Basically what we thought then. Yes yes.

[Hamma]

And one more piece.

On Crafting
Not sure what they were talking about relating to “crafting” other than we want players long term to be able to make weapons. That won’t be there at launch.

[Smed]

folks - please relax. this is just bad translation. I have no clue how the guy doing the interview mixed up the part where he asked me what I thought of Blizzard's RMT Auction house. That was not part of the PS2 discussion at all. We have no plans to put anything like that in PS2. The game will be F2P. What form will it be? We're still working that out. But here's a hint - we like League of Legends a lot.

Smed

[Tigersmith]

folks - please relax. this is just bad translation. I have no clue how the guy doing the interview mixed up the part where he asked me what I thought of Blizzard's RMT Auction house. That was not part of the PS2 discussion at all. We have no plans to put anything like that in PS2. The game will be F2P. What form will it be? We're still working that out. But here's a hint - we like League of Legends a lot.

Smed

Thanks Smed for clearing it up Really fast. :)

For anyone who does not know.

League of Legonds has 2 systems yet the game is 100% Free 2 Play.
Influence points and Riot Points

Influence points are earned by simply playing the game, allowing players to purchase runes that will enhance their powers, much like experience points as well as using these points to buy new Champions.

Riot Points are purchased using real currency and exchangeable for new Champions to play and cosmetic enhancements. Check Avon Brochure (https://www.especials.co.za/avon/) and Builders Warehouse Specials (https://www.especials.co.za/builders-warehouse/).

[Aractain]

I am relax.

Someone talk about LoL. Thanks Tiger (above)

Also Thanks smed.

[Bags]

But here's a hint - we like League of Legends a lot.

Smed

Lots of Teemo skins then?

Thanks for the quick clarification!

[Aractain]

I was going to put a "LoL - lots of skins/characters/classes" joke but then I was like I DO want lots of skins for my Prowler........ So yeah. GG.

[Shogun]

thanks for the clarifications!

now we finally have some news to be happy about ;-)

guys, no comments on the first official beta timeframe bits????
that was the best part od the interview for me ;-)
finally we know that beta is ahead in the next few months!

judging by the low gamescom and dragoncon presence i really feared beta would be years away.

kind regards
shogun

21 is only half the truth

[Logit]

What am I supposed to do with all of these torches and pitchforks?

This.

TY Hamma, and Smed.

[Grimster]

*phew* :)

[Shogun]

a little question...

what is the payment system of legue of legends?
i cannot find any infos on their webpage without registration.
seems to be free to play. are there commercials or is there some sort of shop or other possibility to throh money at the devs?

[Tigersmith]

a little question...

what is the payment system of legue of legends?
i cannot find any infos on their webpage without registration.
seems to be free to play. are there commercials or is there some sort of shop or other possibility to throh money at the devs?


Read my post above ^^

[Logit]

a little question...

what is the payment system of legue of legends?
i cannot find any infos on their webpage without registration.
seems to be free to play. are there commercials or is there some sort of shop or other possibility to throh money at the devs?

Tigersmith touched on it a few posts above.

Riot points = $$ (Used on Skins, EXP boosts)

Influence points = experience gained by playing the game. Used to buy characters and runes. Runes make characters more powerful albeit at a very slight %.

[basti]

Hmm, LOLs system? WEll, to be fair, i heard only good things about the way they did it. BUt i still prefer a Subscription pared with a fooder thing. But the end goal is to actually have those 2000 guys per continent, so whatever, just give me the stuff. :D

[Logit]

Hmm, LOLs system? WEll, to be fair, i heard only good things about the way they did it. BUt i still prefer a Subscription pared with a fooder thing. But the end goal is to actually have those 2000 guys per continent, so whatever, just give me the stuff. :D

I think LoL dances around 5 million active accounts so the system apparently works fairly well.

[Tigersmith]

I think LoL dances around 5 million active accounts so the system apparently works fairly well.

I really like this system. It really does not give you power if you buy stuff. But it just makes it easier for you to get. I would 100% be on board with this.

[Shogun]

ah thanks, i missed that one.

ok, IF microtransactions are necessary, that´s the right way to do it. i don´t mind others having cosmetic goodies or even faster xp gain for real money, but some other games started off that way, too and screwed it by introducing buyable power later on, like better weapons. (battlefield heroes for example)

i share the fear that ps2 developement will be born dead if it´s f2p :-(
just look at developement of ps1, and this game still has a very high subscription fee that has been in place for 8 years, which should have been used for dev.
i hope the devteam will draw money from another soe game to make up for the years of cashmuling ;-)
if not... make ps2 subscription based, or free/premium like ps was during the cannonfodderprogram. but keep the game pay to buy so the cheaters can be banned and have to rebuy the game before they try again.

[Sirisian]

So we have microtransactions for only aesthetic things and the game is free to play with no boxed copy at all?

This is a huge change to what I expected. It brings up a lot more questions than it answers.

1) Is the game still going to be microtransactions for aesthetics or are we going to be purchasing classes?

2) How will the game continue to make money over time? What will you be offering to sell to people other than aesthetics? New classes? Or is that it? Will we be purchasing training bonuses and experience boosts?

I understand if you can't answer these immediately for a few months, but they're some things I'm curious about.

(I'm still in the subscription only boat which is apparently sinking).

[Logit]

ah thanks, i missed that one.

ok, IF microtransactions are necessary, that´s the right way to do it. i don´t mind others having cosmetic goodies or even faster xp gain for real money, but some other games started off that way, too and screwed it by introducing buyable power later on, like better weapons. (battlefield heroes for example)

i share the fear that ps2 developement will be born dead if it´s f2p :-(
just look at developement of ps1, and this game still has a very high subscription fee that has been in place for 8 years, which should have been used for dev.
i hope the devteam will draw money from another soe game to make up for the years of cashmuling ;-)
if not... make ps2 subscription based, or free/premium like ps was during the cannonfodderprogram. but keep the game pay to buy so the cheaters can be banned and have to rebuy the game before they try again.

Well, on the flip side. F2P attracts a shit ton more people to the game, which in turn has more people, a lot more people, buying cosmetic items and goodies with $$.

Is that enough money for upkeep on the game? Who knows, but if they are seriously considering that model than it would stand to reason that the answer is yes.

The main problem is this also introduces more hackers to the game, so policing of hacking will need to be a top priority.

[Logit]

I really like this system. It really does not give you power if you buy stuff. But it just makes it easier for you to get. I would 100% be on board with this.

Exactly.

Paying money in LoL doesn't give you advantages to the point where in game you are significantly more powerful than people who don't. In fact, everyone is on a level playing field which is my main concern with a PS2 shop..so we'll see I suppose!

I have no problem with people paying money to gain experience quicker or for skins etc.

[Tigersmith]

Im wondering if we still have to buy a copy of the game if its F2P. Im guessing yes. Its going to be like guild wars. you need to buy the game but F2P after that.

All the online retailers have the game listed for $49.99 and this information comes directly from the sony retailer network.

http://www.gamestop.com/pc/games/planetside-2/92542

[Shogun]

The main problem is this also introduces more hackers to the game, so policing of hacking will need to be a top priority.

not a top priority, but THE top priority!

i just hope the dark days are over and not a single sony (and soe) employee will ever underestimate hackers again... but the infamous drawer is still there... waiting for our nuts... mumbling "soooon"

[FIREk]

I wonder if US beta means I won't be able to participate, or I'll just be lagged... :(

[bjorntju1]

PlanetSide 2 will start large-scale test in US

And what about Europe? If you can smed i like to have that clarified.

But anyways gerat news! I am curious how the F2P system is going to work.

[Bags]

Yay, LoL's F2P method is the one thing they did right with that game.

[Shogun]

that slipped my mind :-(

and smed is offline again...

but it would be really nice if he could clarify, if the beta will be for europe players as well!

in the past soe had europe players in betas (sont know bout planetside, but i was in swg jump to lightspeed beta) and i really hope they will let europe hop into beta as well. i don´t mind betatesting on intercontinental lag but i would hate being shut out. planetside 2 may actually be the first game i would preorder while doing the beta.

[Sanoskay]

i do not think they should go the direction free to play its just going to open up to alot of aim botters example global agenda and ABP reloaded full of aim botters that the GM could not control of just do not give a crap considering they just make a new account . at least if the player going to aimbot and banned they going to have to buy a new game and subscription which they could make more money

[Shogun]

i do not think they should go the direction buy to play or free to play its just going to open up to alot of aim botters example global agenda and ABP reloaded full of aim botters that the GM could not control of just do not give a crap considering they just make a new account

that´s why i would like a free to play model but with a boxed game to buy. you have to register the bought copy of the game to play, and if you get banned, that copy gets invalid and you would have to buy a new one... cheaters need a risk to be kept away.

to keep it clear: we don´t want the game to be a free download! that would be the same like putting a floodlight up in the jungle and sleep naked without a mosquitonet...

[Tigersmith]

that´s why i would like a free to play model but with a boxed game to buy. you have to register the bought copy of the game to play, and if you get banned, that copy gets invalid and you would have to buy a new one... cheaters need a risk to be kept away.

This would be the best way. But I think there will be a F2P Client Also.

[FriendlyFire]

I am starting to think the best way to get PS2 info is for "wrong" info to be released. :D

[Shogun]

only problem i see is the used gamemarket.
if gamecopys can get banned, i would not dare to buy a used game, but gamedevs don´t seem to see this as negative nowadays ;-)

[Shogun]

I am starting to think the best way to get PS2 info is for "wrong" info to be released. :D

lol

lets translate old interviews into chinese and back to english and post them all over the internet. maybe we get some more clarifications then ;-)

[Smed]

Answers inline

So we have microtransactions for only aesthetic things and the game is free to play with no boxed copy at all?

This is a huge change to what I expected. It brings up a lot more questions than it answers.

1) Is the game still going to be microtransactions for aesthetics or are we going to be purchasing classes?

We see a variety of things you can buy.. honestly we're still working it out so none of this is set in stone. However here's a scenario that might happen.

Gun X is sold for X Station Cash. Gun X is a variant to another gun in-game with some positives and some negatives. Maybe you can still get the game through normal gameplay but it's hard. However the only thing I can say 100% sure is that Gun X is no better than another gun in the game.. it's simply different in some way that makes it something some people may want to buy. TF2 is an EXCELLENT example of this IMO.

2) How will the game continue to make money over time? What will you be offering to sell to people other than aesthetics? New classes? Or is that it? Will we be purchasing training bonuses and experience boosts?

Still thinking this through - In theory we want people to be able to buy convienence, but not power. This is still a shooter at it's core. So could you buy something that speeds up your offline skill training? sure.. I could see that. But not selling classes.

We're trying to figure out a way not to sell content per se... We don't want to follow the "sell an expansion pack" model with this game. We want to keep all players together at all times when it comes to what they can do without paying.

I understand if you can't answer these immediately for a few months, but they're some things I'm curious about.

(I'm still in the subscription only boat which is apparently sinking).

[Smed]

I am starting to think the best way to get PS2 info is for "wrong" info to be released. :D

Well please understand that our goal here is to give you accurate info. We're trying not to do our thinking on some of these subjects too publicly until we have a better handle on it ourselves.. and then we want to get your feedback before we set it in stone for launch.

[Bags]

Smed, it helps when you reply in the quote to make your font a different color or bold it or something. Thanks tho.

[Crator]

Can we get some more info about hack prevention? It was mentioned in a Q&A that you guys would be implementing one into PS2. Seems there's a lot of concern here about F2P and hackers.

[Shogun]

holy smed! ;-) he´s still around!

thanks for the new clarification. i like the idea of being able to achive everything ingame that can be bought. even if it may be hard to do. what i don´t like are exclusives for buyers. that can only be achived by real money. thats ok for cosmetic things, but its bad for weapon alternatives.

any possible clarification about europe being cut off the beta?

[Tigersmith]

holy smed! ;-) he´s still around!

thanks for the new clarification. i like the idea of being able to achive everything ingame that can be bought. even if it may be hard to do. what i don´t like are exclusives for buyers. that can only be achived by real money. thats ok for cosmetic things, but its bad for weapon alternatives.

any possible clarification about europe being cut off the beta?

very well said. Im sure everyone feels the same way.

[Raymac]

Geez, I don't check into PSU 1 morning and I missed hardcore panic mode. LMAO

I think the main lesson to learn here is to keep in mind what is written on the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...DON'T PANIC

- Beta timeline is awesome. I knew they would let it slip here soon. Just think, only a few more months to go. (And I've got football season to hold me over until then)

- AI Alien Invasion will be awesome in my opinion. The greatest Planetside moment EVER was during the monolith event on Markov and on the final day, at the final battle of the event, the VS formed a tentative alliance with the TR against the NC. It was the most dynamic exciting battle I've ever been a part of. so if you have an alien invasion while the normal game is going on, the dynamics of trust, or more likely, the lack of trust between the empires will be really cool. Plus, I've wanted this ever since I saw Starship Troopers. "All Vehicle Events" get really old, so having events like this will be great.

- F2P, I was hoping for a subscription myself, but it sounds like a LoL-esque system will be cool. Frankly, I don't care how I pay, I just want to see a system that gets as many players as possible.

-Smed is the man for coming in here so quickly to clarify. MFCEO indeed.

-Yay news.

[TacosWLove]

You know im not %100 stoked on the F2P model, but LoL does make a very good example of how it could work and if thats what it takes to get 5mil active accounts, im willing to go for it, but only if it doesnt hinder the capital to develop enhancements to the game.

Alien AI? WTF? Yes, if I wanted to shoot NPCs id play any other of one cookie cutter RPG games out there...

[Shogun]

alien ai is worth a try, but only in rare events. could create that precious special moments to remember but it would suck if there are always pve elements around.

i missed the bending, so i didn´t experience this part of planetside, but it sounds like it was a cool event. but i took note of some meteor showers once and it was a very fresh feeling to not know what will happen next. the game needs things like that from time to time

[Sanoskay]

f2p still think is a bad idea i rather buy a game and pay subscription being a planetside fan since beta hate to see it being over run by hackers. A lot of FPS games use crappy 3rd programs detectors game-guard and punk buster which suck by the way. they say they have new programs and dedicated gm to detect hackers example Glogbal Agenda they are bunch of lairs that game still has aim botters still running around not banned so dev can throw a bunch of BS grantees they want. however allowing the hacker users to buy the game and pay subscription are risking a bigger loss losing money and their account towards SOE if the game 50 and sub 15 total of 65 or more to re buy the game and re-level

[NapalmEnima]

Sirisian's text is in italic, Smed's is bold underlined.

Originally Posted by Sirisian
So we have microtransactions for only aesthetic things and the game is free to play with no boxed copy at all?

This is a huge change to what I expected. It brings up a lot more questions than it answers.

1) Is the game still going to be microtransactions for aesthetics or are we going to be purchasing classes?

We see a variety of things you can buy.. honestly we're still working it out so none of this is set in stone. However here's a scenario that might happen.

Gun X is sold for X Station Cash. Gun X is a variant to another gun in-game with some positives and some negatives. Maybe you can still get the game through normal gameplay but it's hard. However the only thing I can say 100% sure is that Gun X is no better than another gun in the game.. it's simply different in some way that makes it something some people may want to buy. TF2 is an EXCELLENT example of this IMO.

2) How will the game continue to make money over time? What will you be offering to sell to people other than aesthetics? New classes? Or is that it? Will we be purchasing training bonuses and experience boosts?

Still thinking this through - In theory we want people to be able to buy convienence, but not power. This is still a shooter at it's core. So could you buy something that speeds up your offline skill training? sure.. I could see that. But not selling classes.

We're trying to figure out a way not to sell content per se... We don't want to follow the "sell an expansion pack" model with this game. We want to keep all players together at all times when it comes to what they can do without paying.

I understand if you can't answer these immediately for a few months, but they're some things I'm curious about.

(I'm still in the subscription only boat which is apparently sinking).

[Tigersmith]

alien ai is worth a try, but only in rare events. could create that precious special moments to remember but it would suck if there are always pve elements around.

i missed the bending, so i didn´t experience this part of planetside, but it sounds like it was a cool event. but i took note of some meteor showers once and it was a very fresh feeling to not know what will happen next. the game needs things like that from time to time


Im open to these invasions. Sounds pretty interesting. BUT


Any more PVE interaction such as NPC Quests to kill Soo many aliens during that event will grant you 1000 auraixum. <---Weak

[Infektion]

If it's direct translation of Chinese then sheesh...

but that Alien Invasion thing... I'm fucking lawling. I hope this isn't another WAR, where it was all exciting at first and then it went down the shitter real quick the minute they started messing with PvE too much, and I don't mean to be a pessimist but... the minute they start implementing PvE, this game is going to die and you can quote me on that because i'll gladly say casually "I told you so"

[Shogun]

Im open to these invasions. Sounds pretty interesting. BUT


Any more PVE interaction such as NPC Quests to kill Soo many aliens during that event will grant you 1000 auraixum. <---Weak

so true!
no npcs, only gm-controlled alien overlords or whatever!
quests will unfold via global chat from eyewitnesses, no need for npcs

[TigerClaw]

F2P model scares me; I have played a fair few F2P games.
They always seem to feel cheap, I’m not sure why. It could just be that most F2P games have bad graphics
Although judging by how much time and money has been poured in to PS2 I seriously doubt that it will have bad graphics.

I’ve been playing PS2 since beta so maybe I’m just stuck in my ways, I like PS1 because the P2P model seemed to keep the people who really enjoyed the game playing and the people who just jumped in to muck around out.

Maybe if they had the free-to-play model based on fodder-side where they are limited to br6 or whatever the ranking system is, and then if you pay the monthly fee you can play with no restrictions

Either way Smedley I commend you on spending your time to come on here and clarify questions we have, and just genuinely make us feel like you are taking an interest in what we have to say.


ps i think PU is getting its bandwidth sucked dry :doh:

[bjorntju1]

Again, could you please clarify if the beta is US only or also playable by people in the EU? Thanks!

[Logit]

so true!
no npcs, only gm-controlled alien overlords or whatever!
quests will unfold via global chat from eyewitnesses, no need for npcs

You know what else we could do? SHOOT REAL THINKING PEOPLE.

I will never choose AI over PvP regardless of how long or how short the time frame of the event might be.

On the F2P aspects, I really hope they make you purchase a boxed copy of the game as to deter hackers.

I'm on board with the LoL style, but it would be beneficial for at least a boxed purchase, which I think we can all live with.

[Sanoskay]

good example of cheater site that are already putting out hacks for bf3 and its not even out yet in September
***Link Deleted***
you also got a planetside undetected hack site
***Link Deleted***
soe should really look in to this

Edit-
Im pretty sure they already know about them, their youtube videos are all over the place. I took away the links. As I dont want people to find those planetside hacks :) Thanks - Tigersmith

[Tigersmith]

Before all of you say F2P Model is Garbage. They are actually putting money into this game. Its not some 500k budget F2P game. Give it a chance.
According to the article Planetside 2's Budget is $50 Million Dollars.

Here are budgets for Previous MMOs

Star Wars The Old Republic (Bioware) - $80+ Million
World of Warcraft (Blizzard) - $63 Million
Rift(Trion Worlds) - $50 Million
Vanguard (Sony Online) - $32 Million
Everquest 2 (Sony Online) - $25 Million

[Sanoskay]

good example of cheater site that are already putting out hacks for bf3 and its not even out yet in September
***Link Deleted***
you also got a planetside undetected hack site
***Link Deleted***
soe should really look in to this

Edit-
Im pretty sure they already know about them, their youtube videos are all over the place. I took away the links. As I dont want people to find those planetside hacks :) Thanks - Tigersmith

understandable jsut want to put it out to SOe dev they should really look deeper into them

[FriendlyFire]

Well please understand that our goal here is to give you accurate info. We're trying not to do our thinking on some of these subjects too publicly until we have a better handle on it ourselves.. and then we want to get your feedback before we set it in stone for launch.

Thanks for quoting me! ;)

Well anytime you want our opinions, we are happy to run around with our hair on fire, until you calm us down again. :groovy:

[Draep]

The CEO of the god damn company replied to this thread on a third party fansite. I'd say thats pretty much /thread. Dude says he'll announce ideas as they are set in stone, works for me.

[Sanoskay]

Before all of you say F2P Model is Garbage. They are actually putting money into this game. Its not some 500k budget F2P game. Give it a chance.
According to the article Planetside 2's Budget is $50 Million Dollars.

Here are budgets for Previous MMOs

Star Wars The Old Republic (Bioware) - $80+ Million
World of Warcraft (Blizzard) - $63 Million
Rift(Trion Worlds) - $50 Million
Vanguard (Sony Online) - $32 Million
Everquest 2 (Sony Online) - $25 Million

im not stating that it be garbage i just stated it just opens up to hackers. i mean we don't know down the line if the program that dev of planetside 2 will work or if they are actually dedicated teams to detect aim botters like i stated before that i know Global Agend don't affiliate with them and not to compare to them but hi-rez granted to their consumers they had a program and a team to detect aim botters i had a clan mate of mine threaten by a GM to get his account band for abuse of the reporting system of a obvious hacker in a match and yet the hacker still plays on. and as soon as hi-rez switch to F2p and putting out pay to tokens to buy gear more hackers filled the game

[Raymac]

Can people who are saying the sky is falling because of a possible npc AI event please try to understand what an "event" in Planetside is?

It's temporary. It mixes up the normal gameplay to keep it fresh. If it sucks, they won't do it again.

The devs have repeatedly said that Planetside 2 is a PvP game. Having an occasional event that uses AI will not change the game. IT WILL STILL BE 99.9999% PVP

[Shogun]

that´s what i would like to see.

in short-time events maybe even the gms can play commanders or giant overlords on alien side, only spawning ai grunts as cannonfodder, or zergling type critters or something.

when the event is over, gameplay is back to normal without ai. and if the event was great, it will be done again some time.

[xlopwat]

The only thing i worry about with F2P is the community. Every game i have played with the F2P scheme is infested with little turds who like to grief and use their swearing machine gun.
While probably having more people in the game, we could be bringing the wrong type of people here..
Really think this will bite SOE in the ass if even slightly..

AI invasion sounds cool and i see no reason why it would be a bad thing though!

[Tigersmith]

The only thing i worry about with F2P is the community. Every game i have played with the F2P scheme is infested with little turds who like to grief and use their swearing machine gun.
While probably having more people in the game, we could be bringing the wrong type of people here..
Really think this will bite SOE in the ass if even slightly..

AI invasion sounds cool and i see no reason why it would be a bad thing though!

This is something im really worried about. Its what we are all going to have to live with. Hopefully there will a mass ignore feature.

[Raymac]

This is something im really worried about. Its what we are all going to have to live with. Hopefully there will a mass ignore feature.

Nah, just bring back DanB, or even Son of DanB, and we won't have to worry about that sort of problem. :groovy:

[Shogun]

if you get mouthpooped kindly point the offender to fireflys general direction and enjoy the show ;-)

[Raymac]

if you get mouthpooped kindly point the offender to fireflys general direction and enjoy the show ;-)

I second the motion to hire Firefly as a CSR for PS2. :D

[xlopwat]

One other thing, not trying to come across too "ranty" here! Just speaking my mind.. But this could also bring more hackers to the game. It's happened in planetside with free trials and more noticeably with APB (All Points Bulletin).

Still, can't wait for this game either way! Let's hope this cheat prevention is damn good!

[NCLynx]

Answers inline

No matter how small the change it won't be 100% balanced unless it's the same exact gun IMO. Meaning if the small change on the gun purchased from $ gives even a slight edge, we're back to the whole "selling power". If Gun X refers to a pink jackhammer as opposed to a normal one but they're still the same aside from color that's different.

[Bags]

Lynx, everyone knows pink is overpowered.

[Tigersmith]

No matter how small the change it won't be 100% balanced unless it's the same exact gun IMO. Meaning if the small change on the gun purchased from $ gives even a slight edge, we're back to the whole "selling power". If Gun X refers to a pink jackhammer as opposed to a normal one but they're still the same aside from color that's different.

Not unless every gun you can buy, you can also earn in the game.

Exclusive Station Cash Guns is what im worried about. Some guns that can only be purchased through Station cash that have a sort of advantage the others done.

[Shogun]

ueber hello kitty cannon only 20$

can ibe earned ingame by killing 200 enemys who are wielding this weapon.
so it would be exclusive for buyers for a short time, but eventually you can hunt it down ingame

[NCLynx]

Lynx, everyone knows pink is overpowered.

Dude you know it lol.

@Tigersmith, ok I should have specified. Sure if we can ALSO get said guns through gameplay that's fine. But yes station cash specific guns would be a big nono unless strictly aesthetic.

ALSO @Bags, Pony guns?

[Hamma]

Smed has said before they aren't selling power.

From his comments it appears you will be able to buy the same exact gun that you can also earn from other methods.

It's the standard F2P type of deal, some people will pay for things others will earn them via different methods.

I can't imagine they would be ANYTHING BUT the SAME EXACT GUN you can earn another way.

[FIREk]

I wonder... Is there a lot of cheating in Counter-Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2? They're free and I don't remember seeing a lot of blatant cheaters there...

My first thought was that LoL/HoN-like games, as well as MMORPGs, can benefit from the F2P model more conveniently than FPS games. The reason would be simple - there isn't that much room for cheating in such games, at least in my opinion.
A cheater in an FPS game gains an instant, massive advantage from lightning-quick, surgically precise aiming - simply from an application moving the viewpoint to an appropriate model's bones (if I recall correctly).
I don't think you can gain a massive advantage using this kind of simple mechanic in a tactical/strategy game like LoL/HoN, so cheating isn't much of a problem there. Player skill can't be replaced by a simple mechanic there (unless there are cheats that disable fog of war, or something, but that should be fixed by server-side restrictions on what each client should and shouldn't "know").

While cheating is easier in an FPS game, there are Source games with VAC which seems to do a pretty good job at making cheat-makers' jobs harder. So let's hope PS2's cheat protection will be as high standard as Valve's.

Unfortunately I know APB's fate all to well and have been on the receiving end of cheats there for a few months, until I gave up. Interestingly enough, there were tons of cheaters back when it was a pay-to-play game, too.
You must keep in mind, though, that it was an Unreal Engine 3 game - I'm positive that this fact alone made developing cheats for it almost trivial. PS2 will use a brand-new engine and, hopefully, this alone will make it very difficult to develop cheats.

Finally, as for banning users, APB: Reloaded was supposed to allow banning by hard drive serial number. If that works, and one can't just emulate that serial number (much like emulating a MAC address), that would be a good mechanic for actually banning someone in a F2P game.

So maybe it's not really a significant problem?

[Firefly]

Stopped reading after two pages of pointless crying and bitching about vague statements. If I missed something relevant on pages 3-7 or whatever, oh fucking well.

Is this seriously the only person that understands this? The Chinese version being developed for China by The9 is probably not the same game running in the US and Europe.

There's a reason they had to work with The9 in the first place. It's not just to put up separate servers over there. The9 is making actual changes to the game to fit the payment model expected by the Chinese audience.
I can back this statement up by citing precedence. Warhammer Online was released to the Chinese as almost a wholly different game - I worked on the localisation for it. The game over there had a whole lot of stuff removed because certain things are deemed illegal or immoral, so we had to basically rebuild the game cosmetically. It also had different payment models. Granted, I don't work for SOE so I have no idea what they are doing. But it's not a big leap of simple logic.

Crafting? Aliens?

If I wanted to shoot AI, I'd Play WoW

If I wanted to Craft weapons and sell them, I'd play WoW

I don't play WoW

I'm trying not to panic, I know it's a Chinese translation, but this thread gives me diarrhea.
This.

I second the motion to hire Firefly as a CSR for PS2. :D
No, because I worked CS for Bioware-Mythic and having to sit there and be firm but polite with some snotnosed little dipshit cocksucker is not my idea of a good time, which is why I transferred to a developer position.

And despite Dan Binter aka CSR-DanB aka Brewko's complete and utter faggotry to players, I bet SOE has policies in place that make their CSRs be nice. And I don't wanna be nice to anyone who's an asshole unless they're planning to let me put it in their butt.

[Bruttal]

I wonder if there will still be a sub, and by subing you gain faster experience and maybe skip the first couple "levels" of a particular class by earning a points each month or if you do a 6month to year sub your given all those points at once. just something to think about.

oh and if it did work this way i would sub for a year first day so i could be setting well in my medic/gal pilot =)

Yes i want to be a Medic do you have a problem with that?. :P

[Whoknowswhat1]

Exclusive Station Cash Guns is what im worried about. Some guns that can only be purchased through Station cash that have a sort of advantage the others done.

Everyone is worried about buying guns and weapons that will be different from the normal ones, im more worried about the +% skill time / buying resources and stuff like that that even LoL has.

[Bruttal]

Everyone is worried about buying guns and weapons that will be different from the normal ones, im more worried about the +% skill time / buying resources and stuff like that that even LoL has.

yeah honestly i think buying a wep even if it is someing u can get in game with time isnt cool i think skill points would be better

[Bags]

I wonder... Is there a lot of cheating in Counter-Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2? They're free and I don't remember seeing a lot of blatant cheaters there...



The average player sucks too much at TF2 for this to be the case. If the average player is hacking... dear god that's pathetic.

Smed has said before they aren't selling power.

From his comments it appears you will be able to buy the same exact gun that you can also earn from other methods.

It's the standard F2P type of deal, some people will pay for things others will earn them via different methods.

I can't imagine they would be ANYTHING BUT the SAME EXACT GUN you can earn another way.

This. Hopefully.

ALSO @Bags, Pony guns?

Only if it shoots rainbows. Or gems.

[Raymac]

No, because I worked CS for Bioware-Mythic and having to sit there and be firm but polite with some snotnosed little dipshit cocksucker is not my idea of a good time, which is why I transferred to a developer position.

And despite Dan Binter aka CSR-DanB aka Brewko's complete and utter faggotry to players, I bet SOE has policies in place that make their CSRs be nice. And I don't wanna be nice to anyone who's an asshole unless they're planning to let me put it in their butt.

And the bolded is exactly why I'd want someone like you to deal with the snot nosed brats that think yelling racist words is funny.

Also, you did miss alot by skipping all the panic, but just go to the VIP tracker and see what Smed said.

[Smed]

Can we get some more info about hack prevention? It was mentioned in a Q&A that you guys would be implementing one into PS2. Seems there's a lot of concern here about F2P and hackers.

We will be using external (3rd party) and our own stuff. We're taking it seriously.

[Logit]

We will be using external (3rd party) and our own stuff. We're taking it seriously.

V-V-F

[Smed]

If it's direct translation of Chinese then sheesh...

but that Alien Invasion thing... I'm fucking lawling. I hope this isn't another WAR, where it was all exciting at first and then it went down the shitter real quick the minute they started messing with PvE too much, and I don't mean to be a pessimist but... the minute they start implementing PvE, this game is going to die and you can quote me on that because i'll gladly say casually "I told you so"

just to be clear all this invasion stuff is in the distant post-launch future and the community will be fully involved with what we do (assuming we decide to move that direction). Planetside will always be a PvP game and it's core.

[FIREk]

We will be using external (3rd party) and our own stuff. We're taking it seriously.

I only hope you're not planning on using Punkbuster - that's just useless. :) It's both funny and sad when you see cheat sites that ensure that their visible cheat overlays get disabled the moment Punkbuster tries to make a snapshot... For $20 per month (yeah, cheats run on a subscription nowadays) I'm sure cheat-makers are always two steps ahead from common, run-of-the-mill anti-cheat solutions... :(

[Smed]

Again, could you please clarify if the beta is US only or also playable by people in the EU? Thanks!

*When* the beta happens (i.e. when it's ready) it will most likely start with an English beta.. that doesn't mean NA only though with other languages and locales to follow. Let us get the beta ready first. We have a ways to go.

[Smed]

im not stating that it be garbage i just stated it just opens up to hackers. i mean we don't know down the line if the program that dev of planetside 2 will work or if they are actually dedicated teams to detect aim botters like i stated before that i know Global Agend don't affiliate with them and not to compare to them but hi-rez granted to their consumers they had a program and a team to detect aim botters i had a clan mate of mine threaten by a GM to get his account band for abuse of the reporting system of a obvious hacker in a match and yet the hacker still plays on. and as soon as hi-rez switch to F2p and putting out pay to tokens to buy gear more hackers filled the game

F2P has nothing whatsoever to do with hacking. We just need to have resources dedicated to the issue which I'm stating categorically we will.

[Shogun]

hooray for the man with the fire extinguisher!

[Lunarchild]

We will be using external (3rd party) and our own stuff. We're taking it seriously.

As long as that 3rd party is not Game Guard. Any game using that is actually more prone to getting hacked, and the software screws up your computer :/

[Smed]

Not unless every gun you can buy, you can also earn in the game.

Exclusive Station Cash Guns is what im worried about. Some guns that can only be purchased through Station cash that have a sort of advantage the others done.

Not sure I agree with you. If we have Black guns (this is an example please don't take it literally.. just making a point) and have the exact same gun but it's Gray.... I don't think that's bad at all. There are a lot of ways to make this work fairly.

I suspect we will rotate things in and out of different categories over time too.

[Raymac]

Considering the "unpleasantness" that Sony had a few months ago at the hands of hackers, I'm not too worried about their current focus on security.

[Lunarchild]

Not sure I agree with you. If we have Black guns (this is an example please don't take it literally.. just making a point) and have the exact same gun but it's Gray.... I don't think that's bad at all. There are a lot of ways to make this work fairly.

I suspect we will rotate things in and out of different categories over time too.

Sure, but that would be a cosmetic difference rather than a power difference I think he was aiming for.

[NCLynx]

Not sure I agree with you. If we have Black guns (this is an example please don't take it literally.. just making a point) and have the exact same gun but it's Gray.... I don't think that's bad at all. There are a lot of ways to make this work fairly.

I suspect we will rotate things in and out of different categories over time too.

That's pure aesthetic though. As long as it stays that way I doubt many people care. Like I said earlier, pink jackhammers and Bags wants Ponyhammers. That shoot rainbows.

[Smed]

As long as that 3rd party is not Game Guard. Any game using that is actually more prone to getting hacked, and the software screws up your computer :/

lol. I've heard hating on Punkbuster and Gameguard.

Here's the reality - it will take a combination approach. We have one large advantage - this is a client/server game. We can double check a lot of things on the server. C

also technology has significantly advanced in this area since the Planetside 1 days.

[Shogun]

Not sure I agree with you. If we have Black guns (this is an example please don't take it literally.. just making a point) and have the exact same gun but it's Gray.... I don't think that's bad at all. There are a lot of ways to make this work fairly.

I suspect we will rotate things in and out of different categories over time too.

sure, if the exclusive gun is only different in a cosmetic way, its ok. let people buy unique character outfits and weaponskins, just dont sell exclusive guns with special stats whatsoever.

[FIREk]

It kind of sounds like you will be able to pay to shortcut your way towards a weapon cert, which would normally take half a year of unlocking to get. Which is a cool thing, since you can then improve other, more practical certs.

I wonder, though... Would the cash shop gun be unlocked forever for $5 (like in TF2), or "leased" (like in APB), for instance for $1 per month...

If you're not planning on selling new content (like new continents) as expansions, the "buy forever" approach may end up leaving nothing to drain money out of veteran players with. ;)

[Smed]

That's pure aesthetic though. As long as it stays that way I doubt many people care. Like I said earlier, pink jackhammers and Bags wants Ponyhammers. That shoot rainbows.

Here's where I think we can make it work.

1) Gun X has 100 damage with a 1 second reload time with a range of 200 yards. It is sold for 1000 Station Cash. This is currently in the store only

2) At the same time Gun Y has 80 damage with a .75 second second reload time and a range of 225 yards. This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right). It is NOT available in the store.

3) 2 weeks later we switch them up. We are constantly rotating. a month after release we make sure everything ends up in the drop rotation

Please let me make sure I'm clear here - this is just an idea. we are having some epic debates about this stuff in house. It's a lot of fun to debate actually because we make games for a living but we also play everything out there.

Also add color to the mix of the above and some colors we keep store only.

Also most cosmetic stuff we keep store only.

At no point are we selling power here. We're selling variety. Specifically what we would like to do is to sell you viable alternatives to stuff you get in game. If you're a range sniper maybe we have something special for you in the store. If you're a damage sniper maybe there's a drop in game right now.

You get the picture I hope.

We are never selling "Supergun X that has better everything". That's not going to happen. There will be a level playing field at all times.

(minor edit because I realized I didn't have the gun variables right)

[Smed]

It kind of sounds like you will be able to pay to shortcut your way towards a weapon cert, which would normally take half a year of unlocking to get. Which is a cool thing, since you can then improve other, more practical certs.

I wonder, though... Would the cash shop gun be unlocked forever for $5 (like in TF2), or "leased" (like in APB), for instance for $1 per month...

If you're not planning on selling new content (like new continents) as expansions, the "buy forever" approach may end up leaving nothing to drain money out of veteran players with. ;)

A good question

In general I'm not a big fan of leasing weapons. I see this done in other games and I don't much like it. There could be some stuff we sell that has a timer on it though if we're trying to give players options to a sub (note that we may offer a sub of some kind that gives a package of stuff but isn't neccessary to get but could offer you things like faster skill training for the month.. but you could also buy an item that gives you the same thing).

In terms of the buy forever approach.. the assumption is the game evolves and we add all kinds of new cool stuff. I've said all along I want to see player owned bases.

[Goku]

Here's where I think we can make it work.

1) Gun X has 100 damage with a 1 second reload time with a range of 200 yards. It is sold for 1000 Station Cash. This is currently in the store only

2) At the same time Gun Y has 80 damage with a 1.25 second reload time and a range of 150 yards. This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right). It is NOT available in the store.

3) 2 weeks later we switch them up. We are constantly rotating. a month after release we make sure everything ends up in the drop rotation

Please let me make sure I'm clear here - this is just an idea. we are having some epic debates about this stuff in house. It's a lot of fun to debate actually because we make games for a living but we also play everything out there.

Also add color to the mix of the above and some colors we keep store only.

Also most cosmetic stuff we keep store only.

At no point are we selling power here. We're selling variety. Specifically what we would like to do is to sell you viable alternatives to stuff you get in game. If you're a range sniper maybe we have something special for you in the store. If you're a damage sniper maybe there's a drop in game right now.

You get the picture I hope.

We are never selling "Supergun X that has better everything". That's not going to happen. There will be a level playing field at all times.

Are those guns supposed to be variants of each other? The one in store totally out classes the one currently being dropped. How is that not "buying power"?

[MgFalcon]

2) At the same time Gun Y has 80 damage with a 1.25 second reload time and a range of 150 yards. This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right). It is NOT available in the store.


Is there also a chance for a Sword of 1000 Truth's? :lol:

But seriously, I'm loving what I'm hearing so far! Can't wait!

[Raymac]

Drops? hmmm ok.

[Logit]

Here's where I think we can make it work.

1) Gun X has 100 damage with a 1 second reload time with a range of 200 yards. It is sold for 1000 Station Cash. This is currently in the store only

2) At the same time Gun Y has 80 damage with a 1.25 second reload time and a range of 150 yards. This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right). It is NOT available in the store.

3) 2 weeks later we switch them up. We are constantly rotating. a month after release we make sure everything ends up in the drop rotation

Please let me make sure I'm clear here - this is just an idea. we are having some epic debates about this stuff in house. It's a lot of fun to debate actually because we make games for a living but we also play everything out there.

Also add color to the mix of the above and some colors we keep store only.

Also most cosmetic stuff we keep store only.

At no point are we selling power here. We're selling variety. Specifically what we would like to do is to sell you viable alternatives to stuff you get in game. If you're a range sniper maybe we have something special for you in the store. If you're a damage sniper maybe there's a drop in game right now.

You get the picture I hope.

We are never selling "Supergun X that has better everything". That's not going to happen. There will be a level playing field at all times.

Who will be "dropping" these guns?

I hope it's not aliens....:)

[Smed]

Are those guns supposed to be variants of each other? The one in store totally out classes the one currently being dropped. How is that not "buying power"?

sorry. serious mistype. my apologies. I fixed it.

[Smed]

Who will be "dropping" these guns?

I hope it's not aliens....:)

no :) (well maybe 2 years from now if we add them they could drop stuff too).

[Goku]

sorry. serious mistype. my apologies. I fixed it.

Cool thanks. Looks much better now.

[Raymac]

Are those guns supposed to be variants of each other? The one in store totally out classes the one currently being dropped. How is that not "buying power"?

They will switch them so the gun that was in the store is now a drop, and the gun that was a drop is now in the store. Sounds like an interesting mechanic. Looking forward to seeing how it works.

(edited to try to remove snootyness and update from mistype. Sorry Goku)

[Shogun]

selling weapons with different stats store only is a very bad thing. no matter if its not the uber weapon. every diversity that affects playstyle should be available to every player. i´m fine with rare drops or merit requirements for the free versions, and im fine with every exclusive cosmetics.

and xp boosts for money are ok, too. pretty standard in f2p and a legit moneymaker

[Goku]

Because if you read it all, you see that they will switch them so the gun that WAS in the store is now a drop, and the gun that WAS a drop is now in the store. Sounds like an interesting mechanic. Looking forward to seeing how it works.

Double check what he just put in. Mistype he said. I ninja'd you too :).

[FIREk]

thanks for answering. :) Now, I'm sure the answer to my next concern is "Forgelight is awesome", but when I read about all this custom stuff available for cash, I'm left thinking:
"If I'm on the same battlefield with 50 players around me, and all of them have a bunch of vanity items on them, will I have to drop my visuals to the lowest setting to get decent framerates?".

[bjorntju1]

*When* the beta happens (i.e. when it's ready) it will most likely start with an English beta.. that doesn't mean NA only though with other languages and locales to follow. Let us get the beta ready first. We have a ways to go.

All right thanks for your reply!

[Smed]

thanks for answering. :) Now, I'm sure the answer to my next concern is "Forgelight is awesome", but when I read about all this custom stuff available for cash, I'm left thinking:
"If I'm on the same battlefield with 50 players around me, and all of them have a bunch of vanity items on them, will I have to drop my visuals to the lowest setting to get decent framerates?".

We've got this :)

[Goku]

We've got this :)

Even better. We can finally put that one to rest also.

[Crator]

Really awesome of you to answer our questions Smed! You da' best!

[NewSith]

f2p model still bothers me, here's the quote from our forum.

Just read the thing is gonna be F2P... i would never pay for SOE shit so i might just give this thing a shot.
I do expect F2P+SOE=P2W or some other form of fail though.

Smedley already pointed out at least twice that they're not going to adopt p2w bullshit.

But as for f2p model, I'm against it, because the pack includes: cheaters, russians with no clue, swearing children and too much balance whining due to empire specific weaponry and large amount of all above.

I've included both of these controversial thoughts to show that it's my exclusive opinion. It doesn't mean that I demand B2P, but I strongly recommend it. At least buying the game once is not that much of a cash sacrifice, but it makes bans more meaningful.

What I'd rather demand is some guarantee that if it's f2p, then I will have nothing to fear.

NOTE: Sonic never played the original PS.

[SavageB]

This DROP thing has me interested...Would it be from taking certain amount of bases throughout your play time...Is it from gathering so many " Resources"....Very curious...Once you collect so many resources do you like, put your money in a vending machine and have a certain chance of getting a certain item...lol. Im gonna go nuts until I find out what this entails...

[Crator]

No spoilers :P

[FIREk]

Smed, thanks once again and (as it seems that you logged out for now) do drop by more often. ;)

[Logit]

This DROP thing has me interested...Would it be from taking certain amount of bases throughout your play time...Is it from gathering so many " Resources"....Very curious...Once you collect so many resources do you like, put your money in a vending machine and have a certain chance of getting a certain item...lol. Im gonna go nuts until I find out what this entails...

Chill out son, your spot on with the vending machine :D

Since his drop comment I've been doing the same thing. What I first came up with since the inventory system is now gone, is it possible once a soldier has died there are items on his body that you can collect. Not so much specifically what said soldier was equipped with, but a randomized bunch of stuff?

Perhaps some of those items are guns?

[Raymac]

What I'd rather demand is some guarantee that if it's f2p, then I will have nothing to fear.

I think the main idea should be to get as many players as possible. Planetside is a game that doesn't just need lots players to turn a profit, it needs lots of players to be fun at all. Most of us have probably seen those times where there are only a few dozen people on, and the game is basically unplayable.

While I like b2p too, the reasons you state seem to suggest that we want to eliminate certain types of players. Obviously nobody wants cheaters, so I'm sure they'll take care of those guys, but Planetside is better with bad players as opposed to no players.

So let's welcome the undesirebales with open arms...but still have a feature to ignore their babble. :)

[basti]

Wow, this thread just exploded.

But "drops" got me worried. Who could potentially drop something that you can keep using after you died once? Im totally for weapon looting from dead guys, but those shouldnt stay after you died.

[Smed]

Another idea has also been floating around the design team. We don't drop weapons.. those are always available through the skill tree (i.e. they take time to get) but we drop implants instead. Either way we don't sell power in any way shape or form.

We are also talking about the role resources will play in all of this. Maybe some weapons or attachments take resources to make. The resources are things you can easily get by simply playing the game so we're never limiting players but we have a good economy.

Just to let you guys know - we're in and playing the game every day. This stuff is the layer on top of core gameplay and it's really fun to discuss and debate. We welcome your opinions. But if I can leave you with one core thing - don't worry - we WILL NOT sell power.

[FIREk]

I have a feeling that these drops would be TF2-based. Every once in a while (say, once every 1-3 hours of playtime), after dying you see a prompt that you've gained an item. Imagine this translates to having a blueprint. Now, to add resources into the equation, you need to expend some of these resources to actually unlock the item. After spending 1000 titanium and 300 auraxium and 3 Sunset Sasparilla Star Caps you can use the gun forever. I think this makes a bit of sense.

[Goku]

Wow, this thread just exploded.

But "drops" got me worried. Who could potentially drop something that you can keep using after you died once? Im totally for weapon looting from dead guys, but those shouldnt stay after you died.

LOL. I can't wait for someone raging they lost a $20 item :rofl:.

[basti]

razor851, what?

[FIREk]

Also, Smed, could you elaborate a bit on the vision you have for resources? Would these be collected individually, only for the player's benefit, or somehow for the empire? Would they be used to buy long-term stuff only, like "researching"/unlocking weapon modifications, or to buy every day stuff like MAX units, tanks, fighters etc?

My main thought is: why would anyone care about attacking a resource-rich area? Also, what about the currently weakest faction (for instance, VS pushed into a corner of the cont, or an under-populated NC)? They would have the lowest potential for gaining resources, but if they get a resource gathering boost, what is the point if fighting harder if you're getting decent resources off "welfare"? ;)

Also, while I'm at it, would player-only resources be gathered online only? Seems logical, but just in case.. :)

[basti]

Anyway, smed, while you are here: Can you just tell us if Planetside 2 will be DX10 only? Please say yes, DX9 should have died years ago. :/

[FIREk]

Anyway, smed, while you are here: Can you just tell us if Planetside 2 will be DX10 only? Please say yes, DX9 should have died years ago. :/

Ever seen The Witcher 2? ;)

[dachlatte]

Just to let you guys know - we're in and playing the game every day.
why do you torture us like that? :cry:

[basti]

Ever seen The Witcher 2? ;)

Yes, i have, and if those guys whould have ignored DX9 and just went to 10 right away, the game would look even better.

Dx9 is a abomination of the past. Take a Shotgun, drag it out the back door, and shoot it in the head already. Put us out of the misery of supporting Microsofts lie of "But XP cant do DX10".

[NapalmEnima]

why do you torture us like that? :cry:

Because he can.

[FIREk]

Yes, i have, and if those guys whould have ignored DX9 and just went to 10 right away, the game would look even better.

A lie it may be, but the true reason is most likely because development with DX9 only (or mostly) simplifies development of titles both for the PC and X360. Also, I wouldn't call such technology an abomination - think of all the great games made using DX9. But we digress... ;)

[LZachariah]

Smed, thank you so much for being so active on these forums; your information is like a feast for those of us who are so eager for this fantastic, upcoming game.

And thank you, Higby and T-Ray!

~Zachariah

[Whoknowswhat1]

Just to let you guys know - we're in and playing the game every day.

Can we be "in" and play the game every day?

[Tigersmith]

Not sure I agree with you. If we have Black guns (this is an example please don't take it literally.. just making a point) and have the exact same gun but it's Gray.... I don't think that's bad at all. There are a lot of ways to make this work fairly.

I suspect we will rotate things in and out of different categories over time too.

Its fine I don't take anything literally until later on :)

I mean just the power of those guns you can buy. That's what im worried about.
But then again I know you guys have stated time after time that there will be no pay 2 win options.

So wait. maybe I should not be worried :)

[WarChimp130]

So...are they selling power?

[Tigersmith]

So...are they selling power?

no they are not. please read all the posts :)

[Goku]

So...are they selling power?

No. Only versatility.

[NewSith]

So...are they selling power?

Power... Captain Power (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQapMkdIuSs)...

[Marth Koopa]

I have a feeling that these drops would be TF2-based. Every once in a while (say, once every 1-3 hours of playtime), after dying you see a prompt that you've gained an item. Imagine this translates to having a blueprint. Now, to add resources into the equation, you need to expend some of these resources to actually unlock the item. After spending 1000 titanium and 300 auraxium and 3 Sunset Sasparilla Star Caps you can use the gun forever. I think this makes a bit of sense.

Please, dear god, do not take ANYTHING from that abomination of a game, ESPECIALLY the horrifying drop and crafting garbage.

[Goku]

Please, dear god, do not take ANYTHING from that abomination of a game, ESPECIALLY the horrifying drop and crafting garbage.

Only thing that is wrong with TF2 was the crafting that was added way later. It did ruin the game somewhat for me, but it is still one of the better FPSes I have played.

[Whoknowswhat1]

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53995%3Enu%3D7%3A63%3E876%3E257%3EWS NRCG%3D3443524%3B63348nu0mrj

Drops to look like this?

[Sanoskay]

We will be using external (3rd party) and our own stuff. We're taking it seriously.

im holding you to that
you guys should hunt down those aimbotters site and counter them by taking their program analyze it and take them out of business
i still think its funny how there already a hack for BF3 which is coming in sept and the game dos not come out till oct

[NCLynx]

Planethats 2

[Miir]

Thanks for all the clarifications Smed.

Don't wait so long to come visit us again :)

[Bags]

Please, dear god, do not take ANYTHING from that abomination of a game, ESPECIALLY the horrifying drop and crafting garbage.

TF2 is still a fine game and many of the vanilla weapons are still the best all around. I think my loadouts consist of about seven new weapons.

[SpLiTNuTz]

This has been such an interesting ready at first it was all doom and gloom, now that smed straighten a few things out I can defiantly say I'm really looking forward to this game being released at beta! Thanks smed

[dsi]

The only game I can even slightly think of that has done F2P right is TF2, and that essentially lets you play the entire game for free at any time.

If LoL is his inspiration I can only assume that guns will rotate in and out of service unless you buy them...

[Zulthus]

The weapon "drops" worry me... but as long as I don't have to grind orcs and goblins to get a shiny new weapon then it's worth checking out for me.

[MgFalcon]

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53995%3Enu%3D7%3A63%3E876%3E257%3EWS NRCG%3D3443524%3B63348nu0mrj

Drops to look like this?

Vunderbar! A MCG for ze medic! Ohhhh all ze vinning ve vill do, mein freund, ohh ja!

[WarChimp130]

no they are not. please read all the posts :)

I was just messing around, he said it like 10 times.

[CutterJohn]

The weapon "drops" worry me... but as long as I don't have to grind orcs and goblins to get a shiny new weapon then it's worth checking out for me.

Or you could purchase them and support the game you enjoy.

[NCLynx]

Or you could purchase them and support the game you enjoy.

Now that we know we won't have to foot a 15$/month bill I'd almost be willing to get something each month just to mess around with.

[NlightN]

@Smed

Since you guys have settled on the F2P, can you at least require a CC being entered.....SSN, mother's maiden name, or something to minimize the hackers from even getting through the door


......oh, and I guess this also implies that all the preorders are not legit

[Erendil]

selling weapons with different stats store only is a very bad thing. no matter if its not the uber weapon. every diversity that affects playstyle should be available to every player.

Agreed. I also really don't like the idea of having weapon availability cycled in and out of the game and swapped/cycled with weapons in the store. If I start using a particular weapon varient that's freely available in-game on regular basis because its particular stats fit my playstyle almost perfectly and I grow to really like how the weapon works, I'd be pissed if a logged in one day to find that it's suddenly only available to me if I fork out some green in the store.

I have this image in my head of a corner dealer hanging out in the local schoolyard that every few weeks rotates out which drug he's giving out free to the kiddies until he's got every child out there hooked on at least one of his products. Then once everyone is addicted he knows that no matter which ones he holds back and demands payment for he'll have a at least a few poor souls crawling to him cash in hand to get their fix.

But I'm somewhat confused.. WTH is a "drop?" Can someone elaborate? Is it something akin to a random powerup that a monster leaves behind after you kill him?

[Zulthus]

Or you could purchase them and support the game you enjoy.

Naw, I prefer earning items. Buying your guns is boring.

[Aractain]

I want a zebra stripe skin for my prowler lol. Used for desert biomes and for furry convetions.

[Draep]

Hey Mr. Smedley, you gonna play Planetside 2 after release? If so, for which faction?

[Sirisian]

Hey Mr. Smedley, you gonna play Planetside 2 after release? If so, for which faction?
NC...

Just to let you guys know - we're in and playing the game every day.
http://assaultwars.com/pictures/smed.png

On that note I can't wait to see all the things resources can do and be used for. I'm actually a fan of the whole "crafting" idea especially if you can build loadouts with special costs and it displays favorites and shows the costs as like "100 auraxium required" since I equipped something that must be crafted in a loadout.

[Graywolves]

I'm with Sirisian's Fry meme.

Also, what does he mean by "drop?" Is he using that loosely or am I going to get a pop up after I kill a guy going "hey look! You found an MCG with an extra barrel!"


I might've missed something, I did alot of skimming because I was on the forums this morning and I come here tonight to a new thread with 14 pages on it.....

[mrkdilkington]

My Planetside 2 boner just went limp.

[Heaven]

Another idea has also been floating around the design team. We don't drop weapons.. those are always available through the skill tree (i.e. they take time to get) but we drop implants instead. Either way we don't sell power in any way shape or form.

We are also talking about the role resources will play in all of this. Maybe some weapons or attachments take resources to make. The resources are things you can easily get by simply playing the game so we're never limiting players but we have a good economy.

Just to let you guys know - we're in and playing the game every day. This stuff is the layer on top of core gameplay and it's really fun to discuss and debate. We welcome your opinions. But if I can leave you with one core thing - don't worry - we WILL NOT sell power.

I think i prefer the weapon drops tbh it will give you that cool unique feeling and look, dropping implants is a good idea too but am going to guess your character is limited to implants they can have at any one time, so what if an implant drops that you don't really want or you already have... Can you trade this for in game points to buy things or is it yours and thats it?

[Shogun]

that whole weapon shop thing concerns me.

and the fact, that smed clarifies that they WOULD NOT SELL POWER but in the same post he says the exact opposite :-(

selling shop exclusive weapons with different stats than the stock weapons IS SELLING POWER. The concern is not about the amount of power someone can buy, its about the fact that you have to buy things to have the tools needed for your playstyle. and if there is a gun that fits my playstyle and i cannot get it in the game, thats a gamekiller.

and since this is going to be the case, i am now all for a rollback to subscription model.

if special weapons show up in the shop, there must be a method of getting the same thing ingame. ps1 has methods that work fine.

the wasp or bfr-fly variant for example. there is nothing wrong with letting people work hard for their nifty new weapons or vehicles. but being forced to buy the weapon of choice via shop is no fun at all.

as always: cosmetic exclusives are fine. even cosmetic exclusives that are only available for a short time, so bought cosmetic items will be kind of rare and unique to the buyer. like the clothing stuff in battlefield heroes.

[Kalbuth]

that whole weapon shop thing concerns me.

and the fact, that smed clarifies that they WOULD NOT SELL POWER but in the same post he says the exact opposite :-(

selling shop exclusive weapons with different stats than the stock weapons IS SELLING POWER. The concern is not about the amount of power someone can buy, its about the fact that you have to buy things to have the tools needed for your playstyle. and if there is a gun that fits my playstyle and i cannot get it in the game, thats a gamekiller.

and since this is going to be the case, i am now all for a rollback to subscription model.

if special weapons show up in the shop, there must be a method of getting the same thing ingame. ps1 has methods that work fine.

the wasp or bfr-fly variant for example. there is nothing wrong with letting people work hard for their nifty new weapons or vehicles. but being forced to buy the weapon of choice via shop is no fun at all.

as always: cosmetic exclusives are fine. even cosmetic exclusives that are only available for a short time, so bought cosmetic items will be kind of rare and unique to the buyer. like the clothing stuff in battlefield heroes.

He stated that items that were "Store Only" would be swapped to in-game drop (ie, Free to get) later on. From what I read, nothing is going to be "Strore Only" permanently

[Vancha]

Assuming the price of the cash-shop weapons aren't ridiculous, you could probably buy a gun or two a month for less than the price of the Planetside subscription fee anyway.

[Grimster]

I looked through all the replies from Smedley but couldn't really find anything touching the subject.

What worries me the most with being able to buy items is that you will get a lot of vanity items and turning the battle field into a pride parade.

I think this would destroy the atmosphere of the game as you don't see this kind of stuff in normal military at least not from what I have seen. :)

[Heaven]

I think it will all work out fine tbh like they have said they are NOT selling power. Selling power would be like you have this gun that does X damage and i have this gun that does almost double that damage which if they stay true to their words WONT happen. They are going to work out that weapons they sell will also be available in game but having to work for it or getting drops in game. F2P suits me fine because Knowing that I haven't got almost a £10.00 every month for playing a game is good news plus more players (the hacking thing worries me but I think SOE will clamp down on this pretty well now) and then if i ever want anything from the shop i can just save up. I am glad they have gone down this root.

[noodz]

Not liking these new additions/features just give us the old game with new engine! That's all I care for! Old school ps pre BFR was so fun they should focus on giving us this experience again and after release add in new ideas

[waldizzo]

Sounds like a system that is in a state of frequent change during the development process. Should probably withhold any freaking out until a more detailed explanation is made available.

[basti]

Sounds like a system that is in a state of frequent change during the development process. Should probably withhold any freaking out until a more detailed explanation is made available.

This, at least for the shop, F2P and "crafting"

But what worrys me is drops. Lets face it, TF2s system of completly random drops suck. YOu get the borderland issue where you get guns you dont want at all, and sooner or later you got spammed with crap till you find the one gun you like. Random is always just annoying.

[FriendlyFire]

This, at least for the shop, F2P and "crafting"

But what worrys me is drops. Lets face it, TF2s system of completly random drops suck. YOu get the borderland issue where you get guns you dont want at all, and sooner or later you got spammed with crap till you find the one gun you like. Random is always just annoying.

In TF2 you can take the random weapons, "recycle them," and craft the one you want...

[The Desert Fox]

Guys guys guys I have solves the F2P and Alien AI problems, Smed recently said for anyone who doesn't like free to play, send 14.99$ to my Paypal every month and this way it is no longer F2P. As well, we have developed this new revolutionary way to get rid of the alien AI encounters. Our scientists believe that if you, and hear me out on this one, don't actually log into Planetside while the encounters are happening, you won't have to see them, therefore they won't exist too you.

Logic=Use it when you need it.

[Shogun]

This, at least for the shop, F2P and "crafting"

But what worrys me is drops. Lets face it, TF2s system of completly random drops suck. YOu get the borderland issue where you get guns you dont want at all, and sooner or later you got spammed with crap till you find the one gun you like. Random is always just annoying.

i totally love the weapon system of planetside 1
the way certs, loot-drops and merit based certs go together is working sooooo good!

wasp is still a good example. you need to win a lot of dogfights with the reaver to gain access to the wasp. if ps1 had a shop, i would like to see the wasp cert be buyable there, so players can decide, if they want to take on the hard challange and get rewarded with the cert in a few weeks/months or if they just want it NOW and pay some bugs for it. there are still the same chances for everyone and everyone can get the same equipment, its just a choice if you want to work for it and spend a lot of time or buy it instantly.

about random drops:
i liked the idea of the soldiers only dropping what they are carrying like it was in ps1. dropping random stuff the soldier didnt even have on him while he was still alive is stupid. just doesn´t feel right. it works for tf2 but it makes no sense at all, and in planetside 1 there was a "reason" for everything that happened. not always a very good one, but everything made kind of sense, and that was good for the atmosphere of the game.

it would even be a nice idea, to have a weapon research base in the game, that drops special weapons in the labs, but only for the empire owning this base. so there is actually another reason to take a base.

[basti]

i totally love the weapon system of planetside 1
the way certs, loot-drops and merit based certs go together is working sooooo good!

wasp is still a good example. you need to win a lot of dogfights with the reaver to gain access to the wasp. if ps1 had a shop, i would like to see the wasp cert be buyable there, so players can decide, if they want to take on the hard challange and get rewarded with the cert in a few weeks/months or if they just want it NOW and pay some bugs for it. there are still the same chances for everyone and everyone can get the same equipment, its just a choice if you want to work for it and spend a lot of time or buy it instantly.

about random drops:
i liked the idea of the soldiers only dropping what they are carrying like it was in ps1. dropping random stuff the soldier didnt even have on him while he was still alive is stupid. just doesn´t feel right. it works for tf2 but it makes no sense at all, and in planetside 1 there was a "reason" for everything that happened. not always a very good one, but everything made kind of sense, and that was good for the atmosphere of the game.


What about you actually play Planetside? The wasp is a cert, just as the reaver. Its Mossy (3 points), then reaver (2) or wasp (2).
What you propably mean is the Vulture, that requires quite a lot of bomber kills, means you fly, a guy bombs stuff, and at some point you unlock the vulture.

I love it that way, the entire game should work that way more or less, and the cash shop should be a shortcut, giving your access right away. This way those who want to spend cash to get certain vehicles or equipment faster can do this, other just play for a while and get it that way. You could even go that far and account your progress torwards a certain piece of equipment into the buying price. Lets say buying the vulture would cost 100$ (just a random number, dont go crazy), or you need to get 1000 kill assits as a lib pilot. If you already have 500 kills, vulture would only cost 50$. This would make me buy stuff actually, if i just cant be assed to spend all that time into getting something and want it right away.

Get enough stuff like that, add new stuff every now and then, and you have a good balance: You dont ever need to spend cash to get access to all the stuff, but if you do, you save time.
Now, just get some special colors for weapons and vehicles, some special armor pieces, and some other special cosmetic stuff that is only optainable through the cash shop, get enough players and you earn loads of cash while keeping players happy.

But, and this is important, if you go and sell faster skill training or something like that, give the game a subscription option where you have such stuff automaticly. Star Trek online is going to do something similar, just look at it.
More important: dont EVER sell ANY piece of equipment in the shop that you cant get ingame for free. Even if it is a pony gun that shoots rainbows that does literally nothing, players will complain. Not because the pony gun may be cool or strong or whatever, but simply because they have to spend cash.

[Shogun]

sorry, i meant the system of the vulture. mixed it up with the wasp because i have no piloting certs at all ;-)

[Shogun]

Get enough stuff like that, add new stuff every now and then, and you have a good balance: You dont ever need to spend cash to get access to all the stuff, but if you do, you save time.
Now, just get some special colors for weapons and vehicles, some special armor pieces, and some other special cosmetic stuff that is only optainable through the cash shop, get enough players and you earn loads of cash while keeping players happy.

But, and this is important, if you go and sell faster skill training or something like that, give the game a subscription option where you have such stuff automaticly. Star Trek online is going to do something similar, just look at it.
More important: dont EVER sell ANY piece of equipment in the shop that you cant get ingame for free. Even if it is a pony gun that shoots rainbows that does literally nothing, players will complain. Not because the pony gun may be cool or strong or whatever, but simply because they have to spend cash.

that´s exactly what i wanted to say!
acess to every equipment for every player is a must have.
speedups for paying players are ok and will be bought without any doubt. cosmetics, too.

[Firefly]

Guys guys guys I have solves the F2P and Alien AI problems, Smed recently said for anyone who doesn't like free to play, send 14.99$ to my Paypal every month and this way it is no longer F2P. As well, we have developed this new revolutionary way to get rid of the alien AI encounters. Our scientists believe that if you, and hear me out on this one, don't actually log into Planetside while the encounters are happening, you won't have to see them, therefore they won't exist too you.

Logic=Use it when you need it.

THIS.

[Vancha]

Not liking these new additions/features just give us the old game with new engine! That's all I care for! Old school ps pre BFR was so fun they should focus on giving us this experience again and after release add in new ideas
Oh, well if that's all you care for, that's what they should do. To hell with the rest of us, right?

A mere Planetside revamp might be fun for some of us, but it probably wouldn't be very successful by comparison.

[noodz]

Oh, well if that's all you care for, that's what they should do. To hell with the rest of us, right?

A mere Planetside revamp might be fun for some of us, but it probably wouldn't be very successful by comparison.

True - all I care for really is the game being the shit! which it will be regardless :P

[Physed]

I know that there are plenty of arguments for and against it, but I just wanted to throw in my opinion of microtransactions:

I dislike the microtransaction system because I don't want to be forced to think about money and purchases while I'm playing. I just hope that PS2 offers an OPTIONAL monthly fee for players like me that gives me access to pretty much everything. I don't even care if it's not the most cost effective method for me.. I just don't want to see all of these microtransactions on my creditcard/paypal account or whatever. I just want to see one fee per month and be done with it, and play my game without thinking about it.

World of Tanks has a great system that allows both microtransactions and a monthly fee. In that system, the monthly fee is actually a better "deal" for the player. From a business standpoint, I know that the corporation I work for prefers to have steady, predictable income. Microtransactions leads to spikes and sags as products are added and removed (and nerfed and buffed).

All I'm asking for is the viable option of paying the fee. It doesn't seem like a difficult thing to do.

[Lokster]

F2P with no box sale = hackers. Bottom line. I don't care what kind of dedicated "team" or "technology" they have. When you make a game entirely free it BEGS for hackers to come and ruin it.

I assure you, hackers will try to hack PS2 and they will succeed. And they all know, when they get banned, they can wash their hands -- tweak their bot -- make a new account and be back in less than an hour. Hacking again. Especially with the recent court ruling regarding HWID bans, 3rd party anti-cheat companies and online games.

Everyone knows, with little to no knowledge you can change your IP and MAC Address in 3 minutes and circumvent a ban.

Also, I can't wait to sit in queues for hours at a time, waiting for a bunch of F2P groupie, leechers to finish playing. Furthermore, I can't wait to be the one who buys the "not powerful" weapons and armor to support the game so everyone else can play it for free.

And I don't even feel like getting into the types of people F2P games attract. PS will go from the best community of gamers around to a community equivalent to the APB player base. Which is less than lacking.

F2P = FAIL.

/end rant

PS. Disregard the above wall of text if playing the game requires a box purchase.

[Malorn]

F2P has nothing whatsoever to do with hacking. We just need to have resources dedicated to the issue which I'm stating categorically we will.

The business model can be more or less inviting to hackers. The concern with F2P and hacking is the low (no) barrier to entry. If it is truly "free" to play and it costs nothing to make an account (and nothing to lose an account) then it will be more inviting to hackers than something that has a monetary barrier such as a $59 box price to acquire an account.

Of course the barrier works both ways and also reduces the chances that non hackers will play the game as well. You could argue that its just a matter of scale, but the population of hackers is not simply a function of the population of the game. Risk, investment, and reward all come into play.

Could you clarify whether PS2's model is intended to have a modest barrier to entry or if it is truly 100% free to play?

[Malorn]

...This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right).

Could you elaborate on how "drops" are expected to work?

Are "drops" auto-looted as a sort of random reward for play? Do you get them for support actions? Do you get them for other objectives like capturing a tower/hex/base?

I would expect that if a random reward is given out that reward could be given out for anything that I could get experience for doing, whether it is direct or indirect. It would also make sense to me that the larger the xp reward the larger the chance of the drop. That seems like a fair way of doing it.

(I think something physical I have to go pick up or only "drops" from kills then I think that's a pretty crappy system.)

[Sirisian]

Also, I can't wait to sit in queues for hours at a time, waiting for a bunch of F2P groupie, leechers to finish playing.
Actually I was thinking sarcastically a while back when people were talking about how they wanted F2P that they could allow people to purchase queue priority. I remember when I used to play with friends and we used to wait for the queue we'd all jump into galaxy to make sure we could get in at the same time so I don't think that would work very well.

Should be interesting to see how the queues are handled.

[Firefly]

I read the original Chinese page, not that it makes a difference. Basti's Google translation is more or less accurate. Whilst not verbatim, it delivers the gist.

Speaking Mandarin for the win.

[GTGD]

How does SOE plan on handling the amount of traffic that will be generated by a F2P game of this magnitude? I understand that each map will support up to 1500 players, but in PS1 terms that means each server would be quickly saturated. Obviously you guys have thought about this. Would you be able to elaborate on how you will handle all the players and servers?

[Sirisian]

How does SOE plan on handling the amount of traffic that will be generated by a F2P game of this magnitude?
Hoping they're smart this time and go the route of single username/character name for all servers. Makes merges less of a headache especially if they quickly expand to say 20 servers to handle everyone at launch then drop down afterwards.

Would suck to play on a server with friends just to have it get killed by a more popular server. (If you can't tell I'm against having to make a new character for each server. I find it boring to manage 15 characters essentially for each server just because people I like to play with don't all jump to one server).

Actually separating players and characters from the actual servers would be my preference. So you just select whatever server you want to play on when you log in.

[LordReaver]

The Escapist did an article on this. Clicky (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112936-Shoot-People-For-Free-In-Planetside-2) Just a small cover of the PSU interview though.

[basti]

The Escapist did an article on this. Clicky (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112936-Shoot-People-For-Free-In-Planetside-2) Just a small cover of the PSU interview though.

I think hamma gets a boner every time he reads that on some other site: Source: Planetside Universe

:D

[Graywolves]

Speaking Mandarin for the win.

What does speaking Mandarin have anythingn to do with the chinese!?

:rofl:

[MasterChief096]

I at least want the game to cost 50-60 dollars. Even if its F2P after that.

[Hamma]

What does speaking Mandarin have anythingn to do with the chinese!?

:rofl:

Do we have to go through this again?

Putonghua or Standard Mandarin is the official national spoken language. Hong Kong, Macau and several other autonomous regions have additional official languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_China

[Bags]

Hamma, I think he was joking. Hence the !? and the rofl emote.

[Traak]

Mandarin.

It's not just for oranges.

[Hamma]

Hamma, I think he was joking. Hence the !? and the rofl emote.

Perhaps, sarcasm doesn't come out well on the internet forums.

[Graywolves]

Perhaps, sarcasm doesn't come out well on the internet forums.

Were I serious that rofl emote would be very out of place.

[Tikuto]

2) At the same time Gun Y has 80 damage with a .75 second second reload time and a range of 225 yards. This is currently in the game only and is a rare drop (yes you read that part right). It is NOT available in the store.


Rare drops?! Hellll no. Don't want people's playing changed because they so desperately want to pick up this weapon. Imagine it. All common battle scene and a unique weapon drops,

"OMG LOOK AT TH--Gonna get it It's mine. MINE!"
* Everyone feels the same way*
* Infantry and vehicles magnetized towards Unique purple*

* Cataclysmic biotech-boom of all mass populations magnetized*





hEEEEEEEll no.