PC Gamer Interview Higby Talks Player Power

[Silverbullet]

Theres really nothing new here but heres the link:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/10/06/soe-talks-player-power-in-eve-and-planetside-2-it%e2%80%99s-impossible-to-be-everything-to-everyone/

[Raymac]

Interesting soundbites there. It's basically the "too many chefs in the kitchen" logic which proves to be true time and again. Case in point, the duck-billed platypus was designed by committee and that thing is a total clusterfuck.

[Hamma]

Promoting to news thread - good find :D

[2coolforu]

Release early next year O_O

[Bags]

Planetside 2 will be released early next year. SOE are being careful not to "break promises."

[Legion]

I like how he said that was what beta testing was for, but what about after retail? Will there be a test server like EVE?

[Mod]

"The quickest way to fail, I think, is trying to be everything to everyone."

i.e. for the love of god be careful when making changes that it isn't just the biggest complainer that gets listened to and a 'bigger picture' view is taken.

[SwiftRanger]

If PC Gamer holds up its traditions then several noteworthy quotes in the interview will be highlighted in newsposts spread across multiple days before the actual interview is online.

[Lartnev]

Matt admits that it’s important to keep players happy, but insists that developers must maintain a clear vision during development: “The quickest way to fail, I think, is trying to be everything to everyone."

Quoted for friggin truth! Stick to your guns developers: it's your game build it your way. We, the community, may point out many shining paths but it should be the game that decides which one to follow.

Then again EverQuest had its fabled Vision™ as well :(

[Rbstr]

Interesting soundbites there. It's basically the "too many chefs in the kitchen" logic which proves to be true time and again. Case in point, the duck-billed platypus was designed by committee and that thing is a total clusterfuck.

Dude, it's one of the oldest mammals in existence. It can sting you and it fucks you right the fuck up.

[Hamma]

"Planetside 2 will be released early next year. SOE are being careful not to "break promises."

I didn't even see that in the caption.. interesting.

If PC Gamer holds up its traditions then several noteworthy quotes in the interview will be highlighted in newsposts spread across multiple days before the actual interview is online.

:lol:

[Shogun]

oh they have...

the vanu max has a duke nukem shrink gun and after it has hit a soldier the max appears larger as a bfr to the victim ;-)
remember the tr dwarf in the screenshot?

[2coolforu]

Dude, it's one of the oldest mammals in existence. It can sting you and it fucks you right the fuck up.

Duck billed platypus has a venomous barb of which the sting is generally considered to be the most painful thing on Earth and doesn't respond to morphine. (Ultimate dickmove)

[Mastachief]

I like how he said that was what beta testing was for, but what about after retail? Will there be a test server like EVE?

Planetside had a test server its was used pretty regularly

[Aractain]

Which resulted in massive OSes at the XP fountains.

[Levente]

they probably meant beta is released early next year, it cant be the retail

[NapalmEnima]

Sounds to me like they'll let us influence the order of things on the road map, but will ultimately decide what is or isn't on that map in the first place.

Also, with all the stats they're going to be exporting, folks will be able to back up their "X needs a nerf/Y needs a buff" arguments with Actual Data. And other folks will be able to counter said arguments with different data from the same source.

For example:
VS Noob: TR MCG gets more kills-per-life than the VS Lasher, see? <link> Buff the lasher!
VS Vet: Ah, but if you look at >this link<, you'll see that the lasher does more damage per life, and that the VS get noticeably >more kills with common pool AOE weapons<, do to the extra damage done by the lashing effect. And >this link< shows that the total difference in kills between the lasher and MCG is less than the difference in total number of kills with the thumper as used by TR and VS.
VS Noob: Oh. I'll STFU now.


Note that the last line there is clearly a pipe dream. Intardweb nubs just don't change their opinions like that.

But THE DEVS will see such things and know not to fuck with something that's already balanced. While some clearly have their empire preferences, one would hope they can be rational about balance changes that might "harm" their favorite side.

[Mastachief]

early next year could mean April perhaps beta i would hope to be atleast a couple of months long. Depends onthe size of the team i suppose

[Bags]

they probably meant beta is released early next year, it cant be the retail

Smedley confirmed beta by the end of the year. I personally consider early next year the first half, so that works if beta comes by December. Closed betas don't last that long.

I don't see why early next year is out of the question. The engine is and has been done. They don't have to code player AI. Etc.

[Raymac]

I wouldn't read too much into that "early next year" thing. That interview Higby did in Germany (blanking on the con name) he wouldn't commit to beta this year even. So, thats likely a goal, but far from set in stone. The only thing I think we can say for certain about the release date is "It'll be ready when it's ready". If I had to put money on it though, I'd bet sometime in 2012.

EDIT: Bags, I forgot Smed confirmed that. Nice. Of course, I'm sure that could be subject to change.

[Bags]

I wouldn't read too much into that "early next year" thing. That interview Higby did in Germany (blanking on the con name) he wouldn't commit to beta this year even. So, thats likely a goal, but far from set in stone. The only thing I think we can say for certain about the release date is "It'll be ready when it's ready". If I had to put money on it though, I'd bet sometime in 2012.

Smedley confirmed beta this year I thought.

[Raymac]

Smedley confirmed beta this year I thought.

You're probably right. You have a great pulse on all the info that has come in, so I trust your memory on this better than mine.

[Aractain]

Also ponys.

[Bags]

I'll try to see if I can find a quote. Later.

[Talek Krell]

I've gained the impression from somewhere that beta was expected by the end of the year, for whatever that's worth.

[Graywolves]

This girl I had a crush on in 6th grade said her favorite animal was the platypus and I rofl'd

[kaffis]

I appreciate hearing Higby say "You can't try to please everybody."

Now, if only the demographic they were intent on pleasing were Planetside players...

*ducks*

[Straws]

But THE DEVS will see such things and know not to fuck with something that's already balanced. While some clearly have their empire preferences, one would hope they can be rational about balance changes that might "harm" their favorite side.

I hope so. However, I remember the stats fiasco during Planetside in 2004. It was a change requested by players, which the devs adjusted as they saw fit, got it horredously wrong, then they implimented another variation to the stats which was also suggested by players, which just luckily turned out to be better than the original and the second versions of stats tracking in the game.

It was a really overblown issue. Lots of complaining after the first change, and it didn't have direct affects on gameplay.

When players make any suggestions, the devs have to analyse the crap out of it. Plenty of players can, have done, and will continue to make really good suggestions, but they have to fit.

[basti]

Smedley confirmed beta this year I thought.

To be specific, he said beta end of Q4 2011 / beginning of Q1 2012. But smedley often enough forgets one important thing: In software developemt, you do not know if you reach a certain point on a certain day until you have actually reached that certain point. In other words, they dont know if beta starts until the day beta actually starts. Dates and stuff, especialy those given early, are just dates on paper, and you never know what may happen to those plans. Nasty bugs can appear at any minute, and often enough they appear just when you dont need them at all. Dont ask me what game it was, but there was a MMO that was supposed to go into beta on a certain day. Game was ready for it, everything was fine, but when they started the servers, some random bug happend, server crashed, and every restart the same bug appeared. Took them a week to figure out what causes the bug, and another week to fix it completly.


tl;dr: Just chill. Beta will start at some point, but no need to go spastic about what has been said so far.

[Bags]

I never said it was set in stone. All I said was they wanted beta end of 2011, so an early 2012 release date works out considering they hit it.

[Bags]

Well..

http://i.imgur.com/xe6QO.png

Poop.

[Xyntech]

Well..

http://i.imgur.com/xe6QO.png

Poop.

That darn PCGamer and their misinformation and lies.

[Graywolves]

Great, now Higby is planning his vacay around that lie so we may end up waiting even longer!

Damn you PC Gamer!!!!

[Brusi]

This girl I had a crush on in 6th grade said her favorite animal was the platypus and I rofl'd

Dude, i hope you waited till she was 16 before making your move...

[Hamma]

SOE Loves to give PC Gamer exclusives for some reason.

[Legion]

I hope it doesn't come out until august next year, after I've taken the bar exam, because if it comes out before then I am in trouble. On another note, thanks for the answer about the test server. I also hope that Planetside 2 doesn't have the same player involvement as EVE. That whole EVE CSM thing is just a bunch of posturing and popularity contests.

[SKYeXile]

SOE Loves to give PC Gamer exclusives for some reason.

im sure its because they put out, try it.

[Graywolves]

Dude, i hope you waited till she was 16 before making your move...

Never did I was shy, I wasn't a pedophile yet either...I mean I'm not a pedophile, I was in 6th grade too.

[Tikuto]

I hope they've thought about supersonic flight xD.

[Hamma]

im sure its because they put out, try it.

:huh:

:lol: