PS2 PC gamer preview

[basti]

Rev posted after me, but wrote this wonderful wall of text here, that shall not be lost within the threat once the merge happens. :)

So, PC Gamer has a brand new article (2 pages!) that tackles a lot of new issues, complete with an extensive discussion with Matt Higby.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/04/planetside-2-preview-2/


Some things to take notice of:

1) Galaxies can act as mobile spawn points.

2) Squad leaders can act as mobile spawn points.

3) Speed of capturing an enemy base may depend on how many friendly bases are in peripheral contact.

4) Certain bases seem to be associated with specific resources. These resources might be tied to important upgrades, such that grabbing a base from an enemy might deprive them of the ability to manufacture those upgrades (example in the article: Magrider's railgun is an Auraxium-based upgrade. If you grab the Auraxium base, the VS lose the ability to produce the railgun).

5) Engineer turrets are not automated. It seems you have to gun them, as in TF2.

6) Medic can be dedicated support, or a hybrid who can heal and fight (the latter is my personal favorite).

7) MAX units can mix up their loadout as they see fit between anti-infantry and anti-vehicle, putting one of each type of weapon on an arm (kind of like the current BFR).

8) Skill training is on an Eve-online model (passive queuing, upgrades over time).

My related questions:

A) Can you train more than one skill at the same time (sniping and cloaking for infiltrator)?

B) Can you train more than one class's skills at the same time (i.e. cloaking for infiltrator and combat revival for medic)?

C) Will in-game actions affect the rate of skill acquisition/experience earned?

Conclusion: These tidbits are juicy! If PS2 is treating abilities like EVE Online or Battlestar Galactica, then it makes sense that you wind up making active choices on how to specialize. If going up in skill tiers happens passively and is limited, you can see how every choice is important. If I put 12 hours into certing a reaver, that's time I'm not spending upgrading my hacking abilities, which might have only taken 3 hours. You can also see how the business model could make money without becoming pay2win--spending money on speeding up skill training timers or unlocking multiple concurrent skill training slots is not particularly unbalancing in a game where killing someone is related to your abilities as a FPS player, but would nonetheless be attractive to a player. This is especially true if the guns you receive at level one are the bread-and-butter guns and don't vary much in effectiveness as you level up, as was hinted at in the PCGamer article.

Overall, the PCGamer piece is pretty great, and I think it comes with a couple of new photos. Special thanks to Matt and the rest of the Planetside team for how available and open they are on a regular basis!

On a personal note, the PCGamer article leaves me more confused than ever. I'm a huge NC fan. Every time I see a new photo of the NC, their infantry armor seems to be a different, progressively brighter color than it was in the last photo.

To recap, NC armor started off looking blackened, combat-ready, and cool. (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1648) When the NC preview week came along, the armor got a lot bolder and more colorful, as I can only assume the New Conglomerate needed a low-cost supply of new body armor for fresh recruits ("The Ikea") (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1710). Now, in what I hope is merely the impressive visual effect of direct sunlight on shiny metal, the NC are looking positively iridescent (http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Planetside-2-preview-5.jpg).

My question is: will NC infantry be able to choose to wear the blackened, battle-worn armor featured in the early photos, in the same way that the VS get to choose the color of their visor?

If not, will the NC have access to cool camouflage colors, in the same way that the TR seem to have with their heavy trooper?

-Rev

[Coreldan]

Are those exclusive photos? Havn't seen em before.

Really nice to get good and positive coverage like this in big title such as PCGamer.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Good catch, those are definitely new pictures.

Edit:
Dear madness, they're still talking about adding in an AI faction after release? That's a terrible idea and I thought it had died. All PvP all the time.

[Revanant]

So, PC Gamer has a brand new article (2 pages!) that tackles a lot of new issues, complete with an extensive discussion with Matt Higby.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/04/planetside-2-preview-2/


Some things to take notice of:

1) Galaxies can act as mobile spawn points.

2) Squad leaders can act as mobile spawn points.

3) Speed of capturing an enemy base may depend on how many friendly bases are in peripheral contact.

4) Certain bases seem to be associated with specific resources. These resources might be tied to important upgrades, such that grabbing a base from an enemy might deprive them of the ability to manufacture those upgrades (example in the article: Magrider's railgun is an Auraxium-based upgrade. If you grab the Auraxium base, the VS lose the ability to produce the railgun).

5) Engineer turrets are not automated. It seems you have to gun them, as in TF2.

6) Medic can be dedicated support, or a hybrid who can heal and fight (the latter is my personal favorite).

7) MAX units can mix up their loadout as they see fit between anti-infantry and anti-vehicle, putting one of each type of weapon on an arm (kind of like the current BFR).

8) Skill training is on an Eve-online model (passive queuing, upgrades over time).

My related questions:

A) Can you train more than one skill at the same time (sniping and cloaking for infiltrator)?

B) Can you train more than one class's skills at the same time (i.e. cloaking for infiltrator and combat revival for medic)?

C) Will in-game actions affect the rate of skill acquisition/experience earned?

Conclusion: These tidbits are juicy! If PS2 is treating abilities like EVE Online or Battlestar Galactica, then it makes sense that you wind up making active choices on how to specialize. If going up in skill tiers happens passively and is limited, you can see how every choice is important. If I put 12 hours into certing a reaver, that's time I'm not spending upgrading my hacking abilities, which might have only taken 3 hours. You can also see how the business model could make money without becoming pay2win--spending money on speeding up skill training timers or unlocking multiple concurrent skill training slots is not particularly unbalancing in a game where killing someone is related to your abilities as a FPS player, but would nonetheless be attractive to a player. This is especially true if the guns you receive at level one are the bread-and-butter guns and don't vary much in effectiveness as you level up, as was hinted at in the PCGamer article.

Overall, the PCGamer piece is pretty great, and I think it comes with a couple of new photos. Special thanks to Matt and the rest of the Planetside team for how available and open they are on a regular basis!

On a personal note, the PCGamer article leaves me more confused than ever. I'm a huge NC fan. Every time I see a new photo of the NC, their infantry armor seems to be a different, progressively brighter color than it was in the last photo.

To recap, NC armor started off looking blackened, combat-ready, and cool. (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1648) When the NC preview week came along, the armor got a lot bolder and more colorful, as I can only assume the New Conglomerate needed a low-cost supply of new body armor for fresh recruits ("The Ikea") (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1710). Now, in what I hope is merely the impressive visual effect of direct sunlight on shiny metal, the NC are looking positively iridescent (http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Planetside-2-preview-5.jpg).

My question is: will NC infantry be able to choose to wear the blackened, battle-worn armor featured in the early photos, in the same way that the VS get to choose the color of their visor?

If not, will the NC have access to cool camouflage colors, in the same way that the TR seem to have with their heavy trooper?

-Rev

[SgtMAD]

you got beat

[SuperMorto]

Good read that fella!

[Revanant]

Yeah. I discovered that after I posted. As I was busy writing my analysis, Basti got the link out.

On the bright side, mine comes with Cliff Notes :).

[FIREk]

"Our gun turrets aren’t automated, they require a player to actually man them."

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[FIREk]

"Our gun turrets aren’t automated, they require a player to actually man them."

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[FIREk]

Good catch, those are definitely new pictures.

Edit:
Dear madness, they're still talking about adding in an AI faction after release? That's a terrible idea and I thought it had died. All PvP all the time.

I disagree. PvE is quite relaxing, as long as it isn't forced on you. It would be nice to play alongside VS and NC scum every once in a while. Most of the time I will prefer to curb-stomp and face-blast them, naturally.

[Revanant]

1) I will never die again from a hill coated in autoturrets.

2) The turrets might not require the engineer to fire them, as I initially thought. They might just be talking about field turrets (Osprey, Avenger, Orion).

[Mastachief]

I see nothing new here

[Mastachief]

none of this is new

[Revanant]

There is one element that an AI faction brings that hasn't been discussed--it helps prevent gang-ups.

If we assume the AI faction is a true faction, it would imply they would both defend and attack. In a situation where two of the major powers decides to gang up on the third (i.e. TR and VS against NC), a fourth faction could help keep the game even in terms of manpower and balance. It makes it a 2 v. 2 game, instead of a 3-person deathmatch. The Devs could even take an active management role, and order certain bases attacked.

Now, that being said, I'm not sure that Planetside would be Planetside if it weren't for the constantly fluctuating politics, alliances, and borders. It's a fun aspect of the metagame to know, for instance, that because the NC and TR are duking it out on Searrhus, your VS outfit is facing only light NC resistance in the caves. A lot of that might fade if it's no longer a 3-team game.

[Duddy]

I see nothing new here

Indeed, this was all in the printed edition previously.

[Revanant]

9) The six infantry classes: light assault ("glass cannon"), engineer, medic, infiltrator, heavy assault, MAX.

I may be behind the times, but I personally had no idea that GALs could be mobile spawns, or that MAXs would have BFR-style weapon loadouts and flexibility.

The EVE-Online skill system was also new to me :).

[Coreldan]

You just are behind the times :D It's been known for fairly long that Gals can spawn people.

I don't really see light assault as glass cannons though. Glass cannon would mean that they actually can dish out a crapton of damage or something at least until somebody looks meanly at them, at which point they die. That's not really the case afaik. They just get the most diversity in abilities. The jumppack and faster movement than heavy armor, being able to open doors and hack (as opposed to max), etc. The weaponry of light assault is as light as their armor, so no glass cannons there, really.

[basti]

I disagree. PvE is quite relaxing, as long as it isn't forced on you. It would be nice to play alongside VS and NC scum every once in a while. Most of the time I will prefer to curb-stomp and face-blast them, naturally.

I agree. Having a absoluty overpowered AI faction that forces NC/TR/VS to team up to survive could really be fun. Obviously its only once in a while, for special events, connected to the story. AI in the day to day gameplay would be a dealbreaker for me. :>

[Peacemaker]

Awesome article. AI wildlife? If the dev's think this game will run well enough with critters running around I like it. If done though I'd like to see it done well. Like lots of different animals some passive, some dangerous, birds that would flock together and get scared off by players alerting me to danger that kinda stuff. Also a deer sized animal so that I can hunt with my bolt driver Wilderness Sniper setup.

[Coreldan]

I wouldn't mind something small like animals and the likes. It actually adds quite a bit to games like ARMA2 where sometimes you'll mistake a deer for a ******* :D

However, any real PvE I wouldn't make.. Implementing AI isn't a 10 minute job and that's not what the game is about. And it WILL be off from fixing/implementing stuff that actually matters.

[Crator]

It makes sense that the world(s) of Planetside would have wildlife on them. If there were PvE in PS it should be wildlife, with very innovative mechanics... Not certain I like the idea of a NPC faction in PS though...

[ringring]

If you have AI then why planetside?

[basti]

Yeah. I discovered that after I posted. As I was busy writing my analysis, Basti got the link out.

On the bright side, mine comes with Cliff Notes :).

ANd im going to steal them now. :D

edit: means i make sure your wonderfull wall of text stays on top of the threat, even after the merge. :)

[basti]

AI really depens a lot on how its done. Wildlife could add to the game, but it needs to be passive stuff that usually runs away when a bunch of tanks appear.
Actual Ai enemys need to be extremly rare. No matter how good you make your AI, players will find the patterns and exploit the fuck out of it. And after a while, you know their behaviour, and the entire thing just becomes dull.

[FIREk]

If you have AI then why planetside?

Because it woud just be a bonus, and wouldn't replace the core PvP gameplay?

[Traak]

ANd im going to steal them now. :D

edit: means i make sure your wonderfull wall of text stays on top of the threat, even after the merge. :)

THE WORD IS THREAD

THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD

NOT 'THREAT'

T H R E A DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Coreldan]

Because it woud just be a bonus, and wouldn't replace the core PvP gameplay?

The thing is that instead of creatign AI/PVE, they could've created us some relevant content that is true to the nature of the game.

The PS2 dev crew, while capable and not exactly small, is still limited and there will be even more pressing issues after launch to fix. I do not want those resources wasted into creating something PS was NEVER even about.

[Rarntogo]

Because it woud just be a bonus, and wouldn't replace the core PvP gameplay?

I absolutely agree that it would be a bonus. WE all play PS for the PVP. This goes without saying. However... It's nice to have a change of pace now and then. I played City of Heroes and some of the most fun I had in that game was the Hamidon raids. AI even 20% of the time would be too much imo but every now and then would be alot of fun I think. All three factions working together against an overpowered foe. The reason I dont care for AI is they are predictable. But when it is way overpowered and difficult to defeat, predictability doesnt matter as much and there is fun in it. Who doesnt enjoy a huge fight to the death?

[basti]

THE WORD IS THREAD

THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD

NOT 'THREAT'

T H R E A DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

are you threatening me? :D

[FIREk]

THE WORD IS THREAD
THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD THREAD
NOT 'THREAT'
T H R E A DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Basti's words were "your wonderfull wall of text stays on top of the threat". Coreldan's post was below that, so maybe basti considers Coreldan a threat? :P
It's "wonderful", not "wonderfull", though. ;)

The PS2 dev crew, while capable and not exactly small, is still limited and there will be even more pressing issues after launch to fix. I do not want those resources wasted into creating something PS was NEVER even about.

I understand your point, of course. However, I'm under the impression that AI/PvE is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the devs' list of priorities. Plus, when new priorities pile up after launch, AI/PvE will go even lower. ;) Once the game is balanced, then packed full of relevant content, we may get bunnies and co-op alien invasions and stuff. ;)

[ringring]

I absolutely agree that it would be a bonus. WE all play PS for the PVP. This goes without saying. However... It's nice to have a change of pace now and then. I played City of Heroes and some of the most fun I had in that game was the Hamidon raids. AI even 20% of the time would be too much imo but every now and then would be alot of fun I think. All three factions working together against an overpowered foe. The reason I dont care for AI is they are predictable. But when it is way overpowered and difficult to defeat, predictability doesnt matter as much and there is fun in it. Who doesnt enjoy a huge fight to the death?

Yea, but it is not planetside. It is the same as every other game ......

Raid! We need healers, DPS and tanks, looting is FFA ...... if I want this, and I don't, there are plenty other games to choose from.

[LZachariah]

Fantastic article; great find, you guys. Love it.

~Zachariah

[basti]

Basti's words were "your wonderfull wall of text stays on top of the threat". Coreldan's post was below that, so maybe basti considers Coreldan a threat? :P
It's "wonderful", not "wonderfull", though. ;)



Im having it with the typos lately.

Yea, but it is not planetside. It is the same as every other game ......

Raid! We need healers, DPS and tanks, looting is FFA ...... if I want this, and I don't, there are plenty other games to choose from.


Err, i think you misunderstand the idea. Think about the usual bots from other FPS games, thats what we are talking about here.
And yes, that can be fun, if done right.

[Revanant]

This is how the light assault class was described in the article:

“Light assault is basically the ‘glass cannon’ character. He can do the most damage the quickest. He’s very agile, but it’s also very vulnerable. Because he can get to places very quickly, he can overextend himself very easily and if he doesn’t have support backing him up he can get crushed.”

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/04/planetside-2-preview-2/2/

The quote comes around midpage, about a paragraph after the photo where the three NC soldiers are doing a remarkable job of looking conspicuous.

[Wizkid45]

I still don't like the idea of classes. I like the open customization system of Planetside and not having limits forced upon me (like to heal people I HAVE to be a medic which means I cant use a heavy weapon sort of thing).

On a side note, I think wildlife in the game would be cool. Like birds and alien creatures. They don't do anything, but are there and add another level of depth to the game. Something to squish while driving around :P

[Shogun]

so nobody even noticed, that there is something very wrong on this screenie?

blue and gold mossies?

wasn´t the mossie supposed to be tr only, and didn´t higby tell us that there is no vehicle hacking in ps2?

so what´s the deal with those nc mossies?

[basti]

so nobody even noticed, that there is something very wrong on this screenie?

blue and gold mossies?

wasn´t the mossie supposed to be tr only, and didn´t higby tell us that there is no vehicle hacking in ps2?

so what´s the deal with those nc mossies?



http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Planetside-2-preview-4.jpg


Yea, thanks for pointing that out. Lemme annoy higby for a sec, because now im confused. :>

edit: wtf? The mossy has the TR logo on the wings, but it clearly is Blue and gold.
What the hell is going on? :o

[Zulthus]

Ok. Passive AI such as creatures, I'm fine with. An AI faction or enemies I am COMPLETELY against.

I hate AI. I don't play BF3, UT, Planetside, or any other multiplayer game to play against AI. I do it for MultiPLAYER. It isn't even a "nice change of pace". You know you're fighting an AI when they have linear and boring pathing patterns, they can't hit you for shit, and they have a name such as "Tom" or "Bob". If the game does actually have a AI Faction, I don't think I'll be playing very long. It wouldn't feel like the Planetside I love.

[dachlatte]

one of the best things about ps1 is that its 100% PVP. PVE has absolutly no value in an MMO imho. it gets very old very fast! if i want to fight an AI i rather play a single player game.

if they start some kind of PVE they will just split up the player base.

[EVILoHOMER]

I hope there will be an AMS or some way to deploy a Galaxy and it goes invisible to act as the new AMS.

[sylphaen]

Mmm... Those mossies have red on them and a lot of metal gray. The blue you see is the grey/white metal under shade, not really blue.

Concerning the AI stuff: no automated turrets but automated enemies ?

This sounds like a zerg of black ops without the OP health/armor and with no brains.

[dsi]

Ok. Passive AI such as creatures, I'm fine with. An AI faction or enemies I am COMPLETELY against.

I hate AI. I don't play BF3, UT, Planetside, or any other multiplayer game to play against AI. I do it for MultiPLAYER. It isn't even a "nice change of pace". You know you're fighting an AI when they have linear and boring pathing patterns, they can't hit you for shit, and they have a name such as "Tom" or "Bob". If the game does actually have a AI Faction, I don't think I'll be playing very long. It wouldn't feel like the Planetside I love.

This.

Roaming herds of giant alien creatures would be cool.

Roaming herds of pretend players is not.

[sylphaen]

Yea, but it is not planetside. It is the same as every other game ......

Raid! We need healers, DPS and tanks, looting is FFA ...... if I want this, and I don't, there are plenty other games to choose from.

Yes... It's one of my gripes... Raids can be fun but the kind of raids you would get in Planetside were a very different kind and much much more fun.

And at least, in PS, you weren't stuck into being a victim healbot that had to rely on others to survive any kind of decent PvP action.

[ShinSpitfire]

"PlanetSide 2 succeeds on that account, and then some – but does it play like an FPS, too? The old PlanetSide’s combat was muddied by unseen dice-rolls..."

unseen dice-rolls? can someone explain? :huh:

[sylphaen]

I think he means the cone of fire and how shots would randomly land inside that cone.

[HELLFISH88]

The Galaxy is really pushing the limitations of VTOL at this point. Those poor engines. It's a whale.

[Zulthus]

The Galaxy is really pushing the limitations of VTOL at this point. Those poor engines. It's a whale.

It probably isn't a VTOL. I don't see engines that can move on the y-axis, it looks like they're fixed.. and as you said, it's a whale. VTOL on that thing would be crazy.

[Xyntech]

This.

Roaming herds of giant alien creatures would be cool.

Roaming herds of pretend players is not.

I wouldn't mind some AI enemies as long as they weren't ever the focus of gameplay, aside from maybe the rare event or two.

I think hostile creatures could be done more like an environmental hazard, instead of the mobs of giant rats you get in MMORPGS.

I'm thinking more along the lines of antlions or headcrab zombies from Half Life 2. Something that you have to watch out for in certain areas, but there is no XP reward for killing them. Killing them pretty much just keeps you safe from them attacking you and depletes some of your ammo.

Using a cloaker to lure some enemies into a cluster of ai monsters could be fun.

Again, it should be more like an environmental hazard, with no real benefit other than survival to killing them. I think that would be fun and not take anything away from the main, PvP gameplay.

[basti]

so nobody even noticed, that there is something very wrong on this screenie?

blue and gold mossies?

wasn´t the mossie supposed to be tr only, and didn´t higby tell us that there is no vehicle hacking in ps2?

so what´s the deal with those nc mossies?

Asked that NC guy with a clue (the only NC with a clue actually ;) ), these are really reflections.

http://twitter.com/#!/mhigby/statuses/143408711141036032

[Bittermen]

I'm so excited!

[dsi]

I wouldn't mind some AI enemies as long as they weren't ever the focus of gameplay, aside from maybe the rare event or two.

I think hostile creatures could be done more like an environmental hazard, instead of the mobs of giant rats you get in MMORPGS.

I'm thinking more along the lines of antlions or headcrab zombies from Half Life 2. Something that you have to watch out for in certain areas, but there is no XP reward for killing them. Killing them pretty much just keeps you safe from them attacking you and depletes some of your ammo.

Using a cloaker to lure some enemies into a cluster of ai monsters could be fun.

Again, it should be more like an environmental hazard, with no real benefit other than survival to killing them. I think that would be fun and not take anything away from the main, PvP gameplay.

That is exactly what I was thinking. A very apparent environmental hazard.

[LZachariah]

If they DO add any AI npcs, I assume they would only do it with the consent of the player-base. If there were a resounding "DO NOT DO THIS" from us, I think they'd scrap it. I don't think I mind the idea of indigenous life forms (especially a few big, scary ones). That might actually really adds facets to this already amazingly-rich world they've crafted. However, i ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT AN AI FACTION OF SOLDIERS/HUMANS. That, for me, would totally disrupt the feeling of what it means to Planetside.

~Zachariah

[SKYeXile]

I think having AI instances with like uptp 10 players in it would be pretty cool, it would certainly attract more people to the game.

Also dynamic would events would be awesome....SURVIVAL MODE!

BUT CERTAINLY NOT AS A FULLTIME THING, KEEP AI OUT OF MY PVP!

[Bittermen]

Whoever was commenting on the NC armor.
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Planetside-2-preview-1.jpg

BLUEISH GRAY again.

[NewSith]

Whoever was commenting on the NC armor.
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/12/Planetside-2-preview-1.jpg

Black again.

That's no black, that's one worn out blue. To the point where it's gray.

[Blackwolf]

If the Auraxians invaded once in awhile, it might be cool. Especially if it turned into a 3 way with the VS attempting to be friendly with their gods and shooting at the TR and NC while the Auraxians act more like they hate humans and shoot at everyone... Dumb idea I know.

I'd be thrilled to see varying degrees of wildlife. Both aggressive and non-aggressive animals out in the wilderness of varying sizes. Things that challenge tanks, infantry, and aircraft a like. Maybe even territorially picky, like something the size of a BFR that attacked large vehicles on sight but generally ignored infantry and smaller vehicles. "Birds of prey" that attacked vehicles and hunted humans for food. Along with smaller animals that could be hunted for sport. I love the idea of flocks of birds.

[Bittermen]

That's no black, that's one worn out blue. To the point where it's gray.

OH WELL JESZUSSDADISNOKDSNLKDFNS.

I agree.

[NewSith]

What I'm looking at is a pistol that barely looks like a scatter pistol. More like... Just a pistol?

EDIT: It even has space for forgrip attachment. Interesting...

[basti]

If the Auraxians invaded once in awhile, it might be cool. Especially if it turned into a 3 way with the VS attempting to be friendly with their gods and shooting at the TR and NC while the Auraxians act more like they hate humans and shoot at everyone... Dumb idea I know.



Think you missed the backstory.

The VS now not exactly believe in an alien lifeform, no, we made contact with one of them, Vanu. Vanu was apperently a being of a different species that had different views than the majority of his people. He, and everyone with him, got exiled. They went to auraxis and are in contact with us since Briggs touched the artifact.
That said, the VS would shoot at those aliens just like everyone else. Story wise, it would make sense if this alien species goes after us and Vanu. But as said many times before: only for special events. Nothing reguar, as that would become rather annoying.

[Revanant]

I was the one who initially brought the NC uniforms up.

I like the metallic look of the armor in that image. It's an improvement over the bright blue. But the yellow safety paint is still a killer.

You'd have to be crazy to paint your combat armor with large dobs of yellow. In real life, troops would scrape that stuff off as soon as they could find a knife. I think this (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1648) and this (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1623) are examples of a much better theme than the current one.

Now, to be fair, other factions have their odd colors, too. Red doesn't make much sense either when it comes to effective camo, and purple and teal is just insane. But in the TR's case, the red is fairly subdued and only serves as an accent. And we already established that the Vanu have a monopoly on crazy :P.

More seriously, the purple and teal of the VS actually looks pretty good and effective, from what I can gather in the screenshots. The teal is a minor accent, and the purple is so dark it looks almost black. It gives the VS a very clean, security-force (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1772) type of look--far better than the Ikea pattern the NC are toting. (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1750)

I get the need and desire to be able to quickly distinguish the various empires and give them distinctive colors. I myself have a fondness for PS1's blue and gold REXO, which was easily the best looking armor in the game--TR's original look always reminded me of gas masks and the VS have their quirky colors. In PS1, the 'new democracy' look of the NC was amazing and bold.

But for Planetside 2, the tone is a bit more realistic and serious. I love that! The TR look amazing--their armor looks sophisticated, practical, and fierce. They've even made the gas masks and swimming goggles look amazing. Meanwhile, the VS have a very cool futuristic/minimalist aesthetic. In both cases, the color palletes provide color accents, but don't take away from realism. The TR have an all-purpose metal look, and they've even got camo. The VS wear very dark colors that will probably work well at night and in low light.

Conceptually, I love the idea of the NC using ragtag equipment. I think the idea of worn and well-used armor is great. I think it creates amazing potential for having some really rough and fierce looking armor--as captured in the early screens. I think the showstopping blue and yellow of the NC still has its place, especially on vehicles, but when applied to infantry it takes away from the realism and serious tone of the game--and it does so in a way which isn't true for the other factions. I think the low-key color accents (http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/viewer.php?img_id=1623) on the NC's early armor is a much better way to portray them.

While it might very well be that Ikea was one of the founders of the New Conglomerate, most of the things Ikea sells come in practical colors. The same should be true of their body armor line :P.

-Rev

P.S. Clearly I'm a wall-of-text kind of guy.

[Bittermen]

I like the blue n gold.

And based on Higby's tweets the armor's color changes based on the time of day(reflections) thanks to forgelight. Maybe we can change the contrast/value of the colors on the armor? Or give us preset camo? I have never played PS1 so I don't know what to expect.

[Tlacatecatl]

I wouldn't mind some AI enemies as long as they weren't ever the focus of gameplay, aside from maybe the rare event or two.

I think hostile creatures could be done more like an environmental hazard, instead of the mobs of giant rats you get in MMORPGS.

I'm thinking more along the lines of antlions or headcrab zombies from Half Life 2. Something that you have to watch out for in certain areas, but there is no XP reward for killing them. Killing them pretty much just keeps you safe from them attacking you and depletes some of your ammo.

Using a cloaker to lure some enemies into a cluster of ai monsters could be fun.

Again, it should be more like an environmental hazard, with no real benefit other than survival to killing them. I think that would be fun and not take anything away from the main, PvP gameplay.Yep hostile creatures could be an interesting aspect. I am thinking of something like the sandworms from the Dune games. Something you could encounter out in the wild but it should be rare like once every few days and only on one (or some) continents.

But that's certainly not a must have and the team should focus on the core gameplay before implementing fancy stuff like this.

But i still don't like the AI faction idea. I don't think it would be fun fighting some bots while somewhere else the other factions fight each other, especially if the bots can capture bases and you need to retake them.

And banding all players together to fight some NPCs would detract from all the lovely faction rivalry we have right now. Maybe that could be implemented as some form of Christmas event. ^^

[Revanant]

I like the blue n gold.

And based on Higby's tweets the armor's color changes based on the time of day(reflections) thanks to forgelight. Maybe we can change the contrast/value of the colors on the armor? Or give us preset camo? I have never played PS1 so I don't know what to expect.

That's probably true of the current look, which is why we're getting variations on the shade of blue.

The early photos, though, don't have the star motif or the major yellow borders. Look at the shoulder pads--all you have is metal and a small golden NC symbol ("Geared Eagle"). They also have very little blue--just the occasional stripe on a jump pack, if that.

It was a much more pared down and utilitarian look, and I think it's much more fitting for Planetside 2's tone. It also won't make me into a bullet magnet :groovy:.

[SuperMorto]

I think any AI is a bad idea. Planetside is all about the human factor. Everything on it is some dude/dudess button bashing a keyboard somewhere. Brining AI into to me would make it feel instantly like Halo or WOW. And remember bring AI into the game, you open a flood of gates for other things.

[Bittermen]

Yea there's barely any yellow. I'll be happy with whatever they give me.

On the subject of AI, I think SOE would do it similar to EVE online's incursions. Don't see why there would be any problem with having AI(events). It could also spice up the lore.

[Sifer2]

The AI faction thing sounds more like an attempt at broader mass appeal. Since a pure PvP game does not appeal to everyone. They have probably been watching Firefall an realizing they need to do something like that too.

They said they would ask the players about it before developing it though. So hopefully we can steer them in the right direction on how to implement it. I would make it so they are not on all Planets at once. So if your so desiring of pure PvP you go to one the AI are not attacking. I would make them a faction of Robots that used to serve the aliens an maintain their technology an now they see Humans as a threat an want to protect the bases an stuff from them. An would have them be adaptive an take note of what weapons/vehicles players are using an try to spawn robot types that counter it.

But that's way in the future most likely. For now i'm more interested in knowing how Medic works. Also the dual arm MAX sounds cool. So you can go anti-air while still being able to kill some Infantry.

[SuperMorto]

The AI faction thing sounds more like an attempt at broader mass appeal. Since a pure PvP game does not appeal to everyone. They have probably been watching Firefall an realizing they need to do something like that too.

They said they would ask the players about it before developing it though. So hopefully we can steer them in the right direction on how to implement it. I would make it so they are not on all Planets at once. So if your so desiring of pure PvP you go to one the AI are not attacking. I would make them a faction of Robots that used to serve the aliens an maintain their technology an now they see Humans as a threat an want to protect the bases an stuff from them. An would have them be adaptive an take note of what weapons/vehicles players are using an try to spawn robot types that counter it.

But that's way in the future most likely. For now i'm more interested in knowing how Medic works. Also the dual arm MAX sounds cool. So you can go anti-air while still being able to kill some Infantry.

If thats the case, then why not just get the Vanu to dig up some crazy alien artifact and realease all the dead people int o the world. I give you Planetside 2 Zombie mode!!!

Also you could equip your self with a hunting dog, that will attack any nme.

[Shogun]

they took away my beloved spitfire turret ai...

and then they want to add bots instead? its a nogo!

the only ai i would tolerate, would be some small wildlife. just to have something moving that could distract enemys and help with sneaking stealth attacks.
maybe some animals fight back if they get attacked, but i don´t want to see any ai enemys that lure or even try to take over bases!

maybe some very rare events with vanu coming back could be fun, but really really only as rare event like xmas. and let there be at least one cont untouched by the ai to let the people play their pvp if they don´t like the event.

regular 4th ai faction would be a dealbreaker for me.

[Baron]

I think the AI should be in the form of small furry animals, preferably cute ones.

Basically VS hover tech requires bunny marrow for a catalyst...

"Hover capacity down to 30% sir!"

"Need more bunneh powah! head for that grazing heard S by SW"

[cellinaire]

Guys. Don't fret just yet. I think what they mean by that 'AI wildlife' can either be KOS, attackable animals or non-attackable, non-KOS animals that just add more immersion to the gameworld. We will see, though :groovy:

[Gwartham]

Only if I can strap their heads or carcasses to the hood of my magrider!

Better yet!http://www.cnngo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/240x135/Ben_Stiller_as_panda.png

[Rivenshield]

>1) Galaxies can act as mobile spawn points.
>2) Squad leaders can act as mobile spawn points.
I'm still very vague and suspicious on how this is going to work. If you can drop a spawn beacon *anywhere*, then you'll have enemy troops raining all over your gigantic, twice as big as the old ones, indefensible-unless-crammed-to-capacity base. The same goes true for the Gals. Once air dominance is achieved, they can simply hang overhead and rain fresh troops wherever they please. Lame.

But if they cannot deploy within a base's SOE, then.... how are you going to take the bugger? That would require a fixed spawn point on the ground. You know. Like an AMS. Maybe squad spawn beacons *can* be placed anywhere, but Gals only spawn once they're out of an enemy SOE....? That might work. Possibly.

>3) Speed of capturing an enemy base may depend on how many friendly bases are in peripheral contact.
I think that's an elegant solution and I'm all for it. It replaces the basic function of the lattice system with something more organic. Now we can carry out daring strikes deep in enemy turf... but we better come equipped for the long haul.

>5) Engineer turrets are not automated. It seems you have to gun them, as in TF2.
What the devil is an 'engineer turret'? I've seen comments to the effect that we no longer have Spitfires, but been unable to find the material these people were quoting.... Is this an extra wall turret? A big manned turret that springs out of the ground like a hyperactive mushroom? That sounds silly as hell.

>6) Medic can be dedicated support, or a hybrid who can heal and fight (the latter is my personal favorite).
So not only do I have no control over my inventory, I'm now actually stuck in a single specialized class? The fuck is this? D&D with pew-pew lazor gunz? I could live with simply selecting as many tools, weapons, or gadgets as I have slots for -- one for light armor, two for rexo, plus one pistol-sized accessory -- and do without my custom configurations. Let the inventory autofill based on my selections. To replenish said inventory, head to a nearby equipment term and simply select the same weapon/gadget you're carrying. That's what I blithely assumed it would be.

But this? No more all-purpose support dude with a glue gun in one hand and a healing gun in the other? No more landing my fighter behind a hill and hopping out with my glue gun to patch it up? No jetpack-equipped medics, even, if that's how I want to use my one rifle slot...? ("Come on boys! On the bounce! We've got lives to save!") No mixing and matching what I'm certed for, like we did TEN FREAKING YEARS AGO? This SUCKS. What a body-blow disappointment. Next thing you'll be telling me there's no such things as land mines.

One-man tanks.... rigid 'classes'..... Shit. I wanted something more than a massive BF 2142-themed gankfest.

[Raka Maru]

Been thinking about AI interrupting gameplay and came up with some examples.

Predator: Hot spots on the planet periodically attract these creatures to come play.

Champions Online: Occasionally some overpowered 8 armed mutant comes around and attacks players yelling that this is his desert.

Hungry Wildlife: The smell of blood and BBQ brings these creatures around to feed. We may see our T-Rex if this is the case.

Small wildlife: Can confuse/distract tower guards as they focus on the stampeding herd. Birds noisily scattering and giving away troop positions (except for cloakers)

Hopefully they will not be trying to take over our bases, but I can think of the case in Alien vs Predator where they will protect an ancient pyramid they put there long ago and wanting it back since the TR took control of it for their own purposes.

If done correctly, it won't distract but add fun.

Think Jurrasic park and oversized creature grabbing the Magrider thinking its a turtle, then flinging it across the continent.

[Traak]

I want mines that are invisible. And antitank mines that do nothing to troops, but yank tank health down 90 percent.

With invisible mines, to balance, they would have to be indiscriminate, friendly OR enemy could be killed by them. Which means we would need signposts to mark them or something that is visible to friendlies.

[Revanant]

@Rivenshield

For the comment about engineer turrets, I bring you the article cite:

"This is our engineer. He can place barriers and gun turrets, and repair vehicles. But he can do a lot of offensive stuff on top of that. Our gun turrets aren’t automated, they require a player to actually man them. And then the engineer can go throw mines down and destroy vehicles"

So spitfires and their derivatives are indeed out. When I first read that quote, I figured they meant the engineer would have an item like TF2's "wrangler," where he can remotely fire his turret.

Then I recalled that Planetside originally had large man-sized turrets that an engineer could construct and players could mount--the field turret. It seems more likely that Matt meant the field turret would be returning to PS2--but all I really know about this issue is that "our gun turrets aren't automated, they require a player to actually man them."

[Squeegeez]

I'm thinking wildlife like Skyrim Mammoths, bears, wolves, etc; or Fallout. Those games did random wildlife encounters exceptionally well, with AI fighting AI at times. I'm thinking beasts more like Avatar for a game like Planetside though. I'm also open to the idea of an alien faction, although in a long far away context, like the next iteration of where Planetside would go. Special events could work, but they would have to not be done 'cheesy', they would have to be epic. Maybe I'll just wait for Mass Effect 3 for aliens, and enjoy the hell out of the Planetside 2 events for whatever they are.

[CutterJohn]

I think any AI is a bad idea. Planetside is all about the human factor. Everything on it is some dude/dudess button bashing a keyboard somewhere. Brining AI into to me would make it feel instantly like Halo or WOW. And remember bring AI into the game, you open a flood of gates for other things.

Imo its all about war, and war is chaos. AI fauna that is hostile to everyone would be admirably chaotic. Just another force of nature that the combatants have to deal with, along with storms, lightning, fog, meteor strikes, etc.

I wouldn't have it everywhere, but the 'weather' on one or two continents being wild critters that will eat your face would be pretty cool.

And regular, non-eatyourface critters would be great for look and feel on every continent.




Just so long as there is never an NPC who wants me to kill 10 of them, but I'm pretty sure everyone, devs included, agree with that.

[Captain1nsaneo]

I find it interesting that you will need to cert something to allow people to spawn in your galaxy.

[Biscuit]

AI wildlife = the Other 4th empire?

how would a outfit/empire handle a large number of stampeding wild life

could they mow it down, or use it to clog up enemy forces to give them more things to worry about when gathering resources?

[Bittermen]

If thats the case, then why not just get the Vanu to dig up some crazy alien artifact and realease all the dead people int o the world. I give you Planetside 2 Zombie mode!!!

Also you could equip your self with a hunting dog, that will attack any nme.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[Raka Maru]

AI wildlife = the Other 4th empire?

how would a outfit/empire handle a large number of stampeding wild life

could they mow it down, or use it to clog up enemy forces to give them more things to worry about when gathering resources?

LOL LOL!!!

[Traak]

You've been killed by a titanothere stampede.

[Lazza]

I'd like to see special events where the devs controls the tatics of the AI in real time and the 3 factions have to team up and take them on. That would make for a good weekend of redbull, a dark room and no pants (everyone does that right?). Also I think having wildlife would add to the overall feel of the game as long as it didnt affect performance noticeably.

[EASyEightyEight]

The introduction of AI can server multiple purposes.

1. As passive wildlife, it could react to nearby players, scurrying/flying off and possibly tipping actual soldiers off to an encroaching enemy.

2. As the great equalizer. If one faction is just getting dominated, Ancient tech from deep within Auraxis might awaken, or the ancient Vanu might return and begin strategic invasions at SOE's order. They'd be essentially the Black Ops. In the case of ancient tech machines, predictability becomes a believable factor.

3. Deadly environmental hazards, as mentioned before. Hostile, man-eating fauna. The ever popular giant sand/snow worm. A flier swarm that might blot out the sun and even deny the air to pilots. Not really AI as opposed to active hazards, but you get the picture.

4. But what I think will really (and hope will) happen is that since they're planning on branching out to other worlds eventually, AI might be introduced on a younger, colonial world as zombies/aliens. Combine PS1's modules/caverns with these zombie/alien hordes, and it might actually be fun to get to the modules. It could be said the modules turned the colony into mindless, frothing idiots, or awakened a nearby hive. Either one might help explain just wtf happened to the Ancient Vanu themselves, adding to the Planetside story.

Following this thought process, Auraxis would remain the core of Planetside, with a different planet offering another challenge besides the 8 guys actually bothering to oppose you and the 7 other guys with you. Left 4 Dead's/Starship Troopers vicious hordes + Planetside 2's co-op play. Really, should the opportunity to implement alternative game types be passed up for simply another continent to shoot each other on? Do we really need 3 Forserals?

[Raymac]

I gotta say, one of the coolest parts of the article were the Reader Comments. It was cool to see so many people say "I haven't heard of this before, but this sounds awesome!"

As for the AI, I hope they keep the game purely PvP. I could see having some passive animals frolicking around just to give the world some life. Hell, the original PS doesn't even have rivers, so it just felt so stagnant.

The only other use of AI that I'd be cool with would be an occasional event where there is some massive giant godzilla roaming around, or a swarm of starship trooper bugs. You know, just to mix things up occasionally since we are going to be playing this game for about 6 hours a day, everyday for the next 10 years or so.

[Biscuit]

Just throwing it out there

http://www.10mfh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/dino_riders.jpg

[cellinaire]

What about small group of fish scarcely scattered around the sea?

Or small scorpions and crabs we can usually see in games like Just Cause and Crysis? Not even doves, seagulls, or tiny birds? Should they just flatten all the landmasses in continents for the sake of..... er balance? ;)

[Xyntech]

What about small group of fish scarcely scattered around the sea?

Or small scorpions and crabs we can usually see in games like Just Cause and Crysis? Not even doves, seagulls, or tiny birds? Should they just flatten all the landmasses in continents for the sake of..... er balance? ;)

Trees man, trees. That's the most hardcore PvE I've ever seen in a game.

Thousands of players, and I've never seen any of them bring a single tree down.

[LimpBIT]

Great post and great read. The AI is definitely an interesting concept as well. Will be interesting to see how it plays out

[ProfessorCrow]

it could react to nearby players, scurrying/flying off and possibly tipping actual soldiers off to an encroaching enemy.


This! Love this idea. Notice a huge flock of birds take flight in the distance?

Could be they're just moving on to look for more food. Could be enemy armour moving up...

I for one am in favour of ambient wildlife throughout the game. As for aliens/zombies or even an AI faction? I'm not so certain. I get that it's supposed to bring in the PvE crowd, but I'm still so used to the Planetside way of EVERYTHING is being done by people.

Could make things a wee bit less repetitive though. My mind is open to the idea, and time will tell.

-CroW

[Captain1nsaneo]

Let's see if I can lay a concrete reason that there should not be PvE.

The game is based in its mechanics for PvP. From the ground up its build to balance player vs player and the netcode is meant for this too. PvE would change that. In games that add PvP or PvE when the focus of the game wasn't on it before we see that to be good at one requires a whole different load out configuration than the other. For PS2 this might be training skills that do more damage against the AI faction or make you take less damage from them. If we expand the AI faction to being its own thing you will need to have trained a lot of skills that are solely for AI fights to be really good at it. If you do this you'll be less effective against other human players because the time you put into not being jammered by the AI faction they may have gotten further along a skill tree that makes you die.

Environmental AI in the way of birds, crabs, or fish definitely have the potential to bring more life into the game and anything that makes a richer world I'm all for.

As for Environmental AI that can damage you, don't need that. The weather should be able to more than take care of that aspect (lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, active volcanoes, etc).

[Ailos]

I think besides birds flocking out of bushes and the occasional squirrel jumping into your face from a tree, what the game needs are those carnivore plants that eat flies... only big enough and powerful enough to eat a human.

[Xyntech]

As for Environmental AI that can damage you, don't need that. The weather should be able to more than take care of that aspect (lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, active volcanoes, etc).

I just think it can be done without ever becoming the focus. It would only ever be the focus if a group of players decided to jack off and go hunting them down. What's wrong with that? A few of my fondest memories of Planetside had nothing to do with fighting the enemy.

Think of it like Lava pools on Searhus, except that instead of dying when you go into them with nothing you can do about it, you are wading into an infestation of antlions/starship trooper bugs that you can potentially survive if you watch your back and kill any that get too close.

It shouldn't be the focus of the game, there should be no rewards for killing them, they should just be pests that you can kill or avoid.

I wouldn't have them being everywhere either, just in select areas to add flavor to a continent.

Obviously an ai invasion event would be different, but events are temporary, they don't affect gameplay in the long run.

It would require a little extra work to implement the models, textures, sounds and animations for the bugs, but the artificial intelligence should already be taken care of. All the PS2 team has to do is wait for the team working on Everquest Next to finish making a good ai system for Forgelight and then the PS2 team can lift it wholesale.

Considering that this would (in my mind) be much more of an environmental hazard than a focus of gameplay, it should be lower on the priority list, but I'd like to see all sorts of diverse environments, so I'd love to see them put this in sometime after launch.

I am totally against an "AI faction" though, at least in the way that we understand it, as a group of bots pretending and failing to play like human players. AI enemies should be stupid, so that their AI doesn't seem out of place.

Of course, AI faction can have different meanings than we are assuming. The faction could just indicate that they will attack NC, TR, VS alike, but not attack each other.

AI creatures acting as an environmental hazard: Yes
AI bots pretending to be intelligent combatants: No
Mobs that you have to grind to get ph4t l00t and l33t XP: Hell no.

That's my opinion at least.

[Hamma]

Xyntech pretty much covers my thoughts on the issue.

[TheRagingGerbil]

I just think it can be done without ever becoming the focus. It would only ever be the focus if a group of players decided to jack off and go hunting them down. What's wrong with that? A few of my fondest memories of Planetside had nothing to do with fighting the enemy.

Think of it like Lava pools on Searhus, except that instead of dying when you go into them with nothing you can do about it, you are wading into an infestation of antlions/starship trooper bugs that you can potentially survive if you watch your back and kill any that get too close.

It shouldn't be the focus of the game, there should be no rewards for killing them, they should just be pests that you can kill or avoid.

I wouldn't have them being everywhere either, just in select areas to add flavor to a continent.

Obviously an ai invasion event would be different, but events are temporary, they don't affect gameplay in the long run.

It would require a little extra work to implement the models, textures, sounds and animations for the bugs, but the artificial intelligence should already be taken care of. All the PS2 team has to do is wait for the team working on Everquest Next to finish making a good ai system for Forgelight and then the PS2 team can lift it wholesale.

Considering that this would (in my mind) be much more of an environmental hazard than a focus of gameplay, it should be lower on the priority list, but I'd like to see all sorts of diverse environments, so I'd love to see them put this in sometime after launch.

I am totally against an "AI faction" though, at least in the way that we understand it, as a group of bots pretending and failing to play like human players. AI enemies should be stupid, so that their AI doesn't seem out of place.

Of course, AI faction can have different meanings than we are assuming. The faction could just indicate that they will attack NC, TR, VS alike, but not attack each other.

AI creatures acting as an environmental hazard: Yes
AI bots pretending to be intelligent combatants: No
Mobs that you have to grind to get ph4t l00t and l33t XP: Hell no.

That's my opinion at least.

This is what I was thinking as well.

Be awesome to swoop over a ridge in your gal only to fly into a flock of Auraxian Geese and have to crash land in a nearby lake.

[Revanant]

I think it would be great if engineers could build mechanical cybertigers, whose sole purpose would be to hunt down infiltrators.
--------------
(Scene in)

(First Person View)

*Pistol and HUD in view. Environment is nighttime forest.*

(Cut to Third Person)

*Shimmery human outline moves rapidly through bushes*

[Audio: Branches crackle. Leaves crunch. Suddenly, a deafening and unworldly roar rings out. It sounds as if somebody decided to let a large predatory cat attempt to shift the gears on a semi-trailer while transporting a shipment of working fax machines)

"Please choose respawn location..."

[Xyntech]

I think it would be great if engineers could build mechanical cybertigers, whose sole purpose would be to hunt down infiltrators.
--------------
(Scene in)

(First Person View)

*Pistol and HUD in view. Environment is nighttime forest.*

(Cut to Third Person)

*Shimmery human outline moves rapidly through bushes*

[Audio: Branches crackle. Leaves crunch. Suddenly, a deafening and unworldly roar rings out. It sounds as if somebody decided to let a large predatory cat attempt to shift the gears on a semi-trailer while transporting a shipment of working fax machines)

"Please choose respawn location..."

Speaking of Infiltrators, how about adding in some frickin Bloodsuckers from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl? :evil:

They are invisible enemies who have good footspeed, can survive having an entire magazine of ammo unloaded into them, and can kill you with one swipe of their claw.

One of the scariest enemies I've ever faced in a single player FPS.

[Captain1nsaneo]

One of the scariest enemies I've ever faced in a single player FPS.

And the only multi round grenade launcher is in the middle of their nest. Man those things freaked me out. Loved that game.

[ShockNC]

AI should be limited to wildlife and should be treated like meteors currently are in PS.

mostly used for that odd occasion but please, let that be the limit of PVE in PS. if i want to go farming AI, i would play WoW.

[Bojaxs]

why bother even putting in AI if it sole purpose will have no effect on the game and only serves to be a nuisance?

How will AI improve our experience with PS? I don't see how AI will make things in the game any better. It seems pointless to add it.

[Xyntech]

why bother even putting in AI if it sole purpose will have no effect on the game and only serves to be a nuisance?

How will AI improve our experience with PS? I don't see how AI will make things in the game any better. It seems pointless to add it.

How do lava pits help gameplay? You just die if you fall in them.

What's the use of having giant mountains and cliffs? You just have to go around them.

Why have snowy continents, grassy continents, or desert continents? It's all just a bunch of computer generated geometry to fight over, why not make them all look the same?

Forgelight is an in house game engine designed for all of SOE's future MMO's, not just PS2. The dev team doesn't have to worry about developing artificial intelligence for it because AI will already be implemented for Everquest Next.

So why bother putting AI wildlife in? Because it would be fun. Just like fighting on more than one style of continent is fun. It adds flavor to an environment.

I certainly don't want the dev team to waste countless man hours on it, but I'm sure there will be time and resources to multi-task on future additions after the game launches. Wildlife doesn't have to equal not getting ES buggies.

[Crator]

why bother even putting in AI if it sole purpose will have no effect on the game and only serves to be a nuisance?

How will AI improve our experience with PS? I don't see how AI will make things in the game any better. It seems pointless to add it.

How can you say it wouldn't have any effect on the game? Ever played PS1 and had to wait out a hack at a base with nothing to do but team kill each other? Well, AI could help with that...