PlanetSide 2 and Australians 2

[Brusi]

So considering the shear amount of retarded "Aawztrayleanz dew everything upsaad down" comments in the last thread, which obviously died a horribly derailed death, only to be buried in the pet cemetery... Goku slamed that shit shut. Fair enough.

New thread. You know what that means?!

If you are not Australian, or have a valid, constructive opinion on the concerns of the Asia Pacific gaming region... don't post here, bitches!

Personally I am very interested in thoughts an opinions (and perhaps dev insight) regarding all and everything +150 latency!

Although I personally don’t expect anything grander than 250ping NAWEST, I am happy to hear the thoughts, opinions, expectations and lamentations of PAC players in regards to the new title. I'm personally expecting the worst, but preparing for the best! If only due to the latent vanu inside of me, I believe that we have the technology, to make gaming competativly in PS2, a much more palatable concept that it has been to date.

[SKYeXile]

Netcode is said to be like bf3, so its client/serverside hybrid, so hitting something should not be a problem, obviously planetside works okay 200 ping, but with reduced TTK, there is a concern of been unable to react fast enough. Also our hit packets getting to the sever later than Americans is a pain, in zergs you will find you don't often get damage done/killing blow.

As always though, we wont be on a even playing field, but i don't think it will be too bad.

[Figment]

They got The9 for China, Pro7 for Europe. Do you have Sky8 or something to publish it locally? Otherwise, just go for the lowest ping. You can't help your ping, but I'm doubtful an Aussie only server would be viable. :/

[SKYeXile]

In every other recent game I have seen there is an Oceanic server. Surely SOE wouldn't cheap out and not do the same? :lol:

Care to name those games with Oceanic servers? :P

[Kran De Loy]

It's a huge portion of the problem you guys have is from your government trying to be a bunch of fascists in regards to the internet and games in general?

Shoot your leaders and replace them with people willing to help fund an intercontinental cable to Japan that connects to that one that's getting built already between Japland and England.

Personally I sent a letter to my congressman when I was in highschool to try and get them to increase the technology on satellites so the entire world could go wireless. So far it's been working if you look at how extensive the cellphone industry is getting.

[FIREk]

If SOE doesn't have any existing server infrastructure thereabouts, I doubt they will create it for PlanetSide 2, at least not for launch.

Don't get me wrong - I want everyone to experience what I believe to be the upcoming best game evar.

If PS2 proves to be wildly popular, they may (and should) invest in servers in Australia. While you can play classic slow MMOs with friends on the other side of an ocean, which may explain the lack of said servers nowadays, this won't be possible with PS2. Fingers crossed, I guess...

[Neurotoxin]

Instead of just having Pacific servers that AUS/NZ player can join, how 'bout we also have a server in AUS/NZ that US players can join? I can see how ther may be different challenges with regional deals and legal mumbo jumbo, but I think it would be a great way to support players in that region.

[Mastachief]

With it being free to play would it not be possible to have your own server down in oz of the demand fits?

[NCLynx]

I remember there being quite a few Australians on Emerald (the East coast server) back in the original. I won't pretend to know what the ping was like for you guys but I hope it's at least decent this time around.

[FIREk]

With it being free to play would it not be possible to have your own server down in oz of the demand fits?

Possibly too massive to host on your own. That, and SOE probably wouldn't share the server software.

It's not that kind of free to play, methinks. ;)

[Brusi]

Planetside was playable with higher ping, although i felt there were some things were more difficult (such as hitting a moving target with the lasher. Although thinking about it now, I'm not sure if that was just because of the added lag from 20 lashers spamming or just due to video performance on my 2003 hardware...) The good thing about the original Planetside however was that even though it could be a very unsatisfying shooter experience, there were other roles that you could still play, where the disadvantage of high latency and packetloss were somewhat mitigated.

Netcode is said to be like bf3, so its client/serverside hybrid

I know that there may not be that much reason for comparison, as hopefully the SOE version will be custom designed for PS2 purposes, but what is BF3 like on a server with > 100 ping?

I expect that the experience of playing with higher ping should be something that they will take notice of during beta, in case there are tweaks that could still be made.

[SKYeXile]

Thought SWTOR and Rift had them? Been spending most time on those lately. But I read now those are sort of pseudo-Oceanic. Still here in the states but defined for use by Oceanic guys? Surely there is enough playerbase in Australia to justify dedicated servers there. Call up my old friends at Netstar, but I am certain they have been bought out by now, I'm sure they could host a server.

SWTOR has them yes, in fact most EA MMO's including Ultima and WAR have had them, the only other MMO to have them is POTBS, where the servers in Australia had very little to do with SOE I believe, despite them been the US publisher.

Im not aware of any others, most company's simply flag them oceanic.

As for tribes Ascend...its a lobby based arena shooter, local servers are expected.

[Katanauk]

I played Planetside on Emerald with little to no issues from Australia so I'm hoping for more of the same from Planetside 2.

I'm also hoping, in an odd way, they aren't doing Oceanic servers, that would almost (slight fantasy land here) assure me I can play on servers in other regions with little problem.

For me, Oceanic servers are too dead, or the community is split by this gargantuan language barrier.

Glad this got remade by the way, I lurked the other thread a lot, then when it died I tried a revival, (which I got slammed for haha, fair enough though it was a bit dead and buried). Really isn't much info out there for us playing in the arse end of the world, or at least as much as I'd like... so thanks for that :)

[Mastachief]

Possibly too massive to host on your own. That, and SOE probably wouldn't share the server software.

It's not that kind of free to play, methinks. ;)

I was more thinking that should there be a few thousand aussies playing SOE could do a prosat type deal and get the game localised.

[Shade Millith]

As an Australian, with mostly US friends, I'm not going to be playing on any Oceanic servers. There's very little point to me playing the game without my friends.

I had no trouble with ping in PS1, and enjoyed the game immensely, even with 250+ ping. The game was smooth and worked well.

Hopefully they don't screw it up, and the net code is better than BF3's.

[Madlaps]

PS1 had a different netcode (mainly client-side) which allowed you to hit things that you could see on your screen, regardless of where they were on their own screens to some extent. That is why you could hit things with 250+ things with ease - it's also what made the game susceptible to boosting CPU speeds and hacking (ever see those guys fly across the screen or dump a full clip of MCG bullets in a fraction of a second?)

PS2 won't be the same, but obviously we'll make do - it is a disadvantage though, which ever way you look at it.

The best thing we can do is advertise it within Australia and get as many people down here to sign up for Beta, play and have a voice as possible so that it gives Sony a reason to put some effort into making a partnership or throwing some money at a overpriced server down here.

[DirtyBird]

No intention of playing on a Oceanic server located in AU with what will most likely be a piss poor experience due to lack of numbers.

USWest if possible for that 24/7 experience and a population to support it.

[KALU]

Being an Australian and a PS1 9 year Vet even if we do get Oceanic servers I will end of on a U.S west coast one because of the friendships and long term outfit (SMF) I have been in for the same amount of time.

I dealt with +150 pings and it was playable - I will end up doing this again to play with the friends i have made of the years from the original....

This being said it would be nice for the other players in the community to have the option of a Oceanic server.

[SKYeXile]

BF3 and COD4 are playable on american servers...americans will tell you otherwise, but thats because they're bad and not used to playing with a high ping.

[DEA]

US West no questions asked :)

[Synapse]

Wouldnt timezoning your servers defeat the purpose? You want an always on global war. Not a "3 hours every evening global war"

That said, i think you aussies should be organized and aware of your value to outfits. I spent a lot of time specifically recruiting active australians (and kiwis) in eve online because they could keep a presence up in timezones no one else could touch. When we were contesting chinese farmers for resources it was important that we always had a presence.

You guys will have unique opportunities for stealth and special forces missions, where a small group of people can have a big impact because there aren't proportionally as many people to stand against you as the other timezones have.

I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of critical base defences were resolved by who had the most australians online to make that final push so the europeans could consolidate on the new base.

Edit: So go vanu, and maybe i'll have job for you :D

[CuddlyChud]

well no one would play on Oceanic servers except Aussies and Kiwis, so unless there are like 6000+ players, it probably wouldn't be worth it for either SOE or the players.

[SKYeXile]

Wouldnt timezoning your servers defeat the purpose? You want an always on global war. Not a "3 hours every evening global war"

That said, i think you aussies should be organized and aware of your value to outfits. I spent a lot of time specifically recruiting active australians (and kiwis) in eve online because they could keep a presence up in timezones no one else could touch. When we were contesting chinese farmers for resources it was important that we always had a presence.

You guys will have unique opportunities for stealth and special forces missions, where a small group of people can have a big impact because there aren't proportionally as many people to stand against you as the other timezones have.

I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of critical base defences were resolved by who had the most australians online to make that final push so the europeans could consolidate on the new base.

Edit: So go vanu, and maybe i'll have job for you :D

there would be little point having an Oceanic flagged server, it would have to be AU hosted or bust. But even if it was AU hoasted, id still very much consider rolling on a US server. I cant see myself playing PS2 with anybody but FC.

[KALU]

Wouldnt timezoning your servers defeat the purpose? You want an always on global war. Not a "3 hours every evening global war"

That said, i think you aussies should be organized and aware of your value to outfits. I spent a lot of time specifically recruiting active australians (and kiwis) in eve online because they could keep a presence up in timezones no one else could touch. When we were contesting chinese farmers for resources it was important that we always had a presence.

You guys will have unique opportunities for stealth and special forces missions, where a small group of people can have a big impact because there aren't proportionally as many people to stand against you as the other timezones have.

I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of critical base defences were resolved by who had the most australians online to make that final push so the europeans could consolidate on the new base.

Edit: So go vanu, and maybe i'll have job for you :D

Well said and good point man!

[windlord]

Well I remember it being said that the game was being crunched on the server and client side.

So my hope is that that fact will ameliorate our ping concerns... at least a little bit.

I'm going to have a crack at it regardless. I remember the bad old ping days. My theory is that we'll just have to be better or more clever at playing to make up for it.

And hopefully.... hopefully the National Broadband might help as well... perhaps. If we see it and they don't stuff it up... which wouldn't surprise me....

in other news. Did you know that Australia is actually on top of the world? Everyone else has been wrong all along. I suggest you turn all your maps upside down today!

Btw Synapse I was planning on going Vanu, I'm in Melbourne so remember to throw me an invite.

[Brandy]

I actually hope we DONT have Oceanic servers, because they usually get filled with asians who wont speak any english, making teamwork nigh impossible. :mad:

[Daffan]

As many others have said, Planetside 1 was fine to play with the ping from Australia. So it seemed when I played it, but Planetside 2 is shaping up to be a much faster paced game ^ So that too is something to think about.

[Shade Millith]

That said, i think you aussies should be organized and aware of your value to outfits. I spent a lot of time specifically recruiting active australians (and kiwis) in eve online because they could keep a presence up in timezones no one else could touch. When we were contesting chinese farmers for resources it was important that we always had a presence.

Aussies/Kiwis in MMO's like EVE Online are defiantly a sought after thing, because we're an English speaking country in a non-mainsteam timezone.

But it will come down to how accepting PS2's netcode is.

PS1's CSHD net code style was PERFECT for us. If we shot something, it was shot.
Our movement was client side, so there was no rubber banding.
Everything ran smoothly.

If it feels like PS1's netcode, then everything will be hunky dory. If not... then it's going to be very unlikely it'll take off in Aus.

[WNxThentar]

Netcode is said to be like bf3, so its client/serverside hybrid, so hitting something should not be a problem, obviously planetside works okay 200 ping, but with reduced TTK, there is a concern of been unable to react fast enough. Also our hit packets getting to the sever later than Americans is a pain, in zergs you will find you don't often get damage done/killing blow.

As always though, we wont be on a even playing field, but i don't think it will be too bad.

Getting the killing blow won't matter. The game keeps track of every bit of dmg you do. It doesn't matter if you hit them first or last you'll get xp for assisting if you don't get the kill shot.

[WNxThentar]

If SOE doesn't have any existing server infrastructure thereabouts, I doubt they will create it for PlanetSide 2, at least not for launch.

Don't get me wrong - I want everyone to experience what I believe to be the upcoming best game evar.

If PS2 proves to be wildly popular, they may (and should) invest in servers in Australia. While you can play classic slow MMOs with friends on the other side of an ocean, which may explain the lack of said servers nowadays, this won't be possible with PS2. Fingers crossed, I guess...

I don't want an Australian server. I want to play with my friends in the USA and Europe. I want everyone on one server spread across multiple conts. This isn't a 64x64 person map that can be placed on a windows or linux server with 32 gig of ram.

The only time I have an issue is when my ping is over 500 and then mostly only when it is over 1000 and that is a problem more with doors and terminals and not combat. Even then the ping problem is normally something at my end.

[WNxThentar]

PS1 had a different netcode (mainly client-side) which allowed you to hit things that you could see on your screen, regardless of where they were on their own screens to some extent. That is why you could hit things with 250+ things with ease - it's also what made the game susceptible to boosting CPU speeds and hacking (ever see those guys fly across the screen or dump a full clip of MCG bullets in a fraction of a second?)

PS2 won't be the same, but obviously we'll make do - it is a disadvantage though, which ever way you look at it.

The best thing we can do is advertise it within Australia and get as many people down here to sign up for Beta, play and have a voice as possible so that it gives Sony a reason to put some effort into making a partnership or throwing some money at a overpriced server down here.


From what Matt and others at SOE have said, and also refused to say, it looks like PS2 will still use a CSHD model boosted net code for MMO play but built in security much like punk buster but also an active team of people looking for hackers/exploiters with the analytical tools to identify when players are pumping out to much DPS, warps/travelling to fast then actively banning those players.

I'd expect that it will be easier for them to track down exploits and implement code changes to nullify them. The issue with PS1 was largely that the human resources needed to prevent cheating was never really there. If micro transactions go well and enough people are playing this game it will be not only commercially viable for them to counter act the cheating but it will be in their best interest to do so because if they don't they'll loose players.

[WNxThentar]

Wouldnt timezoning ... new base.

Edit: So go vanu, and maybe i'll have job for you :D

well said.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[outsider]

Well the gameplay out of E3 was very promising for us in Aus.

I'd be very surprised if we can't tunnel a faster ping to the host servers than what they got out of E3.

Besides solid teamwork trumps ping everytime.

[StumpyTheOzzie]

I wouldnt be surprised if a lot of critical base defences were resolved by who had the most australians online to make that final push so the europeans could run away screamingon the new base.

Edit: So go vanu, and maybe i'll have job for you :D

Fixed it for you.

Can't tell you how many times I logged on in the evening, turned the world purple, logged on again at lunchtime and saw that the Euros and Americans had fucked it all up.

I actually hope we DONT have Oceanic servers, because they usually get filled with asians who wont speak any english, making teamwork nigh impossible. :mad:

yep. Me too.

[FONKY]

Hmmm maybe a kickstarter to fund for an Australian/Oceanic server? ;)

[fod]

Hmmm maybe a kickstarter to fund for an Australian/Oceanic server? ;)

this would be pretty cool if we could get something like this going but i doubt it could be done
im willing to pay for it if it was though

[eybro]

I think those Aussies that plan to jump on a US server will be very disapointed when they can't play becuase of game breaking pings/lag

The PS2 netcode will prob be very different to PS1 and you have to take into account the increased number of players on a server etc

I'm Aussie and afaic having an oceanic server is prob our only hope..
but I don't think we will get one because Higby on AGN when asked about oceanic servers said it was "not something he could commit to"
which is SOE code for not gonna happen

[Katanauk]

I think those Aussies that plan to jump on a US server will be very disapointed when they can't play becuase of game breaking pings/lag

The PS2 netcode will prob be very different to PS1 and you have to take into account the increased number of players on a server etc

I'm Aussie and afaic having an oceanic server is prob our only hope..
but I don't think we will get one because Higby on AGN when asked about oceanic servers said it was "not something he could commit to"
which is SOE code for not gonna happen

I play Planetside 1 with like a 220 ping and have zero problems. When I was in the UK I played on the same US servers with a similar ping.

SOE never let the distance thing stop them. I can't see why they'd suddenly change what they do and sod it all up. I trust them to make this work.They have stopped the region lock dealio citing the communities backlash when it was announced. This is my glimmer of hope that they're making it work. Also, haven't they said its a mix of client and server side hit detection? That'll help our cause.

An Oceanic server would be horrid, I wouldn't play on it even if it was there, same reason I didn't play on Werner when I was in UK. Pop sucks and the games dead by 11pm. US servers have a tendency to be well popped 24/7, and have a higher amount of English speakers.

[fod]

I play Planetside 1 with like a 220 ping and have zero problems. When I was in the UK I played on the same US servers with a similar ping.

SOE never let the distance thing stop them. I can't see why they'd suddenly change what they do and sod it all up. I trust them to make this work.They have stopped the region lock dealio citing the communities backlash when it was announced. This is my glimmer of hope that they're making it work. Also, haven't they said its a mix of client and server side hit detection? That'll help our cause.

An Oceanic server would be horrid, I wouldn't play on it even if it was there, same reason I didn't play on Werner when I was in UK. Pop sucks and the games dead by 11pm. US servers have a tendency to be well popped 24/7, and have a higher amount of English speakers.

i think you underestimate the amount of people that will be playing planetside 2 compared to planetside 1
imo there will be plenty of people to keep an aussie server populated and i would much rather a better ping than play on USA servers with horrible ping
yes i play (still do) planetside 1 and there are lots of times where the 200+ ping hurts gameplay imo

[Envenom]

And here I thought all Australians were still on dialup.

[Bruttal]

I find it funny that Every country wants a server located near them, don't get me wrong it would be nice but then it leaves servers rather empty at non peek hours. we need more under the sea optics, http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-02/under-sea-age-wireless-cant-we-do-better-intercontinental-fiber-optic-cables

[eybro]

I find it funny that Every country wants a server located near them

dude we are talking about a whole country probably not being able to play PS2 at all
we don't just want a local server because it would be nice

The way I see it there are only 3 possible outcomes for Aussies:

1. Unplayable lag means we can't play, Aussies don't play PS2.

2. Some netcode miracle happens and we can kinda play but will always be at a disadvantage because of high pings.

3. SOE sets up an oceanic server for Aus/NZ.

In order of probability.

[Katanauk]

I find it funny that Every country wants a server located near them, don't get me wrong it would be nice but then it leaves servers rather empty at non peek hours. we need more under the sea optics, http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-02/under-sea-age-wireless-cant-we-do-better-intercontinental-fiber-optic-cables

Another reason I don't want an Aussie server!

I liked the way Planetside worked. Few servers, all full, all the time!

Besides, the things Higby has said hint strongly towards CSHD. Which will work for us!

Some people in this thread need to get some optimism . . . or just set fire to their PC and abandon gaming all together, jeeez.

Clarification - My little dig about optimism wasn't aimed at the guy I quoted!

[Bruttal]

dude we are talking about a whole country probably not being able to play PS2 at all
we don't just want a local server because it would be nice

The way I see it there are only 3 possible outcomes for Aussies:

1. Unplayable lag means we can't play, Aussies don't play PS2.

2. Some netcode miracle happens and we can kinda play but will always be at a disadvantage because of high pings.

3. SOE sets up an oceanic server for Aus/NZ.

In order of probability.

I like how you Quote only Half of what I said. But none the less. It may not be profitable for them to build and maintain a Oceanic server. so you will end up dealing with the bad pings or not play at all. if you wanna get rude with it go right head just remember it swings both ways.

[Marinealver]

Considering that I am in Japan, I'll probibly be playing allot with you guys. I almost forgot what it is like to be in a part of the world where the only english you'll be hearing is in an Austrailian or South Africian accent.

As for Mr. Upside down well we can find him and send him to a spawn room, one that can demonstrate the superior camping skills of the outback brush if you know what I mean.