Medic/Engineer: Necessity vs Fun

[NoKitty]

From what I can gather, (I realize we know so little right now) I don't see much of a reason to play the support classes (personally) other than necessity. I think the idea that a class/role exists out of pure necessity is a gimmick. Some of the engineer abilities look fun, but medic less so.

Every class ought to be fun in their own right. Necessity should take 2nd place to fun. It is a video game and every addition, improvement, and aspect of the game should be based around that concept.

[Knightwyvern]

I'll admit that I'm not really interested in the Medic, but I could say that for pretty much every FPS ever. However the Engineer holds a looot of interest for me, I think I'll be putting in a lot of time with one and am sure I'll have a blast doing it. The more of a "gadgeteer" or emplacemet/fortification specialist I can be, the better.

[Vanu Techpriest]

Some people enjoy playing the support role. Just look at Healers in your traditional MMO. They are the players that hold the group together and can make the difference between failure and success.

Engineers seem like they will be very powerful on defense since they can deploy anti-tank mines, repair max units/vehicles, and setup stationary turrets in choke points.

Medics being able to revive team members instead of them running all the way back from spawn points will be crucial.

Keep in mind that both of these classes still have main weapons and decent to good killing power.

[TheInferno]

I loved playing Assault in 2142. I would primarily use my rifle, frag grenades, and heal and revive people who needed it.

The medic and engineer, while not as effective as a Heavy Assault, will still be powerful combatants (and actually more powerful than Light Assault, considering I think Medic and Engie get rifles and carbines for options while Light Assault only gets carbines).

I can easily see two medics or engineers concentrating fire and taking down a Heavy Assault, or even a medic winning one on one with a bit of skill. So combat wise they aren't completely useless, which is a good thing. I hate the idea of medics being useless in combat.

Also, I like healing and reviving people. It's one of the few jobs in which you'll always get a "ty" from your team, and it's good to help the team.

Just my 2c

[CutterJohn]

From what I can gather, (I realize we know so little right now) I don't see much of a reason to play the support classes (personally) other than necessity. I think the idea that a class/role exists out of pure necessity is a gimmick. Some of the engineer abilities look fun, but medic less so.

Every class ought to be fun in their own right. Necessity should take 2nd place to fun. It is a video game and every addition, improvement, and aspect of the game should be based around that concept.

Engineer has access to some very powerful turrets and mines, which will get plenty of people flocking to them. Healing MAXs is a secondary.

Medic seems like it will have some buffing/poisoning abilities, which may prove interesting. Aside from that, it will be popular for the self sufficiency of on demand heals, and rezzes are very profitable.

[rpxtoreador]

I think it will always give a tactical advantage.
Planetside has always been (everything considered equal) a game of the closest spawn. Not having to spawn as often and keeping the momentum forward can be invaluable.
All that said, i still probably wont play medic .

[Zebasiz]

Some people just like playing support.
From Planetside 1 experience I know I enjoy being the engineer running around behind the front lines patching up our armor. running from cover to cover to avoid snipers and rockets as I try and keep a tank running. Bein that guy who can set up a forward staging area for our troops to spawn from.
And being a medic is even more hectic!
I can't just hide in the back by the cars, now I gotta be up front in the mix of things. Shooting enemy people in the face while healing friendly people who were shot int he face. Both classes have combat ability, they just have a larger focus on non-combat functions.

I can understand that there isn't a fair ammount of people who enjoy that kind of gameplay. But I know there are several who don't always want to be in the thick face shooting everything. Sometimes you just wanna hang back in support and let the gratitude form everyone roll in. Unless you're terrible. then you're dreadfully hated.

[Memeotis]

So are you requesting the class be changed or what? To me this seems like an entirely subjective post, and personally I find much more in satisfaction keeping a squad rolling than I do playing the slightly more static role of the engineer.

[mirwalk]

I enjoy playing a medic. As long as I am not gimped on weapons.
I saw under the cert thread that there seems to be virus gun. I'll be spreading the plague baby!

[Malstrum]

I think it comes down to the player his/herself, some people might find being supportive more fun than simply killing someone, as you're helping your faction more than just yourself.

[TheInferno]

The virus gun kind of worries me... I don't want to be a debuffer/buffer class. I heal people, revive people, and shoot people. I don't need anything else. I sure as heck don't need an evil heal gun style thing like the vampiric healgun from Firefall. That's just silly.

[Immigrant]

I enjoy playing a medic. As long as I am not gimped on weapons.

This. The class is called Combat Medic so I believe we'll get enough firepower.

[Kriegson]

I don't think the E3 gameplay is really good in regards to "describing" the effective roles of classes. Really it was just a small area with infinite resources for everyone to run in and pew-pew at eachother.

[Immigrant]

The virus gun kind of worries me... I don't want to be a debuffer/buffer class. I heal people, revive people, and shoot people. I don't need anything else. I sure as heck don't need an evil heal gun style thing like the vampiric healgun from Firefall. That's just silly.

I don't care for that kind of stuff either but that's cert so it isn't necessary, you can play healer only and those who'll play with viruses will have to give up something else probably due to trade-off rule devs promised.

Only thing that sounds stupid so far is Rebirth Grenade... I mean wtf... call it Phoenix grenade it sounds way cooler...

[IMMentat]

Its all down to what weapon choices they end up with IMO.
I usually enjoy a good deployables/support class (TF2 (engineer), tribes (technician), Global Agenda (robotics)), but if the weapon variety and versatility is not there it will get annoying fast. Not many support players live to serve, many live for the challenge of keeping the troops going while providing less passive assistance (grenades, fire-support, rearguard)

[TheInferno]

Good point. I won't have to cert it if I don't like it, and if anything I might do better with a more combat-centric cert.

I think it's called the Rebirth Grenade since in lore the technology that allows us to respawn is actually called Rebirthing, so... phoenix grenade does sound cool though.

[Werefox]

I plan on playing medic - some of my best memories from PlanetSide 1 were as the sole medic in a squad. That being said, I plan on playing more as a combat medic than a triage medic (for want of a better term) as I've done that in other MMORPG's and it doesn't hold that much appeal for me anymore.

I do hope that the classes in general are rewarded for the actions that they take - both the primary and secondary actions. E.g. XP for kills (and part thereof) and XP for class specific actions - dropping ammo, repairing equipment healing, transport etc.

Looking forward to the beta to find out exactly how the developers have address the rewards for this.

[KTNApollo]

I had more fun healing in WoW than I did DPSing or Tanking. Sure, less people are attracted to support roles like the Medic, but you only need one Medic for every couple of players.

[Pillar of Armor]

Being an engineer in PS1 was awesome. I loved running through hell fire while patching up tanks and BFRs on the front line. When you could see that your line was advancing because you were keeping the armor running it felt like you were winning the battle because you were the reason the armor was still rolling. Not to mention dodging incoming rounds kept up my heart rate and gunning down infantry that got to close was always fun.

[Ratstomper]

Playing a support class in any game requires a certain type of person that just prefers that playstyle. There will be people who will pride themselves on being good medics and engineers, just like any other game. There will be a lot more combat classes than support, but that's how it should be.

I think the classes have enough gadgets and things to do that they will be desirable to people who want to play support and bearable to someone who may prefer combat.

[Pepsi]

I like your ideals OP, but generally in gaming the support classes are the least used classes. Just look at any MMO, everyone plays the DPS class. Look at FPS games, everyone plays the sniper class. In a perfect world the main attack classes should be able to survive on their own but the support classes would give their side a huge advantage. If the support classes aren't powerful enough, everyone chooses the attack classes and the game turns into a mindless cluster fest. On the other hand if support is too powerful, then it is as you say and no push by the attack classes would be successful without support.

It's a touchy subject, but making every class able to be self-sufficient would destroy the depth in the game. So it's a balancing act and you have to decide how deep and teamwork-oriented you want PS2 to be.

[NewSith]

From what I can gather, (I realize we know so little right now) I don't see much of a reason to play the support classes (personally) other than necessity. I think the idea that a class/role exists out of pure necessity is a gimmick. Some of the engineer abilities look fun, but medic less so.

Every class ought to be fun in their own right. Necessity should take 2nd place to fun. It is a video game and every addition, improvement, and aspect of the game should be based around that concept.

Now get this right, I'm not being offensive or anything, but you not finding fun in being able to rez and heal people, does not mean the same for others. I for one quite like getting on medic in BF3 from time to time, going rez and heal only and I usually end up with a gold medal.

[captainkapautz]

I don't how this whole train of thought works.

I mean seriously, DPS and Support?

Are we talking PS2 or WoW here?

Medic and more so the Engineer still have guns.

Medic even gets a rifle, unlike Engineer who only gets a carbine.

I very much intend to play Engineer, throw out as much of the supportstuff as I can and load up on explosives to blow shit up, yet I'll still be able to repair, best of both worlds really.

[Absentis]

I plan on playing medic as long as the weapons are powerful enough to actually be effective (as already said) in the case of killing enemies that killed your teammate then going to revive said teammate. Support has never been out of necessity in games I've played, it's just a matter of finding people who enjoy playing those classes.

[fod]

imo the medic and engineer (and max) look to be the most fun classes and HA and LA look to be the boring ones
but everyone has their personal preference
i pretty much play max/vehicles/advanced combat engineer 99% of the time in PS1 :P

[TheInferno]

Medic even gets a rifle, unlike Engineer who only gets a carbine..

A bit of a tangent, but I thought both got rifles? :confused:

[captainkapautz]

A bit of a tangent, but I thought both got rifles? :confused:

Nah, Engineer gets a carbine like LA.

So far only medic gets a rifle, maybe HA as well, but haven't seen that, only LMG.

[TheInferno]

Huh. That'll be interesting. Guess it's good for me I was going to go medic anyway. :D

I'm actually surprised we don't have a carbine vs. rifle discussion, but that'll probably have to wait until we see rifles. I don't think we have yet.

[Haro]

After playing as a dedicated medic in BF2 for a long time, I always felt that the real rewards with medic come from organized squads of people you know and like. There isn't a whole lot of satisfaction for rewarding strangers, and a medic isn't something that can make a huge difference in a large zerg fest with bunches of random soldiers. However, in a squad, taking on certain objectives and missions, suddenly you become critical in keeping your unit in the game and accomplishing the mission. People appreciate it, and you know that the people you are healing are worth the time/nanites/trouble.

[Zolan]

No one cares about medics, until they need a medic.

[Werefox]

No one cares about medics, until they need a medic.

Amen to that one :)

[Meriv]

I support the post saying we will see mainly two type of squads, heavy ones with maxs and HA and lighter ones with more support, plus I bet we will find the heavy ones in the center of the T where massive conflicts and zergs will happen, and in borders map sectors ( the sector that by me counts a lot more) a lot more coordinated light teams, including the night warfare/drops.

and for the ones that doesn't like support imagine a engy in a canyon with mines for veicles and turret fir infantry alone he can hold with proportion to 4vs1.

[Lonehunter]

Different people think different things are fun, open your mind.

Every class can shoot people, and has customization in doing so.
But every class also fills a secondary niche, healing, repairing, cloaking, etc.

[ArmedZealot]

The virus gun kind of worries me... I don't want to be a debuffer/buffer class. I heal people, revive people, and shoot people. I don't need anything else. I sure as heck don't need an evil heal gun style thing like the vampiric healgun from Firefall. That's just silly.

I don't see why you couldn't heal anyways even with those abilities....

[LightningDriver]

I just had a planetside gaming session, where I was running around repairing MAX's and vehicles, and mining entry points where I could. I hardly pulled out my gun, but had a good number of kills from the mines and a lot of fun.

I'm not sure why you are separating necessity and fun. Isn't everyone important? A successful army will always have a good mix of troops. Last I checked, any faction who has all ground troops and only uses heavy assault will lose every single time. Losing all the time does not sound fun to me.

[SoNaR]

LA class should be combined with the Medic class once they move the ammo from the LA class to another class. LA looks like its going to be a very popular class because of its jetpack, so giving that class the ability to heal/revive instead of just scout and lone-wolf will be a huge bonus to the whole team play aspect of the game.

[Ratstomper]

LA class should be combined with the Medic class once they move the ammo from the LA class to another class. LA looks like its going to be a very popular class because of its jetpack, so giving that class the ability to heal/revive instead of just scout and lone-wolf will be a huge bonus to the whole team play aspect of the game.

I disagree. LA has enough important jobs on it's plate without being a healer as well. I would also say LA doesn't really need the ammo drops, but that's a different topic.

It's good that medics have their own class. It brings diversity to the game play.

[super pretendo]

Engineer looks awesome. Support is generally the most fun because it provides utility and tide-turning abilities that just OMG SHOOTING can't possibly provide. If you only find facerolling GUNSHOOTIN ad nauseam, this may not be the game for you

[Kran De Loy]

To start off I have to admit I just skimmed over each post (I actually did skim each post) and it seems the general gist of the thread is the OP complained about the Medic not looking fun to play. (This isn't the point I'm gonna make.)

That's waaaaaaay too general of a thing to say. He needed to me more specific, like stating in what way the medic felt lacking.

To me the medic felt lacking in that he used a Heal Ray kind of tool to heal people with. Over all the medic felt like any other soldier on the field and that's as it should be. However the medic gun would tie up the player just healing people too much, imo.

The medic should have a recharging meter that is used for his resurrections and for his heals.
-Heals should be strictly something that medic throws at or instant injects into his targets. The heal should be gradual of course, but over all the action of healing someone should take up very little of the medic's time.
-Resurrections could either be a quick action like the heal or a sustained action that eats up the medic's time to do. Personally I lean towards making resurrections a sustained action that takes a second or two to do.

The Engineer however already has many of the same concepts in things like placable mines and turrets. However I believe the Engineer should keep his repair gun as it is, since repairing a vehicle, something much much bigger and tougher than anything else should take up the engineer's time.

Kind of like Brink ;)


I enjoy playing a medic. As long as I am not gimped on weapons.
I saw under the cert thread that there seems to be virus gun. I'll be spreading the plague baby!

It will be instantly known as the AIDs gun. Terrible joke but it will happen and there is no use denying it.

[Wayside]

From what I can gather, (I realize we know so little right now) I don't see much of a reason to play the support classes (personally) other than necessity. I think the idea that a class/role exists out of pure necessity is a gimmick. Some of the engineer abilities look fun, but medic less so.

Every class ought to be fun in their own right. Necessity should take 2nd place to fun. It is a video game and every addition, improvement, and aspect of the game should be based around that concept.

I agree that every class should be fun to play in its own way, but that does not mean every class has to be equally fun for every person who plays the game. Some people find great satisfaction in the simple act of supporting their fellow gamers. Those people only need the tools to do so. No other gimicks are required.

If you find yourself frowning at the playstyle of a medic or engineer, it may be that they simply aren't the right class for you. Again, its highly unlikely that SOE could make every role equally enjoyable to every type of gamer out there. Most people are going to find a class they play more often than the others. That isn't a failing on the part of the developers, its just a matter of personal taste.

[Kran De Loy]

As I was thinking of a way to condense my posts some more so it makes sense instead of just rambling all over...

I realized that my suggestions could easily be optional while the MedicGlu Gun would be the basic item that medics get.

That would be pretty sweet. To be a medic that specializes in quick injections so as to be more active participant on the battlefield while still being able to heal his allies.

To start off I have to admit I just skimmed over each post (I actually did skim each post) and it seems the general gist of the thread is the OP complained about the Medic not looking fun to play. (This isn't the point I'm gonna make.)

That's waaaaaaay too general of a thing to say. He needed to me more specific, like stating in what way the medic felt lacking.

To me the medic felt lacking in that he used a Heal Ray kind of tool to heal people with. Over all the medic felt like any other soldier on the field and that's as it should be. However the medic gun would tie up the player just healing people too much, imo.

The medic should have a recharging meter that is used for his resurrections and for his heals.
-Heals should be strictly something that medic throws at or instant injects into his targets. The heal should be gradual of course, but over all the action of healing someone should take up very little of the medic's time.
-Resurrections could either be a quick action like the heal or a sustained action that eats up the medic's time to do. Personally I lean towards making resurrections a sustained action that takes a second or two to do.

The Engineer however already has many of the same concepts in things like placable mines and turrets. However I believe the Engineer should keep his repair gun as it is, since repairing a vehicle, something much much bigger and tougher than anything else should take up the engineer's time.

Kind of like Brink ;)




It will be instantly known as the AIDs gun. Terrible joke but it will happen and there is no use denying it.

[Logri]

I'm kind of curious if defined classes will breed the "get the medic first" mentality.
In PS1 it doesn't matter since virtually everybody has a healing and repairing tool.

I'm not sure, but it looked in Neurotoxin's cert thread, that the medic has some advanced shield certs.

[JesNC]

There are various sorts of preferred gameplay.

Me for example, I'm imagining the support classes as being fun and the assault classes as a necessity. :D

Repairs, explosives, deployables, lightning grenades - count me in !!

[Shade Millith]

From what I can gather, (I realize we know so little right now) I don't see much of a reason to play the support classes (personally) other than necessity. I think the idea that a class/role exists out of pure necessity is a gimmick. Some of the engineer abilities look fun, but medic less so.

Every class ought to be fun in their own right. Necessity should take 2nd place to fun. It is a video game and every addition, improvement, and aspect of the game should be based around that concept.

Medic has a good rifle, plus self heal ability.

Engineer has good rifle, deployable turrets, plus easy access to repairs for vehicle pilots.

How are they not desirable classes to play as, even playing them solo?

Your idea of fun is not shared by every single other person. There are plenty who will play these roles for a variety of reasons.