Smed State of the Game

[Hamma]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-smed-state-of-the-game-2896.htm

[Tatwi]

In the hopes that the PSU community picks back up a bit, I guess I'll start off the discussion here.

I am happy to know that game performance is the top priority, largely due to the reality that the overwhelming majority of PC users and PC gamers will simply go play something else long before they would consider upgrading their PCs to play PS2. It's just reality. PS2 needs a large population for it function properly, so increasing the accessibility to the average PC user is a smart move. This is especially true, given the unfortunate trend Valve has show us with its Steam stats: AMD is losing market share in the video card department and it's Intel (with their on CPU video) who is picking up that loss, not nVidia. That's a bad thing for "high end games", given that these Steam users are gamers rather than just average computer users. Anyhow, no matter what the game ends up needing, SOE has to make the Min Specs reflect 30 FPS in modest battles, rather than simply being able to load up the game. Doing this will set the right expectations for people, so that they know it's their computer that sucks and not the game.

I can't be the only one to breath a sigh of relief that Amerish will be in at launch. You only get one chance to make a first impression and having a solid meta game at launch really is "the other thing" that will make or break the game's public perception. People can handle a certain level of bugs and the general chaos of a game's launch, but lacking game play depth is an absolute killer. We saw this with SWTOR, where people finished up the story lines and found there wasn't much left to keep them entertained. No one wants that kind of thing to happen to PS2, so it really needs to show people right out of the gate why it's a game that will keep them entertained for years to come.

Smed was nice enough to answer my question about the firing rate being tied the player's fames per second. It's a bug rather than a design feature and it has been fixed in their internal builds of the game. Kudos to the person on the official forums who took the time to test the issue and put together that well written post. It was something that I noticed as well, but I wasn't aware of the math behind the issue and that it did not have to be that way.

I hope Hamma and Jenny are having a fun time at SOE. It will be really cool to see the SOE Live streams and the coverage from PSU, TB, and the good o'l hard working SOE community team! Do you have any plans to consolidate this media explosion into a sensible format, so we don't miss anything, Hamma?

Anyhow, good times, despite me essentially "rage quiting" this evening. I can only take so many teleporting targets at 10 frames per second and other such crazy bugfoolery! :rofl:

[Helwyr]

Overall encouraged by Smed's comments. Performance and meta game are the two biggest issues, and they acknowledge that. Also, very happy to hear about Amerish, that was a map I liked in PS1, and as a Vanu player it's home.

Other good things Smed mentioned later in the thread:

We do have no team killing (and no collision) coming at warpgates btw. We know a cluster when we see one.

It means that weapons unlocks will be done with Station Cash or Certs instead of Station Cash or Auraxium. We have no plans to sell certs. We'll have boosts though.

Wasn't surprised, but a little disappointed at his later comments in regard to PS1 vets criticism of the Class system.

I've read that thread. It comes down to respectfully disagreeing with the OP. a lot of the PS1 vets like the way we did things in that game better. I understand why, but decided how we wanted our advancement system to play a long time ago and while it's not done or balanced perfectly this is the way we've decided to go.

I still hope it can be tweaked to give a bit more feeling of both specialization and flexibility the way I think the PS1 system did well. Although, while it's no big shock Classes are here to stay.

[Tatwi]

Other good things Smed mentioned later in the thread:
Smed Wrote: It means that weapons unlocks will be done with Station Cash or Certs instead of Station Cash or Auraxium. We have no plans to sell certs. We'll have boosts though.


I was a little bummed out to read that, because Cert Points = Time and in no way do Cert Points = Skill (even the world's most awful player will gain a lot of XP/Cert Points over time). If Cert Points = Time and Time = Money, then why not cut out the middle man and just let people buy Cert Points with Money? Logically this makes complete sense, yet for some reason it seems to dramatically offend people. It's not "pay2win", it's "pay to save time".

[Ohaunlaim]

Tatwi, I believe buying cert points is frowned upon is because cert points are used for more things than station cash.

For example, I can reduce my tanks timer with certs, but cannot do that with SC.

If I could buy certs, then I could gain access to everything at max level from the moment I start the game. As it is now, I can access all weapons and such, but not the little tweaks that only certs allow. Thus I am forced to actually play the game and spend time in-game.

In other words Certs are greater than Station Cash in this scenario. (Then again only station cash can get you all the nifty cosmetic doodads, so maybe its a wash.)

[Mox]

Smed still speaks about releasing the game this year.

At least 2 more conts + meta game + resource system overhaul + mechanics leading the zerg ( coms, lattice, mission system, etc.) + bugfixing + balancing + and the list goes on and on.

I DONT THINK SMED WILL FIX ALL THESE THINGS IN ABOUT TWO MONTHS!

Everybody make ready for another early lauch of an unfinished game!

[Rago]

Lets hope they have a proper plan for that one (Aux&Certs)

What do you mean ? almost ? :D

[mbarrett]

Smed still speaks about releasing the game this year.

At least 2 more conts + meta game + resource system overhaul + mechanics leading the zerg ( coms, lattice, mission system, etc.) + bugfixing + balancing + and the list goes on and on.

I DONT THINK SMED WILL FIX ALL THESE THINGS IN ABOUT TWO MONTHS!

Everybody make ready for another early lauch of an unfinished game!

that just shows how little you know , the devs have said that they are going to support this game for the next 10 yrs and considering there is a lot of bugs etc , these can be fixed and patched up with updates , same with balancing etc . more continents / vehicles / weapons / customization will be added in as the game progresses

[Sledgecrushr]

There is so much left to go into the game. Im really excited to see the ps2 smartphone app when it comes out too.

[Valcron]

This game is in a real bad state right now. I was one of the biggest PS1 fans out there, this game simply just isn't Planetside at all- it's Battlefield but bigger maps. They totally sold out to their investors, they needed to make the game with a broad appeal- I get it, but it really ruined the PS franchise.

[Crator]

Did you guys miss the part that said they are working on the meta-game which includes continent locks!? Should be ready for launch!

To respond to Wargrim's post below mine. Even if something is screwed up at launch it can/will be fixed. And impressions can be changed fairly easy since there's no barrier to entry into the game. It's free. Don't like it go away for about and month and check back to see what's fixed, for free.

[Wargrim]

So they really want to release it in 2012? I think this is a mistake. We are in the middle of October, i do not see how all the technical issues are going to be resolved in just 2.5 month time. Right now, you can always say "its beta". And i think people can accept features comming post launch. But stability and performance must be ready from day one. New players will not have the frustration tollerance of veterans or hardcore fans that have waited years for this to come true. The first impression must be rock solid, or it will have a negative impact. I hope they do not screw up the launch.

[Envenom]

Stoked. Love this game and the direction it's going. Some of the most fun I've had in gaming thus far.

[EVILoHOMER]

I don't like the idea of the game launching this year, I don't think they'll get everything fixed and SOE has learnt more than anyone that first impressions are the most important thing.

Surely Open beta and allowing people to spend money on station cash would be a better idea? When the game launches then just give people the station cash back so they can buy the stuff they want all over again.

[Crator]

^ That sounds like a good idea but I've heard stuff like they have to launch in 2012 due to what they've signed and it's bound by law. I'd assume that means they must start collecting money at that time due to contract.

[Morsong]

Knew they'd be launching this year, and I'm guessing just a couple weeks before x-mas. Also as another player mentioned, when is the PS2 app coming out?

[Hmr85]

I was really hoping to see something from smed about Base design and redoing it. :/

[Frotang]

I cant believe they realistically think they can release the game in 2012. PS2 is trying to do way more than PS1 did at launch and PS1 beta (closed + open) lasted nearly a year. If this game releases before 2013 and succeeds it will be a amazing feat for SOE, but it is simply a scenario I cannot fathom at this point.

[bodypopper]

yeah,and theyre not even copying a tried and tested formula..

ahh well thats the end of that! chinese planetside copy anyone?

[Morsong]

all of you are making me nervous about buying new upgrades to play ps2. is it worth it or not?

[Frotang]

all of you are making me nervous about buying new upgrades to play ps2. is it worth it or not?

Only a die hard fan should upgrade their system in order to play a beta (which I did). If you fall in that category then go for it, if not I'd advise you to save money and wait a bit.

[Tatwi]

Only a die hard fan should upgrade their system in order to play a beta (which I did). If you fall in that category then go for it, if not I'd advise you to save money and wait a bit.

And if you do upgrade your computer, by purchasing a whole new one or buying parts, remember my sage advice: don't look at the price of computer parts for at least 1 year after you buy them and especially do not look at them the day after your retailer stops price matching your purchase. Prices and products change so quickly it can feel like a real kick in balls some times. :lol:

[bodypopper]

you are quite right sir

[SpottyGekko]

Best piece of news in Smed's post is that we'll have 3 continents at launch !

Launch will be at most 8 weeks from now. The dev team will be utterly exhausted by then.

I'll not be overly surprised if some of the lesser features are held-over for post launch. They have a laundry list of things to fix, add and tune. I'd be utterly amazed if it's all implemented and working by the 20th of December...

But, that said, Funcom achieved an amazing amount of work in the 3 weeks before "The Secret World" launched, so miracles are possible.

[Tatwi]

Best piece of news in Smed's post is that we'll have 3 continents at launch !

Launch will be at most 8 weeks from now. The dev team will be utterly exhausted by then.

I'll not be overly surprised if some of the lesser features are held-over for post launch. They have a laundry list of things to fix, add and tune. I'd be utterly amazed if it's all implemented and working by the 20th of December...

But, that said, Funcom achieved an amazing amount of work in the 3 weeks before "The Secret World" launched, so miracles are possible.
If SOE lays off as many people as Funcom did after TSW launched, I'm walking away from SOE and never looking back. I have no respect for companies that chew employees up and spit them out. Also, if SOE is going to deliver on their five year plan, they're going to need a lot of people to make it happen, so it would not exactly instill a lot of confidence in me that they'll actually deliver on said plan if they're laying off the folks who designed and built the game.

That said, I don't get the impression that's how SOE operates. They did pair down their studios last year, but the reality is that they also moved a lot of folks around and simply ended work on the majority of projects those studios handled (like the SWG Trading Card Game). And there seem to be a lot of people at SOE who have been there a long time and who have worked on several projects. So, I have hope that there won't be any post launch "thanks for coming out" pink slips given out at SOE.

[Fenrys]

It's disappointing that there is no mention of improving Base Design by Martha Stewart to make fortresses defensible rather than the current let as many people in as quickly as possible design.

[Helwyr]

I was a little bummed out to read that, because Cert Points = Time and in no way do Cert Points = Skill (even the world's most awful player will gain a lot of XP/Cert Points over time). If Cert Points = Time and Time = Money, then why not cut out the middle man and just let people buy Cert Points with Money? Logically this makes complete sense, yet for some reason it seems to dramatically offend people. It's not "pay2win", it's "pay to save time".

A lot of the weapons are genuine side-grades, so buying them isn't P2W. The same can not be said of many of the certs, they are outright upgrades. So, being able to purchase certs would definitely be Pay2Win.

I'm not a fan of the existing character progression in PS2, I would have much preferred PS1s system with an equivalent BR cap of around 20. Being able to buy certs outright would IMO make a bad system worse. One because as already mentioned it would be Pay2Win, and two, because it would make the period where this game actually has character specialization even shorter.

[Tooterfish]

Mid December launch would be awesome, any sooner seems like a wasted opportunity to polish the game, especially when the Beta is yielding so much good criticism and a lot of mature input, as well as being a fun way to participate in the development.

[berzerkerking]

/bump

[Drakkonan]

I'd really like TTK increased, experience points balanced, and sanctuaries, or equivalents addressed, but I'll take what I'm given. I was surprised he brought up the critics of the class system. It was obvious that they couldn't overhaul something that major this late in development, but the fact that they listened to complaints, and addressed them gives me hope that they're at least considering sanctuaries in onwith 'instant-action'.