Why is one faction's population tanking?

[Assist]

Anyone have a good reason? I have my theories, I've posted them here and people disagree with me to the point that I won't bother stating my opinion on it until maybe later in the thread.

I don't think anyone can deny that one faction has significantly changed in population numbers(ON MOST SERVERS) since game update 2, but if you wish to you can discuss that as well. I want to know why you guys think it has happened and do you think it should be addressed somehow or should it just continue to be ignored and let the community sort it out?

edit: Tanking was probably a poor choice of words, seriously unintended pun ;P

[Thunderhawk]

I know the VS have been less populated on Miller in recent weeks and ever since a few days after GU2, and has stayed down. I have noticed a surge in TR and NC populations though, and have come across loads of BR1-20 characters so am assuming they're new players coming in.

Whether this is a Magrider related population lull, I don't know but I certainly dont get in my Magrider anymore and a lot of the people I know in game that used to just play magrider exclusively have now quit.

Yes it needed "adjusting" but A lot of people (maybe not on these forums) have found the adjustment too much, coupled with a simultaneous buff to the Prowler, and it swung it too far in one direction.

I'd love to see the ration of Tank vs Tank kills now, taken from GU2 -> current day, I am positive they'd look totally different.

Sadly those people that quit I doubt will be coming back as it was one buff/nerf change too far for them, and they quit out of principle, not making a fuss on the forums, nor trying to scream about it, they just left.

Not sure if this is the trend being seen but there sure is less VS about I can tell you

[Assist]

I know the VS have been less populated on Miller in recent weeks and ever since a few days after GU2, and has stayed down. I have noticed a surge in TR and NC populations though, and have come across loads of BR1-20 characters so am assuming they're new players coming in.

Sadly those people that quit I doubt will be coming back as it was one buff/nerf change too far for them, and they quit out of principle, not making a fuss on the forums, nor trying to scream about it, they just left.

Not sure if this is the trend being seen but there sure is less VS about I can tell you

I agree. I have had the few friends I played with stop playing as well, though some of us have been messing around off and on across other characters/servers. So we would fit into that realm of new BR1-20 characters on NC/TR. I know the ones who quit probably won't be back, but the truth is they were not tank players. They quit generally because the ones who were tank players were upset with the changes, and that the changes were more heavily one-sided. No reason to login to a game and play when you know you're going to be disgruntled due to nerfs. My frame of mind has always been to not nerf because it makes people disgruntled, but to buff(or re-vamp) because people are always happy with new shinies.
So as much as I would love to blame it solely on the Magrider changes, I don't think that's all that has done it. There has to be other reasons and I'm curious as to everyone's theory on why.

As I see it the people who have stopped playing lately must be lurking here. These are not the same people who /raged all over the forums the first month and a half who never really played the game, these are people who really did enjoy the game and even though quite a bit was added in GU02, it apparently wasn't interesting enough to keep them around.

[Ghoest9]

Its one of two related reasons.


1 VS were spoiled by there easy mode starting points and are quitting now that they dont have easy mode.

or

2 VS players were only playing VS because it had easy mode map locations and now they have switched sides.



'
I think its largly number 2. NC numbers have increased.

[Assist]

Its one of two related reasons.


1 VS were spoiled by there easy mode starting points and are quitting now that they dont have easy mode.

or

2 VS players were only playing VS because it had easy mode map locations and now they have switched sides.



'
I think its largly number 2. NC numbers have increased.

So you're contributing the population drop to the Indar warpgate being changed?

[Kiten]

I honestly don't understand how the Magrider can be seen as something you wouldn't play animore now. I play in it just as much as I did before GU02, and I'm not noticing any differences.

So, I'd like to grab this first in-forums post of mine to ask. Why do so many current and ex Vanu players perceive the Magrider so differently than before?

[Canaris]

4th empire suck, that is all.

even on the offical forums there were so many whine threads from people who were VS and stated outright they were only in that faction because they thought it was OP, a slight nerf to the Mag and a couple of buffs to the Vanguard & Prowler and they jumped ship like it was on fire.

You can't do much about the suckers, I hope most went to the NC cos I don't want them in the TR even if it swells our ranks, I much prefer to shoot them in the face.

[psijaka]

Its one of two related reasons.


1 VS were spoiled by there easy mode starting points and are quitting now that they dont have easy mode.

or

2 VS players were only playing VS because it had easy mode map locations and now they have switched sides.



'
I think its largly number 2. NC numbers have increased.

Interesting take on things Ghoest. I'm NC and I much preferred the SE canyons to the dreary northern wastes that we have now.

And I've not really noticed much of a VS pop drop on Ceres; still plenty of them around to kill :D

[bpostal]

Flavor of the Month.
Which is what happens when you don't have the solidarity and empire loyalty that existed in the previous game.

[Satanam]

There's always a huge zerg and lots of NC platoons on Helios since GU2, NC were probably the weaker faction on this server. It was always TR against VS on big battles and sometimes there was some NC around, but now seems like TR and VS lost players to NC. Indar is always blue, our EXE platoons always do caps to grab some resources but then NC appear with a troup to outnumber us while they also take control from the other bases.
That's weird. It would be funny to get increase and decrease on factions' populations, but not like always the same thing.

[Ghodere]

Interesting take on things Ghoest. I'm NC and I much preferred the SE canyons to the dreary northern wastes that we have now.

And I've not really noticed much of a VS pop drop on Ceres; still plenty of them around to kill :D

Funny thing is, Vanguards are the best in the canyons after the mag climbing nerf/bug due to few flanking options negating their speed weakness, and are just behind Mags on the salt flats since it's so open that flanking is impossible. Prowlers are definitely the best in the SW rolling hills because of the abundant cover, and current Mags are totally screwed in the canyons since LOS prevents long-range engagements and strafing space is so limited. So you could say it's a combination of mag nerfs/bugs and warpgate rotation working together to make the Mag useless.

[Bunk]

Now you know how it feels to be the underdog, Vanu. ;)

[Thunderhawk]

Now you know how it feels to be the underdog, Vanu. ;)

I wouldnt say Underdog, Just the way things have developed with F2P being a factor, people login to shoot stuff, of course the majority want an easier time of it rather than struggling out of some faction loyalty.

That means the better perceived faction will always be the most highly populated.

At the moment VS are in 3rd place on the flavor side, so tend to bleed players or not attract new players as they used to.

I prefer the Amerish cont WG location now.
I am indifferent about Indar, but for Mags its a pain in the ass as all our Faction spacific charactaristics are nullified by the location.
Esamir is hardly play on, so dont care either way.

-----------------

NC have certainly enjoyed their new WG in North Indar thats for sure. They've never had it so good with Land percentage

[Calisai]

4th empire suck, that is all.


1 4th Empire were spoiled by there easy mode starting points and are quitting now that they dont have easy mode.

or

2 4th Empire players were only playing VS because it had easy mode map locations and now they have switched sides.


There... Fixed your statement there Ghoest. Personally, I've played VS since tech test... and only VS.

I think it was a huge hit perception wise. Both the Mag nerf, Prowler buff, and Indar WG rotation (lets face it... 90% of the players play Indar exclusively... at least it seems that way) all contributed to the GU2 pop decline. Whether the nerf/buff/rotation really is bad is debatable... but it SEEMED bad to those 4th empire guys with no faction loyalty... so they switched.

Mattherson went from 30-33 for all factions prior to the update, to more like 40(NC)-35(TR)-25(VS) pretty consistantly.

Now don't get me wrong... I love farming those BR 1-10 NC/TR boys as much as the next guy... but really... having 24% pop is pretty tough to fight against when everything seems like a zerg (3-4 to 1 odds)

[Ironside]

it should be 1 faction per server, said it all along, none of this jumping to flavour of the month

[Calisai]

NC have certainly enjoyed their new WG in North Indar thats for sure. They've never had it so good with Land percentage

The funny thing is... it's kinda a sucky map position. I remember when VS had the north... Had all this territory, but it was a pain to fight uphill to get into the south all the time. It looked like you owned a whole bunch, but was mostly a vacant desert and any fights on it were usually steamrolled zergfests.

I'm sure TR were happy to get the nice cozy SW. The SE seems like you are always fighting uphill or on the defensive.

The sad fact is... if 90% of the population wasn't always on Indar... it wouldn't matter that much...

Can't wait until more conts and hopefully dynamic Warpgates (or lattice or whatever the hell they decide to mess it up with) of some type.

[Sturmhardt]

it should be 1 faction per server, said it all along, none of this jumping to flavour of the month

This. It was a stupid move from SOE to enable people to play a different faction on the same server.

.sent via phone.

[Thunderhawk]

Well lets look at it objectively shall we ?

Infiltrator : Pretty even all 3 factions, TR have a beast of a Pistol though. (TR + 0.5)

Light Assault : Even

Medic : TR Medic gun is just godly. But people now use the NS-11 so evened out a bit. (I'll say even)

Engineer : Even

Heavy Assault : Even, you just need to use the right guns.

MAX : NC AI MAX is hands down best MAX for base fights. (NC +1)

----------------

Thats infantry out of the way, no reason to choose a faction on merit of weapons anyway, but then we get to vehicles.....

----------------

ESF : Mossie is by far the best ESF in the sky. (TR +1)
MBT : Prowler has become the best Tank in the game now (TR +1)
Lightnings : No comment (although enjoyed reading in /yell some NCs crying for VS Lightning nerf the other night)
Rest of vehicles are common pool.

----------------

So why would anyone pick VS ? New player that is. No reason whatsoever unless they like Purple.

Controversial comment coming up:-

I think each faction did well with 1 thing it excelled at,

TR were godly with ESFs had a good MAX and great weapons.

NC had a godly AI MAX, weapons hit hard at medium range.

VS had a godly MBT.

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

(DO NOT EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT BULLET DROP)

[Canaris]

Well lets look at it objectively shall we ?

Infiltrator : Pretty even all 3 factions, TR have a beast of a Pistol though. (TR + 0.5)

Light Assault : Even

Medic : TR Medic gun is just godly. But people now use the NS-11 so evened out a bit. (I'll say even)

Engineer : Even

Heavy Assault : Even, you just need to use the right guns.

MAX : NC AI MAX is hands down best MAX for base fights. (NC +1)

----------------

Thats infantry out of the way, no reason to choose a faction on merit of weapons anyway, but then we get to vehicles.....

----------------

ESF : Mossie is by far the best ESF in the sky. (TR +1)
MBT : Prowler has become the best Tank in the game now (TR +1)
Lightnings : No comment (although enjoyed reading in /yell some NCs crying for VS Lightning nerf the other night)
Rest of vehicles are common pool.

----------------

So why would anyone pick VS ? New player that is. No reason whatsoever unless they like Purple.

Controversial comment coming up:-

I think each faction did well with 1 thing it excelled at,

TR were godly with ESFs had a good MAX and great weapons.

NC had a godly AI MAX, weapons hit hard at medium range.

VS had a godly MBT.

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

(DO NOT EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT BULLET DROP)

I'd argue that the Scythe is better than the Mossie, I've seen good pilots handle that thing in ways that make our aces drool with envy.

[Binkley]

it should be 1 faction per server, said it all along, none of this jumping to flavour of the month

+1

The other day I thought I saw someone team-kill a sundy parked in the garage at the Crown. At the time, I thought they did it to place their own sundy there to reap the spawn XP. Later, I wondered if it could have been a real life infiltrator, a player from the attacking faction logging in as the defending faction for the purpose of sabotage. Kind of far-fetched, I admit, but if true that kind of shit would really be bad for the game.

[Assist]

4th empire suck, that is all.

even on the offical forums there were so many whine threads from people who were VS and stated outright they were only in that faction because they thought it was OP, a slight nerf to the Mag and a couple of buffs to the Vanguard & Prowler and they jumped ship like it was on fire.

You can't do much about the suckers, I hope most went to the NC cos I don't want them in the TR even if it swells our ranks, I much prefer to shoot them in the face.

I think you hit the nail on the head here, though you may not have written this as I read it. I think indeed that so many were playing VS because of how OP they were. Now they're the underdog most would say, as far as balance goes. The question is, why do the other two factions have the loyal players and the VS (apparently) had only the fotm players? It seems to me that TR/NC attract players and the VS don't, as you stated the only reason people played them is because they were OP. To me this says there's a flaw of some sort that needs to be looked at. Why is VS so unattractive to players?

My theory is what TR/NC complain the most about the VS, our weapons. Most fotm players are usually min/max players and IMO the VS don't offer anything for min/max players. We have no bullet drop on our automatics which while a lot of people see it as an advantage, combined with the damage loss at range players like myself don't see it as an advantage. Your aim is something that can be corrected as a player, whereas the damage loss cannot be corrected. That's just one of my theories as to why VS is, IMO, the least played faction right now.

[Bocheezu]

I think it's mostly warpgate-related. Before the patch, Mattherson NC were easy to warpgate, while the VS were just impossible to deal with due to ARC bio and Ceres Biotech. The first week after the patch, with normal pops, the VS get warpgated no problem while NC packed NS Salvage enough to cause a server meltdown. I think the warpgates clearly had an effect. Whether that's enough to make someone switch factions, I don't know, but I think if I was a solo player and I looked at a map and saw my faction warpgated multiple times a week, I would start to look elsewhere because digging out of that SE canyon just sucks.

[Thunderhawk]

Your aim is something that can be corrected as a player, whereas the damage loss cannot be corrected. That's just one of my theories as to why VS is, IMO, the least played faction right now.

That right there is the reason I dont respond to "but you have no bullet drop" arguments.

[Calisai]

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

If all the weapons and vehicles were the exact same across the board... VS would still be the lowest faction just based on colors alone...

I mean... Purple/Teal compared to Red/Black or Blue/Gold....

LoL

The reasons I am a die-hard VS are many... but the colors are not one of them.

[Calisai]

I'd argue that the Scythe is better than the Mossie, I've seen good pilots handle that thing in ways that make our aces drool with envy.

Good pilots of all vehicles can make maneuvers that others can envy. However, I think it's the low skill performance that drives the 4th empire away. And those same players would see the changes to the Mag as devastating.

The Mag was the king of the low-skill ability to use the tank. Easy to point the tank at a target and click the trigger. No worry about driving one way and pointing the turret the other to shoot. There are a lot of god-awful drivers out there...

Personally, I've already adjusted to the new Mag... and get just as many high number killstreaks with it (more so with the AA changes and more footzerging going on...) :)


Personally, I'd have preferred dedicated drivers... but I've learned to live with it.

[satori]

The population on Jaeger had been very even up until recent days. VS numbers have been consistently lower lately. Even though my Mag has been parked, I have no interest in switching factions myself. Too much time and too many certs invested in VS.

[Ironside]

+1

The other day I thought I saw someone team-kill a sundy parked in the garage at the Crown. At the time, I thought they did it to place their own sundy there to reap the spawn XP. Later, I wondered if it could have been a real life infiltrator, a player from the attacking faction logging in as the defending faction for the purpose of sabotage. Kind of far-fetched, I admit, but if true that kind of shit would really be bad for the game.

i've seen sundies blown many times by low level toons, makes you wonder

[Thunderhawk]

Relogging to perform an advantage is despicable behaviour and should not be allowed, there should be a 15 min cool down at least between switching factions on same servers. Hell, make it 30 min cool down.

[SGOniell]

Haven't noticed an issue on Jaeger, if anything VS are performing better now. They regularly cap Amerish and Esamir, whereas before that was what NC was doing.

[Figment]

In PS1 the best farming was done on the underpopped empire, defending chokepoint after chokepoint. >.> 15% or less was only seen in the dire late days of PS1. Typically, 25-28% would be a normal figure, but more than enough to make a stand, have a fighting chance or even expand.

In PS2 the best farming is done on the overpopped empire (aside from The Crown and Bio Domes initial defense, which means you should have a chance at owning it ;p), campsieging defenders and steamrolling and ghosting as many targets as possible (free exp!) and utilising the resource replenishment rate advantage that provides. 25% pop is by far and large insufficient to make a stand.

>.>

[ringring]

It looks to me that NC population has grown at the expense of the VS.

I can't believe that it's the magrider nerf that did it. I think I still see more magriders than vanguards.

So dunno.

[satori]

Haven't noticed an issue on Jaeger, if anything VS are performing better now. They regularly cap Amerish and Esamir, whereas before that was what NC was doing.

Maybe we're playing at different times but no question the VS population has declined while I've been on.

The success of VS hasn't suffered much. In fact, we most likely are playing at different times because VS almost always controlled Esamir, and that's been fairly consistent for the past few months. It's not a new phenomenon.

[Rbstr]

Waterson VS has pretty much always been lower-pop but I think the strong organized outfit presence has helped us keep competitive and keep from losing too many.

That Indar gate is pretty terrible, though. I feel your pain, NC.

I honestly don't understand how the Magrider can be seen as something you wouldn't play animore now. I play in it just as much as I did before GU02, and I'm not noticing any differences.

It can't even strafe off the side of a road or gentle slope anymore. Nerfs to it (which weren't that bad) + buffs to the others it have combined to really hit it hard (SOE, you have to stop doing that, you did it to the ESFs too and had to revert some of it).
Then you stick it in Indar's canyons and it's really bad news. Outside of that area or on other continents (except parts of Amerish) it's not so bad.

[AThreatToYou]

It's mag nerf combined with warpgate locations. This is surely going to make people drop from the VS.

[Graywolves]

VS seem to be a little low on connery, not too low, they've managed to avoid being warpgated mostly. But I'm also unaware of larger outfits over there.

I would hope that it wasn't the magrider balance to send some away as it was certainly very strong. Although I can understand why some players would. When you play with something to a certain standard for a period of time you get used to it and so when it's finally balanced it seems completely unfair.


It's possible the VS are simply not attracting as many players as the NC or TR. With the free to play model if you're not gaining players you're losing them.

Terran Republic has the Authoritarian appeal of order.
New Conglomerate are the freedom fighting terrorists.
Vanu Sovereignty are scientists who go pew pew.

The warpgate positions are giving more emphasis than they deserve in my opinion. Each empire on connery still seems to control a similar amount as before with VS a little behind of course but they still have their moments blitzing towards NC or TR warpgate.

[Ruzy]

I don't buy any of it.

Gear and vehicle advantages and disadvantages aside, on Helios the VS used to have 40-45% of the population on my server at all times, but never seemed to own more than 30% of the map. Now the VS has about 30-35% of the population... and owns about the same % of the map. The TR previously usually had 20-25% of the server population and we often controlled over half the map. Now with a more advantageous warpgate and a slightly higher population, we're getting pushed back to our warpgate constantly.
The NS used to have roughly 30-35% population and never moved much further out than their 1/3 of the map, and now with 35-40% of the population are completely dominating from their position in the north, often owning up to 60% of the map.

So, from my point of view, it seems like the VS got some kind of buff, as they're now able to hold the same % of the map with fewer people. The TR got some kind of nerf, as we're now holding a much smaller % of the map with even more people, and the NC either got some kind of massive buff or are simply able to utilize their additional resources much better than other factions, because they own f'ing everything, lol.

This experiential data doesn't correlate with the facts that I know about the gear and vehicle benefits and drawbacks that come with each faction, and the changes since GU2. This is what I'm so curious about. I know my server is different than other servers too, but why?

[Ghoest9]

So you're contributing the population drop to the Indar warpgate being changed?


Well all the warp gates were changed - but yes.

Before the change on Watterson is a big point of pride for the Vanu they ussually held Indar. It seemed like it was all they cared about.

[Assist]

Well all the warp gates were changed - but yes.

Before the change on Watterson is a big point of pride for the Vanu they ussually held Indar. It seemed like it was all they cared about.

Yeah just making sure that was what you were saying. VS only cared about Indar because the TR population was consistantly so high and NC stayed off Indar. It allowed the NC/VS to split the TR population across two continents, giving everyone a fairly equal chance at having a continent. Problem is now NC is higher in population, VS is lower, and TR is unchanged, so that whole dynamic changed even though it still plays out the same way, sort of. The warpgates on Esamir are relatively equal, IMO, so not much change there for VS but the changes on Amerish were in favor of VS I think. The NW warpgate on Amerish is the worst of the three I think, same with the SE warpgate on Indar. Esamir seems to me to be the only one well balanced, though I suppose some would disagree.

[BIGGByran]

The reason I play NC:

-I believe in their Moto! Freedom over Oppression! This is the real reason I play NC.
I did not want to be a dictator or a brain washed religious faction. (Altho I love the sounds that TR guns make *drool* not the bb gun sounds, but the others.)
-New NC player's already started off with a handy cap. Our starting guns has the worst recoil of any of the factions starting gun.

My Server VS Pop:

I now SOMETIMES see even population instead of VS always being the highest, however during the "normal" high VS pop times, the VS has about 45%ish population, which is normal.

Reasons why other faction Pop went up:

Well if one population drops, that % has to go somewhere, whether or not they switched factions. A population drop/increase doesn't always mean they switched factions. If 100 people in 1 faction logs off, it doesn't mean that 50 people on another factions logged on due to the increase in %.

[Canaris]

I also blame your love for technology, we all know that VS pride themselves on tech equals might but when we know it has the same characteristics as the sea,

As the old saying goes "ar tech be a fickle mistress" ;)
so by extention the VS are fickle

[PredatorFour]

problem is when they balance things they go too far. Instead of slight adjustments they go hell for leather the other way.

Why can't we VS just have the mag of old(PS 1) - the mag that could strafe /climb up hard to get up hills, the sleek designed mag not this heavily pregnant mag we have now. I'd take a significant armor decrease to have the mag of old (see what i did there)

[AThreatToYou]

problem is when they balance things they go too far. Instead of slight adjustments they go hell for leather the other way.

Why can't we VS just have the mag of old(PS 1) - the mag that could strafe /climb up hard to get up hills, the sleek designed mag not this heavily pregnant mag we have now. I'd take a significant armor decrease to have the mag of old (see what i did there)

I would too, but the mag of old is incompatible with the current control profile if we have the driver also be the main gunner (strafe+turn+aim = not going to work). Therefore, we would have to swap the main and secondary guns for the VS MBT's seats, which Smed/Higby (and here I construe a thing) don't want to do.

it would be super fucking easy to have Q and E strafe, but console kiddies couldn't handle it

[Revanmug]

So you're contributing the population drop to the Indar warpgate being changed?

It did the same in beta when NC was the most populated faction with Northern gate. Then again, VS and TR got buff at the same time NC got a few small nerf here and there (and vehicule bug) during that switch. Meh.

While the Magrider got nerf, I blame the rotation. Just think about all those VS that couldn't stop boasting about holding Indar because it was the only important continent. Haven't heard them in a while.

Amusingly, tactical positioning are now switch. NC pop is now fully on a capped Indar while VS has the other 2 continents. Tr is still fighting everywhere and nowhere.

Haven't noticed an issue on Jaeger, if anything VS are performing better now. They regularly cap Amerish and Esamir, whereas before that was what NC was doing.

Same on Waterson. Like I said, the only big change is the position. Not enough population on any server (except maybe miller) to fill all 3 continent. You are stuck with only Indar being mostly full and 2 other mostly empty.

Result:
NC stay on its best Warpgate and "most important" (if you believe it) continent, Indar. The action is there anyway.
VS is stuck on the worst position on Indar. Capture other continents since fewer number doesn't show as well the weakness of a few warpgates (Esamir North-West for example).

[Sobic]

I think it simply has to do with the lack of mechanics to force the battlefield on to different maps. People are simply getting tired of fighting on Indar. I truly hate fighting on that map from certain directions. So many hours of it in beta, and now its were all the pop is at on all the servers.

The above will effect all factions in one way or another.
It really is unfortunate that SOE has shown to have no idea how to build a solid strategic gaming experience. We had all those years of the PS1 experiment and it was all thrown away because you know they had to sell it to the suits that the new FPS generation requires a different game. Just look at the road map. First two months are cash shop related features. Guns,preview,account wide unlocks. I know they need to make the monies, but holy crap give us some strategic depth at the same time so we can keep people around.

Risk vs Reward will never change. Sick of playing BF2 on a bigger map.

[Rothnang]

The tank changes have definitely severely hurt Vanu on my server as well. You still see Magriders here and there, but not anywhere near as many as there used to be. Liberators are also down to maybe a third or fourth of how many there used to be. That's another huge number of people who have quit, but that's for all factions.

What I hear people saying the entire time is "We know the Magrider was the best tank, we just don't know what we are supposed to be best at now" and that's pretty much spot on the money. The TR just have the best ESF and the best MBT now, while still having the most powerful infantry weapons due to huge clips and increased screen shaking for the opponent. Meanwhile people are still whining about Vanu as though they have anything that's actually good anymore.

[MrBloodworth]

Why is one faction's population tanking?

Because one faction keeps making threads about how the population is tanking.

[Bunk]

NC have certainly enjoyed their new WG in North Indar thats for sure. They've never had it so good with Land percentage



I am inclined to agree. That North Warpgate is the best Warpgate.

[Loban]

I am inclined to agree. That North Warpgate is the best Warpgate.

Holy crap is it ever. I was convinced the NC on my server were just awful until they rotated warp gates. Now we own the entire upper region of the map most nights.

[igster]

Magrider is still the best tank by a long way. The nerf is more annoying than a real decrease in tank power.

The problem is that our warpgate positions don't suit the VS style of Tank based play.

When the NC had 2/3 of the same positions (Indar / Esamir) their population went to crap also - they are the two worst positions in the game. We have a good WG on Amerish, however, since this continent suits infantry and air combat it doesnt really match the vanu style of tank heavy play.

SE Indar is a horrible position because of the canyons and doesnt suit the VS's predominantly tank heavy play. A tank in the canyon is basically rocket and air fodder from above.

Esamir is by far the most tank friendly continent with lots of wide open gently undulating terrain. However, the top two positions suffer in terms of proximity to each other. The top left of esamir suffers the most since it is on the same side as the TR warpgate and therefore this side is attacked by the TR more than the further Eastern Side. NC are much more likely to attack the piggy in the middle too.

It's quite repetitive permanently defending the warpgate on Esamir, however, it is the best tank play in the game. As a dedicated tank crew, we normally go there for a good tank fight over Amerish which is very unfriendly to tanks and also Indar where the canyons really don't provide for good tank battles. The Indar three way is very very stale for most people.

People I know are stopping because of the persistent stalemate on Indar or the 1 sided Zergs that happen every night on Amerish and Esamir. This pattern is happening every night on Miller which I think is the most heavily populated EU Server.

This is the core of the gameplay issue.

Scenario pretty much every night after GU1
Indar : Equal pops
Esamir or Amerish would be controlled by either TR or NC 50/60% and there would be 10-20% VS pop.

The zergz away from Indar basically avoiding each other

Its not a faction problem : the NC had the same issue before GU2.

Solution : Make the population bonus meaninful. A 16% xp bonus for being outpopped and warpgated by both opposing factions and camped with a 5:1 enemy : friendly ratio is not enough. Make it more like the PS1 xp bonuses where a heavily outpopped faction had 40-60% xp bonuses which made it worthwhile to try to fight when heavily outgunned.

One other aspect is the 'rich get richer and poor get poorer' problem with resources. It's just a bad resource system. You can't continue to fight from a warpgate since you are gaining no or few resources. You have no choice but to leave after a while if you are camped.

IMO the resource system is just bad in every way. It rewards the zerg and camping warpgates.

[Thunderhawk]

Totally agree with the resource issue being raised here. My only understanding behind this is that its the Dev team's way of unofficially implementing continent locks by making the factions close to no resources leave, so making it possible to lock a cont even though there are footholds for every faction.

I don't like it, and would rather the resources were scrapped, but that's the way things are now, unfortunately it's making for a situation where populations drift towards continents where the faction has enough resources.

Basically This is what's causing Indar to have continuous population, with others being more like day trips for people, even for the factions that own them.

I have to admit, i still enjoy Planetside 2, but my enthusiasm is slowly whaning now, and am hardly in game for longer than an hour per time.

Ahh well

[EVILoHOMER]

1 negative thing is enough for the average person to quit, they'd rather divide their time elsewhere that put up with something bothering them.

[Hamma]

Every time there is any balance change on one empire people flood to another. It's human nature.

[Obstruction]

1. your new wg sucks

2. your max is weak

3. they nerfed your tank

4. you shoot flashlights

5. you have crown less often now

6. purple spandex

7. your voice over guy calls you a failure

8. ancient aliens meme

9. infiltrator vagina helmet

10. population xp incentive is insignificant

[Larington]

I'm struggling to understand what's going on here myself. I'd guess that, probably, about 25% of each empires players are loyal, either because of time invested in the character or adherence to an outfit or empire theme. That leaves an additional 25% who only care about having the best k/d ratio (seriously just remove that fucking metric) or most powerful equipment. I've got a BR 20-something NC character in addition to my main VS that's broken 40 now, but I mostly did that because I was suffering from "OMG I died that weapon is overpowered fever" and the only way to break that fever was to play another empire a fair bit. That said, with the populations as they are I've now returned to VS because (On Miller at least) jumping ship to spend time with NC almost seems treasonous until this period passes (That is unless I'm really bored and need a change for an hour or three).

I've enjoyed the defending I have to do in the SE of Indar, but at the same time I've grown very weary of the way I (and my outfit) often seem to end up bouncing constantly between Rashnu and Tawrich to respond to TR & NC alternating pushes. This is the thing that sticks in my head, Planetside 1 had a lot of continents and with the help of instant action (hah, when it worked) you could be sure that players would cluster at the big fight and outfits could heavily influence which continent that happened to be, so we regularly got to visit different places. And the links between continents meant that you wouldn't always be approaching the continent the same direction or you could actually push an empire out without them just pulling new vehicles at the warpgate en masse. (Surprising what a loading screen can do to continent control isn't it)

But in PS2 we've only got 3 continents, so it's harder to herd people in a particular direction with the promise they'll get a fight. Why do they need to ask an outfit where the fight is if they can be reasonably certain they'll get a fight at the crown? They don't. Then again, that was the problem with Cyssor wasn't it, it too, was the obvious choice.

I don't think it's helped that for the past few weeks the launcher has been endlessly bigging up the TR with talk of their victory in the UES, but that's probably a much smaller factor than I suspect.

I think it's interesting that if you look at the graph for tanks pulled that higby posted, the magrider is the lowest used of them all, I think it's the lack of a driver turret, most people in my outfit (aside from one or two exceptions) have started pulling the magrider only because their lightning is on timer and I'm exactly the same. The lightning is just plain more fun to drive and it's far easier to use it to sneak in close behind enemy prowlers to drop 2 anti-tank rounds in the back then dash off before a mosquito spots you than to try and use the magrider that *feels* really sluggish even though on paper its stats aren't bad at all.

As an aside, anecdotally, I really felt the downside to the low slung driver cannon on the magrider today. The curve on some of the roads leading out of the SE warpgate are sufficient that you can't actually fire over them but a lightning/vanguard/prowler can get plenty of free and easy hits... Unless sheer weight of numbers pours over them like a tidal wave. (I'm not trying to say I think the MagRider is underpowered, but I know which I enjoy running more and it's not the MagRider)

[Chewy]

10. population xp incentive is insignificant

What if XP was linked to the land you don"t have instead of pop numbers?

Say if your faction is under it's 33% of hexes defaulted to their WG then that faction gets up to 15% XP boost (no land at all). And up to an additional 2% XP for each 10% of hexes above the default 33% for the highest hex owning faction. Examples

Amerish -
TR own it all and have 0% XP. NC and VS get 30% extra XP (15% for being warpgated and another 15% for fighting back against the TRs massive forces).

Esamir -
NC holds 50% of hexes, 0% XP.
TR has it's 33%, 4% XP (for the NCs 20% above its default 33%).
VS has 10% hexes, 14% XP (10% XP for being under the default 33% and 4% XP from the NC)

Indar-
An even 33% all round. 0% XP to all for no one having under the default number of hexes and none over the default number of hexes. BUT they don't have to be the default bases. (think of a spiral of NC going south east, VS going west, and TR going north)


With this setup even an under popped faction can get extra XP. If an underdog kicks enough ass then people might just flock to them for being badasses. OR say if a large outfit locks one cont they can still go to another cont for a fight (next in the chain once more maps are out or just not wanting to sit doing nothing waiting for people to retake) without ruining the now pop based % XP .

Also think of a last stand with this system. Your platoon is the only thing keeping this last base from turning to the enemy and giving them a lock. Not only are those fights tales to be told in the halls of our grandchildren but with an added XP for defending AND the owning no other hexes. My god would that be a farm. Defenders would get massive XP while giving the biggest "Fuck You!" they can to the enemy with the attackers fighting like MAD to lock the cont for the nice FAT bonus that (BEST) comes with the lock (maybe 5K XP on top of that bases cap XP).

Seems like an idea to me.

[Rasui]

4th empire suck, that is all.

even on the offical forums there were so many whine threads from people who were VS and stated outright they were only in that faction because they thought it was OP, a slight nerf to the Mag and a couple of buffs to the Vanguard & Prowler and they jumped ship like it was on fire.

You can't do much about the suckers, I hope most went to the NC cos I don't want them in the TR even if it swells our ranks, I much prefer to shoot them in the face.

This

It's 4th empire scum fleeing like rats on a sinking ship. The funny part is the "sinking" is mostly a psychological phenomenon.