Time. Money. Planetside.

[Feign]

Anyone else think that this game is simply not going to be ready for the 20th release date? To have it on the shelves on that day they would have to finish working on it by the 13th at the latest right? That would mean this is the last week to finish everything.

They have a LOT of fixing and balancing to do in that time. If they plan on doing everything AFTER they release then I guess I wont be picking up a copy for some time. Where are all the command features? Where is everything that is supposed to be implemented? Why does it still crash every 15 minutes!?

I dont mind buying a game and then paying a monthly fee for additional content and such, but the game I buy should be worth it on its own first. It seems that the people who shell out for the game in the beginning are going to be funding its initial development still. Its like a massive pay to play beta. We are so close to the end now that we should basically be playing on gold code. Even if they were to manage to add and change everything by the end of the week we wouldnt even have the time to test it.

Their window for capturing peoples interest will be narrow with so many big games on the horizon, (Half Life 2!?) so I do understand why they want to get it out there as soon as they can. Releasing with an unfinished game has been the beginning and the end of so many MMOG's already though, I hope they dont fall to the same fate.

Maybe they have some super patch all but ready to go which will fix all the bugs and add all the content but if not I hope they are seriously considering holding off the release until the game is at much more of a "complete" stage.

If the game is released as it currently stands I would not be purchasing it until it becomes what it is supposed to be, and if something else should take my attention and $ in that time then who knows if I will ever return. I know a lot of people feel the same way. I really, really like Planetside, best game, with the most potential I have played in a long time. It is so close to being done so please just hold off on the release until it is and I believe
that more people will come and more will stay to enjoy it.

[Happy lil Elf]

This will probably come off worse than I intend but,

If the game is released as it currently stands I would not be purchasing it

Good. If you feel that way about the game by all means don't purchase it, I don't won't have to put up with you complaining.

[Determinado]

hey wtf are you talking about? like: When it's released, nothing else happens with the game...that's not correct, it's even pretty strange you still tell so because lots of games like GTA3 (sux but was bought real a lot), it wasn't even compatible with the usual Geforce settings, and also not with ATI, tell me, anything left???

Not really, but everything was patched in a lil patch, and since much is serverside in planetside we won't have to download little tweaks (wich could happen daily!)

[Jarlo]

MMO games are NEVER really ready for release.. NEVER EVER. There are always patches and the game is never really done. If you don't like that dont play MMO.

[Feign]

I know that fixes will be available through patches, what Im saying is that as it currently stands, it is still pure BETA. People will be spending their hard earned money to participate in a second stage beta rather then a finished product.

Im not bashing this game, I love it, but releasing a buggy unfinished game is death. People get one free month after buying it. If in that time they have to spend hours downloading a patch every day, or get their characters wiped, or the servers are always down fixing this or that, many will seriously consider if it is worth it.

Im just trying to help the game survive. Im not saying that it should be flawless and perfect, but the basics NEED to be in place before they start taking peoples money.

If you had to start paying right now (Go out and buy the game and start paying monthly), before you got to play again, and without the knowledge of what really will be put into place in the future, would you?

Some people have lots of cash and dont really care one way or the other, but many of us dont have that benefit and have to actually make the decision on whether it is worth it.

We have about a weeks time, and we will all have to choose.

We will all have to answer that question in a week or so.

[kerosene31]

Will this game be perfect on release? No way. No multiplayer game ever is. However there is still time to fix the remaining bugs. Just because the cd's are put in a box when the game is gold, don't think that development will stop. There will probably be a patch available on the day of release as the devs keep working while the game is distributed.

As for balancing issues, those are easily made and will constantly evolve over time. A multiplayer game is never ever truly balanced.

If you really don't want to deal with a few bugs, then wait a month to buy.

[Peanut]

I plan on waiting a month or so after release to purchase it, as it stands now. Granted, in the past week, CTDs have become much better...but not give-more-money-to-SOE better. I'll reevaluate at the end of the beta, then see...we still got 13 days.

[Happy lil Elf]

Some people have lots of cash and dont really care one way or the other, but many of us dont have that benefit and have to actually make the decision on whether it is worth it.

That's not a valid argument though. You're not basing it on the fact that you don't have the money. You're basing your decision not to buy in on your opinion that it's not worth the money. That right there negates that argument since it's based on opinion and not fact.

If you enter a debate and take the position that something is bad and are arguing against someone who says it's good and you're both basing that on opinions and not facts, there is nothing to argue. You can talk about how unrewarding it is and how horrible the lag is, how you CTD all the time (just examples of common comments from the negative side) but the unrewarding this is not a constant=. Neither are the lag or CTD issues since I can play on my AMD 950 w/768 RAM and a GeForce 440 MX with almost no lag, some FPS issues (Duh) and virtually no CTDs unless the population maxes are being reached on a continent in which case lots of people drop.

Again if you don't want to buy it, great, we don't care. Telling others not to buy it because you don't like it is dumb, just as not buying something because someone you've never met says they don't like it. I fail to see how this game is any different than any other game. You get a free month to play it after buyig it which is as long if not longer than it takes to finish your average video game nowadays.

So I guess in closing, what's your point? That Planetside is a horrbile game? Hardly. That Planetside isn't worth paying to play? Maybe, depends on how much you like it which no one will know without buying it, as is the case with many many games. That others shouldn't buy it because you don't like it? I hope not.

[Bsod]

i'm gonna wait a month for the bugs to fix, that and Enter The MAtrix comes out May 15

[Feign]

You arent listening, I LIKE planetside, I WANT IT TO DO WELL.
Im DISSAPOINTED that they want people to start PAYING before it is ready to be paid for.

That's not a valid argument though. You're not basing it on the fact that you don't have the money. You're basing your decision not to buy in on your opinion that it's not worth the money. That right there negates that argument since it's based on opinion and not fact.

I have no clue what you are trying to tell me with this. If you want to debate me you need to have a topic first. This is not an argument but a statement. You are saying I have to buy it because I have an opinion about it???

Im not trying to dissuade people into not buying this game, because thats not what I want. What everyone is aware of is that the game is not where it should be as far as releasing it in a week is concerned. So why not simply spend a little extra time and put it there?

Is there any of us testers that would rather see it on the shelves sooner instead of later????

[Harps]

hmm .. it seems that i have read about this in 5 other threads in the last week .. Its all been talked about get over it .. its coming out on the 20th and u either buy it or dont

[AtomicBanana]

basically.... you want more beta time so u can play it for free longer. End of discussion :)

[Airlift]

For those of us in the cheap seats... what is the purpose of this thread?

[Feign]

Whats the purpose of any of these posts?

=)

[Happy lil Elf]

I have no clue what you are trying to tell me with this. If you want to debate me you need to have a topic first. This is not an argument but a statement. You are saying I have to buy it because I have an opinion about it???

Read a little farther down where I said:
Again if you don't want to buy it, great, we don't care.

It's not so much you feign. I'm just fed up with threads talking about how much the game sucks, how unbalanced it is, how this weapon needs to be nerfed, how this empire sucks (which coincidentally always seems to be the empire the person posting indicates in their sig), how it's totally unstable, etc. when virtually all of it is untrue.

I've just reached the point of not caring. You don't like the game, fine, go the hell away. You think the Phoenix/Chaingun/Cycler should get nerfed? That's fine, but next time try actually using the wepaon before crying about it...and then go the hell away. I know we're supposed ot be giving feedback on balance issues, but "The Vanguard takes 28 Strikers to Kill!!!" or "I got owned with one shot by a Phoenix!!" are not statments addressing balance, they're out-right lies. All the whining, complaining and just general idiocy that I've encounted on the Beta boards has just driven me a little insane I think. Granted this isn't the Beta boards, but I thik it's just becoming a reflex to any kind of whine or complaint.

I think the Beta boards have just really made me jaded :(

[Airlift]

Good point, but I was just wondering what kind of response you were interested in getting from this. You have to know that Sony execs aren't going to drop in and see this post and have a change of heart about the release. You might be able to catch the eye of Briley or maybe even Smokejumper, but in the last weeks of beta that becomes increasingly unlikely. Even if you did, there are much bigger wheels in motion than even the developers could probably stop at this point.

So, whether it was your intent or not, I only see two possible outcomes to this post. Those of us who follow the PSU community already know the score and we will either say "nuh uh" or "me too". We can and do argue our opinions until we all collapse from the effort.

Far more damaging to the game you insist that you like, the gamers who simply drop by to find out more about this cool-sounding game that is getting ready to come out are hearing from a beta tester that the game is unstable and unfinished. Many people have regular lockups and ctds, and a good number of those are due to bugs or problems with the game (as opposed to the equally real number of people with faulty hardware, bad configurations, multiple conflicting video drivers, crappy $10 NICs, etc. etc.), but not everyone is having those problems. Many people who would never encounter the issues you are describing will come here and read your post and probably decide that the game is unfinished and unstable.

So what was the gain from spreading your disappointment? That's all I'm asking.

[Feign]

It's not so much you feign. I'm just fed up with threads talking about how much the game sucks, how unbalanced it is, how this weapon needs to be nerfed, how this empire sucks (which coincidentally always seems to be the empire the person posting indicates in their sig), how it's totally unstable, etc. when virtually all of it is untrue.

I agree and said nothing resembling this.

You don't like the game, fine, go the hell away. You think the Phoenix/Chaingun/Cycler should get nerfed? That's fine, but next time try actually using the wepaon before crying about it...and then go the hell away. I know we're supposed ot be giving feedback on balance issues, but "The Vanguard takes 28 Strikers to Kill!!!" or "I got owned with one shot by a Phoenix!!" are not statments addressing balance, they're out-right lies. All the whining, complaining and just general idiocy that I've encounted on the Beta boards has just driven me a little insane I think.

Again:

I LIKE THE GAME.
I (@$#*) LOVE THE GAME.
I WANT THIS GAME!

Why else would this bother me?

[Feign]

The purpose for the post as far as why I posted it was pure boredom. Servers are down which means I cant play so I come and see out whats happening here. wasnt much new to read so I waste some time before servers come up by posting. Posted this.

I know that I have no power to change any of this and that no one cares and will even likely see it. Its just what was on my mind when I started a post.

I knew there would be some strong opinions either way so thought I may as well hear them while I wait. The forum IS called "Game Discussion" after all.

[Airlift]

That's all I wanted to know. I was bored too, but my opinion is that the only issue that could prevent this game from being truly fantastic are the remaining stability problems. Oddly enough, my GeForce3 64Meg card never ever crashed, but my 9700Pro All in wonder locks up (hard reset required) once every 2-3 hours of gameplay.

[Zarparchior]

I agree with Feign. I'd normally say balance issues can still happen absolutely FINE within the first few months. Nothing is glaringly bad... but the VS are underpowered. I don't think anyone argues with that - and if they do they are raving n00bs. I and anyone else could suffer through a few extra months of not quite perfect balance... except... this is a team based game. As soon as you pick a server, you can't join another empire. This presents a terrible problem.

People are comparing on public message boards about TR and NC. You get some complaints, you get some some compliments, etc. If you didn't know much about the game, you'd think there were only two sides at times. People compare the Gauss to the Cycler. People compare the Jackhammer to the Chaingun. People compare the Prowler to the Vanguard. The VS? yah, they gimp but fix late. Oooooookay... Guess I'll go TR. Guess I'll go NC. Spend a while furthering my character and lo and behold! they fixed teh VS! But... do I really want to delete my character I worked so hard for? ESPECIALLY if you're going to need a whole lot more exp to get ranks? Might as well stick with the TR. Might as well stick with the NC. I'm used to playing them anway.

So what do you get? Permanent team imbalance. As the game stands now, the superior numbers will mostly win - or at least give you a large advantage. To have the Vanu symbol below the "empire needed" at the server select screen ON EVERY WORKING SERVER means something might be wrong. If this continues post-release, it will stay that way. If you say otherwise you'd better have a good reason. Human nature is very predictable.

On a side note, I enjoy playing the game as of now. I have it preordered and will play it until I become bored with it. If I play for 2 months and quit, that's okay. I'm sure they could care less if I left now even. But what if 30% of their customers did that? 40%? Maybe more? Is that a smart decision economically? I'm a single guy, but I reprersent a certain kind of personality type. When you make an MMO, you try to make it appeal to as wise a customer base as possible. That means more bucks. EQ did an excellent job of that. Kids from 10 - 60 (range guesstimate) enjoyed playing it. Some are STILL playing it. If PS fails to keep a wide customer base happy, they'll lose a lot of their profit. I'm sure they could get by alright with just the diehards... initially. But word spreads fast. If people are disatisfied, their friends will know. And then their friends will know. I don't know how many times I've had a friend of mine ask me about a game and I tell him what my friend thought of it (not having played it myself). We both made a decision from one person. Mutliply that by a few thousands and what do you get? Maybe a game like Necron.

I don't want that. PS has potential to be very good. But the public has a short attention span. Big games are on the horizon. Will PS be the kewlest thing evar for the first few months, then recede into a small player base where it will maybe remain at 4 servers indefinitely? Or will it grow to the size of EQ, and have dozens of servers? Will people argue about balance issues in PS? Or will they simply agree that HL2 is so much more fun?

I'm sure they know all of this, though. They spent a good deal of money and time on this game. They should be well aware of what is going on. And if it flops, we might never see another one like it for awhile. That is also what scares me...

So please don't flame everyone who doesn't think PS is the coolest thing since dry ice. Most of the people who complain about this do it for the good of PS. I know I am.

[BeerJedi]

on comment i noticed was remarked to char wipe. I doubt, and i mean higly doubt (not good business practice) that they would ever character wipe a paying customers account.

In beta, it should be expected as they tweak the exp system and determine the best path of char growth vs stagnation of being stuck in a low level.

[Feign]

Of course they would hate to do a char wipe after release, it would be the worst thing they could do. Thats why they have to make sure they nail down all of the things like exploits and bugs before its on the shelves. It is possible that another change may come along that they HAVE to do which would require a wipe, and that wouldnt make people very happy. I know not likely at all but still a reason to make sure.

[Happy lil Elf]

I disagree. Vanu really aren't all that underpowered. I really think the balance is pretty close now.

The one thing I do hate though is say you and a couple other squads are doing really great on a continent. Capping bases getting close to a lock. All of a sudden instead of fighting 3 squads 3 more enemy squads show up. Then the other opposing empire shows up through a warp gate with a couple of squads. All of a sudden it's your 2 or 3 squads against 8 or 9 opposing ones. Granted it's a war that's probably how it should be, but it's still annoying as hell somedays.

[Zarparchior]

Play VS Elf, and play them more than just a few hours. Until then, I'm considering your opinion biased.

If you claim that I'm just as biased, then I'll gladly let you know I've played nigh equal amounts of time on TR, NC and VS. I'm partial to VS because that's the one my outfit is going to join when the game is released. Why have I been playin the other empires so much? A) it's beta, and I might end up leaving my outfit for a better empire, B) to better understand their tactics and hopefully devise counters. I've noticed as the TR that we've won almost all the time against the Vanu. The NC don't seem to mow through teh VS as quickly, and the fights between them usually seem to be pretty even.

I got to BR7 with all of my characters across the servers. The only one pre-lattice was on VS. Don't you think that's a bit sad?

[Feign]

I think things are getting pretty close to being balanced, the TR may be a bit stronger then the other 2 but not by much. It will take awhile to really fine tune the balance but they are pretty close already. Remember that they have all the stats and figures to look at for balancing and we only have assumptions.

[Endodroid]

I'm wondering how many balance issues that are brought up constantly over on the beta fourms are the result of getting your ass handed to you by well organized teamwork. When you're in a squad of people working towards a goal together, you just know those guys that just got wiped off the map are pissed off.

ebb and flow, just like getting owned by a more agressive group of players on the other side doesn't leave you with any warm and fuzzy feelings. I think the game is in pretty good shape at this point, if you like the gameplay right now I don't see what would stop you from getting the game on the 20th.

Your mileage may very, but last night I stayed connected for the entire login period of about 6 hours without crashing. Only had to do one forced /suicide because of the getting out of the exploding vehicle causes you to be traped under the world map.

I would have paid 12.95 for the fun I've had playing this game over the last month, even with all the anoying crashes.

[Matuse]

It seems that the people who shell out for the game in the beginning are going to be funding its initial development still. Its like a massive pay to play beta.

I'm guessing that you have zero experience with MMO games, Feign. Just picking a random example out of nowhere, let's look at Everquest.

Everquest has been in public release for over 4 years now. Most active players will agree that they are *STILL* in pay-for-play beta mode. Always will be. That's how it works.

If they expect it in stores on the 20th, then the 13th-14th would be the day the discs go gold...but they'll change stuff between Gold and the day you buy your discs, so the very first day, expect to patch. Then expect to patch the day after that, the day after that, 3 times the day after that, then another one the day after that...for probably the first 2 weeks. Then it will slow down to maybe a patch a week for another 2 months, followed by a patch every 2 weeks (and then more random server downtime for hardware maintenance, etc)...if this doesn't appeal to you, DON'T BUY THE GAME. Don't doubt for a second that it won't happen the way I describe.

[AcidCat]

Originally posted by Zarparchior
. Big games are on the horizon. Will PS be the kewlest thing evar for the first few months, then recede into a small player base where it will maybe remain at 4 servers indefinitely?

I understand your post ... there is something about Planetside that .... could be so great. I'm not going to even attempt to say "this is what PS needs" and launch into a diatribe similar to countless ones I've seen on the beta forums. But ... there is just something missing from the game, and it has to do with long-term interest. There are MANY things that are fun and enjoyable about the game ... but for me - and I know for many others - there comes a point after a certain amount of playtime, I'm going to say 1 to 2 months ... where you just start asking yourself - "Is that all there is?"

I understand those still infatuated with the game. I myself for the first 3 weeks of play could simply not get enough of Planetside. But in ALL games there comes a point where you simply get BORED .. you start to feel as if you are just going through the motions out of habit rather than out of a real desire to play. And I think a lot of people are recognizing that that point comes far too early in PS ... especially considering that this is a pay-to-play game.

Surely, not everyone agrees. There are undoubtedly gamers that would play to play PS in its current state for a year or more. I just think that the majority of gamers who play PS - even if they find themselves addicted at first - will simply not be able to sustain that interest past 2 months or so.

I think the concept of the MMO FPS is simply not ready to really come to fruition yet. PS will be noted as the first, but I think and hope it is but a taste of better things to come.

[Saethan]

MMO games are never 'finished' at all, period. :-)

Lets not all forget that as long as people play it, PS will continue to get better.

[Airlift]

I was watching this game closely when it was announced. I went away years ago and came back about 7-8 months ago when the beta was announced. I became a fan of this game when my RL friend Hijinks gave it a glowing review (Hi hates the majority of the games released) and showed it to me on his machine. I became a fanboy after my first gaming session in the BR10 test towards the end of exclusive. I have been playing daily (not yesterday, my power was out for 21 hours) since then and I haven't even approached boredom. I have spent time levelling characters in every empire, and have tried every role (even AA MAX, which is fun at Zergfests where you can selectively hit aircraft and avoid infantry).

Unlike most rabid fans, it doesn't bother me when other people dislike something about the game (even the whole thing). There are things I don't like, and I don't feel that I need to be validated in my opinions.

Why am I bothering to tell my boring-ass story? Because I don't think anyone who is not convinced that Planetside is worth the initial and continuing investment should play. As gamers, we can only vote with our wallets. If you don't like a game then you should never buy it, or game companies will keep stuffing it and others just like it down your throat, neglecting the games you do like.

I also think that the perfect way for you to show your displeasure with the state of the game is to not buy in until it meets your approval. In the meantime, I'm going to pony up my cash and jump right into the game as soon as I get my hands on a copy.

It does hurt the community when you sling out negative posts about a game that is about to be released, but that's ok. This is not a marginal game, I think it can probably survive the bad publicity without flinching. Still, I'd rather you just sent an email to SOE with your concerns and then vote with your wallet, leaving everyone who isn't in the beta yet to make up their own minds.

[Jarlo]

I have a BR8 in VS and I think they are OK-- different but OK. I do think TR needs to be turned down a touch. The magrider in VS is also fairly annoying to drive, it seems to drift alot. I really like the jumpjets for VS, they are the best "special" for the maxes I think. When playing my quaser MAX for VS I did pretty well- It's fiarly nifty since you can instantly swap AP and Infantry blasts.

[Feign]

Wow I got a lot of reaction for something I wrote to kill time.
Sweet.

[AcidCat]

Originally posted by Airlift
leaving everyone who isn't in the beta yet to make up their own minds.

Heh, by that philosophy you wouldn't say anything positive either.

Kinda negates the whole point of this forum in that case.:)

[Airlift]

Yeah, but I don't start up threads about how much I love the game or am going to rush out and buy it. I do respond with my opinions in threads that ask for opinions. I do also post when agree or disagree with something.

I'm not looking to censor the thread, just state why I think it is harmfull.