Planetside: Anarchy on a grand scale or something more? My fears.

[MrVicchio]

As you know, I am an avid fan of this game, but I have my fears.

First and foremost, is that the game will be tottal anarchy on a grand scale. There is a world of difference between the mind set of an RPG player and an FPS player.

This is most evidenced by two games: DAOC and BF1942.

DAoC is all about team work. To get a large force, move them across the map and assualt an enemy fort takes some bit of team work. For the most part, that was pretty much the standard operating procedre in game. Sure, you had a few lone guns, but 90% of the players would rally to the "cause".

Now, take BF1942.....

I have yet to have seen any "real" team work. The best way to see this is by playing on a CTF server... No one wants to work together, everyone wants to be the hero. The chances of success go up greatly when your side has even 4-5 people on a 32-man server working as a group.... But I have seen that maybe once or twice. Most people would rather do it alone and risk the 1 in a 100 chance of being teh top dog then to make a plan and execute it.

I have concluded, after playing EQ, DAoC, AC, DoD, CS, NS and BF1942, that FPS players are not inherintly disposed to team work.

Does it happen.. yeah it CAN... but too many have the "I AM GOD" mentality. I foresee the possibility that the first month to 6 weeks of PS after launch is going to be chaos as the new players from the other FPS games filter in....

Eventually team work SHOULD break out, but even then... that leads to one other fear..

The UBER outfit. Ya' know the types, the guilds in RPG's that are all about uberness. If you aren't in their guild, you cant go on the plane raid, if you aren't in thier outfit... you cant go on the Base raid... I fear that more then anything...

Thoughts anyone?

[Camping Carl]

About the uber outfit. If you wanted to help them raid a base, how could they stop you?

[Asura]

Hopefully the monthly fee will keep most of the morons at bay... paying to play shows at least some commitment to the game other that smacktards TKing for planes and so on that happens in BF1942.

That is my hope... let's see if it becomes reality =)

[Unregistered]

I think the thing that makes the diffrence between games like DAoC and BF1942 is that in BF1942, you can be just as sucessfull going solo as you can going in a group. In DAoC you can't be.

In Planetside if going solo means getting owned, and not getting any BEP's people will group. If a player can get as many BEP's alone as he can in a group their is no real incentive to join one.

[Delos]

I think there might be some intial anarachy to the game. At first, there won't be many outfits and no one will be specialized at all, leading to everyone just running out and trying to kill whatever they can find. But as time progresses, i imagine outfits will form with smarter players and everyone else that relizes the the ones using teamwork are succseding will follow suit.

As for the Uber outfits, that inevitable. Every MMO has had em, and i bet this will too.

[MrVicchio]

Originally posted by Camping Carl
About the uber outfit. If you wanted to help them raid a base, how could they stop you?

Definition of an Uber (guild/outfit) 100 or mre players, well organized.

How can they stop you? Okay, lets say Ub3rn355 the 1337 outfit is gonna raid base Omicron. They plan ahead, and 5 people are chosen as teh "tk" squad. They are there to take out unwanted people. So for that raid, that is thier job. If they kill too many, then another 5 take over...

Next raid, its a new 5... by the time the first 5's turn comes back.. they are clena of TK, and the Outfit has a rep for keeping interlopers away.

Also, these Guilds/outfits.. don't heal, don't come to your defense, dont rez.. nothing to help non-members.

If you have never played an MMO type game, you haven't seen this.. but it DOES happen, and is just as described.

Guys, just to clarify, this is in NO WAY a hit on PS, but rather fears I have based on 3 years of gaming..

[Hamma]

Yea at the start of this game it will be a little strange, some people will have a heads up from beta however and will know some of the in's and out's

I am not worried about it being anarchy forever tho, I think teamwork will be a key part of this game personally - it wont be easy to take a base. You are by NO means gonna take a base on your own.

[Hamma]

As for uber outfits, there will always be one or two. Personally I believe they will be in the minority.

TKing squads in a team over time will get noticed by people and they will complain. (at least I would)

[BLuE_ZeRO]

I agree at the start it's going to be a learning period. People will try and go solo even though many people know not to but they still will to experiment. No big deal it will straighten itself out on it's own when people realize that there is a point to the game and that you need to work in teams to accomplish your objectives. :rawr:

[Flashingfish]

Like Unreg said, in an fps you can take on a lot of people on by yourself. But yes, you do need to have skill =]

The problem with public games is that there is no way to really co-ordinate, because the players don't know and therefore don't trust each other. And in public games everyone wants to be at the top of the kill list.

But in clan matches, it's not about being at the top, it's about the winning team. So if you want teamwork in PS, I would strongly reccommend joining an outfit, because pubbing won't really get you anywhere.....

Then again, in other fps' the action is constant and there isn't much time to agree/argue who does what. But in PS you aren't fighting all the time, so you can decide who does what before the enemy strikes. Maybe =]

[zMessiahz]

Wow. Sounds like a bit to much worrying to me.

Team work will be essential. As will players who fill a roll. Sure they won't care about you if you are a galaxy pilot and they already have one. But what do you expect? A bunch of l33t players running around willing to carry you up the ranks? I think people will work together and allow now clanners in assuming you can do something useful for the squad. The more people they have working together the more likely their squad lead will get more CEP which will help them immensly.

I also think the comparison between FPS and RPG players is unfair. Sure RPG players work together, but they'll drop you once they hae enough guild members on. FPS players may be less inclined to work together witht he random player, but once they know you they will work with you always regardless of how many clanners are there.

I will be leading by outfit, but I will also be just a soldier for other groups and always accept help from others (assuming they fulfill a useful role). If the group gets to big we'ld just split it and stick another clanner as the squad lead of the second group :)

The only people I can see getting screwed are the non-outfit members thank want CEP. But.... its a teamwork and social oriented game so is this really an issue? I don't think so.

[Noxx]

Teamwork = Groups of People = Less chance of being "the one" to get shot = safety = big groups of people moving in mobs = loners getting pwned.


The ph3r3t confers.

[diluted]

my fear is that it wont be what its made out to be. something... just something in my head is saying that it wont be oh-so great. besides if it is, it will take up so much time and perhaps i wont have time for other games? i dunno. i share the same fears as vicchio

[Airlift]

I'm not too concerned about anything beyond lag. I guess I've drank the planetside kool-aid already, but this game looks like it will be unbeliebably good. Of course, there is only one true test, and that is to play it.

[Sandtaco]

Planetside kool-aid :lol: Yeah I think I'v drinkin it too (You mind if I add that to my sig?). Yeah like you said the only thing bothering me is the possibility of the game being laglicous.

[xuur]

I dunno. I've been part of some pretty good teams in T2 just by doing a pickup game...altho yeah, by far many more loose groups of loners trying to be the hero.

I think the more time folks spend in game, working with others, playing both defense and offense will educate (at least some of them) to the power of a 'team'.


others...yeah, it'll be a free-for-all with them wanting to be 'masta-killa' and looking to others to support them and take the blame while they go off and try to be the big-shot. the true test will be when the two different types meet on the battlefield.

team thinkers will rule, loners will be just another body bag.

[Airlift]

By all means, words are free

[Zatrais]

monthly charge will keep most of the smacktards away i hope =)

[CrazyMike]

This issue has come up since the first days of publicly discussing PlanetSide. Fishy hit the nail on the head. When it comes to FPS games there really is two worlds out there: Public matches and Clan matches. Everyone knows when you "go pubbing" you aren't likely to find a lot of teamwork. Only when it comes to organized clans do you really start to see true teamwork in FPS games.

How does this affect PlanetSide?

Well in PlanetSide you will still see both styles of play. The main difference is that it will all happen in the same world. Yes there will be morons who refuse to work together. Yes people will try and go solo. Yes you will have a hard time finding a "pick-up group" that truely works together as a team.

This will no doubt be frustrating, but on the other side of things you will also see organized teamplay. People WILL forms into outfits. There WILL be outfits that excel over others at teamwork. This is what makes an MMOG world so exciting. The diversity of gameplay is what really makes these things shine.

The really painfull thing is that it is going to take a month or two for things to settle in once the game releases. Those first couple of months will no doubt be complete anarchy as people get used to the game.. the limitations of the TK system.. and train themselves to get used to the difference in gameplay between PlanetSide and all the other more traditional style FPS games out there. It will be agravating as hell, but it will happen. Sooner or later though things will settle in and PlanetSide will truely shine.

They just have to get the growing pains out of the way first.


CrazyMike

[Dragoon412]

I've played UO, EQ, Jumpgate, DAoC, and AO - all persistant worlds, all with a monthly fee, and sadly I can say that in my experience, the smacktards are still out there in great numbers.

But don't get me wrong. Fee-less FPS games have a special breed of illiterate smacktard that puts other genres' lamers to shame, in terms of sheer stupidity. So if you're coming from a background of Q3, UT, T2, or the largest collection of assclowns on the 'net that is Counterstrike, the crowd WILL seem more mature by a large margin. If you come from games run on Battlenet, you'll be in for a very pleasant suprise, as, get this: there actually people on the internet that are <I>not</I> complete and utter cockmongrels.

So, yeah, the MMO crowd tends to be better than other games, but don't expect the idiots to be the minoroty.

And one more bit of bad news: until you've dealt with the elitist wankers that comprise most uberguilds, you have no idea how lame people can be...

[quiet]

Anarchy on a grand scale = NC wins :D

I think the intentional tking topic is pretty interesting. Seems like an outfit that put a lot of effort into assaulting a base might legitimately have twitchy trigger fingers in regards to friendly non-outfit hackers stealing there base cap. I think an outfit that tk'ed a lot would find themselves griefed back. Even if that happens it isn't neccesarily a bad thing, inter-faction feuding might add an intersting element to the game.

[Sandtaco]

If you come from games run on Battlenet, you'll be in for a very pleasant suprise, as, get this: there actually people on the internet that are not complete and utter cockmongrels. Thanks for confirming this Dragoon412, I came from the Delta Force series (all Battlenet). Those people pissed me off so much :mad: There were the cheaters that sucked even though they were cheaters. You shoulda seen them, it was pathetic, and then ther were the idiots that would get you killed ie. shoot a LAW right beside you then run off :( Oh well you said I'd be in for a pleasant surprise :D