4AM on a Tuesday morning.

[basti]

Switching servers is no solution, and one global server wont happen with release, if ever.

So, how to fix this? Simply: You cant, its impossible. You will always have times with more players online and times with less players. Now, it propably wont be as bad as we once had it, with only 1-2 pop locks during prime time and not even a half pop lock during off hours. Im pretty sure they aim for 6 pop locks with like 8 continents total, something like that. Yet that will still mean that during off hours you propably only have 1-2 pop locks and smaller fights elsewhere, and those smaller fights are the real dealbreaker, as they can turn out 90% vs 5% vs 5% rather quickly.

Thats why i dont understand the entire new concept of those uncappable bases on each cont. And the idea that capping a cont 100% is pretty much impossible.


But it depens how everything is set up. Maybe you cant just capture a territory by yourself, making lone ghost hacks impossible? who knows?

In any way, they already screwed that one up once, during planetsides beta. Remember, the original concept had no links between bases, allowing you to capture everything at every time. It seems to be back this time, and if it again doesnt work out, they will fix it again, just like back in the old days.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by basti

Switching servers is no solution

Its a solution. If the server I play on has a consistently shitty population when I get to play(I work weekends overnight. My play time is the polar opposite of peak), I'll bail and go to a server that will when populations suck.

But its not an ideal solution.

So, how to fix this? Simply: You cant, its impossible.

#1 and #2 address this. A gameplay world suitable for several hundred or thousand is ill suited to dozens. The simplest solution is to tailor the world to the current population. BF2 maps had different sized versions of the same map, with more or less area being out of bounds. Its not an optimal sandbox solution, I agree, but it would put everyone together, in a suitable environment.

It seems to be back this time, and if it again doesnt work out, they will fix it again, just like back in the old days.

I doubt it will need fixing, unless they feel there are too many skirmishes and not enough battles. Its harder to cap stuff in the back(literally. Game mechanics will make it harder, not just logistics), and is easier for the defense to recover. Plus bases give no benefit.

[Warruz]

id rather see smaller continents designed for small groups/off hours

[headcrab13]

Originally Posted by Malorn

They could simply lock continents with few or no players on them and port those players to some other location (or simply make the hexes uncapturable and make it so no additional players can go there, and empire missions cancelled).

This is an awesome idea by the OP, and beautifully expanded upon by Malorn. You could simple scale the size of the playable hex map based on how many players were logged in. Obviously the entire planet would have contestable bases during prime times, but at night or on holidays when you only have a few hundred players online, you could gray out some of the hexes to funnel players into a central location, making the battles large and keeping the pace quick and fun, 24/7.

-HC13

[dachlatte]

maybe its not even needed to scale the conts down with the new mission system in place to consolidate the players. hopefully we get some more infos on teh mechanics

[Hamma]

Originally Posted by Malorn

I like the idea of scaling continents based on number of players. They could simply lock continents with few or no players on them and port those players to some other location (or simply make the hexes uncapturable and make it so no additional players can go there, and empire missions cancelled). Like a cave closing the warpgates could just be powered down. They can just start with the continents with the fewest players on them.

Its a good concept to help funnel people into the same area. PS isn't much fun when the pop is that low. It would be good to shepherd people to a handful of continents.

This.. great thoughts.

[RavenUSC3]

I remember playing late into the night a few times in the original game and even at 5am on Emerald, there were still more than enough people online to have a big battle. I'm hoping this game will have more players, so I don't see this as being a big issue. It really doesn't matter what time you're online though, there's going to be areas where no one is around. I think the tendency for most people is to go find the fight wherever that is.