SoE locking threads on main forums about their "beta" Secret. You are still in beta!

[Terrorsauce]

http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/i...n.65279/page-2

Pretty much dead on. We are not playing the real release version of PS2, but yet another beta build. Now that this is being called out, SOE is locking threads trying to keep it on the low.

Its time to let people know they are still in BETA!

[ChipMHazard]

It's so obvious! Not at all because of it being as unconstructive as a turd with a nail in it.

[EVILPIG]

Omg the sky is falling!!!

[SlotJockey]

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

Omg the sky is falling!!!

I think I have an Umbrella for these sky falling threads.......

[Tooterfish]

[velleity]

Seems more like alpha.

[Crator]

Oh noes! We've all been fooled!

[MaxDamage]

In case you are not aware, the founder of these forums has also been censoring people complaining about supposedly illegitimate bans. If we can't trust the founder of what has been the true forum for planetside fans not to bow to pressure from SOE (due to perhaps getting a little too chummy with them) then you can't expect much more here.

Where do we talk, where can we express freedom of speech without moderation from Sony? The same happened in the last MMO I played, Warhammer Online. EA Mythic actually bought up the company that hosted the most popular (and previously unrelated) forum for the game in order to extend the reach of its control over what people said about the game or other players.

Made me feel ill watching that lock on a thread about bans.

Do we need a new forum?

[bpostal]

Originally Posted by MaxDamage

In case you are not aware, the founder of these forums has also been censoring people complaining about supposedly illegitimate bans. If we can't trust the founder of what has been the true forum for planetside fans not to bow to pressure from SOE (due to perhaps getting a little too chummy with them) then you can't expect much more here.

Where do we talk, where can we express freedom of speech without moderation from Sony? The same happened in the last MMO I played, Warhammer Online. EA Mythic actually bought up the company that hosted the most popular (and previously unrelated) forum for the game in order to extend the reach of its control over what people said about the game or other players.

Made me feel ill watching that lock on a thread about bans.

Do we need a new forum?

Now THAT is some tinfoil hat shit right there

And y'all are still worried about being in 'beta', I dunno if I'd call it beta but I'd be disappointed in the extreme if this was supposed to be the Planetside game we've been dreaming about for years. There's alot of work to be done and SOE is putting in that work. We gotta make sure that we're putting up high quality posts with as little bias and ambiguity as possible so they can be effective (Yes, I am aware this makes me a massive hypocrite).

[Ghoest9]

Originally Posted by MaxDamage

In case you are not aware, the founder of these forums has also been censoring people complaining about supposedly illegitimate bans. If we can't trust the founder of what has been the true forum for planetside fans not to bow to pressure from SOE (due to perhaps getting a little too chummy with them) then you can't expect much more here.

Where do we talk, where can we express freedom of speech without moderation from Sony? The same happened in the last MMO I played, Warhammer Online. EA Mythic actually bought up the company that hosted the most popular (and previously unrelated) forum for the game in order to extend the reach of its control over what people said about the game or other players.

Made me feel ill watching that lock on a thread about bans.

Do we need a new forum?

I like this forum but I share your concern.

It certainly feels like some bad bans were made but SOE wasnt willing to reverse those bans unless they could be sure no one would make fun of them.

[Hamma]

Originally Posted by MaxDamage

In case you are not aware, the founder of these forums has also been censoring people complaining about supposedly illegitimate bans. If we can't trust the founder of what has been the true forum for planetside fans not to bow to pressure from SOE (due to perhaps getting a little too chummy with them) then you can't expect much more here.

Where do we talk, where can we express freedom of speech without moderation from Sony? The same happened in the last MMO I played, Warhammer Online. EA Mythic actually bought up the company that hosted the most popular (and previously unrelated) forum for the game in order to extend the reach of its control over what people said about the game or other players.

Made me feel ill watching that lock on a thread about bans.

Do we need a new forum?

I know I'm a little late to the party (I brought some beer if anyone needs it. I also brought some additional rolls of tin foil)

Yes, I've been locking threads. Why? Because there is nothing a forum thread will ever do about it. It's a customer service issue between the person banned, and Sony Online Entertainment. Do you think SOE comes to this forum to see if they have banned someone unjustly? Nope.

They mostly end up in witch hunts that serve no real purpose.

I have no intention of locking this thread though.

Also this:

Originally Posted by Gryphon

We don't allow it here because they are of no use and only cause endless speculation and mud slinging across multiple threads because people have a difficult time using existing topics. Sony is not going to take action on an account because of any post made on PSU. We are not bowing to SOE, it is simply not a community we want to foster here. We have our own goals for PSU.

Regarding cheaters, SOE has supplied a method to report players, SOE has the data, they have the admin tools, they have the business plan, they know more than any random players speculation.

As far as bad bans, it is up to the player who got banned to contact SOE support and get unbanned. They are not going to unban based on any post here, even more so by people who don't even own the account.

Happy Monday!

[MrBloodworth]

Originally Posted by Hamma

I have no intention of locking this thread though.

You should. No reason to protect the feelings of the confused.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Originally Posted by Hamma

I know I'm a little late to the party (I brought some beer if anyone needs it. I also brought some additional rolls of tin foil)

Oh good, we were running out.

I'm in the same camp of people as NewSith who have been saying that the game is in an open beta state. My reasoning behind that opinion is that the game's internal skeleton of gunplay, vehicle physics, and technical robustness is there and done (stop laughing). The shop is open and the progression system is in. However, the game lacks the meat that allows for long term organic growth by the players. The goal of being a fun sandbox for people to play in isn't there at the moment as there are only a few tools players can rationally use to shape the game. There needs to be more than 3 roles in the game for people to explore (Pilot, Tanker, and Rifleman). Higby talked about wanting the infiltrator to be a gadgeteer class and I really would like to see them explore this (free c4 unlock?). Classes are lacking at the moment witnessed by the fact I can tell you pretty much all you need to know about each with one or two words: Rocket Launcher, Heal Tool, Repair Tool, jump-pack, Sniper Rifle, and Heavy Armor. There is effectively no difference between the empires when it comes to fighting their infantry. Empire specific HA is the only example of something different that's man-portable that actually matters. However, those are so rare that you don't really need to actually think about them when approaching a fight.

Using BF and CoD as examples for the game you want to emulate in gunplay has a serious problem as both games rely on frequent sequels to maintain their popularity and the majority of their innovation is actually in their player logistics and unlock systems rather than their gunplay. The instinct to say that copying their gunplay is a good idea then because it's stable and you have examples on how to balance it is seductive but it's not correct because your weapon interactions are then stuck in a box. You can see this in how the devs are struggling to create meaningful differences in their infantry weapons while maintaining balance. Despite rof, recoil, mag size, and damage differences, weapon characteristics are moot if they're all balanced properly as then individual skill, twitch speed, and circumstance become even more king over pre-conflict thought. Significant differences in empire weapon reliance means that for each base you attack you need to have different modus operandi depending on who holds it, doubling the amount of theoretical game content. The balance and normal selection of weapons types from bf/cod are setup to promote a fairly stale meat grinder.

In a game as open as planetside you are allowed to have weapons that are overpowered against 1 thing but suck against everything else. The feeling of 'power' that arena shooters demand from their guns is not mandatory in an mmofps.

(and now that I've written my dissertation I predict no one will debate/read/or pay any more attention to this post which might actually end up killing the thread as most of my longer posts often do instead of sparking debate. Oh well!)

[ChipMHazard]

Freedom of speech on a forum? Shirley you must be joking.

[RadarX]

I'll let everyone in on the big secret.

The thread was non-constructive and provides no useful feedback to our development team. So yes, I closed it. And as I stated to you, if this is censoring I'm doing a pretty poor job of it.

To answer the concern? Of course this isn't Beta. It's like saying World of Warcraft, Battlefield 3 or any other multiplayer game hasn't launched because they are still making changes. It's semantics and honestly a little silly.

Feel free to focus on actual gameplay concerns and I can guarantee your thread a long and happy life on the forums.


To answer the concern about "false bans" we are shutting those down as well. Creating forum threads on the topic really isn't helping the issue. The Development team does not ban people and we can't discuss our process. Letting people run wild with their imagination only compounds the issue.