Strong Concerns about Planetside 2 at Fan Faire 2011

[LZachariah]

I am a gigantic Planetside fan; it represents a major, defining moment of my gaming adolescence, and no game has ever captured the feeling of a living world and three armies that had numerous, actual roles. It was beautiful, the music was amazing, the freedom was extraordinary, and without needing to force them down our throats, it naturally created the most rich and meaningful narratives due to it’s organic, unrestricted gameplay. Nothing has successfully mimicked it. Planetside 2 is potentially the kind of game that you buy a new computer to play.

However.

I’m disappointed and have serious concerns about this “Informal Discussion” about Planetside 2 that’s happening at Fan Faire in July. Smedley has egregiously let us down once already, and his recent post stated that “a big Planetside announcement” is coming during Fan Faire. Now, if this “Informal Discussion” with the developers is the big announcement, I take it as a terrible sign. I have a number of reasons for feeling this worry and frustration.

First- This is referred to as an “Informal” discussion; it’s not even a presentation. This gives the developers a great deal of leeway to reveal very, very little. We already know some general information concerning the game, so let us consider what disclosures may happen:

1. The developers will say “We’re really excited at what a Triple-A game Planetside 2 is turning out to be; we’re pulling out all the stops and taking this game to a whole new level.” Well, isn’t that marvelous, a complete throw-away statement. Every company says this about their game- some are right, like the people who made Portal and Portal 2, and others are wrong, like the people who made Duke Nukem Forever. Any of these “this game will be worth ALL your anticipation!” or “our team has SO much heart!” statements are effectively worthless. No company in their right mind would EVER say the opposite: “Yeah, this game’s ok. We aren’t working too hard on it or anything; most of the day we just chill out on the computer and play Pogo.”

2. We have already been told “Planetside 2 will have every component from Planetside 1 [with the exception of BFR’s that have been omitted].” This means that it will be a waste of time for them to tell us about the Lasher, the Chaingun, Heavy Armor, MAX’s, or Hacking. If there are new elements or new facets within these topics, awesome. Maybe they have weapon customization (I’m hoping they do). Maybe there will be two types of currency in the game, Certification Points for skills and Authorization Points for equipment (to spend on weapon and vehicle upgrades, etc). That would be fantastic. However, disclosing that would take… what, one minute? Less?

3. The “Informal” nature of this discussion gives the team plenty of room to reply “We’re not talking about that right now, but we have lots of exciting plans,” or some other useless response. Remember, they are calling this a “discussion,” not a presentation, which means they aren’t necessarily constructing a presentation loaded with info, they’re going to sit back and respond to questions, many of which they can just deflect.


So, that’s my First concern: the disconcerting way that SOE is conceptualizing this as an “Informal Discussion.” Secondly, I am worried at the implicit measure of game-progress evidenced by an “Informal Discussion.” Will an informal discussion include screenshots? Videos? One would assume not. I certainly hope there will be, but given the title of “Informal Discussion,” I’m estimating a less than 50-50 chance that there will be any new media. This is a very bad sign.

So what is the crux of my worry? I shall present it concisely, now that you’ve heard my argument. When we heard Smedley disclose that “there is a big Planetside 2 announcement coming during Fan Faire 2011!” numerous posts appeared online assuming that it would be the major reveal of the game. A reveal would include a website, and preorder information, and videos. The game (or at LEAST a beta) was promised to us in March, and the director of The9 (China’s branch of the Planetside 2 game) said “The game is done; we are just improving the graphics.” However, the game has been a phantom, and basically no apology or acknowledgement of these incongruities offered to us. Now it comes out that the “big announcement” is just an “informal discussion”, well:

It is apparent that SOE is stalling, and it indicates to me that this game is not nearly as far along as SOE wants us to think.

Given the HORRIFIC fiasco that SOE suffered in the past few months, now is the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to make diluted promises, or worse, LIES, concerning a game with a strong, enduring fanbase. And Planetside 2 is NOT some peripheral side-project that a small team is working on. The Agency has been canceled, and SOE has said that its two major projects are “Planetside 2” and “Everquest 420 DiamondBlade Edition” or whatever damn incarnation of that game is next in line. So, Planetside is one of SOE’s two upcoming flagship games, and they are dicking around with us.

I hope, I hope, I hope I’m wrong. But I don’t think I am.


~Zachariah

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

2. We have already been told “Planetside 2 will have every component from Planetside 1 [with the exception of BFR’s that have been omitted].”

Source? I know BFRs were confirmed as not returning, but I don't remember reading that everything else would be.

Was The9 comment made before or after the three studio closures and the switching of game-engines in PS2? I think we've already established that PS2 is a ways off yet (early to mid-2012 at the earliest imo).

[Hamma]

I think we all have concerns and you covered them pretty well. Most folks are just excited there is "something" planned and are happy about just that.

What we can expect from Fan Faire aside from that discussion listed on the schedule is all speculation at this point. Hopefully there is more to it than that, this is the first time SOE is officially recognizing the game in an event and that has to be good for all of us.

[LZachariah]

I definitely agree with you; any information offered is better than none. And it's true, this discussion might not be the only Planetside 2 event that is occurring at Fan Faire, though I worry that it will be. I'm encouraged to hear that you agree with my summary of concerns

Other thoughts, readers?

~Zachariah

[BlazingSun]

The best thing is, we wait and see what happens, before we bring the pitchforks and torches. Personally I don't expect much actual information. We'll be lucky, if they show 1-2 more renders.

[DviddLeff]

I am hoping that the big announcement is unrelated to the discussion... but yeah your concerns are certainly occupying my mind as well.

[LZachariah]

I agree with you, Dvidd; I hope that the Discussion and the Announcement are two separate things. That would be our best-case-scenario. However, I'm becoming doubtful that this will be the case.

[Raymac]

Well, either we'll see the same non-answers we've been getting for the last few months ("we can't tell you now, but we are really excited for when we can")

OR

We will get a trailer, loads of screenshots, gameplay footage, a beta date and a release date.

OR

Something in between.

My biggest hope is hearing something about a release date, but at this point any news is good news.

[Aractain]

I don't care about a release date. I want to know they are making a good game. I want info on mechanics and improvments. I want to know they understand that nearly a decade of design evolution has passed since 2003 and they know what to do with it.

[LZachariah]

I'm more in Aractain's camp on this one than I am in Rayman's camp. Remember, Rayman, Smedley GAVE us a release date, and it was a lie. I choose my words carefully, because of course, saying something that you believe and it turns out to be incorrect doesn't mean the person was lying, it simply means that they were incorrect. However, I think that Smedley was lying to electrify some hype over the game. I do NOT think that he actually expected a game consisting of just 5 non-screenshot renders to actually LAUNCH in March.

So, when and if they give us a new release date, it will need to be supported by a website, numerous screenshots, videos, and preorder options. And even then, we've already been primed with their deception.

[Hamma]

Well again, this is the first time something has actually been scheduled for PS2 so that's encouraging in itself. But I can understand why folks are jaded at this point.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

Remember, Rayman, Smedley GAVE us a release date, and it was a lie. I choose my words carefully, because of course, saying something that you believe and it turns out to be incorrect doesn't mean the person was lying, it simply means that they were incorrect. However, I think that Smedley was lying to electrify some hype over the game. I do NOT think that he actually expected a game consisting of just 5 non-screenshot renders to actually LAUNCH in March.

Again, I feel the need to point out that we were never told March would be the release date. The most we were meant to be told from that article was that PS2 was imminent.

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by LZachariah

I'm more in Aractain's camp on this one than I am in Rayman's camp. Remember, Rayman, Smedley GAVE us a release date, and it was a lie. I choose my words carefully, because of course, saying something that you believe and it turns out to be incorrect doesn't mean the person was lying, it simply means that they were incorrect. However, I think that Smedley was lying to electrify some hype over the game. I do NOT think that he actually expected a game consisting of just 5 non-screenshot renders to actually LAUNCH in March.

So, when and if they give us a new release date, it will need to be supported by a website, numerous screenshots, videos, and preorder options. And even then, we've already been primed with their deception.

This is an arguement that has been debated since, well since before March. The question is, Did Smed lie when he mentioned a March "launch" to somebody from Eurogamer?

I'll try to be concise because this is ancient history at this point. When the announcement of a March "launch" occured, it caught all of us off guard. I think just about every Planetside fan was shocked at just how short of a time frame it was since at that point I think we had only seen the new tank render.

So, this leads me to my basic point. I found it unlikely then and I still find it extremely unlikely now that when Smed mentioned a "launch" he meant a release of the game. I believe he meant the marketing launch not the game release, which makes a hell of alot more sense.

Besides that, he later updated that statement he made in December with another one in January where he stated a more clear release date of Q1/Q2 of this year. Then he updated it further talking about the delay because of the new engine which is where we stand today.

So, still getting on Smed about March and insisting he's a liar is unfair in my book, but to each their own. Ignoring the statements he's made since then is kind of being intellectually dishonest yourself which I don't believe is your intent.

Having said all that, I'm 100% with you in that I'd like to see some real concrete information or the little hope I have left of seeing this game anytime soon will fade away in a pool of the Tears of Disappointment.

[LZachariah]

Very true.

[LZachariah]

Smedley said that in a public statement; "We" consists of anyone who reads it. He told us, even if implicitly, because he told it to video game journalists (whoever they were, I can't remember who was interviewing him).