Planetside Next as a Social Experience

KayOneElRoy · 2011-02-08, 12:12 PM

I would really love to see Plantside Next become a social experience instead of just a game. One of the major draws that MMO’s bring to field is the online communities that they build. Just take this site for example, many of you have been friends for years just because of Planetside. What keeps you subscribed to Planetside? Is it just the game, or does it have to do more with the community you play the game with? Without a community Planetside gets very dull very fast.

I do no care how they add it, I would just love to see a multitude of community building tools built into PS:N to make it a social experience, both in game and out of game. Perhaps they can include an twitter feed for outfit announcements, which could be seen in game, on the website, on twitter, and on your phone. Perhaps they could even figure out a clever and useful way to include face book.

Being involved in a community will surely prolong the life of PS:N if it is included because it will prevent people from getting bored (after all PS:N will just be another FPS, a unique one, but an FPS none the less). If you make a lot of good friends on PS:N with whom you can be in contact with whether or not you are even at a computer, it will really help the PS:N experience to be so much more rewarding. You will not just be playing a game, you will socializing with friends. (a lot of people do this through fan sites and such, but it would be so much more accessible for the masses if it was built into the game.) The important thing is that it should be easily accessible in game (but not cumbersome or in the way) and out of game, and it should be easy to use and navigate.

All lot of you already know the significance that these communities can bring to the game. I would love to see Sony incorporate these communities as a major aspect of PS:N. Broad community features would further differentiate PS:N as one of the most unique (and hopefully best) games available.

*Edit: Social Networking sites have become insanely popular, and the video game industry has not really been jumping at the social networking opportunities that have opened up. I feel there is a lot of potential for profit if Sony taps into this market with PS:N.

EVILPIG · 2011-02-08, 12:24 PM

Um.. become? Planetside is a social experience for many.

KayOneElRoy · 2011-02-08, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

Um.. become? Planetside is a social experience for many.

Yes, it is for many. But Planetside is also a niche game as of now. If PS:N becomes very successful it will not be a social experience for a lot of the players. A lot of people probably never joined any outfits or squads while playing Planetside in its hay day (although a lot did). These players could become bored of PS:N for a variety of reason, its an FPS, its hard to influence the outcome of a battle alone, etc. Once the novelty of huge battles wears off where does it leave these players when they have yearly CoD games to jump into?

I'm talking about making PS:N more of a social experience in every aspect than Planetside ever did. I'm talking about a major site/functionality overhaul with a major emphasis on communities. Look at what Bungie did for Halo, both in game and on bungie.net, they built a community around Halo, hence all the Halo fans in the world today. SOE could easily surpass Bungie in community building due to PS:N being an MMO.

If SOE does not do this, I fear if/when Microsoft makes a Halo MMO (there are rumors its Bungies next big project) it will pull a lot of the potential players away from PS:N, if simply just for the community.

DviddLeff · 2011-02-08, 12:36 PM

Outfits are often what have held people together and to the game.

My oldest outfit member I have known for over 8 years because of PS (he signed up for my outfit pre beta) and the majority which are left now were in PS; despite the fact that we haven't played the game as a group really for over 4 years.

Building friendships not only within outfits, but across the whole faction and even on opposite sides is what PSN should strive to make one of its main goals.

I really want to be able to recognise each others characters in game; see their unique faces and see them talking (have an animated mouth when they hit their voice comms push to talk button). I want to sit face to face in transport vehicles and chat, just like you see in some of the most memorable scenes in films like Aliens, Predator and numerous war films.

http://www.vidivodo.com/49110/aliens-drop-ship-sequence (best I could find)

Bags · 2011-02-08, 12:46 PM

Planetside currently has the most "social experience" of any game I've played, MMO or not. Everyone pretty much knows everyone at this point.

I like how you really don't actually suggest anything, you're just rambling on about how the community makes the game and that sony should support that and integrate it. You don't give any examples for what they can do. And please no to your last point, we don't need face book integration for a successful game. Leave your social networking at the door.

KayOneElRoy · 2011-02-08, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Bags

Planetside currently has the most "social experience" of any game I've played, MMO or not. Everyone pretty much knows everyone at this point.

I like how you really don't actually suggest anything, you're just rambling on about how the community makes the game and that sony should support that and integrate it. You don't give any examples for what they can do. And please no to your last point, we don't need face book integration for a successful game. Leave your social networking at the door.

I did suggest some things, and I could suggest more if that was what the post was about. I'm relieved that you have nothing to do with the creation of PS:N, as you seem to ignore global trends and emerging markets. You are stuck in the past, and SOE needs to look towards the future to even think about competing with potential competitors, and there is no denying that social networking the future.

Activision is partnered with Blizzard, a CoD MMO would absolutely wreck PS:N if PS:N does not bring something revolutionary and daring to the table. I would also say that Bungie releasing an MMO (regardless of if its Halo or not) would kill PS:N due to the sheer number of Bungie fans.

There is a reason Mark Zuckerburg is the youngest billionaire in the world, and its because Social Networking works.

Originally Posted by Bags

I like how you really don't actually suggest anything,

Originally Posted by Bags

Halo has a lot of fans because it was the first popular shooter on the console. You still haven't suggested how sony can "for the community".

I've got to go to class soon, but I'll make sure I type a nice detailed suggestion post for you later. <3

Originally Posted by DviddLeff

Building friendships not only within outfits, but across the whole faction and even on opposite sides is what PSN should strive to make one of its main goals.

I really want to be able to recognise each others characters in game; see their unique faces and see them talking (have an animated mouth when they hit their voice comms push to talk button). I want to sit face to face in transport vehicles and chat, just like you see in some of the most memorable scenes in films like Aliens, Predator and numerous war films.

I would love to see this put into the game, it would really help pull people into the game, like they were actually going to war with their buddies. I don't know if its technologically feasible, but it would be awesome.

Bags · 2011-02-08, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by KayOneElRoy

I did suggest some things, and I could suggest more if that was what the post was about. I'm relieved that you have nothing to do with the creation of PS:N, as you seem to ignore global trends and emerging markets. You are stuck in the past, and SOE needs to look towards the future to even think about competing with potential competitors, and there is no denying that social networking the future.

Activision is partnered with Blizzard, a CoD MMO would absolutely wreck PS:N if PS:N does not bring something revolutionary and daring to the table. I would also say that Bungie releasing an MMO (regardless of if its Halo or not) would kill PS:N due to the sheer number of Bungie fans.

There is a reason Mark Zuckerburg is the youngest billionaire in the world, and its because Social Networking works.

You are aware that facebook interacting with battle.net has done absolutely nothing for the players, right? I don't care if facebook is wildly successful; other using it for advertising, it can do nothing for planetside. PS has already brought something revolutionary to the table; 133 vs 133 vs 133 combat on a single map. (BTW, activision isn't partnered with Blizzard; they merged with Vivinde Games which owns Blizzard, and took the name Activision - Blizzard due to brand recognition. )

The ipad is wildly successful for something so unrevolutionary, maybe we SOE should partner with apple? I mean if it's successful it must be good for planetside!!!11

I'm glad you're not on the planetside dev team because if you had your way we'd be "liking" CR5s, "digging" primary targets, and "Tweeting" globals.

Firefly · 2011-02-08, 02:12 PM

Planetside is already a social media. I met a lot of great friends courtesy of Planetside, and many of them are now on our outfit's paintball team and we meet up frequently. I also met a few hot chicks through Planetside so I got the whole Myspace hookup thing going on, only from Emerald server.

I don't want some annoying asshole checking out game info real-time from Facebook. I have enough problems with people on my home feed putting stupid shit up as it is.

Like, pictures of snow outside when every state in the US except Fladeeda has a goddamn blizzard going on. Or posting pix of their kids taking a shit. Or pix of THEM taking a shit. Or that stupid fucking Myspace pose with pouty lips like they wanna kiss me. Or updating their fucking status every ten minutes with some lame shit like "LOL JUST SAW A FAT GUY AT WALMART LOLOLOL" or some emo-ridden shit like "man can a girl just luuuuv me for who i am?"

The last thing I want is to have to deal with some fuck-knuckle reading a comment in CR5 chat and hitting the Like button. God invented screenshots for a reason. Take one and let your friends haw-haw over it. No need to clutter it up.

Besides, there's already THIS:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planet...76201025741380

Bags · 2011-02-08, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Firefly

Planetside is already a social media. I met a lot of great friends courtesy of Planetside, and many of them are now on our outfit's paintball team and we meet up frequently.

Like, pictures of snow outside when every state in the US except Fladeeda has a goddamn blizzard going on. Or updating their fucking status every ten minutes with some lame shit like "LOL JUST SAW A FAT GUY AT WALMART LOLOLOL" or some emo-ridden shit like "man can a girl just luuuuv me for who i am?"

Besides, there's already THIS:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Planet...76201025741380

So much this. I have a friend who every time it snows, puts up a picture with the caption, "another day in columbus" or some stupid shit, while half the country is under a foot of snow.

Bags · 2011-02-08, 01:06 PM

Halo has a lot of fans because it was the first popular shooter on the console. You still haven't suggested how sony can "for the community".

KayOneElRoy · 2011-02-08, 04:20 PM

Here is what I want from PS:N. Sorry about the bullets, they were not indenting correctly.

Site Functionality:
• I want customizable outfit pages
o I want outfit news feeds for members(I’m thinking something as easy as Twitter)
o I want these pages to be browse able by anyone, including rosters, activity information, and achievements, etc.
o I want it to include an outfit schedule where outfits can post there event times.
o I want to have official outfit rivalries posted on outfit page. (it would compare the two outfits side by side)
• I want and outfit recruitment “store”
o You would post up an add about what your outfit is about, and what kind of members you are looking for. (competitiveness, age, use of profanity, seriousness, skills, etc) Outfits can make their membership open or selective.
o Players would have a bio of what kind of player they are, and what kind of outfit they are looking for.
o Players would search for an outfit and the game would try to match them to an outfit with the best fit for them. They can check out the best matches, and if they are unsatisfied used an advanced search function.
• I outfit leaders to be able to edit the membership by adding, promoting, and removing players online.
• I want Outfits to be able to actively recruit promising players by inviting them from online (by looking at their bio to decipher who they want).
• I want personal player pages
o I want every kind of statistic conceivably possible. I want this useless information.
 Who I killed the most
 Who I was killed by the most
 K/D, Accuracy, Base caps, time alive, time spent in (X) continent, exp, gun usage stats etc.
 Recent kill/killed by list
o I want SOE to include a player review function viewable by anyone on that player’s personal page. I want to know what kind of person I am looking at, and peer reviews will be fairly honest. I want to know the relationship of who’s reviewing the player too (squad mate, platoon, enemy, etc) in order to judge the validity of the review (they don’t need to include personal account names)
 I want to know if the person I am about to invite into the outfit is a jerk or not.
o I want players to have the option to link their Twitter accounts, and Facebooks
o I want “heat” maps showing specific players time spent in certain locations (individual, empire, outfit, and global)
 I want kill concentration maps (individual, outfit, empire, and global)
o I want a player comparison tool where I type in someone’s user name and it shows me my stats side by side with theirs. I want it also to show how much he has killed me and how much I have killed him, etc.
o I want to have official player rivalries posted on the page, this would track both players stats side by side, and who is "winning" in the rivalry.
• I want to have an organizable friends list that is not empire specific or anything, and I want to be able to edit it online.
o I want PS:N to recommend friends to me based on people I know on Facebook / Twitter who have PS:N. I also want friends recommendations based on mutual friendships, and play style descriptions.
• I want to be able to know what my PS:N friends are doing outside of the game if they are willing to share (hence the Facebook support)
• I want to be able to send messages to players from out of game (kind of like an email or pm), which would be readable in or out of game (just like an email, it won't pop up in the middle of a fight).
• I want updated live battlefield status online
o I want updated empire achievements and activities online (base caps, cont locks, etc)
o I want live population reports.
o I want live information on my outfit's activity
• I want live Leader boards (Global, regional, empire, outfit, and friend leader boards, etc.)

In game functionality:
• I would like Facebook, Twitter, and perhaps even email support
o I would like optional small notification icons on screen for these apps
o I would like to use Facebook, Twitter, and possibly email when there is some downtime in PS:N (like waiting for a base to cap). This way I don’t have to minimize every time I want to get into touch with the outside world.
• I want in game chat that actually works
• I want in game access to everything I mentioned for website functionality.
• I want everyone to be in one server.

Phones Apps
• Like miir posted in December, I want mobile phone apps
• I want to access the website by phone
• I want to be able to update the Outfits news feed by phone (Twitter functionality again)
• I want updated battle field results on the phone

***In general I want anything and everything SOE can offer to make this one of the most sociable games ever made.

KayOneElRoy · 2011-02-08, 05:01 PM

Perhaps social network is not the right word, I do not mean to say it is or should be a social media site. However, everything I mentioned has a social dimension to it, even if its just looking at a friends accuracy on some statistics page, or some strangers kill concentration map (a map of where he most often fights, perhaps PS:N can compare peoples preferred locations and suggest friends based on who you usually fight with that you do not already know).

I want planetside to make it easy for everyone to make friends with the people they are playing with. Whether this involves checking out their stats out on the website, Facebook friending them through the game, finding players that live in your city/town (via some kind of Facebook/location functionality), or what not. There are a lot of creative ways that PS:N can use Facebook (or Facebook type functionalities) to help people make friends in game. These friendships will only increase someones commitment to a particular game, and which ever company capitalizes first may have a huge advantage.

Also incorporating Twitter functionality (or twitter like functions) will be very helpful for outfit announcements, although a forum does do a similar task. (however, you can't text to a forum though).

And it makes sense from a business viewpoint. If you have a lot of good friends that you met through Planetside, you are more likely to keep playing the game (due to more commitment). It just makes those friendship's that much more real if you live in the same area and can meet in real life due to some simple Facebook like friend suggestion tool.

If SOE includes Facebook and Twitter functionality, they will not have to program similar functionality from scratch, they can just piggy back off of what already works. It would save them resources (I am unsure if FB or Twitter would charge for this or not).

I do agree that depending on the amount of resources available for PS:N they could be better spent, but this is the type of functionality I would like to see in a game sometime, whether its PS:N or something else. However, many sites offer some of these features, and I do not think it will take that much resources to include them into PS:N.

etheral · 2011-02-08, 10:40 PM

There is only one new tool for player interaction that I would like to see in PS:N, and thats integrated voice chat.

I wouldn't mind having facebook/twitter integrated into the game, but on the condition that it is not compulsory. Some of us like to keep our gaming lives separate from our real lives

Hamma · 2011-02-09, 02:31 PM

It sounds like in the end you want the same thing as I do and that is lots of data available for mass consumption, whether that be Social Media or other means.

This is something the original PS lacked, on an epic scale.

Grimster · 2011-02-09, 03:00 AM

Join a outfit and you have your social experience. I don't see this part needing any further improvement.