My fear for PlanetSide 2

Hamma · 2011-11-03, 05:55 AM

I'm not sure if I have touched on this at all but I think this warrant's its own thread.

My fear for PlanetSide 2 is the micro transaction and skill training system make certain people kings of the battlefield and leaves newer players in the dust. This becomes more of an issue the longer the game is out.

Let me elaborate.

In today's FPS gaming we have unlocks galore, 30,000 attachments for every weapon of your choice including 4x ACOG's for shotguns! What this creates is an uneven playing field of people running around with crazy weapons that newer players don't have access to. Even myself as a semi-casual player get frustrated with weapons people are running around with.

Sadly this is the nature of the beast of gaming today, companies want to squeeze every last bit of time and money out of a particular game.

Anyway - part of me yearns for gaming of old. Back in the days when you spawned and everyone was on an equal playing field with equal access to all items. Games were based on skill and not how much time you spent sitting in front of your computer.

Anyone else have that fear? Do you think that somehow PlanetSide 2 can avoid it with the skill system they are going with?

TRex · 2011-11-03, 06:28 AM

I agree fully and have the same concerns.

Even the forecast 'normal' set up with 20% boost and squad wide buffs themselves add an element of real concern. On paper it might sound ok, but in reality if you add in +100% experience for long time players it bodes ill for any new player just starting out.

Being a pvp game, cosmetics will go only so far , and I worry the temptation to buy things like super med packs or speed boosts and stuff enter the possibilities in the hope of generating more cash shop .

Traak · 2011-11-03, 06:29 AM

There will be whole teams of people working on making progression rewarding, while making new people capable of doing useful damage.

It will be a lot better than PS is now, with cheaters owning the game, and anyone else out in the cold.

SgtMAD · 2011-11-03, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by Traak

There will be whole teams of people working on making progression rewarding, while making new people capable of doing useful damage.

It will be a lot better than PS is now, with cheaters owning the game, and anyone else out in the cold.

ya, whole teams.

Tikuto · 2011-11-03, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Hamma

Anyway - part of me yearns for gaming of old. Back in the days when you spawned and everyone was on an equal playing field with equal access to all items. Games were based on skill and not how much time you spent sitting in front of your computer.

This. I'm thinking I know what you mean.

In many newly-launched games I see the quality of gameplay diminishing by the rewards of progression. How the most basic set of equipment and statistics is at first week of the game really ought to be reamed through-out the game somehow. If it isn't simplified and enjoyable where it becomes more complicated the Devs have harder time working on fairness, which only adds to this wheel of fate.

The idea in my head right now has to be illustrated on paper.

Basicly too much <ingredient> spoils a dish.

Hamma · 2011-11-03, 07:16 AM

My basic beef with gaming these days is all they do is appeal to selfishness. People are more concerned with unlocking attachment Y for weapon X than they are playing a game. This snowballs and before you know it people could care less about the game and more about the garbage unlocks.

This really started with MMORPGs. I saw my own team fall into this trap when it came to getting items in game and raiding. Now that has been passed on to FPSs where you can grow more powerful with each passing level, and get more and more pointless cosmetic unlocks.

This scares me quite a bit for PlanetSide because the original was, in my opinion the perfect blend. You could easily retrain things if you wanted to switch and when you got a MCG or Jackhammer.. it was an MCG or Jackhammer. It didn't have a 300x ACOG with IR sensors as an option after 30,000 kills.

SKYeXile · 2011-11-03, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by Hamma

My basic beef with gaming these days is all they do is appeal to selfishness. People are more concerned with unlocking attachment Y for weapon X than they are playing a game. This snowballs and before you know it people could care less about the game and more about the garbage unlocks.

This really started with MMORPGs. I saw my own team fall into this trap when it came to getting items in game and raiding. Now that has been passed on to FPSs where you can grow more powerful with each passing level, and get more and more pointless cosmetic unlocks.

This scares me quite a bit for PlanetSide because the original was, in my opinion the perfect blend. You could easily retrain things if you wanted to switch and when you got a MCG or Jackhammer.. it was an MCG or Jackhammer. It didn't have a 300x ACOG with IR sensors as an option after 30,000 kills.

Its all about the epics, its what keeps us together.

TRex · 2011-11-03, 07:54 AM

I like the sidegrade aspect to ps2 philiosophy , and in time I hope expansion of the game comes in that direction rather than increasing levels , and giving us more places to fight in and stuff to fight with.

Thing is , most who have been in ps1 since early days had the ethos of the lvl 1 taking on the lvl20 and having a chance depending on ability . It's a brilliant ,simple concept.

Most of the people who have become online players since have grown up with the quest to be more epic via gear ,can't equate the idea of a level playing field and success is min/maxing items . Games like cod , you buy them on a friday , get all the unlocks etc and max stuff out by saturday , and ready to shell out for the new modernwarfare out the following week.

I wonder how the likes of ps2 are going to keep the interest of these people. It may be just the thing they need to see ps2 and shake them out of this rut. But if there's a prominant button in bottom corner of the screen saying 'buy, buy,buy' , and soe needs the income , who knows where it will go.

If ps2 takes off , and us ps1 people become a drowned out minority , the idea of the lvl1 v lvl 20 could become a myth .

CutterJohn · 2011-11-03, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Hamma

This scares me quite a bit for PlanetSide because the original was, in my opinion the perfect blend. You could easily retrain things if you wanted to switch and when you got a MCG or Jackhammer.. it was an MCG or Jackhammer. It didn't have a 300x ACOG with IR sensors as an option after 30,000 kills.

Easily retrain things? You and I have different definitions of easy. I always felt that the 24 hour wait time between uncerts was pointlessly excessive. 24 hour complete unlocks would have been much better, but the best would have simply been no obstacle other than returning to sanc.

I think PS2 is going to be an improvement on PS1(aside from the patient few who stuck it out to BR40) in being able to do anything. Granted you won't be able to do everything quite as well, or have all the options, but it seems to me that you'll be able to get the basic options for most everything pretty quickly.

We'll also see how much they let me pay for. I dislike level/unlock grinds far more than I dislike spending extra money.

But yeah.. I miss the old days of FPS gaming. Jump in, you have access to all the weapons, and its good. Everything is reasonably balanced against each other, and every player is on a reasonably equal footing because of that, personal skill notwithstanding. Even a BF2 system wasn't bad, where the unlocks were just minor variations on weapons, and didn't open up grossly different capabilities.

Miir · 2011-11-03, 09:50 AM

As long as an occasional player can purchase the same upgrades that someone that plays 24/7. That will balance things out.

I'd rather just pay a couple bucks and unlock the upgrades that I want rather than spending time trying to get 100 kills to get them.

Goku · 2011-11-03, 11:08 AM

That is why I still like PS current cert system. There isn't any damage modifiers, you can change your character on the fly, and you know exactly what you are getting. A BR1 can still kill a BR40 technically barring any skill difference. I love taking higher end weapons off people on BF3, seems it gets me quite a few more kills when I have them. Just have to see what happens I guess.

Brusi · 2011-11-03, 01:23 PM

Microtransactions... yeah...

I feel the same way, less so for the directly unbalancing aspect and more so for the overall feeling that microtransactions can have on a game, where people who don't spend feel like they are playing a different game to those who do spend.

I'm obviously going to be spending on this one... but i still think it matters for the success of the game.

It can feel a little discouraging as a newb. At least when you start a game late and are playing catch up, you know that no one can still simply overtake you with $$.

SKYeXile · 2011-11-03, 07:12 AM

Yea i certainly have that feeling. Offline leveling is something i dont really like, while its fair to keep casuals and vets balanced in progression its not really fair to new players, especially not new casual players. its one of the reason i never touched EVE...even as a hardcore player. I would really much prefer the merit system expanded or a use based system that you could later use points to then roll-over into other skill trees.

As for the cash shop and free to play, its a double edged sword. F2P attracts some people because its free and they dont have to pay, lets face it you need some of those to bolster numbers. (reserves was good) and while its a proven formula to make more profit, its also unattractive to alot of players because F2P games generally get a bad wrap for being p2p (thats: pay2pwn).

and ill be the last person to say this and i hate myself for it. it god dam well ruins my immersion in the game. I hate it how you can cheapout and just go oh yea...ill just get out my wallet and procede to CRUSH. I like it in PS1 and WOW, you login, you all pay, you have access to the same stuff and gear and its a simple matter of playtime/skill ratio to how good your character is equipped.(dont hate me for saying wow)

and i hate companies strategies for making me spend money, the elitist prick that i am cant scrub it up, so if there is a weapon or power up available in the shop or something that my loadout or character needs to maximise its potential...I WILL buy it and i hate myself for that.

i think they can avoid pay2pwn and a cashshop with their skill system, will they though???

Mastachief · 2011-11-03, 08:06 AM

I whole heartedly agree and have the same fears. I only hope that they build on the launch like EVE and make it so there is ample opportunity to get up to speed. How ever this is a long term game not a release once a year COD reheat. So its needs this progression to keep the people and so long as SOE continue to work and add to the game there is no reason for it not to go for the next 6-8year or even long if they can bring graphical updates in.

All this said though i maxed out my main char in Pside 1 Christmas 2003 and still have an active subscription but i do know that people have left once they have maxed out as they are that kind of player.

Draep · 2011-11-03, 09:01 AM

Come on Hamma, you're better than making a thread like this. When people make a thread with the words "scared" or "fear" in the title, it looks pathetic to be frank. What you should maybe be scared of is getting in my way on the battlefield. The game is gonna be decent no matter what and you're gonna play it no matter how much people say it sucks.