End Game

yonman · 2011-12-11, 04:19 PM

Not a forum regular, so maybe this was discussed to death.

Has there been any word about this topic from any official channel? Back in the day, friends of mine would quit planetside because it had "no end game content" or because "the war just never ended". I felt this was kinda the point but others (that outnumbered lonely me) thought this was a really important issue.

Any thoughts?

mefy · 2011-12-11, 04:20 PM

this is an MMOFPS not MMORPG, they are playing the wrong genre if they desire 'end game content'

Slepnair · 2011-12-11, 04:21 PM

the game is to be a never ending war, there really is no end game, nor do i think theres really a chance for it. its all about trying different tactics to wipe out your enemy and to control as much as you can.

Justaman · 2011-12-11, 04:31 PM

Still, an ultimate objective with a desirable reward would be nice.

Motivation never hurt anyone. Like a cut-scene (streamed from the game server so we can't just rip it from he game client and watch at leisure) showing what happens story wise when that specific faction wins. A bad-ass short movie

Or even, every time one faction wins more than once in a row, it progress's a story of how the end of the war goes (new chapter each extra streak)

Bittermen · 2011-12-11, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by Justaman

Still, an ultimate objective with a desirable reward would be nice.

Motivation never hurt anyone. Like a cut-scene (streamed from the game server so we can't just rip it from he game client and watch at leisure) showing what happens story wise when that specific faction wins. A bad-ass short movie

Or even, every time one faction wins more than once in a row, it progress's a story of how the end of the war goes (new chapter each extra streak)

I like this idea.

I think it would also be cool to have some epic battles included in the lore.

BorisBlade · 2011-12-12, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Justaman

Still, an ultimate objective with a desirable reward would be nice.

Motivation never hurt anyone. Like a cut-scene (streamed from the game server so we can't just rip it from he game client and watch at leisure) showing what happens story wise when that specific faction wins. A bad-ass short movie

Or even, every time one faction wins more than once in a row, it progress's a story of how the end of the war goes (new chapter each extra streak)

The vast vast vast majority of people will play for a few hours each evening, thats it. This isnt somethin you are doin 24/7 nor does it stop when you leave, so those other 21+ hours you are not there, the war is still going. Putting in "win conditions" very often wouldnt work or its just boring matches like other games, and putting them in to where they happen every month or so is still meh. You personally will spend such a very small fraction of the overall time, you dont really have any impact on it hardly. Esp when the 2am crews can come in and revert all you just did. Plus after you see these goofy win videos once or twice its just a boring "match over, game restarting" screen you see on all those other boring fps's.

The wins come in the forms of small scale capturing of areas, or versus certain groups, and the moving up to towers and bases, and then, maybe, even conts. Although last they said, conts will not be somethin you can really capture so easily if contested by even number foes. Although i hope thats not quite true. In PS1, capping the cont was the win factor. It usually lasted an hour or so, maybe longer if it was slow. But that was basically the reset after the win.

As others have said, PS is about having fun playing the game, not about boring grinds to get to a goal. If your goal is to grind or get a goofy video or "win screen" then go play one of the many other boring games out there. But if you want to play a game for no other reason than to *gasp* have craploads of fun, then PS is where its at.

I had massively more fun in PS1 once i hit the BR cap (and my outfit mates did too) than when we was still leveling. We could focus on having tons of fun instead of worrying about getting the most xp just to grind boring levels. I want a fun game, not interested in grinding or an epeen flexer via a win screen.

Verdon · 2011-12-11, 04:36 PM

This is what I love about about planetside.
The point is not the grind/level up and then have fun, the point is to have fun.

Xyntech · 2011-12-11, 04:56 PM

Since a day one player should be on par with a 5 year player, in terms of their ability to contribute to a battle through skillful playing, there really is no place for traditional "end game content."

You could get close in a few ways in PS2.

There could be a "win" scenario. This is a controversial topic of course. The idea would be that one side can win the war, then the map resets, like WWII Online. A lot of players are against this and I'm not sure it's the way to go either. It's not exactly "end game content" so much as a way to end the game, temporarily.

The other way you could get sort of close to "end game content" would be to unlock the top tier abilities/equipment in a particular skill tree. This would be like reaching max level in a class in a MMORPG, although there probably wouldn't be much actual content that went along with it, other than the unlocks themselves.

It's just a fundamentally different game than most MMO's. The same ideas just don't apply.

Hopefully stuff like the unlock trees will provide enough incentive to keep advancement oriented players interested, but if you don't enjoy just shooting people in a giant battlefield, Planetside just isn't the game for you.

Countless players play Counter Strike and never worry about the fact that they aren't getting to some sort of end game content. Planetside is a FPS first, and it should be played like any other FPS.

Baneblade · 2011-12-11, 04:59 PM

But you can only do the same thing so many times before you just stop wanting to do it. The solution is not to RPGify the game, however. Simply make combat infinitely dynamic and evolving.

Shogun · 2011-12-11, 05:07 PM

ps2 really doesnt need endgame content because it doesnt follow the old mmorpg formula. and thats the best thing about ps2.
most mmo rules don´t apply here because it has a fresh and uniqu concept.
it has ressourcemanagement as an additional motivation.

the nearest thing to endgame content could be unique events like alien invasion or natural disasters, to spice up the background story from time to time and to draw back players that may have started to get bored. but those events would be for vets and noobs the like.

The Barn Cat · 2011-12-11, 05:31 PM

Gamesworkshop used to do really cool stuff with warhammer 40k (table top game if you didnt know) they would write all these books and stuff about a war and have a tournament and who ever won the tourny that side would win in the books planetside could do something like this

Khellendros · 2011-12-11, 05:33 PM

As others have noted, end game content is MMORPG stuff. Plenty of other games out there for that.

Tasorin · 2011-12-11, 05:48 PM

The point was taking real estate so that when either the Barnies or the Commies logged in they would be sanctuary locked. The point is an endless game of battlefronts and conquests. The point is, this is PlanetSide not the Lollipop Forrest. Choose a side, fight everyday for your faction, for glory, for beer!

Zulthus · 2011-12-11, 06:20 PM

I think they're looking for something like

But seriously. Saying "end game" in a Planetside forum makes me cringe.

basti · 2011-12-11, 07:20 PM

Chill people.

EndGame usually means the content you have once you reached the top of the leveling ladder. But that meaning doesnt apply in planetside or FPS in general, as your level is not tied to content.
Planetsides endgame would be pretty much everything since the very first minute of your first login: The massive war that rages across several continents 24/7.

Talk like a winning scenario does not work. You cannot win without having 66% of the population loosing. Capturing a continent was concidered winning in Planetside, and Global domination was a full blown victory, but those wont be possible in Planetside 2, and that for a reason.

So, how to win? Well, thats up to your personal opinion. But you gotta deal with what you got, and dont ask for unresonable stuff. I guess taking most/all of a continent will be the new winning, as it will be hard to do, but still possible. You'll see that once a few are all purple.