Small Scaled Combat

[Arrow]

I understand a lot of the mechanics of this game are geared towards massive battles and what not but my great question to Higby and any dev is are their going to be any objectives or anything that cater towards the more behind the scene squads?

Will there still be need for fast responders and tactile squads that work on a smaller scale? Or is this trying to be eliminated with more focus to be on a larger scale combat system.

[Sirisian]

Well with the ability to take over any territory even if it isn't adjacent I imagine there will be a need for people to galaxy drop and stop a takeover.

Then again with "thousands" of players you're going to have one or two people everywhere it would seem like at any one time.

[Traak]

The other side of this is how many large battles do we want ruined by some behind-the-lines twits hot droppings (yes, the verb as well as the noun) on some behind-the-lines base?

PS may be about large battles, but I think it would be better to actually be able to FOCUS on large battles, instead of having small groups be able to do disproportionately annoying junk anywhere, which is PS now, with air cav, cheaters, etc.

[Arrow]

Im sorry if I am one of those annoying twits in PS. But it caters to some, I loved doing the small scale operations to persuade a large fight as not everyone enjoys roaming with the zerg (everyone knows how smart they can be at times). That was just the niche of my outfit I was in before I quit.

[inigma]

In war, there will always be a need for special teams behind the lines, and a need for teams to respond to those teams.

[Traak]

Originally Posted by Arrow

Im sorry if I am one of those annoying twits in PS.

I do that stuff, too. The only way I can be invisible, as a cloaker, is to be about 2km away from friendlies.

[Erendil]

Originally Posted by inigmatus

In war, there will always be a need for special teams behind the lines, and a need for teams to respond to those teams.

This.

In PS1 even in the early days of multiple 166-player poplocks there were always small-scale skirmishes going on at the outskirts of the main battle, behind enemy lines, etc. I'm confident PS2 will be no different. Territorial control, the Mission system, and resource-grabbing amongst other things will see to that I'm sure.

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Erendil

This.

In PS1 even in the early days of multiple 166-player poplocks there were always small-scale skirmishes going on at the outskirts of the main battle, behind enemy lines, etc. I'm confident PS2 will be no different. Territorial control, the Mission system, and resource-grabbing amongst other things will see to that I'm sure.

Lets hope so.

[SgtMAD]

I don't have any doubt,if there isn't any lattice then you can bet we will never be fighting with the zerg

we won't have to hack a foothold on the conts anymore so there won't be any need to make sure the 1st hack goes through.

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by HtSgtMAD

I don't have any doubt,if there isn't any lattice then you can bet we will never be fighting with the zerg

we won't have to hack a foothold on the conts anymore so there won't be any need to make sure the 1st hack goes through.

might be a problem when you could effectively hack the whole content at once, ghost hacking maybe a real annoyance. Be interesting to see how the whole thing endsup playing.

[HELLFISH88]

The Great thing about Planetside is there are no defined "Small,medium and large" battle restrictions. No 32V32 or 64V64. The Expansive and persistent reality enables infinite scenarios. When you think of Planetside you will almost always think of the large scale because that is what makes it unique. This isn't to say it doesn't do other aspects well:

Small more personal engagements happen all the time. It really depends more on location or timing. Single squads can hot drop into a hostile tower and hold off against the escalating waves of enemies that respond to the incursion. Late at night not all continents tend to be packed either (PS2 may be different) so often you would get crazy low intensity ghost battles occurring. 10-30 men per empire fighting over the entire continent. Fighting in a deserted base at 3 am is a special kind of fun. You are never truly alone because anyone can show up at any time from anywhere.

[Coreldan]

I have a firm belief that there will be a need for small scale ops just the same.

As much as I dislike those "ghost" people who go hack or drain or otherwise "sabotage" a non-relevant base (more of a problem of low pops, though), you get to do something nasty out there for sure

I'm also more of a small-medium task force guy, but I'd imagine still operating more with the zerg (just more succesful? ) rather than going my own way and hack random bases

[none]

I want to be able to set ambushes behind enemy lines to slow down reinforcements.

[Tarpeda]

We still don't know exact game mechanics, but I guess that teams with good coordinations (like KOTOR) will still find their niche.

In PS1 it was essential to respond fast to first cont hack due to 15 minutes limit, so teams that could recon, recall and respond in this time frame were real benefit for faction. I hope that PS2 will also have game mechanics with limited time to respond.

Another important mission in PS1 was gen.hold as it influenced vehicles available for enemy and changed power balance on front line. PS2 will have resources, so I guess there will be opportunities for spec.ops teams to play their game.

I know at least 2 russian outfits that are going to continue playing in the same style in PS2 (RO and DoW) and I wish Mercs and DT will come back too.

[Trolltaxi]

Based on the small amount of info about the territorial systam I'd say it really goes towards massive battles. Even if a squad succedes in turning a hexa to their side somewhere way behind the lines, it will be be really easy to take it back.

I can't recite the source, but I recall that hacking a lone hexa will take about half an hour, but hacking it back would take 30 seconds. (no adjacent friendly hexa vs. 6 adjacent friendly hexas). It would take a great effort to turn multiple adjacent hexas to your side and even greater to hold the area.

I don't know how larger bases will work, will there be a generator or something meaning an option to hit it with a black ops team? Anyone about that?