I'm Having So Much Trouble With PS2 Compared to Other FPS's!

[Ironfront]

This is not TDM. K/D is a worthless stat in this game. Some people need to heal/rep, some people need to drive everyone else around and babysit the AMS, and some people need to push when it will likely end in death because otherwise nothing will get done.

A high k/d only means that you are being more careful or spending a lot of time kill whoring. If you can clean out rooms with 5+ enemies camping the point and maintain a high k/d, then it would mean something, but all the people I've seen with high k/d's are not doing that. They are staying back while the zerg gets things under control then camping the spawn till the base flips.

[Oty]

I remember from the little I played the old planetside that I had sessions with K/D of 3/50 something and still had amazingly fun. I'm a bit better at PS2 but still my K/D is negative. however its not that that makes me want to play. I love the feeling of organized caos, the shooting from everywhere, trying to get from cover to cover towards a base when tanks and machine guns are punding at me. I love to look from a tower and see the the enemy coming in in massive herds. You stand there and look, and suddenly you realize that you can see where they are going and you can see a place where you can flank them, hit them hard. Now and again those situation happen where you look up, find a spot, go there and make a heroic killstreak that actually makes a difference.
so dont look at the stats, look at the battlefield, see it move and see where you can do your part. 1 kill in the right place is worth more than 10 in the wrong

[BadMannerKorea]

Originally Posted by sylphaen

He is not fooling everyone nor trying to. You are simply both using incomplete arguments looking at both sides of a medal.

When you roll as a medic or engineer, you can manage to get XP and certs a lot more surely than being on the frontlines. With an AMS mildly under attack, it's even better !

IMO, it's one of the best choices for a bad or average FPS player. Let's say you do not die or even do not kill practicing those activities, K/D will not matter when gauging your contribution since you will be getting a ton of certs and XP anyways.

You can also get a ton of those if you have a good aim, good tactics and quick reflexes: choose the frontlines instead of a support role.

I am not using any incomplete argument. We have many people in this thread who are saying K/D doesn't matter at all. Let me repeat, AT ALL. They are claiming it doesn't mean anything. It's simply incorrect to say this, and just because there are roles which aren't focused on K/D doesn't mean K/D is not important or that it doesn't mean something.

Saying K/D doesn't mean anything is like the equivalent of me saying GPA, average home runs, average wins a team has, average life span, average income, (insert any average statistic you want) and saying they don't mean anything.

The statistic means something, as well as the action/activity that the average is representing.

[Rodel]

Well PS2 isn't an FPS, it's an MMOFPS and this takes a while to get used to. The meta game in PS2 is just as important as your FPS skills. If your goal is to rack up a kill count predicting the flow of battle, chosing the right class and load out, and impleminting your tactics with the proper timing is vital. FPS's don't have this level of meta game. In many ways this game is an RTS. Also in my experiance when I have built up a crazy kill count it because of nothing impressive. Examples: 40+ kill streak shelling Sea Bed Listening Post with my mag, 40+ kill streak boming the air pad at some bio lab, 100+ Kill streak farming the crown. Its not skill it's just the right tool for the right job but applied with skill (not much in my case). Yet when I'm not soloing I'm running around with my outfit accomplishing things for empire is just as fun and I recomend it.

As for all you K/D haters... Yes I get it your a medic, or a gal/AMS pilot, or some other suppot role. I value your role in the game but not everyone has to play like you do so chill out.

[ThGlump]

Originally Posted by BadMannerKorea

I am not using any incomplete argument. We have many people in this thread who are saying K/D doesn't matter at all. Let me repeat, AT ALL. They are claiming it doesn't mean anything. It's simply incorrect to say this, and just because there are roles which aren't focused on K/D doesn't mean K/D is not important or that it doesn't mean something.

Saying K/D doesn't mean anything is like the equivalent of me saying GPA, average home runs, average wins a team has, average life span, average income, (insert any average statistic you want) and saying they don't mean anything.

The statistic means something, as well as the action/activity that the average is representing.

You know what K/D do? They make you dont want to die, so you dont want to risk too much. Those who care about K/D wont rush with you to room full of enemies to clear it, wont try to slow enemy advancement at bases when heavily outnumbered, wont do suicidal missions (like destroying sundy in tech plant). They rather find safer fight where they can rack up kills. Any player that dont care if he die is 10x more valuable than any killwhore.

[Hmr85]

I actually found in the past that constantly looking at my K/D ratio makes me play worse. You start to get paranoid and pissed off which in turn makes you play like shit. Do yourself a favor and completely ignore it. As cycle said judge how you are playing by the amount of certs your bring in.

Also, remember that this game is on a much larger scale than your typical FPS. Its not really about how many kills/ Deaths you take during your play session. Its about what you can do for your Empire/Team to help progress the war effort and sometimes that means being a meat shield.

[BadMannerKorea]

Originally Posted by ThGlump

You know what K/D do? They make you dont want to die, so you dont want to risk too much. Those who care about K/D wont rush with you to room full of enemies to clear it, wont try to slow enemy advancement at bases when heavily outnumbered, wont do suicidal missions (like destroying sundy in tech plant). They rather find safer fight where they can rack up kills. Any player that dont care if he die is 10x more valuable than any killwhore.

Look, I'm not denying those kind of situations occur, or that certain classes aren't focused on k/d, but like I said before, to say that k/d doesn't matter at all is simply false.

You have to understand, anytime you die, it's almost exclusively your fault. You're the only one who has control over how well you do in this game. Even if you die healing people, zerging a base, repairing vehicles, or whatever it is you do in this game, if you die, you should be looking at it in terms of "What could I have done better to avoid this death?", instead of saying "Oh well, K/D doesn't matter".

Yes, sometimes dying for a good cause might be worth it, but if the overall attitude is "K/d doesn't matter", you close yourself off from reflecting on your gameplay. Even within a team game is the individual player, and if you don't care about giving away kills to the enemy, or improving yourself, then you're not only hurting yourself, but you're hurting the team.

And what's hilarious is most of the people in this thread are saying k/d doesn't matter. They are telling the OP just to ignore it. The OP knows he's doing something wrong. He knows he's dying too much, and you're all in here telling him to not worry about it. That's the wrong kind of attitude.

[EZShot]

It's not to say that K/D is irrelevant but it is a worthless statistic when considering player skill in this game. I myself do a bit of everything in this game and as a result my K/D is a solid 1.0 on average.

I can jump in a tank and get 50/1 on some days but I don't feel really useful while doing it. Other times it'll be the Medics turn and I'll go 1/50 and feel like I really made a difference. Again, not to say it does't mean something but that if you use K/D to measure the actual skill involved in playing this game you are getting a VERY two dimensional picture of that players ability.

The K/D statistic being displayed so prominently when you hold Tab or go to the profile page is pretty useless and probably gives the wrong impression to new players. Score/Time is a much more useful statistic in this game and is the one I like to use to measure my own play, some days it'll be 15k some days 4k. I strive to average it out above 10k as my own personal goal.

EDIT: My suggestion to the OP is to try a few different guns out in the store, focus yourself to undertaking a single role at a time, stick besides team mates at all times and keep checking your map.

I have a friend who is struggling to get to grips with this game, I told him to simply take a deep breath when you die then think rationally about what you could have done to avoid that death next time. If that means running like a coward then so be it.

1 vs 1 infantry face off's in this game aren't 100% balanced and neither should they be, you need to pick your fight very carefully unless you are running side by side with an ally.

[Rossum]

Also pretty new to this and my K/D ratio is nothing to brag about, but here are some suggestions I think might help:

1). Try out the vehicles. You get a constant trickle of resources for air, vehicles, and infantry. If you see any of your resources maxed out at 750, just for practice buy yourself a vehicle and try killing with that. Vehicles are much more durable than regular infantry and a properly piloted aircraft is deadly as well. I'm not a good pilot by any measure, but occasional practice could help you improve and see about making kills and help out through vehicle combat. Engineer is a great class for using vehicles since you can repair your ride.

For aircraft, at the very least learn to pilot and land properly. I've neglected air combat myself, but I know that air combat is a good thing to have both in-game and the real world.


2). As infantry, find out what kills you the most and take measures against it. You can cert suit upgrades for health, reduced explosive damage, and reducing time till your shield regenerates. You can only equip one of these at a time so its best to choose what you want. If you're going up against tanks often, get the reduced explosive damage. If you can get in a firefight and then duck out of sight, the reduced shield regenerate can help you get your shields up faster. The increased health is also pretty good especially for medics who can heal themselves.

Basically, get one of those upgrades you think will be most useful to increase your survivablity. Just one or two ranks in it at first since the cost gets huge at later ranks for only slight benefit.

3). Remember to check your loadout to make sure you equip the things you certed.

4). Your survivability greatly increases with a good group to help out.

5). If you see someone driving a tank or sunderer, feel free to help by manning the turrets unless they've already got someone. On that same note, if you're driving a vehicle with a turret, try and get someone to man it for you. Having someone at the turret means more firepower to help in vehicle fights.

6). If you are playing engineer, be very careful when repairing vehicles (or just watch out for vehicles in general). A tank driver can, will, and dare I say it should back over you to retreat from combat if they are taking damage. If you die, it takes a few seconds for you to jump back into the game. If the tank dies, the driver has to wait for the cooldown to end before they can spawn another.

So, as an engineer, stay to the side of the tank so you can keep it repaired and it can quickly retreat from the fighting if necessary.

7). There are also med kits or regeneration kits you can cert into to heal yourself without a medic around. I've never used them but I hear the regeneration kit is perfectly fine to have and it's cheaper.

8). Be aware that friendly fire is on, so you can get killed by friendly forces if you get in the line of fire.

9). I know I keep bringing up vehicles, but just know that in base defenses, particularly where you have to protect the generators from the enemy, I will grab myself a tank to drive in just so I can drive to the generator rooms safely. You can't get headshot by snipers or light assault in a tank and there is always the chance you might be able to shoot an enemy combatant with it.

10). Also, you can use PageDown to bring up the option to deconstruct your vehicle. This gives you back the resources for the vehicle (doesn't reset the cooldown) and denies the enemy the XP for destroying your tank.


Other than that, I think its mostly being stealthy, situationally aware, and other things that I have trouble with. I'm pretty new to FPSs myself and the only other online FPS I really play regularly is TF2 and in that I usually go medic, engineer, or say... soldier, scout, or pyro on Mann vs Machine.

My take on this game is to try and think about how war works in real life. In RL, armies with tanks, vehicles, air superiority and supply lines have a huge advantage. So, it's always a good idea to try and get used to the vehicle combat. At the very least, the vehicle soaks up the damage and you can bail out. Get yourself some kills while increasing your survivability.

Hope that helps.

[Nakath]

If you dislike dying that much, I find that playing with centralized HUD and doing hit and run tactics on foot helps a lot.

Soon as shields drop, run away into cover, wait for shields, get back in.

Never stand still, always be moving. Sounds basic but I see a LOT of people doing it.

[Moodel]

I've not read all the previous posts but I did read the original and have a story to share.

I've played allot of FPS in the past 15yrs or so and I have always been average at most of them.

A classic example would be the BF series of games. BF1942 = avg, BF2 = avg, BFBC = avg.........until I played BF2142.

In BF2142 I owned.......and I mean I really owned. I only ever played Titan mode but I found I could out think everyone else playing the game.

So it could be argued that the original poster needs to tune into the game or take a step back and think about what they're doing.

When I first played PlanetSide (original) I found I had to adjust my way of thinking to the scale of the game I was terrible being a standard trooper so switched to playing a Medic mostly and as I learned and understood the game gradually switched to playing other roles.

This time around in PS2 I find that yes I still make an awesome medic but I also am a very good Heavy.

I'd say for anyone experiencing issues like the OP stick with it and think more. Look at your terrain use the cover and use the Q key as often as you can to spot enemy forces........and don't be afraid to take a risk in combat

[Calisai]

Originally Posted by ThGlump

K/D doesnt matter. I have only 0.3K/D but i know im helping my outfit and empire. Im medic/engi with AMS driving around. I often dont kill other but only hurt them so other easilly pick them up. Still i end with higher score than my squad (=more certs). K/D isnt measure of our success (only if you want it to be). It shouldnt be one of the main stats and easily to view.

K/D should be more of a stat to help yourself rate gameplay between sessions... not compare to other people. When I'm running a Magrider... I tend to get 20-30/1 K/D... but as infantry I'd be ecstatic with 2/1. As a sniper, in a good camping spot.. again 20/1... rushing the control point trying to push back the attackers and resecure a gen... 1/5.....

It all depends on what you are doing. If you're like me and do all of the above... it results in a mediocre K/D, but I have fun. If I was to only do 1 of those... and only engage in those activities, I could pump up my K/D without a problem. That's not what I like to do, however, so I only use K/D to compare to myself.

Originally Posted by Moodel

So it could be argued that the original poster needs to tune into the game or take a step back and think about what they're doing.

When I first played PlanetSide (original) I found I had to adjust my way of thinking to the scale of the game I was terrible being a standard trooper so switched to playing a Medic mostly and as I learned and understood the game gradually switched to playing other roles.
<Snip>
I'd say for anyone experiencing issues like the OP stick with it and think more. Look at your terrain use the cover and use the Q key as often as you can to spot enemy forces........and don't be afraid to take a risk in combat

This is the great thing about a massive FPS like this (also held true to PS1). There are so many things you can do, you don't have to be a twitch heavy grunt to enjoy the game. Find something you like. If it's support related... great... find a good outfit to support... if you just like to killwhore at big base battles... make sure you have good frames/sec and pick your fights... You'll get great K/D soon enough.

Originally Posted by Rossum

<Snip good tips>

6). If you are playing engineer, be very careful when repairing vehicles (or just watch out for vehicles in general). A tank driver can, will, and dare I say it should back over you to retreat from combat if they are taking damage. If you die, it takes a few seconds for you to jump back into the game. If the tank dies, the driver has to wait for the cooldown to end before they can spawn another.

So, as an engineer, stay to the side of the tank so you can keep it repaired and it can quickly retreat from the fighting if necessary.

<snip good tips>

Hope that helps.

Oh.. and if you are repairing a magrider (VS), don't stand to the sides or behind. A mag will strafe to dodge incoming fire just as much as moving forward or back. Best place to repair a mag is up front offset from the front of the mag (not directly in front... by the points). The drivers cannot see behind the mag (EVER, even in third person), and the sides only when in third person. But they can always see the front corners (on both sides of the main gun).

I've ran over countless engys that I didn't even know were there trying to get close to repair... and had no chance to even see them there. (And believe me... I'd prefer not to have the grief... getting grief-locked because of pedestrians is annoying)

[DDSHADE]

It's all about finding a play style that fits you best. There are many aspects of the game!

You should try addapting different classes to the different sort of fights you're in. Finding good cover is always a good way to stay alive, as is buying the med-kit with certs. And that's just for infantry.

Try driving tanks around, and flying aircraft! It's a lot of fun once you learn how to stay alive. Practice the ones you like, you'll get better if you keep staying alive in mind. Do your best to be reserved when you need to, assess enemy numbers and just be careful not to get blown up or owned.

Perhaps try a different faction, if you haven't yet. Try all three, it's fun seeing the differences in weapons and how they affect your play style.

Good luck on finding your groove, you can do it! (Get to 1.2) Set a goal if that matters to you, but really its about helping your faction as a whole!

[Bocheezu]

I felt the same way the OP does, and I am a PS1 veteran. I started watching some videos of killwhores, and I found that my aim is really, really bad. If you have ever had a situation where it took you a whole clip of anything to kill a single guy, your aim is not good enough to really compete. This is how I am even if the guy's standing still; if he's running, I just forget about it, I can't hit the broad side of a barn and I'll only get a few stray bullets to hit in that case.

Basically, I've learned the situations when I can kill someone and when I can't. If I see them first AND I hit with one of the first few bullets, I have a chance. If I get the jump and I hit air, then I think about an exit strategy because I will run out of bullets before I can kill them and end up standing there reloading/switching to pistol while they turn around and shoot me in the face. If they get the jump on me, I basically just flail around like an idiot and hope they run out of bullets. Close-up situations are really bad for me and my in-close awareness is terrible: LAs that fly around indoors are awful for me and I can never hit them, so I generally just run away.

The key is that not everybody can or should be a killwhore, and they won't be able to have a decent certs/hr as a result. Playing for hours and only getting 30 certs just sucks, it feels like a complete waste of time.

After realizing my uselessness as a grunt, I switched to medic/engineer and my cert gain has gone up. I know the flying killwhores consider 45-50 certs an hour as the worst hour of PS2 ever for them, but that's damn good for me. I did that last night when we (TR) took the amp station closest to the NC warpgate on Amerish. As soon as the base flipped, I started repairing turrets, and a bunch of bursters climbed up by the turrets (there were planes everywhere) so I dropped some ammo. Those ammo resupplies really add up after a while, especially with bursters because they go through so much ammo.

Medic is also fantastic because you get about as much XP ressing a guy as you do killing a guy, and it's much easier to res people than it is to kill them. It also gets better as you level up the med tool because they spawn with more health, and thus, give you more XP per res. You also get the res finished before other players due to the increased res speed. The main problem with medic is the fact that you are competing with other players for resses, so you have to have the fastest med tool or you will get beat out on res XP.

I also drive sundy, and while the spawn xp seems nothing to really write home about (I have never had good numbers just from the spawns, and there are so many sundys around, you can rarely deploy in a heated battle) the vehicle ammo resupply can be awesome if you park it next to a vehicle choke point and up the resupply radius. You basically force tanks to resupply from your sundy as they drive by, it's great. I try to not be the forward sundy spawn because I really can't stand when it gets blown up. I just want to plant it and forget it.

[Rossum]

Also, playing Engineer. If you cert into anti-infantry mines, you can place them next to generators or capture points to guard them while you go elsewhere. The mines stay even if you switch your utility slot, die, or change classes and I think they persist for hours. They only go away on being detonated, if you switch continents, or if you try to lay down more mines than you are certed for (in which case the last mine overwrites the first).

You don't get any notice if a mine detonates aside from it telling you the xp for the kill (if any) so its hard to keep track of them all.

But, if you've got 100 certs to burn, you can take the first level of anti-infantry mines and use those to guard choke points.


Alternatly, get Tank Mines in whic case you get 2 mines. Two mines can take out any tank in the game, excelent for eliminating deployed sunderers or tanks if you can sneak up on them.

Mines won't exactly get you a huge cert/hour and they cost resources, but they are useful.