What are your thoughts on PlanetSide 2 now that you have played? - Page 8

Rivenshield · 2012-09-02, 02:51 PM

The game is a visual feast. It looks and feels like a battlefield on an alien world. Everything has that slightly beat-up lived-in look.

The audio engineers have done a magnificent job as well. Distant booms and near-miss crackles create an immersive atmosphere.... except for the Phalanx turret, which sounds like a tennis ball mortar, and the TR chaingun, which sounds like someone beating a garbage can lid with a Whiffle bat. For the love of God I hope they cure these weapons of their audio ailments.

Gameplay is... well... like a regular FPS writ large, I'm sorry to say. You have two competing zergs running headlong into each other and the one with even a slight numerical advantage wins. Multiple choke points is fine. NONE is a disaster. Defense is impossible, offense is easy. There is no way for a small group with its act together to stop or even frustrate a larger one. This needs to be fixed, and I hope it will be.

Making spawn rooms invulnerable sucks. Take out those shields, make the tubes destructible, and let the carnage commence as it did of old. (That is *not* how you help the defenders. You help them by adding stuff to defend. Like, you know, walls and occasional choke points and stuff.) There are few things that produce more adrenaline than trying to shove an encroaching enemy frantically away from your tubes... and few things more gratifying than finally forcing your way in and gunning the enemy in his.

Optimization has come a long way even in the past two weeks. Day by day, in every way, we are getting better and better.

I remain cautiously optimistic, but we have a long we to go before we recreate the feeling of solidarity and brotherhood that made Planetside an experience to be treasured, not merely a time sink.

MonsterBone · 2012-09-02, 06:20 PM

Adjacency is not the answer. Today has been a huge zerg on the front lines which barely move.

Crator · 2012-09-02, 06:22 PM

So then? Some sort of complex lattice system? Won't we need more base objectives for that though?

Hadrianswall · 2012-09-02, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by Crator

So then? Some sort of complex lattice system? Won't we need more base objectives for that though?

a leaf out of one of the most strategic hex board games there is maybe ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(board_game)

connect your warpgate with one or more enemy faction warpgates via hex .
this would push the battle all around the board as factions were blocked off and try and flank different ways around the map, would open up loads of strategy options , dummy attacks ect .
there woudl also need tobe some form or reward for completing it , but i think this needs tobe in regardless , a persistent world is no use if everything stays the same or there is no battle over , the war never has to end but a battle must come to a head somehow

MaxDamage · 2012-09-02, 07:43 PM

Starting to enjoy it a lot more now that people are coming out in more numbers, and more organised. VERY MUCH SO.

Rolfski · 2012-09-02, 10:00 PM

I did play PS1 but unfortunately I don't have a PS2 key because PS1 at the time couldn't persuade me into a subscription; too much downtime for my likings during my PS1 trial period.

I'm very excited for PS2 though as I watched tons of video's and read lots of comments. Wanna dive into this beta for sure so feel free to share a key if you have one left.

What I get out of all these comments and video's so far about PS2 in its current state:

PLUS
- Lots of potential, the contours of a top MMOFPS are there
- Pretty, especially during night and daylight transitions
- Solid gun play
- Sporadic epic moments when people do team up and work together
- Not pay to win
- Responsive devs
- Highly customizable

MINUS/NEEDS WORK
- Tools for teamwork and more focused, strategic game play
- Beta related: balances/optimization/bugs/unfinished content
- Steep learning curve
- Quick base switching/lack of accomplishment
- Capture related: Back hacking, adjacency system, capture system

DEBATABLE
- Class system
- Time to kill
- BF/COD to PS1 ratio
- Variation between factions

Please, correct me if I'm wrong, being only an enthusiastic outsider that hasn't managed to get in yet.

Shogun · 2012-09-03, 08:18 AM

Originally Posted by IDukeNukeml

There are ZERO logistics. Everything is fast paced, kill kill kill. Medics don't have the time to heal and engineers don't have the need to refill ammo, everyone is already dead, came back and fighting again. The game is lacking logistics entirely.

Yep, that´s the problem i was concerned about from the moment i saw the very first action gameplay. the fast pace and short time to kill are very bad for the support-roles.

Typherian · 2012-09-03, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by BorisBlade

Its definitely improving, the new capture systems should help alot over the currently awful ffa ticket system. The infantry combat is pretty good, a bit too fast but still good. Aircraft seem to be pretty good as well with much better movement over ps1. The graphics are simply amazing, there is no knocking them. I find myself pausing to look at stuff all the time even months after i first got in.

The ground vehicle combat tho is flat out awful. Vehicles have no armor, so you die in seconds, large scale epic fights NEVER happen. You just die before vehicles can mass up and anytime they come in with big groups, they just get decimated in seconds. Its boring and sad to see. Drivers being gunners in the MBT's is terrible, they are boring and weak to keep em balanced for solo play. They move very badly with simple stop, fire til dead or target dies, move, and repeat. You dont get real vehicle movement. No one can do both at once very well so its boring to do and boring to see. Lame instant magical seat switching means you dont need that AA gunner, just switch and fire then switch back. Totally kills the need for teamwork in a game with 2k people, which makes no sense. It should be encouraged not discouraged. Instant in/out and more just make things cheap and uninteresting.

They need to bring back ps1 style vehicles with immersive mechanics such as fixed vehicle slots (no magical seat switching), drivers who dont gun (except for the lightning), and real armor (3x what it is now, minimum of 2x keeping in mind ps1 had 4x what these tanks have). Then we can finally get some epic vehicle fights again. I just dont get this obsession with making everything die so freaking fast. Its boring and means you dont get large scale epic fights which this game should do better than PS1 but currently cant even hold a candle to when it comes to that aspect.

All of this^

Ascy · 2012-09-03, 01:11 PM

Well, here's my impression after the first 4-5 hours:

First: the game looks great, mainly because of the art design. The buildings look authentic and the landscape is well made. Since I play on medium graphics settings I can't comment too much on the effects, but even at medium it's a beautiful game. Some textures are really low-res at the moment, but I think that's just a beta issue.
A problem I had was the lights inside the tech plant (?) during a night assault.
With that amount of backlighting it was extremely hard to identify enemies.

Second: The gameplay is solid and fun so far. I've been running around mostly as infantry, the weapons feel alright, even though I think that full auto fire is a bit too accurate - mostly people just empty their magazines instead of going semi auto and aimed shots. Perhaps this is due to the short engagement distances. (I come from Project Reality though, so my view on what these distances should be might be distorted)
Another factor is that I think a slower gameplay would benefit the "epic war"-aspect of the game. Right now it feels more like a fps with really really many guys, capping a base and running to the next and back again. Make battles over a base and the hacking take longer!

Third: The interface is too crowded. There are way too many markers on the screen for all the friendly guys in the proximity (through walls, nonetheless!).
Also the difference between platoon and squad members on the minimap is non-existent. It's hard to get in the right Galaxy with your squad if there are 4 green Gals on the minimap.
But again, that's a beta issue, so they'll likely introduce more options to customize this.

Fourth: I found PS2 to be a bit unfriendly to new players. I would love to have a training area where you can try out vehicles and planes without having the feeling that you hinder the progress of your empire. (also, it's damn hard to learn flying when you can't fly far enough without getting into a dogfight.)

Fifth: If I ever want to fly a plane, I need a joystick.

Overall it has been quite enjoyable though, and it has awesome potential. I'm thrilled to see where the game is going during the beta phase!

CrankyTRex · 2012-09-03, 04:21 PM

First time commenter, newbie to Planetside here and thought I would add my two cents now that I've had a week or two to get familiar with the Beta.

I'm someone coming primarily from a Battlefield/Unreal Tournament background, and have been waiting to play a game like this since BF1942 first hooked me. I have, however, been sorely disappointed with newer iterations of those franchises.

Planetside 2 thus far seems to have a mix of great and terrible for me. I love the scale. I was absolutely giddy to find myself flying around with like 10 other fighters while a column of tanks rolled on underneath us, because you just don't see that kind of thing in other FPS games unless it is scripted.

It's taken me a few days but I think these are my three major issues with the game to date:

1. Learning curve is way too steep.
The problem I have most with playing this game is where am I? Where am I going? What point should I be capping? The big map is often too lacking in detail and I can't have it superimposed while I'm moving. The mini-map is too tight half the time and I can't tell where anything is. Since the map is huge, it's often difficult to find someone just to follow and emulate even to get started. The chat is usually devoid of people, and only the people interested in irritating others seem to use proximity voice.

Friend or foe identification is incredibly difficult. So many of the classes and vehicles look alike and their paint jobs are not usually visible at range. Also there's a bug that doesn't always display a friendly's name on mouse over, so you end up shooting them thinking they're an enemy. Really, it should be on all the time if you have line of sight to the person/vehicle.

The sound design also really hurts with that because I find a lot of stuff sounds like it is right next to me when it isn't (particularly aircraft that are way above the battlefield and MAXes jumping around), whereas regular weapon fire can sound a mile away and be one room over. Further, the only weapons that sound distinctly different are the Vanu ones, and some of the TR ones are frankly irritating to listen to. I think it's the MAX's chaingun.

I find myself constantly having to check my keybinds because of things like special abilities being "F" but the Galaxy deploy, for example, being "B". I also spent hours trying to figure out a way to bind roll and pitch controls for flying to the keyboard with no success.

2. Pacing never feels right

Either I find myself in a fight where everyone is dying almost instantly and respawning in some pitched battle to take or hold a facility, or we're all standing around just waiting for the tickets to finally cap the thing. They really need to rethink their capture systems, especially the one where you hold all the control points but you still lose the place because the opposing faction influence is too high.

Controlling a console should switch all the terminals at that spot over to your empire. Nothing is more irritating than holding an entire facility's consoles and still not being able to use any of the terminals until the thing finally switches over. If nothing else, this would make prioritizing and taking them more important. Right now, it does not seem to matter if you take Point A or B, which leads most people to find the center of the facility and just take that, while ignoring the outlying points.

If one of those points is a tank factory, which many of them are, it should be a priority to flip that before assaulting a the main structure. Right now it doesn't matter if you do or do not. There should also be medical bays and ammo dumps to take that will grant healing and re-arming bonuses/AoEs that would be priority targets both inside and outside facilities.

One thing I thought would be a nice change is if your re-spawn timers are specific to a given facility. It seems silly to be able to spawn a vehicle, then not be able to spawn one even back at the Warp Gate just because of the timer even though you have the resources, even more so if you get destroyed at the end of a battle such that you have to sit around waiting rather than pressing on. I think it would help place greater emphasis on capturing surrounding towers and such. If you have three of them, your pilots/drivers can be more effective because they can rotate spawning. It would still cut down on spam since the travel time is required, but also lets people play in the vehicle they want more often for longer.

3. Straying into BF3 unlock syndrome
Going back to #1 briefly, it took me far too long to realize that the "side-grades" had to be purchased from an entirely different place from Certs since some Certs also seem to be unlocks and/or are for weapons I don't have yet. That part of the UI needs an overhaul to make all of that more streamlined. All of the options should show up in the customization window, just as locked, and set as purchasable from right there.

But more importantly, one of the things that stopped me from buying BF3 was that simple, basic stuff required unlocks, and I hated that. Sights for every weapon. Flares/Missiles for aircraft. AA for ground troops. Those kind of things are not side-grades, they are basic options without which you can be severely restricted in your ability to contribute to the battle.

I especially do not like watching another Mosquito fly over a tank and destroy it with rocket pods or fire an AA missile at another aircraft while I am stuck with this nearly useless chaingun thing because I haven't earned enough Auraxium to buy anything yet.

I do want to see lots of things to unlock and switch between, but I don't want it to significantly restrict my combat ability. Different guns with various rates of fire and look and feel? Alternate costuming/camo? Love it. Make it cost as much as you want.

Having to unlock the ability to fire AA from a MAX or turn your fighter into an AtG machine? No thank you. That should be standard available stuff, the difference should just be in the actual weapons themselves.

I think the MAX flamethrower is the perfect example of a good side-grade unlock. You don't need it to do anything, but it will change how you play to use it.

Also, tangentially related to this, I feel like they should just fold the Engineer/Medic into the other classes entirely. Seems unnecessarily redundant to have them as separate classes in a game with this many unlocks and certs. It would be easier to just be able to choose between having one of those class skills and specializing in it.

**Malorn** · 2012-09-03, 04:30 PM

I've been playing PS2 for about two months and not even close to getting burned out on it. I love the game, and it's only going to get better!

A year ago we were all worrying about a few things like the class system, one-man tanks, no inventories, ect. Nearly all of those things have proven to be great decisions. There's still a few legitimate concerns of course, but by and large the game is great.

The improvements over the last few weeks have been huge, and the changes show they are in fact listening to player feedback and taking the game in the right direction.

I love PlanetSide 2, I'm impressed by the dev team, and I really look forward to it being even more awesome!

Hamma · 2012-09-03, 04:37 PM

Yep it's in now - it's done some interesting things to fights. Some great fights now at forward outposts.

JHendy · 2012-09-03, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by OnexBigxHebrew

Also, incentives just aren't there. You get a big feeling of "What's it all for?". If I'm going to be putting up with half-baked gameplay, there has to be stronger MMO elements.

Yup yup. I'm sure there will be cont locks when the other two continents are in, though, which helps with that issue.

EVILoHOMER · 2012-09-04, 05:25 AM

The good;

- It's kept to the scope of the original and wasn't turned into some instanced small scale FPS.

The Bad;

- The shooting feels floaty, default mouse sensitivity is way too high.
- The vehicle handling sucks for both aircraft and ground vehicles.
- The base design sucks.
- No urban areas.
- The map design sucks, it makes traveling with ground vehicles far too annoying to the point you just get in an aircraft instead.
- I hate the class system, it feels far too restrictive, I want the old cert system back.
- The textures look like shit.
- The UI is a cluster fuck.
- The lighting is far too bright it drowns everything out.
- Fog means you cannot see in the distance which I hoped would have gone in this day and age.
- Too much HDR.
- Night time is too dark you cannot see anything other than moving upside down triangles..... why even bother with dark lighting then? Just make it lighter.
- Base capture is too fast
- Bases are too open they're hard to defend, especially as people leave, they tend to get recaptured.
- The sound design is horrible, the worst sound effects ever.
- No inventory
- No hacking
- No looting

etc etc.

It's just plain bad and the saddest thing is all my friends were excited for it, all got PC Gamer beta keys even though we were Planetside vets and we all got into the beta within a week of each other. None of us are left playing, instantly we all agreed, it feels nothing like Planetside.

Mox · 2012-09-04, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by EVILoHOMER

The good;

- It's kept to the scope of the original and wasn't turned into some instanced small scale FPS.

The Bad;

- The shooting feels floaty, default mouse sensitivity is way too high.
- The vehicle handling sucks for both aircraft and ground vehicles.
- The base design sucks.
- No urban areas.
- The map design sucks, it makes traveling with ground vehicles far too annoying to the point you just get in an aircraft instead.
- I hate the class system, it feels far too restrictive, I want the old cert system back.
- The textures look like shit.
- The UI is a cluster fuck.
- The lighting is far too bright it drowns everything out.
- Fog means you cannot see in the distance which I hoped would have gone in this day and age.
- Too much HDR.
- Night time is too dark you cannot see anything other than moving upside down triangles..... why even bother with dark lighting then? Just make it lighter.
- Base capture is too fast
- Bases are too open they're hard to defend, especially as people leave, they tend to get recaptured.
- The sound design is horrible, the worst sound effects ever.
- No inventory
- No hacking
- No looting

etc etc.

It's just plain bad and the saddest thing is all my friends were excited for it, all got PC Gamer beta keys even though we were Planetside vets and we all got into the beta within a week of each other. None of us are left playing, instantly we all agreed, it feels nothing like Planetside.

I agree on everything, except "The Good":
If I remember the battles in the good old days (2003-2005) in PS1 and see the battles now in the beta, i would never say that this is the same scope of fight. PS2 feels like an ongoing small to medium scale skirmish. Even the map seems to be smaller.

=> There is a lot to do for SOE to make this one a ongoing success. I just hope they listen to their real fanbase and not to the new but loud fanboys from other shooters (BF/CoD/etc.). They will choose a new game after some months anyway.