starting to lose faith

stargazer093 · 2013-01-03, 12:34 PM

firstly, sorry for my poor english, `tis not my mother language
secondly, I know this is but another whining thread (which there are already a hundreds) but still, this is a forum, so anyway

to be honest, I really don`t want to have to post this, nor do I like to have this feeling..I`ve been playing PS1 since beta. Like many of you guys around here, as a vet, I have a very high expectation for PS2, I used to dream it as a perfect replacement for PS1, which I could find many of the old feeling there. When the screenshot of that Vanguard came out, I couldn`t sleep well for almost a week, thought my dream would come true. I started to translate even a little bit of news of PS2 to my motherlanguage so those vets like me could know about the latest infos too, every morning, even still in bed, the first thing I did was open PSU to see if there were new infos.

Later, with more and more information emerges out of the dark, I understand that SOE thinks PS1 isn`t as much as succeed they had hoped, so they took a completely different path in PS2, yet, they said they will be watching the community closely and listen to our voices and feedbacks. I was very exiting and happy about this, because as far as I know, few game developers have ever bother done this, so I had faith on them, because I was so sure that they will do it well.

After the beta started, many problems emerged. I won`t bother summary them up here, I m sure all of you people who have been in tech test and beta know what I m talking about. Anyway, SOE did what they said they would have done, they did listen, then making changes even to the core game mechanics. So still, I had faith on them

During the later stage of the beta, compare to the tech test, PS2 is already a whole new game. Yet, more and more problems emerged, countless of glitches, many balancing issues, etc. Yet, I know the devs will listen and make changes because it is what they have been doing for the past months. Meanwhile, Devs talk about their visions and the current stage of PS2 on the interviews, Smed`s wall of text http://john-smedley.livejournal.com/2412.html which is typed by Smed himself to just answer over the questions and comments.. Facing all these passions, I still had faith on them, I mean, how couldn`t I?

Nevertheless, it is at this stage of the game - which obviously isn`t ready, that SOE has announced the release date - not early 2013, nor end 2012, but mid November 2012. I still recall how many shitstorms and havocs and chaos have appeared on the forum, both on the official forum and in PSU, and countless fan-community all over the world as well. They have a single voice: "`TIS TOO DAMN EARLY!" Although I agree with this, I saw Smed on twitter, said he was so sure that they would do well. Looking back at what they`ve done before, I still had faith that the game will be good and give back all my feeling of PS1.

So it has come, at November 20th, PS2 has officially launched. It is a great success - severs were booming, epic big fights can be found all over the continents, positive rating and awards are everywhere... Despite the problems showed, I still had faith on them because I was sure that these will be fixed, soon.

Yet, two months have passed, not only many the previous problems still appears, none of the promised contents have been added (mission system, new player tutorial, for example), most importantly, number of player starts to decline: sever statues fell from high, to medium, then to low; epic, prolong fights were almost no more and can only be seen at certain locations of the map (yes, you there, the Crown, I`m talking about you)... And still, none of the promising new contents have been added, nor many of the old problems have been fixed (Air, grinding, spawncamp, vehicleside, balancing, new player tutorial, zerg spam, etcetcetc). At this point, it would be lying to say I still have the same faith as I had before. I down from two hours of PS2 per day to one hour, then some day I don`t even touch it, then to semi-quit... I recommended PS2 to many of my friends, now all of them are gone, none of them are left, either due to lack of tutorial, or due to balancing, performance, "would be better to play CS", etc. And guess it would be confident to say that, I won`t go back until they have actually fixed something either... yeah...

Years since PS2 emerges from the dark, for years I care and put my faith and trust and confidence into devs and SOE, but now.. they are going, and won`t be coming back anytime soon..

so here`s all the whining from a young vet. Alright, its 12:32 pm, time for the combination of breakfast and lunch! then French essay

edit: no I never mean to say "DIS SHOULDA BE PS1.5!!!SOE YOU`VE RUINED PS!!!" I fully understand why SOE has toke this move in going to a completely different path...what I am worrying about is the game at stage it is now.

MaxDamage · 2013-01-03, 12:56 PM

Releasing it early was more of an early Christmas present.
Trust me, they're just getting warmed up.

Qwan · 2013-01-03, 01:07 PM

Hang in there star, I have to admit I have slowed my gaming down as well, I figured the early release was just to get the bugs checked out, and let people check out hte game. I mean if you look at it, the game right now is just the basics. These guys worked there butts off and and are now on vacation, you know the american holidays, thanksgiving, christmas, new years. I think 2013 will bring in alot of content and alot of the things that they promised will is just over the horizon. So take a break, do your school works, but keep checking in, I think you will be surprised at some of the changes coming this year. This is not the End Game or Meta as they like to say, this is just the beginning.

AnamNantom · 2013-01-03, 01:17 PM

Pay attention to what they actually say. Follow their twitter accounts. We are getting updates to client this month, also the three year plan. That might satisfy what you are seeking.

Rolfski · 2013-01-03, 01:22 PM

A little bit impatient, are we? The game is only out for 1,5 month. There has already been a major patch and many minor ones. Big performance patches are tested atm and this month they will announce the roadmap for the coming 6 months.

As expected after a MMO launch, most of the effort so far has gone into fixing many stability issues and they continue to do so, while new content is on it's way. What is there to blame?
And yes, people get bored fast as with any game. Hardly surprising, PS2 is no different.

ringring · 2013-01-03, 01:33 PM

I was concerned with the launch, specifically that because of only 3 continents I'd get bored long before the game could fulfill it's potential and be a true successor, in my opinion at least.

But, kudos to all the devs, I know they worked their ***** off all through summer, as well as having to develop a thick skin to survive the moans of people such as me on the forums with their sanity intact. I hope they enjoyed their well deserved holidays and come back raring to go.

SeraphC · 2013-01-03, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Rolfski

A little bit impatient, are we? The game is only out for 1,5 month. There has already been a major patch and many minor ones. Big performance patches are tested atm and this month they will announce the roadmap for the coming 6 months.

As expected after a MMO launch, most of the effort so far has gone into fixing many stability issues and they continue to do so, while new content is on it's way. What is there to blame?
And yes, people get bored fast as with any game. Hardly surprising, PS2 is no different.

PS2 as it is has about 3 weeks worth of content. That is: after playing for around 3 weeks you will have done most of what there is to do and things will start feeling repetitive. I'm almost there myself.

The thing is: you can release a game when you feel it's incomplete. That is perfectly acceptable. However when you do so you must release it with enough content to keep players busy for the time it takes to get the next major update done.

Also: when releasing you get a huge influx of players that want to try out the game. With most of these first impressions count. You will never see them again if they feel your game is not worth their time. Yes, others will join later on and might see a better game, people might return after a while. But the scale of your success will most likely be measured by the % of players you can retain from your launch.
Very few games experience an upward trend in terms of active players.

Another thing: people don't want to follow the devs on twitter. In fact, for most people it won't even cross their minds. If they have something to say (and they should) they should keep a dev blog on the website. They can learn a thing or two from (again) CCP.

EVILoHOMER · 2013-01-03, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by MaxDamage

Releasing it early was more of an early Christmas present.
Trust me, they're just getting warmed up.

Be dead by the time they are warmed up.

The target audience for F2P games don't give games a second chance, fans do but most gamers don't. All it takes is the next rival game like BF4 to come out and blow everyone away and suddenly no one cares about Planetside 2.

Saying that I don't have a single friend left who is playing Planetside 2, they all think it is shit and quit a long time ago, giving the same reasons that people complained about in beta and are complaining about now.

SOE probably just rushed the game out so they could downsize the developer team and put full focus on EQ Next.

james · 2013-01-04, 12:59 AM

It was rushed, for what reasons. Probably they where running out of money, it was already behind. The beta was supposed to come out in q1 of 2012, came out in q3 of 2012. So it seems like it may be another 3-6 months for the game to be where it should be.
As much as i like the game, and see what it could be. The game will be old news or even dead. The problem currently is this game is nothing more than a crap derision of bf3, throw in a larger scale, and no end game. When you have players who bought 12 month subs, and spent more money not playing. You have a problem. Deciding to release your game, then go on holiday is a problem.
2013 is a crazy year for games, and as it sits PS2 is going to get chucked to the bottom of the pile.

Happytrail · 2013-01-04, 03:54 AM

This thread might encourage you aswell to stay
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/i...1/#post-956760

PredatorFour · 2013-01-04, 04:07 AM

Originally Posted by Rolfski

A little bit impatient, are we?

Well no not really. Seeing as though he like many of us played and loved the original and this is meant to be its sequel. The pics he talks of was around 2 years (?) ago of the vanguard. He like many of us was left pondering, anticipating the sequel to the greatest game there was.

No he is NOT impatient.

Rolfski · 2013-01-04, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by PredatorFour

Well no not really. Seeing as though he like many of us played and loved the original and this is meant to be its sequel. The pics he talks of was around 2 years (?) ago of the vanguard. He like many of us was left pondering, anticipating the sequel to the greatest game there was.

No he is NOT impatient.

Yes, he is because many of you PS1 vets are making the same mistake over and over and over again: Expecting this game to be a PS 1.5.
Wake up, will you? It's not. Different business model, different audience, different development model, different core game, different everything. Get over it.

james · 2013-01-04, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by Happytrail

This thread might encourage you aswell to stay
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/i...1/#post-956760

As great that is, its 50 pages of what should be done.

VaderShake · 2013-01-04, 10:21 AM

I will tell you what I am starting to lose faith in.......GAMERS.

What the game is a few weeks old and people are quibbling and quipping about all the fails of the the game.....and it's free to play on top of that?? If everyone had to invest $60 upfront just to play it I would see some validity in the concerns but seeing as it was the players choice I have to chuckle at the argument. If you want to stop playing go ahead and stop playing and keep an eye on it until it suits you to come back and try again. Go on, go play something else....

I would love to turn the clock back and see how some of you who complain would have beat Contra withouth the cheat or how you would have delt with playing Empire Strikes Back on Intellivision and some of the first and second generation systems that would make games that were super hard or were a waste of money and there was no internet to tell you how to beat them or guide to show you the way. No patience or willingness to be challenged anymore.....

Here was a nice mind bender: Maze-a-Tron

maradine · 2013-01-04, 11:14 AM

My friend, there's no rationality to butthurt.

Also, I miss gamepads with numpad label inserts.