Own Worst Enemy

[TRex]

This thread is all about the old phrase ''it's not the gun that kills , it's the person using it''.

What I'm getting at is that a PvP game needs players in sufficient quantity to be worth logging on for. At the first hurdle , SOE failed miserably by almost non-existant advertising in the original. The initial player base probably never achieved what it could have been , and since then the game has been haemoraging players ever since .

A lot of this can be attributed to balance , bugs , lag, netcode , nerfs and buffs .Lack of persistance and character development. Successive 'patches' rendering the game less playable than the previous incarnation .Hackers. And, of course, we can't forget BFR's.

All the above is true , but I put it to you that the biggest enemy within Planetside is the community itself. I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush , far from it . But being a PvP orientated game , someone's enjoyment or idea of fun is often going to be at the expense of another's.

Was surgile worthy of it's nerf ? I don't think many regret it's departure in it's original form . Used as a defensive or offensive tool it had it's place , but ultimately it was down to it's abuse by players that meant it had to be nerfed. Especially combined with JH quadshot.

Look at the introduction of BFR's , they were an abomination on their release , and players were certing them in their droves .New Toy. The resultant bloodbath just had the effect that you either joined the goontrain , or logged off. History tells us that most just logged off.

The thing is , people will always go for the lowest common denominator . Whether that's air cavalry , personal shield , plasma spam or standing in a base half a continent away holding fire button down in your flail aiming at a tower doorway. Or maxes . Oh , how I hate maxes . Not the odd one or 2 of dedicated infil/max players or those that use them selectively . The ones that use them simply because it's cheap and cheesy and can't kill anything otherwise. It's then a downward spiral of certing max to counter max to be competitive.

You also have the proliferation of wall humpers. 3rd person was a nice touch in planetside. But it eventually brought the gameplay down to the lowest common denominator again , and with it more excuses for the use of plasma and maxes , once again.

Last , but definately not least , is hackers. I know a lot deny it , but there seems to be an infectious 'if you can't beat them, join them' scenario in Planetside. Maybe it's because those that play legit get fed up and less log on , concentrating the effect on the fewer legit players remaining.

This may have turned into a rant about original Planetside and it's faults, but I hope the desired effect is pointing out that it's the players themselves that through overuse and abuse of many things that force others into the position where the game is no longer fun for them.They go try other games instead.

In regards to Planetside:Next , I wanted to as a community, redress past failings and not shoot ourselves in the foot again. Maybe just wishful thinking.