Responses to some fears people mentioned.

[ShowNoMercy]

I cut down some of the quotes and used ellipses to show that. While I did remove some parts, I tried to preserve the overall message conveyed.

Originally Posted by Vancha

Headshots side, I fear the TTK will be too low. Headshots included, I fear the TTK will be way too low.


I fear they're going to make vehicle boarding instantaneous.


I fear the resource system could easily be made un-fun.

I am almost certain that TTK will be reduced, as the devs have made several mentions during interviews about speeding up game play. They are for sure removing vehicle entrance animations, but as for if the boarding is instantaneous or not remains to be seen. The resource system will most certainly add another dynamic to PS, the extent of which the dynamic affects gameplay is unknown. Resource limitations on certain vehicles and weapon attachments may make for less opportunities to use that vehicle/weapon, much the same that getting enemy vehicles in PS1 is. The increase in rarity may lead to more excitation when the vehicle/attachments are available, there by extending player enjoyment.

Originally Posted by Tool

I fear Empire imbalances making a return and having an effect on respective populations.

I fear the fading of enthusiasm of the PS2 team when beta comes and the tidal wave of complaints from the vocal minority constantly hounding them on they think the game should be.

Empire imbalances are almost guaranteed during beta, however they will have much more in-game data available to analyze, so hopefully imbalance issues will be corrected sooner than in PS1.

On enthusiasm - In a way i agree and it does worry me, however this should be expected by them as they are not first time game devs.

Originally Posted by Spectre

...Jetpacks could make walls obsolete(like they are Today), the class system could be nothing I like the certification system I loved, the game could be buggy when released, SOE could not support it again...


...I would really like to see if hotdropping a few platoons of soldiers from galaxies is still the greatest experience in the world.

Walls are only obsolete if the courtyard makes a return and if multi-story towers are prevalent. To my knowledge there has been no release of information regarding base layouts. In the base layouts of PS1, the VS max had a huge advantage during the critical point of courtyard capture, but once indoors their ability was somewhat hindered in its applications. That created balance to degree, but did reduce the time courtyard battles lasted.

The class system is a big wild card still in my opinion. The complexity and options presented for each class with determine how effective is to an extent. Mainstream FPS players will be more accustomed to it, which is a big goal for the dev team.

Gal drops will be just as awesome.

Originally Posted by Clyras

Actually the only stuff that particularly bothers me at the moment is what might be done about command. It doesn't take long to notice that the majority of command rank 5's in Planetside at the moment are just spamming immature pointless drivel or are just having a power trip and demanding people to leave continents to attack the one they want...


...its saddening that only a few of the commanders are likely to have any real idea as to what is a wise decision. I'm more interested rather than concerned about what they are going to do in this regard, and hope that it is sufficient. CRM's did the job back in the day, but of course we no longer have any to keep people in order.

The mission system is being implemented to try and counter the pointless drivel. By having the capability to specifically outline a mission to other players, the mindless banter will hopefully be reduced and the messages conveyed from command to grunt will be more poignant. Additionally, now that command takes time to skill up, the hope is that 12 yr old shit heads won't get into command because they will be too busy unlocking other things like heelys for their boots or an atv that has flames on it (because speed perception is far more important than actual speed when you're 12).

Originally Posted by Headrattle

I fear that the are going to make it to much like Battlefield 2 or other FPS games they keep referencing. So that means that I fear that they will make the Spawning more like those FPS or that they will make the class system unbalanced for newer players.


I also fear some of the direction that they are going. "More sandbox gameplay" and especially "possible PVE." I actually yelled "NO!" when they said that in the interview.

They are indeed going to make it more like FPS's out on the market. The REAL question however is if they leave the options to step back, regroup, and reengage. A modern FPS player playing PS1 would likely just mash instant action repeatedly until he got into a base battle. Even though it was instant action there was not always action in the immediate vicinity of where you spawned since it spawned you as close as possible to a hot spot. By pushing forward spawn locations they are able to engage one another more quickly. That said, as long as the option to spawn towards the back and attack an area on your own terms is there the spirit of PS1 will be alive and strong. Let the zerglings keep zerging, we can get around them while they are running around like chickens with their head cut off pretending that they are playing a CoD size map with 16 players.

The class system will be balanced, it has to be since there are no ways for new players to only fight people their own level. If the system is found to be imbalanced it will be changed to encourage new players to stick around instead of rage quitting.

The idea of a PVE faction that attacks everyone sounds pretty dumb, but alas it will attract a whole other group of individuals to play PS2 (the ones that suck at pvp). SOE wants to make money on this, they need to make money on this, and we should try and let them make as much money on this as possible as long as this PVE isn't forced on us (i.e. i run around the corner chasing a MAX and an alien is there, rips my arm off and beats me with it).

Originally Posted by Malorn

I fear too many RPG elements, particularly power advancement through certs.

As mentioned before, they are trying to attract the WoW crowd, and if the power advancements are too much they will scale them back, I am almost certain of it.

Originally Posted by Kietharr

I fear that a complete and utter lack of any cert caps/limits combined with the class system will eventually lead to zero character diversity. Character diversity/customization is the point of having RPG mechanics in the first place, why even bother giving out certs if there's nothing stopping me from eventually getting every single one? Why not just start everyone out with these benefits if you're doing a class system TF2 style anyways? It's just a stupid grind mechanic to keep idiots addicted if it's not going to be contributing to character diversity on BOTH the short and longterm.


I fear SoE speeding the pace of the game up. Part of the charm of planetside was that it was slower, the 'fast' elements of gameplay like agile jackhammer surge implants were pretty much universally loathed. Now I don't mind them kicking COF to the curb or adding hitboxes because those were just results of technology limitations of the time. But I don't want this to be call of duty 'every gun kills you in 2-3 hits SO REAL AND HARDCORE' either.

I share your concern, after a year many people could have all certs severely reducing the need for team work. If I am reading SOE right they want people to think that, and as time goes by more and more skills will be introduced. This addition of skills will both excite people since it is new content and make it harder and harder to get all the skills. It would be very nice however if in order to train AA MAX (as an example) past a certain point you had to actually get a certain amount of kills with AA max. Would reduce peoples abilities to get all skills even further. O, and it would also make for conflicts , i.e. if i max out gal pilot and want to get AA max fully skilled up i would need to stop piloting a gal, but im so good that public outcry from my outfit is for me to fly a gal and not use AA max. Just a thought though, they may have already come up with some better ideas.

Originally Posted by Carver

I fear TTK won't be low enough.


I fear that there still won't be any point to stepping foot outside unless it's to get into a tank or an aircraft.

It doesnt matter if TTK isn't low enough, the battle is so big you will die relatively quickly unless doing 1 v 1 or 1 v 2.

They have stressed over and over that they are trying to make every square inch contestable, vehicles will be used extensively as a result but only some points will be capturable in vehicles. Most points on the map from what I have gathered will require exiting a vehicle and going into a building of varying size to capture the location. With the need to exit the vehicle comes the need for some degree of slyness. Many instances in PS1 called for a foot assault on a base instead of in a vehicle since vehicles are big targets. Also vehicles popped up on radar and a player wouldn't unless they were shooting or at an interfarm. Similar features being incorporated will increase the likelihood of frequent outdoor foot engagements.