Tank drivers acting as gunners in PS2

[sylphaen]

To me, a decision like that simply proves their view that Planetside 2 will be an infantry game where vehicles are meant to serve as an enjoyment or to serve those infantry players.

My best time with PS1 has been group vehicles. I met great guys over the years and getting to play together overshadowed all the mediocre gunners I had the unfortunate chance to get in the gunner seat.

When I get a tank or buggy in PS1, I do not feel "why do I cert something where only others but me can enjoy the gun". This is selfish others-are-a-just-a-means-to-reach-my-selfish-goals state of mind.

As I said, I met great gunners and I loved every minute playing with them. It was challenging to coordinate, it was challenging to position the tank, give them good aim, read the way the battle is going, not overextend, etc...

To me, this is what made PS1 truly superior to any other FPS.

While a lot boast their own personal performance ("You suck! I do 40K/3D/0A any day in 15 minutes!"), I feel pride from seeing a frag ratio like this in PS: 10 K/20 D/100 A from vehicle runs. It's the success of 2 people having overcome coordination challenges and working as one.

A lot of people keep talking about "skill" and I think someone even mentionned something like "solo driving & gunning will raise "skilled" players above the herd and show who the losers are". Technically, I agree. A better player is a better player Now should people who prefer teamplay over solo be forced into it?

(OOT: by the way, I believe a good player does not need to boast about being good. With him playing better, his skill will simply show itself as he plays and respect would flow naturally from it; The "skill" word is being used so condescendingly nowadays that I almost feel it is only used to put others down nowadays instead of showing how you respect someone and his proficiency).

Even if we get the option to have a dedicated gunner on the main gunner, should the whole game dynamic be balanced penalize around solo ? Someone made that great point: would you rather have 1 vehicle with 2 gunners or 2 vehicles with 1 ? The secondary gun would truly have to have a role unique to that vehicle or we would always roll 2 vehicles with dedicated roles.

Another player mentionned the "disposable" feeling of BF vehicles: I played only BF2142 but I felt like that too and never enjoyed it. In PS1, having a vehicle with longer longevity made me care about keeping it alive and repaired. Making it last was a nice challenge. Having an extra guy also added responsibility in your actions and pushed for improvement.


In summary, I feel that 2 or 3 people learning to know each other well and think/act as one weapon a whole different level of game and I like it. This is what I consider to be the "MMO" part in MMOFPS.

I would not be playing Planetside anymore if it was not for my outfit and the great guys in it. The majority of us are not Navy Seals like content PS-wise but we get along well and have a lot of fun playing the game.


If PS is meant to be BF with a large map, more players and placeholder vehicles, you can forget seeing me play as a driver i.e. forget about me certing vehicles to be the bitch of a class which will only exist for the purpose of being Anti-Armor. I'd rather pick-up a support kit and play with a HMG all day.


Of course, take what I say with a grain of salt.

Will armor battles be fun ? No one knows. Will the vehicle game-mechanics design and its balance with infantry in a heavily infantry-centric game make great and fun battles for everyone ? Only time will tell.


I'm wait and see and hopefully, we will all love it. In that was, free-to-play is a great idea: it's as easy to enter the game as it is to drop from it if I do not enjoy my time.


-----

Edit: I'm OK with the inflated ego of air-vehicle players. If being good with flying gets as challenging as it sounds, being an ace will deserve a nice accolade.

Cheers to the reaver-whores whom I hate so much but do show incredible skill and intelligence at times !