Orbital Strike: Does it negate good team game play?
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Question: Would a game play mechanic like Planetside's Oribital Strike negate good team game play, at the expense of the spirit of the game?
The main purpose of Planetside 2 will be to set team goals and accomplish them through the use of sound tactics and persistence. As a result, I have to wonder if OS is simply too easy and too powerful of a game mechanic to justify its use in Planetside 2.
As an example, last night in PS1 the VS fought for at least 2 hours to take the shore on the other side of a bridge. When the VS finally got organized and were able to push over the bridge with a bunch of tanks, air cav, troops, a bus, and a BFR they were able to land some Load Stars on the shore to repair the tanks. This repair depot was successful in keeping the tanks on the field and the troops, bus, air cav, and BFR were able to defend the repair depot to ensure its ongoing use. This in the field repair depot was the result of literally hours of effort and, it worked perfectly until it was hit by two back to back Orbital Strikes and was completely removed from the game in an instant. At that point, the progression in the whole battle was reset, with the end result being most of the VS logged out shortly afterwards.
So I have to ask, is that really how people want game play to be in Planetside 2? To me, it's seems contrary to spirit of the game, in that an instant, unavoidable, easy to use attack by a single player can (that cannot be countered) negate hours of team play. Also, it seems to negatively impact the flow of the game, while also making people feel like their time has been wasted (which is contrary to having fun and games are, by definition, supposed to be fun).
I'm all for big explosions and tactical game play, which is actually why I'd prefer not to see a game play mechanic like Planetside's Oribital Strike in Planetside 2. I would refer to see massive, long range explosions caused by artillery pieces or mortars, because those threats can be countered through cooperative game play.
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