Let Factions Write / Rewrite lore for PS2

[Neurotoxin]

I decided to post here instead of the ideas forum (this may move there regardless) because I feel like it is a subject that needs to be discussed and explored by the PS community.

I originally started typing a post titled "The 4-letter C word - Cult" and the original intent was to question the character selection screen's description of VS as a "transhumanist cult" since that seems more like a biased NC or TR view rather than how the VS themselves would represent their faction to a potential new recruit. I realized partway through that I'm essentially asking for the PS2 team to work with the community to flesh out and detail the factional lore and history.

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Faction Lore and the player's interaction with it in PlanetSide is quite unique. A vague amount of story material is provided, enough to get an understanding of the background and goals and motives of each faction, but not really enough to truly describe the inner-workings of each, nor to really hammer all the details down as concrete rules for what the faction is and is not. As it is, players already fill in the gaps with their own lore and stories.

There ought to be opportunities in PlanetSide 2, especially in beta while everything is still flexible, to have each faction work together to really hone the ideals and objectives of the faction. This doesn't mean that everyone needs to tow the party line regardless of their opinion on it, like in democratic centralism, but instead that everyone can agree on some key points while leaving other things up to the interpretation of the player representing that faction. Personally, I don't see the VS as a cult of transhumanists and tech worshipers, but scientists and academics and intellectuals who seek the right to self-determination on Auraxis without being driven by corporate funding. That doesn't mean we don't have transhumanists and technology worshipers among us, but that they don't represent the whole VS at all.

I'm not saying that this is anything bad about the game or the writers or the lore, but that player involvement in the story and lore will not only add richness and depth to the game, but also allow players to really hone the description and message behind their faction and what it is all about. I don't know exactly HOW this process would go. I'd probably set up a forum section on the PS2 forums for "PS2 Lore" and add subforums for VS, NC, TR, and maybe even NS.

But I'm not sure this is up to us. As much as us players love and enjoy the universe of PlanetSide and PlanetSide 2, it may be kind of overstepping our relationship with the game and the team by infusing our own ideals and understanding into the game, rather than leaving it to the PS2 team to design the backstory and factional motivations so players can interpret and fill in the gaps with their own imagination or player-written stories.

Please keep the discussion civil and on-topic. We aren't here to discuss what each faction is, but whether or not players should be involved with shaping the lore and history for each faction.