News: MMORPG.com Interview with Matt Higby

[Hamma]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...higby-2647.htm

[Hamma]

No more ANT.. at least at release.

So no more ANT races

[Crator]

This interviewer forms his questions well. First time I've heard "rally beacons" confirmed... Wonder if they'll do more then just be a visual indicator like in PS1. Or perhaps they will be the mechanic that is also used to squad spawn. So you don't actually squad spawn directly on the squad leader but rather on the rally beacon.

[Mod]

One would also assume therefore that the bases don't have NTU(or equivalent) levels. No more draining the base to 0% to capture it etc...

Although I am sure there will be lots of interesting capture methods instead

[Xyntech]

Originally Posted by Higby

No to A.N.Ts at launch, although we have some thoughts about them later down the road.

The fact that they have some thoughts about them later down the road has me excited for them adding some kind of more multi use utility vehicle that could potentially do all sorts of support functions or maybe be able to build some advanced engi constructions.

Obviously it won't be an essential part of the game, at least at launch, so I guess that whole dynamic has significantly changed.

If and when they do get around to putting ANTs back in, we better be able to use them as bombs.

Originally Posted by Mod

One would also assume therefore that the bases don't have NTU(or equivalent) levels. No more draining the base to 0% to capture it etc...

The fact that the lattice system is no longer in place and that we can technically capture any territory at any point (although it will be really hard to take unconnected territory) sort of makes that tactic a little less relevant anyways.

Still, the ability to make a base go neutral was an interesting one. I wonder if we will see that return in some form.

I wonder if towers will be able to go neutral this time, assuming bases still can. Towers seem to be a lot more involved than in PS1.

Edit: Just finished reading the rest of the article

Higby brought up supporting "thousands of players" again. Still not very specific, but the fact that he said thousands, plural, this late in the games development, makes me think that they are still shooting for at least 2000 on a continent.

If that ends up working out, that's 666 v 666 v 666 (devil!). Even if they don't meet that goal, it sounds like 500 v 500 v 500, or at least our speculated 333 v 333 v 333 is still an extremely real possibility. Any of those would be a hug step up from PS1, which was already an incredible experience.

I'm still kinda hoping that the "thousands" comment means that they are working on making it 1000 vs 1000 vs 1000. That would blow my mind.

[Tikuto]

Originally Posted by Hamma

No more ANT.. at least at release.

Sweet! How boring were they, seriously.

[Mod]

Originally Posted by Xyntech

Higby brought up supporting "thousands of players" again. Still not very specific, but the fact that he said thousands, plural, this late in the games development, makes me think that they are still shooting for at least 2000 on a continent.

If that ends up working out, that's 666 v 666 v 666 (devil!). Even if they don't meet that goal, it sounds like 500 v 500 v 500, or at least our speculated 333 v 333 v 333 is still an extremely real possibility. Any of those would be a hug step up from PS1, which was already an incredible experience.

I'm still kinda hoping that the "thousands" comment means that they are working on making it 1000 vs 1000 vs 1000. That would blow my mind.

I would certainly be happy with 500 v 500 v 500 at this stage, makes the 133 v 133 v 133 from PS1 days seem small and the 8 v 8 to 32 v 32 of the modern days shooters seem stupidly tiny.

[Hamma]

Originally Posted by Tikuto

Sweet! How boring were they, seriously.

They could certainly be boring if it was just one person trekking across the continent to fuel up. But when it was a part of a huge battle and preventing an ANT from arriving meant the difference between winning and losing the base.. it was an awesome concept.

[Higby]

Originally Posted by Crator

This interviewer forms his questions well.

Derek is a big PlanetSide fan and was really excited to do this and asked some great well-informed questions. If you like this sort of interview and want to see more like it from interviewers who really know what to ask, let the folks at mmorpg.com know on twitter, story comments, etc.

[Xyntech]

Originally Posted by Hamma

They could certainly be boring if it was just one person trekking across the continent to fuel up. But when it was a part of a huge battle and preventing an ANT from arriving meant the difference between winning and losing the base.. it was an awesome concept.

Ensuring that the experience would be interesting more often than not was probably one of the major thought processes of the devs. Hopefully the game doesn't end up feeling too cut down with all of that streamlining, but I applaud the dev team for doing what they think they need to so that the game is competitive with modern titles.

In some ways PS1 was lightyears ahead of it's time, in other ways it was a bit dated way back in 2003. Hopefully PS2 will be modern in every aspect, without sacrificing it's core Planetside style gameplay and spirit.

I just feel like PS1 was an amazing concept implemented pretty well on a terrible engine. If Forgelight can live up to Planetsides potential, we'll be sitting pretty for years to come.

Originally Posted by Higby

Derek is a big PlanetSide fan and was really excited to do this and asked some great well-informed questions. If you like this sort of interview and want to see more like it from interviewers who really know what to ask, let the folks at mmorpg.com know on twitter, story comments, etc.

I believe we just got a rallying cry, folks.

[FriendlyFire]

Originally Posted by Higby

Derek is a big PlanetSide fan and was really excited to do this and asked some great well-informed questions. If you like this sort of interview and want to see more like it from interviewers who really know what to ask, let the folks at mmorpg.com know on twitter, story comments, etc.

Dev comments during the Holiday week, best... Present... ever...

Good job stringing us along with the thousands comment . I can't wait for next year.

[Coreldan]

Good stuff.

[LZachariah]

That was a great interview; thanks much, Higby!

[SniperSteve]

My brother saw me reading this, and was like: "Good. the ANTs were so annoying -- driving across the entire continent for so long" Then I replied: "You are supposed to take a Galaxy/Lodestar." Him: "oh..."

So yeah, for accessibility to new players, removing them is a good idea. It would be nice to be able to keep the good and throw away the bad, though. Such as having bases auto-generate Nanites when the base is not in active conflict, and when it is, to allow it to drain. This way the tedious work of cleaning up after a fight would not be important, but the ANT Rescue missions would still be possible.

[Trolltaxi]

Actually I liked anting. It was like meditation or growing a bonsai tree... during downtimes.

But in the heat of the battle, arranging an ant+gal combo or an ant-race to fill a base before the inevitable OS (or, OS-ing the CY held by the enemy and synchronize the antdrop to that very moment) was pretty much one of those "planetside moments".

And about neutral bases. The shrinking playerbase turned draining a valid tactic. With multiple poplocked continents and caves (I bet the original concept was something like that) there is no need, no urge to make these ninja-tactics.