De-evolution of Planetside?!

[Access]

As most old-school gamers I was growing more and more sceptical towards the
gaming industry over the past years, since it seemed to hit a serious dead end
in terms of innovation or evolution of their games. I was getting bored, annoyed,
and finally angry at how the industry doesnt even care to try anymore.
Even more annoying is the fact that they gloriously succeeded in constantly
dumbing down their customers to a point where there is nothing more important
about a game but the name of the frenchise and technological advancements of
a games engine.

But than, at last, a deep and unspoken hope was answered last year with the
official announcement of Planetside 2. Hell yeah! I survived the drought-stricken
years of boring killgames, horrid rpgs and empty and lifeless mmos to embrace the
goddess called Planetside once again to entertain me for years to come.
Or so I thought...

I was excited and thrilled over every video we got to see, every stream,
interview and information we got to fantasize with. Well... that is until I got
to see the gameplay at the E3 livestream the last few days. And there it was,
like a lump on the testicles, the slowly rising realisation that things might
not work out as perfectly as you imagined.

After seeing the gameplay footage these past days I'm actually pretty amazed
how most of the so called "veteran" players tend to ignore the fact that nearly
all of the tactical gameplay, which was pretty much the backbone of Planetside,
is close to nonexistant in the sequel...

And what we are left with today is roughly:

1. killing stuff with a handgun
2. killing stuff with a vehicle
3. killing stuff with an aircraft
4. killing stuff with landing droppods on their heads
5. domination gametype

I'm very dissappointed since as of now the game got no kind of tactical depth
what so ever compared to the original. Without tactical hotspots like command
centers, generator rooms or even destroyable spawn points/equipment
terminals I honestly dont see a need for any planned out tactical gameplay
anymore which made Planetside the game we all loved. All we get is a massive
killgame as seen ever so often before.

Character/Weapon/Vehicle customization does not make a game interesting, the
gameplay does. And it is lacking way behind of what any honest veteran Planetside
player should expect it to be.
I dont really like what is advertised in the visual customization department either.
It is seriously lackluster and behind on what should be possible with the engine
or even is appealing enough to even pay for it. For example the oh so boring
different 20th century camo skins... why...?! this is not CoD MoH or hatever,
this is the 28th century, a time appropriate customization should not be too much
to ask for. I really hope theres much more interesting customization planned until
release, like nanowired or battleworn armor, since I honestly cant see the game
manage its finances with just the booster sells in the long run.

Dont get me wrong, I love the engine, the fast paced action, skies burning up
from airbattles, falling debree and the design and textures of the models. (the
vehicle and base ones, the weapons on the other hand are really in need of some
workover sound/modelwise)

But please, why the freck does it have to be a so damn simplified Planetside?

Welcome to the de-evolution of games, where the developers nowadays accredit
the avarage gamer the attention span of a squirrel. (which is according to a
random internet person up to 4 minutes)

[The Janitor]

ohlookitsthisthreadagain.jpg

Just wait for beta. The Devs will listen if there are any major problems to iron out. They're cool like that.

[ThermalReaper]

What was that phrase that was used around this forums thousands of times?

Wait for the beta.

It's the only way to make sure your concerns are correct/incorrect.

[lolroflroflcake]

While the E3 demo was shallow, remember they especially rigged it for E3. In a few of the interviews Higby even mentioned that they were considering adding tactical objectives such as generators and the like into the game.

[Landtank]

You can't look at the E3 gameplay at call that PlanetSide 2. There was a limited area, forward base spawns with vehicle pads, and everyone was trying to do everything the game had to offer in 15 minutes.

For E3 they made it very much like a CoD or BF3 map, limited in scope, designed to get you into the action as fast as possible, very unlike PlanetSide 2. The game is about 64 square kilometers of warfare, this was only 2% of that map.

While I understand your concerns, you shouldn't be worried. If we play Beta and its like the E3 demo, then we can be concerned

[Xaine]

I understand and agree with most of what you said.

Sadly, PS2 is aimed at a bigger market and to make the game more accessible to more people, the game has to be dumbed down.

I said this in a thread recently, and everyone went into a fan-boy nerd rage and chewed my face off, so i can't be bothered trying to talk about it any more.

However, the game is being made more simple and it is being dumbed down, its just a fact.

[Landtank]

Originally Posted by Xaine

I understand and agree with most of what you said.

Sadly, PS2 is aimed at a bigger market and to make the game more accessible to more people, the game has to be dumbed down.

I said this in a thread recently, and everyone went into a fan-boy nerd rage and chewed my face off, so i can't be bothered trying to talk about it any more.

However, the game is being made more simple and it is being dumbed down, its just a fact.

Hows it dumbed down? Not trying to attack, just curious haha.

[ThermalReaper]

Originally Posted by Xaine

I understand and agree with most of what you said.

Sadly, PS2 is aimed at a bigger market and to make the game more accessible to more people, the game has to be dumbed down.

I said this in a thread recently, and everyone went into a fan-boy nerd rage and chewed my face off, so i can't be bothered trying to talk about it any more.

However, the game is being made more simple and it is being dumbed down, its just a fact.

I'm sure it is, I saw the video of you breaking into SOE offices and playing the complete version of PS2 they are trolling us with. Oh wait.

[DayOne]

"Character/Weapon/Vehicle customization" is what make the gameplay interesting!

and this:
"1. killing stuff with a handgun
2. killing stuff with a vehicle
3. killing stuff with an aircraft
4. killing stuff with landing droppods on their heads
5. domination gametype"

Are you NOT liking these things? You don't like diversity when it comes to ways in which to win a fight? Hell, even PS1 base capture was basically either like one, really long capture time, domination point or a capture the flag.

Yes, some people are going to play this game just to shoot at stuff (PS1 "zerg rush" anyone?) but with the mission system these people can be controlled by others who know how to play the meta game, e.g. capturing the right bases to stop the enemy from being able to spawn so many tanks.

Games are not de-evolving, you are simply ignorant of the change that is taking place.

Originally Posted by lolroflroflcake

Higby even mentioned that they were considering adding tactical objectives such as generators and the like into the game.

Also this^

[Sledgecrushr]

Im pretty positive the ttk is going to be scaled back a bit for infantry and maybe a bit more for vehicles to make engi/medic jobs more relevant.

[Envenom]

Looked pretty incredible to me and LIGHTYEARS ahead of the competition.

Don't trip on the door on your way out.

[ArmedZealot]

Bittervet circle jerk in 3....2.....1.....

[Kalbuth]

What will replace ANT runs mecanism? What will take place of generator holds? What different tactical options will be left when assaulting a base? (PS1 had several possible targets to get around a full head-on CC engagement)

That's basically what OP is asking.

Answer seems to be : weapon customization, mission system. Ie : missing the point

[Dagron]

I for one would be a little disappointed if all the bases were limited to the same domination style gameplay, but let's wait for more information before starting to get sad about stuff... being depressed over what might be coming ahead solves nothing, it just makes you feel silly when your concerns turn out to be unfounded.

[Death2All]

I know where you're coming from and how you feel. A LOT of the features and mechanics that were present in PS1 are no longer a part of PS2, and have instead, been replaced with more modern FPS mechanics that don't really add a whole lot of depth to a game.

However, I still feel there's a lot of room in PS2 for tactical gameplay, albeit lackluster in depth compared to the original. Whether or not this is true, we'll just have to wait until beta (cop out answer, I know).

Unfortunately, as you have obviously noticed, game developers are making more and more compromises to appeal the a wider audience. There aren't a whole lot of games being developed nowadays for the "hardcore" audience. Everything is being simplified and mainstreamed to appeal to a more casual gamer.

I think we can all agree that PS1 was the greatest game ever made and nothing will ever touch it. PS2 may be very close contender, but unfortunately, do to compromises from game developers and evolution (or de-evolution as you put) of games, I don't think it will ever surpass PS1's greatness. The game just had an amazing amount of depth, logistics and potential that no other games of this generation could ever aspire for.