can we have cities?

[Raka Maru]

Question about proposed cities idea. Does this mean a civilian area or old city converted to military stronghold?

What I liked about PS1 was you can grab your layout and go. WOW, UO, LOTRO were good in their own way until I had to keep up with my gear upgrades via auction house, ingame mail, crafting, etc...

I could see a civilian class that likes to make new weapons after collecting resources and a safe area to do crafting as long it wasn't required to advance. I purposely ignored any crafting in some of the RPG's after I found my fun came from questing, but some of these RPG's were almost required to have some kind of crafting to advance.

I know this is unlikely, but EVE Online has a very intricate commerce system and the skill tree at least was compared to in the PS2 discussions.

[Canaris]

Originally Posted by Raka Maru

Question about proposed cities idea. Does this mean a civilian area or old city converted to military stronghold?

What I liked about PS1 was you can grab your layout and go. WOW, UO, LOTRO were good in their own way until I had to keep up with my gear upgrades via auction house, ingame mail, crafting, etc...

I could see a civilian class that likes to make new weapons after collecting resources and a safe area to do crafting as long it wasn't required to advance. I purposely ignored any crafting in some of the RPG's after I found my fun came from questing, but some of these RPG's were almost required to have some kind of crafting to advance.

I know this is unlikely, but EVE Online has a very intricate commerce system and the skill tree at least was compared to in the PS2 discussions.

no we're not talking social zones like the cities from traditional MMO's, Planetside doesn't need them. We're taking about a city that's of stratigic military importance and the three sides are fighting for control of it or what's left of it.

[Atuday]

Have you guys looked at some of the latest screens? If you want vertical combat I have a feeling there will be a lot of it. Some of those canyons are very deep.

[Vash02]

Originally Posted by Trolltaxi

Caving was like a profession in PS1. There were outfits good at it, and there were people playing for years and still got lost even in Supai.

Ruined cities would not fit into the plot. There are only few terrans (not TR, but settlers coming from Earth) to inhabit a whole new world, human race haven't needed to build metropolises, not even large towns. A typical auraxian city may be more like a village, and a village wouldn't really serve the purpose of urban combat. Thinking a bit further on it the facilities as we see them are almost capable to serve as the habitat of the 50.000 settlers.

A base is about 200x200 meters. That area could mean home for hundreds or even one thousand people (a small private room or 2 for a family, maybe a bath+toilet combo, but eating and entertainment areas are common - you know, the usual "overcrowded city in any sci-fi"). A continent with 10-13 bases, 1000 people in each would mean home for 10.000-13.000, 10 continents provides home for 100.000-130.000 (+sanctuaries).

There is no need to build anything else. Just the bases could provide living for the pioneers of Auraxis.It may be overestimated, but if i half it, it is still almost enough, and there may be areas untouched by the war of PS1.

Vanu could have built cities too - but they are said to long gone, and finding those cities requires some digging. Archeological ruins are not the best places for 'urban' combat either. Most roofs are missing, and they provide too much cover. It would be hardly playable...

I think that bases will have a bit more complex courtyard and that will provide the purposes of 'urban combat'.

Read the first part of the background fluff.

They were the VPs and managers of the original conglomerates and now they were going to control the new businesses. Of course, Jones realized the bosses weren’t expecting to do any of the hard labor by themselves, so they brought along the civilian workforce, men and women paid to join the mission to build the new cities, factories and more. Once done they would return to Earth to collect their creds. Finally, because the businessmen never went anywhere without protection, they brought along the third group that made up the N.C.’s: the highly paid and highly dangerous mercenaries.

http://www.planetside2.com/news/oct12OriginCh1Pt1.html

They brought along civillians to build the colony and then return home where more people would come eventually. With further reading you would see that then they have been there a while, 175 years. Its not like they just sat there and twiddled their thumbs for nearly two centuries.

[Brusi]

I'm sure that everything built in times of peace, would have been either destroyed or repurposed as a defensible position during this neverending war. For that reason, i would be happy so see loads of ruins of what may once have been little outpost towns along main supply routes or sitting at crossroads.

No need to model giant detailed spires and high-density habiplexes everywhere really, just enough bombed out buildings to allow for some decent room to room combat and break up the open, vehicle loving terrain.

[Trolltaxi]

Originally Posted by Vash02

Read the first part of the background fluff.

http://www.planetside2.com/news/oct12OriginCh1Pt1.html

They brought along civillians to build the colony and then return home where more people would come eventually. With further reading you would see that then they have been there a while, 175 years. Its not like they just sat there and twiddled their thumbs for nearly two centuries.

"Perhaps I should have known it was a pipe-dream. If I had, I wouldn’t have all this blood on my hands. If I had, seventy-five thousand men, women and children would be safe in their bedrooms on Earth, and not wherever here is, on the other side of the universe, lost and with no hope of ever returning home. "

75.000 on the spaceships arriving to Auraxis.

http://www.planetside2.com/news/oct20Backstory4.html

[moosepoop]

do u guys have some kind of phobia against tall office buildings?



i propose that instead of making the caves again, make ruins of skyscrapers. then u get vertical fighting thats fun.

[Wrath]

CC wasnt that bad some of the best fights i had in PS1 happened down there have to admit those fights all happened within a week of the bfr's coming when everybody was down there getting attuned.

my point is when there where proper fights down there they where really fun , the mistake sony made was there was no real incentive to go down there so people never went down there.

[Trolltaxi]

Originally Posted by moosepoop

do u guys have some kind of phobia against tall office buildings?



i propose that instead of making the caves again, make ruins of skyscrapers. then u get vertical fighting thats fun.

I just don't want to see any element that doesn't fit into the story. Who needs skyscrapers when the whole human race on the whole Auraxis was less than a district in a metropolis? And who has time to build them in 175 years and ruin it?

Auraxis is a pioneer world, it's not Coruscant...

[Vash02]

Originally Posted by Trolltaxi

"Perhaps I should have known it was a pipe-dream. If I had, I wouldn’t have all this blood on my hands. If I had, seventy-five thousand men, women and children would be safe in their bedrooms on Earth, and not wherever here is, on the other side of the universe, lost and with no hope of ever returning home. "

75.000 on the spaceships arriving to Auraxis.

http://www.planetside2.com/news/oct20Backstory4.html

Did your eyes glaze over when you were reading the quoted part of my post or something?

The backstory can be interpreted in different ways. Dont hammer down good ideas because it doesent comply with your own preconceptions.

[Draep]

Originally Posted by Trolltaxi

I just don't want to see any element that doesn't fit into the story. Who needs skyscrapers when the whole human race on the whole Auraxis was less than a district in a metropolis? And who has time to build them in 175 years and ruin it?

Auraxis is a pioneer world, it's not Coruscant...

The way you're talking, it would detract from the massiveness of gameplay. A global war on pioneer world sounds boring.

[Captain1nsaneo]

Well let's see, that's 75000, assuming we had a population growth rate of 2.5 and that our starting group were of all ages and that we could get ~4 generations and that people died (-2 multiplier) at the time of the war starting up we'd have somewhere around 225000 people. (Though there would probably be more as the amount of land up for grabs and expansionary mindset might have that growth rate up at 4 which would give us 675000 people if my math is right.)

Also large cities would spring up where the ships established landing zones as they would be the primary hubs of commerce and the first settlements.

[moosepoop]

Originally Posted by Trolltaxi

I just don't want to see any element that doesn't fit into the story. Who needs skyscrapers when the whole human race on the whole Auraxis was less than a district in a metropolis? And who has time to build them in 175 years and ruin it?

Auraxis is a pioneer world, it's not Coruscant...

to be frank with you, i dont give a monkey about the story.

if the story was important we would be having hybrid quest npc/shooter system+ pve. or at least some damn cinematics.


fighting over a farming village is boring storywise anyways. thats like america invading canada to occupy tim hortons.

[Brusi]

HAha!

[Trolltaxi]

Originally Posted by Vash02

Did your eyes glaze over when you were reading the quoted part of my post or something?

The backstory can be interpreted in different ways. Dont hammer down good ideas because it doesent comply with your own preconceptions.

My eyes are OK, but I was thinking of a calculation like captain1nsaneo did for us.

Well let's see, that's 75000, assuming we had a population growth rate of 2.5 and that our starting group were of all ages and that we could get ~4 generations and that people died (-2 multiplier) at the time of the war starting up we'd have somewhere around 225000 people.

You can still call it my own preconception, but I still don't see why anyone would build skyscrapers when it isn't needed at all. Why not medieval castles, that would be so cool to fight in one, or why not WW1 trenches?

I'm not hammering your idea (who am I to do it?) just because I don't like it. Don't get me wrong! Urban warfare would be cool and I do hope that courtyards will serve this purpose with their size and complexity. Neither am I in possession of the one and only true vision of PS2's Auraxis. I just added my two cents why I think cities (like we know them) would not fit in the world of PS2.