News: Matt Higby doing a Q&A at reddit!

[Tikuto]

Ok. Easy... God...

[Manitou]

Originally Posted by Higby

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Nice...looking forward to that.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Higby

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Ohhhh, nice!

brb, relaying this to the outfit. :>

[Desoxy]

Originally Posted by Higby

We definitely recognize that the inclusion of role specific advantages as part of the outfit progression will lead players to wanting to create smaller specialized outfits / divisions. We do have a plans to address this and when we're ready to reveal more details on the outfits system (which seriously, seriously rules, by the way -- I think you guys are going to be really stoked with what we're doing here) you'll find out all about it.

Reassuring to know you guys do not seem to ignore reality in order to enforce a specific way to play on the players..

[Straws]

Ok, in regards to the headshot hitbox clarification, I appreciate the imformation given so far, but I would like further clarification on a few aspects of it that have yet to be discussed.

1) Will ALL infantry armour (excluding MAX armour) be OSOK by a sniper headshot, or will Reinforced Exo Suits be given the chance to survive a single shot? (assuming armour grading is the same in PS2 as it is in PS1).

2) Are the Sniping mechanics vastly improved in PS2? I ask this because I honestly feel that, apart from leading your target, it lacked skill to get a basic hit. It was also way too steady and accurate in PS1 and that same mechanic applied to an OSOK system would be frustrating.


Now, because I have the above questions, I need to remind some people that direct comparison to PS1 to PS2 is a questionable approach right now. Not only because the above hasn't actually been clarified, but because the main reason a OSOK system would suck in PS1 is due to how long it takes to get back into combat.

Please, when judging the OSOK system in PS2, please take this into account. No, I am not a fan of "oh, I died, why? Oh, well, nothing I could do about that then, is there?" gameplay, but if I can get straight back into combat with my squad, then the issue there is diminished, possibly significantly. Please note, yes, I am aware that a solo player that get's sniped will have less luck in this regard, but remember, this is an MMO. Going solo is suppose to have limitations.

[basti]

edit: nvm, misread.

[kaffis]

Originally Posted by Higby

There are no dice roll mechanics in PS2. We don't have critical hits. Player skill-based locational damage is predictable and equalized.

Does this mean no cone of fire, or simply that the cone of fire is predictable in its cone-ness and bloom?

I'd miss cone of fire if it were removed, but on the other hand, I suppose I can't say I'd be surprised with all this talk of "modern shooter."

[Bags]

Modern shoot bullet spread feels more random than PS... but maybe that's just me.

[kaffis]

Originally Posted by Bags

Modern shoot bullet spread feels more random than PS... but maybe that's just me.

That's part of why I'd miss a cone of fire. The cone of fire was very good about being transparently predictable. Managing bloom was a great way to promote a shooting rhythm. And when you found the right weapon and the bloom rhythm just *fit*, it felt very relaxing and goooood.

Which reminds me of an article/editorial I read.. on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, maybe? About the tactile, rhythmic beats of games, and how games that seem to be conscious of this effect and use them well to their advantage seem to do well. The example they use was the rapid reload in Gears of War. I put burst firing in Planetside right up there.

[Bags]

At least it looks like our guns will still have bright ass tracers in PS2.

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by kaffis

Which reminds me of an article/editorial I read.. on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, maybe? About the tactile, rhythmic beats of games, and how games that seem to be conscious of this effect and use them well to their advantage seem to do well. The example they use was the rapid reload in Gears of War. I put burst firing in Planetside right up there.

WAIT! Planetside 2 is going to be a rhythm music game? AHHHH!! PANIC-MODE! I want Planetside, not Guitar Hero.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Bags

Because whether I win or lose a gun fight should come down to skill and tactics, not random chance?

War has a huge element of chaos. Your skill can put the bullet downrange into the guys body, or the shell into the enemy tank. But that bullet can still hit something vital, or something nonvital. 80% of shots to a thigh will produce a nasty flesh wound. 15% will produce a shattered femur. 5% will produce a blown out femoral artery.

Plenty of men have been wounded or died to a random bullet that was directed at a different target miles away. Plenty of men have survived a grenade/arty shell while their buddies right next to them were turned into pink mist. Plenty have survived because of random duds in the non zero failure rate of explosives, or a chance misfire or jam.

This is a game of course, so that stuff need not happen. But it wouldn't be amiss to include representations of chance. Not that I necessarily agree with it for a game(though I don't necessarily disagree with it either). Just saying in any real combat, random chance is a factor.

[Kietharr]

Originally Posted by Higby

Another skills tree question that we haven't gotten a chance to answer yet...




If you're BR 10, that's on your character. Classes don't really have RANKS, they have CERTS which are locked or "gated" by the player's overall rank. So, if you're BR 10, you aren't automatically a level 10 AA Max since a level 10 AA max doesn't actually exist in a meaningful way. But, you have access to unlock level 10 AA Max CERTS, those CERTS would still require time to train and unlock.

So, while you can switch into a variety of roles, you'd be playing them completely untrained until you put some time into advancing all of them.

One final note: More advanced roles (Such as MAX or Liberator) may require advancement down a specific skill tree to unlock, for instance you may need to spend some time training Heavy Assault to unlock MAX skill trees, that way everyone can't just spawn an untrained powerful vehicle / weapon and still be very powerful with it despite not having any of the bells and whistles unlocked. This is something we're still playing with internally, we're doing a lot of iteration on these systems - when they're totally locked down you guys can expect to see a full expose on them get released.

Again, huge thank you for the questions and feedback guys... It's really awesome to have this community as a sounding board, sanity check and idea farm on some of these things.

So for clarification, two simple questions.

1) Is there a universal cert cap preventing you from, eventually, obtaining every cert in the game?

2) Are there class based cert caps preventing you from unlocking every single cert a class, forcing you to make decisions on where to take your character?

For the record I'm definitely in favor of both sorts of caps being present. Without having to make any tradeoffs there's really no point in having RPG elements like a cert/skill system. Zero skillcaps means zero diversity.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by CutterJohn

War has a huge element of chaos. Your skill can put the bullet downrange into the guys body, or the shell into the enemy tank. But that bullet can still hit something vital, or something nonvital. 80% of shots to a thigh will produce a nasty flesh wound. 15% will produce a shattered femur. 5% will produce a blown out femoral artery.

Plenty of men have been wounded or died to a random bullet that was directed at a different target miles away. Plenty of men have survived a grenade/arty shell while their buddies right next to them were turned into pink mist. Plenty have survived because of random duds in the non zero failure rate of explosives, or a chance misfire or jam.

This is a game of course, so that stuff need not happen. But it wouldn't be amiss to include representations of chance. Not that I necessarily agree with it for a game(though I don't necessarily disagree with it either). Just saying in any real combat, random chance is a factor.

RNG does not belong in video games, end of discussion.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by Kietharr

So for clarification, two simple questions.

1) Is there a universal cert cap preventing you from, eventually, obtaining every cert in the game?

2) Are there class based cert caps preventing you from unlocking every single cert a class, forcing you to make decisions on where to take your character?

For the record I'm definitely in favor of both sorts of caps being present. Without having to make any tradeoffs there's really no point in having RPG elements like a cert/skill system. Zero skillcaps means zero diversity.

From Reddit, Matt said this:

Originally Posted by Matt Higby

Given infinite time and no expansion of the skill tree on our part you could conceivably train every cert in the game.

I believe that answers both of your questions.