Big debate "Game balance"

[Tapman]

Originally Posted by Xyntech

The VS have their own aircraft now, with crazy flying physics. Don't just dismiss the hovering tank either, as if it is nothing. With locational damage and weaker side and rear armor, the fact that the Magrider can strafe will be huge.

Higby, idea! Small target on the rear of the Magrider that if hit will destroy the magnetic-lift system and we can watch them slam into the ground just before/during their destruction.

[Redshift]

It's pretty obvious there are going to be places to enter a base where only light assault can get to because of the JJ's.

Now imagine how unfair it would be if one empire could also take MAXes in there.

That's the reason, and you're just going to have to live with it i'm afraid

[Coreldan]

Redshift, I wouldn't say that will be the case. I think it's more of a case of light assault being able to take a shortcut and jump over teh base wall from any direction, while the MAXes will have to go through the bottleneck of the base entrance.

I sorta have really hard time believing they are gonna make areas where MAXes couldn't enter at all.

[Redshift]

Originally Posted by Coreldan

Redshift, I wouldn't say that will be the case. I think it's more of a case of light assault being able to take a shortcut and jump over teh base wall from any direction, while the MAXes will have to go through the bottleneck of the base entrance.

I sorta have really hard time believing they are gonna make areas where MAXes couldn't enter at all.

I think that's exactly what they're going to do. Although i wouldn't say at all. A roof entrance that's only accesible by JJ could still be reached by dropping MAXes from a gal, one empire not needing a gal obviously unbalances things.

You could see this in a basic form in PS1 defending a tower from the VS meant having a shed load of AV up the top whereas defending against NC/TR you didn't need to bother. It didn't matter too much in PS1 but if you specifically design JJ area's or entrances then the effect will be bigger.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Higby

Empires in Planetside 2 have more differences than they have in PlanetSide.

The empire differences were always my least favorite aspect of PS. Gaping holes left in the various empires armories that none of the eggheads in procurement ever bother to fill.

Might not be so bad if progression didn't effectively lock you into a race. Its not like SC2 where you can switch to a different team at the end of a match, or do 2v2s with a buddy of a different race in order to balance out your selections weaknesses.

I don't mind little differences either, it was just the big ones. Sure, mags were fast and had lower armor, and vannies were slow and had more. Fair enough. But vannies ONLY got the Infantry Rape Mortar of Doom, and mags only got the Death to all vehicles, aircraft, and locked down MAX unit infinite sniper cannons. One would think the procurement board of the NC would say hey.. Why can't we get an Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot round? Apparently armies used these about 500 years ago, and they were quite effective. And VS techs would be tasked with figuring out how to utilize the Flail in their designs, and would develop a small Flail turret for use in their tanks. Are the TR brains, who developed the BFRs, incapable of figuring out a shotgun?

[Canaris]

Originally Posted by SuperMorto

I have a question for the devs. What does the VS have that none of the other 2 factions have?.

the VS don't deserve any special kind of love, they should have the same things as the NC & TR, that is balance.

You're just greedy

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Higby

Empires in Planetside 2 have more differences than they have in PlanetSide.

Good!

I like the idea of difference very much, even if it makes balance more difficult.

Regarding VS maxes, as TR I never thought the flying ability was overpower, but then I carry a striker and a flying max was as good as dead.

I can see why in PS2 a flying max in combination with Light Assault could seem a bit OP.

[Crator]

Originally Posted by Canaris

the VS don't deserve any special kind of love, they should have the same things as the NC & TR, that is balance.

You're just greedy

Originally Posted by Higby

Empires in Planetside 2 have more differences than they have in PlanetSide.

According to Higby this isn't how it will be...

[Canaris]

Originally Posted by Crator

According to Higby this isn't how it will be...

I think we'll find out he's referring more about the styles of the three Empires

TR - Speed
NC - Power
VS - Versatility

I'll admit I've played as the VS in PS1, of course everyone has at some stage and I was always ended up using a Max unit, their ability to jump jet gave them such a huge advantage in siege situations and if the advantage was there I took it.

I can't count how many times I've just waited at a high up tower/base in an AI max for someone inside to open the door and just swept over them in a killing spree. Even back then when laughing manically at the poor helpless infs while I burned them down a part of me thought it was kinda unfair.
Also during base defences getting your max up on top of something that was really had to see from the ground gave crazy advantages.

Not to mention hiding in trees as a AA max

It's that kind of imbalance I'm hoping they'll avoid in PS2

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Canaris

Not to mention hiding in trees as a AA max

It's that kind of imbalance I'm hoping they'll avoid in PS2

Indeed. But a better response would have been giving every max the capability to fit JJs.

[FoxBait]

I think we all need to pay these Devs the respect they deserve and have some faith that if they have the balls to tackle the crazy task of designing a three-way MMOFPS, like PlanetSide, with a ten year entrenched, rabid fan-base... balance and diversity are two of the biggest features on their list.

Sure, you could argue that "we haven't seen enough of the game yet! Why haven't we seen enough of the game yet?!" But the game doesn't even have a release date yet, much less one that is nail bitingly close.

In fact, we have the miracle of have the creative director of the entire game chatting with us on a regular basis and ensuring us that the game balance is something they care about too!

As a Vanu4Life, I too was sad when they announce that JJs were leaving for our MAXs... but let's trust Higby to come up with something awesome instead.

[Graywolves]

I've killed about the same amount of NC and VS.

[ShockFC]

Originally Posted by SKYeXile

So how many more NC have you killed compared to TR?

<----20,000

Could it because there is more of them?
they're under powered?
they're bad?
they have terrible AA cover and my name is SKYeXile?
I hate them more?
or could it be all of the above?

I'm gonna opt with terrible AA cover and your name is SKYexile... Also, I have 10k more NC kills than TR. I think the same answer applies to me though.

[Helwyr]

Originally Posted by Canaris

I think we'll find out he's referring more about the styles of the three Empires

TR - Speed
NC - Power
VS - Versatility

What are jump jets if not Versatility?

[Coreldan]

Originally Posted by Helwyr

What are jump jets if not Versatility?

I think you are still just seeing it wrong. I don't think they removed the jump jets off the VS MAX cos it would've been unfair against other MAXes. I believe the true reason was behind Light Assault getting jump jets, so it was taken off VS max.

You still have more versatility than other factions anyways