Need more continents for Global strategy

[p0intman]

sancs really wouldn't be that harmful. You'd still be able to drop people who are new into the game anywhere, and instant action would still work as it does. You could still join a random squad just as quick and drop on its sl as quickly as you can. What sancs add is it gives organised groups a place to recall to and rally at that isn't camped nor under fire. it also gives a place to go to when you want to get out of the fire and mess around with your certs and loadouts. it doesn't take anything away or slow the game down for those that don't want to use them.

Likewise, when you get tossed back to your homecont and have nowhere else to go, it gives people a place to log into if there are no other spots on other conts, so they don't feel like they are being completely locked out.

the argument that they slow the game down is bunk. in the end, its only removing useful content by not adding them.

[Rolfski]

I agree that the tempo in which these continents are released is way too low atm and our feedback on current continents, base design and battle flow hasn't exactly decreased development time. Also they need to take an overhaul of the reward & resource system into account.
So before releasing any new continent, they need to deal with these issues first and right now I can't help but getting the feeling that they are still struggling with this. Somehow, their original big idea of how hexes, base/continent design, meta game, capping and rewarding should work got completely changed based on our feedback and now they find themselves redesigning this game almost from the ground up.

[Phantomdestiny]

well i agree with pointman . sanc do NOT slow the game down because FPS twitchers can always just instant action . while it give organised outfits an incredible tool. Also Rolfski i feel like it is true that they are re-designing this game completely. Beta should have been longer but i'm gone trust them on this one. maybe they could release the other half of the one year plan as a sign of good will.

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Phantomdestiny

it is easy to say but not so easy to do. tbh if i was them i would try to get tutorials into the game faster than more continents. they need more players in order to make more revenues but don't get me wrong i want my global lattice and sanctuaries like hell. i mean i even asked maggie on FNO and she told me to quit trolling about getting sanctuaries back.

But this isn't an either/or .... different teams will do tutorials to those that build terrain.

I would thing it would be the same folks that who continents that would create sanctuaries though.

[Phantomdestiny]

Originally Posted by ringring

But this isn't an either/or .... different teams will do tutorials to those that build terrain.

I would thing it would be the same folks that who continents that would create sanctuaries though.

except the creative designers like Higby that have to jump from project to project

[Aveox]

My best guess at a 4 continent global layout:



Each Sanctuary links to two home continents. Each home continent is contested by at least one other faction. It's an end to the constant 3 way stalemates we have now, replacing them with 2-way fights that are winnable.

Sanctuaries are definately needed. They can be, as said earlier in the thread, cookie-cutter continents like the VR. They don't have to be feature rich major landmasses. A smallish island with a warpgate and some platforms for loading vehicles and forming raids is all that is needed. Note that the warpgate on the sanctuary should be a "broadcast" warpgate that allows you to warp to any gate that you own. This is in case that you happen to lose both your home continents but still own other warpgates in the system.

Access to the center continent can be achieved by capturing the warpgate leading to it. Non-sanctuary warpgates (so in this example the warpgates leading to Hossin) should be capturable like major facilities. Sancuary warpgates remain uncapturable.

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Aveox

My best guess at a 4 continent global layout:



.

Now that has strategic possibilities!

[Phantomdestiny]

hell yes Aveox get a dev in here . Higby please magically appear please

[Sledgecrushr]

That looks like a winner Aveox.

[Sardus]

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

The #1 thing we need right now, is more continents. If we could just double the number of conts we could begin to play with Global strategy. As it is, there is no Global picture, because each cont is completely separate.

We need a Sanctuary so that raids can form up without it being known where they are going.

Home Continents are necessary and provide a purpose to defending ghost caps. Not just because it's your homeland, but by connecting the continental system with a warpgate lattice, you can actually flank an empire by the route you take across the planet.

I'm no artist, so forgive the basic picture. I would love all ten, but this is just a model of how it would look with 6 continents. As you can see, there are routes determined through a Warpgate Lattice. You could be on Cyssor and your home cont gets attacked, so you pull back what you need.

Now, should an empire receive a penalty if their Home Cont is "occupied"? Being occupied means another empire completed, or CAP'd your Home Cont. If they do, it is considered occupied until your empire can completely CAP it back. Occupying another empire's Home Cont should also grant some sort of benefit.

Agreed! I've been lobbying for something like this for a while. We need continent lattice links.

[Sardus]

Originally Posted by wasdie

Home continents work the same as sanctuaries. I would rather them spend the time making more continents than spend time on sanctuaries first.

A home continent just has 1 uncappable warpgate that is assigned to a faction. It works the exact same as a sanctuary and requires a lot less work.

It would also increase the value of your home cont. That is YOUR turf. You get them off of your home cont first.

The idea of some sort of a continental lattice system is what this game is moving towards. Don't expect it until we have more than 5 continents though. Right away when the next continent is added it will act just like the 3 we have now. You'll just warp there and fight. Trying to make a link and do all of this crazy stuff would just be too difficult. Once we have 6 continents then we're good.

I agree. Home continents can function as sanctuaries for the time being.

You just have to make it so if your empire is completely pushed back to the home continent - people can somehow back hack somewhere. Some sort of fail safe to keep people from getting pop locked and unable to push out.

Like if you had 6 continents, and one continent was in the middle of everything, and at the middle of that continent an inactive wargate existed that no one can use unless they're completely pop locked and stuck in the home cont. Then they can spawn there and push out. Something like that.

Searhus was the middle continent in planetside 1. It was the farthest link away from your home continent. Some really interesting battles happened there.

There were VERY rare instances in planetside 1 where your sanctuary and home continent were pop locked. The sacntuary was the "buffer to help filter people into the battles. VERY rare did you have absolutely NO LINK to anything outside of your home continent. There were normally "bubbles" of territory that you had.

Even still, in planetside 1 there were ways to make a base go neutral so you could start a new "bubble" of territory outside of your home continent and push out from there. That was the fail safe to the lattice link system. But this game is different and a new system will need to be used.

[ringring]

Higby has said the working warpgates and a lattice between continents will be coming. The limiting factor is the speed with which continents are created.

[Rahabib]

I never played PS1, so explain to me how the "locking" part works. If TR wins continent A, then NC and VS cannot attack that continent for how long?

Also, I don't see how this really fixes strategic game play. So if a battle is on X continent, it doesn't change how the battles will work on that continent, its still going to be zerg fest. You still have the resource problems (which should be priority 1), and you still have population imbalance issues. Its just an extended version of the lattice system as I see it - which may be wonderful for battle flow predictability, but doesn't reflect any strategic elements being added.

IMO, fix the resource system. If air is decimating, rather than nerfing the hell out of it, make them more expensive and allow a team to go and cut off the resources that allow that empire access to them. Air is now dealt with without nerfing. Now if air was successful before, they may go back to retake it - and there is strategy. If they cant retake it, then they can change strategy and cut off tanks from the enemy (or lower resources so they cant use them effectively), then once armor is dealt with, roll in and retake the air regions, etc.

This adds strategy to the game, once you have strategy, then you can work on an "endgame" (or final objective) where you can move from continent to continent and eventually have some sort of "win" requisite that takes a long time, sustained tactics (ensuring you hold territory - which means defensibility needs to go up), and thus an endgame accomplishment can be achieved fair and tactically.

We have none of this. So I think these home continents are premature at this point. I say fix the game on the micro level before we worry about the macro level.

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Rahabib

I never played PS1, so explain to me how the "locking" part works. If TR wins continent A, then NC and VS cannot attack that continent for how long?

Also, I don't see how this really fixes strategic game play. So if a battle is on X continent, it doesn't change how the battles will work on that continent, its still going to be zerg fest. You still have the resource problems (which should be priority 1), and you still have population imbalance issues. Its just an extended version of the lattice system as I see it - which may be wonderful for battle flow predictability, but doesn't reflect any strategic elements being added.

IMO, fix the resource system. If air is decimating, rather than nerfing the hell out of it, make them more expensive and allow a team to go and cut off the resources that allow that empire access to them. Air is now dealt with without nerfing. Now if air was successful before, they may go back to retake it - and there is strategy. If they cant retake it, then they can change strategy and cut off tanks from the enemy (or lower resources so they cant use them effectively), then once armor is dealt with, roll in and retake the air regions, etc.

This adds strategy to the game, once you have strategy, then you can work on an "endgame" (or final objective) where you can move from continent to continent and eventually have some sort of "win" requisite that takes a long time, sustained tactics (ensuring you hold territory - which means defensibility needs to go up), and thus an endgame accomplishment can be achieved fair and tactically.

We have none of this. So I think these home continents are premature at this point. I say fix the game on the micro level before we worry about the macro level.

(PS1 Definition)

There is no timer and in fact there is no physical 'lock'.

Really it simply means that your empire owns the entire continent.

But it can go a little bit deeper.

Think of the bases on a single continent. You can't hack any of them unless you have adjacency to one of your bases.

With multiple continents adjaceny stretches between continents. If you own the base that is linked to a warp gate, that warp link links to another base on a different continent and that warpgate links to a base in turn.

Because you own the original base you are able to hack the base on the far side of the warpgate links.

If you do hack that base and capture it the original continent cannot be hacked via that link and if you do the same on the other warpgate on the continent (assuming 2) then the continent is truly locked and is safe unless and until those linked bases are lost.

[EVILPIG]

Originally Posted by ringring

(PS1 Definition)

There is no timer and in fact there is no physical 'lock'.

Really it simply means that your empire owns the entire continent.

But it can go a little bit deeper.

Think of the bases on a single continent. You can't hack any of them unless you have adjacency to one of your bases.

With multiple continents adjaceny stretches between continents. If you own the base that is linked to a warp gate, that warp link links to another base on a different continent and that warpgate links to a base in turn.

Because you own the original base you are able to hack the base on the far side of the warpgate links.

If you do hack that base and capture it the original continent cannot be hacked via that link and if you do the same on the other warpgate on the continent (assuming 2) then the continent is truly locked and is safe unless and until those linked bases are lost.

Actually Conts could lock, due to events, such as Rabbit. It would lock the cont, which was a "planet" for 2 hours. The "lock" portion prevented the use of the HART (High Altitude Rapid Transit) to drop onto a "locked" cont. You also forgot the Benefit Plan-conts.