That loyal eh?

[Kitsune]

So after looking at the pretty stuff, the videos, the fan articles, etc, I'm getting down to the community of Planetside two. Mind you, I never played planetside one. To be honest, I never heard of it, maybe cuz it came out when I was, what, 11? Anyway. I hear people who played planetside 1 are often pretty die-hard loyal to their original faction and will continue being so in the next game.

This, kinda makes for a daunting choice for newcomers. I know everyone has a while to choose which side they wanna start with and everything, and ultimately opinions of factions change and so do allegiances, but sooner or later you will be fighting for one side in the long run, unless you are one epic waffler. For me, it's either NC or Vanu, as the TR's oppression and, "We have a trained military so that makes us instantly BA" mindset doesn't sit well with me.

Maybe it won't be until a few weeks, or even months in game before I find that one faction I wanna play, but it would be nice logging in and knowing who I want to fight for in a planetary world war, and to boldly fly/ride with a close knit outfit into battle. I just have this desire to want to know which faction I would love to play for.

Anybody have opinions, stories, experiences, or thoughts about their loyalty to a faction? Might help some people's choice if they knew what the real reason people have played a faction for is. Could be anything from a diehard belief in the faction's viewpoint to, "It grew on me," or, "Girlfriend made me join them."

[Cufox]

When I first picked up Planetside in the summer of '03 (damn, that's a long time ago) I was faced with the same decision. I went NC because of the "strike first, strike hard" mentality and the freedom fighting lore. The TR seemed like oppressors and the Vanu seemed, well, ... weird. In the early days, the vanu were outnumbered at all time on my server, and many players migrated to support the weaken side. However, I am not very loyal as I am not sure I will continue to fight for the NC. I am older now and my entire personality and values are different. My preferred play style has also evolved quite a bit over nearly a decade.

Whatever you decide, either by play preference, lore, or weapons it seems the loyalty comes from the same reasons it does with most any MMO. Once you get involved in a faction, you make friends and comrades. Before long you identify more with your team and really want it to succeed and begin seeing the other side as the real "bad" guys. Those rivalries build a loyalty, especially if you are in an outfit; and if you are serious about the game, join an outfit. It is much more fun to build comradery and meet people while fragging the barneys/smurfs/elmos. Victories and defeats are more fun when they are shared.

[MrSmegz]

Pick a good outfit before you pick your faction. Then let your distaste for the other two factions will grow from there.

[GreatMazinkaise]

It's who you're with that matters... everything else is just details. I'd rather fight with and against the good folks of Markov no matter what the faction.

That being said, More Dakka is always a good thing...

[Razicator]

Gotta remember that this forum is full of veterans. Looking at the other poll where someone asked if we're using veteran status or beta keys for beta access, it looks like there's an even 50/50 split between vets and newcomers (assuming vets haven't lost their old account). This forum is not like a forum for a new IP; take a look at the Watch Dogs forum (guythrowinguprainbowsinfrontofcomputer.jpg)

[Electrofreak]

I started out in PS playing TR, had some fun, joined an outfit, but for some reason the play style didn't really work great for me. I prefer short, accurate bursts and I have a tendency to reload frequently. So I went NC where the weapons packed more punch with smaller clips and were more in line with the way I play. Ultimately though nearly all of my certs ended up being common pool stuff (Air Cav, Sniper, Special Assault, Buggies) so it didn't end up making a huge difference.

Either way, TR's "dump bullets at it" mentality doesn't work well for me, and VS weapons suffer damage degradation at the ranges I prefer, so this rifleman pilot holds his allegiance with the New Conglomerate.

[TAA]

Originally Posted by Razicator

Gotta remember that this forum is full of veterans. Looking at the other poll where someone asked if we're using veteran status or beta keys for beta access, it looks like there's an even 50/50 split between vets and newcomers (assuming vets haven't lost their old account). This forum is not like a forum for a new IP (snip)

This right here. Keep in mind that after launch the forum population of a game is only at best 2% of the total population, and usually they are the most fanatical about the game. We are not even in beta yet.

When the game launches most people will not have prechosen a faction. They will pick one based purely on what they can see in the selection screens. It doesnt have to be a daunting choice. Just pick a faction you like the looks of and learn to hate the scum playing the others.

[Redshift]

Play each one for an hour at launch, one will just feel right

[Kran De Loy]

Play each faction to find out which ones you like the best gameplay wise and/or lore wise. From there it's important to find a group of people to play with. These do not need to be an outfit or even the same squad, just find people you recognize to play with before and if you end up meeting them often enough try sticking with them more often, too.

If it's an outfit that see about joining them, if it's just a bunch of duders having fun then that's cool, too.

The thing is like a lot of the other guys already said, the loyalty to a faction thing is just something that grew on us after a while once we got comfortable. Like moss on stones. Fantastically colored moss.

Personally I started off in TR because of the sweet coloring scheme, but I quickly dropped that since like Electrofreak I just spent too much time reloading and squating out quick bursts to really feel like TR was my thing. Also I hated the lock down on the MAX and how it stopped it from moving. Switched over to NC and like it more, but the accuracy was waaaaaay more hellish and the NC MAX's ability also forced it to stop and anchor.

That's when I switched over the VS and fell in love with the sexy laser beams and excessively mobile MAX armors.

[Jinxsey]

Play everything to get a feel for it... Then when your sure, join the TR.

[Vanir]

If anyone new to Planetside is still having trouble deciding on a empire, here are the empire intro's from PS1.
(Click on the link above each image to see a bigger version.)

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...anRepublic.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...nglomerate.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...Sovereinty.jpg

[Ratstomper]

when I got PS1, I started Vanu because I thought they were the "coolest looking" (I was 13 at the time). I tried the other empires and read up on the lore and really felt a draw to the NC. Then I got my hands on a jackhammer and REALLY felt drawn to the NC. Then I spent the rest of my time sniping Vanu and TR and never looked back.

As an NC, it's my duty to uphold the freedom of newbies to choose what faction they feel best with. My suggestion to someone who is new and doesn't know who to choose (because it's a big decision when factions are THIS loyal), is to just try them all out at the beginning. You'll find one you like the feel of one over the others. Theyve all got decent communities (Except TR, who just have totalbiscuit ) and fun playstyles. Once you pick one and die a few times to the others, you'll start developing that deep seated hatred for them. That's when you officially become a planetside player, imo. It's all about the hate, man... All about the hate.

Either way, I'll have a new comrade or a new target. Either is fine with me.

no pressure...

[AnamNantom]

Originally Posted by DjEclipse

Embrace the weird brother. The Vanu SC2 toys are fun to share.

Hear Hear!

[Karrade]

I don't support any ethos as I don't box myself in with labels, I am me no more or less.

I am fully loyal to the TR. - Because of all the memories . I don't doubt it'll be the same for many newcomers the more they play, as it was before.

I look forward to seeing if any of the old smurfs outfits are back to push them out of every base they ever set foot in! For me it was the memories that made it, and I hope some of the new vehicles/units bring back some of the old situations, such as.

Locking down the TR max to hold the line, which made it easy prey but incredibly deadly in a last stand. Infantry rapid fire to confuse the opponents of my direction, as I move the opposite way, or just hold them pinned, sneaking in to get a cap that nobody was suspecting. Is blowing the power still in? If not they missed a trick, but there are plenty of options for being sneaky, mines, turrets, backstabbing or just getting in an unexpected sniping nest. These were my old memories and I look forward to holding against impossible odds once more, or turning the tide by doing the unexpected, as that was the most fun for me.

[Brambo]

Wow, I was really in heavy doubt about which class I was going to choose, but after reading this I realize it's kind of silly to worry about that now. The way I saw the totalbiscuit videos about the game, I figured it was very much no-nonsense, where you had to get good at it fast.

But now that I've read this thread, I think i'll just hold off on any big decisions untill i've actually played a bit. Well, I'm not playing Vanu, that I know.