Outfit Points

[Ganymede]

Is planetside 2 going to have outfit points like planetside 1? Are outfits going to be limited in player size?

Something I didn't like in PS1 was that when the game first went live outfits were at great sizes and very competitive. I led one of the TOP TR outfits on Markov. However, outfits quickly resorted to mass recruiting making it impossible to keep up with the outfit point category. I would suggest that outfits over a certain size take a percentage hit to outfit points they accumulate.

I am not saying that a legitimate outfit doesnt have 100-150 members but when outfits are recruiting anybody that walks and getting numbers to 300-400+, it would be nice to have that regulated or even forbidden if a point system is going to exist. If not, this is a moot point and doesn't matter.

[Dubious]

outfit points in PS1 had no other use than brag rights

heck, i was #1 in points in my guild, but needed a change so i tried other outfits and only lost some points that did me nothing...

[Saifoda]

The only justification I could see for implementing such limitations on outfits is if outfit points end up actually giving something in the end other than just the bragging rights.

Furthermore, who is to say that the "zergfits," as it were, and mass-recruiting is not a viable way to run an outfit? If you really want to have a specialized, top of the line, best-of-the-best players outfit, then you need to do some good marketing and recruit the best of the best, and if there are good players that fit the mold of your outfit that are currently in a zergfit cause they got a random outfit invite from a recruiter running around in the sanc (or whatever for PS2) then you are the one who needs to reach out to that player; use /b or global or whatever's available to advertise. Have recruiting squads. Etc...

These are just a few ideas that come to mind right now; we can all get creative and find ways to do it better, but in the end remember that everything that goes on in the game is a player decision -- the big zergfits didn't get to be that size because they MADE people join -- they got that way because they actually did put a lot of effort into recruiting and running their outfit they way the felt best about it and players who joined wanted to continue in those outfits.

Perhaps that point system itself could be fair, so that the smaller but more "elite" outfits will get good points going as well as the larger zergfits (based on participation and actions -- kinda like PS1).



Either way I personally think the limitations you're suggesting are not a good fit as all it does is punish creative players and outfits and regulates things from a mechanic perspective even further; the most successful MMO's are the ones that have as much freedom and player driven/created content as possible. SWG is a prime example -- the game was pretty great in concept (performance was another story) and they took player content to a whole new level; then it turned into WoW: Star Wars edition and completely tanked.