SmedBlog: eSports Support

[JoCool]

[Tuoweit]

Originally Posted by Stardouser

the average player would not spend time playing casually in such arenas with no unlocks or stats.

???

Quake was popular before anyone ever came up with unlocks or stats, as was UT. Or Team Fortress, CoD 2, and Battlefield 1942, if you want team games. Or countless other FPS games prior to the latest generations of CoD/Battlefield.

Frankly, Unlocks (or rather, to be more precise - arbitrarily locking away 90% of the options until you grind enough "xp" through play) in match-based FPS games killed my desire to play online in random matches (and removing private servers with server-side unlocks/unlocks through LAN play killed any remaining desire to keep up with the latest editions to play just with friends).

I realize there may appear to be some irony in saying this on a PS2 forum, but (a) PS2 looks to have a broad availability of stuff from the instant you start playing, and (b) it's also an MMO so some persona persistence & advancement is to be expected as part of the genre (which I like in an MMO, just don't put it in my match-based FPS games).


On the topic of "eSports" in PS2 - I think the idea of broadcasting/webcasting/Smedcasting/whatever you call it of actual ongoing gameplay, is great. I'm ambivalent about the "organized competition" side of it, I'd have to see a more concrete proposal. I don't think there's really a solid argument against it on principle, but (like many ideas) there's plenty of ways it could be badly executed.

[Mordecai TR]

I am actually interested in seeing what they will do with it. I remeber in the original planetside (even before official launch) they had some sort of special server set to hold war games. It seemed they would give each empire a certain goal to go after and this would result in huge battles. I did not particapte but i did listen to the podcast Hamma did for it and his play by play was really good. Maybe Hamma could post those again. it could give ppl an idea of what maybe they are talking about.

[Shamrock]

Originally Posted by Electrofreak

Anyone who plays EVE Online and watches the Alliance Tournaments should have a pretty good idea of what Esports could look like in PlanetSide. It allows competitive players an opportunity to compete in a tournament that matters (prizes and awards!), allows interested players to watch streaming matches for the sake of entertainment and self-improvement, and allows uninterested players to not give a flying fuck and not really be affected in any way.

If PS2 follows a similar route, it shouldn't be a problem.

Couldn't agree more, the E-Sport element of EVE is totally self contained and a periodic event that is live streamed. It has a very low impact on the game while being a good promotional tool that is entertaining to the player-base.

[sgtbjack]

Originally Posted by Rat

I dont see how WOW areana affected the core game. I didnt do much arena, but I didnt give a crap that others were into it.

Step 1, create e-sports=people who want to compete in smaller scale fights, do, but then, they start to complain that they should be given rewards for it

Step 2. give in, and create a reward system for e-sports=now everyone that wants to be competitive starts doing them even if they hate them(faster matches, equals faster rewards, and titles given? Should some group of 4 players that own in their 4 man group get rank over people that fight for continents? I'm worried you would start to get leaders that can't lead, but are great at playing 18 hours a day. You know, those guys that only lose because everyone else sucks, but they are leet.

Step 3. World pvp fizzles out(which is ok in WoW, but in planetside? Doesn't that seem very counter productive to what makes this game?

I haven't played WoW, nor would I, this is just the crap I've always read again and again on forums. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but all I've ever heard about e-sports is that its only for personal achievement, and group play becomes fractured.

in short EVE e-sports=good, doesn't effect anything
WoW e-sports=I will hold off on playing till about 6 months in, to see how the games holding up

[Red Beard]

make the "E-sport" part of Planetside be competition for the highest (accurate) leadership rating per faction, giving you access to higher end meta game powers. This would fit perfectly into the culture of PS, where people playing would CARE who is winning, in a way that COMPLIMENTS core game play, rather than DETRACTING from it.

[RawketLawnchair]

Originally Posted by Hamma

Guess this is the real question really. How would it work? To me this reads as if they are adding tools for e-sports for broadcasters..

For now, this is really how I feel about this. In a game like PlanetSide 2 that doesn't really have personal instances, I can't see it being anything other than either what Hamma said, or...

Instanced combat.

It is the only real way to have a clan match system.

[sgtbjack]

Originally Posted by Red Beard

make the "E-sport" part of Planetside be competition for the highest (accurate) leadership rating per faction, giving you access to higher end meta game powers. This would fit perfectly into the culture of PS, where people playing would CARE who is winning, in a way that COMPLIMENTS core game play, rather than DETRACTING from it.

Depends on the scale, if its 100 vs 100, sure, but if its 1 vs 1 or 10 vs 10 or lower, than no. You should not get anything that puts you ahead of commanders that lead massive scale engagements for continental control.

Being in charge of 10 guys with all their certs maxxed because they can throw 18 hours into a game does not ever translate into good leaders in large scale battles. Its the same as that guy who's got maxxed stats and armor two weeks after a game launches being considered good leader material, when he's not.

[DaClabe]

I think this needs a bump I still see a lot of people who are worried about PS2 and E-Sports.

Originally Posted by Smed

you are thinking way too narrowly IMO. How many of you watch anything on Twitch TV? I do. I don't play Starcraft II but I watch the hell out of it. It is gradually taking on a lot of the time I used to spend watching TV (which isn't a ton anyways since I spend most of my free time gaming).

Do not think of an Esport the way they exist now. Planetside 2 will not fit into that square hole. However imagine a 500 person outfit fighting another 500 person outfit with cameras posted (time delayed) at a bunch of locations around the world and spectators able to follow people around the map at various locations. Imagine really good Casters following the best players on each side (maybe it's even all 3 empires fighting). Imagine a Season where we allow outfits to register (with requirements about size, etc) and be tracked during that season on a huge number of stats.

There are 2 ways of looking at Esports. One way is literally as pure competition. Another is looking at it as really well done Television. Instead of watching Survivor wouldn't you rather watch an hour long battle casted by really good shoutcasters and follow some of the best players in the game?

Esports is a lot more than simple arena matches. It's really becoming about watching other people game. Those of you that think this idea is stupid.. I was one of you. Now I'm hooked. Give it a try.. you will be too.

We have made the decision to innovate in a major way in Esports. It's not going to be the primary focus and driver of Planetside 2.. but we are adding technology that is already in the game and working that will allow you to cast directly from Planetside 2 without the need for external clients. At some point real soon you will even be able to follow your outfit mates from your ipad or iPhone as they pull of a Bin Laden style raid on some base and you'r going to be able to watch them. And guess what. Down the line (not at launch). If you have the right certs. You'll be able to do some drone action yourself.

Please keep an open mind. We aren't going to change what's at the heart of Planetside 2 to try and shove it into being an arena based shooter. That ain't happening.

[Kordoyn]

As posted previously, I think the EvE method would truly be able to shine here in PS2.

It would in essence be a very small fraction of what the game is about, much like it is just a sliver of EvE. But it would be quick, entertaining, and challenging.

Rewards could range from station cash, to custom skins, guns, vehicles, etc for the winning team.

It's tough to compress what is essentially an impossibly vast and deep gaming experience into something presentable as an e-sport, but I don't think showing 500 v 500 battles which rage for hours is conducive to entertaining a viewer base. At least not live.

That said, condensing an 8 hour battle into an edited segment with nice camera pans, and quality commentary lasting about an hour might be a solid way to show off the vast scale of the game, while at the same time actually progressing the action at a pace reasonable enough to watch in a single sitting.

[Stew]

Originally Posted by Hamma

I'm doing targeted feedback threads on all items from Smed's Blog. This one is for eSports Support.



Thoughts!

This i dont want planetside to dumb down the scales and focus on smalls scales match arena to fit the (( actual )) esports way to do thing , because it will be a bad thing for the game , look at the BF competitive 4 vs 4 lame crap this actually kill the BF i love , and i dont want SOE to bring some more people in who are not whilling to participate in large scales combat senarios

If their is a esports i want it to be massive and to redefine the esports as it is i mean covering a large scales war is feseable they just need to cover it as a RTS games focusing mainly on leaders strategies but also on the most Important (( squad micromanagements )) so people will be able to follow the bigest picture but also the game will be show and play as it should !