So does anyone else think the class system has failed?

EVILoHOMER · 2012-10-17, 10:33 AM

I think my biggest problem with it is how situational it is. If you're going to pilot a vehicle then you HAVE to be an engineer, if you aren't then you're at a disadvantage because you cannot easily stop and repair your vehicle. If you want to raid a base then you go light assault so you can easily jet pack to where you want to get to. Sure you can roll other classes but light assault just makes it so easy and as you can cap with one person there is no downside.

I find if I want to defend then I have to be HA because you'll be rushed with tanks and the only way to get rid of them is more tanks or the rocket launcher. Cloakers really have no role IMO, they're either snipers or now just run around with shotguns getting a massive amount of kills. With hacking not in the game and everyone being able to cap, I don't see why they're in the game. Healers again just seem pointless, the healing mechanic is not fun and it is just easier to keep respawning rather than wasting time looking for a healer. Tbh they should have just copied the BF system of throwing a bag on the floor like they've done with ammo.

I think the best thing about Planetside was how Armour inventory space was the restriction. You weren't restricted by class mechanics, you could only do what you could fit on you. So this really balanced stuff out by itself and was for more intuitive than class restrictions. I'd just run to a term and make loadouts that I like and save them, it was far better than being restricted by a class. Now I basically have to pick a class to what I'm doing like saying piloting a vehicle and I have other abilities I don't want and wish I could spec to something else.

I would love to see the return of custom loadouts only being restricted by inventory size. I'd love to see the return of looting the enemies weapons and having to find their ammo to keep using a weapon. I'd love to see hacking back, it would be great if a cloaker could hack enemy terminals so you could use them or hacking their vehicles etc.

**Malorn** · 2012-10-17, 10:34 AM

I think its working out fine.

Firearms · 2012-10-17, 10:59 AM

It's a disgrace. The COD kiddies can have engineering flying cloaked medics with anti tank capabilities, why can't we!?

Fake edit: Sry wrong thread....

FortySe7en · 2012-10-17, 11:16 AM

EvilHomer, have you noticed that in the past 4 days you have made about 10 posts and every single one of them is you bitching about something in PS2.

The class systems work exactly as they are intended. Saying snipers shouldn't be in the game, I pretty much stopped reading after that.

Carver · 2012-10-17, 11:49 AM

I think it's fine.

Why was the planetside 1 system so much better? Everyone that was a driver/pilot was in light armor full of repair gear. 95% of people on foot were in heavy armor with heavy assault weapons.

I think there is a lot more variety on the battlefield now. If you want those heavy weapons (or a jetpack) you have to make real sacrifices for them, and you'll require a little help from your team for ammo and heals.

Mordicant · 2012-10-17, 12:02 PM

I have no problem with medic. I would like a 'stand the fuck still' voice Macro but other than that give me that XP.

PredatorFour · 2012-10-17, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Carver

Everyone that was a driver/pilot was in light armor full of repair gear. 95% of people on foot were in heavy armor with heavy assault weapons.

You are completely wrong there. Many others would tell you the same. I was always in agile, for `agility`. Many, many others across all empires did the same. We didn`t just stack our suits full of rep gear cos we used a mossie/ tank to get around.

PS 1 `s system was great because it restricted gear you could have, but made it so you couldn`t have all the best gear without ammo restrictions. You had to find the balance to suit your playstyle then you could save 10 different `loadouts` tailored to your needs on the field. Then there was looting so when you ran out of ammo(or wanted a better gun) you just looked through the enemies corpse you just killed. `Hey! i have Korndemon`s Jackhammer!` ...it added something extra to the game.

Bravix · 2012-10-17, 12:07 PM

Class system works as intended. I liked PS1 style, but this certainly feels more balanced. Gives everyone a role too.

They do need to add hacking back in though. Make cloakers hack 2x as fast (or faster depending on hack length). Have hacking be a universal cert.

So if hacking took a base of 2 minutes, you have hacking lvl 2 or something so it only takes 1 min 30. But if you go cloaker, it automatically halves that to 45 seconds.

Bags · 2012-10-17, 12:49 PM

It's terrible and hasn't increased teamwork at all from my experience. It's just an easy way to squeeze money and play time out of the players by forcing you to grind out scopes/weapons and buy skins for multiple characters instead of buying 1 skin for your character.

PredatorFour · 2012-10-17, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Bags

It's just an easy way to squeeze money and play time out of the players by forcing you to grind out scopes/weapons and buy skins for multiple characters instead of buying 1 skin for your character.

^That there is the true reason classes are in this F2P game.

PoisonTaco · 2012-10-17, 01:08 PM

I just wish the assault rifle wasn't tied down exclusively to the medic and all the heavy assault has is an LMG. I'd like to have the heavy assault's AV/AA capabilities with the reliability of an assault rifle. I love the Cycler and that's why I play Medic. I just wish I could have that weapon and do more than just heal people.

Shenyen · 2012-10-17, 01:22 PM

@EVILoHOMER

You seem to forget, that the abilities of players in PS1 were not only tied to their inventory space, but also to their Battlerank/Certs.

If you wanted to drive a tank, you HAD to have the Repair-certs, if you wanted to play in an infiltrator suit, you HAD to have the hacking certs - well, not necessarily, but what else would you do in that suit besides sometimes killing snipers with knifes - oh, you had to get the knife boost implants for that, too.

Unless you were BR 25, you had to make compromises when choosing a role to play.

For many players, except long time veterans, the jack-of-all-trades was nonexistant, they had to choose setups you would now describe as "situational" - well, except that those were not situational, but permanent.

So even if at every single point in time your abilities in PS2 are restricted by your choice of class - one moment later these abilities can be completely replaced by other abilities, simply by changing the class.

If they would change the system in PS2 and remove classes and add customizable ability-setups, for all those who whould never (or only after years) reach a higher BR, that system would be a step backwards.

Originally Posted by Mordicant

I have no problem with medic. I would like a 'stand the fuck still' voice Macro but other than that give me that XP.

Hell yeah, i would love such a macro^^

Infernalis · 2012-10-17, 01:50 PM

More balanced since it's easier to balance, easier to identify on the battlefield. If there are problems it lies within a class/gameplay itself (cloackers having no real role anymore).

Tatwi · 2012-10-17, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by Malorn

I think its working out fine.

Owned.

Seriously though, there are a few things that I wish I could trade off to make the game play fit my desired play style,

Engineer Class
- Trade MANA Turret for SKEP Rocket Launcher
- Trade Explosives for Basic Medic Gun

That would pretty much suit me just fine 100% of the time. Perhaps the ammo + SKEP would be OP, but it's not like I am ever that far from more ammo anyhow.

One thing about the class system that is a bit silly is how quickly we can switch roles. It's a double edged sword, because in some cases I really like to be able to switch out quickly, but a lot of the time it just feels like we're negating the strategy aspect of the game by responding with the most powerful possible response, rather than adapting on the fly and making due with the units we've already placed on the field. In this vein, the /suicide command needs to go and there needs to be a 2 minute respawn timer when you kill yourself or a squad/platoon member kills you. "Everyone suicide and..." should not be a valid tactic, because it destroys the flow and function of front line warfare.

Redshift · 2012-10-17, 02:00 PM

The problem is it's all become rock paper scissors. You don't really have a choice in what you roll now, you just have to take what you need at the time.

At least in PS1 i had to choose to take an MCG and just hope i could sprint across the field to get in CQC, or i could think "i'm on med duty i'd better swap out my spare deci and ammo for med juice". The choice that exists now is irrelevant, the current certs don't really change anything worthwhile enough to call it character development either.