News: GU09 weekend Double XP & Hotfix

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by psijaka

I've seen some youtube footage of forest combat in particular that blew me away; makes PS2 trees look like stunted shrubs.

Well it's not the trees themselves so much as their density.
Only a few places on Amerish even come close to a thinly wooded Forest in PS1...
This is either because Planetside 2's trees, being far more graphically complex, CANNOT be placed that close together for rendering stability, or that MBTs that make the Driver split their focus to operate the Main Gun wouldn't be able to maneuver through them.

If it's the former, it's just another reason why the Devs should re-prioritize FUNCTION over form...

...If it's the latter, well...
THAT'S EXACTLY WHY YOU DON'T LET AN EXECUTIVE'S SELFISH "IDEAS" ON WHAT WILL BE 'FUN' DICTATE YOUR GAME DESIGN!!!

[Rbstr]

Your fun isn't the same as someone else's fun.

Get over it.

[Hyncharas]

Originally Posted by OCNSethy

That probably means the Fury will be removed from the Harasser... it was fun while it lasted

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

Your fun isn't the same as someone else's fun.

Get over it.

But that's the entire problem!
Driver Main Gunners only caters to ONE party's idea of fun, those who want to Tank Solo...
...But Planetside already did that with the Lightning, A SOLO TANK!

Then you have to have wide open terrain for these large Solo-MBTs to be able to maneuver in, since it is rather hard to keep track of where you are driving while simultaneously keeping your guns trained on a target, which also HAMPERS Infantry Play since now they don't have any protection to move BETWEEN Bases on foot!

I have yet to have been presented with an argument for Driver Main Gun Control that doesn't boil down to either "BUT I DON'T WANNA!" or what to do about the Magrider, but we at least can present possible solutions for the Mag Issue.

[psijaka]

Totally agree with your comments about driver/gunner Whiteagle. Those who want to solo a tank can drive the Lightning and still have fun - and be effective.

The Magrider does pose a problem, but nothing that a bit of creative thought couldn't overcome.

[EVILPIG]

Direct combat vehicle drivers have a weapon. Transport drivers do not. That is the current model. SOE's goal is to make gameplay more dynamic and more fun for their players. When playing a combat vehicle, your focus is combat. When playing a transport, your focus is driving.

MBT's and Lightnings should be different in more ways. I see the Lightning as a utility tank. It should have highly specialized turret types. MBTs should have more generalized main guns. I'd limit it to AP and HEAT only. Let Lightnings take AA, Mortars, AI specific weaponry, etc.

[Baneblade]

Nobody said MBT drivers shouldn't have a weapon. But at the same time, Lib pilots don't fire the Dalton.

Let MBT drivers have a Flash style weapon.

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

Direct combat vehicle drivers have a weapon. Transport drivers do not. That is the current model. SOE's goal is to make gameplay more dynamic and more fun for their players. When playing a combat vehicle, your focus is combat. When playing a transport, your focus is driving.

To be fair this is where I disagree with Figment on the issue.
He seems rather fond of MBT's requiring three people, one to drive and two to operate each weapon, while I'm perfectly fine with giving the Driver control of the Secondary much like how a Liberator Pilot has a Nose Gun.

This doesn't eliminate Solo MBTs entirely, but it would definitely hamper their effectiveness in comparison to Lightnings and fully crewed MBTs.

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

MBT's and Lightnings should be different in more ways. I see the Lightning as a utility tank. It should have highly specialized turret types. MBTs should have more generalized main guns. I'd limit it to AP and HEAT only. Let Lightnings take AA, Mortars, AI specific weaponry, etc.

I don't disagree with this, but this is why I think giving the Drivers the Secondary is a better idea profit-wise for SOE; you can only put so many types of Main Cannon on the MBT, the three options we have now plus maybe a couple Factional Flavored ones, but they already have far MORE variety with Tank Secondaries!
And really, which type of weapon is going to bring in more money in the long run, the one with a possible max of five options or the one with at least seven?

[EVILPIG]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

To be fair this is where I disagree with Figment on the issue.
He seems rather fond of MBT's requiring three people, one to drive and two to operate each weapon, while I'm perfectly fine with giving the Driver control of the Secondary much like how a Liberator Pilot has a Nose Gun.

This doesn't eliminate Solo MBTs entirely, but it would definitely hamper their effectiveness in comparison to Lightnings and fully crewed MBTs.


I don't disagree with this, but this is why I think giving the Drivers the Secondary is a better idea profit-wise for SOE; you can only put so many types of Main Cannon on the MBT, the three options we have now plus maybe a couple Factional Flavored ones, but they already have far MORE variety with Tank Secondaries!
And really, which type of weapon is going to bring in more money in the long run, the one with a possible max of five options or the one with at least seven?

To clarify, my first paragraph is my understanding of the developers' goals as they have stated in several conversations on the topic over the last year. My second paragraph is my opinion.

I agree that they would sell more weapons if there were more available to the driver, as most investments are self serving. Just the nature of the beast. However, the secondary position is for enhancing the effectiveness of the tank's primary role or to offer some defense against threats the driver may not be able to address, such as enemy air. For those reasons, I believe they are still selling plenty of the secondary weapons. I certainly have purchased a number of them.

[Ogre]

I feel like over and over, and over, and over again, from EA, to Namco, i keep seeing games get sequels where the bosses feel like they need to completely change the formula. Planetside 2 is a good game. good. not great. It could learn a lot from Planetside 1, and hey, one company invented the car, a bunch copied it and made it better. Take a long hard look at Battlefield 2142. Or dont, it's not my game, but when I get bored of this game, I'll quit, its not a threat, just a fact. I really hope planetside 2 does two things. Owns up to some basic design mistakes, and changes them, despite the radical changes that will force, and implements an in game survey. Get a cert point for filling it out. You get a notification each time it pops up. Boom, real time metrics on all your player's wants and desires, and the quickest way to line your pocket.

So you have a question on maxes, ask it to the players. get a response, then with a little work you see how many players play maxes, and determine from there.

Minorities in games are sort of like ingredients to soup. Sure, you can ditch the pepper, salt, and other shit, but soon you just have the majority, which is hot water. and lets face it, no one sits down to a hot bowl of water. adios for now.

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Ogre

I feel like over and over, and over, and over again, from EA, to Namco, i keep seeing games get sequels where the bosses feel like they need to completely change the formula. Planetside 2 is a good game. good. not great. It could learn a lot from Planetside 1, and hey, one company invented the car, a bunch copied it and made it better. Take a long hard look at Battlefield 2142. Or dont, it's not my game, but when I get bored of this game, I'll quit, its not a threat, just a fact. I really hope planetside 2 does two things. Owns up to some basic design mistakes, and changes them, despite the radical changes that will force, and implements an in game survey. Get a cert point for filling it out. You get a notification each time it pops up. Boom, real time metrics on all your player's wants and desires, and the quickest way to line your pocket.

So you have a question on maxes, ask it to the players. get a response, then with a little work you see how many players play maxes, and determine from there.

Minorities in games are sort of like ingredients to soup. Sure, you can ditch the pepper, salt, and other shit, but soon you just have the majority, which is hot water. and lets face it, no one sits down to a hot bowl of water. adios for now.

THIS!
i don´t understand why there is no poll on the launcher anyway! is there a better way to reach every player, than asking on the launcher that every player sees when starting the game?
at least, you could do some surveys while downloading a giant patch! people sit and wait in boredom or go for a coffee while waiting for the updates to finish, so why not use this opportunity to ask some questions?

or use the downtimes in the game to do small polls. whenever there is a longer respawn time, you get a poll popup (that gives a small amount of xp when filled?) with an option to opt out of this feature if it gets annoying.

[ChipMHazard]

They already know how many players use MAXes, how well they are doing etc. Metric data.
I do agree about having opinion polls show up in the launcher itself. Most players don't use forums.

[Ghoest9]

When using anti-armor weapons on a MBT the drivers gun and the main gun should each be of equal effectiveness.(for anti infantry the passenger guns are already pretty good.)

This would keep it fun for the driver but would make the passenger into a vital part of the crew.

[Sledgecrushr]

The MBTs should have had 3 man crews. But we dont and I dont think we will get that.
I wish they would at least give us the option of using a fully crewed 3 man mbt.