Hello :-)

[synkrotron]

Hi Peeps,

I thought I'd better pop in here and introduce myself, FWIW

I have chosen synkrotron as my main character name. I couldn't think of a good one so I chose the name of my "music project" instead.

I'm 53. Old, but I know there are plenty more as old as me playing online FPS games.

I'm afraid my gaming pedigree is a bit limited and somewhat poor:-

I started on Doom, a decent game back in the day. I spent many an hour back then working my way through the many Doom levels. It seemed like a massive game at the time but nowadays you youngsters would probably finish it off in a couple of days, on Hard.

Unfortunately I never really finished the game. That end of level boss was just too hard for me to finish off without using the cheats.

Doom II followed... more of the same.

Then I discovered a game called Descent which was a little bit different and was closer to a flying shoot 'em up I guess. I also played II and III but yet again I could only get so far in this game. It was even harder that Doom.

Quake II (I missed the first version) was a great FPS and I spent loads of time on that game although I never got into the multiplayer version. Needless to say I never completed this one either.

When Quake III was released I saw my son playing it and I even had a go myself but I decided at that point that I was done with FPS games, if that was the way that they were going. I just couldn't get my head around the mental running and jumping around shooting with gay abandon LOL. I was used to being able to creep around and watching my angles, popping off the enemy while peeking round the corners. It was just impossible do that in QIII, for me anyway.

A couple of chaps where I was working at the time suggested that I joined then on Counterstrike. I think it was V1.6.

All of a sudden I was finding myself getting involved in playing as a member of a team and I really enjoyed that. I was crap, for sure, but as long as my mates were willing to put up with that I was well up for joining them.

I wasn't a regular player, just one night a week at the weekends usually. Eventually, though, real life got in the way of my gaming time and I gave up with CS.

While all that was going on we also had a playstation in the house. My kids played all sorts of games on the various PS we had but my main interest was driving games. Gran Turismo was my favourite and it was GT5 that got me back into gaming a couple of years ago. Having almost completed that game (didn't platinum the thing but finished all the licenses and races) I then decided to try online racing.

It was that which got me back into playing with others and reminding me what fun it could be. The peeps I joined in with (and I'm still active, just about) persuaded me to join them on Battlefield 3. I explained that I had hung up my FPS gear some time ago, but they persisted and just over a month ago I entered the battlefield.

I was quite taken aback, I must say. It took me ages to get my first kill and at one point my KDR (a new term for me) was a miserable 0.05. I have since, after 30+ hours online, improved that but unless I'm online with my mates I am still somewhat lost.

And so, this brings me to now…

I came across Planetside while searching for some BF3 tips on youtube and I thought I’d look into it further. As it was a “free to play” game I thought, “what the hell…” and I started the download and install process.

Well… all I can say is, I’m overwhelmed, yet again. Such a vast difference between BF3, obviously so I suppose. The idea of a massive 8km x 8km map intrigued me along with the fact that they are persistent and are only hosted on a small number of servers. But I am struggling, probably even more so than I was with BF3. Even after sixteen hours of play I only have eighteen kills under my belt and over a hundred deaths.

I know KDR isn’t everything though and I feel I just need, in my limited time, to get involved in a squad rather than going “Rambo” (or should I say Mr Muscle LOL). One of my problems is I find myself aimlessly wandering around. Or I wind up right in the thick of a mental attack on a spawn point with dozens of my faction being pinned back by even more of the enemy.

I think that, in order for me to start to really enjoy this game I either need to get my current buddies to join me or make some new friends here. I’m not sure that joining a full time squad would work because I just don’t get enough time.

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled on a bit too much there, but I reckon that you at least now know enough about me to give you an idea of how I fare within a gaming environment.

Thanks for staying awake and reading this

[THrONeBeaST]

Welcome to PSU

Nice gaming history

[synkrotron]

Originally Posted by THrONeBeaST

Nice gaming history

Thank you

I thought it looked a bit light... And it is spread over twenty five years lol.

[OCNSethy]

Hi and welcome! Nice to see another 'grey beard' joining up. There are more of us jumping in every day!

Most outfits run public squads and thats a good start. Loadout for medic or engineer support is usually a good move. Gets you in the action and into the cert pool.... everyone needs ammo or healing / repairing.

Once you have some certs under your belt, Ive found trotting out a Max certainly helps with the kills and experience.

Infil sniping is also a good way to get you on the killboard and allows you some breathing space to observe how others play. I did this for awhile and learned heaps from just watching what the opposition did when both attacking and defending.

Have fun and enjoy

[Bulltahr]

Yeah, stick to one or 2 classes until you get a better idea on what the hell is happening. It's not as complicated as it looks, a month of play and you should have a handle on things...........

[synkrotron]

Thanks fot the tips Sethy

I'm still finding my feet, even after nearly seventeen hours of play LOL. I started off as light assault. I then tried sniping but found that I was either too far from the action and so rarely hit the target. And if I got in too close I was either sniped back or had my neck slashed haha. Sniping is harder than I thought and I found the same in BF3. When everyone is running and jumping around all over the place I end up just watching through my scope. Every now and then someone does stand still long enough to get a shot off and then they’re off again.

More recently I've been trying my hand at heavy assault so that I can have a go at attacking vehicles. Not much success there yet. But I'm working on it. Similar to sniping, when the vehicles are on the move I find it hard. I know I need to suss out how to judge the missile trajectory and where the vehicle is going to be at the time of impact. Now, that is hard………….

I've yet to try medic, engineer and MAX. MAX does sound fun and I've been watching the other MAXs working around me. So, yeah, might try that soon.

I've enjoyed some time in the turrets too spotting and shooting airborne craft. But I found myself "camping" a bit too long in those, a bad habit I don't want to get into.

I haven't joined in with a squad yet, which I now I should do. I do that all the time in BF3 but I feel I'm that crap at the moment, in terms of skill and understanding the game so I'm worried I might just get in the way.

Oh, and "friendly fire..." What a bugger that is hahaha. I've not killed one of my own yet, but I might have caused someone to die needlessly. With everyone running around, especially piling out of under attack spawn areas I've sometimes caught someone by mistake. Having said that, I'm not as bad as I thought I would be and I haven't had my guns disabled yet...

As for certs... I've decided not to get too hung up on those yet. I bought a 4x scope the other day and that's it. I need to get my head around what the other guns and bits and pieces do before I "waste" any more certs.

Thanks again for the tips and the welcome

And thanks to you too Bulltahr... You posted while I was typing another one of my tomes

[OCNSethy]

Its all good Synkrotron

My rule is if you run in front of me while Im shooting, I can not be held responsible,,, Never stand in front of a MAX

Bull is quiet correct when he says find a couple of classes and play those until you get the hang of the mechanics. The learning curve is a bit steep. Ive also found peoples video both on here and Youtube to be most educational.

[synkrotron]

Originally Posted by OCNSethy

Never stand in front of a MAX

Haha, yeah... I suppose in those panic situations and CQ it must be up to everyone to be as careful as possible given the situation. And accidents will happen.

I am also checking out youtube and stuff, including the tuts that RivalXfactor has done for PS2. Some good stuff available.

I'm also working through the PSU Wiki too. I'm gathering a few questions for the Q&A forum cos I don't think everything is covered there just yet. I guess it must be hard work keeping the wiki site up to speed.