The Planetside Recipe (working title) (rough draft) - Page 2

Zarparchior · 2003-06-05, 05:39 PM

Muwahahaha... For some reasons simple yet complex puzzle games with a very intricate plot with cool fighting scenes will hold my attention for very long indeed. Maybe that's why I loved the Zelda series, the Legacy of Cain / Soul Reaver series, and nigh all SquareSoft games so very very much.

That reminds me. I know you can't really compare the two, but if there was a fight between SOE and SquareSoft... I think I'd dedicate my entire time and energy to Sqaure. They are the r0x0r and no matter what future mistakes they might make, they will always have my respect and loyalty.

**edit: added everything below.

Gameplay is first and foremost. I say it is lacking now, and will never be fixed to what I and a good many other players desire. Therefore, for them to keep us as customers while at the same time not changing any game mechanics they could add a little more to the story and playing fields. A little history of the base your fighting over and the vital role it plays in the plot and battle now would make this a truly great game indeed.

If all of you old farts who just like to enjoy watching computer animated deaths for no reason say that we're all crazy and that we should quit and go play EQ - then I will kindly ignore you, as you have me.

And I'm sorry Hamma. Simple mistake! I confused you and Unregistered.

RUEN · 2003-06-05, 05:46 PM

I am old. I remember when we didn't demand an epic story to enjoy a game, because we were more interested in gameplay. I was never upset that Pac Man always ended up in yet another maze when he cleared this one.

Hey... me too, I loved those games... and I still love those games... I play Shining Force 2 over and over.... but the thing is, Shining Force 2 doesn't make me pay to play the game over and over. Planetside, however, does.

I think the reason most people get so bored is because they play too damned much and they play for too long at a setting. You should be bored after you sit at your computer playing the same game for 5 hours. That is boring.

Well, you may be right... I play games all the time, non-stop you might say. Such as Half-Life, I play that game ALL the time but for whatever reason I just don't get bored with it. I mean, It's the same thing over and over... but I still go back day after ever-loving day. Don't take this as me saying I like Half-Life more than PlanetSide... because thats not the case. PlanetSide has a great idea going for them... MMOFPS... thats god damn genius! but the thing is that they need the monthly payments to keep this game going... thats fine. But what I'm paying for had better be a whole LOT DAMN better than Half-Life, and believe me, I want it to be. It seems they have basically just recreated playing half-life at every base with nothing different about it at all, except in Half-Life (Team Fortress) , when you're board with one map, you switch to another... it lowers the monotany, not PlanetSide though, same bases everywhere .... so now... i just play Half-Life, and while its fun, i still want something more, and i want PlanetSide to become that something. Which it can easily do. How? Just make fighting in the same bases a little less repetative by changing what they have to offer and changing the strategy you use when approaching them, because right now only the players affect your strategy, and thats not enough for what I'm paying for.

Hamma · 2003-06-05, 05:50 PM

Originally posted by Airlift
I am old. I remember when we didn't demand an epic story to enjoy a game, because we were more interested in gameplay. I was never upset that Pac Man always ended up in yet another maze when he cleared this one. Defender, Galaga, Tron, Pit Fall, Contra, Bionic Commando, Karate Champ... all the games that are utterly ridiculous to the kids today had something more than the eye candy and super feature-set that are expected now (and almost always a letdown). They are just damn fun, and I still find some time to sift thru the roms to play them.

I think the reason most people get so bored is because they play too damned much and they play for too long at a setting. You should be bored after you sit at your computer playing the same game for 5 hours. That is boring.

Tricky · 2003-06-05, 06:00 PM

I think the reason most people get so bored is because they play too damned much and they play for too long at a setting. You should be bored after you sit at your computer playing the same game for 5 hours. That is boring.

I unno man. I played Spyhunter for hours on end when I was a kid. Same with Mario, Contra, and most other NES titles.

JackBoCracken · 2003-06-05, 06:15 PM

It's not that Planetside's a bad game, it's that it could be an incredible game. Unfortunately, the developers have chosen to leave it as simply mediocre. That's okay, but eh...

I dunno. Why should we not want more? Isn't it bad to be apathetic? Shouldn't there be more strategy in a game about a global conflict between three empires?

Airlift · 2003-06-05, 06:18 PM

There are a lot of ways planetside could be better. I won't argue against that. I think it will generally get better than it is now, and that's why I did not cancel. I am having a blast flying the mosquito right now, but if I get bored, I will spend a couple days changing my character around. I haven't been an infiltrator in a long time, but I had a lot of fun doing that. Then I can go back to max or reif for a while, and if the lodestar can carry a deliverer, I definately want to do something with that again. I don't really get bored playing the game. That doesn't mean it isn't boring to someone else and that's ok.

when you're board with one map, you switch to another... it lowers the monotany, not PlanetSide though, same bases everywhere

The bases themselves are all the same, but the terrain in the SOI varies greatly from base to base and continent to continent. It is boring as hell to turtle up inside a base and wait for a cap, and I will almost never do it. It would still be boring even if every base were different.

They can add a story line, that would be fine with me. More variation in bases would be fine too. They could add flocks of birds for all I care, really. They've already announced a lot of things I'm interested in checking out, and what I really want to see down the road is urban combat and some respectable dark to fight in.

Zarparchior · 2003-06-05, 06:23 PM

But the fighting on the terrain is minimal at best Airlift... It's like playing ns_eclipse every damnible day with different outside backround pictures...

Pytagoras · 2003-06-05, 06:27 PM

I fully agree with OMA on this one. I played Beta and had a wonderful time with it, but when I got retail, that feeling only lasted for a week or so. Planetside got a great potential, but it seems like the devs aren't using it.

I think the reason most people get so bored is because they play too damned much and they play for too long at a setting. You should be bored after you sit at your computer playing the same game for 5 hours. That is boring.

I used to play CS at least 5 hrs a day. I didn't get bored of it until I had played it for almost 3 years.

JackBoCracken · 2003-06-05, 06:31 PM

Originally posted by Airlift
The bases themselves are all the same, but the terrain in the SOI varies greatly from base to base and continent to continent. It is boring as hell to turtle up inside a base and wait for a cap, and I will almost never do it. It would still be boring even if every base were different.

What I don't get is that the terrain is one of the best things this game has going for it, and yet rarely do we see battles over, say, the only roads that can get through that range of mountains. Why? Well, mostly because I don't think there's honestly any reason to care about that mountain pass, even if it's the only close road that'll let vehicle support move north. It's just so much easier to find a fight by either letting them take back the tower of the base you just took, or find another base that doesn't require traversing over terrain. So you never see battles over the terrain that leads up to bases, only inside the bases themselves, which doesn't seem right...I mean in a war you wouldn't let the enemy just waltz up to the base, you'd try and stop them way before they got there. But in Planetside, it's better if you let them take the tower, because that means more kills and more XP. Heck, let them get inside the base to hack so you can resecure....it defies logic and basic strategy.

Airlift · 2003-06-05, 06:40 PM

People used to fight in the terrain all the time when you got shared kill exp. Bridge battles, huge field battles. That continues to be my biggest gripe with the game and my playing group have been spending most of our time soloing for best exp.

RUEN · 2003-06-05, 06:43 PM

I am having a blast flying the mosquito right now, but if I get bored, I will spend a couple days changing my character around. I haven't been an infiltrator in a long time, but I had a lot of fun doing that. Then I can go back to max or reif for a while, and if the lodestar can carry a deliverer, I definately want to do something with that again. I don't really get bored playing the game. That doesn't mean it isn't boring to someone else and that's ok.

The bases themselves are all the same, but the terrain in the SOI varies greatly from base to base and continent to continent. It is boring as hell to turtle up inside a base and wait for a cap, and I will almost never do it. It would still be boring even if every base were different.

I know what you mean, I'm not at all bored with the lack of weapons/armor in the game, playing around with them is fun, PlanetSide IS fun. However, the same will fall with Half-Life... If I'm bored playing one character (Soldier) I'll go play another (Engineer). Both differ totally in play style and strategy, and there are enough of them that by the time im bored with the last one, the first one grabs my interest again. I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying variety in weapon/armor shouldn't be PlanetSide's grabbing point, because many games have that.

PlanetSide's grabbing point IS "play with thousands of people online at the same time you are." When people see that, they are blown away. The idea of a huge world to explore is a grand idea indeed but, when it gets to the point where you feel the land and environment isn't all that changing what with the terrain being damn near exact (i know there are snowy places, and mountainous places, but they're still for the most part the same, personally, my strategy doesn't change much when I come upon a base), you kinda take a step back and think... well, im fighting in what looks like the same area i did yesterday... doing the same thing... looking exactly alike... kinda drab.

The SOI is kinda like a half-Life map's walls, in that... you DON'T want to leave it, and for the most part, won't. so then... all you are doing is pretty much playing the same map over and over, with a few cosmetic differences. It seems to me, thats fine with you, but i have a feeling most will get bored playing the same map over and over (ala Half-Life).

EDIT: Cut into paragraphs

Airlift · 2003-06-05, 06:55 PM

I don't play that way at all. It sounds really boring to me, so i see what you mean. On the other hand, there is plenty of action in the skies and on the ground outside the more contested bases. There are a lot of caps where I never set foot inside the walls except to reload (and then only if there is no ams handy). And when the action dries up, I'm gone. You don't even get points for hanging around a secure base anymore.

OneManArmy · 2003-06-05, 07:09 PM

on a side note, I was hella entertained by those old school games too, but remember back in the day those games blew you away because it was never done before. no matter how crappy or simple they may seem they were actually quite complex for the time frame.

but we're not in that time frame anymore we know what designers are capable of with games today so its rightfuly so we expect more from them.

XanderZane · 2003-06-05, 08:06 PM

Bored?? I've been playing this game for two weeks now and have yet to become bored with it. I agree that the game could have been more complex with the environment, buildings, weapons, vehicles, etc... A lot more content will definitely need to be added to keep gamers playing, but for fans of FPS that has a unique flair to it, people will continue to play this game for years to come. I know the user base for this game in larger then AC2, I can tell you that.

If there are people who are already BORED with this game, then they need to uninstall it now and take it back to the store. This game is NOT meant for you. It's truly meant for fans of the genre. If you play it a couple times a week or more, and still enjoy the game after the 30 days are up, then your a fan of the genre. I know a few people who played Planetside for a week and gave up and went back to AO & DAoC. Hopefully the Devs will add personal Outfit Bases to some of the continents. That would be sweet.

Xander

Tryndamere · 2003-06-06, 11:47 AM

I believe that what the "bored" people are trying in vain to say, is that there is no incentive to play or do anything in the game besides go on the offensive and zerg bases. Some are fine with this, because they find their own fun and can blow people up forever, while others would like to see "more".

What is this "more" that people feel a desire to see?

In my opinion, the answer simply lies in the fact that they'd prefer to have some "meaning" added to the conflict they engage in. Add incentive to taking over a base besides being able to heal up, get a new vehicle, and move on. Otherwise, there is constant movement, and no defense. If all teams are on the offensive all the time, then we will all be attacking empty bases.

The devs should not EVER add "+5% reload speed" or anything that improves your ability to fire more accurately, etc. This is a 1st person shooter, your ability to kill should rely on the player.

However, what they CAN do, is add more incentives to holding territory. Whether it is XP bonuses or whether its tactical incentives (needing to hold certain types of bases to produce certain vehicles on a continent), adding another layer of strategy may be the "more" that these people want. One poster suggested what I think are some great ideas as to how to achieve this on another thread about adding incentives to holding/defending bases.

I think the key lies in finding a reason for people to defend. Doing this will create more epic battles.