Why didnt PS make it big? - Page 3

Bags · 2011-01-28, 12:21 PM

Lack of advertisement. Pure and simple.

Gogita · 2011-01-28, 02:10 PM

One of the arguments that people often give why it didn't become big is that Planetside is too repetitive. Can anyone explain that to me? How is Planetside repetitive? If people say that the only thing you do is capturing a base and that there is no real end to the game as in winning; is there something like that in any shooter?

In other shooters, you play a match, it ends, and then you play the next match. In what way is that not as repetitive or more repetitive as Planetside for those people? Do they really need the game to say "YOU WIN" or "YOU LOSE" for it to have an 'end'? Can't they see that managing to take over a well defended base or keeping enemies from taking over your base is also a win or lose situation. The only thing that is different is that instead of going to the next match, you move to the next area to attack or defend.

Sorry that in the end it was more a rant than an argument... I just cannot stand people talking bad about Planetside

Bags · 2011-01-28, 02:36 PM

Repetition is the worse argument against games because I have never played a non-repetitive game.

Recently:

TF2 -> Repetitive
WoW -> Repetitive
ACII:BH -> Repetitive
NFS:HP -> Repetitive.

etc

SgtSnarf · 2011-01-28, 02:56 PM

Planetside was far ahead of its time in terms of massive game play and a near perfect blend of FPS and RTS elements. Despite having poor marketing and advertisement, it thrived on word of mouth and the first three months of the game were probably some of the most fun I've ever had in a game, period.

The main features of Planetside that set it apart from the other FPS games out there, and made it infinitely playable, were:

1. Massive Scope

This wasn't 5v5 or 10v10 or 20v20, which was about the most you'd ever find in any other kind of FPS online game, it was 200v200. It was entire squadrons of air support, heavy tank columns, specialized tactical units, defensive support teams, and every step in between. It was unlike anything you'd ever experienced before or would experience again.

2. Perfect Balance of FPS and RTS

Unlike traditional FPS games, where you might have use of a few vehicles and weapons, Planetside had several options for a variety of game play to suit nearly any type of player.

> Want to be on the front lines, blasting away enemies up close and personal? No problem.

> Want to skirt about the edges of the battlefield, infiltrating bases, relaying intelligence and sabotaging the enemy defenses? No problem.

> Want to dedicate efforts to managing and driving support vehicles aimed at supporting the fighting force, healing your fellow soldiers, ensuring a steady support infrastructure for the battle? No problem.

No game to date has done as good a job as Planetside in making room for nearly every type of player and blending aspects of both FPS and RTS elements to make it entertaining and fun, no matter what role you decided to pick up. The bases might be static, but every attack was different. The points of attack, the flow of the battle, the outfits involved, all required different defensive techniques and preparation, and the battles were some of the most epic moments I remember having in my 25 years of gaming.

3. Outfit and Faction Integration

One of the biggest things missing from today's online FPS games, such as Battlefield and Call of Duty is the persistent game world. When I log into one of those games, I get randomly matched up with 10-20 other players from who knows where. Even when you're able to have guilds vs. guilds PvP on the same map, it's limited to 10 or 20 people. There's a distinct lack of roles, and a lack of feeling that this map matters for anything.

Planetside's persistent game world and outfits made the game more exciting. You might play for 12 hours, locked in a massive three-way fight over a single continent and finally give way to sleep, only to login the next morning and discover that the battle is still raging. You get to see the same people, both from your side and from the enemy outfits, on the battlefield, learn to appreciate their tactics or their game play. When you see that certain name pop up killing people downstairs in your tower, you know his 5 other good friends are likely close by and shit is about to hit the fan.

So, why did Planetside Fail?

1. Lack of marketing/advertisement

People had no idea how awesome this game was or could be, and by the time word was out -- the bad changes were in.

2. BFR's

BFR's and many of the changes completely disrupted the balanced harmony of the previous game. Yes, there were months that Magmowers or JackHammers or Lashers or Chain Guns were flavors of the month and overpowered, but it largely only impacted encounters. BFR's dominated base fights and destroyed the delicate and near-perfect balance of support/attack vehicles and combat abilities the initial game had created.

3. Caves

Feeling that people needed a change of scenery, the developers made a critical error in bleeding the already small player base by diluting them into even more area. When concentrated big battles are your niche, spreading people out between Caves and Battle Islands is probably one of the worst decisions they ever made.

4. Consolidated Cert-Packages

One of the best moments of the game for me was specializing in a particular skill set and being wanted and needed by someone. Being good at a particular skill set, with just enough left over to obtain a vehicle or two allowed you to feel special and necessary on the battlefield. People would be looking for you specifically, and that magic dissipated when they started creating 5-cert point "packages" that gave you 5 different vehicle slots or multiple abilities.

I realize that some people wanted to be able to do everything, but being completely self-sufficient took away a lot of the really nice dependencies that helped make the game so awesome.

5. Game Performance Issues

I never understood how the game began so awesome, capable of handling 200 vs. 200 fights raging all over the continent and then, suddenly, I had a hard time flying around the Sanctuary by myself without lagging. And this was on a better machine than when I'd started the game.

Poor frame rates, lag, and other technical issues really killed the game experience for me and made it difficult to enjoy it in the way I had before. It wasn't that it stopped being fun, but compared to what you knew it -could- be, the limited game just ceased to sparkle quite as brightly.

Anyhow, those are my observations. I got this game on Day 1 and played the holy living crap out of it for months. I loved it then, and I love the idea of it now. If it could return today with simply a few graphical updates and all of the original pieces, I'd be pleased as punch.

-SgtSnarf (3rd CR5 on Emerald)

LesserShade · 2011-01-28, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by SgtSnarf

4. Consolidated Cert-Packages

One of the best moments of the game for me was specializing in a particular skill set and being wanted and needed by someone. Being good at a particular skill set, with just enough left over to obtain a vehicle or two allowed you to feel special and necessary on the battlefield. People would be looking for you specifically, and that magic dissipated when they started creating 5-cert point "packages" that gave you 5 different vehicle slots or multiple abilities.

While I agree to some extent, I think some of the cert packages were a nice way to get underutilized vehicles (marauder) out on the battlefield.

SgtSnarf · 2011-01-28, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by LesserShade

While I agree to some extent, I think some of the cert packages were a nice way to get underutilized vehicles (marauder) out on the battlefield.

I agree. Like everything, there are some good parts and bad parts. I thought, on the whole, it became too easy to become a super-soldier that no longer required on other teammates or specialists to help them achieve their goals.

I'm all for cert packages that help make underutilized vehicles attractive without making it so that someone can easily get a host of land and air vehicles for a handful of cert points. I would just like a -bit- more limitation imposed on people that try and tackle multiple roles.

-SgtSnarf

Traak · 2011-01-28, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Kumoblade

One of the things that really made planetside weren't the fights in the bases, but the journey to the bases while fighting the whole time. Fighting to gain ground on a bridge, etc.. etc.. It was those fights that were truly incredible.

Then overtime, just like in WoW, people want to cut out the journey and get to the end game content. The base. So skip all this in between stuff and go straight at the base. And thats where we stand right now it seems. Just zerging bases back and forth and cutting out the heart of what made the experience so grand.

As one of the support gods, I can attest to the fact that the boredom-O-meter spins fiercely after hitting infinite with the "blood clot in a door" base zergs we have now.

I was kicked out of one of the many outfits I briefly tried to tolerate for leading our whole empire in a massive, beautiful field battle that covered many hectares years ago. I was a CR3, and was leading the empire through Squad Leader chat.

The problem with the game isn't the mechanics, or Sony, or the buffs and nerfs. It is the idiots playing it.

Most people are selfish, immoral, craven, weak-willed scum who try to lie, cheat, steal, and, if possible, whine and cry to get laws, rules, or whatever else is in the reach of their selfish little claws warped to suit their tainted black-hole-of-selfishness character.

This leads to a game that is supposed to be team-oriented turning into the TV show Survivor, which, as the first season proved, should have been named Best Homosexual Backstabber because that is who won. If someone in your outfit proves you are a moron, you kick him out. If someone disagrees with you, and proves by his actions that his way was better, you kick him out. The outfits are run by such craven buffoons that as usual, the biggest liar and coward will end up leading them.

One of my favorite themes is "You have to be on TS to run with us." Maybe some of us don't like to hear 12 year olds talking about how they are raping their dog or some of the insane drivel that has been barfed over the TS wires. So you discard good players because they don't like to listen to your immature cussing, endless, ENDLESS sex jokes, and general idiocy.

When an outfit comes along that has a firm but relaxed command style, doesn't punish competence by ejecting the person who proves he is right from the outfit, or the more insidious method of seizing on some one small thing that he might have been wrong about in a sea of things he was right about, then PS will be far more tempting to play in an outfit.

Until then, watching homosexual little dictators prance around like Xerxes in the movie 300 demanding everyone bow down to them or they will have a tantrum and kick them out just ruins the outfit experience.

PS: next will blow if it doesn't, by its nature, actively enforce field battles, actively attack cheaters with very lucrative (For Sony) financial penalties, and have outfits that aren't run by preening little madmen whose greatest nightmare is that everyone will notice how incompetent, selfish, and stupid they are.

Bags · 2011-01-28, 05:04 PM

I don't know what PS you've been playing but I've seen two field battles in two days.

Hamma · 2011-01-28, 08:29 PM

Yikes!

One of my favorite themes is "You have to be on TS to run with us." Maybe some of us don't like to hear 12 year olds talking about how they are raping their dog or some of the insane drivel that has been barfed over the TS wires. So you discard good players because they don't like to listen to your immature cussing, endless, ENDLESS sex jokes, and general idiocy.

I think this is a bit much, my outfit is like that because it allows for much better organization. Not every outfit that has that requirement is a bunch of 12 year olds. Sure they are out there.. but try to to paint with such a large brush.

I do agree that the majority of gamers, now moreso than ever are more interested in ME ME ME and not team. It's just the nature of things today and it isn't only gaming that is that way.

Sirisian · 2011-01-28, 10:26 PM

I remember buying the game when it was released like probably a few others here. It was said before kind of, but four things hurt Planetside in my opinion
1) Marketing
2) 56k in 2003
3) Learning curve
4) Subscription

I only heard about Planetside since I followed random gaming sites. None of my friends heard about the game at all until I told them. (After showing it to them some of them played it for 5 years :P) I played the beta on a friends computer and bought it and tried to play it on 56k, but since it didn't run well at all I had to wait until I got DSL. This was true of two of my other friends.

When the game got bigger near 2006 I had two new friends try to play the game. The first joined when the battles were small and didn't like the slow paced gameplay. The second person though I had playing for 5 hours straight, but ended up not liking the game because he died too much. I kept trying to show him how not to die, but not everyone is good at FPS games. (He kept running in the same door hoping to get a kill. I sat back sniping into the door way getting kill after kill :P). Anyway, what I want to say though which made them definitely not want to play it was the subscription. They couldn't justify paying for an FPS game every month. I didn't mind paying for it since I thought it meant continued development.

Firefly · 2011-01-28, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Traak

One of my favorite themes is "You have to be on TS to run with us." Maybe some of us don't like to hear 12 year olds talking about how they are raping their dog or some of the insane drivel that has been barfed over the TS wires. So you discard good players because they don't like to listen to your immature cussing, endless, ENDLESS sex jokes, and general idiocy.

When an outfit comes along that has a firm but relaxed command style, doesn't punish competence by ejecting the person who proves he is right from the outfit, or the more insidious method of seizing on some one small thing that he might have been wrong about in a sea of things he was right about, then PS will be far more tempting to play in an outfit.

Until then, watching homosexual little dictators prance around like Xerxes in the movie 300 demanding everyone bow down to them or they will have a tantrum and kick them out just ruins the outfit experience.

I'm sorry. I had to plug my ears to block out the sound of the WAAAAAAAmbulance coming to put some salve on your granular vaginitis.

You know what? You strike me as a relatively intelligent person, even though I'm technically ripping on you. So why it never dawned on you to start your own outfit and set the pace is beyond me. If you don't like what outfits do, make your own. It's not rocket science.

Jesus.

Bags · 2011-01-28, 11:58 PM

Originally Posted by Sirisian

Anyway, what I want to say though which made them definitely not want to play it was the subscription. They couldn't justify paying for an FPS game every month. I didn't mind paying for it since I thought it meant continued development.

I don't get how those same people justify $8 movie tickets or a daily $5 meal at mcdonalds.

2coolforu · 2011-01-29, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by Traak

As one of the support gods, I can attest to the fact that the boredom-O-meter spins fiercely after hitting infinite with the "blood clot in a door" base zergs we have now.

I was kicked out of one of the many outfits I briefly tried to tolerate for leading our whole empire in a massive, beautiful field battle that covered many hectares years ago. I was a CR3, and was leading the empire through Squad Leader chat.

The problem with the game isn't the mechanics, or Sony, or the buffs and nerfs. It is the idiots playing it.

Most people are selfish, immoral, craven, weak-willed scum who try to lie, cheat, steal, and, if possible, whine and cry to get laws, rules, or whatever else is in the reach of their selfish little claws warped to suit their tainted black-hole-of-selfishness character.

This leads to a game that is supposed to be team-oriented turning into the TV show Survivor, which, as the first season proved, should have been named Best Homosexual Backstabber because that is who won. If someone in your outfit proves you are a moron, you kick him out. If someone disagrees with you, and proves by his actions that his way was better, you kick him out. The outfits are run by such craven buffoons that as usual, the biggest liar and coward will end up leading them.

One of my favorite themes is "You have to be on TS to run with us." Maybe some of us don't like to hear 12 year olds talking about how they are raping their dog or some of the insane drivel that has been barfed over the TS wires. So you discard good players because they don't like to listen to your immature cussing, endless, ENDLESS sex jokes, and general idiocy.

When an outfit comes along that has a firm but relaxed command style, doesn't punish competence by ejecting the person who proves he is right from the outfit, or the more insidious method of seizing on some one small thing that he might have been wrong about in a sea of things he was right about, then PS will be far more tempting to play in an outfit.

Until then, watching homosexual little dictators prance around like Xerxes in the movie 300 demanding everyone bow down to them or they will have a tantrum and kick them out just ruins the outfit experience.

PS: next will blow if it doesn't, by its nature, actively enforce field battles, actively attack cheaters with very lucrative (For Sony) financial penalties, and have outfits that aren't run by preening little madmen whose greatest nightmare is that everyone will notice how incompetent, selfish, and stupid they are.

This rant is just...
Woah....

I think I can actually feel the hate radiating from my computer monitor.

The first hilariously ironic topic was how you cried on and on about the outfit leaders being idiotic and childish, cussing all the time and being generally crude. Then you go onto call people homosexuals, because it's always good to take the moral high ground by being homophobic clearly.

Second, the last time I went into TS I don't recall being surprised to find it populated by nothing but 12 year olds. In fact I doubt many 12 year olds even played Planetside because it was a game that required a lot of patience and most kids have basically got ADHD when it comes to games. It's the reason consoles average age is significantly lower than PC Gaming average age. That's a bit of a digression though, I know that the most populace gaming age group is 25-34 year old males. From my experience of Werner -TR's empirewide Teamspeak nights that age group was most represented. Or even more funnily OsteKake constantly commanded the empire and all people did was bitch and moan, the Terran Alliance consistantly held good events and mass armor/aircraft armies. We organised among other things one of the biggest mass galaxy drops and one of the biggest HART drops.

The organisation was there, when people decided to try and hold some stupid bio lab in the middle of nowhere while an interlink or tech plant was being attacked elsewhere on the continent the spawns and gen of the biolab would just be destroyed so that the zerg would be redirected. Every once in a while if it was a perfect moment and a friday night, everyones been drinking and will listen and have a laugh then yeah, you might be able to command a battle and get people to do stuff. But beyond a CR5 saying 'go to this continent' getting a zerg to do anything useful apart from migrate between the most killwhorey of battles was like dragging a heroin addict away from his fix.

Thirdly the reason that TeamSpeak is generally a required aspect of the more organised outfits is because you kinda need it to get anything done properly. The ingame VOIP was laggy as hell, useless and had a terrible quality. Text was far too slow to warn anyone of anything in a fast paced interior battle so the only option is to use Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. Take your pick.

And lastly, you are obviously butthurt from being kicked by one guy in one outfit for saying he was wrong/correcting him. Yeah that's not a good way to lead an outfit, but, what is important is how you said he was wrong. If you said it disrepectfully and called him a homosexual moron backstabber or something along those lines then I can see why they will kick you. If you respectfully suggested a better way then yes, it was dumb of him/her to kick you, but still, correct someone respectfully then if they still do it the wrong way the egg is on their face.

But I can safely say from many, many years of Planetside I never saw absolutely terrible outfit leadership or hordes of 12 year olds. There was piss-poor CR5 communication at times, leading to people bickering about primaries or whatever but other than that it seemed fine to me.

Nephilimuk · 2011-01-29, 11:17 AM

No Marketing and very high system specs at launch. The last one made it unplayable on a lot of PC's the minimum specs on the box was below what was required.

I added more memory to my PC at the time and then it ran but it would have put off a lot of players.

Also Planetside is like EVE it only really shines if you get in with the right crowd a lot of the larger outfits in its hey day were not very friendly and had no community to speak of.

I really do hope SOE get this right as PS is my favorite game ever and nothing has ever compaired to those early days gamewise. EVE comes close at times but that is very very rare and normally involves podding goonies.

Hamma · 2011-01-29, 11:19 AM

The ingame VOIP was laggy as hell, useless and had a terrible quality. Text was far too slow to warn anyone of anything in a fast paced interior battle so the only option is to use Ventrilo or TeamSpeak. Take your pick.

This reminds me, why do games continue putting VOIP right into games when literally nobody uses it? Why can't they spend that dev time on something else. VOIP is already covered pretty well by all sorts of other apps.