News: Chinese Interview with John Smedley

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFire

I am starting to think the best way to get PS2 info is for "wrong" info to be released.

lol

lets translate old interviews into chinese and back to english and post them all over the internet. maybe we get some more clarifications then ;-)

[Smed]

Answers inline

Originally Posted by Sirisian

So we have microtransactions for only aesthetic things and the game is free to play with no boxed copy at all?

This is a huge change to what I expected. It brings up a lot more questions than it answers.

1) Is the game still going to be microtransactions for aesthetics or are we going to be purchasing classes?

We see a variety of things you can buy.. honestly we're still working it out so none of this is set in stone. However here's a scenario that might happen.

Gun X is sold for X Station Cash. Gun X is a variant to another gun in-game with some positives and some negatives. Maybe you can still get the game through normal gameplay but it's hard. However the only thing I can say 100% sure is that Gun X is no better than another gun in the game.. it's simply different in some way that makes it something some people may want to buy. TF2 is an EXCELLENT example of this IMO.

2) How will the game continue to make money over time? What will you be offering to sell to people other than aesthetics? New classes? Or is that it? Will we be purchasing training bonuses and experience boosts?

Still thinking this through - In theory we want people to be able to buy convienence, but not power. This is still a shooter at it's core. So could you buy something that speeds up your offline skill training? sure.. I could see that. But not selling classes.

We're trying to figure out a way not to sell content per se... We don't want to follow the "sell an expansion pack" model with this game. We want to keep all players together at all times when it comes to what they can do without paying.

I understand if you can't answer these immediately for a few months, but they're some things I'm curious about.

(I'm still in the subscription only boat which is apparently sinking).

[Smed]

Originally Posted by FriendlyFire

I am starting to think the best way to get PS2 info is for "wrong" info to be released.

Well please understand that our goal here is to give you accurate info. We're trying not to do our thinking on some of these subjects too publicly until we have a better handle on it ourselves.. and then we want to get your feedback before we set it in stone for launch.

[Bags]

Smed, it helps when you reply in the quote to make your font a different color or bold it or something. Thanks tho.

[Crator]

Can we get some more info about hack prevention? It was mentioned in a Q&A that you guys would be implementing one into PS2. Seems there's a lot of concern here about F2P and hackers.

[Shogun]

holy smed! ;-) he´s still around!

thanks for the new clarification. i like the idea of being able to achive everything ingame that can be bought. even if it may be hard to do. what i don´t like are exclusives for buyers. that can only be achived by real money. thats ok for cosmetic things, but its bad for weapon alternatives.

any possible clarification about europe being cut off the beta?

[Tigersmith]

Originally Posted by Shogun

holy smed! ;-) he´s still around!

thanks for the new clarification. i like the idea of being able to achive everything ingame that can be bought. even if it may be hard to do. what i don´t like are exclusives for buyers. that can only be achived by real money. thats ok for cosmetic things, but its bad for weapon alternatives.

any possible clarification about europe being cut off the beta?

very well said. Im sure everyone feels the same way.

[Raymac]

Geez, I don't check into PSU 1 morning and I missed hardcore panic mode. LMAO

I think the main lesson to learn here is to keep in mind what is written on the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...DON'T PANIC

- Beta timeline is awesome. I knew they would let it slip here soon. Just think, only a few more months to go. (And I've got football season to hold me over until then)

- AI Alien Invasion will be awesome in my opinion. The greatest Planetside moment EVER was during the monolith event on Markov and on the final day, at the final battle of the event, the VS formed a tentative alliance with the TR against the NC. It was the most dynamic exciting battle I've ever been a part of. so if you have an alien invasion while the normal game is going on, the dynamics of trust, or more likely, the lack of trust between the empires will be really cool. Plus, I've wanted this ever since I saw Starship Troopers. "All Vehicle Events" get really old, so having events like this will be great.

- F2P, I was hoping for a subscription myself, but it sounds like a LoL-esque system will be cool. Frankly, I don't care how I pay, I just want to see a system that gets as many players as possible.

-Smed is the man for coming in here so quickly to clarify. MFCEO indeed.

-Yay news.

[TacosWLove]

You know im not %100 stoked on the F2P model, but LoL does make a very good example of how it could work and if thats what it takes to get 5mil active accounts, im willing to go for it, but only if it doesnt hinder the capital to develop enhancements to the game.

Alien AI? WTF? Yes, if I wanted to shoot NPCs id play any other of one cookie cutter RPG games out there...

[Shogun]

alien ai is worth a try, but only in rare events. could create that precious special moments to remember but it would suck if there are always pve elements around.

i missed the bending, so i didn´t experience this part of planetside, but it sounds like it was a cool event. but i took note of some meteor showers once and it was a very fresh feeling to not know what will happen next. the game needs things like that from time to time

[Sanoskay]

f2p still think is a bad idea i rather buy a game and pay subscription being a planetside fan since beta hate to see it being over run by hackers. A lot of FPS games use crappy 3rd programs detectors game-guard and punk buster which suck by the way. they say they have new programs and dedicated gm to detect hackers example Glogbal Agenda they are bunch of lairs that game still has aim botters still running around not banned so dev can throw a bunch of BS grantees they want. however allowing the hacker users to buy the game and pay subscription are risking a bigger loss losing money and their account towards SOE if the game 50 and sub 15 total of 65 or more to re buy the game and re-level

[NapalmEnima]

Sirisian's text is in italic, Smed's is bold underlined.

Originally Posted by Sirisian
So we have microtransactions for only aesthetic things and the game is free to play with no boxed copy at all?

This is a huge change to what I expected. It brings up a lot more questions than it answers.

1) Is the game still going to be microtransactions for aesthetics or are we going to be purchasing classes?

We see a variety of things you can buy.. honestly we're still working it out so none of this is set in stone. However here's a scenario that might happen.

Gun X is sold for X Station Cash. Gun X is a variant to another gun in-game with some positives and some negatives. Maybe you can still get the game through normal gameplay but it's hard. However the only thing I can say 100% sure is that Gun X is no better than another gun in the game.. it's simply different in some way that makes it something some people may want to buy. TF2 is an EXCELLENT example of this IMO.

2) How will the game continue to make money over time? What will you be offering to sell to people other than aesthetics? New classes? Or is that it? Will we be purchasing training bonuses and experience boosts?

Still thinking this through - In theory we want people to be able to buy convienence, but not power. This is still a shooter at it's core. So could you buy something that speeds up your offline skill training? sure.. I could see that. But not selling classes.

We're trying to figure out a way not to sell content per se... We don't want to follow the "sell an expansion pack" model with this game. We want to keep all players together at all times when it comes to what they can do without paying.

I understand if you can't answer these immediately for a few months, but they're some things I'm curious about.

(I'm still in the subscription only boat which is apparently sinking).

[Tigersmith]

Originally Posted by Shogun

alien ai is worth a try, but only in rare events. could create that precious special moments to remember but it would suck if there are always pve elements around.

i missed the bending, so i didn´t experience this part of planetside, but it sounds like it was a cool event. but i took note of some meteor showers once and it was a very fresh feeling to not know what will happen next. the game needs things like that from time to time

Im open to these invasions. Sounds pretty interesting. BUT


Any more PVE interaction such as NPC Quests to kill Soo many aliens during that event will grant you 1000 auraixum. <---Weak

[Infektion]

If it's direct translation of Chinese then sheesh...

but that Alien Invasion thing... I'm fucking lawling. I hope this isn't another WAR, where it was all exciting at first and then it went down the shitter real quick the minute they started messing with PvE too much, and I don't mean to be a pessimist but... the minute they start implementing PvE, this game is going to die and you can quote me on that because i'll gladly say casually "I told you so"

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by Tigersmith

Im open to these invasions. Sounds pretty interesting. BUT


Any more PVE interaction such as NPC Quests to kill Soo many aliens during that event will grant you 1000 auraixum. <---Weak

so true!
no npcs, only gm-controlled alien overlords or whatever!
quests will unfold via global chat from eyewitnesses, no need for npcs