The Planetside Recipe (working title) (rough draft)

[OneManArmy]

Planetside, The game many have been waiting years for, myself included. So now why do a lot of people find themselves playing it less and less already? A game that on the surface seems to have everything you would need or want for a great time in a FPS. Not to mention its one of the first games to truly stress team play. Nevertheless something is missing from Planetside that�s holding it back.

First let�s take a quick look at some other FPS out there that people currently play. For example Counter-Strike, Natural Selection, and various other Half-Life mods are still popular today, despite being based of a game that came out 5 years ago. I suppose many could say they still played it because of the extremely low computer requirements by today�s standards but Games such as BattleField:1942, Medal of Honor and Unreal Tournament 2003 that require a much more powerful PS to run are quite popular and have staying power as well. So what do these games have that Planetside does not? Planetside has everything these games do and then some. The only thing different, aside from the scale of Planetside, is the story or the flavor, if you will.

Planetside is set up in a beautiful world with diverse settings and weaponry yet there�s no flavor to them. Planetside is sort of like an empty house, it may have been built wonderfully using the best materials and contractors but it�s still an empty house no paint or furniture, nothing making it a home, and as beautiful as it may be on the outside no one wants to live in an empty house. But before I get to far off into left field lets continue. Looking at some of the games I mentioned you can see flavor in them. Counter-Strike is about as simple as you can get yet it can still be fun, why? It has real world context such as the guns the locales and even the characters you use. While it may be fictitious those ties into the real world allow the gamer to relate somewhat to what he�s playing. Same for Battlefield: 1942, the real locales, weaponry and units allow the player to relate at some level and thus get into the game a bit better.

Planetside on the other hand set up what could be a great story for its Sci-Fi setting but didn�t carry much of it into the game. They set up the three factions with their different looks and weaponry but that�s about it. To offer a suggestion; show us that the New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty are rebelling against the Terran Republic, show us that each side really has its differences other than the soldiers� just look different. As it is all the bases are the same no matter who you�re attacking. I�m sure there are many ways to inject this game with a bit more flavor, or story. As Andrew Park from GameSpot wrote:

However, neither the landscapes nor the game's character, weapon, or vehicle designs are particularly inspired. They all look decent enough, but you, your teammates, and your enemies all look like futuristic soldiers wearing futuristic heavy armor, driving futuristic vehicles, and using conventional weapons, kind of like what you might expect from just about any sci-fi themed game.

Of course, even as I write this I must remind myself that while it may be easy to criticize its not easy to actually make a game, let alone a huge game that Planetside is. But this is just something to consider, while adding all kinds of new weapons and vehicles may sound great to everyone people will get bored of those too. All in all though my hats off to the Devs� for a fantastic job and may you find away to keep people in this game for a long time.

[Hamma]

People get bored of all games. It's not for everybody.

I dont see any problems with this game other than stability right now, people moan and complain about "content'

Go play an RPG and go on a 12hr quest for some magical staff if you want your content. This is an FPS, its about killing, strategy, blowing shit up.

[PeregineDive]

I loved beta... but once retail came around, for some reason I lost interest. Maybe it is b/c I am still getting drop to the server select every 15 mins, like I did in beta, and it is annoying as HELL! I really do enjoy it, I have some great friends that I play with and keep me into it.


-PD

[LupusUmbrus]

Couldnt agree with you more, oma. Any game is made up of more then its functional parts. Apart from the structural components that make up the framework of a game, there needs to be a curtain level of flavor and spice to make it truely fun.

For the number of us that are slowly becoming dissenchanted with a game that seemed to promise all we were looking for, the novelty has come and gone, leaving us with the simple fact that this game is nothing more, and nothing less, then just another game.

This is not to say that I dont think that it is not fun. Playing with the guys, massive fire fights, tanks, planes, and yes, even zerging, are altogether more then what I was hoping for.

Unfortunutly, somewhere along the line the dev team and their company have forged notions and precedents that, although being what can be concidered logically thought out, forsaken fun and flavor in favor of structual objectives.

This game has alot of potential, and is sure to get better as time goes on. Signs show that there are things being worked on that will make every play session more then just another push for a cookie-cutter tower or base. I cant wait.

[JackBoCracken]

I don't really care about content at all. The game would be fine even if there were only 3 vehicles and 6 weapons. What I would like to see is a war sim, something they explicitly state on their list of goals. What I see is capture-and-run-away with a whole lot of people.

[OneManArmy]

well, I didnt talk about wanting more content (at least I think I didn't) Infact I said no matter how much more "content" you add people are going to become bored with it. thus the point of the article thingy, not to add a dozen more weapons to the game but to add meaning to it, a reason for me to shoot that vanu other than so I can sit in a base and repeat.

mmmkay hamma?

[Powerflux]

Originally posted by Hamma
Go play an RPG and go on a 12hr quest for some magical staff if you want your content. This is an FPS, its about killing, strategy, blowing shit up.

This is true.

[Hamma]

I am still not sure exactly what people are looking for I mean, thousands fighting for world domination, how can that be boring?

It's just not everybodys thing I guess. Regardless those who want "more" (whicih is probably technicly impossible now lol) will just filter out over time. I'm sure there will be plenty of folks left.

[MightyMule]

Originally posted by OneManArmy
....but to add meaning to it, a reason for me to shoot that vanu other than so I can sit in a base and repeat.....

I think you hit the reason here with why many people have grown bored of the game. For the most part games have a purpose, a climax, a goal that the player is trying to reach. Planetside has goals in many forms: Killing, EXP, base capture, ranking, etc... but what it lacks is bringing these smaller goals togther into a larger goal. Sure you could say that they are brought togther as goals under the goal "World Domination" but I don't think anybody seriously entertains the idea of one empire actually taking and holding all 10 continents + the three Sactuaries. This lack of a larger goal that one is working towards in planetside seems to me to take away an motivation. Other MMO games combat this lack of motivation through character development which the player becomes attached to to there character so sees a benefit in furthering themselves in the game. Obviously this is not true for Planetside because it runs more along the FPS tagent than the RPG tagent. Typically in a FPS there is an obvious end result that you are fighting towards...winning the game. This goal is made up of several smaller goals; capture a base, kill and enemy, stay alive, etc.. As mentioned above Planetside lacks this larger goal comprosied of smaller goals which seems to me to be a key part of any FPS. No matter what else you add to the game with respect to content, team play (on a squad, platoon, or empire basis), graphics, etc... there will still be missing that ultimate goal in which you strive to reach. Some people need this goal and others don't. I don't see how this goal could be added to planetside or this goal being added an time soon.

Thankfully I am big fan of non-linear games so I have no problems with a lack of an overall goal. Anyway just random thoughts that don't really add much to OneManArmy's post.

[Jarlo]

One easy way to enable large goals is to implement a relic type system simiar to DOAC. This gives big, empire specific goals that would slightly boost that empires population.

This could give stat boosts (15 more hp, 5% faster run speed, faster stamina regen, etc) or unique weapon/vehicles.

[Dharkbayne]

Yeah, bases if you owned you could get slight stat upgrades, like things from AOE kinda, u know

Adv. troop training- 10% faster reload speed, 5% tighter COF, or like a special implant or something, I dunno, somethin like dat

[Zarparchior]

Something is direly missing from the game. Purpose. As my friend so nicely put it, Agent Smith got pretty pissed when Neo took away his purpose. So why shouldn't we feel unaccomplished? There's no real elaboration in story. There's no real reason to capture anything other the exp. Mastering the game is very easy... Hell... All of those things combined make a bad combination indeed.

Hamma, you tell people to go play their RPGs and do their 13 hour quests... and I cannot fathom why (then again, you're a republican and your grip on reality must be horribly skewered anyway. ). The reason I cannot is that this game has RPG elements. It appeals to RPGers as well as FPSers, and I happen to be both. So why not appease both sides if it can only INCREASE people's desire to play the game? Adding more story (or even just backround - WHY do we h8 the TR so much? WHY did the NC and VS break away at this time? WHY do the VS choose purple as their primary color? So many unanswered questions... If I had known the reason I was wearing a fruity color when playing on the VS had been for the reason that the Vanu technology upgrades that had been made on my suit had a normal purple tint and that resources were too low to dye everyones armor - them I might have considered staying on their side. But alas... they have lost me already.

I love stories. I love backround. I like immersion. I am one of those nerds who plays AD&D when I get the chance. However, I generally don't RP online because no one else does... and it's silly. The set-up for MMO games is very non-RP. People get lazy... don't want to spell... one thing leads to another... and then we have morons running around shouting, " iam |337 UBER GIVE MEF CANDY!!!!111." Another reason is is that by RPing I would almost have to force other people to RP with me to enjoy it. Is that fun for any of the parties involved? No. And people would consider me a dick as well.

His request is reasonable and I agree with it. I love Fan Fiction, and enjoy very much reading and writing my own. I dunno... This game might be much more appealing to me with just some stupid backround details. EQ has more than enough - is it not so crazy to ask for just a fraction of that for PS?

**edit: I was thinking Hamma... my title should probably be changed. I don't know what would fit me better, though. Maybe Traitor? Does anything come to mind you'd like me to be known as for the rest of my duration on these forums (indefinitely, no doubt )?

[Hamma]

I'm not a republican.

Purpose? how about having fun? Why must everything be placed right on your plate?

[RUEN]

If you really wanna know whats wrong with this game....

http://www.redvsblue.com/bloodgulch.shtml

go there and watch episode 1

[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.