How much would you like to see the factions distinquished?

[super pretendo]

As far as unique playstyles and advantages/disadvantages between factions are concerned, what do you expect and what do you hope for? How different from PS1? I didn't play PS1, so I cannot say, so I'd love for someone to let me know.

[SKYeXile]

PS2 the faction are looking more unique than PS1, if they can pull the balance it, it might be good.

[super pretendo]

What did they say concerning that? And do vanu tend to have more splash damage effects than others?

[SKYeXile]

well from what they have shown sofar.

In and battle the staples of the fights were:

Infantry
Tanks
AIR

In PS2 it looks like the empires keep their differences with infantry weapon styles...the TR been about automatic weapons, the NC been about hard hitting slow fire weapons and the VS...been gay?

The MBT's were all sort of different, they;re moreso now with the mag turret facing foward only, previously they were all verymuch the same, except that the mag was direct fire, straif and could float on water.

but now the fighters are faction specific, unlike PS1 where everybody has access to only the reaver skeeter and wasp, each empires ES fight will preform rather differently and presumably they will have a broad range of ES weapon loadouts...hopfully plasma missles or plasma cluster bombs for the VS....PEW PEW PEW!

Also there are faction specific grenades, all we know of is a vamp grenade for VS, when thrown it drains HP from all around it, it then explodes with the force of 25% of the HP it drained.

[CutterJohn]

Would prefer the basic arms/units/etc to be different, but parity would be achievable with upgrades/unlocks.

To put it in PS1 terms, VS get Lasher, NC the Jackhammer, and TR the MCG as their basic HA weapon. But players would be able to unlock the use of equivalents to the other faction weapons.

Thus the basic functionality of empires stays somewhat different, since most people are using the basic gear. People who prefer something the other empire offered would have the option of gaining that capability. Empires as a whole remain different, but players can individually customize their options and make their own perfect weapon layout.

For instance, I largely played VS, and liked the starfire and magrider, but I would have loved having a flak based AA max as well, or a tank like the vanny with a huge infantry gibbing cannon.

[Shogun]

fuck! the whole post just disappeared while i was typing.

shortform;

hope you are totally wrong!
i would hate to be able to skill in enemy weapons!
keep the factions as different as possible, so players have to choose what they like best!
being able to pick the best of all empires leads to 90% vs population because they look so alien, gunning with a nc like tank-cannon and switching between lasher and jackhammer during infantry battles. this would suck!

make the factions even more different! it´s not easy to balance, but it´s possible. just look at starcraft. 3 factions with different concepts and it works!

the choice of faction has to be about more than just the color!

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Shogun

make the factions even more different! it´s not easy to balance, but it´s possible. just look at starcraft. 3 factions with different concepts and it works!

When a SC match is over with, you can pick a different faction. You are not locked into that faction by progression or the fact that your friends play on it. In fact, you can play with your friends regardless of what faction they pick.

Considering you are rather locked to one character/faction by progression and your friends, I'd prefer not to have my arbitrary choice of team color forever limit what weapons I can use.

As for your concerns.. Barneys are not that popular, and weapons should be balanced anyway so it shouldn't matter who has what. Its not like the 150mm is a clear upgrade to a railbeam. It is most definitely a tradeoff with a different set of uses. It wouldn't be the only thing used by a long shot.

[Shogun]

giving all factions the same weapons or the abilitys to "sidegrade" to other factions stuff is just plain stupid.

starcraft was just the example with the most different factions. but if you have a problem with sticking with the factions in ps, look at any other mmo out there!
sto: klingon or fed. you choose, you stay forever.
wow: don´t know about the factions there, but you cannot change them at will for sure.
in mmos you always have to choose a side and they are always different!
and there you are tied to your char as well. ps was never about everyone having the same weapons and it should never be!
if you want to have the same weapons as your enemy or want to choose different faction after every battle, play tf2.

[frigamache]

I don't like the idea of common pool / shared weapons or vehicles. It diminishes immersion into the world and greatly reduces the uniqueness of each faction. Performance issues taken into consideration, I'd still prefer to have fewer vehicles if I didn't have to deal with seeing a bunch of re-skinned crap on the other side of the river. Just rely on vehicle modifications/certifications to have them fulfill different roles.

The Starcraft theory mentioned above is exactly what unique factions should resemble.

[Xyntech]

Originally Posted by Shogun

giving all factions the same weapons or the abilitys to "sidegrade" to other factions stuff is just plain stupid.

starcraft was just the example with the most different factions. but if you have a problem with sticking with the factions in ps, look at any other mmo out there!
sto: klingon or fed. you choose, you stay forever.
wow: don´t know about the factions there, but you cannot change them at will for sure.
in mmos you always have to choose a side and they are always different!
and there you are tied to your char as well. ps was never about everyone having the same weapons and it should never be!
if you want to have the same weapons as your enemy or want to choose different faction after every battle, play tf2.

I don't particularly want to see each faction get clones of the other factions weapons, but this is a skill based shooter.

Point and click RPG's and RTS's just don't balance the same way. Even if you did make a shooter that had sides as diverse as Starcraft, you would end up with entire playstyles that were underpowered or excluded from one or more sides. Not a good idea in a game of Planetsides scale, where keeping the three empires populations in balance is a high priority.

That's why Planetside 2 has to give each faction a tank. Each faction an aircraft. Each faction a rifle.

If you just gave the NC a tank, the TR a fighter and the VS a stealth suit, it would certainly add to the distinct styles of the empires, but it would tear apart the factions for those who liked the NC, but wanted to dogfight. Those who liked the TR, but wanted to be stealthy.

What we get in PS2 is different flavors of the same thing. It's the same type of weapon or equipment, but it behaves in a way that matches it's empires philosophy uniquely.

It comes down to the devs and what their findings are as far as game balance how distinct those flavors will be. The first game placed a lot of emphasis on Heavy Assault weapons, but the amount of difference between the 3 empires styles of HA led to a lot of balance issues and constant tweaking. It seems like PS2 is heading off this problem by making HA weapons be restricted to the Heavy Assault class, as well as apparently making some comparable (but still uniquely flavored) versions of weapons that used to be unique to each empire in the first game.

Over all, it seems like the factions are more unique now than they were in the first game, while having a little more attention focused on making sure the differences are more balanced. Seems to me like they are on the right track on both counts.

[TheBladeRoden]

Despite my avatar I think they need more unique vehicles. Each faction should get their own
Fighter plane
Ground attack or transport plane
Tank
Attack Jeep
Deliverer-type Vehicle
Boat!

[LongBow]

honestly, give them different colour armor - I like to know its a level field ...

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Xyntech

Point and click RPG's and RTS's just don't balance the same way. Even if you did make a shooter that had sides as diverse as Starcraft, you would end up with entire playstyles that were underpowered or excluded from one or more sides. Not a good idea in a game of Planetsides scale, where keeping the three empire

So what you're saying is TR wont be the zerg vs the VS eldar then?

[Baneblade]

DIE COMMON POOL! DIE IN PLASMA!!

The Sweeper should be the other NC medium weapon.

[Xyntech]

Originally Posted by SKYeXile

So what you're saying is TR wont be the zerg vs the VS eldar then?

If Planetside 1 was any indication, it will be tr zerg vs VS zerg vs NC zerg.