Dear SOE, please don't rush PlanetSide 2

TheDrone · 2012-04-02, 08:33 AM

As of late I’ve noticed myself and some other people are becoming a little worried. Worried that SOE are wanting to go too fast. That the game might be rushed into beta, even tho it won’t be ready.

After all, the alpha footage we saw was amazing, but obviously had some things that had to be fixed that IMHO should be there for beta (ragdoll physics, the sound, particle effects, the jumping of the tanks, MAXes). It would even seem that some very important models (like those of bases and Max’s and females) aren’t ready which would indicate that PS 2 is not asset-complete.

The only way to handicap the launch of PlanetSide 2 is not by not keeping up the buzz, since it’ll be there when the game is, but by releasing it too soon. Because then you’d be playing into people’s expectations as they, consciously and subconsciously, believe PlanetSide 2 too good to be true and is bound to fail.
They expect the network code to fail and the game to be a lag-fest or a massive bandwith-hog. They expect the client to fail and make GPU’s commit suicide through self-combustion. They expect the free model to fail due to an onslaught of hackers. They expect the gameplay impossible to balance.
If you release too soon, they’ll be proven correct.

For what it’s worth (virtually nothing actually, but meh) my position is that PlanetSide 2 is for the long haul. It doesn’t have to explode on launch day. It just has to be so very polished that it’ll retain players. PlanetSide 2 is not and should not be for the quick money-grab.

That’s why there’s no shame in letting the buzz wear down a little while you work to make the game as perfect as we all hope it to become. Just ignore the whining for beta.

And count yourself lucky that there’s millions of people who’ve been waiting for a game like this for all of their lives. That’s not something you can buy with any kind of marketing campaign.
It’s already sold, now you just have to deliver the product everyone hopes for.

2013 sounds just as nice as 2012. For all I care 2014 has a nice ring to it too.

TL;DR: Don’t rush it. Please don’t rush it.

Bonius · 2012-04-02, 08:34 AM

TL;DR

Business is business. They will release it as soon as they're certain they will make a profit out of it.

Shogun · 2012-04-02, 08:39 AM

tl:dr

early release: bad

early beta: good because if beta starts later, there is less time to test and fix before release, which is certainly a fixed date as it is in almost all gamedevelopements.
beta doesn´t need to have all assets,sounds and models ready. it´s not a playable demo of the game like in most new games, it´s a step in developement. and you can provide balance-data and feedback, even if all maxes use the terran model or some sounds are not final versions

Cosmical · 2012-04-02, 09:00 AM

Although i said in that other thread, back off the devs you needy poops. Lets not forget this is a PC only release, and with PC only releases, they can be subject to update after update, and can change the game drastically as they see fit. So expect the game to change radically through beta, and even more after release. Its only with console releases that updates are scary, Tim Schaffer recently said that a 8 mb update costs $40,000 dollars.

Im not bothered about an early release, apart from it will scare off the new players.

But as far as free to play FPS's go, name a game thats out... in development, or planned that looks half as good or epic as planetside?

(*cough* Dust doesnt count)

Stardouser · 2012-04-02, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Cosmical

Although i said in that other thread, back off the devs you needy poops. Lets not forget this is a PC only release, and with PC only releases, they can be subject to update after update, and can change the game drastically as they see fit. So expect the game to change radically through beta, and even more after release. Its only with console releases that updates are scary, Tim Schaffer recently said that a 8 mb update costs $40,000 dollars.

Im not bothered about an early release, apart from it will scare off the new players.

But as far as free to play FPS's go, name a game thats out... in development, or planned that looks half as good or epic as planetside?

(*cough* Dust doesnt count)

You should see the nightmare of BF3's patches due to multiplatform evil. They are not capable of finding bugs in the patch til it's released, and they can't release new patches for a very long time due to console certifications.

Shogun · 2012-04-02, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Cosmical

(*cough* Dust doesnt count)

dust is going to be a free game?
don´t think so.
but you are right, ps2 will be the first high quality free to play game.
and especially with free to play games, patching something in later is no problem.

i am seriously pissed, when i pay 60 bucks for a retail game and it doesn´t work before the first 3-5 patches, but i will get ps2 for free, so if something is wrong, i will happily wait until it´s fixed.

Cosmical · 2012-04-02, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Shogun

beta doesn´t need to have all assets,sounds and models ready. it´s not a demo

Thats true, and if it was just us guys playing it, i would say fine. But i dont know if youve noticed but Higby and everyone have been pushing beta sign ups pretty hard, meaning that any cynical games journalist and internet flamer will be playing with us. And they will be more than willing to do articles on how things suck, are imbalanced, or assets are barely finished.

To alot of people consider beta is the ALMOST THERE, marker to be judged by before release.

I doubt the team will let beta happen until they have a pretty convincing argument to rival the critics, if you get me?

ItsTheSheppy · 2012-04-02, 09:11 AM

Pretty much every game's failing can be chalked up to the product not being given enough time to cook. Thing is, with beta right around the corner, this may already be a forgone conclusion. It'll either be ready, or it won't; we'll just have to wait and see.

Cosmical · 2012-04-02, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by ItsTheSheppy

Pretty much every game's failing can be chalked up to the product not being given enough time to cook.

True enough. But you have to remember that employee salaries are classed as the games cost, meaning that time to cook isnt so much "lets take a week to get this right guys". As it is ... i dunno, im sure Pachter would be better at assuming salaries? He said average is 50 grand a year, times by how many members off staff, then higher paid executives.

I mean technically because Planetside is funded by Sony its not as cut and dry because theyre bigger than this one project, but most games actually cant risk running for longer in development. Because even if they sell well, they will only earn enough to break even. With their projected sales.

Shogun · 2012-04-02, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Cosmical

Thats true, and if it was just us guys playing it, i would say fine. But i dont know if youve noticed but Higby and everyone have been pushing beta sign ups pretty hard, meaning that any cynical games journalist and internet flamer will be playing with us. And they will be more than willing to do articles on how things suck, are imbalanced, or assets are barely finished.

To alot of people consider beta is the ALMOST THERE, marker to be judged by before release.

I doubt the team will let beta happen until they have a pretty convincing argument to rival the critics, if you get me?

it´s a valid point, but they also told us, that there is a priority pool for the first beta waves. and this first waves will be composed from veterans, fanfair-visitors and pcgamer buyers only. the critics that make it into the first waves will know the difference between closed and open beta, and i doubt that serious journalists break the nda, so the only real problem are the pcgamer kiddys that are used to preview betas from consoles.

i hope the devs have not mixed the priority pool and more or less handpick their first beta testers.

Cosmical · 2012-04-02, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Shogun

i hope the devs have not mixed the priority pool and more or less handpick their first beta testers.

Even so, once veterans get there hands on it, they can be worse than an oblivious new player. "oh my god, 8 years and youve ruined my dreams sony" "this plays nothing like Planetside should, way to suck Sony"

All because they get trounced in beta. You watch, the crybabies will come out of the woodwork when they touch beta and it feels different.

reminds me of this.

duomaxwl · 2012-04-02, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by Shogun

dust is going to be a free game?
don´t think so.

Dust has been confirmed f2p.
But I really don't see it beating out Planetside once we get some footage from beta with shit tons of people for promotional videos from SOE.

Shogun · 2012-04-02, 09:36 AM

that´s why i would like handpicked first beta waves... mainly picked by age.

the retarded in the video seems too young to be a ps1 veteran.
yes, age is not a cure for being a retard, but the average age of protagonists of such videos starts with a 1.

oh and i missed the f2p confirmation on dust. so it´s the first good looking f2p download for consoles. planetside will have better persistence and more players. (but dust has vehicle enter animations)

NCLynx · 2012-04-02, 09:42 AM

I don't think we have to worry about them rushing things.

headcrab13 · 2012-04-02, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by TheDrone

2013 sounds just as nice as 2012. For all I care 2014 has a nice ring to it too.

TL;DR: Don’t rush it. Please don’t rush it.

THIS! Excellent post, OP. Although I'm completely psyched for beta, I'd love to see it begin late 2012 or early 2013.

In order for PS2 to draw masses of players and hold them, it's going to have to be polished even in the early stages of beta, and by the time they open the floodgates for open beta it should be virtually finished.

-HC13