I want rumble seats on all transport vehicles.

[Rothnang]

The next patch is supposed to introduce rumble seats for the Flash, allowing you to take along a passenger who can actually fire all their weapons and use equipment while riding along on a vehicle.

I think that this capability is potentially a game changer for the way that vehicles and infantry interact. Up until now transport vehicles have always been incredibly boring and frustrating to use, because if you aren't in the turret then you can't do anything at all, and if the vehicle does have turrets than it loses its defensive capabilities once all the passengers get out. It's simply a lose/lose proposition, neither the people who want to play with the vehicle nor the people who want to play infantry and have the vehicle help them get around get what they want.

Imagine if a Sunderer featured 9 seats, 3 left, right and back for people to fire their weapon out of from behind a protective cover, instead of simply having the people be completely unable to act. Suddenly the vehicle would become a lot more attractive to actually ride around in. You could put Engineers into a Sunderer and make it into a combat repair vehicle, or put Medics into it and use as an armored ressurection vehicle.

Maybe in time the Sunderer could no longer be a transport vehicle, and instead we'd have a real dedicated troop transport, like an APC of some sort.

Other vehicles could work similarly, the new LACs will be awesome for this type of gameplay, and a Galaxy that can actually carry a ton of people and have them shoot out of the side would be a fantastic vehicle to use both for the Pilot, and a hell of a lot more fun for the people that ride along in it.


We really need to apply this capability to as many vehicles as possible. Even if you are able to hitch a ride on top of a tank it would be awesome, though a tank wouldn't give you any protection from enemy fire if you're not sitting inside.



I love any system that allows infantry and vehicle players to benefit from each other and play together. That's what this game should be, and weapons free seats in vehicles are an awesome way to make this a reality.

[Baneblade]

Honestly, I'm half expecting the Flash change to lead to Flash zergs and literally nothing else.

[Saintlycow]

Originally Posted by Baneblade

Honestly, I'm half expecting the Flash change to lead to Flash zergs and literally nothing else.

wouldn't exactly be a bad thing

[Silent Thunder]

Originally Posted by Baneblade

Honestly, I'm half expecting the Flash change to lead to Flash zergs and literally nothing else.

Hell I'd welcome that. Flashes can be a bit easier than infantry to hit at range sometimes (Tank HE rounds notwithstanding) because they have a much more predictable range of movement. Although if someone can use the flash rumble seat to do the constant duck in/out of cover, I will be very impressed

[Rothnang]

If people finally start combining vehicles and infantry together into cohesive fighting forces instead of thinking of them as completely different entities I'll gladly deal with the Flash being the vehicle that makes it possible for a month or two.

If this thing is super popular it just proves the point that putting weapons free seats on as many vehicles as possible would only improve the game.


I really want to have a game where you can be a vehicle player that operates in a real support role for the infantry. Right now pretty much every single vehicle is either designed to only kill infantry, or its support capability is such that deconstructing it or simply leaving it somewhere provides the most benefit.

I want a vehicle that gives me something to do, but at the same has its primary relation to infantry be that it helps friendly infantry, not that it mass murders enemy infantry. Especially in an XP driven combat most people don't consider it "rendering support" when you kill the enemies for them. I mean, when you watch some front line footage from Afghanistan on YouTube and they are in a fire fight with the Taliban, when that A10 comes screaming in and obliterates the entire enemy line all the soldiers start cheering... You never see that in Planetside, everyone just goes "Oh great, here comes another Liberator stealing my XP".

Of course that's partially up to infantry lives being worthless again. Nobody wants help in a fight because there is no benefit to avoiding a fight. If you're in a vehicle and you know you're running out of resources and the timer is still up you're thankful for anyone who helps you out.

[Silent Thunder]

There would need to be some way to injure people inside the vehicles though, otherwise people could easily pop into a parked sundy and open fire as a way to deal with other people in CQ inside base walls. I mean sure SOE could just add enter/exit animations, but that would make too much sense, wouldn't it?

[Assist]

Originally Posted by Baneblade

Honestly, I'm half expecting the Flash change to lead to Flash zergs and literally nothing else.

I'm envisioning 30 VS Flash's coming down the road with HA's on the rumble seat with their Lasher's out mowing down anything that moves.

[Rothnang]

Well, the idea would be that for example those gray panels on the back portion of the Sunderer would be missing, and the soldier inside of it. If you shoot through the opening and hit the soldier you can kill him. Maybe you could even kill everyone in the back compartment by lobbing a grenade in there.

[Silent Thunder]

Originally Posted by Rothnang

Well, the idea would be that for example those gray panels on the back portion of the Sunderer would be missing, and the soldier inside of it. If you shoot through the opening and hit the soldier you can kill him. Maybe you could even kill everyone in the back compartment by lobbing a grenade in there.

That I'd agree with on one condition, namely that Tank shells not effect them unless the shell is actually threaded through the window. HE tank shells wreck infantry bad enough as is, they shouldnt be the counter to hiding troops inside Sundies as well.

[Sifer2]

Sunderers full of guys firing Annihilators out the sides sounds stupid overpowered honestly. Remember that Sunders/Galaxies have the highest hit points in the game. Arguably the only thing making Flash's rumble seat balanced is the vehicle basically gives you no protection just more mobility.

If you don't like being just a passenger then feel free to hop out, and fight lol.

[Rothnang]

Originally Posted by Silent Thunder

That I'd agree with on one condition, namely that Tank shells not effect them unless the shell is actually threaded through the window. HE tank shells wreck infantry bad enough as is, they shouldnt be the counter to hiding troops inside Sundies as well.

Yea, all the basic rules of cover apply. You are safe from explosions unless they happen inside the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Sifer2

Sunderers full of guys firing Annihilators out the sides sounds stupid overpowered honestly. Remember that Sunders/Galaxies have the highest hit points in the game.

It sounds overpowered, yes, but when you really think about it, that vehicle takes 12 people, the same 12 people could be running 6 MBTs, and the Annihilator Sunderer wouldn't stand a chance against 6 tanks at the same time.

[Pella]

Absolutely no idea why they have put so much effort into a redundant vehicle.

Who uses Flashes and why?

x2 Free Kills....

[zulu]

Firing ports for the Sunderer might be interesting -- only fire primary/secondary weapons, but no rocket launchers.

I also like the idea of allowing tank desant tactics. There have been plenty of times that I've been running along and wished I could just get a ride on one of the tanks zooming past. Might be too much effort to code that for something people might only rarely use, though (could only realistically be used between battles or for very limited circumstances during battles). Still, I think it would be fun.

Would also be neat if ESFs could carry a few people "Little Bird" style.

Originally Posted by Pella

Absolutely no idea why they have put so much effort into a redundant vehicle.

Who uses Flashes and why?

They are cheap (25 resources and a 5 minute spawn timer by default), they're an easy way to get around a large base quickly (say, between a bio lab and one of the outlying bases), when equipped with a grenade launcher or gun they're an inexpensive way to clear out clusters of enemies, and when augmented with scout radar they can be a very good way to detect enemies when defending or infiltrating a base.

It might be a lot of fun to operate one as a fast-attack vehicle with a buddy, but I'll probably wait until the larger buggies get released.

The bottom line is that they're very, very cheap. There's almost no reason to not spawn one if you're trying to get between bases or if you have given it any sort of upgrade. I suppose you're a target if you're in one, and you might run over a mine. That's really about it.

[Baneblade]

Originally Posted by Pella

Absolutely no idea why they have put so much effort into a redundant vehicle.

Who uses Flashes and why?

x2 Free Kills....

Imagine that Flash with a turbo, offroad chassis, and lock on launchers. Don't forget the driver is an eng.

Now imagine there are two or more Flashes.

[Assist]

Originally Posted by Pella

Absolutely no idea why they have put so much effort into a redundant vehicle.

Who uses Flashes and why?

x2 Free Kills....

I use it quite a bit. I'd much rather be moving base to base on my Flash than in my Sunderer. The guns on them are fairly useless, but I've got a few MBT and ESF kb's with my basilisk.
The real question is going to be how is the buggy going to make an impact if the Flash is a 2 seater :O