Convince me to play Planetside...

[Iczer-One]

... I have been following PS for the last 2 weeks and it seems like the ideal game that I have been longing for now for a long time.

I used to play Quake 1 hardcore when it first came out, I was a part of the HPB division of the NAQL many years ago and Quake was my first real online game passion. I soon got bored with it as the gameplay was more repeatative and no real goals were in place to keep my attention beyond the sceduled matches. I have since switched to Ultima Online and been playing that for the last 5 years. During that time I have tried several other games in hopes of filling the gap UO still had. I missed the action of the Quake style combat and wanted improved graphics from UO. I tried Anarchy Online out hoping to fix my emptyness but the combat in AO was point, click and watch a fight till its over basically so I was again still left empty.

Now reading everything I can find about PS makes me think this game is the awnser to my problem.

Anyone, please give me some examples of gameplay sessions that would make me want to play this game. Right away the voice over IP sounds fantastic ... capturing and holding bases and the like also sound very appealing but I want inside info from people that play the game.

Thanks in advance for anyone who cares to reply.

Iczer-One

[Feign]

Browse the forrums and site. There are tons of battle stories and screenshots already posted all over the place.

[Airlift]

I'm not sure it will work, because if you are looking for something even vaguely similar to UO, Planetside ain't it. On the other hand, I would encourage you to check the game out, because I'm having a hard time not playing it all the time when I'm not at work. It is a really good FPS on its own merits, and the MMO/persistence of it are second to none.

[Gerico]

In a word, "why?" convince you, if you can't convince yourself?

[Iczer-One]

Reading and looking at screenshots is a huge difference from playing a game.

I am not looking for something along the lines of UO I am looking for a mix of the RPG aspect of a Quake style shooter. Its nice to have a game where the skill level of your character determins how often you hit with a weapon but in this style of game I would rather have my personal skill come into play. I also have a huge love for tactical planning and strategy and this game sounds like it also has that aspect.

Iczer-One

[Kyonye]

my magic rays will do it.

aha, you are convinced.

[Cyanide]

There is one thing about PS that you should know before you decide to get into it. PS is an FPS with a very small RPG element in it. It is NOT and RPG with an FPS element. The RPG parts of this game (leveling in battle rank and command rank) play a very small roll in the amount of fun you will have. If you are looking for an action oriented RPG this is not your game. This is a tactical FPS in a persistant world. If you like other tactial FPS games (couter strike, RainbowSix, etc.) you will probably enjoy this game. If you are the lone wolf type who thinks they don't need a team to survive you will not to well in this game and you will accordingly grow to dislike it.

It is really too early to convince you to play this game simply because there are some major revisions to gameplay comming in the remainder of the beta test, so the game is not done yet and therefore the feel of the game is incomplete. Realistically though, what anyone says here should not be your deciding factor. You'll have to buy the game, play the free trial period and decide based on that.

[Iczer-One]

... I love the 1st person shooter games as well as I like the RPG games. 5 years of a strait RPG game is about it for me though and I am ready to come back to the FPS style of game but I really hate the games (CS, MOH, Q3) where there is no real object other than a short battle then you move on to a new map. I long for a good teamwork game with a group of people with different sets of skills and weapon/vehicle usages.

As a side note to this forum I also wanted to see what kind of responses (maturity wise) I would get from the questions I asked.

Iczer-One

[sdstone]

Here's what my question is:

Is the combat FPS-style (e.g.: Battlefield: 1942) or is it MMORPG-style (e.g.: Everquest and Anarchy Online)?

I was excited that Anarchy Online had guns and sniper skills and stuff like that, but when I played it and you just selected a guy, selected attack and then it was up to skill rolls to check to see if you hit him, that was a huge disappointment. Am I going to be disappointed again, or can I snipe a guy when I first get into the game because I can actually line up the cross-hairs on my HUD on the polys that make up his head?

Is the outcome of combat determined by character skill checks, or by player skill?

After reading all the FAQs and developer Q&A's, I still haven't seen anything that clears this question up. If it actually works like a game like Battlefield: 1942 or Unreal Tournament 2003, but with thousands of players, do they explain how they handle all those packets? If it's all skill based, then I really don't think I'm interested.

[Iczer-One]

.. it is exactly like Quake, Counterstrike, MOH, BF 1942 and the like. There are no per character skills that affect how often you hit and how much damage you do. Your characters skills only determin what weapons and vehicles you can use.

Iczer-One

[Knuckles]

As a side note to this forum I also wanted to see what kind of responses (maturity wise) I would get from the questions I asked.

Good thing that I didn't answer then!

Iczer-One: It's always hard to tell if one will like a new game or not. In order to get me hooked, as well as anyone else I guess, a game must have that special something. I'm still not sure what that "something" is. But I've met it in a few games... That something also seems to change over time.

We all have different playing backgrounds. You played UO. I played EQ. We both feel that we need something new.

For myself, I'm convinced that PS will be my next big thing. (Or am I?) I'm not in beta, so my days are full of thoughts about the game. Settings, what certs to pick and in what order. Is that weapon really good? Will that armor fit my playing style? Man - I wish I could fly that Reaver. And all day long, tactics, tactics, tactics...

And I just don't know, do I?

I just don't know if PS has that something...

What I'm trying to say is that I guess we both have to experience it to know. (Your quite right that screenshots, however sweet they may be, doesn't actually tell You how good the game is.)

You seem to be a thinking man and I think this game will be just that, a thinking mans game. Because it will not suffice, only to be l33t with Your weapon or vehicle of prefrence. I think You must have a tactical awareness to be really good in PS... (and I, for one, like that.)

I've already preordered PS. I'm going to head in, full throttle, to look for that "something" in PS.

I hope You will too.

[Airlift]

Combat is straight up FPS, with a cone of fire system that works similarly to Rainbow Six and the rest of the Red Storm shooters.

... I love the 1st person shooter games as well as I like the RPG games. 5 years of a strait RPG game is about it for me though and I am ready to come back to the FPS style of game but I really hate the games (CS, MOH, Q3) where there is no real object other than a short battle then you move on to a new map. I long for a good teamwork game with a group of people with different sets of skills and weapon/vehicle usages.

If this is the case, you can consider yourself convinced, because PS has all the things you are looking for in ******.

[Iczer-One]

... after reading the newest patch changed I really liked what I read. Not only does the gameplay appear to be really good in PS but also the Dev. team seems to take player consideration into their changes unlike a select few other games I have played. I think the one thing that hooked me in finally was the matrix or lattice system. Reading the posts about people soloing into a base and taking it seemed wrong to me. I think the people that dont like this system dont like it because they feel limited to where they are allowed to attack.

One thing does bother me tho, there is no delay between base captures, or is there? I can imagine myself getting very frustrated if I spend an evening fighting for control of a base and then log for a few hours, and get back on to find that base taken back. I feel there should be a time limit inbetween ownerships of bases. Maby an hour or 2 before it can be taken back again.

If this is not the case enlighten me because this is probably the only thing that comes to mind that I would consider a downside to the game.

Iczer-One

[mikkyT]

This is nothing like Quake, T2, BF1942, an all the other boring games out there.

Its a role playing game. You have a role as part of an empire. You play that roll to nuke some butt.

There. Its a role playing game

Seriously though, I think this type of game is what most people want when they think of MMO.

When I first heard of EverQuest, I was addicted. I broke that addiction eventually, 2 years later. The main part of the addiction was the social interation. The game itself was rather shit basically. The character creation was good, the building up your skills. But you point, click, watch a fight. Thats it.

With planetside *YOU* get to fight, not your character! Its every MMOG fans dream. To actually BE the character rather than watch the character.

When someone first told me about EverQuest and said its online with lots of people I thought yeah I get to kill people with swords n shit. But no, you don't. You get to kill non-player monsters by pointing on the screen an clicking, then watch the fight.

What I thought EverQuest would be, Planetside actually IS! And thats the great thing.

The fact that PS is also an FPS is moot. Its an MMO first an foremost.

[Hamma]