The state of PS2 and what I feel must change.

What's SG?

oh nvm lol I'm an idiot

sucky gamer

Absolutely. The whole reason why we can shoot out of the spawn room is to be able to maintain a sphere of safety from which to launch a defense. Once the defenders can no longer leave that sphere of safety to influence the capture points and objectives around the base, then they have lost base, which is perfectly fine and really quite sensible.

Think about it terms of a sieging an ancient city-state. Once the city was surrounded and cut off from outside food supplies, the defenders ability to influence those outlying "capture points" is removed and the city has no choice but to capitulate, launch an attack beyond the safety of its walls, or sit there and starve to death. The current spawn/capture set up in PS2 actually achieves the exact same set of options, which is pretty cool - it allows for the possibility to defend down to the complete loss of the base.

Removing the ability to shoot from inside the shield also removes the sphere of safety around the spawn room, which will do nothing more than allow blatant spawn camping and completely remove the ability of the spawn rooms to function as part of a bases defense.

Just got a chance to read this. I agree with basically everything. Devs, this needs to happen.

I'm wondering why characters must be locked to a server in the first place? It would be immeasurably more convenient if you could choose a server when logging on. That way friends/outfits/etc. can meet up a lot easier without creating new characters or purchasing server transfers. It would also fix the potential problem of being left on a ghost server.

Flinch is annoying as hell. When an enemy gets the first shot my bullets often dance all around him for a few seconds, and by then I'm basically dead.

I'm not really sure what the lattice system is, as I've never played Planetside 1, so I can't really have an opinion on that.

Firstly, there was zero progress made with spawn room "revamps". None, what so ever. It's delusional to think otherwise. Secondly, if you actually read the manifesto thoroughly many of the changes are created to the detriment of his "zerglings" and in the interest of "Joe Casual". Linking to that, you obviously didn't read anything he said about Instant Action past the "Remove Cooldown". Read again. It's totally random. No outfits can abuse it. He even specifically said that. God. In addition, spawn camps serve no positive purpose. Zero. None. Not in the slightest bit what so ever. And again, SCU detrimental to his "zerglings" who often suicide across the map to spawn at a base under attack.

Flinch and Screen Shake add nothing to the game. Infact, they've been concisely shown to be detrimental to this game's factional balance and gun play. Again on Instant Action, read. You're "happy" with your Nanoweave? Well what about Grenade Bandolier? Utility Pouch? Shield Capacitor? A tonne of armours not utilised in the slightest because the prevalence of ordnance in this game is ridiculously high. Try start a new character and play as you are now without Nanoweave or Flak and see how things go for you. I don't even see how Nanoweave is any good - it gives you 1 bullet's worth of survivability which in the grand scheme of things isn't really worth it when a C4 or Mines will insta gib you or a tank sitting on a hill far away will wreck you with constant spam.

Exactly the point I was trying to make to Tatwi. An SCU destruction should facilitate capturing a facility and it very well may be the end of a battle at an outpost, but it encourages defensive sundies more, which is a lot more fun than pushing defenders into the spawn building. As it is you have a choice for battle ending: Either it ends when the attackers overwhelm the defenders at the spawn building and the spawn camoping begins, or it ends when the attackers succesfully guard the SCU for ~5 minutes or more depending on the base. In some cases, defensive sundies can get deployed and the battle continues without the SCU.

I'm totally advocating longer SCU overload times ~5 minutes sounds about perfect for smaller outposts actually. Perhaps it could be divided into 2-3 minutes of an SCU shield gen overload and 2-3 minutes of a SCU overload to make it more interesting for both attackers and defenders. This would require some building redesign to make the SCU and shield gen rooms defensible.

Regarding the teacher bit: You can't fix stupid.

Again population, not game mechanic issue.

And let me state again, for the forum. More linearity despite the statements of many a rosy eyed ps1 vet, will not make ps2 on an underpopulated server more involving, only more zergtastic.

While to some degree the game was rushed, things are supposed to be added to this game over the span of it's lifetime, not all at once.

If you think snipers are an issue vs shield regen then I am glad you are not in charge of this game, because you clearly have zero knowledge of balance. With hit reg being so bad, among other things, buffing shield regen would be a direct nerf to ALL sniper rifles, semi auto and bolt action included. If a sniper hits you with a body shot, how is it fair that your shield should recharge before he can get off 1-2 more shots (depending on rifle to do enough damage to finish you off).

Would it be fair if the infiltrator getting shot at by a LA with a carbine can pause the game after 2 shots him him so his shields can recharge? Cuz the TTK from closer range weapons are far more out of whack, not sniper rifles. The hit reg has been broken by a leap more after GU02, so obviously if it can be broken (or broken further) it can be fixed and/or reverted, so that argument is moot. If anything sniper damage now needs to be buffed because by design a bolt action is supposed to 1HKO to the head, there was no listed ands/ifs/ or buts. Yet for quite some time, if you didnt have the latest and hardest hitting sniper rifle, one could simply add a couple levels of nanoweave and survive a headshot from your bolt action.
Do sniper rifles have cert blocks where you can add damage to counter nanoweave? didnt think so

Right there should be a red flag, that means that latest sniper rifle is a complete upgrade not a sidegrade and that already denotes away from the point that ALL bolt actions should 1HKO on headshot. Now I want you to also take away from that now, ever since GU02, even with the latest and hardest hitting sniper rifle, people are surviving headshots with it left and right (non heavies as well so that cancels the shield counterpoint), you can even check the infiltrator form for reference if it will make you feel better. Again, something else that is not intended, and directly nerfs infiltrators (since only they can use sniper rifles). Lets not even get into how the cloak is broken since GU02 as well.

Furthermore this game is already WAY, and I mean WAY too much Heavyside 2. Buffing shield regen would even be a further direct buff to Heavy assault, since they get a buffer for a class ability. Giving them exponentially more engagements they can survive where they shouldn't, period.




It just sounds like you like to stand still and/or camp a lot and are getting pwned by marksmen infiltrators, and we can't have you or the OP dieing to them, that would be wrong.

Yes progress was made .. but they addressed the symptom of the problem and not the problem itself .. Lack of incentive to defend ...
Atm its productive to sit in the spawn room for cheap kills and if you lose the base then you have lost nothing of value ..
The whole defense reward system needs re-working so it's a benefit to push out and defend the base .. Until that happens anything else is just band aids

I hope Highby Reads this.

It's been about 2 months since I last played, and at this point, I don't see any reason to login. For all of the knowledge the design team has, something went seriously wrong, such that they have stumbled and collapsed when it comes to the basics. Things like, maintaining high pops. by merging servers, base lockout timers to enable a stairstep style progression across the map, and, not penalizing you at every opportunity so they can make an extra buck or two, at the expense of losing hundreds down the road.

A number of perceived problems right now could be resolved, or masked, simply by maintaining high pops., so that players are constantly engaged in massive fights and don't have time to notice what is broken. It's amazing how much pleasure can mask pain. You don't have to have a perfect game, but you do need a massively fun game.

Right now, I have exactly 23 times the fun playing Quake Wars than I ever did playing this lumbering monstrosity.....and that's sad, because I would love to get into this game. But every time I tried to have fun, this game squashes it.

I've posted countless ideas for improvement since beta, same as the rest of you, only to be virtually ignored by SOE. Clearly, short term player counts are not their concern.

Penalties for server transfers. This is a population problem which Sony created, but they effectively blame the players for it. The only way customer service could get any worse is if they hold a gun to your head and rob you.

Weapon and cert testing system, if they haven't changed it recently, needs an overhaul. The grind is hard in this game, and we should not be penalized for making a purchase mistake. Sony should be forgiving, not harsh. I'm always amazed at how easily companies forget that customers like it when you're nice to them, and don't like it when you're mean and greedy. Isn't that something most of us learned as children?

I could go on forever, but, just a couple of comments on the OP. I think I probably support most everything there, but I might do some of it differently. I'll just mention a couple of things.

* C4 - This should not be a cross-class item. Having powerful items that are multi-class tends to water down a game. I'm sure those that favor a classless system would like that, and I'm not entirely opposed to it. The game can work either way, but if we're going to have a class system, then C4 should be one class only, probably recon.

* Auto turrets - I won't speak to base turrets, but an idea that I posted awhile back about having deployable turrets for the Engy, similar to BF2142 and Tribes, I think would be great. Before anyone shouts "OP", all you have to do is restrict them so they are not. In BF2142 and Tribes, they were potent, but not invincible, afterall, all you have to do is shoot them and clear them out.

Bottom line, they are a ton of fun and add variety and spice to the game. Everything you add increases the variety and separates the game from the rest of the pack. I prefer more variety, not less. Some will always complain and say, "Please remove 85% of the game so that it feels like COD with different colors", but, we don't have to listen to them!

Now I'm going back to my hole for a few months and I'll see if anything improves by summertime.

Any reference to Tribes makes me happy! This is why I always play light assault XD

There are far too many objectives to defend in a base that is sprawling and built like a sieve.
Linearity may work very well to give both attackers and defenders a known chain of progress.

This leads to predictable expectations and outcomes.
Meaning developing tactics and strategy.

Right now we have deathmatch biolab arena and a whack-a-mole squad game sundie hunting and securing satellite bases.


I post already about the absurdity of having a northern satellite between the main base and adjacent hex of the enemy .. that the enemy can completely ignore.

Imagine if Onatha looked like this ..


The adjacent hexes truly matter. But the satellites provide a known line of attack along a set vector - that attacker and defender cant ignore.
The chain of generators and scu providing a linear progression that organised teamplay can target and work with amidst even zerg sized forces.

One last time before i give up on this thread.

Population issue, not game mechanics issue. check my posts for a fully developed argument i cannot be ****** to parrot.

Lattice = a linear poor fps zergfest.

Poice!

Your in the lists of posts to respond to tomorrow.

I'll say only this your proposal only looks involving, if the population is already low.

Lattice...

It's NOT coming back, guys. I'd say "sorry" but I'm not. I hated the lattice. I hate anything that is going to forcibly dictate where and when the next battle is going to happen. You guys want to rewind the clock back to 2003 and you're going to get what you had in 2006 - 2012. A great game for a few hundred of the SAME DAMN PLAYERS.

We need to move AWAY from trying to force the zerg into funnels. All this does is make them the meatshield for the big outfits. Seriously, that is what lattice system does and it was obvious then and would be obvious if we had it in the future. Instead, SoE needs to get the scrote to move forward with their ideas for EMERGENT GAMEPLAY. Rather than turn Planetside into a huge game of connect the dots, players need to have REWARDS for pursuing the "right" actions.

Tired of Indarside? If Esamir had a massive XP bounty up for grabs because the VS had held it forever and a day, you'd see the zerg migrate there as a natural course of action. Also, the fact that we do not even have continent locks pretty much guarantees that one continent is going to dominate the action.

No point in base defense? Implement XP multipliers for defense actions that ramp up based on the severity of the threat in the area. This means that there would be a direct and distinctly more noticeable reward for keeping a base - ANY base, not just the main facilities - out of enemy hands. Zerg players don't look at the map and go "ZOMGAWSH! The Overlook needs reinforcements! Worry not! Drop-pod AHOOOY!" No. But if you make it very obvious that "Hey! An XP feeding frenzy is goin' on RAGHT HEEEAARRAAH!", count on them to flock to it like locusts. Also, we need more metagame-impacting effects for all bases and facilities. Make that little outpost DO something other than be a backdrop for skirmishes. Enhancements to the mini-map, resource bonuses, very small, accumulative buffs to classes and vehicles, etc, etc. Any little thing to make every base feel a little more useful and unique.

Where's your Crown King Nothing? If you implement other measures into the metagame (such as supply lines and new reward structures as mentioned above), the zerg and outfits alike are going to do things other than march on The Crown - and do so NATURALLY. The Crown, however, will ALWAYS be a common battleground. BECAUSE IT'S IN THE BLOODY MIDDLE OF THE MAP! At some point, your faction is almost always going to be FORCED to contend with that entire area if they ever hope to capture the continent. The map was purpose built for this, and nerfing The Crown doesn't make it better, it only makes it less fun. Again... Give players a reason, a SELFISH reason to do other things and they will go along with it.

BERT ERT WERS THER BER ERF ERRRR!! <- NOT the reason PS1 never took off to the extent of other MMOs.

SoE - If you are reading this... For Vanu's Sakes, do NOT race to the bottom by further dumbing down the game. PS2 will end up becoming the niche game that PS1 ended up being.

I'm a huge proponent of the LATTICE system - at the very least, make
the warpgates do SOMETHING. Idea below


1) Each empire gets a sanctuary warpgate that cannot be capped (like
they currently are). One sanctuary gate per continent. E.g., tr get a
gate on indar, vs on esamir, nc on amerish. These become "Home"
continents as they were on planetside 1.

2) The other two warpgates on each continent become neutral links to
the other continents. Acquiring all the hexes around a warpgate flips
it to your empire and starts a timer where it cannot be flipped back
for a set amount of time (10-15 mins?). The enemy empire cannot flip
hexes back on your side of the warpgate until they resume control of
the warpgate. If the enemy on the other side has all the hexes, it
will flip back after the time expires. This gives you a chance to push
out onto the other continent before they do.

3) Taking a warpgate initiates a slow pain field giving the losing
empire time to warp out and go re-deploy on their side of the gate.
They will not be able to use vehicle/infantry terminals as the
warpgate is no longer their's and they will need to re-deploy.

4) Redo the cont lock benefits to something more generic.


Watch as the empires move around the 3 continents flanking each other
and creating metagame. You'll be fighting at different locations each
night.

Actually, if your SCU is compromised and you can't get anyone there to stabilize it, you've likely already lost your defensive Sunderer(s) and are in no position to be deploying more. The SCU is almost always the last thing to go in any decent battle.

S
Spoiler alert: The Lattice is ALREADY back. The Hex System is nothing more than a poorly implemented Lattice. Theoretically the Hex System in PS2 has the same function as the Lattice in PS1: to create a strategically significant and intuitive battle flow across a given continent.
S
Heres the problem: it produces the opposite effect. There are so many links between the territories, its nearly impossible to predict where the enemy is going to go next, or even where your own Empire is going to attack next. And there are so many territories, no single one has much value.
S

Whats the point of mounting a defense in "Territory A" if the enemy Empire can simply go around and attack "Territory B"?

S

Why send 60 players to attack a main base, when you could break them up into groups of 10 and aquire six smaller territories? Then ghost hack the main base when the defenders leave to resecure elsewhere

S

Why bother capturing territories at all, when there are more Cert points to be had by mindlessly grinding away at a Biolab?

S

We need less 'Going Around' and more 'I know if I defend here it will mean something, because they CANNOT go around'.