Hypothesis on low Vanu population

This is not a trolling thread. I think there is actually a pretty logical reason why the populations are the way they are right now.

First of all, we all know that the 4th faction actually exists. They're just players who prefer to have the best tools over faction loyality. Nothing inherently bad about it. Everyone values different things in games like this. I don't think that they always all crowd to just one faction. I think they're just people who switch around a lot and stay on a faction which feels best at a time. That would mean that there is some of 4th faction in every faction. Just more in perceived OP factions and less in perceived UP factions.

Now we have to remember that some months after lauch, the factions were not well balanced. I hope that noone strongly disagrees with me that Vanu was the strongest faction for a long time and NC was the weakest. I'm glad that the faction balance is a lot better now then it was then but it kind of left it's mark.

Two more things to remember. Populations rose extremely fast after the lauch. After that people figured out whether they liked the game or not. The populations fell and have now largely stabilized. We get a lot less new people then we did after lauch and we also lose a lot less people.

Final thing to keep in mind is that until a very recent patch, there were xp bonuses for new joining people on servers where their faction was the underdog. As much as I remember, during that period the populations between factions were almost equal all the time.

Now what my point is: I think that since vanu was strongest after lauch, a lot of the 4th faction joined them. The rest of the population was filled by more faction loyal players and the total population of each faction got balanced by the joining xp bonuses. The result was this:



Now with the recent patches, faction balance has become a LOT better. My perception at least is that the factions stand mostly on equal footing and we just have problems with a couple of vehicles. Anyway, we have made a lot of progress.

Now what that means is that the 4th faction might spread among the factions quite equally. The result is this:



Which might explain both why vanu population is lower and why NC population is higher then average.

Thus my hypothesis is that the faction imbalance might not only (if at all) be caused by perceived nerfs and warpgate placement, but of balance issues during the time that the populations stabilized. And now the faction strength balancing might actually be throwing us off the population balance which existed for a long time after launch.

My solution would be that we still need joining bonuses for new players to lure them to the underpopulated factions. I think it would be nice if new players get a fixed xp % bonus for a certain amount of time. So maybe if I'm a new player and I join Vanu in any server in which it's underpopulated, I get for example 7% xp bonus which stays with me for two weeks, regardless if the populations change during that time. It was largely this balancing mechanic that directed a large part of the now faction loyal players to their current factions. We still need it and in time, with influx of new players, the populations will be equal again.

Does it make sense? Comments?

There has to be a lowest faction, VS was the lowest in planetside 1 as well. Why?

Purple

Super soakers

purple super soakers, cosmetically they just... i mean, i feel a little curious just when i fight them.. couldn't imagine playing them

Their HA definitely look the best stock though.

There wasn't a lowest faction for a long time after lauch. I don't see why it can't work.

40% pop on Briggs atm...

justsayin

Assuming the factions were balanced, the 4th faction then moves over to TR and NC, (I assume) having spent many many hours and possibly SC on items, so far, only available on their Vanu character because of purple?

In planetside 1 a HUGE CHUNK of players quit after the first month.

Why?

The game was store bought, on the box it said.. First month is free to play, don't worry about it! it's on us!

That first month a lot of the player base thought they experienced all there was to planetside.

Planetside 2's flaw is simple really.. Weapons have slightly different stats and almost identical models.. Even worst so with Vanu.

Players just quit playing. It happens, what needs to be done is not only marketing new players but retaining said players. The fact that VS is consistently the lowest pop on most servers, in my honest opinion is because they are purple and have super soakers crying for batteries. Maybe it's just me but i think the VS could've had a much meaner looking design.

for now, it seems like a recent surge of TR population which was always the lowest at 27%

Good point! Couple of possible explanations:

Could be that they switched around all the time anyway to not get bored and just played more on "their" faction then in others.

Maybe they care less about their player progression then they care about being in the "right" team.

They might not all believe that factions are balanced and move to other factions which they believe to be better - as the game actually is quite balanced that would happen almost equally in different factions,

Thing is, they WERE balanced, its worse balance now. Its funny how the TR who got all the OP buffs now magically think its better balanced.

The prowler was an amazing tank before (for both infantry and AT if you could actually aim) and now its 25%-60% better than it was then = Godmode.

The reason the vanu are all leaving is because they were balanced before, other people got buffed and they got nerfed (mostly ninja) so now they're the weakest faction.

People leaving the weakest faction to play others that have absurdly fun (because they're SO amazingly strong) bits of tech such as prowler and hacksaw max is not news and doesnt require a special theory. Vanu are lowest pop because they need buffs, simples.

This is not the subject of this thread. This is about population differences between factions not total game populations.

This is getting a bit off topic but if you're talking about Prowlers when you mean that (TR got all the OP buffs) then I agree that it needs to be tuned down a bit. TR hasn't gotten any other buffs as far as I know. Tank vs Tank is a lot more balanced now as I feel are infantry vs infantry fights. NC had pretty terrible recoil before and that seems to have been fixed.

Do other vanu players share this opinion about the population balance? That the reason why vanu population has decreased is that vanu are underpowered compared to other two factions?

IMO it's mainly because the VS just kinda suck stylistcally, though the OP may have a point.

Things were balanced?


Leading up to GU2 not a day passed where the Magrider didn't go 1.5:1 or better against other MBTs, with prowlers significantly worse than vangaurds.

Wasn't the XP change simply moving the bonus from world (server) pop to continent pop?
I think XP bonuses would have to be considerable to move people away from toys that can farm masses of certs quickly and holding more territory.

Anyone can come up with a 4th faction theory. Maybe all the ppl that switched wanted to play NC at the start but heard on the forums that VS was OP so they moved there. Now they realise VS have poor TTK's and nothing really special where NC have great gear and probably the best range of options in any situation, they are flocking back.

Also VS is currently 34% on Briggs, NC is 36%. TR have remained low pop there for a while but were higher pop for a fair while after launch. Briggs has always been a bit off average in pops.

Yes. That was the change. However these two should both exist. Continent bonus to get existing people to other continents (I agree with you that the +xp bonus isn't currently large enough to make players cross the treshold of moving) and server pop bonus to get new players preferably join the underpopulated faction.

Real men don't wear purple

lol, I bet if SOE made all vanu have black-armor, they would be the stacked side, since black is the "cool kidz"-color

I agree further XP bonuses would help, but the game definitely still needs more balance tuning. However the devs need to slow it down with the balancing and use more frequent but smaller balance changes, eventually toning it down to infrequent small changes.

can we just stop spreading lies/myths about other factions ok? saying that vanu has lower population because they are purple is just stupid, what evidence do you people have that support that hypothesis? It's just like all the people claiming that vs is OP because they don't have recoil etc. (vs does indeed have recoil and almost all guns/cannons etc. that would benefit alot from no bullet drop DO have bullet drop)

The Vanu suffers from the thing that has always plagued them: Failure To Look Cool.

The TR and NC both looks like warriors in their own way, while the VS looks like TRON rejects.
It appeals to some, but FPS games tend to attract players that go for the warrior look.

No reason that it has to be that way except the dreaded "visions" of art designers. Compare the VS vehicles which looks great and ready for war.

Have to agree and it's something I have said for a while .. I doubt it's the only problem and its maybe not even the major issue but their aesthetically appeal is very Marmite ( you either love it or hate it ).

TR/NC have a very modern militaristic look and feel that's not predominantly overwhelmed by one colour. It's something that New players can instantly recognize and attune to. While VS doesn't have that and while shallow might stop some Joe Casuals from picking them.

If a faction is losing players due to either them stopping playing or the 4ThE and they are not getting new to game players at the same rate as the other two , then something IMO has to be wrong with the first initial impression players get of them

Isn't one of the most common "vanu are OP!omglolz" comments that vanu are hard to see at night? the so called purple is damn near black ingame.