Dynamic Game Balance and Hackusations

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by gunnner10, Dec 22, 2018.

  1. gunnner10

    I understand the idea of trying to balance a game so as to help the weaker player or faction from being pummeled into quitting the game. However, this game appears to suffer from that phenomenon known as "Rubber Banding". After embarking on an unfortunate death streak where I can really kill my K/D, I'll enter a period of what I call "God Mode" where a sudden kill streak begins to occur, with me taking very little damage.
    A caveat of DGB, as written by Andrew Rolling (in reference to multiplayer games such as global conquest), is that HP increases, accuracy, or DPS should be adjusted finely enough so that players are not aware of its presence.
    I'm inclined to believe that some of the hackusations we see in game may be a result of too aggressive DGB.
  2. AlcyoneSerene

    Does this really exist in PS2? I hope not, but would not surprise me.

    It would be hard to prove though, since it would be a hidden 'MMR' type value based on whatever variables were chosen, and those can't just be K/D. Also, it's a sandbox environment, so one's stats have no minimum and maximum values, just a normal distribution based on population, plus outliers for those who play a certain class/vehicle/objective more, and skill based differences.

    A more likely explanation is the type of population you play alongside and against at any given time, and their latency differences to the server and to one another, creating the joys of 'clientside' hit detection and playing in the distant past. With enough PS2 experience, you begin to know the person you are peeking at has already started shooting you long before their first shot that feels like an insta-gib headshot, nevermind the obvious 'dance' when killing or damaging someone and having their true action and location 'fast-forward' to catch up with your client.

    Playing off-hours results in a horrible game experience personally, and i don't know if it is due to lower overall strain on the servers from few players making 'clientside' more pronounced, or more players from distant time zones on.
  3. Gutseen


    nah, happened to me a day back.
    an infl shot me 2 times in the head point blank with a revolver, my shield only flased red, nothing more. I turner around and shot him, i could tell that he was suprised.

    or being killed in oneshot with a nanomesh shield and a resto kit active from 120 meters away
  4. pnkdth

    PS2 is a game without matchmaking and player defined battle lines. At one moment you'll be staring down the barrel of many guns the other you'll appear on a flank or have players being busy with different targets. Maybe that tank with HE rounds just happened to look your way and suddenly decided to move on. Maybe a tacticool outfit decided to join the battle and is making life that much harder.

    At other times it is just clientside and connection issues doing its magic.

    Some players are better in 1v1 situations or smaller engagements. Especially if they are running a bit of a potato. Suddenly their frames up and they feel like they're on top of the world. Personally, I stick to smaller battles (48s or less) since I only have access to a rather meh machine.

    Or in other words, this game more any other has a lot of unpredictable variables.