Alpha - Bases Weren't Always Poorly Laid Out

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by bluEyedillusions, Dec 31, 2012.

  1. bluEyedillusions

    [IMG]

    Tons of people are clamoring that bases currently favor vehicle spam way too much and that they are not defensible. These are two huge problems with bases currently.

    Well, judging from these annotated (by myself) screenshots from alpha, bases USED to be exactly what people want currently. However, over the course of development, it was apparently a DESIGN DECISION to nerf them into the swiss cheese they are today.

    Why? Discuss.
    • Up x 120
  2. Doogle

    My guess is they wanted to stop organised outfits setting up good defences and holding back & farming the zerg causing frustration to players, still now the frustation is you just get each factions main zerg avoiding each other and steamrolling over what little defence there is most of the time.

    In fact this game is not very outfit friendly in comparison to PS1.
    • Up x 24
  3. bluEyedillusions

    That was clearly the case judging by what we have now.

    I wish current bases required a bit more teamwork. What is in the screenshots looks amazing and exactly what the game needs.
    • Up x 4
  4. Nariquo

    that design is far far far better than the one now
    • Up x 22
  5. Dasbag

    Organized outfits already organize defenses without the shields and farm the zerg, the only difference is that base bubble shields would give zerg and smaller outfits a better chance of defending without the larger zerg outfits spamming liberators and tanks.

    A base should be the transition from armor to infantry fighting. I don't think we need bubble shields on every base but they need to make a comeback for the specialized structures.

    This game actually caters to outfits, I am not sure what you are going on.
    • Up x 3
  6. bluEyedillusions

    The question is: Will they bring this design back?

    I feel like they won't. For whatever reason, they werent through alpha and beta slowly turning it into what it currently is. They must have had round-table discussions regarding base layout and why they were making the changes that lead to what we currently have. I would like to hear from the devs why the bases went from what they were to what they are now.

    [IMG]

    Apparently in beta, the base nerfing had become SO bad, they didn't even have encircling walls. So, in actuality, bases in alpha were TOO defensible. Then they overnerfed them into the above picture. Then they buffed them by at least giving them encircling walls and the vehicles force-fields back. What we need is to buff them MORE into what they used to be in alpha.

    Revert
    Revert
    Revert
    • Up x 26
  7. MrHenderson

    SOE decided the game needed to appeal to the largest group out there; i.e. the slightly above mentally ******** people known as CoD players. So they made the game as easy to play as possible, and what we see now is the result.
    • Up x 20
  8. bluEyedillusions

    The one phrase killing modern gaming is "we need to appeal to a broader audience". Every time I hear that, I pack up my bags and say "whelp, it was fun."

    Especially when I hear this as I'm following a game develop.

    I hope that wasn't the case with Planetside. Hopefully they are willing to rethink the balance in the game that currently favors vehicles too much (the only real counter to vehicles is more vehicles -- that's a big problem).
    • Up x 15
  9. Ofoz

    Because if we had bases like that we would have slower tactical battles. That wouldn't fit into Higby's glorious dream of turning this fragfest into a eSport. His twitter says he is a eSport fanatic and SOE needs something to compete against Starcraft and LoL in the gaming leagues.
    • Up x 13
  10. Dasbag

    Allot of reasoning for major changes have only been "we feel that its better this way"

    And allot of those changes didn't turn out that way. I'm not going to be optimistic about this.
    • Up x 4
  11. bluEyedillusions

    Even (perhaps "especially") in the case of eSports, there needs to be skill. Skill is what makes an eSport what it is. Anything to promote skill and punish lack of strategy or promote randomness is counter-intuitive to what makes an eSport.

    There is nothing skillful about vehicle spam. Currently everything in the game from exp, to how easy it is to kill infantry with vehicles, to base layout, to resource gain completely favors the vehicle zerg. That an eSport does not make.
    • Up x 11
  12. JojoTheSlayer

    Why didnt they just instead ad siege stuff.

    Lets say mobile upstream (those yellow streams you see at air towers for example) that could be carried by engineers instead of say a turret. You put one down similar to a tank mine and "whoos" a beam wall hight pops up for people to use to get on the wall. Make it have a AMS radius thing to prevent to many being deployed. This way you would not need to a a LA to get inside.

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    Maybe add other base functions that would affect reinforcement.
    Lets say out generators by the wall controls the "spawn boost" for the main spawn inside the base. Destroy it and every spawn now takes, eg, 20 seconds rather than 10.

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    In retrospect I think they have balanced the bases in a totally illogical way.
    A way that makes a organized defense by a human giving actual orders impossible.
    • Up x 7
  13. bluEyedillusions

    I really like that idea but it'd probably be really abusable elsewhere.
  14. Lazaruz

    There is a lot to be desired in the base designs. I would also like to see the PS1 style base design brought back that is in the OP's picture. I mean just by looking at the layout, it makes a lot more sense that the current Amp Station for example.

    I would also like the Amp Station outer shields to prevent vehicles and infantry alike, so there would be only two gaping holes in the back (lord knows what military mind would allow that). Having actual walls would also make the Light Assault class more useful in team play.
    • Up x 4
  15. Raidashi

    I'd love to see bubble shields, that were attached to a generator that could be taken out. Perhaps another shield along the walk ways that only protected from the outside (and likewise had a gen to take down)...

    More objectives would be cool. Right now its mostly zerg it till you get it...
    • Up x 5
  16. Fox234

    Indeed. That base looks amazing.
    • Up x 6
  17. RykerStruvian

    Whats funny is that this thread is something we talked about during the beta for months. There a was a ginormous thread about it and everyone wanted walls and more defensible bases. Its hilarious because we're about a month after release and we're still at that same point, and the only dev response is, as someone else said, 'we feel this is the way we want our game'. Paraphrasing, of course, but you get the gist.
    • Up x 8
  18. Fox234

    $50 says it was Smedly who said this.
    • Up x 4
  19. RykerStruvian

    It was actually Higby, I think. He's the creative director after all. The majority of the design decisions seem to come from him. Smedley is just the President and, I think, makes sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing (a manager of sorts). At least thats how I think it works out...He is probably more concerned about making sure the operation is running smoothly as opposed to actually coding or stuff of that sort.
  20. Lazaruz

    The whole base defense design seems to contradict itself for the sake of the modern fps elements.

    "Ok, we are going to put a wall here so the enemy can't get in the base so easily. But now we need to add jump pads and gravity lifts because it's difficult for the players to get up the wall..."
    • Up x 14