Why do the future still rely on traditional firearms?

the future relying on infantry made of meat is what doesn't make sense. There is a big move towards autonomous/remotely controlled drones *today* and current airplanes can pull off more g than the pilot can survive (=meat is a limiting factor).

I think every player in this game being a robot would be far less motivating than everyone in this game being part of an incessant line of clones, strange as that sounds.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter
There will be a quiz.

This isnt star wars.

as I recall the NC were put in charge of door installation, that's the problem with slave labour I suppose you get what you pay for

Sure, anything with lasers are directly implied to starwars. Don't forget the word innovative in that sentence too.

I had a suggestion that goes against the whole nanite handwave thing, but whatever: plain gas-powered projectile firearms are still cheaper to mass-produce. Gauss and plasma technologies have all these complicated electrical and shielding systems powering and supporting their services; conventional firearms just need a purely mechanical system.

Keep in mind, while it is "the future" in PS2, it is not on Earth. These are explorers from Earth that have been trapped on Auraxis and no longer have contact with Earth. Maybe after the wormhole closed they simply lost access to the resources that would be required to build and maintain unmanned vehicles and weaponry.

If that doesn't do it for you, keep in mind that never truly dying is part of the lore, so there would be little benefit to unmanned drones and such since the same meatbags can bite the dust over and over and over again.

So he says, while communicating with his squad half a continent away, actually seeing them on an electronic map automatically, and making his way towards them in a "just add water" vehicle.

There we go. Videogame logic at its finest.

Well, what I am wondering then. And yes I realize that each faction has it's own unique traits. But why doesn't the NC have much less damage drop-off over range, and much higher velocity rounds then we currently do, since we are using Gauss technology? I thought that part of the whole Gauss thing was shooting a projectile much faster then traditional methods. So, why would the NC invent Gauss weapons with none of the inherent advantages of Gauss?

Edit:

Though we do have the increased damage that would come with the increased muzzle velocity I guess. Though that would depend greatly on the size density of the rounds being used.

I've thought about it myself. My thoughts on it are as follows (from a more realistic perspective as well as pulling some classic tropes from science fiction weapons)

-A traditional (modern) firearm is much easier to maintain and operate than a futuristic assault rifle that assembles itself and shoots plasma or whatever (like the weapons in Mass Effect.) If the modern firearm jams, you can just discharge the jammed round as opposed to have to consult a mechanical engineer for repairs like you would if say, you were using a VS rifle

-A modern firearm doesn't need a battery pack. A futuristic firearm usually has a whole suite of tech items that require power. Power provided by some sort of battery that can lose it's charge over time. It would be just our luck that our high tech weapon would run out of batteries right when you need it the most.

-Parts and materials (not counting the labor to build these hi-tech weapons) would make each individual weapon cost-prohibitive for an empire to provide their entire army with them. (I really doubt that the TR would lavish good money on fancy assault weapons when something essentially based off a modern assault rifle would do just as well.)

My only conceit: What killed the longbow? When armor become so resistant to arrows that only black-powder propelled bullets could penetrate them. The only way I could see modern cased cartridges and modern assault weapons dying is if ceramic body armor becomes so strong, cheap, and practical it would take a Gauss Gun to actually penetrate it. In which case (since necessity is the mother of innovation) humans would find a way to make these weapons cheap and affordable for mass usage.

"Good enough for government work" comes into mind

Perhaps the TR's firearms aren't ENTIRELY traditional. Let's say they use plastic explosive-based cartridges rather than powder-based ones... I think that's slightly more in keeping with how far into the future PS2 is supposed to be set, and the fact that purely mechanical actions are far cheaper to produce (oh wait... nanites) and much more reliable justifies why the TR still relies on 'almost traditional' firearms.

This isn't really a valid argument though, since how do we know that the magnetism-operated firearms in Planetside haven't been around for long enough that they've matured to such an extent that they're just as reliable as we consider powder-burning firearms to be today.

Remember when people said before that in the year 2000 we'd have flying cars, hoverboards and self lacing shoes? Yea didn't happen either...........

+10 points if you catch the reference

I want swords.

I took a lifetime to become good with a longbow. In contrast, any idiot could learn to fire a musket in the general direction of the target.

More "Dakka dakka" less "pew pew pew" - I get so annoyed by the Vanu weapon sounds. They sound like a hamster on crack.

I think he means weapon's design in itself. Like from muskets to automatic assault rifles. Although both use ballistics, they are completely different from designs. Dust 514 has some bad *** weapons, in which they work like normal guns but lore wise they are much different technology application then todays weapons.

There was someone's quote in which it said (I believe it was einstein) that once all people got 1 button press world killers, ONLY then would war be obsolete. Even with OS's, war isn't obsolete. The designs remind us of todays weapons, although I see some functionality working some clunky that doesnt make sense.

For instance, weapon animations. TR weapons reload. Since they use gas powered cartridge delivery systems on their weapons to put one cartridge after the next on the chamber, having the reload animation work the way it is remind us of a Ak-47 or a M16 (m4), which isn't off.

The VS animation I would say seems right also, since it just places and the weapon does it all itself. The only beef I have are NC weapons. Its gauss technology. Why hit the weapon on the side after a reload? Would be best if he pressed a button to reengage the gauss system. Not hit the weapon on the side, thats something TR would do thanks to the tech. VS could have some finger imprint on it still.

Just something for a little immersion.

I'll never understand why people think today's weapons will be considered primitive in the future.

Ballistic weaponry will not go away tommorow, next month, or 2,000 years into the future. The entire concept of ballistic weaponry means it will always be around.

The fact is, (handheld) energy weapons are extremely inefficient within atmosphere. Laser guns are great in sci-fi, but you're not going to see one in reality. Lasers suffer from bloom within atmosphere, meaning the laser particles will scatter and break up after a short distance.

Yes, we have laser weapons today like anti-mine lasers, but those aren't handheld. They are vehicle mounted. A laser designed to kill would need a power source far larger than what is capable of being put onto a rifle.

I'd bet not having to experience the pain of being riddled with bullets, torn apart, exploded to pieces, burned alive, roadkilled every minute would be a pretty good reason to use computers instead. Not to mention that machines are dirt cheap to produce and can perform at levels than even the most ridiculous organic design doesn't have a chance to get close to.
If a decent programmer can write an aimbot that pwns even the best of the twitchlords today, why wouldn't a drone from the futuristic universe, with 360degree vision in both planes and a submillisecond reaction time be superior to even best mutant soldiers who rely on a pair of eyes on one side of their skulls and use actual hands to aim?