Lack of diversity caused by the community?

While it is possible to make a balanced game where every faction is 100% different yet balanced (SC2 is the gold standard for this), there are two things that make it not possible for PS2.

1. Players are forced to go head to head in mismatched fights in classes and vehicles they have to spend a lot of time developing. So while they may be balanced overall for the game, they are not balanced in terms of player enjoyment. Like someone posted above... you don't just throw a zergling at enemy tanks, someone actually has to play that zergling and have fun doing it.

2. SOE's current staff seems to neither fully understand where their game sits in the game market nor what makes it unique. As a first person shooter it is mediocre. What makes it unique are the MMO, RTS, and vehicle sim components... all of which they are destroying.

If a community whines more in one game than another, that is not because of the community... that is because of the game.

Destroying because of the whining happening in this forum on reddit and even on twitter. SoE should not be blamed for everything which doesn't work out as expected. (Sorry if I'm exaggerating, but as a programmer myself I somehow know their problems )

Try some MOBA games DOTA 2 or LoL..... It doesn't matter if a game is good or bad, there are ALWAYS people mourning and complaining. Just the acknowledgement is different.

For FPS games, you'll find most gamers in the FPS genre preferring balance more so than diversity. It's understandable really, as the fun factor in FPS games are the competition itself. And you can't have a good competition when you start certain teams ahead of the others, or give certain teams more points to start than the others. It would be like playing with handicaps.

Case to the point, look at the differences between MBT's, and how Magrider reign supreme during the first 2 months. VS players thought they were perfectly fine and balanced, while NC & TR both complained about their inability to compete with Magriders.

Look at the differences in MAX units, and how NC MAX reign supreme in that arena, and how much headache they are to the other factions in CQC situations. NC MAX have been one of the top complaints in the recent months. And rightfully so, getting 1 shot killed is never fun in a FPS game no matter how much the devs enjoy it.

I think you'l find most FPS gamers preferring to have the ability to choose for themselves what they want to use in certain situations. People are for the most part ok with dying due to skills, being ambushed, outsmart, or errors on their part. But people just hate dying due to being outclassed by another faction's weapons & items that they don't have access to. Personally I prefer FPS games with subtle differences in power between factions/races, but big differences in looks.

Let's not, eh?

I preffer BALANCE AND FAIR ENVIRONEMENT TO COMPEATE OVER DIVERSITY

IF YOU PREFER UNBALANCE AND DIVERSITY THATS YOUR OWN PROBLEM , I LIKE DIVERSITY AS LONG AS ITS PERFECTLY BALANCE

I blame the gaming industry.

Those that want nerfs have been conditioned to expect scripted wins.

Those that want predictable game flow are conditioned to expect linear gameplay.

Ah thanks, didn't really think about the competetive part... I think I am too damaged by playing other game genres
(FPS are not my fav ) I guess I was hoping for some kind of MMO/RPG characteristics. Anyway, thanks for your post, this gave me another point of view .

^This
That is a problem with almost EVERY game at the moment. All those neat complex stats get removed from games to target a bigger audience. Games are getting more and more adjusted to casual-gamer, which makes them boring if you want some more Challenges (Compare Oblivion to Morrowind or Fallout 3 to 2).
(Ye I know, this doesn't belong here, but I hate this trend )

If they fully understood their own game the community would have less sway. The new ESRLs were pretty much the nail in the coffin for me hoping there was some genius left in the dev team. They show a complete lack of understanding of what the game needs to become to have legs and just has all the hallmarks of a money grab. This game will be merged down to one North American server and one EU server in a years time at the rate they are going. I hope they figure it out soon, because the gaming world needs the game that this was supposed to be. I just don't see that happening now though. The game isn't even out of beta and it is already in serious decline.