Is this the end of the begining... or the begining of the end?

I'm worried, very worried, for the future of PS2 following this latest patch. To me this patch has demonstrated one of two things

a) All the really good devs have been moved to the EQ Next project , and we're left with all the err...rest

b) SOE really don't care about PS2 anymore, all focus is on EQ Next and they're just going to make a cash grab with the PS4 release and then let if fade away with less and less development...just like PS1.

Both are equally bad for the future of PS2.

Ok, we understand its only a game, yes we can all go outside and get some sun, chill out, and not fret over the state of the patch. The thing is, personally, I'm not in a rage or fretting... I am however very concerned over the future of the game.

Some people are venting their concern with anger and frustration, but only because they care about the game and want it to succeed, these people shouldn't be treated as if they are spoilt children having a tantrum. If no one cared about the game they wouldn't be here. As an example, I left darkfall recently (for various reasons) and I really didn't care about what happened to the game. I have not visited the Darkfall boards once since leaving that game!! I didn't care so much that when I was forced to give my reasons for leaving (as I unsubscribed) and the main reason wasn't in the multiple choice list I just gave some non descript crap in the free text box because I couldn't even be bothered telling them what I thought was wrong with the game.

This incident shouldn't be looked upon as if its 'just something that happens' and there shouldn't be the 'don't worry it will be fixed' attitude. Some of the bugs that got through on this one are unforgivable from a team that is either 'competent' or 'care'. Lets face it, not a single dev could have even bothered to log into the game before releasing the patch, otherwise they would surely have seen the warpgate shield missing. A quick 15 minute fight between a group of developers with some in tanks/aircraft would have shown splash damage no longer works.

SOE have screwed up Big Time..... AGAIN!, and its the timing that makes this all the more worse.
No major updates for months
Recent firings from SOE,
A big post about all the plans for optimisation

and then a couple of days later, this, a supposed pre-optimisation bug fix patch. How much hope and faith do you think this gives us in believing you will achieve any kind of optimization when you produce such a dire patch that has clearly gone through 'zero' QA!

All this leads to the question that you really need to answer "Do you 'really' care about PS2 anymore"

if you do...start 'proving it' because if you don't, it goes without saying, people will simply start showing their disapproval by withholding their cash. ..I don't want planetside 2 to fail....nobody here does!...so please....get you act together!

I agree with everything you stated, played the game since december of last year and invested well over $200 towards sc, plus I had a 3 month membership that just expired a few days ago. With the current state of the game I honestly do not see myself doing another membership anytime soon, probably wont buy anymore sc unless there is just some awesome new content I cant live without. I still login and play everyday on 1 of my 3 toons though and still love the game, just cant see supporting it cash wise right now in its current state

I can understand shifting priorities and resources, etc. What perplexes me is how badly managed the development team left is. I don't understand why someone's head isn't on the chopping block either after this latest botch (you have to blame the guy in charge for these level/sort of failures).

Why did SOE even bother with some of the stuff in the hotfix that was totally unnecessary, and even detrimental?

• They screwed up spawn locations yet again (its been messed up for a long time, they finally got it right only recently, and now they just throw a stick of dynamite into it again). Standard spawns (not even reinforcements) list got reduced drastically again.
• They screwed the cert screens, now you can't easily see the full cert tree of weapons anymore. The interface change made it WORSE, not better.

You know, if you lack resources, its one thing. But to commit the remainder to doing foolish things... take someone out back to the shed and shoot them already!

What the PS2 team needs is proper leadership!

A)Define "Good" and provide "Names" and "Achivements" to match how "Good" they are.

B)Quit spouting blasphemies , PS2 is a rising game it didn't even reach the point where they can just "drop" it , it's already poofing a lot of money from people's pockets , maybe not you , your friends , your outfit members , but people are still supporting and wasting SC on it.

Before you start a whole thread and start spouting blasphemies , bring facts , articles , statistics of PS2's dev team.

Regarding the patch we got , it wasn't totally negative , you might hate some bugs such as PPA-nukes but others find it amusing , I personaly was laughing when I saw that ***** the 1st time, some bugs might be frustrating but ask the people who attended warpgate parties, patches like that don't really destroy games they might be a "joke" from devs or even an honest mistake.

I dont really see many "big names" that aren't in the development team anymore. The only one I am not sure about is Jimmy Whisehunt from FNO/weapons testing but maybe hes just behind the scenes now.

PS2 has had some pretty big problems but the developers have also been pretty gutsy about how they have fixed them. My biggest concern is that while they seem desperate to get things "just right" with what they have while the pace of new big content has been desperately slow.

PS2 on the new playstation 4 really has the possibility to be a huge earner for SOE I dont really see why they would cut development now or anytime soon.

The head guy admits on his twitter he spends all his time playing civilization 4....

Most of the devs with the exception of Malorn don't even play the game.

This is why I always questioned why we had a new Dev team, especially one that was headed by a Everquest Developer... The old development team should have been re-hired if possible and put in charge of PS2. They did a much better job with the exception of who ever came up with BFR's... PS1 was a much more complete game then this... Much more.

I didn't know this - always assumed they had the old PS1 team doing most of the PS2 work actually.

I've already did. I had a year subscription, and I've withdrawn it.
Guys, really... If you DO care about this game, you have to STOP paying Sony and get back all the money you can. I will explain myself. You are not going to help a game if you are going to pay. As you can see, nothing is going to change for the best. The only chance we got, a very harsh one, is to use our ultimate vote - money. If we all stop paying, thay might finaly notice it, and thay will have only 2 options left: either start listening to their community, or dump the game. If thay are going to dump the game... Honestly, it won't be worse then it is now. There was some big and fine petition quite a time ago, signed by the leaders of TRAM. Sony said that thay took a note on it, and... What? Nothing ever happend. Money, is the only lever we got, and we gota use it NOW, or it will be too late. We all have to unite on that. Every cent you spend on PS2 right now, is killing this game.

P.S. Higby has to be fired, PS2 future depends on it.
P.P.S. You might also check out my post about revival of this game: http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/how-to-revive-a-game-cry-in-the-desert.147368

Its so sad but its true

Every single game after every single patch there is doomsday prophet. "The end is nigh", - will he preach: "Repent, sinners! This time they broke the game for sure!". And yet they're proven wrong each time. This is hilarious how some people think that patch is installed now and until the end of eternity.

I used to find this quite amusing, but this is so consistent it's boring.

So the free game runs fine 24/7, and suddenly, for two hours some of it's aspects are broken. OBVIOUSLY the world nears its end.

I would say both.

End of the Beginning: "We are Working on Optimization and Game Performance."

Beginning of the End: "We Laid off 50% of our Employees"

When all is said and done, SOE will have a functional and complete game without any showstopping bugs or performance problems.

And practically no one will be left to play it.

Damn, and i was just enjoying planetside2. Some random guy on the forums without a clue on how it works told me the game is dieing, without any facts. I better quit now, cus i have never seen these kind of posts before on any forum on any game..


The game is doing fine as it is, and is getting better every patch (besides the patchday itself).

Also, if you people dont like buggs, what the f are you doing in a major free MMO FPS? Thats like complaining you see grass all day when you are a gardener.

I enjoy this game because I don't take it seriously , how can you take a FPS seriously that has the performance issues that it currently does and has had ever since launch. Anyone who thinks that their will be anyone left other than the die hard "I bought tons of station cash fanboys" after the new consoles launch- and after AAA FPS titles launch ( PC and console ) this fall is nuts . This game will die a slow death and that process has already begun , hey but don't worry people will flock to play PS2 because it will be MLG pro ready one day right? I take this game as a fun lark that passed the time during a lull between other games coming out .

http://sirisian.com/planetside2/population.php
http://steamgraph.net/index.php?action=graph&jstime=1&appid=218230&from=1353304800000&to=End Time

I'm just going to play the game and enjoy it and not care about what the doomsday prophets are saying.

Blaming the dev team for mistakes that can honestly happen due to lack of sleep/wear and tear of game design is kinda normal.

I like how the graph does that dip every so often and then suddenly people come back.

god you guys are doomsayers...

you have no idea the scope of rewriting all the base level code for the optimizations... EVERY component needs to be updated to handle the changes to the base code because... well, as the base code every component has to use it!

It's a massive undertaking...

It will take time

I'm waiting, patiently, for the optimization.

It will come. Then we'll really see where this game stands. I expect big gains... and once it's done, the patch cycle of every 2 weeks should return.

I say this with love:

You are an idiot.

My post wasn't about people 'should' leave the game because its bad...its not....its a great game!!! There is nothing else that comes close to what PS2 has to offer in my view. My post is about the fact that I don't want it to fail, but when I see patches like yesterday it worries me, because it says to me, either the devs are incompetent, or they don't really care about PS2 anymore? How else can you explain a patch packed with so 'many' obvious bugs.

I'd imagine if you intentionally tried to cram so many bugs into one patch (and still have the game run) it'd be quite difficult to do!!!