Briggs NC - You only have yourselves to blame

Alert participation for the NC on Briggs is getting to the point where barely anyone is showing up.

More and more, even the leaders of major outfits are staying on Indar when Amerish or Esamir Alerts come up.

The excuse: "We're getting destroyed. I'm only one person. I won't make a difference."

The problem is, when hundreds of people have this attitude, then you've got a bunch of people who won't show up unless there's population, and there's no population because people won't show up.

Which comes first guys? Are we supposed to magically find another 2-3 platoons out of a non-existent playerbase so the extra 2-3 platoons who choose not to go to the alert because 'there's not enough people' will actually go over?

This is getting absurd.

Tonight, server populations were close to even before the alert started, give or take 5%. This isn't significant.

As soon as the alert started however, TR pop increased to about 40%.

Why? Because players on the NC and VS are switching over for an easy 10,000 points on their alt, which they may or may not even actually play.

These people aren't switching because they really want an easy 10,000 XP. They're switching because they wan't something.

Right now, they get nothing but a ridiculous outnumbered fight.

All these "We're gettng destroyed. I'm only one person. I won't make a difference." people need to grow a pair, get off their CERT farming *****, and get off Indar. The fact that we're pulling up to 50% Indar population during Amerish and Esamir alerts, shows that we could be fielding decent numbers.

We're not because we chose not to. We only have ourselves to blame.

This is called the "Tragedy of the Commons", or at least is a facet of it.

As individuals, caring or not caring may not make a difference much. But when enough people take that position simutaneously, often modeling their behavior (consciously or otherwise) based on those around them, that's when you get situations like non-participation in the events by large amounts of people.

It also happens with 4th factioning. Sure, one person switching sides for more certs is just about harmless. But when petty self interest is done on a massive scale, the results get ugly here.

Hear hear!
I cannot fathom what is wrong with Briggs NC right now...

Exactly as you said, if EVERY NC on the server turned up to the Alerts we would be tearing faces off!

But sadly no, most NC players continue to derp about in small groups ALL over the continents, achieving nothing but providing the TR and VS easy kills...
(Seriously, next time you're on, go to the map, and flick between 'enemy activity' and 'allied activity', you'll see what I mean.)

Hey, don't suggest the lack of success may be due to lack of factional unity. People 'round yonder parts get reeeaaaaal touchy-like if ya don't blame Strikers and Fracs.

vulcan op.


^^^ his fault

Hi, fellow Briggs TR here.

I too am annoyed with the lack of participation in alerts of the VS and NC. I think the only source of the problem lies in the fourth factioners and I hope SOE has a resolution to this. As a 100% TR from the begining, It's always annoyed me how the tide of battle quickly turned for one faction when the cowardly few decide to jump ship for the winning side. I've never joined an NC or VS platoon so I don't know what goes on behind the scenes or know of any outfit politics but I put all the blame for the large population variances on the fourth factioners.

I'm sure I'm not the only Briggs player who feels this, but I do sympathise for the other factions as well, I'd imagine how stale and meaningless battles feel when you get a blaring red "Dominating Victory" by the TR in less than an hour. Even if I don't know you, I'd still like to thank the big NC and VS outfits for staying true to their sides for even just a slight chance at a fair fight.

Yeah Im sick of Alerts being just ghost caps with very little resistance, I mean sure the 40 certs is nice, but where the real certs are is in the fighting, even if you lose, you still get at least 100 certs during the Alert.

just then there was an esamir alert. 7% vs, 37% nc, 56% tr mostly thoughout the 30 minute alert. rsnc and ag7 outfits were there. thats it. no one else. you could say its offpeak but meh...

NC (and VS) need to do what TR did many months ago when we were having this problem. The leaders of the different outfits need to get together and agree to go to next alert. If you're running a pub platoon, you can then hype it up to encourage the pubs in your platoon to go over - "AG7, RSNC, NC TROL, D1RE and AUNC are all going over to Esamir and working together! We're going to wreck face and dominate this one guys! Let's go!". Then before you leave Indar get the outfit leaders to hype it up in /orders chat in the same way, to try to encourage as many of the randoms to come over as possible. Every 20 minutes or so do the same in /leader chat for any other squads that are hanging around.

Myke,why'd you leave the outfit?

Which is why we need CONTINENT LOCKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!

Axis is 100% on the money, the TR outfits made a commitment to participate in the alerts and very actively pushed all squads pubs and privates over to the alert conti. I see NC outfits running seriously compeditive squads, now if they got organized as a faction we might be in the ****................................
TR was the low pop faction 3 months ago, something happened.............

I don't think forced population control or continent lock will have much effect. As it is, the fault lays with the people, not the system. You can prevent them from switching or joining another faction, but a faction of deserters will still be a faction of deserters. They're just as likely to hide at the warp gate, as they are to just log off until the alert ends.

Forcing new players into a losing faction or locking out multi-faction alts would only either flush the faction with more players that have even less direction and motivation, or compel existing deserters to completely abandon the faction for the one winning "bandwagon" they are already so willing to jump into.

I think SOE should start tracking outfit rankings and offer the top 2 or 3 outfits the option of switching factions. Outfits that are consistently willing to deploy are the only way to motivate others into following. This is pretty much a situation where someone has to be willing to take up the reigns and lead by example, but no one wants to be "first". And as there is no one within the existing ranks willing/capable, the only real solution is to bring in a "ringer".

Because its 41Bn all over again. I give it 2 months max before its disbanded and the core group reforms under a new tag (whats left of it anyway). Only difference between 41bn and RSNC is that RSNC has more leaders not doing anything to actually stop the talent bleed and improve the outfit. Most of the leadership is off doing their own thing whilst outfit platoons are lead being low ranks, who probably do more to keep this outfit together than most the higher ups

The recruiting methods in RSNC were used in XLI and 41BN and MVEE. Only difference between MVEE and the other outfits is that we actually have the power to remove players. We just don't.

There was a time where I felt I could rely on any player carrying the RSNC tag. That time has long since past.

It's not only Briggs, it's nearly every server.

There isn't one server where NC "dominates" or wins alerts constantly. It's the total opposite, so it's normal for players to not participate to alerts.
Nobody likes to lose. Nobody likes to get steamrolled.

Some alerts I very much feel whats the point "Seeing Green - Capture Amerish in the timelimit", TR have 65% territory and 58% pop at start of alert and what do you know its over in 5 mins and 10000xp their way. I think the alert system is broken at times all I see these days is capture territory what happened to the good old hold 3 biolabs something like that, I will show up for an alert like that especially if it is only 1 hour long not 2 hours.

The other thing that I see happening when alerts happen on non-Indar is the local platoons looking at it as an opportunity to push some ground on Indar while the TR numbers are lessened. It's like 'woohoo, alert! we get to pretend we have a balanced population for a bit!'

The big problem is no-one likes getting steamrolled. I've been part of a full 4-squad platoon that decided to show up to an Esamir alert on Briggs against the TR to find that despite putting 48+ on one location that wasn't in the 'main path' we were still outnumbered by more than 2:1. So the incentive to show up and fight is not there. Why commit to a battle that you're not going to have a hope of winning, when there's a perfectly good battle happening somewhere else that feels more competitive?

This needs a SOE fix, IMO. Hoping for the right balance of players to happen along and to join the right faction(s) and galvanise them is a fool's hope; Planetside2 isn't the 'hot new product' right now and any newcomer isn't going to be able to lead as effectively as an experienced commander anyway.

We've had the player 'gold rush' - now for the most parts the communities are becoming relatively stable, with higher churn in the factions that are underperforming (no surprise to anyone). End result: the dominant faction increases their dominance due to stronger leadership that is a result of that dominance. Underperforming factions suffer faster burnout, followed by dominant faction shedding numbers as well because people are 'bored of ghost-capping.'

I remember when VS had the overpop on Briggs and it was not fun. The boredom of staring down your gunsights vainly hoping a target might appear and you might get to shoot at it before the other 10,000 guns blew it to bits was mildly offset by the occasional 'victory' alert message, but it was boring.

I am having more fun being on the non-overpop faction. I get fights regularly, and I have the 'initiative' in that I have already made peace with 'losing' so I just go where the fights are fun for me. Which means I'll let the TR enjoy ghost-capping their alerts and seek fun elsewhere.

What would bring me back to the alerts is knowing that despite a massive population disadvantage I might still have a chance at winning. Being able to engage in guerilla tactics, or otherwise hamper supplies of the bigger army, or whatever. Right now the game doesn't let me do that, so I engage in a slightly different kind of guerilla tactic known as 'deplete TR numbers by making them bored'

It's probably working, but it's not healthy for the game.

Case in point: Alert prime time last night (around the 7pm AEST mark). NC has 38% pop when the alert started, TR had 33%, VS has rest.

Alert finished with TR dominating victory, 70%+ on continent (Esamir), and 61% world pop. Everyone just dropped their guns and joined us even though we were outnumbered to start.

Myke is right. Nut up NC, the only thing you guys have shot lately is your own feet.

Just before the Amerish alert started last night the pops between factions were relatively equal. Then as usual, alert starts EVERY TR platoon gets there lads to hit redeploy and form up on the alert WG and in under 5 mins the gals are rolling out. Platoon leaders shout out over command where there heading and the show is on the road. Every player in a platoon has an objective and a mission.

You can't blame the pubbies for being 'deserters' and 'cowards' when there is sweet FA leadership directing them in any coherent manner. Instead "oh wer jus gonna stay on windar gaise, screw dees alerrrtz". TR had the exact same problem a few months ago and we sorted our crap. Outfits need to step up, run fun public platoons to get people invested and enjoying playing and JOIN the alerts.

With the population how it is now, if both factions showed up to the alerts TR would not have a pop over 45% ever, making it almost impossible for dom vics. The game is designed for 3 factions and alerts (especially territory) are a long tug of war with strategy changing as you enter the middle and end of the timer.

TLDR: VS & NC outfits step up, run platoons, join alerts and stop crying.

Well, Ill wade into this.

The NC does run platoons, we do drag our guys across. But its not to the higher amount to what Tr does, I do think its partially its something Sen7ry brough up.

As NC we dont amp each other up about it as much as we should/need to. Get people involved, that here is the key issue. Rallying.
Yeah, most publics and outfits are a little beaten down on NC, hell its hard to keep your guys on a land mass, in a game that requires 3 way war to work with 1 faction barreling down on you. But RSNC, AG7, D1RE, and AUNC do do it. We work with what we have, and we do okish, but yeah whats also being brought up is yes. People log out and go sweet time for my east 10k exp. Its something we had to stop happening with VS when troll was king and we did it. Now on the reverse troll doesnt, which as a whole is rather sad.

Sorry you feel that way Mike. I take a 2 week break to hear this kind of stuff happening is a bit sad, but it can be improved apon. But alas, I thank you for your dedication the past few months.

Sadly its a team effort and the teams dont want to play, which is sad. But such is life. Particuarly when its a game.