[Suggestion] Ten simple features that made Planetside great.

Never said it did, but the cloak was used in PS1 for over 10 years without issue... So, it can't be all that bad of an idea...

I've been playing since Beta

It's one of the few games that's ever captivated me for so long - hence why I don't want the core reasons for that to be wrecked because people think it's an MMO.

It's an FPS. It's a great FPS - a huge FPS, with soo much variety, huge maps, enormous battles at practically all hours so no matter when I finish work I can hop on for 30 mins to an hour a day and have fun in a way I can't on other FPS games.

But it's still an FPS

I haven't played any CoD game since Call of Duty 2 as frankly modern-military stuff bores the **** off me and is in my opinion incredibly bad taste given the events the majority of them are based on are still happening. But the core gameplay elements, the skeleton of the game, is still excellent. Hence why I still play CoD2 online deathmatch every now and then as in my opinion it was a fantastic multiplayer game.

But then I still play Quake online so whatever.

Dont get me wrong, I disagree with the OP on several points as well(just couldnt be arsed to write an adequate reply yet) It is extremely difficult to balance a game for both short term and long term players, for both that want shallow and those that want deep gameplay. However, I think some features present in PS1 could easily be added (with some overhaul) that would NOT ruin the game for the more casuals but at the same time also cater to those that want more depth.

You, however, wanted to invalidate such reasonings proposed by the likes of us, which is why I replied to you

From what I hear, PS2 has many differences with PS1. I don't know how was PS1, but I don't see at all how well it could mix with the current PS2 state.

Actualy a lot of battles in PS2 turn into endless sillyness because despite not being good enough to capture the base, the enemy has 10 sunderers around the base, that they renew as fast as we can remove them.
Now I imagine the same with the 10 sunderer being cloaked........ and I'm just not liking at all the image that comes in my mind. Not at all.

But this is just a "IMHO" talk.

Oh of that I've no doubt - my main issue with PS1 was the long TTK, which as a fan of twitch-shooting games is the reason it bored me eventually and I stopped playing, and why I'm dead-set against anything like that appearing in PS2...I still LIKE PS2 xD

Some posters have taken that to mean I'm hating on the entire PS1 game - I'm not, it had some amazing parts. Capture mechanics were better, and the base design for the most part was infinatley superior to what we have in PS2.

And anyone who's against the warp gates being used correctly and sanctuaries being a thing is probably playing the wrong game. That sort of stuff was one of the main reasons I played PS1 to begin with - the constantly moving battlelines...which we do have now, but not implemented in a way that really matters.

But the idea that the game will die unless it becomes less FPS and more MMO is ******* ludicrous. Counterstrike is still one of the most played games by hardcore FPS fans. It makes money hand over fist, so does Team Fortress 2 - both of which lost fans gradually but settled down to a consistent core playerbase, of which I'm part.

Soz for the rant - it wasn't entirely directed at you, but given I quoted you earlier thought I should point it out lol ^^'

You are correct, it's almost impossible to do both at the same time... That's why they started the game with less and are building it up over time... Doing it that way conformed with the free-to-play aspect in getting the game ready quickly enough so they can start to monetize for the bean counters... After it's been out a while start adding in more things which add depth to the game for better player retention... That's exactly what they did/are doing....

You will be able to find a cloaked AMS just fine if the enemy is streaming out of it... Will it be easy to pinpoint the exact location from a distance? No... It will take a little bit of reconnaissance... But you will find it... Keep in mind, I also advocate making the AMS its own vehicle with a light chassis (less armor more agile) and no weapons or passenger slots... That's how it was in PS1....

The renewal rate for S-AMS will continue with or without a cloak as long as everyone can pull one and there's no acquisition timer...

It would even slow down the destruction of sunderers, when the renewal rate is already sometimes far to high with the current ressource system to be dealt with.

IMHO. Sunderers actualty don't need to be made harder to destroy. Not even by the smallest amount.

BRING BACK REK TOOL

Pressing "E" at a terminal is lame in my opinion

I've pointed this out in some earlier thread; but, PS2 Directives appear to be an intensive relative of PS1 Merits. Instead of ribbon medals to display on your player character's shoulder, you get reskinned weapons and camo.

That's fine. Must every one of them carry tools to make this possible at a moment's notice, is the common question that follows this one?

You don't flip points in PS2 by pressing "E;" and, in PS1, you still "press 'E' at [a] terminal" to access its benefits, be they Vehicles, equipment, or what have you. Neither game had generators on which you use the REK tool. Moreover, if you did have a REK, you would just be pressing M1 instead.

This system truncates an element from PS1's capture system but is by no means incompatible.

1. Isolation
   • To have access to the command console (CC) to start the capture, you need time alone in the CC room
   • To have influence on the capture point (CP) to start the capture, you need tokeep the defenders out of the CP area
2. Hacking
   • To start the capture, you need to hack the CC with a REK
     • Hacking time was either 60s, 30s, or 15s, depending on certification level
   • To have influence on the capture point (CP) to start the capture, you need tokeep the defenders out of the CP area
     • The rate of CP conversion is (mostly) fixed
3. Countdown
   • After a variable hacking time, the base will count down a fixed time until it is completely under attacker control
     • Some bases actually had the timer be a "time alive" and required movement of a "flag" within that time
   • Once the point flips, the base will count down a fixed time until it is completely under attacker control
     • Some bases have multiple CPs, so the actual time to capture is influenced by the number of CP controlled
4. Resecure
   • Base defenders had to remove base attackers who were guarding the hack CC so they could recover the base
   • Base defenders have to remove base attackers who are guarding the CP area so they could recover the base
5. After
   • Defenders had to use their own REK to resecure the CC
     • Hacking time was either 60s, 30s, or 15s, depending on certification level
     • Base was immediately resecured; a new hack would restart the timer
     • It was possible, though infrequent, to counterhack the next base down the lattice lane
   • Defenders have to keep attackers out of the CP influence area to make resecure the base
     • Some bases have multiple CPs, so the actual time to resecure is influenced by the number of CP controlled
     • The countdown can be restarted from where it left off if the attackers gain back CP influence
     • You can not capture bases further down the lattice lane until the base is completely resecured

Essentially, the REK is simulated in the case of base captures without being simulated in the game at all.

I only played WOW for about 8 months. I hate WOW, I hate WOW-clones, I hate everything about MMORPG's, but this still makes me nostalgic:

Er, I'm playing PS1 right now (you can too, its free) and the PS1 TTK is no longer than PS2 TTK, in fact in some ways its shorter because there is no regenerating shield and the damage (depending on type) will go right through the armor, so... I'm not entirely sure where this misconception/falsehood that PS1 was slower than PS2 has come from.

Does it come from the different armor types in PS1 maybe? But that is in PS2 as well, we don't say PS2 has a slower TTK than PS1 when the target is a Heavy Assault with Resist Shield on or faster TTK than PS1 when the target is an Infiltrator, do we? Does the Headshot damage not being in PS1 really make it that much slower really?

Adding these things doesn't make it less of an FPS at all, nor does it make it more of an MMO (which is a meaningless description btw)...

This is kind of lazy response.....there is no "simulated" rek tool

We need an actual tool so that specific persons can play a ROLE, not one class pressing "E" to win. REK should be certed into, and not everyone should have access to it right away. Giving those specific persons a role. Let SOE sort out who does what.

But being satisfied with just "E" shows the state of most gamers nowadays. No freaking imagination

Like I said, and shouldn't have to repeat, what do you mean "pressing 'E' to win?" I don't quite understand your complaint.

Hacking is a specific function of the Infiltrator class so your "specific person the role" does not make sense. In PS1, there were no classes, just armors, and "roles" were actually tech trees based on character progression. At higher levels, and near mid-levels, there started appearring "universal soliders" who could do a little of everything. The only role that was truly exclusive was that of BFR driver but that was only because of the elaborate imprinting system and even that was given away freely to people who played the game before the Core Combat update. In fact, the PS1 MAXes were the closest things to "classes" as they could only do one thing really good, each. In PS2, classes exist and roles are assigned to those classes; but, the ultimate determination for what you do as a class also decides your role. Play Medic for the AR and never heal? Engineer for the Carbine and never drop ammo? Infiltrator for the sniper and never place recon? you can do that (no matter how much the rest of us glare at you).

In PS1, as long as you had a REK, and not only were you always recommended to carry a REK, and not only could anyone carry a REK regardless of what they had certed, and not only could even the smallest of inventories hold it, anyone could start a base hack. Anyone. That was an intentional design decision. You came out of the tubes with a REK in your pack. If anything, the fact that hacking has become the role of a single class in PS2 should satisfy your conditions.

PS1 Generators were destabilized/destroyed by damaging them with weapons and explosives; anyone could damage it, then and now. Repairing the Generator took an Engineer and that's essentially the same thing as we have now too. The only new functionality is that a destabilized PS2 Generator can be re-stabilized before it explodes, also by anyone (perhaps it should be a specific class; I am not going to make that argument here since this is not the place). The REK tool had no part to play in this.

Lack of imagination? doing something for no reason and then forcing yourself to figure out how to justify doing it is wasteful. The REK tool was important in PS1 because there were layers upon layers of IFF and subterfuge that did not involve direct player interaction beyond the initial sabotage, and you were given it for free because there was no reason any player should be denied access or base capture/resecure but, at the same time, it was a part of a developing skill tree. Without absolute need for the crutch, while we don't have the problems, we also maintain the same indulgences as our predecessor. We've pushing down the road for a lower implementation overhead, higher personal involvement in PS2 for a long time now.

Until you can explain why we need the REK tool as an item to do things that we already can do ...

I guess he is complaining about the lame capture point system. Right now you can capture points by simply standing/running&shooting anywhere within 5 meters of the point. And you can even do so while (Stalker)cloaked.
It may not be much of a problem but sure, like many other missing things, takes away the immersion. Similar to how capture points don't really look&act like control consoles or terminals.

It is not a major point on my list but IMHO PS1 did this in a more realistic fashion (actually "hacking" the control console, inserting a program that is basically re-coding the base's mainframe to belong to your empire). Just like simply hopping in and out of vehicles, not having real seats in vehicles (and so on) it does take away some of the immersion of the game.

i get what the article was doing.......thanks for the pre-school help................
Point was, all they had to say in 1 line at the end was 'Planetside 2 currently available: www.planetside2.com.
Thats 3 words, a number and a web address, wouldnt have taken anything away from their 'interest piece' and some1 reading it might think ''ill check out the new 1, old 1 sounds like it was a good game''.
I guess no1 does anything unless they are paid to these days, free advertisement doesnt exist.

So too could you hack the point with a REK while cloaked in PS1. I've already stated my misgivings about standing on the point while Stalker cloaked in other threads whereas even Stalker cloak requires hacking other things when uncloaked so the bile has worked it's way out of my system. If I have any sentiment for the possibility of "capture the flag" LLU runs facilitating base capture, I can't object to "king of the hill" base capture mechanics.

Even if we wanted to return down that route, we'd still not need to model a completely separate REK tool. In this case "just pressing 'E'" would even be a suitable simulation. All that matters for immersion is that there is simulation and handwave.

As I said, simulation and handwave. When we first spawn the Vehicle, as was in PS1, we get quietly transported into the driver seat. What's to stop us from saying that there are no "doors" or physical "seats" and everything is facilitated through dematerialization and storage of nanites and the personality? The minimum amount of indicative immersion required might just be a fading model when other players get in the Vehicle. Has little overhead; optimizes implementation versus explanation; and, is thematically appropriate. How is that not immersive of the setting over than the classical, perhaps antiquated, interpretation of Vehicle seating?

Yes THIS! Immersion, this game lacks immersion severely. Something PS1 was very good at most of the time.

I feel like i am playing a quick game of "King of the Hill" or Capture the flag, there is really no immersion. and a REK tool would add to that.

Pressing "E" to win, and "Stand here to win" is kinda of lame. Yes it makes things easier, but some things shouldn't be easy to be rewarding.

In PS2 the only time it feels rewarding is if my faction locks out a continent or i go on an insane kill streak. PS2 shouldn't be about kill streaks.......