This is totally not something from Planetside 1, but it was definitely one of those things that made the game a bit more tactical. Any chances of changing it so that people have to certify to pull certain types of vehicles along with a vehicle cert cap so not one person can pull all the vehicles in the game? It's great to be able to do anything at any time, but it just devalues the strategic importance of vehicles in PS2 because of it. As it stands, and has always been for the life of PS2, vehicles are not a means to an end as much as they simply things which hurt a lot and soak up a lot of fire before exploding in comparison to the soft fleshy meatsacks which are infantry, as nimble as they may be.
Vechicle Certification didn't change anything in PS1, nearly everyone had Armored Assault and Air Recon certed. You'd just see less Sunderers and even less Flashes and Harassers. Heck you'd be encouraging Lightnings/MBT's because they wouldn't have anything else to pick from.
Yeah I look forward to the PS1 days where 90% of the server are playing HA and there's not a Medic or Engineer in sight. Actually not that different from what we got I guess.
I guess. A lot of people did drive around lightnings when they weren't rexo stomping about. There were a lot more factors than just that though which made people play that way.
There have been better times in PS1. As i remember there where some people in organized outfits that where able to have enough engineers or medics in their platoon. Some people would adapt to a more strict system. But the problem is the lack of teamplay. Everyone wants to be a "killing machine" because of the holy cow which is called the K/D ratio. I don´t think that a huge part of the player community does know how PS2 in the current state could be played. Making things more complicated could tear the community even more apart than it is already. There are atleast 2 different kind of (standard) playstyles here: Vehicle Player Infantry Player Both of them are farming infantry. But no one wants to team up. So your observations are correct, everyone would run around as HA or Infiltrator. Everyone would grab a MBT or ESF. Support vehicles or classes will disappear from the battlefield. have fun.
I agree with your sentiments about ps2, with only a few vehicles compared to ps1 i doubt the system would work especially with the multi role vehicles we have eg lightning. It did however make a diff in ps1, there was never ever a time when only MBTs were used, youd always see marauders, enforcers, bfrs once they released, flails, switchblades, threashers, libs, air cav, skyguards. O and just for an example, in 10 years of play i never once certed mossy (therefore not reaver either). Not sure what you mean here, there was no medic or engineer in ps1, everyone had a medic tool and engi tool, even as HA, which also wasnt HA it was rexo, HA just referred to the types of weapons you had access to i.e Jackhammer, Lasher, MCG (also malestrom). I also rarely certed heavy assault because it was 4 certs and too expensive for just 2 weapons, even if it was extremely powerful.I also ran mostly in agile exosuit for increased speed and the ability to drive / pilot, could not do it in rexo. This is where the system worked imo, if i wanted to have the ability to fly libs, drive MBTs have medic and engi tools and cert rexo for when im defending theres not much left, throw in Anti-Vehicular and im pretty much drained out. The system was well balanced until they released free certs for time played (eg free rexo for 3 yrs), extra ranks for more cert points and then the dreaded BR 40 .
Yeah but the "Medic" was Advanced Medic and most people just took basic for self healing. Combat Engineering was for the Deployables but most people just took the basic to fix their own Armour. HA would be Rexo/PS with the MCG/Lasher/Jackhammer which nearly everyone was, except the Jackhammer was best with Agile. And while some people did play Harassers/Switchblades/Etc they were kind of rare. It was usually just swarms of MBT's and Reavers. Even lightnings were rare. Make people pick what they have to take and you end up with nearly everyone ditching the Support Stuff for more killing power.
Err, as i said above, everyone was a medic in ps1, everyone was an engi. It cost 3 certs to cert either. This was one of the main 'reasons' soe gave for introducing classes - the medic / engi self rep super soldier. It only costed 2 certs more for advanced medic so you could revive, so if low rank you could forgo engi for adv medic and rely on others for your armour, or cert both. This is one of the reasons i rarely certed rexo, just didnt hav the certs avail till later on. While im not sure the cert system from PS1 as it was would work in PS2 the same way, we definately did not see a lack of support vehicles, there was always a loady near to the front and an ams pumping troops, even tho those activities were not rewarded at the start of the game, you got nothing for doing it but it was still done.
Sorry but my experience was completely diff. As i said, there was always a loady and ams around, the ANTs would always be queued up after a base hack, turrets and terminals were either hacked before or repaired instantly after cap. If you suggesting CE was sparse then i dont know what to say, it wasnt, not in the slightest. Remember gal drops? What did you have to do as soon as you landed or you died? Why did they implement ES sundy busses with EMP blasts? ^Thats alot of CE and id say its a medium amount compared to what ive seen. People even ran mods from caverns for no reward at all accept for their empire gaining a bonus. What else was there? Maybe gen holds, not much reward for the holders but a large benefit to the empire as a whole. People are more supportive than you give them credit for, well they were at least, maybe not this 'modern' gamer generation, all they seem to require is '+XP' flashing on their screen every few moments, and of course a positive k/d.
None of that stuff requires a lot of players though. There were a few AMS's about and a Loady if you were lucky, but it was usually ran by an outfit squad. Heck MoX were an outfit whose one requirement is you had to have Advanced Medic, which made us pretty unique and well known. You could CE up a courtyard all on your own. The deployable limit was crazy generous. Yes you had to EMP the roof when you dropped, but it only took one CE to mine the roof and fix stuff after a cap. Heck how often did you see people running around in PJ's because no one had advanced hacking to unlock the terms? It happened all the time to me and I'd have to go back and do it for them. The vast majority of players weren't outfit minded. There were the wee few who weren't using Thumpers, HA and Heavy Armour. But they were a rarity not the norm. Letting people pull whatever they want has actually given PS2 a fairly even class balance and an nice mix of vechicles. Yes there's a leaning towards HA, MBT and Infil, but it'd be way worse if people had to cert into the Medic and Engineer class or the Sunderer.
Any of the main outfits from the last time I played PS1 were pretty solid about their setups. ie: sturmgrenadiers, pg, etc
*** this. Guess we disagree then, i dont know what to say, like i said my experience was completely diff.
Occasionally the game clicked and it shone like a diamond with Gen Holds and "You had to be there man" moments. Heck my favorite video game moment was when a bases shield came up and we were the lone vanguard stuck inside, who held off the TR from pushing out for half an hour by bombing around the courtyard killing anyone who poked their heads out and occasionally being dropped ammo by friendlies leaping over the walls. Most of the time though you were fighting in Amp Station Corridors against an endless wave of Thumpers of Jackhammers or fighting outdoors trying to take a bridge against an endless wave of MBT's and Reavers burdened with the knowledge that you were never ever taking that bridge and wondering why exactly you were playing this game.
