wtf is this game ?!

Well... OP is prime example for SOE why this game bleeding people. From other side it makes me cry from nostalgia, from other glee.

You see OP when, when I started my career as TR trooper in CBT, first thing game did is airdropped me in front of enemy platoon all alone. Being a jarhead I am, I shot them and shot me. Been doing this forever since - so welcome aboard soldier!

P.S. Indeed this game is a pain simulator since end of 2012, only pro: epic battle scales. Cons: you will go 10,000 b.c. cavemen in rage after playing it.

Reminds me of when I first started playing after the game went live: air dropped right in front of Vanu armour zerg.

When you start the game, you will be on the Map Screen of one of the 4 Continents. You will see various lots of UI clutter, and 2 buttons that stand out:
1) Deploy: Select A Location...
2) Instant Action

DO NOT click Instant Action. It will send you into a battle where the enemy is slaughtering your forces. And it will send you there in a giant metal thing that falls from the sky, where every one of those enemies can see you and hunt you down. Then, after you die, it will center the map on another slaughtering of your forces (the same battle or right next to it) and you will see a button that says "Deploy: <insert name of that base>. Clicking that button will put you again in a place to get slaughtered. DO NOT DO ANY OF THIS.

Instead, you need to stay on that Map Screen (or get back to it if you have moved off it; "m" will usually get you there for most keybinds) and move your mouse arrow over each of the sectioned color blobs (these are your side's bases) of your Faction's color (red = Terran Republic, blue = New Conglomerate, purple = Vanu Sovereignty). Find a battle that you want: one where your side is equal to or more than the enemies present. Then look for the little green dots on the map, and find the one closest to it. Click on that green dot and Deploy there (either hit the Deploy button of double click the green dot).

This will take you to the green dot's base. Usually this is not the base you wanted, but it's closer to it than the other green dots were. Now get back to the Map Screen and click the Redeploy button. This will move you back to the Map Screen with green dots to choose from. Again, choose the green dot that is closest to the base you want to go. You need to keep repeating this process until you work your way to the base you want.

Once you get near the base you want, you may also see rectangular notched blobs in addition to the green dots. The dots are bases, the notched blobs are mobile buses that troops can spawn from. You can select either, but bases are safer.

This is how you get into fun battles on Planetside 2. It's one of the reasons why it is nicknamed "Deployside 2". When the game first started, the Instant Action button did work to send you to fun battles (you could even choose from them), but that version was removed because some players didn't like how easy it was. (and those players had and continue to have major influence in the game's design)

You can zoom in and out of the Mini Map using the "[" (zoom in) and "]" keys. You can also make it large or small using the "h" key. (you may have different keys bound to these things, so if those don't work check SETTINGS > KEYBINDING > GENERAL)

Enemy units only normally show up on Mini Map if they fire an unsilenced Weapon. Enemy Infantry show up as red dots, and enemy vehicles show up as a red icon image of that vehicle type.

In addition, enemy units will show up if you or an Ally player "Spots" them (holds crosshair over them and press "q"). This is often called "q-spot". And also, some units can activate different forms of Radar, which will cause enemy units to show up under different critiera for each radar type. If you see an expanding red circle, that is a form of the enemy's radar being used and you will show up on their map if you are near it. Inafntry units revealed by radar or q-spotting will show up as arrows or double arrows if they are a Max unit (Max unit = Inafntry in big metal suit). If you see what looks like a mushroom icon with a fox mask above it that is facing toward you, that is a perma-up radar type where if you are near its radius you will also show up.

You can see these by zooming in (use Mouse Wheel on Map Screen; if you don't have Mouse Wheel, I don't think you have an option to rebind it = sorry) the Map Screen too if they are in your area.

There is no Legend that explains what all these icons are or what they mean. And hovering your arrow over them will not bring up any info. Sorry.

Ally Infantry will show as blue arrows if they are near you. Ally vehicles will show up as blue icons of that vehicle type (unless you are on the deploy screen, then those busses can show up in green). Likewise, the Radar circle will be blue and various other icons will be blue. (NOTE: if you change your color scheme for allies/enemies, then the colors for all this stuff will change to whatever you've set it to)

As a non-New player, I do not have the option to see or review or comment on the Tutorial. I could make a new account to see it, but I don't want to mess with that.

I had a buddy try it when he was new, and he also said it was a disaster.

But to be fair, this is pretty standard quality in terms of the new player experience. And, like most things in the game, the in-game tips, aids, easy start stuff should be AVOIDED. It is confusing, will put you in bad battles, and will tell you incorrect information about what a Weapon or Ability is good for (many "Anti-Vehicle" weapons are actually good vs. Infantry and bad vs. Vehicles, etc., etc.).

To be fair, many PC FPS games you want to turn your graphics on low so you can see better, get better fps, etc.

Even if PS2 had AMAZING graphics on high settings, I would still play them on low in order to compete.

Captain Kid nailed it: it's the only mmofps there is. So if you really dig that genre (which most of us do), then you have exactly one game to choose from. (well, besides Planetside 1 that is... so you have 2 options)

You gotta look at this game as something you gotta figure out the player workarounds to be able to play it. The actual Devs are almost of no help, and tend to make things more unplayable than anything else. But if you can figure out the player workaround (and ask for help on these, cause they're out there and this forum is usually very good at helping), then you can often find something you like in PS2.

Planetside 2 has no purpose and no reliable help from its creators. Players should figure out how to avoid the pitfalls in the game, figure out how to do things they enjoy in it, and then focus on doing those things they enjoy. Players can also post on these forums to communicate to other or to make fantasy statements to the creators of the game (who do not read these forums outside a few Mods, and who realistically will never act on your statement... unless you can get masses of people to agree with you)

Enjoy!

I just send ticket to delete my account. I don't want to force myself to like /play something that this game is't.For new players this game is the worst. There is no learning area, you are thrown into battle without a clue and put up against the games seasoned p2w players and just killed at will. The game offers no path to learn the game. I can not stress how this is the worst game to start as a new player. The frustration can not be described. It's enough that I don't even think I try anything Sony puts out again nor anything else with the Sony name on it. I can't get over the greed of this vendor to start asking for money before you can play or even see how to play. The frustration is beyond words. That aside, the game also froze twice adding even more to the frustration. I stay away from any SOE games. I'll just go back to play Firefall.

Really? This game is fine. We're not really sorry that this game doesn't hold your hand and take you through the first few ranks and spoon feeds you kills. Sure this game and the players kick you around, but the best get up and charge back into the fight. If you want to train, there is the VR Training area. It will help you hone your accuracy and get used to the weapons you use. Also, I can tell your a gung-ho, blind charge kind of player. Worst. Mentality. Ever. For a new player that is. Stick with more experienced teammates. Not only will they help you, they will keep you alive. Also, join a squad. This game is horrible when playing by yourself. Victory in this game is all about teamwork. One player can rarely take a base by themself, they need help. So before you delete your account, join a squad, turn your graphics down, and chill. It's a game, have some ****ing fun.

Yep, didn't even let me change my graphics settings before dropping me in. When I first got PS2 I was using a laptop that just barely met the minimum requirements, so of course the game was like "You can run medium graphics right? Great! Off you go!"

I actually got dropped in behind an NC position my first drop. I thought I had the advantage .........a certain Vanguard thought otherwise

OP has some points though.
I have a good idea what's going on, but some things are simply very difficult that shouldn't be.

For instance, I find the "doritos", legends and text are all far too small, is there a way to enlarge these?

Watching this video made me reclaim my lost virginity.

Firefall ????

Firefall is a 100% Pay to win MMO FPS and a terrible game you would be better off playing Defiance if that's what your looking for.

The learning cure in this game isn't that bad (other than flying) it's a FPS, what's there to know other than point the business end in the right direction.

This game is the Dark Souls of FPS games. It's trial by fire.

Oh yeah, this game isn't for the weak hearted. I think everyone has gone through what you're going through OP unless they started playing with seasoned friends.

I actually did not play much at first, I'd play about 1 time every week or something until I gave up, Came back a few times and every time few times I learned something new. Now I know just enough for me to play daily.

OP, once you get going though you won't stop. If you're able to swallow your pride and put time to it if you go to the social tab and look at squads, sometimes people make new player squads.

As for P2W players, I haven't spent a dime and I'm having fun. The only thing I could find myself spending money for is subscription and cosmetic items. If I was to spend money that is.

Spend money? P...a...y? No, no, no... sensible people don't do that in an F2P, that they don't find it to have a "solid" gaming experience.

I can adress the killing by a friendly after you get out of spawn:
You probably TKed him before and said nothing so he is out to revenge you. I speak from a personal experience because i got the giraffe camo and sometimes i get shot by noob friendlies (for example: the scu went down in the biolab and everyone rushed in, all the vanu were already killed but some light assault with with a shotty ran in late and then straight up shot me... or another time i was sitting in a building shooting at enemeys from a window and some other friendly LA again with a shotty came up and shot me in the back) and guess what? I DO NOT LIKE THAT WHATSOEVER!!! So if he doesnt even use the voice macro to say sorry, i will hunt you down and shoot you in the face and then possibly even spawn camp you.

I'd suggest to take your time, give yourself a few days of play (a dozen is a good start) before saying it's utter crap. Yes it's tough at first, mainly because you don't know anything, but do remember that the tougher it is to get in, the more rewarding it might feel when you understand how it works.
At this point you're probably running around not really knowing what to do or what's happening. I suggest you search for beginner guides on youtube. One of the better known youtubers for this game is Wrel who's made this one.

The sheer size and variety of combat possibilities makes it pretty tough for a newbie to get in. Trust me, it gets better quickly, i was in your place in may/june and now it's going smoothly.
At first don't rush in too much, look at what friendlies are doing (or what they're being inflicted with and where from) and support them as medic/engineer, taking a few shots here and there to get a feel of what's going on.
First lesson to learn and die MUCH less: don't run out in the open. Run along walls, stick to cover, check your surroundings (roofs included).
And learn the minimap. It's not that much of a mess, though it can be confusing when there are several floors as it doesn't take them into account.

Does the OP have another point?

Look at the posts between when I asked for help (quoted above), and now.
Nothing, well perhaps some narcissism and "pursuit of cool" posts.

The contents of this thread should be very worrying if anyone at SOE read it, which we know they only use Reddit.

A raging new player that is correct in their initial evaluation where learn 2 play isn't actually going to help them much, as it doesn't help someone playing from beta.

The fact that no matter how bad the title is it is 'unique' and therefore worth persevering with, leading to 'why do you play', 'because there is nothing else like it'. That would be a niche opinion, I certainly can't justify bothering along with the majority of players and it certainly doesn't scream sustainable at me.

zaspacer's very calm and considered response which in itself is more damning than the damning things they wrote including how to make your own game play as there isn't actually any there and don't look at the developers for anything as you are wasting your time.

And everyone else's comments that while they may consider it worth playing it isn't worth a penny to do so, begging the question of where the revenue comes from unless the title converts to charity status.

The whole thread has a disconcerting calmness to it, somewhat like the period just before a natural disaster strikes.

It would be fascinating to see the raw data of player numbers, retention and revenue that we will never get to see.

Based on these comments you would have to say that it would seem very likely that someone somewhere can't make them add up, be considering how much more development time can be justified to be wasted and that the latest date for pulling the plug had to be decided unless the figures get appreciably better.

...and there goes another.

Zaspacer's comment is a try to help. Which is really nice considering how whiny OP was.
More damning? What? WTH are you saying, no really, your whole comment was like some kind of a riddle to me...

The game is about personal statistics.

Play it as a solo game and you'll fit right in.

Welcome to PS2; enjoy the chaos!