Is the early game supposed to suck this badly?

I'm not going to claim I'm a good player at all. I'm not. But am I supposed to feel this completely useless? Nothing I shoot dies, and no class change helps me survive any longer. I've been a "beginner" around 5 times now, and each time, I lose interest within a day at most, due to not being able to survive more than 5 seconds. I've tried going medic like a lot of people suggest early game, but often times, I end up dying before I can revive anyone anyways.

I died over 40 times before I got my first kill in this game.

So don't feel too bad.

Well it is the unfortunate side effect of a open world MMO PvP game that has run for three years. A lot of people have hundreds and thousands of hours of experience, they know their weapons, they know their vehicles, they know all the base layouts, they know all the tricks and trades of the game.
The best trick I can recommend, is to stay back a bit, always move side to side on the backline, try to find an angle from where you got a good view of the main point of conflict and try to put down fire support of any enemies you see, spot them etc. etc.. You are not likely to be able to go straight on with players that have all that experience, but you can stand back and try to pick at them and be part of the bigger picture. Oh and watch your flanks, pesky infiltrators and light assaults are always looking for easy kills from unsuspecting players.

Also, feel free to ask people if they want to help you and give you tips, and if you can roll with them to try and pick up on some of the tricks and trades of the game. At worst, you will get a no, but if you get a yes you'll likely find yourself getting better in no time and likely also have a better time playing the game with other people.

I think the problem here is your dropped in a zerg or a base that is heavly under siege so you are surrounded and pretty much without hope.I mean my time wasn't a picknic as NC so you would excpect me to quit,but naah.
Try to join squads,they often try and atleast do something coordinated or at least help eachother in a pickle.
This game has that rythm its "Live,die,repeat" also medic or engy is a good starter class you level up (the medic tool) since it will give you bigger range from witch you can heal,revive from ,also if your not aware of how firefights in this game work its "If you get shot,run away,reconfigure and go on the offensive" since it favours the attacker in terms of net speed (sorry if i got that wrong,i heard something like that)

Have a look at those threads. Many veterans helped.

https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/rubber-bullets.240114/
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/continued-death-rate.240140/

In a word? Yes.
Well it's not that it's 'supposed' to. It's just that it usually does for many. Mainly because the learning curve here is steeper than other FPSers imho.

Not only is this sound advice as infantry but I would also recommend doing this in a vehicle. Even if sitting back and shelling is not your cup of tea you will still have the benefit of watching how many fights break down from start to finish, which should be a helpful and learning experience for future reference.

I too would also recommend a support class like Engineer. You can hang back in a vehicle at the periphery and drop your deployables here and there on your way to becoming a Big Cheese.

I would say to slow down, and above all formulate a game plan before you even step foot outside of a spawn room. You may have to change that plan on the fly, and often, but at least make one.

And hang in there. Be adaptable and versatile enough to give yourself time to find a play style/class that you enjoy that also gets you some kills.

OP, posts like yours are some of my favorite because they remind me of 3 years ago when I started.
The crazy, no-rules, no boundaries, deadly world intrigued me so much, I kept logging in night after night.

I actually went a different path than most. I played a VS long range sniper and didn't join any groups for almost a year. I would head off into the countryside and keep an eye on the maps. My XP gain was probably 5 certs an hour because I enjoyed the experience of this world at war and being out in it, I just traveled on my own for months. I wasn't really concerned with accumulating anything, it was just super challenging and a spectacle. Every single night.

PS2 may turn out not to be your thing. The things many people love about CoD, CS, BF and other 'arena' shooters are not in here. There are many things in PS2 that are definitely not a part of any other shooters. We all hope you stay, though, and find the mind blowing beauty of this one of a kind shooter

There is no better tutorial than watch a good player stream, just spend some time watching players like Ihacks (LA), Edubs, Maldra, Serenity ... ...

server/faction?

ditto, server/faction?

Someone here will no doubt let you gun summit powerful and therefore be on the other end of the farming chain

I recommend:
1. Never ever play in any fight above 12-24 enemies, it is in these fights where the cheaters are there too, and there are a lot of them lately.
So try to stick to "uninteresting" fights for them, which will make it even more interesting for you.

2. Never ever throw yourself against a zerg, if you can defend and make kill so be it, if you get spawn camped and die in a Chain just leave and don't look back. Don't be afraid to buy a valk or esf to travel to the other side of the continent fast, as far away from the zerg as you can. Don't mind crashing or being shot down, it is still faster than 10 times redeploying from base to base.

3. Get Recursion Stat Tracker, use the overlay. If you get killed by Players above 3.0 K/D often, then you are getting farmed, leave.

4. Most players above 4.0 K/D, that play any infantry at all, are cheaters. It's sad, but it is like it is.
There is just a handful of players that are really THAT good. Most of those that need to brag about their ultra high K/D use "helpers" (and in truth have little peens.)

5. Don't buy weapons too soon, you get 1500 certs "for free" 100 for each lvl up to 15. Pick a class, stick to it. Buy nanoweave, buy attachments to starter weapons, buy upgrades for class special.
Aurax your starter Main-Weapons, get 200 bonus certs for it + the certs for the way. Buy next gun. And so on.
Most guns handle somewhat similar, but give yourself time to get used to a gun. switching loadouts often doesn't help building a muscle memory.

I think that sums up what you need to do,don't care about K/D ,build up a class your comfortable with and do your homework on weapons you plan to buy,try them in VR and look for good fights you won't really insta death.
Deppends on which faction you are since NC is a tight steep curve and if your VS or TR then your good on that.

Developing the proper combat awareness takes time and dedication. The early game does not suck, but the learning curve is steep as hell and there is no tutorial that can help you. It's all about pratice.

Watch a few tutorials and search for a good team: you will get better and better.

the other games you played were designed to be easy mode so the worst gamers could feel like they were doing something.
those games, as i have said for years, fooled a lot of players into thinking things were what they weren't. no details needed.

so those players get to a game like planetside which is just bigger then most maps those players have seen. and they come to the party way late, when others have already been grinding. and they find out that the other games weren't actually making them better at gaming, they just "felt" that way. it's the nature of the scene as a whole right now. not specific to you.

Things that will help you early on.

Join a squad. Better yet, join a squad in a platoon. Even better join and Outfit and run with the Outfit.

Stay close to your team mates.

Medics should stay back and focus on healing and reviving WITHOUT running out into the open.
One of the reasons that someone might tell you to run as a Medic is to try to get XP/CERTs safely so that you can use the CERTs to get better weapons.

Make sure you have a sight on weapon. Check your weapon upgrades! The basic weapons can be fairly good, but you have to upgrade them.

Shotguns are for up close (at least until it is upgraded). Most of the other basic weapons are for medium or long range (heavy base weapon excluded).

Don't worry about trying to kill people in the beginning, worry about hurting them enough so that your allies can kill them.

Stay back and shoot from a distance.

Don't worry about your K/D.

Don't worry about your accuracy.

Keep firing in a door way if enemies keep running through it.

Run as an Engie and throw ammo packs down for your allies, repair everything in sight.

Drive a sunderer and learn how to park it in good places and defend it until it goes down if people are spawning from it! Sunders are CERT magnets when they are placed properly.

Don't give up! If you like the concept and the game, you will get better. You will work your way up to get better weapons.

Part of the problem for a beginner is not knowing the maps (and, yeah, Koltyr. Avoid Koltyr like the plague). Veterans of this game know the maps like back of their hand. They know where to go to get in a good position; they know where to look for you to be hiding.

So get in big fights with a population balance that is 50/50 or better for your side with lots of people, and when you respawn, don't rush as far in the next time. Find a place to hide, and wait for the enemy to approach or try moving up when other people start moving past you.

it's going to take some time.

I really suggest you look for a good Outfit that will help you out.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is awesome. This is why, in a nutshell, that the Planetside franchise is so flipping awesome to me. All the different player types and play styles enjoyed that combine to make a truly wonderful, spectacle of a game.

If you don't own a fairly robust PC you may indeed be forced to play 'on the periphery' just to have semi-acceptable frame rates. I still play on a heartbreakingly unUber 6 year old potato of a laptop. Until I found a few helpful threads on tweaking graphics settings I had to avoid any large fights and endured some rather depressing gaming sessions.

Don't get caught up in K/D ratios. At least not to the point where you believe it is the sole determining factor of your usefulness or 'skill'. Don't let keyboard gangsters try to dog you out on how you choose to play. If you are killing someone, somewhere, who isn't your teammate, you are helping your faction. Period. No empire lives or dies on the back of just one player.

Don't be afraid to find your own way. And give yourself time enough to find it.

Join a squad. Jump in a gunner's seat. (I encourage you to gun as an Engineer to help repair when needed, and I also encourage you to show you are smart, and not a tactically clueless ignoramus who jumps in a gunner's seat and immediately begins shooting at absolutely nothing while also giving away your location and any element of surprise, by wasting ammo you never spent any certs on).

If you already know though that the most important thing to your gaming enjoyment is becoming a dead-eye balls-out 1v1 killer, then nothing will replace trigger time and practice. That type of muscle memory and hair-trigger quick decision making needed to consistently compete with some of the best veteran players going (not me) only comes through time spent in-game, along with a decent rig.

Hang in there man, there ain't no other MMOFPS thang like a Planetside thang.

I've had some "success" with LA in the past, and I've always had fun with jetpacks in FPS games, but many are suggesting a support role instead. Should I go with the support role, or put more focus on the Light Assault?

Believe me, I want to love this game. I really, really do. But I'm just not finding the passion for it.

It's whatever you feel is most effective and beneficial. If you go medic or engi cert into that classes tool first the reason why you weren't reviving people quickly is because you don't have any certs into the medic tool. As far as light assault just don't let the enemy get a good look at you. If they see you move to a different spot kinda like sniping, and always watch for enemy light assaults behind you. I don't know what faction or server you are so from there I can't be of greater help, but if you're on emerald I'd be happy to get on sometime in the next week or so and give you some pointers.

This game is btutal for beginners, a few days experience will not make a big difference. Read or watch some of the excellent guides and focus on staying alive for a bit rather than going for kills to start with (running with a squad or platoon as an observer might help).