New Gamer Experience

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by GoriLoco, Aug 24, 2019.

  1. GoriLoco

    I´ve been playing PS2 for 2 months. My first experience was:

    - Spawned @Warp, pressed J and voila... Emptied a 30 mag into someone that didn´t die and then got killed while reloading in "safe cover".
    How do I respawn? Ohh.. I can choose where to spawn, very nice!!
    - Switched to light assault (considering the name, this guy should be a killer): surprised a guy from behind and start shooting at him, the player just turned back and killed me.
    hmmm.. I should have choosen the heavy, heavy sounds like inmortal. Where do I was? nvm respawn anywhere that is flashing.
    - Going out with the heavy and died to the first encounter... maybe I forgot to press "F".
    - Again with the heavy, and don´t forget to press "f". Died to the first encounter even with the shield.
    Well, maybe the other thing that looks tough can help as a noob.
    - Pulled out a max with its starting setup: died to the first encounter.
    $%&$% I thought this thing was tougher. Maybe if I try the heavy again.
    - Heavy got killed by an airplane while running to encounter point.
    - Heavy got killed by a sniper while running to encounter point.
    - Heavy got killed again at first encounter.
    - Heavy got killed by C4.
    -Heavy really sucks, what is the "heavy" of this heavy?
    maybe if I use a tank... (VS tank=Mag)
    - Pulled a mag: died to a harasser.
    WTF is this game? disconnect.

    Im not new to shooters, but my first experience here was very dissapointing.
    • Up x 3
  2. ZDarkShadowsZ

    I think that's quite literally the exact feeling the majority of new players have. No matter what you do, you always die to something or someone. The problem is that PS2 is a 6 year old game, and many of its players have been playing for around that time or since beta, which means they know how to work with the game's mechanics to their advantage. This means shooting mechanics, clientside network connections, secret hiding spots of each map/base, all the tricks in the book.

    When you're new to the game, it's strongly advised you join a squad (preferably a mentor squad with a good rating) and play with that squad. This way you can ask questions and learn more about how to play the game. Unfortunately, in comparison to many players, 2 months isn't much time to learn how amazing this game can be. New players like yourself end up being put off by the steep learning curve this game has, but as someone who has played this game for 6 years now, all I can say is, please don't go, and please don't give up.

    There are dozens of YT videos that give good tips on playstyles and many players like myself here on the forums are more than happy to give you tips and additional tricks to help you survive better in-game.
    • Up x 3
  3. blackboemmel

    Most shooters have some kind of matchmaking that puts you into fights with other players that miss 25 bullets from a 30 bullets clip. Planetside is different. Even the most talented newbies in this game are lost in the beginning. They have no chance versus players that played this game for years, maybe not even versus a decently talented player with 2 months of experience in this game. And if you think about it: That's exactly how it should be.

    There are tons of helpful videos on youtube that explain almost everything that happens in this game, but i absolutely understand if you rather want to jump into this mega-size game and just play.

    The best tip to immediately enjoy this game is to play it with HEADSET and friends (and enjoy getting rekt together for some months) or to find a nice veteran that teaches you how to rock Auraxis in a few days.
    • Up x 4
  4. Towie

    The new player experience has always been tough in PS2.

    I remember joining over 6 years ago - it was extremely rough then, had no idea what you were doing, no tutorial, 'running' between bases - geez it was crazy. Oh it crashed every 15 minutes or so too and ran like a dead dog on anything other than an ultra-class PC.

    I have absolutely no idea why but it managed to hook me.


    The turning point for me was - joining an outfit - getting to know squad / platoon leaders - and slowly learning the ropes. You can 'lone wolf' in PS2 but for me it's not what the game is about. These days I squad/platoon lead very often.

    Sounds like you want to be a front line fighter with little experience ? That's going to be difficult.

    PS2 is complex - tactical - knowledge of bases is extremely important - oh and twitch reflexes are invaluable. BUT you can still make a difference with very little experience. Stick to a support role at first, medic or engineers are very much appreciated just behind the front line.
    If you want to kill - repair and use turrets in bases (engineer), they give you a fair bit of protection while you're shooting others. Tower-type basis are the best and you can make a meaningful difference.


    Oh and please forget the Magrider at first - unless you've maxed it out AND have a gunner, it's going to be tough against literally any other opposition (especially Harassers).


    (NOTE - previous suggestions are all good - just wanted to add my two-penneth worth)
    • Up x 1
  5. ObiVanuKenobi

    Every player has been through that. The learning curve is very steep.
    But once you understand what to do the game can be very fun, expecially with a group of friends. There are many unique playstyles.
    • Up x 1
  6. Demigan

    Yeah I remember my first "battle" on Auraxis. I got a little scene of how I was about to be dropped on the battlefield, was drop-podded next to a Biolab. With no idea what it was I immediately ran towards the Garage expecting it to be the entrance. Several guys were nearby also running towards it so I ran along for a second. Shots come from behind me so I turn to shoot but it is definitely an ally, then I get mauled from behind because apparently I had chosen to run with several enemies.

    After that I played "get to Tawrich Techplant" for over a year because NC was on the bottom right of Indar and the map at the time was stacked against them heavily, I didn't see Zurvan AMP station or Crossroads untill some balance and map changes had hit the game...
    • Up x 1
  7. GoriLoco

    Nice to read all posts and notice that everyone had a similar experience. We are still here playing, but it is definitely not a good experience for a new player.
  8. DarkStarAnubis

    Being killed over and over again it is obviously not a good experience. However, it is like that by game design.
  9. OneShadowWarrior

    A friend of mine complained of the same things you noted and said it’s why he doesn’t like the game.

    There is a veteran fanbase inherent in the game that are hard to beat regardless of your background and the combined arms has a high learning curve. Don’t be obsessive about kill/death ratios and stats, just enjoy the game and give yourself time to progress and learn the physics.
  10. OgreMarkX

    New Player Experience:

    "Why do I keep hearing footsteps? I am not moving. Is there someone nearby?"

    ....30 minutes later....

    "WHY WON'T THE FOOTSTEPS STOP? THIS IS DRIVING ME INSANE"

    Disconnects....

    Watches a live stream from the dev team:

    "Hey Gais, we're working on NS Sanctuaries...."

    /quits
    • Up x 2
  11. AlcyoneSerene

    What little I recall when I first started, as VS (because praise the aliens, advanced tech, enlightenment, and purple):

    - can't tell who is who, confusing seeing so many players bunched up at doorways in buildings camping while I run around dying
    - beamer felt like it was holding me back cause I'd run out of ammo on primary so unlocked a commissioner
    - sniping felt satisfying so stuck to that role for quite a lot
    - aim ability in sudden close 1vs1s was really poor, mostly panic and tensing the arm on the mouse, making at most 2 or 3 speedy movements, winning some, losing others
    - flying felt very hard but friend encouraged me to keep at it
    - confusion about capturing points that were clearly connected but not letting us cap
    - alerts way back then were confusing so I ignored them

    After getting frustrated with Overwatch for so many reasons, this game felt like it finally did everything right, with so much freedom to choose whatever without being ranked and still contribute to the overall fight, and not get stuck in matches for a long time.

    Was hooked instantly, didn't care about dying often cause K/D means nothing and it isn't ranked. Gaining certs was fun, unlocking new weapons (Ursa was the first I think after Comi, then Parallax, NS11A or so), classes, eventually vehicles too.
    • Up x 1
  12. Trillsiker

  13. 4JlEH30CM

    its not CS or something you've play before you can forget your previos session shooters. here exist distance, bulllet speed, ballistic and disproportion of troops. see, learning and then you will understand how to kill in PS2. this is old amazing game and here exist very expirienced players that can easly kill you because of their skill! just take a look on that fkn amazin gay


    so be patient and learning then you will get a lot fun. Planetside 2 is monopoly and there is no similar games!
    I LOVE YO PLANETSIDE!!!1
  14. F0l2saken

    This is why planetside 2 is slowly dying, there are lot of people that experience this when they first play, and that's their only experience. With thousands of games out there, they delete it, and move on.

    If planetside had the players, and we all know it certainly doesn't right now, they could have used the levels to solve this problem. They could have kept level 1 - 20 or something similar on the same continent and until someone goes beyond a level, say 20, can they play on the other continents with the good players. People could abuse this by making new players to farm noobs over and over again, but it still would be better than the new player experience now.

    Can't do that now though, every update makes the game more restrictive because the population is walking slowly down a hill and there just aren't enough people.
  15. Demigan

    Yeah I kinda analyzed a few of his video's and among other things I discovered a guy who never even crossed his bulletpath getting a headshot anyway, multiple impact hits from a single shot, how you can see shots at different intervals during a dragshot at the same ranges still all yield the same result (a headshot), how in actuality 2/3rd of his headshots should be a miss unless there's some magic going on in the background of the game when dragshooting and the fact that this guy disappeared for a while after they fixed the "you can manually adapt the head hitbox size" exploit. Gee I wonder what he's up to...
    • Up x 1
  16. DarkStarAnubis

    at was already discussed in another thread. You can analyze frames all you want but collision detection is based on interpolation formulas and not rendered animation (what is seen on the screen) and much less what is recorded (being a sunset of what is seen).

    There is NO GUARANTEE the hit animation is shown at the exact moment it happens.

    I have killed someone on T1 Alloy sniping from the Crown (so travel time is a factor) . I.fired, saw the enemy move, then the hit animation in the place the enemy was, then the enemy dying in another spot.

    I am the first to say Ps2 is full of hackers due to design decisions (or limitations) but please do not start witchhunts based on perceptions.
  17. Demigan

    I don't buy that, I would say it's lag. RIght now the servers are out of whack and suddenly it can take anywhere between half a second to ten seconds before hits register and the target dies. Occams razor would suggest that it wasn't interpolation that caused your situation, but lag. Besides, those things should happening in the video's be reproduceable, which they aren't on my machine no matter if I use high graphics (for lower FPS) or low graphics.

    The point is that when an enemy never crosses your crosshair and never enters any possible bullet path no matter when you fired your weapon it should always be a miss. Because you know that bullet has to intersect with you at some point even in the interpolation. But for some reason that doesn't apply to this guy!

    The same for other things. We can assume that in 99% of the cases the interpolation and the animation are somewhat similar. So if I see the firing animation begin, I know that between the last frame and the next frame the player pressed the button (and even if you account for the lost frames due to Youtube using less frames you know that the shot has to have happened somewhere inbetween that time). If the firing animation begins before you pass over the target it should always be a miss because even the missing frames would be before the head, which is exactly what I see when I look at "normal" player video's and my own video's. Not for this guy ofcouse!
    If I see the animation begin a frame (or in a few cases even 2 youtube frames!) after he passes the head of the target, then he should also always miss the target. But again, he scores a headshot!

    Then there's the rather dubius multiple impacts. In some shots you can see that upon hitting the head there are 3 impacts, one seemingly lining up with the beginning of the firing animation, one against the targets head and one at the other side of the head. This should be the most easily reproduceable bug in the game simply by standing in the warpgate and dragshotting over friendly heads. Yet 100% of the time even when I look at it frame by frame there is just 1 impact, no more. I've not seen this happen at other player video's either. So what gives? How can he randomly have these kind of things happen but no one else has it? Does he just have a randomly favorable interpolation? That would mean that he, as a player, learned (subconsciously) that his interpolation was off and managed to learn how to use it to his advantage. Does that sound like a reasonable explanation of why he's doing the things he does? That is a clear consequence of what we see if he isn't manipulating the game somehow.
    • Up x 1
  18. 4JlEH30CM

    as a developer of MMOs (not PS2) i can tell you that at current tech level is impossible to do FPS with such huge map and huge players limit on server without that lags you are sapeaking about. okay map no matter but players amount is big deal. if we decrease them to 10vs10 like CS or TF2 or whatever then there all will be ok but with 1500+ CCU this is impossible. DB need supercomputer or superserver for making all perfect =) maybe Quantum SuperServer ))) if you have one then give them))

    possible to devide workload on server but it will become to a loading stage when you go from one zone to another. because different servers manage different zones of one map and previous server should pass info about you to next when you are crossing the zones. but PS2 is seamless
  19. Demigan

    Yes, so everyone at the same time should be experiencing similar reproducible problems. If one player can consistently create a headshot without ever having the bullet cross someone's path at any point in time no matter when they fired their weapon then everyone should be able to do the same. Yet it does not seem possible to reproduce any suspicious event that he creates, not when looking at other "normal" players nor when I try to reproduce the same result.

    It does not matter if there are inconsistencies in interpolation, lag or any other mechanic or code underneath the game. If it applies to one person, it should always apply to everyone. If it applies to one person or a group of persons it has to be a specific gimmick of the internet connection... Or an alternate version of the game. Say one version where you adapted the files for the head's hitbox size...? Amongst one of the many many small little changes you could make to get ahead in this game.
  20. DarkStarAnubis

    I am sorry, It is a wrong assumption.

    Let's use simple math: an hit can take place at any point in time. There are 1000 msec in a second of game-play and you are sampling at 30 FPS.

    So on average you will see a hit every three (1000/30 = 33.3%).