Contemplating a return... questions

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Uncle_Lou, Jan 12, 2021.

  1. Uncle_Lou

    So... I last played PS2 in maybe 2015, my highest character is BR72. I left because I was bored and frustrated with several aspects of the game. PS2 recently popped up in a couple of conversations and a twitch stream I was watching; I checked out a couple of videos on YT and some updates on the official site. I am curious to see how the game is doing these days, and if returning would be a fun or frustrating experience for me.

    I am assuming that if you are reading this forum that you are active and enjoy the game; I won't ask to be convinced to return, I'll just ask some questions, the answers to which may help me decide if it's worth giving it another try:

    1. Will I be able to get back into the game and not be totally lost with my current characters, or would I be better served starting over?
    2. Will my gear from 2015 still be good enough to be competitive, or will I need to spend a ton of time/certs/money getting better weapons, etc?
    3. Are big fights just a clusterf*** of dying every 6 seconds still, or is it a bit less frenetic these days? I used to prefer midsize or smaller fights, because there was a chance I could actually accomplish something besides getting fragged from every direction non-stop.
    4. How are populations? Are there enough players to have a few decent fights on a continent, or is it normally one huge zerg and maybe one or two squad-sized fights?
    5. Is there anything else I should know about that may help me decide if I want to reinstall and login again?

    I appreciate any thoughts or feedback provided - thanks in advance!
    -Uncle_Lou
  2. JustGotSuspended


    WRONG! Most of us hate the current state of the game, but we're addicted and can't do much about it.

    yeah, it'll be easier for you to keep your old characters, all the stuff the added for free now should be given to you are refunded. Believe it or not, much of the stuff like weapons, armor, etc haven't changed. They really just added more new currencies, the only one you'd have to worry about is ISO and/for implants, which won't be given to you if you start over anyways.

    they adjusted a lot of things to make newer players competitive, and that now applies to your default. For example, the heavy gets max rank nanoweave armor for free. The engineer gets max rank flak armor for free. Default weapons also come with free attachments. There's also daily fetch quests you can do to get a free weapon, implant, xp, currency if you need.

    This ties in with the first question, I can tell you not to worry about this. Default weapons in general are the best, and if you're a br 70 I'll assume you have your abilities certed out, so you should be fine. Maybe take a look at the new weapons that got released, the NS pilot is a great 1hk pistol, and there's some cool looking faction specific AR, Carbine and LMG, SMG that came out. Try them out in VR, but again, default weps are the most competitive in most scenarios.

    Only thing you will have to work on is implants, where I would recommend assimilate and symbiote, with flak armor in your suit slot.

    Pretty much, and it seems server performance has drastically decreased over the years as well. Prepare to get disconnected every 2 minutes - oh and they also added point and click nukes, bastions that are basically invincible flying a2g 1hk spam machines and more fun stuff for outfit leaders to use and abuse. And if you're on esamir, there's also a new storm that chases the largest pop hexes and kills all the vehicles and infantry using lightning bolts.

    I guess thankfully for you, most of the population has quit the game, so there are generally no fights, or just small fights. Big fights can still happen depending on the time of the day, but you'll usually get maximum 2-3, so they're very easy to avoid if that's not your thing.

    Meta now even more encourages zerging and ghostcapping, so that's what you'll frequently encounter the most. Pop is mediocre, depends on the server but there should be a lot less players than when you left.

    That said, if you log on at the prime time hours, you can still get 2-3 96vs96 fights.

    I would say try it out, it's free anyways. A lot has changed - for the worse, but overall, the game is still pretty much in the same state as when you left it. I can only assume why you left, but I pretty much guarantee those reasons why you left haven't been addressed, or have only been made worse.

    That said, it's a free game, so you don't lose anything if you just install it and have a go one week-end. Might trigger a few memories, and you could even have fun!

    Maybe also check out some youtube videos from Cyriousgaming, Camikaze78 and moukass, to help you understand what's going on. But honestly it'll be quicker for you to download the game and make up your mind after and hour or 2 of play.
    • Up x 1
  3. ican'taim

    1. Most likely
    2. If you hit headshots you should be fine
    3. Depends what fights you go to.
    4. Pop is fine, might rise because of the final campaign chapter (new major facility type on esamir)
    5. A lot. 2 major expansions got released in 2020, Escalation (added Bastions, the colossus tank and expanded on outfits, while the shattered warpgate focuses on lore and some major changes to Esamir, which is slated to receive some more changes due to the new facilities.) You might see something called NS Operatives, but that's just a hardcore mode for vets. Will also be reviving changes this year.


    I advise you check out the subreddit and the discord as that's where much of the community is these days.
  4. OldSchoolD

    The short answer : It will definitely be more frustrating than it was last time you played.
    • Up x 4
  5. Uncle_Lou

    I appreciate the response, but would you care to elaborate?
  6. OldSchoolD

    Well Lou, the guys above gave you good answers, but if you can expand what aspects of the game you were frustrated with, we can surely address those punctually.

    Then again, I will oblige and tell you that in my opinion, most aspects of the game that made it frustrating back then, have probably just gotten worse. Now there are even more one hit kill infantry weapons, plus there's still tanks camping on the hills above the fights, airplanes with dedicated infantry farming nose guns, roaming buggies that move fast and lag out of nowhere to run you over, 1-click orbital strikes that obliterate all in range, flying fortresses that will 1-shot kill you from a great distance above, and many more ways to make you ragequit, like you probably did back then.

    The guys who are still playing this game are we, the salty vets that will insta-kill you using clientside, pre-shooting, chain headshotting you, being cloaked and 1-shot you from cloak, or fly ambushers and 1-shot shotgun you, drop C4 from above you and pistol 1-shot your big head. Then there's the russian-chinese with their big pings, that basically are always 3 seconds ahead of you and will frag you before you even notice what's going on.

    Last but not least, the game also still feels laggy, rubberbandy and choppy in most big battles and things still render as they please.

    t. a salty vet.
    • Up x 2
  7. Liewec123

    i think the construction system was in the game before you left,
    so you'll probably remember Orbital Strikes and how annoying they were.
    well now they can be used on lattice bases too, and if that wasn't bats%%t crazy enough,
    DBG have added pocket-OS so now you can right click the map to OS.

    also there is a new vehicle called the Bastion.
    it is borderline unkillable, lasts for half hour and will just melt everything on the ground.
    usually you'll see them farming fights between the other two factions, no strategic value, just farming because its unkillable.

    ALSO esamir got ruined, a third of the bases were removed,
    most of the rest were redesigned badly with terrible spawn room placement
    and walls torn down so vehicles can camp your spawn point.
    also a "storm" was added to esamir which will home in on big fights (the fun ones)
    and break them up by destroying all of the vehicles.

    also spawn system and reward systems were revamped to prioritise zerging and discourage defending,
    so mostly the 3 factions just avoid eachother and zerg over underpopped bases.

    also i see you use the NC logo, your max AI weapons were nerfed to uselessness.

    welcome back! have fun! :D
    • Up x 2
  8. OneShadowWarrior

    I would try it, since it’s free, if you have fun, it’s all that matters.
  9. Concordia

    • Up x 1
  10. Uncle_Lou

    I appreciate all the answers. I went ahead and downloaded the game; played for maybe 3 hours this afternoon. Or I guess I should say I got farmed for about 3 hours. I realize that rust has a lot to do with it, but I don't recall ever feeling as ineffective as I did today when I played a few years ago. I was surprised to find that Infils could fire from stealth, as I thought back in the day you had to decloak before firing? I had a few instances where enemy players seemed to take me from 100 to 0 instantly with an AR or SMG, which I have to assume is lag of some sort. Also seemed like even if I got the drop on the other guy I died first... That rarely happened before so I'm not sure how to explain that.

    It does appear that many of the things that frustrated me before are still there, along with a few new ones. I had forgotten just how insane it can be just to try to SEE anything during big firefights, what with all the glowing tracers, explosions, shield bubbles, etc going off. There is some stuff I still have no idea how to do or access, like the construction stuff, but I'm not sure that I'm necessarily missing anything there.

    @Concordia yeah, I was always primarily a solo player - a "fringe" as you put it. I liked being able to do whatever I wanted when I wanted; though I can also see the appeal of being in a good outfit. I did the outfit thing for a hot minute, it wasn't bad tho we were never big or super coordinated. The headshot change I was not aware of; seems like an odd decision for DBG to have made, that does help explain some of why I was getting killed so quickly.

    I'm not going to write it off just yet, as 3 hours of playtime I don't feel like I've really given it a fair shake. Once I've taken enough time to scrape off the worst of the rust we'll see how it is going. I was doing better towards the end of my play session than I was in the beginning for sure.

    Anywho, thanks again for the responses!
    • Up x 1
  11. JustGotSuspended


    It's a bug feature that appeared when they added DX11. Also you chose the wrong week to log on, everything is feeling a bit funky after that "performance" update.

    I would definitely recommend you find an outfit, it'll definitely help you enjoy the game more, and ease that transition back into the game.
  12. RabidIBM

    1. No point in starting over. You don't lose anything by keeping your old unlocks.

    2. Some new gear has been added, a lot is the same. Which gun to use is mostly personal preference.

    3. Much of the time yes. The giant *********** fights at mid base soak much of the population unless there are decent PLs logged in. More variety happens during prime time. Off hours, I hope you like Nason's Defiance...on Hossin...I hope you like Hossin...because the continents aren't balanced for open time. 50% of the time it's Hossin, and the other 3 continents share the other 50%.

    4. Population size is fine, but leadership is often lacking. Whether there are multiple fights or just 1 big fight and some uncountered zergy ghost caps comes down to leadership. If you like to lead, boy are there openings right now. Asking "Who wants to take platoon lead?" shuts people up more reliably than "clear comms...clear comms...CLEAR COMMS...****!...THAT'S IT, KICKING!"

    5. Same advise I'd give the newbies: Join a squad or platoon, give it a couple minutes to see if it's doing anything, if not leave and try another squad. There are a lot of "zombie squads" where the PL logged out without handing it off properly and while the players are technically in a platoon they aren't behaving like one.