[Suggestions] Some ideas to make the game varied

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by jd60fe, Feb 20, 2021.

  1. jd60fe

    Hello fellow Planetpeople,

    First thing, is why am I saying these things. I am a veteran of PS1 and I think it might be time we stole some ideas from the original game. There are a lot of PS2 players who did not play PS1 and do not understand some of the things that made PS1 unique.

    Second, we are stuck in this constant CTF game, with the same issues, and players tend to get bored and leave. I would like to see the game keep players. I am an older gamer and suck at the 1v1 twitch game, but see more ways to have support roles help the efforts.

    So what are my suggestions?

    1. Bring back the Lodestar - This was a heavy transport aircraft that could move MBT and Sundies. They could be certed to repair ships as well. This give air mobility to armor. Adds the need for fighter cover while en route.

    2. Make water an *** pain again - In PS1, rivers where deep enough to drown vehicles except Magriders and Sunderers. This offered amphibious attacks on bases and made the Lodestar and Sundy more valuable for troop transport.

    3. Bring back Cortium generators to bases - If your faction captured a base, you had to keep the generator full of energy via ANTS. This meant that a generator could deplete during a hold/defense and then a Lodestar would have to hot drop an ANT to keep the base from going neutral. The generator auto-repaired base defenses and used up energy. This would allow a small squad to force a base to go neutral behind the front lines and divert forces to retake and resupply.

    4. Re-instate the 1 hour lockout on faction characters on a server - This was meant to stop people from logging in, getting their *** kicked, and swapping to the winning faction. You had a one hour cooldown if you wanted to play a different faction on the same server. This helps preserve the integrity of Alerts. NSO is exempt since that is their function; to support the lowest pop faction.

    5. Make engineers great again - LOL. Anyone who played PS1 will tell you about the deployable spam. Engineers could create 6 spitfire turrets. They could be AA, AV, AI, or cloaked AI turret. They could lay about ten or so mines per Engie. They could deploy small shield bubbles to cover entrances. They were the true combat engineer and base defense depended on them. Not just MAX support unit.

    6. MAX Overhaul - VS MAX could jump jet, NC had lock on AA/AV, TR had some other stuff (didn't play them). But they had a use outside of MAX Crashes into bases. We are seeing tweaks on damage output and weapons, but what about the purpose of them? MAX suits are small tanks. They need to behave more like them. Some people say they need to be deleted. Usually because the aimbot/headshot insta-gib doesn't work. That is what Deci's were made for. They are supposed to clog an advance on a base or force a opening. Instead, some would like to just keep the same farms going forever. This is why people quit.

    7. Either make construction useful, or get rid of it - Besides router/airpad bases, what is the use? No more victory point generators and non-deployable zones. It is just free cert farm when you don't want to get in a Bio Lab farm (or are tired of being farmed).

    8. AA weapons need overhaul - We are not playing a milsim, but AA is just useless on most vehicles. Takes to long to kill. A Reaver charges head first at a Skygaurd Lightning and kills the tank before the AA can kill it due to shot dispersion. Skygaurds used to be a turret for the Harasser. Took two people to use and was more effective. Homing missiles? Need 10 to down an ESF. Watch the TR mosquito swarm and see if they are deterred by AA. Add in the wonky flight abilities and non-lockon weapons are useless. Add a lockon missile turret for the Harasser. Make a turret for the Lightning that has Flak and Missiles. I am not trying to make Air power useless, but remove the spawn camps by aircraft who use the crazy flight dynamics and make them more cautious when entering the battlespace.


    I think if we could get support to affect the main fights, it would allow more casual players a chance to stay and it would allow newer players the opportunity to watch and learn instead of die fifty times and quit. I think the maps and bases need an overhaul too, but do not see that happening. Easier to tweak vehicles and classes than to rework the world. Bastions are like the new BFR's.

    Just some suggestions from someone who creates scenarios for military simulation as a living and will be ignored and flamed like everyone else.
    • Up x 3
  2. OneShadowWarrior

    I firmly agree that the original Planetside had so many elements that clearly were not brought over and completely abandoned because they tried to make PS a Battlefield clone and it was a mistake.

    1. The original PS had more maps and even caverns. They don’t have to look far - Solsar, Cyssor, Searhus, Forseral, Oshur, Ceryshen, Core Combat caverns.

    2. Bring back the empire specific assault buggies, bring back the original skyguard buggy.

    3. Bring back deliverers and their variant.

    4. Retool sunderer to the bus it once was. Remove the AMS.

    5. Bring back the original AMS.

    6. Bring back backpacks and looting bodies, lockers, storage bays on vehicles like trunks.

    7. Bring back the vulture aircraft.

    8. Bring back the original engineers with shadow turrets, cerebrus turrets, being able to put down a host of mines, motion sensors, spitfires, upgrade base turrets, emp mines.

    9. Reinstate emp blasts like original PS, where grenades could jam vehicles, also the thumper emp grenades jammed vehicles.

    10. Reinstate flight physics from the original PS, where you could actually hover. Give us a mosquito type as a light aircraft and a reaver type as heavy aircraft and a interceptor, also the phantasm.

    11. Re-distribute all sniper rifles to the other classes, infiltrators have enough options with scout rifles and smgs, give them hacking like the original PS, let them hack unoccupied vehicles, use c4 and mines like they used to.

    12. Bring back surge implant, audio implant, dark light implant.

    13. Bring back doors on bases and hacking of them, bring back spawn towers from original PS.

    14. Bring back silos, where you could change your vehicles configurations and not be stuck with what you pulled.

    15. Get on the ball on attachments, there are so many weapons that clearly don’t have what the other ones were given, suppressor missing on Naginata, Watchmen, Promise and MAW, Jackal, Canis, Gladius, I can just keep going on with this. Some weapons are completely missing a completion on these, they are half finished and for Christ sakes explore some more ideas on this realm. There are so many possibilities, he’ll even barrels that just gave us our own custom sound would be something if your so scared of balance.
  3. Mr. Creative Ideas

    Hi! So, many of your ideas are very impressive. Unfortunately, I'm not those, who played PS 1, so I don’t know anything about it and will comment your suggestions throw my prims of modern PS2. Let's start!

    Absolutely true also for me, as I hate 1vs1 games and always try to cooperate with other gamers. It’s crucially important to make players more united, make them feel something greater, them just every one of them individually. AGREE


    I don’t know if you read another post here on Forum, where I shared my ideas about new Galaxy deployment, but this is definitely a very cool idea. Not sure about “Lodestar”, but it would be cool for a Galaxy to transport (or maybe even create) small ground vehicles - like Flash, Harasser, ANT, and Sunderer. AGREE
    It’s very original to add water into PS2, as for me it doesn’t exist at all. Make rivers, waterfalls, or lakes - could be a nice decorating element for every map as well as a strategic and mapping feature. AGREE
    Does this mean, that every captured base will need Cortium to function? I have some doubts about this, as I understand, that nobody wants just to mine Cortium for an empty base at the edge of the map… But the idea of making bases more important in the game it’s quite good. DISAGREE
    As for me, I never change faction during the battle and usually (always) play only for one. But of course, you say fair things and I can’t disagree with you in this aspect. We need faction balance. AGREE
    I have huge doubts about an Engi, that could place up to 6 spitfire turrets, but in general, I, as main Engi and Medic player can’t disagree with it. We need to make support classes more valuable and give them more unique abilities. It will be nice to see more types of Spitfire (like AA,AV,AI), shields, that can block a passway or smth else, but we have to be here very careful. DISAGREE
    I just didn’t understand your position - do you like MAX or you want to change or delete them? As for me, I find them quite useful in some situations and there is a very nice balance right now - although there isn’t any restriction for taking MAX, you won’t see them very often. I would like to see more unique weapons and abilities for MAX, but hope you will say which exactly. DISAGREE
    Scturctures… yeah, it’s a big problem of the game. Very soon (probably today), I will make my own post about Mapping and the general idea of the maps in PS2, so I strongly agree with you. Right now the navigation in the game is super hard to even for non-new players, very often is unlogic and unfair. AGREE

    So, this is what I think according to my position: I had never played PS1 and don’t know anything about it, but I understand, that PS2 is not fair in some aspects for the players and this should be changed. Thank you, comment this if you want!
    • Up x 1
  4. Demigan

    Trying to fit PS1 mechanics into PS2 without any consideration for how PS2 is set up is like trying to ram a square peg through a round hole.

    Take your idea to add a generator that needs to be supplied. Without any other addition or change that would heavily benefit the attackers and put an automatic timer on any battle. An automatic timer that the defenders can rarely ever change because the attackers have vehicle superiority. It's like trying to spawn a vehicle at the base that is being attacked in reverse. And you should know how incredibly hard it is to spawn a vehicle at a base under attack and survive for more than 10 seconds (except in the few bases that offer a slightly protected vehicle bay).

    Or take your idea about adding new continents. Building new continents is a time intensive procedure that doesn't solve any of the problems PS2 currently faces. All you get is continents that suffer from the same problems and spread the playerbase's desires to play on certain continents. To add to that have you seen how the devs currently treat continent redesigns? They maim the current one's in favor of the idiotic idea that the battlelines have to move, and they do that by making defending an increasingly useless act to do. Let's all go to the new continent everybody! There's no fights there because no one wants to defend a base when it's all build in favor of the defenders, rake in that base-capture XP while in a Zerg! That sounds like fun!


    If you want to add PS1 features to PS2 you have to consider what it would do to the game. You can't just randomly add PS1 stuff and think it'll all turn out to be OK. Just the addition of new continents would likely be a death-blow to PS2 considering the time and effort it takes to actually build a proper continent while all the work on things that actually need fixing is standing still.
    • Up x 1
  5. icufos


    Terrific points made.
    Can only hope they will be noted and actioned.
    If it was up to me I'd always listen to 'veteran gamers'.
    It just makes sense.
  6. TremadogMk2

    Being a Planetside 1 vet myself I feel I should add my thoughts on this personally.

    The Lodestar
    I recall the Lodestar being a rarely seen site in PS1 but it was a very useful tool, being able to transport any ground vehicle. I think the new ANVIL thing is intended to get vehicles in unexpected places so sadly I doubt we will see the flying brick again. Being able to carry buggies and lightning tanks inside the Galaxy was quite handy, though for whatever reason the rear hatch on the Gal is welded shut.

    Water
    Deep water was certainly a hazard to some vehicles apart from the Magrider and the Deliverer (pretty much a smaller Sunderer with 2 Basilisk-type machineguns). It gave the VS a big advantage that I suppose the devs didn't want to have to deal with. Magriders scaling mountains now is already bad enough. :p (The TR had an empire specific Deliverer variant that had 4 machinegun turrets that combined with the perfectly flat water let to some amusing Magrider kills.)

    Base power
    As mentioned above, every base in PS1 has a nanite store that would be consumed by base auto-repair, spawning vehicles and so on. The ANT in PS1 was solely designed to drive to a Warpgate, deploy and absorb the nanite resource then travel to the base's nanite silo, then deploy to transfer energy. The ANT was unarmed and it was always a bit of a gauntlet to run to get to the base in time without being destroyed. As mentioned above, you could hot-drop the ANT into the base but that had it's own risks (Vehicles really disliked being on walls or building parts of the base and would despawn if dropped incorrectly). Quite how refuelling a base in PS2 would work with the more open bases than can be swarmed with enemy vehicles I don't know. I think it would just be suicide. Having an energy resource that depleted did help to break up stalemates and did encourage squads to roam around and sabotage all the terminals and turrets in bases to force the base to burn through resources more quickly. If you don't like ghost capping you will probably like this even less since it just meant either more and trips or groups of engineers to follow after and fix all the things. Having been one of the Drivers that was hot-dropped into a friendly base I know it could create some pretty tense moments but the everyday ANT runs were a bit mundane overall.

    As for a lot of OneShadowWarrior's suggetions, I can't say I agree with many of them. I think rolling the Deliverer, the Sunderer and the AMS into one vehicle was a great move. Nobody used the Sunderer back in the day because the Gal was so much faster and the AMS being it's own vehicle seemed unneccessary. The only thing I miss was the Deliverer having Empire-specific variants. The TR Raider, nicknamed the Battlewagon by some was really fun to crew, but I've already mentioned that already. The Deliverer was useful to travel short distances across water. Without deep water in PS2 there is no need for an amphibious transport. It was fun having the ability to loot weapons from other faction's backpacks but it was fiddly and awkward to do in a firefight. Still, was fun to hit the NC back with their Phoenix rocket launchers from time to time. :p

    PS1 have a lot of cool features that didn't make the transition to PS2 but it was a very different time back then and I think development needs to look forward more than it needs to look back. As much as I want more varied vehicles just introducing redundant vehicles like the Skyguard buggy and the Empire-specific vehicles seems a bit pointless when the PS1 forums were filled with people brainstorming how awesome it would be to have the ability to customise the weapons on your vehicles like we have now as standard.
  7. RabidIBM

    It would be a nice nod to their long term vets to bring in any one of these. They likely don't have the development resources for all of them.

    Certainly any of these would add more to the game than the campaign or the storm.