PlanetSide 2 - News - Development Update – December 2023 Noticed there wasn't a forum entry for this Dev News Update, so posting here. BLUF: Changes being made to address gameplay / combat sustainability, such as Sunderer utility and survivability. Capture the Conduit changes will be made on PTS and monitored Thursday and Friday 12/21 - 12/22 from 8pm PST – 10pm PST. Both days. Roadmap way-ahead changes teased to reworking classes, OW Scheduling, Alert/Mission Modes, and a new vehicle.[1] [1] Note: Former way-ahead changes advertised/ promised have not yet been delivered or pursued. Providing a probability rating of "likely." SUMMARY: December 2023 Update Preview Focusing on Long-Term Progress in 2024 Sunderer Rework: Addressing Pressing Complaints Issues with Sunderer: Increased infantry anti-vehicle capability Vulnerability to infantry, especially Light Assault Vulnerability to single lightning tank shots Deeper problems: Overloaded defense slot Limited versatility Inability to configure for expected threats Imbalanced opportunity cost Reduced secondary utility role Basic gameplay for certain certifications Inhibiting primary function as a spawn point Goals for Rework: Balance certification opportunity cost Improve Sunderer survivability Enhance tactical versatility Provide tactical presence Changes in Brief: Renaming and refocusing slots Redistributing defense and utility Changing certifications, combining, restructuring, adding new ones Focusing on certifications, not adjusting weapons Certification Loadout: Passive S-AMS Deployment Deploy Shield Stealth Module Point Defense Armor Nanite Armor Enhanced Plating Reactive Armor Shield Disruptor Cargo Deployment Slot: Active while deployed Deploy Shield reworked for protection Stealth Module baseline with improvements Adding "Point Defense" for weapon enhancements Armor Slot: Defensive choices Combines old and new certifications Nanite Armor for passive and burst healing Enhanced Plating for increased resistances Reactive Armor for burst damage negation Cargo Slot: Major change, offloads support abilities Proximity Repair System, Vehicle Ammo Dispenser, Proximity RADAR converted Gate Shield Diffuser with a buff Allows for more physical presence and versatility Future Changes: Class reworks New non-combat system Outfit Wars improvements New facility type/game mode Alerts and missions improvements A new vehicle Discussions on server merges and changes to Oshur Anti-cheat measures discussions Public Playtest Event - Capture the Conduit: Community feedback on Capture the Conduit changes Monitoring play sessions on the PTS server on specific dates
I have to ask, wtf changed after 2-3 years? This can't just be tied to he shall not be named, if so they would have hopefully been gone long ago. I honestly am curious if DBGs/EG7s vision, leadership, or something else major changed. Stuff like the below is a complete and refreshing 180 along with the fact this was even posted in the first place. This is what keeps us here and might even bring a couple of people back. Just because a game is old doesn't mean people still don't play it, WoW, LoL, CS:GO, Fortnight(2017), all have been here for years if not ove a decade now, still have a large loyal fanbase, and are raking in millions. These are the kinds of changes we are aiming to bring to the game. Long-lasting meaningful updates that give more tools for players to consider while maintaining the core of what makes PlanetSide 2 unique. As an additional tease there are some things that are also in the pipeline (more on those in future development updates). Please keep in mind that we are not necessarily working on them in the order they are listed, and multiple things are being worked on at once. Class reworks New orthogonal non-combat system Outfit Wars improvements (particularly to internal scheduling tools) New facility type / game mode Improvements to alerts and missions, including new ones A new vehicle We are also having internal discussions on various issues voiced by the community including server merges and changes to Oshur. Some of the challenges we face when reviewing server merges is the possibility of additional high latency for some users, however we are continuing to review options. There are also other discussions relating to improving our anti-cheat measures in the game, which is a little more complicated than it may seem. As we move forward with these key projects, we will keep you informed on our website and socials. As we continue to fix bugs and make smaller localized improvements for each update, we will continue to gather your feedback on reddit and the forums. This leads us to our next topic!"
They're tackling the right problem for the right reasons, waiting to see how exactly the devs will deal with sundy and spawn sniping. Now, what will Point Defense be?
"Finally, we are adding “Point Defense” to the Sunderer. This will provide improvements to the Sunderers weapons (e.g. Projectile Speed and Fire Rate) at the cost of range. Our hope is to balance this properly so that both the slot cost and the need for the turrets to be manned are worth taking this cert without making the Sunderer oppressive offensively. If that balance cannot be found here, we will likely remove it before release. " PlanetSide 2 - News - Development Update – December 2023
One of my primary concerns revolves around the continual addition of new features and capabilities without addressing or completing critical issues within the NSO, or even handling simple bugs that have been present for years. For example, there are notable shortcomings in various aspects: Chimera's Utility/ Unique: It stands out as the only Main Battle Tank (MBT) lacking its unique utility. Additionally, it offers only three situational weapons, which limits its versatility and effectiveness. Dervish: This component has been underperforming in terms of both combat efficacy and survivability. Similarly, it offers only three situational weapons. Defector: The same issue extends to Defector, with a limited selection of situational weapons. Weapon Congruence: There is a substantial lack of weapon congruence across all aspects of NSO. This includes issues such as delayed firing, slow projectile speed, suboptimal pathing, erratic trajectories, large hitboxes, and inadequate maneuverability. These concerns have garnered significant attention on various platforms, including Reddit, Facebook, and within our own community. Many discussions and threads have surfaced, emphasizing the urgency of addressing these issues to enhance the overall NSO experience. Imagine how much more subscriptions would increase baseline recurring revenue streams if the Developers just took another hard look at NSO and made them comparable/ competitive with other factions. Everyone wins.
"Don't worry, we'll be monitoring data and your feedback for the second pass" N E V E R H A P P E N S ! time and time and time and time and time again.... Stuck on "must be new" bugger if it breaks other stuff and or doesn't even synergize with the game as is. It's just so bloody sad.
surprised about this announcement, they are fixing the game. here are some gameplay concerns i have seen. Light assaults and Sunderer Conflict funny this sunderer topic came up, as just two days ago i was on esamir, specifically echo valley, attacking on VS faction. i drove my sundy uptop the cliff behind their spawn, i used deployment shield. i could not park the sundy next to the pipe as it was c4 fairy town, least to say i had fun playing duck hunt simulator against the countless c4 fairys trying to fly up the cliff to c4 my sundy. literally i counted 10 light assault players trying to kill my sundy. i had to park it on the edge of the cliff, and add a merit sky shield underneath it and a spitfire to help out. they killed it twice but it didnt matter to me because the construction base was nearby and i just pulled another. wish i had clipped it all to showcase the problem, but everyone should already know this, hence the name, C4 Fairy. that being said though, Light assaults are more of a problem to a sunderer than an actual lightning tank. players are generally lazy and wont bother most of the time against a c4 fairy unless its in their tunnel vision of a view. Remove c4 from light assaults, and 90% of sunderer issues will go away. (you can also remove tanks and ESF's from quick deploy option, only leaving light vehicles and other aircraft to be pulled from quick deploy, so it cannot be abused, and players who want to pull tanks/ ESFS will have to run to the terminals to get into them, this will bring in counterplay, attackers, a chance to stop them from just quick deploying a tank/ESF and deleting their sundy) YOU WILL hear Light assault Mains cry about this and try to make counter arguments, but as a NSO player, i take care of those tanks and C4 fairys Via Javelin/D-11 Detonator. Give The Other Factions a Light Armored "Motorcycle" the flash is terrible. Medic revive spam needs to be fixed. another BIG issue of the current state of fights at a region are outfits abusing medics. The Outfit Combo - Half of your platoon are medics, rest are heavy mains and engineers. there is no "reward" or "gain" for killing a player inside a building defending a point because they have over 10 medics inside the building revive spamming. the only way to beat this issue is by counter zerging/max group pull. The Simple Fix - Add a Cooldown to Medic Revive (10 second cooldown at best) Doing this will balance out fights, you may have good defenders, but theres only 24 of them, out of a 24-48 enemy side. and no matter how good of a player you are, chance of you defending that base without having to call for a counter zerg reinforments are slim to none, why? because they can just revive medic spam. All the outfits do this, know this, and abuse it to the fullest. This is one of the core reasons why you have "zergs" and why 99% of all the fights these days are all "zerg overpop." adding this cooldown rewards you for killing that attacker and gives you more chance to kill the medics inside the building as they simply cannot just revive spam and hide behind their heavy main nerds. this will stop the zerg mentality, spread out troops across the maps more, so there are more even fights with lower populations and 2 regions on your factions sides arent just 96VS96. now there will be 24-48 fights across all fronts. smaller fights are more enjoyable then larger fights, you save frames, you dont have to worry about other things as much. i have more to say but those two issues are at the top of the list.
I'm more than a little nervous about the use of resources it seemed we no longer had. I'm truly shocked at the size of the ambition! Recent hotfix gave us a commi sight bug, smoke that creams your FPS, a flickering cloak bug, repper light lines on objects fully healed.... Now we know we've had resources for. GMs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A bit more umph on anti cheat. A reverted Esamir, sold as a "End of event" with an end of event.... Event.... Then gone back to the old map. Second pass on NS operatives. Oshur deleting, ok, I'll try to be positive. Continent voting! Second pass on CTF, yeah I know but sooner! The list continues. ---- I'm very hopeful this can be pulled off, finah finah. If it can wow! But then you've proven we should get the QoL , Bug fixes too.
