Attrition versus the infiniteness of PlanetSide2

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Ice, Feb 21, 2014.

  1. Ice

    There is an element to PS2 that has been bugging me for a long time. My gameplay concern centers on how “infinite” supplies are in this game and how, with an engineer present, running out of resources pretty much never happens. I’m not talking about the consumable resources for air/ground/infantry either – I’m talking about the supplies a soldier or vehicle carries. It bothers me that attrition is nearly nonexistent in this game and I’m curious how others feel.

    I think players are being spoiled by infinite bullets, large ammo pools, and infinite use of medical and engineering tools. You can’t wear down an enemy force effectively because with engineers and medics any work you put in is undone by the time you choose a respawn. As a consequence one of the only reliable routes to victory is with sheer numbers. Attackers are able to clean out defenders in one swoop and defenders can keep up their numerical advantage against defenders. I believe adding in more attrition at the soldier/vehicle level would at least make this an option.

    Players should need to resupply from a terminal more often and eventually run out of bullets/healing/repairing if cut off from supply sources long enough. Whenever a player runs out of an item they simply have to resupply from an equipment terminal or AMS. Generally here are areas I think need improvement. I’m not really sure if all of them could go in as it may be overkill (though SOE seems to like that):

    · Engineers carry a limited number of ACE units used to make ammo packs or MANA turrets. This number is increased with certification from something like 2 to 6*
    · Engineer repair tools have a maximum charge and once spent must be resupplied. The total charge increases while certing the tool
    · MANA turrets have a finite ammo supply. Once depleted a new turret would need to be spawned

    *I am undecided on whether or not to handle ammo boxes and MANA turrets separately. Ammo boxes could be a class passive and activate with the same key as other class abilities allowing the two to be certed individually.

    · Medic heal tool has a maximum (separate) charge for healing and reviving. Charge increases with certs
    · Rockets cannot be reloaded from ammo packs. Increase stock ammo count
    · Underbarrel grenades cannot be reloaded from ammo packs. Increase stock ammo count (+1 more for smoke)
    · Decrease reserve ammo for most vehicles

    My hope is that these changes add a little more mindfulness to the game. Support players would need to be conscious of what they are expending while in the field. Vehicles will need to be more careful of overextending. Groups of players will need a reasonable supply line when entrenched - even if it just means a safe spawn beacon. Occasionally, yes, you will have to stop by an equipment terminal in your travels. On the flip side there would be more opportunity when battling against superior odds.

    A little more challenge and a little more consequence.
    • Up x 3
  2. libbmaster

    • Up x 5
  3. Regpuppy

    As libb said, you're not the only one concerned/bothered by the state of resources and how plentiful just about everything is. Some of us more than others... I'd personally rather they focus on it next, but guess it's a bit down the pipeline.
  4. Ronin Oni

    Resource update is a good way to change logistics...

    OP sounds like he wants us all running out of ammo in firefights and that's never fun for anyone.

    decrease reserve ammo on vehicles??? Yeah, cause 25 rounds stock on main canon is soooo many.

    EDIT: I do like "Press 'F' to drop ammo box" for engineer though. It'd make sense for one, and it'd probably be easier for new players who don't know hitting 'B' on their turret changes it to ammo.
    • Up x 2
  5. TheFamilyGhost

    Don't forget infinite number of troops per base. If bases had a finite number of equipment and infantry types, I think it would be better.
    • Up x 1
  6. umbrellapower

    This game needs this badly. One of my biggest gripes is that being encircled means nothing in PS2, whether it be a biolab or the Crown, or a small building you and your squad are holed up in. While logistics at the "strategic" level is something SOE is working on, just forcing players to maintain constant stocks and replenishing of revives/ammo at the front lines would give support players a more defined role.
  7. WTSherman

    Honestly, one thing I'd like to see with the resource update is every single item and every single bullet costing a little bit of resources.

    Of course if we do that we'd have to store much more resources and gain them much more quickly so we can afford all those bullets, and everything that currently costs resources would have to be scaled appropriately, but done right it could really add meaning and depth to resources.
  8. LT_Latency

    It's fine, Do you really want to leave a battle because you our of ammo or can't fight back because you have no rockets.

    Ammo just helps give the eng another purpose on the battlefield. If I was real you could just be taking this stuff off dead bodies instead of ammo boxxes.

    The game is about killing. You either kill your enemy or you don't
    • Up x 1
  9. Tommyp2006

    I don't necessarily think that limiting engineers and medics is really attrition, just more ammunition management. Now if you want Attrition, what it would be is, "we've had this base cut off for 2 hours now and are keeping the enemy boxed in," which is why I think that bases should SLOWLY flip to neutral when cut off, maybe over the course of half an hour or so.

    Now that's not to say that I don't DISAGREE that they should be limited, but that's not really attrition.
  10. Sigmundr Rumare

    You don't want a hardcoded mechanic like that, it takes away the role of the player in that situation. It's a lot different to say "We fought until our guns were dry and went down knifing" than "Even though we were holding our ground the base flipped anyway and we lost spawns."

    See what I'm saying?
  11. Ice

    Not necessarily running out in a firefight but running out in a drawn out situation where you have no supply line. So if your squad has two engineers in the building you guys are locking down you'll want to be conscious of how long ammo packs last, how far they reach, and how often you throw them down because you will eventually run out. As for the vehicles I meant more for the expanded sizes. I haven't spend too much time in every single vehicle but I do know 120 rounds in a Dalton is a bit much.
  12. Ronin Oni

    Liberator ammo capacity is a non-issue, you'll need to go for repairs before you need to go for ammo. If you aren't chased out of skies over contested ground, that's the enemies fault of complete lack of AA (Flight ceiling Dalton zoom bombing can work of course... but then, you can't hit the infantry out of render distance anyways. If infantry render, G2A can lock-on)

    Anyways, I still don't like the idea of limiting ACE tools really.

    If you did, ammo/turret would HAVE to be separate or we'd get even less ammo drops than we do now (which is inane given how it's free points) and it'd make being an engineer a chore of running back and forth from the equip term.

    It'd also mean every HA would have to be tied to equip terms unless they significantly upped the rocket count.

    The spamming capacity of infantry is directly correlated to their squishiness.