Autobalance this game or why bother

Yup already do... barely play this game anymore.
Problem is this game will not hold up long-term in its current state.

Especially considering we're hearing next to nothing form developers. Nothing to look forward to! Construction system? Yap.... PTS 1-29-16....

Development cost money. Don't come here bragging about how you refuse to pay for Planetside, but bring up lack of Development. YOU are part of the problem.

The biggest mistake they ever made was catering to F2P scrubs like you who thumb their nose at everyone else.

And the construction system is a BIG ******* deal. Please show me any shooter on this scale which has even dared to develop something that ambitious!

Payed for 1.5 years before all access existed. The game hasn't improved nearly enough to qualify for a pay per month model.

More vehicles?
More guns?
This does nothing for the games longevity.

In a game with goals that haven't changed since the beginning.... Be a CoD camper? Farm infantry? ZERG??
Nothing you accomplish feels like it has weight.

I don't see how winning a meaningless match on random server #524 has any weight either. This goes for any lobby or server based game, not just shooters. This is doubly so because in those games, you often have the same win condition for each win or loss.

At least you get a feeling of accomplishment when you win. You typically can track your win / loss record. There is no sense of finality or accomplishment in PS2. The battle just keeps circle jerking its way into boredom. This is why people KD:R monger it up so much. Can't focus on wins? Let's focus on KDR!

This'll be my last post in this thread. Not sure how i missed the awful OP's post.

Hey man, World of Warcraft is down the hall. You are not a special snowflake, you are just meat for the grinder on Auraxis.

I don't get how you can't appreciate this game for what it is. Fine, go play some timed instanced King of the Hill or Team Deathmatch shooter with a dozen other homers who want to feel like Rambo.

Wait til they announce their shutting down due to a lack of funds. You think you feel cheated now, that's when it becomes a real kick in the balls. I've supported a few failed MMOs, 1 of which was in open beta then the devs decided after taking peoples money that it was too much work to fix and shut it down...no refunds. The game is a time killer of entertainment. If you don't look into it for anything more than that and play other things when this game goes stale for your preferences you'll be okay. They have a time table to release new content and fix bugs. If their time table is too slow for your tastes move on and come back every 6 months. However in a MMO world 6 month breaks are killer with FTP cash grabs (which this one has been from the beginning). Choose your breaks wisely and know PS2 won't be around forever and H1Z1 will last even less.

This thread is bad.

DL the Auraxis Command for your phone. It tracks all your stats who you killed, who killed you, your friends, their friends, etc. Maybe that will keep you interested a bit longer. I am nearing another phase of burn out myself with nothing else currently that's released that I'm interested in.

I think it would be interesting to select a "mercenary" option once logged in and become the 4th faction able to kill all, or MERC out and join (if your side has the over population) one of the other 2 lesser pops.

there were talks of being able to play as a NS merc, but I don't know if that's on the table anymore.

In echo of Inu, what have the PS2 Devs really done in 3 years of active Development to really develop the PS2 Experience? Both good and bad?

I can appreciate that the new Devs are under fairly recent new leadership, and it's unfair to hold them accountable for the game's past before their watch started. And I can also appreciate the handful of recent balance tuning changes in the "right direction" (though the DBG-to-Players information blackout doesn't really build any ground long term outlook by players).

I really enjoyed PS2 at launch, in many ways. I enjoyed it over the years at different levels of engagement, but mostly pretty strong. I enjoy PS2 sometimes now, in a handful of ways, mostly because of it still being a different experience than anything else. My current interaction with the game is not frequent or strong or consistent in good quality of experience.

PS2 is still an amazing platform for potential amazing development. I just don't have strong confidence in that development, and I feel the current game is gradually slipping: players have shifted into "best" methods for playing a farm/griefing game rather than actually fighting in/for a big war, Devs have not made any serious efforts to target those methods (either nerfing the methods effectiveness or the reducing the level of reward for doing them rather than doing Combined Arms War stuff) or introduce carrots to motivate players to do Combined Arms, the pop balance is frequently very imbalanced which further reinforces farming, the barriers to entry for newer players (experience/knowledge on PS2's various subset of "K-Style GunZ" tactics, knowledge on "best" Loadouts, Cert grind to get comparable Loadouts, patterns to farm weakest/best targets, cryptic and complicated game world experience for new players, in-game aids that steer new players to hell level, lack of easy to find [and current] 3rd Party learning curve support resources... especially for cryptic, K-Style GunZ, and best Cert Grind Loadout stuff), the continued lack of pan-Faction coordination tools, etc.

I'm not sure what the PS2 Devs long term plan/vision is. I don't have much confidence. I know a lot of players/designers are often compelled to derivation as some sort of blind faith cure-all ("copy PS1", "copy game X", etc), but unless PS2's issues are properly assessed and addressed piecemeal with non-blind faith plans, PS2's future is bleak.

PS2 is not a game that can survive on low numbers. It can't stay funded. It can't populated the content to provide much of the "Massive" experience. PS2 cannot afford to hemorrhage players to WoW or any other source.

I get that lots of people (like you) think it's really cool to be in the cool-kids-club and kick people as they drift out of this game. But PS2 is not a game that can survive players cuts, where only the handful cool-kids remain. It needs volumes of meat for its grinders, and that means courting and providing for the masses to enjoy their own experience alongside yours. You don't have to enjoy their gameplay, but to try to make a game where they cannot enjoy their gameplay (when it only boosts your own) is long term death for PS2 and almost everyone's gameplay style.

I think you're just burned out and got tired of the game. It happens. But you guys who feel that way start screaming about population or "balance" issues and create your own self fulfilling prophecy. Other people ready your bull*hit and think it's a bad game full of horrible problems, so they don't try it either.

See what I mean. This is worthless. You haven't suggested one goddamn thing they should do to "fix" whatever crap you're complaining about. You've barely even identified WHAT you want fixed.

More myopic nonsense. Who DOESN'T enjoy a game more when they first get it? This isn't a unique observation or even one worth value. EVERYONE is more excited about a game they just started playing when it's all new and shiny. Big freaking deal, that doesn't mean the game now is complete garbage.

YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. And you are sitting here making it worst. I rather a player quit than just stick around and be a poisoned pill to everyone else.

I have experience playing PS2, I have experience as a dev/designer, and I have a experience reviewing corporations, revenue models, etc. My posts are not me mindlessly screaming in response to my woes in-game.

My post is accurate in managing new player expectations. It is far better to get them on board ready for what to expect, than to get them on board and then blindside club them over the head.

1) players have shifted into "best" methods for playing a farm/griefing game rather than actually fighting in/for a big war, Devs have not made any serious efforts to target those methods (either nerfing the methods effectiveness or the reducing the level of reward for doing them rather than doing Combined Arms War stuff) or introduce carrots to motivate players to do Combined Arms
2) the pop balance is frequently very imbalanced which further reinforces farming
3) the barriers to entry for newer players (experience/knowledge on PS2's various subset of "K-Style GunZ" tactics, knowledge on "best" Loadouts, Cert grind to get comparable Loadouts, patterns to farm weakest/best targets, cryptic and complicated game world experience for new players, in-game aids that steer new players to hell level, lack of easy to find [and current] 3rd Party learning curve support resources... especially for cryptic, K-Style GunZ, and best Cert Grind Loadout stuff)
4) the continued lack of pan-Faction coordination tools, etc.

PS2's issues (I've identified some major ones above... again) need PS2 Devs to properly (1) Assess, then (2) Understand, and then (3) Address each issue piecemeal with non-blind faith plans/action. To do this, the Devs need to either have the competence to do it themselves, or they need to hire the people who do, or they need to communicate with the community to supplement their competence. I DO NOT think the Devs have the competence to do this themselves, and they have broken/dismantled most constructive communication with the Community. They hired Wrel, which is HUGE, but the more we praise him, the more the rest of the Devs will very likely get jealous and capsize him and his efforts.

I have made many specific suggestions over the years on how to improve PS2. This forum is littered with my suggestions. You can look at my posts history to see them. Many others have contributed massive numbers of good ideas as well. PS2 Devs have largely not responded, and more recently have removed formal channels of player feedback like Raodmap and Wishlist.

I've suggest things like (on the subject of carrots for Pop Balance) "Underdog Directives, Underdog Ribbons, Bonus XP for specifically fighting the Overpop faction (Continent and Base). Also explore viability and details of NS Mercs. Explore adding questlike 'missions' that push people to leave the zerg. Etc." Adding Air Radar, Adding the ability for Players to see what Loadouts other players are using, etc. But such suggestions are best suited to being told in threads that focus on specific areas. Threads like this one, are more for the "big picture", like an Alcoholic realizing they have a problem, and to start the first step of working on addressing that problem.

Many people enjoyed Planetside 2 as new players at launch. Most players HATE PS2 as new players currently. That is what I am talking about.

I'm talking about the playability of the game across player demographics. I am talking about Revenue Models. I am talking about Power Creep, Learning Curve, Game Lifecycles, Design Docs, New Player Experience, Intra Demographic Experience, Player Behavior Modifiers, Budget, Elasticity, Opportunity Cost, Brand, Marketing, Customer Engagement, Style Drift, Broken Window Theory, etc. None of that is myopic. None of that is nonsense.

You are promoting aimless, blind faith plans for the future, down the same downward spiral we've been on, with a defiant outcry against any suggestion that the game has issues or that the game should veer from it's current path.

Am I ruining your Forumside?

New Player experience is already hell for them. New Players quit this game in droves. My post in some ways at least prepares them for that.

Most long-time players will not be swayed in their enjoyment of the game by my post.

I want a better game. I would have PS2 Devs work toward that. You want more of the same. We are simply both lobbying for different things. It is not surprising that we each find the other a part of the problem: we are each a part of the other's problem.

Balance is boring. Have a nice day.