[Suggestion] Faction Diversity is Dying. It Must Be Saved.

Pounders are average vs vehicles. All max AV weapons are effective. Vanu gets a boost with OC, TR gets a theoretical boost with lockdown, but what works in theory often gets you killed in practice.

Faction Diversity is a really neat idea/hook. And when it works right, it can be absolutely amazing. Many epic game genres are defined by Faction Diverstiy: RTS, Fighting Game, etc. But...

But it's also prone to major potential balance issues, especially when it comes to a Dev Team that isn't good with balance or quick to respond to balance problems. When 1/2 the Empire Specific items are unused gimmicks and 1/2 are OP game breakers, Faction Diversity can get bad fast.

Also, Faction Diversity costs more to develop and can't sell to as many Players. And players aren't buying the ES non-OP Gimmicks. How many Manticore, Cerberus, Spiker, or gold/black Beamers does SOE sell?

Gold and black beamers? None, They do not sell those items. Manticore, Cerberus? Hardly any, The weapons were poorly balanced and allowed to sit for too long before receiving their buffs. Spiker? Tons, The Spiker was the first weapon majority of people would even acknowledge as a usable Vanu Sidearm.

Faction Diversity is not just an idea or a hook. Faction Diversity is what this game is marketed around. The faction Diversity is one of the main selling points, Probably only second to the massive war zones. I still have faith that the developers can do faction diversity and balance it effectively.

You can sell faction Diversity to even more players than you can Nanite Systems. Its also more efficient at burning unused certs. Why? When you unlock an NS object station cash (provided it doesn't have your factions name in the title like the Coyotes) its unlocked for every faction character you make on that Station Account. This is not the case for empire specific weapons. Take the Phaseshift for example, When I bought that with station cash I did not get the TRAP or the RailJack as a free unlock. I ended up buying the RailJack for the days I felt like NC was getting completely wrecked. This in turn meant that SOE got a second sale. If it they only released an NS sniper in place of the 3 specific ones, They would have only gotten one sale because NS unlocks for all factions if you buy it with station cash..


Faction Diversity will make them more money than Nanite Systems will. Believe me, It may cost more, But it will also sell more.

On one hand, I would love more empire specific vehicles. On the other hand, I think it's ******** that you have to buy the same weapon 3 times (Once for each of the factions), even though the gun is the same for all of the 3 factions. Eg: ranger for prowler + ranger for vanguard + ranger for magrider.

This would probably be where the SOE is trying to pull money from people who play all the factions without having to put hardly any investment in. It is a rather dirty tactic because its effectively them wanting something for little to nothing put in.

I appreciate the HUGE boon good Faction diversity can have on PS2. But I have also seen how various PS2 Dev attempts at Faction diversity have ruined gameplay for months on end. It's bad enough to have an OP unit, but to have that OP unit only availble to one Faction has been a nightmare. Not just in warping what's effective on the battlefield, but in fueling massive Population imbalances.

I DO love Faction Diversity in games. But PS2 Devs make it so painful. At least with NS imbalance every Faction can participate evenly and we don't also have to deal with Population issue.

All that said, I still welcome ES Weapons in the game. But for "must have" staples, I really prefer NS versions because it's too risky to rely on an ES version to be good enough.

I can see your point. And I think it works both ways:
1) making an NS gun means less labor to produce, and is is sellable to more potential players
2) making ES guns means more labor, but more can be sold to each player who plays more than 1 Faction, and it will also nut clutter up their overall inventory (answers to their needs) as fast

It is easy to balance ES weapons, but you're right its the time it takes them to respond which kills it. Instead of disabling something obviously powerful, such as an ES ability / weapon until they make it on par, people just abuse it.

Wait... what game are we talking about here? Can't be PS2.

Yes, exactly. PS2 Devs will eventually re-balance OP stuff by nerfing the thing into oblivion, but it takes months or longer for them to do so. And during that time, it wrecks havoc in the game on many, many levels.

I like ES and I like new stuff, but not when it just breaks the game for entire seasons.

A new company has taken the legacy. This thread will be revived so that any potential new employees of Day Break Gaming can see this and remember. Never forget the roots of Planetside 2.

I agree with the OP. This is a serious issue. I want to be proud of TR, it's hard to do right now when we're always getting nerfed! lol

If you all want change then people need to stop crying when the other faction gets a new toy, all factions would have something cool and over powered if people would just shut up with the nerfs.

That is true as well. Everyone complains when another faction gets a new toy all for themselves and that too needs to stop. Sadly that is typical gamer "entitlement" at work. I say that not really as an insult, but as the way many gamer seem to behave in general in the name of "fairness". Which of course I find ridiculous as these factions are suppose to be unique.

And for everyone crying about Higby leaving, he was part of the problems with the company, just keep that in mind. All the nerfs are just disgusting and ridiculous, infantry tanking tank rounds, striker is a useless pos while his favorite faction gets a hand cannon that does more damage they are faction launcher.

I joined TR because I like dakka. I want more dakka. Dont give TR guns with less dakka and dont give other factions guns with more dakka than TR guns. TR are the masters of dakka.

I also want the MCG to have +1000 RPM (adjusted damage) and be belt fed to take ammo directly from reserve so no reload is required so it lives up to its role as a minigun.

More dakka.

MOAR DAKKA!

Players have been screaming this since beta, The devs don't care, The studio, doesn't care. Everything is Common Core, because it's easy, efficient, and costs very little money to make 1 vehicle, or one weapon, and spam it across all the factions.

Why make a game that actually has quality, when you can make money off a game that is absolutely ****. Because people are stupid and pay for decals and whatnot, that other players design. (Again the devs are too ******* lazy to even bother with the game so they let players create **** and do their work for free.)

Not the players designing things is bad. It's good. But at the same time, the devs need to stop being ******* lazy and actually make something of quality value for a change.

I have yet to see more faction diversity added. Where is my hover flash.. WHere is my hover Harrasser... Support this and save Planetside from a life of dull same faction crap.

At the current state, PS4 version is the spotlight to the devs, as well as Koltyr and (again) a new NS weapon. If I had to guess when devs would take a look at faction diversity, it would be...idk...the end of this year?

Until that happens, We can continue to stress the importance of faction diversity. Just because they are working on other things does not mean they can't have someone working on designs and ideas.