Freshman's first impression of the game. (long, long post)

Freshman's first impression of the game.
Intro
I'll start of by saying; I've been playing the game since a week. I started playing somewhere in the middle of the bonus xp period. I've been reading wikis, guides and watching tuts to get familiar with the game to learn about the mechanics and such but again, I've only been playing for about a week, so the root problem of some of the criticism I'll be giving might jsut be a case of L2P. If you do spot such instance, try and correct me/debate/educate me, don't just "OLOL L2P N00B", thank you for your understanding.

Certs & SC
Lets start of with certs. Before I started playing, I hear a lot of people complaining about the slow inquisition of certs and how much of an unfair advantage paying customers got. Seeing as I was planning on throwing some money at the game if I liked it, it wasn't such a big deal at first, the devs need to eat as well, after all.

But when I started playing, I immediately saw where the F2P complaints where coming from. Following the LOL formula, with one currency to buy passive bonuses (runes) and weapons (champs) or buying just the bonuses with certs and weapons with SC the system isn't inherently bad if the weapons were actually side grades.

The thing is, they aren't side grades, there straight up upgrades or vital "side grades". The lock on rocket launcher, for example, might deal less damage for its lock on ability but for long/mid range anti vehicle combat, that lock on its straight up vital and will drastically increase your damage output. Unless the driver is stupid and will stay still in an open field, there is no doubt that the lock on rocket launcher is vastly superior in an mid/long range infantry to vehicle engagement. I would dare say that the infantry UP problem I hear about is partly to blame due to the lack of accessibility of this weapon to the masses.

Second example, is an AA max, two guns are better then one, I don't think i have to draw a picture for this one. Yet a second AA gun will cost you a whopping 1000 certs. You might be more "flexible" with the shotgun/gatling/falcon on the other arm. but in 80% of the cases that doesn't matter. Again its just a straight up upgrade, at the job you send out to do (a 2x upgrade at that) with a bit of camouflage.

Third example, the Liberator bomber > straight up upgrade compared to stock, some people even deem it necessary for them to want to gun your ship. The only situation that I'd prefer the stock gun over the bomber is when your flying med range over an other gunship, beyond a good accuracy range of the bomber, but still close enough to hit with gunfire, yes it still be quite useless, and this situation is rare indeed, but I'd imagine it'd be a little less useless then the bomber. Apart from that, I see no reason to prefer the stock gun, ever.

Rocket pods > universally agreed as an upgrade, don't think I have to draw a picture with this one, still feel free to dispute, if you must.

Flash guns. A gun, is better then no gun right? Don't think you can argue with that, its a clear upgrade. And again, the more expensive the gun, the more us full it is.

So if we put things in perspective, A F2P Has a choice to make do I: use the inferior guns to keep up the stats race or do I save up for the superior guns and lose the stats race. either way, he's going to be at a clear disadvantage until he maxes out the stats and gets the superior guns, in comparison to paying users.

Which brings me to the pricing of the guns, €7 for a gun is a lot, a whole dam lot, I'd go as far as say, way to much, I could buy one or two indie games for that price. A gun in TF2, a direct competitor costs about €0.50 for example.

But then again, the cert price of guns is even more outrageous. When i started playing (during double xp) I thought to myself, "Yeah, I can see why people are complaining, the cert acquisition time is pretty slow" as i was getting about 70 certs/h (without using "cheesy" tactics). I genuinely thought these where the normal rates, and even then I thought it was rather slow. Imagine how amazed I was when it suddenly got cut in half. At about 40 certs an hour, it would take a whopping 25 hours to get a gun you need to have to be viable.

Last thing I want to say about Certs & SC is that with flat superior guns and stats, the game is incredibly newby unfriendly. I've tried getting some of my friends to play with me, but they were either reluctant to even try, because of the things that they heard or just quite after an hour or two. Because they felt like absolute cannon fodder in comparison to the people with all the unlocks.

When I talked to them about it, they had to say that they didn't feel like muscling trough the lower levels just so that they stood a chance against the vets. As they didn't only have more game play experience, but also flat out better stats and equipment.

Community -> Game Design
this first bit is a direct follow up of the cert chapter. because certs are a necessity to being viable many of the players have seem to adapted. Using "cheesy" or "wrong" tactics they try to maximize the cert gain per hour instead of having fun or even trying to win.

For example, the dreaded spawn camping with liberator bombers (and other vehicles for the matter) in my short time on this forum, I saw plenty of posts about this so I won't be going into detail about it. but it does open the way to the next example.

Nobody uses AA, because in terms of certs/h its very, very unrewarding. Again a very popular topic, so I'll pass on going into detail again. But the lack of willingness to counter one of the bigger problems because the game doesn't reward you enough for it and the lack of equipment (skygaurd isn't a default, neither is a double AA for the max or the homing AA rocket launcher) is a clear problem.

Intel gathering, either with darts or by being a dedicated spotter is rarely or never done by anyone even though Intel is extremely during a fight or for finding the fight (which is an other problem). A simple solution would be to give a small amount of certs (lets say 5) for tagging that hasn't been tagged recently and giving n other small bonus (lets say 10%) if said target gets killed within a minute.

Next is infantry spawn camping. Because its more rewarding in certs/h to camp a spawn then it is to barricade and hold a capture point or generator, many people tend to do it. Why aren't infantry men holding a point rewarded for it with a amount of certs for holding it every minute?

The UP nature of infantry when compared to vehicles. I think this is largely to blame due to the lack of acnes to the necessary equipment, see previous chapter for details. The lack of cover, outside of the establishments is also a problem. Why the infiltrator doesn't have access to C4 is also beyond me, if your camping a spawn as a tank and your standing still all the time, you dam well diverse to be blown up by an infiltrators C4. And argument might be that it would be to easy to blow up a sunderer, but an active sunderer is, and should be hard to sneak up on, especially when terminal vision is being used.

Conclusion
All in all, I think many of these problems can be fixed by giving greater rewards for objective play and propper rewards for other vital jobs, capturing a major facility is a huge deal, and should be rewarded more, holding an objective should be more rewarding then camping a spawn to promote objective play, making people want to barricade the objective. People might also start spotting and using AA when they are properly rewarded for it, making the roles more viable when it comes to crests/h.

Second fix would be giving infantry access to the necessary anti-vehicle and anti air equipment, or at least make it cheaper and easier to access.

Slot
Even though I could still write about the lack of tutorials and such, I'll leave it at this for now.

While discussing in this thread, please keep the forum rules in mind.

I highly recommend reading the wiki page about arguments before trying to dispute some ones grounded arguments. You are free to give your opinion, but don't go "You are wrong! Because I think...". Bias stuff isn't appreciated either.

Again, you are free to give your opinion, but your opinion =/= a fact!

Will work on any typos in a few minutes.

Agreed. Rocket pods are no sidegrade to the default extended afterburn pod: without them, air to ground, especially against vehicles, is more difficult.

The pricing is definitely steep, even with 3x SC. Unfortunately the masses aren't willing to wait for intermittent 2x and 3x sales just to make prices work for them. It's a free market, and if you want to attract more than the faithful (which is what happened to PS1) you have to bend a little.

Yesterday Vanu got rolled on Soltech by TR, who suddenly began rolling a ton of aircraft. Nemesis is a joke, that is all. Trying to lock onto a cloud of Mossies rocketpodding the rooftop of spawn doesn't work.

That said, defense is difficult in the smaller outposts, and all it does is lead to easy rolling battles back and forth until you hit "real" bases.

First impressions are important, and when most new players realize how long it will take them to get new equipment, it's an immediate turn off. Add on the vehicle spam and continent population issues, and you have a lot of unhappy newbies that just uninstall.

Some sidegrades are quite obviously upgrades of stock weapons to varying degrees. Less obvious with AR/LMG/Carbines/pistols, mbt/lightening mainguns tend to be playstyle or situational but the secondary guns are quite obviously upgrades and yes, 2 x Max whatever arm is obviously better against a certain type of adversary. Where it's blatantly obvious are the ESF/libs main weapons.

When it comes to AA:
Tried the SG out and it can be fun playing cat and mouse with a target but your never going to really be a deterrent on your lonesome. I do see the SG as a squad/platoon tool to be pulled along with friendly air/ground.
Tried the ground to air lockon launcher during beta and was that disappointed with it that I haven't bothered with it since launch.
The AA max is brilliant but it does take a bit of time to get used to it and I feel that a lot of people purchase the second burster arm and think that ESF and libs are going to rain from the sky once you point them up. It's not going to happen that way as there two things you need; one is a friendly fixie and ammo fairy and another is a distraction, preferably friendly air. Without the fixie your restricted to chaining yourself to a terninal or AMS sundy and without the distracion your public enemy number one.
I really enjoy playing AA max on Miller. I don't like flying, I feel uncomfortable and out of place in the air but even then I'll attempt it if the outfit asks me too.

Intel gathering, as you put it, is in my mind done by the squad/platoon/outfit that your are a part of. Anyone that is defending or attacking a base should be relaying relevant information through chat channels. The darts thing is at worst a gimmick and at best a personal early warning system.

A possible way to thwart libs spawn camping is to create shielded holes in the top of the spawn rooms, akin to the doors currently, through which those inside can shoot out but can't be damaged in return. If the ceilings are sufficiently high there should be a fairly tight area of sky that can be covered by burster maxes. It wouldn't totally cure the issue but I don't think anything will stop this. Videos of PS1 show lightenings camping external doorways of bases for 30 mins at a time whilst only getting two or three kills.

Base design, a la cap points, is controversial. I've read on the forums that the current game engine restricts underground chambers in some way so the only way to move a percentage of cap points out of reach of vehicular bombardment is to use buildings that have a totally enclosed upper floor. In effect a smaller version of a tech plant, something like the generator building in the biolabs. This building is used in some of the smaller bases and if the two upper external doors are blocked it would mean that infantry would have to storm the building to get to the cap point. I would suggest that half of the single point bases have the cap point hidden away in this way and the other half as open as they are now, and for those outdoor multiple cap point bases to have one or two of them hidden away.

I really do like the look of the bases that were looked at during tech test and alpha.
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...ha-bases-werent-always-poorly-laid-out.74348/

Cert gathering? I'm hoping that once people reach a point where they have at least two roles that they feel they can play to an adequate level they won't worry too much about gaining more certs super fast and that it'll be a bi-product of playing the game.


Just a few thoughts I had in response to the OP and a few more that I had whilst playing the game. I have my fingers crossed really tight for an inspirational metagame.

Yesterday we TR rolled VS on connery, and pushed them back to warpgate on all continents

All we had to do is spam a bunch of misquitos with hellfire rocket pods and win

They're balanced.

For some reason,VS prefer magriders over everything else-they underestimate the superiority of the rocketpod.

yes because the scythe's rocket pods are so horribly bad. LOL 2 at a time? barely does tickle damage to tanks and libs.

I especially agree with the AA Max issue (and most of what OP said).. but i want to emphasize the importance of the AA Max's 2nd AA gun. Only 1 gun does nothing against the aircraft.. and not only does it do nothing against the aircraft, there are TOO many aircraft in nearly all battles to defend against. So you're already outgunned from the get go. So you buy a second AA gun, and you need a handful of Max's to even scare off most aircraft.. and you know what isn't rewarding in a game that REQUIRES you to earn certifications in order to unlock more stuff?
Playing AA Max and getting SCREWALLOFNOTHING in return for damaging and hardly ever killing aircraft.. despite pumping 2 full reloads of AA rounds into a plane. don't even mention the fact that a lib can be out of AA range but still in bombyoutoallah range.
So I don't get a kill, dont get any XP, and I'm doing this with about 4+ other people and this is what we're getting? I am also doing this from poorly-built defensive platforms in the wide open???

Seriously.. revamp the everliving heck out of the AA options in the game.

This game is causing me to drink!

some of the issues mentioned are solved by being in an outfit - and is a week really long enough to make judgement? Maybe it would be if you just bought the game for 90 bucks?

This post is meant as a freshman's first impression. Want to know why all the new guys are leaving the game? Well, its all in the OP.

And which problems would be solved by joining an outfit?

TLDR

Skim thru it

You got some points...you got a lot of horrible points that I could proof wrong.

"but your opinion =/= a fact!", good anticipation.

You have well described what PS is in the moment.

Don't bother posting If you can't be bothered to read the op.

Then please, provide your so called proof, or again, don't bother posting.

OK - I am only going to bother with this once because other wise I might as well record it and put it on youtube.

Station cash & certs:
Free to play.... why not think of this game and its "free to play" section as a trial... a free peak at the game. IF you like it, then why not buy in to it? For the SC - ONLY buy it at double or tripple cash times! I know I do!
Membership - think of membership of a way of supporting the game. Here in Australia we pay out about 100 ~ 120AUD for a new game. Take that csh and split it between a monthly membership and some station cash. Then you will see its all good.

Other wise... take the free to play as a trial tha you can keep playing. If you want more, its clear you like the game, so buy in to it.


Nobody uses AA, Intel gathering, infantry spawn camping:

All of these above can and are solved by being in an outfit. One with good squad leaders and outfit leaders. Which then also allows you to peak in to what is there of the meta game so far. (tactics)
I am not sure which server you are on so I can't recommend any to you - BUT - finding one that runs their own operations \ missions you will find that...

People do in fact use AA when ordered to and to help support armour
Intel gathering is done between squad leaders and members of those squads scouting out positions.

Spawn camping... well ffs! if you are being camped spawn else where and get a mossie or tank and come back and camp them! Don't be dumb and stay there giving them kills!


Taking a game on its free to play or trial mode and making a choice about it is wrong.
The trail they are giving on the free to play mode is freaking awesome! You can keep playing it forever and not spend anything! That is the free to play!

Other wise - get some SC - try a MONTH membership - its only 15 bucks - join a big outfit - THEN make a call on it

Planetside 2
Meta game

LOL

I said what there is of it.. for now - more will be added later

You mean the meta game that doesn't exist.

dude.. meta game is there, squad leaders and outfit leaders know this. Its basic at the moment but its there.
Meta game being the game above the killing - ie, taking bases, which bases, which tile to hit next, watching NC & VS movements on the map etc etc etc.
Then add in the base bennys and being able to take away tech (Main tanks) and buffs for health from bio labs

Ah you mean the farm certs meta, or zerg metas.. like finding where there are no enemies for easy caps. Yeah. It's awesome.

1 cert omg that's crazy!

The stock guns are fine

The rocket pods are nerfed to hell, TTK is triple the rotary cannon and you get AB or A2A without them

If the game gave you certs for nothing the company would never have made the game in the first place - it wouldn't be profitable. Also you would max out all your stuff in a month (for an MMO!)

IMAGINE PLAYING YOUR SHI*T WOW MMO AND MAXING OUT YOUR CHARACTER IN A MONTH

Readjust yourself and your crazy expectations.