Happy New Year & Update 02 Info!

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Higby, Jan 8, 2013.

  1. xOrionx

    Any news of tweak to infantry weapons or ESFs?
  2. ScrapyardBob

    So, specific feedback on what we were shown in last night's Friday Night Ops video:

    1) The spawn house in NW Indar looks like a fish-bowl. It definitely solves the problem of not being able to see what is going on outside, but as mentioned in the video, it's also extremely powerful as a building design because you can see and shoot almost everything. The design shown in the bio-lab is a far better one because while you can see out, you still need to step out one of the force fields in order to hold a commanding position on the attackers.

    - Fish-bowl design is probably OP when combined with the ability to shoot out.
    - Either obscure the sight lines from within the shielded area, or turn some of the shielded windows into "view" only.

    2) The bio-lab spawn design is *very* good. Protected balconies, multiple exit points, a new wide back door with a nice corridor, plus a bit of overhead cover. There's not much I dislike about this design as a standalone element and I think it's better then the one shown in Indar. This design (with a bit more cover over the roof area) would be ideal for major facilities like Tech Plants and Amp Stations. Especially when coupled with the upcoming tunnels.

    - The main tweak here is that there should be more 2nd and 3rd floor bridges connecting the spawn house balconies to the surrounding buildings or walls.

    3) The new "ramps" on the bio-lab landing pads are nice (they are the same as those already in-game out at Rashnu Bio Lab on Indar. However, they need to move them in about 1m so that you can more easily walk around the outer edges and not be funneled up the middle. The changes to "cover" on the bio-lab landing pads is also nice. It provides a place for defenders to push out while not being total exposed and for attackers to push in without being total exposed.

    - The entrance area over the bio-labs probably needs a portico added to make it harder to bomb the interior from the air?

    4) Windows on the bio-lab teleporter rooms are good. This may make it easier to work your way in from the teleporter room when attacking a bio-lab.

    - Force fields on bio-lab teleporter rooms need to be doubled up. There should be both an inner one and an outer one in the openings, with a separation of about 0.25m. This would match the thickness of the walls and make it harder to stick grenades or C4 to the shields in a way that harms those inside.

    5) The new vehicle pads being raised off the floor is a nice touch, but a bit "proud" (raised up too much). The extraneous "Jersey" barriers that bi-sec the Amp Station vehicle bay are overkill and make it too cluttered.

    - Note that some Amp stations already had those 2m tall posts which blocked the ability of large vehicles to get under the stairs or up on top of the stairs. I know at least one of the Amp stations on Amerish has those posts in-game already.

    - The problem with the posts is that defenders need a place to park secondary sunderers while not blocking the vehicle bay. Under the stairs was a very good location and should have been supported by the design changes. Blocking us from getting vehicles up the stairs was a reasonable step because of various problems with vehicle physics up there.

    6) The problem with #2, the new bio-lab spawn house, is that it may make it easier for entrenched forces to defend a bio-lab for hours and hours. The PS2 developers need to come up with some way for siege & starve tactics to work. Basically, if hostiles have taken 100% of the surrounding hexes, it should be impossible for a facility to hold out for more then one hour unless defenders take steps to either (a) re-supply (ANT runs?) or (b) re-connect the territory to their warp-gate or maybe just take a neighboring hex.

    Personally I think they should (re)introduce the concept of nanites as being a resource that is finite and which feeds things like spawn tubes, MAX spawns, sunderer spawns, vehicle spawning, etc. The key concepts are that:

    - An item fed by nanites should have a base regen rate that is very low.
    - Facilities that are warp-gated should have an even lower base regen rate.
    - There should be buffer storage which allows for surges in demand to be handled quickly.
    - Collector devices should be placed which speed up the regen rate
    - Players should be able to bring in supplemental nanites in order to refill buffer storage to handle larger demand surges

    For instance, a single vehicle pad at a major facility would have a large storage unit nearby (under a balcony or inside a nearby building) which allows you to pull up to 20 MBTs in 60 seconds before it runs dry. Once it runs dry, the buffer tank refills at a rate that only allows MBTs to be pulled every 60 seconds. Then, have collectors on the roof of the building, up to four of them, each is capable of supplying enough nanites to pull a MBT every 60 seconds. If all four collectors are running, then the vehicle pad can spawn an MBT every 15 seconds forever. Or if MBTs are being pulled at a slower rate, it can result in the buffer unit being filled back up so that you can pull 20 MBTs in 60 seconds before it goes back to 15 seconds/MBT. Or you bring in a supply sundy to top off the storage buffer at that vehicle pad in order to pull even more armor in a short period of time.

    From the game play perspective:
    - More things to be guarded, repaired or blown up (nanite collectors should be somewhat fragile, buffer storage much harder).
    - Attackers can weaken the ability of defenders by attacking collectors and buffer tanks.
    - Defenders are given time to react by the buffer storage as collectors are destroyed without it being an all-or-nothing binary affair like SCUs or shield generators
    - It adds a layer of logistics to large force movements, small facilities can no longer spawn 100 MBTs in 2 minutes from a single vehicle pad. Large forces would need to reform at facilities with multiple vehicle pads.
    - Applying this to spawn tubes gives attackers another way to starve out defenders other then through sheer attrition / frustration of spawn camping.
    - Nanite hauling remains optional, but rewards forces who bring nanite supply sundies along. It lets them pull vehicles faster or keep up a fast respawn rate. Teams with organized logistics should be able to hold out for longer or attack faster.
    • Up x 4
  3. Marchief

    I can confirm you don't get assists
    • Up x 1
  4. Zermus

    LOL no SEP fix, figures...
  5. gl hf

    "skyguards, giving them some better ability to aim"
    Apparently still not enough!!!!!! skyguard can not hit the ESF now!!!!!!!!!! It's USELESS !!!!!!!!!
  6. NovaAustralis

    ^This. Deserves its own thread.
    • Up x 2
  7. BlueyTheWolf

    ACCOUNT WIDEEEE NEWSS
  8. Shehadi

    wouldnt mind if they balanced the shielding on our mana turrets. All I want them to do is complete the ring of shielding that surrounds thew guns like the other two factions, so we arent the easiest to kill on our turrets. Not that I use them a lot, but its a blatant imbalance in the game. Anyone who pays attention while playing knows what I am talking about.

    [IMG]
  9. Quake

    Hey Higby why don't you guys focus on Anti cheating. It is costing you guys money. People like me were going to buy but with all the script kiddies and SOE's total lack of spine and ability to do anything about it has caused many players to leave or not purchase.

    Why don't you guys prioritize.
  10. Goden

    Probably because they don't know how to stop them.
  11. Arcanum

    And because their policy leaves them free to make new accounts. This is the single most fatal flaw.
  12. Phrygen

    no change will make me comeback until i can use SC unlocked items on other factions/servers.
  13. Dramonicous

    -Rebalancing of XP rewards to help support tasks

    I was wondering if this includes the recon dart?
    Theres alot playing infiltrator (although mostly just sniper) but only a handful of them use the recon gun, or even know that it exists.


    In another thread I suggested that every enemy thats revealed by the sensor dart should count as spotted by the infiltrator that used it (just like pressing Q) so that you get the same exp if they are killed while the dart is active.
    • Up x 1
  14. Momo93

    I like the changes. I would also like a cert refund system (maybe like you get only 25% of the cert back) because I certed a lot of stuff which I don't use due to being new (well I had to try things to find my "style"), now I know exactly what I want. The second thing which needs attention are battle rifles. I trialed the AMR before buying it, I liked it, so I grinded 1000 cert to get it. But, aren't they supposed to be good at medium-long ranges? The damage sucks at those ranges, it works perfectly as a r*pe shotgun at close range but I bought it for the range in the first place xD.

    Edit: Oh, I am also thankful for the optimization, and there is an obvious memory leak which kills fps over time (rarely you even go down to 1fps, come out of it, or crash). My poor laptop supports the minimum requirements (i32310m 2,10ghz, 4gb ram, nvidia GT555M 1GB) so it should not run on low (and I am even using ini tweaks) like I am playing GTA4 on max.
  15. Inverness

    I really wish you guys would just do a complete redesign of all the bases in the game.

    Your entire design approach is just bad, because bases are designed as shooting galleries where you can get hit from several different angels and there is no real way to defend anything other than with sheer numbers. Each base in the game is like a CoD or BF map, which are designed to keep people running and dieing.

    I think PS2 would benefit a lot if all the developers had actually played PS1 for a decent amount of time.
    • Up x 1
  16. Arcanum

    Yeah, that would be a great change. Having flashlights and headlights auto-spot with extra benefits(maybe bypassing or interrupting/draining cloaks or having longer spot duration?) would also be nice. Though maybe flashlights being silent could be enough as you would be able to spot dudes silently with the pistol without visibility penalties as flashlights can be toggled like lasers, right?

    Your user number is 475. I assume you were here since tech test. Do you think base design was always bad? Did it really get worse?

    What's your opinion on base turrets being automated?
  17. ZangooseSlash

    Can't wait for the update, especially for making it run faster for lower end computers! A ton of people including me can't wait to play planetside on a lower end computer. Until then, i'll just be watching gameplay!
  18. Neko_Okami

    I hope they do something about it running on lower end CPU's.
  19. Keiichi25

    I am sure they will place the Fishbowl Spawn rooms with some obscurity. They did mention no plans to put it in direct line of the CP... Although, the CPs should never be in 'open' areas either, which is too easy to camp with aircraft.

    Looking at the current design, it still has some flaws especially in the situation of Tech and Amp stations as it will be the same type of building. Does not solve the LA camping part, even with the two roof exits, as LA can still camp it as well as C4 it too.

    I do agree there should be some exit bridges to surrounding buildings, but that will be tackled by the Tunnels mentioned they did not cover.

    Most of this I agree with the exception of the Biolab change would make it 'longer'. The discussed change, I feel are not exactly going to allow major entrenchment of the Defenders. Biolab fights, the fail to defend, are less about the exits, but losing traction inside the base, which is the way it should be inside most bases. The amp and Tech stations LACK that kind of 'indoor' infantry fighting.

    Now as for the NTU supply... The problem I see is that in the past, NTU was what was used to regulate spawns, but the attacker had a literally infinite supply as well. While you do point out it should affect Sunderers as well, it creates a problem of creating the 'supply chain'. With no real heavy transport vehicle for air, like the Galaxy or Lodestar, the transportation of the supply of the NTU is going to be questionable as well as the delivery. Also, how do you propose to handle the situation of all the smaller bases. No one wants to do the 'supply run' and there is no 'automated' way to do it. So you run into the other problem of what happens when people sabotage or drain a place on purpose.

    From the outline here, you provide another problem, is how does one get to the collectors, how 'easy' it is to take out those collectors. Also, not all the places are producing MBTs... One of the things I found to be problematic in general is less so about the vehicles, but the simple fact that this does not really stop 'fleets' in general. People tend to last 'longer' with Aircraft or Tanks in large groups, the ones who suffers more are the forces that are fighting against a large group with smaller forces.

    Again, the problem is more about defense than it is 'attack'... In a 'hunker down' situation, as much as people hate turtle defense... Most people tend to 'attack' more than defend or try to hold out. The constant notion I keep hearing here is 'Leave, go to another spawn and go attack.' This does NOT inspire incentive to defend or hold positions, but to get out of a situation and go attack.

    Personally, a good fight is to be a LONG fight. Defense should be decent to make the Attackers work at it. Large fleets of Air or Tanks should not be the defining win of a base, Infantry, however, should be the defining win of the base. Air and Tanks should be the force pushing between bases, not suppressing the base.

    Despite some people here... Turtling Defense should be making the Attacker try to switch to 'defense' to try and hold their gains, while making the defender try and retake or hold off the attackers. They would be the 'bait' to allow the Defenders to get reinforcements as a counter. But if you constantly 'give up' and move out, you aren't 'holding the line' and even a counter attack where there is no distraction... Is weaker than an actual pincer move.
    • Up x 1
  20. TheEvilBlight

    You need an ingame decal for being post 1000...