Considering planetside 2 is bleeding player base, I think it's prudent for SOE to listen to people like this to understand why people are leaving rather than be dismissive of their concerns. I, along with many other players, left PS2 for various reasons, one of them being complete lack of support for several player demographics. Right now, PS2 all about HA, infiltrators, ESFs, and MBTs. There is surprising lack of diversity when it comes to type of gameplay. You can put a lot of certs and time into LA, but your role is limited to very few specific circumstances. It's as if you are discouraged from playing specific gameplay style that you enjoy. When I first joined in during beta, I was told by the developers that game will encourage specialization with the promise of deep level of customization and endless ways to cert into a particular class. I got none of that. A year or two from now, when the inevitable server merger happens, only a small core group of diehard fan base will be left to wonder how the game got to that state. People left because the gameplay became stale. No variety, just a zerg of HAs and infiltrators and hoard of vehicles moving from base to base.
A couple things I wanted to bring up... 1, I didn't state in this topic that infil is OP. There are aspects of the class that need addressing, such as stalker cloak on a point (Max was disallowed the ability to capture points because of how many people would have to go back as heavies to take it out, having multiple darklight users go back is not OK), Motion Spotters completely turning the identity crisis with LA into a crisis of one being the weaker version of the other in terms of utility while also completely destroying the class which needs the element of surprise while having no way to stay off radar (it should at least despawn upon the infill's death and certainly no more than one on the floor at a time), and the straight pull bolt invalidating semi autos and scout rifles again. (this is being reworked some more) Outside of that, though, I find the idea of the infiltrator to be fine, and the class only comes up because it is the easiest to compare to, being sisters (well, LA is a red headed stepsister, but that isn't entirely an infil problem) Yes, 69:20 isn't impressive, hell neither is 69:14... until you consider how you fared the first time picking up a class since release. What LA needs is a way to stay off of radar, and purpose built weapons so that we can actually execute once we use our ability to get to the confrontation and maps designed with LA in mind (for instance, tech plant rafters seem great for LA, but really they are as good as your opponent is blind, as you cant move at all and death makes you unrevivable) as well as some sort of physics that allow our bodies to fall rather than cling to rooftops by their ankles. LA wont get a way off radar, we asked and the whine counter is too great, we share our weapon class unlike everyone else, and the maps are already being redesigned without LA in mind because it is the child SOE wishes they never had. it doesn't fit in with their grand vision of copying an already dated BF release.
the problem with LA is that its such a bland class, yet there is so much opportunity to add more depth and meaning into the class.
LA gets jetpacks, srsly how much more do you want? You can go anywhere, anytime. You can perch 100 meters above hordes of enemies and just plink away at them. No other class gets to do that. There is no defined role for classes, you can play however you want, you aren't obligated in any way. Sure you can be "sneaky" and flank enemies, or you can sit in a tree and farm until you run out of ammo.
24-Hour News in perfect world. In addition, all enemies stand still for the LA to plink at, and generously avoid Qing the obvious LA in a tree. Should someone do it by accident, enemies deter from shooting him out of courtesy. Get real. It's like saying infiltrators can walk among enemy zergs when cloaked and just casually take everyone out. Its too good to be true because it's only true when the enemy allows it. You can't play LA how you want. This game didn't come out yesterday - people know where LA can go. where they can be, and where and when to look out for them.
You seem to think all players are pros. There are always clueless people, there are always people standing still. People rarely look up when engaging enemies: fact. And nobody in a battle is gonna spam Q at trees. That never happens. And unless there is scout radar/recon tools, an infiltrator can easily walk through a zerg. Being greedy and uncloaking for kills will get you killed. And the enemy almost always allows it, so I guess it's always true. You can play LA however you want. People assume others are going to keep an eye on the trees, and the people they think are doing that also make the same assumption. Even in places like inside biolabs people are often clueless. You can perch on one of the shield thingies(IDK what they are, support beams? You can spider-cling to the inside walls of the biodome) and keep firing at enemies. Only kill who you know you will kill. If you start shooting someone they will look around until they find you. Also, not everyone has been playing since beta, there are new players every day who have yet to learn. I've seen players that are still learning the difference between ally and enemy players. They spot you, so what? You could be 100 meters above or below, the little arrow on the minimap doesn't show altitude.
