Indar-side

I realize the developers already know what's going on, but I want to make a post!

[sarcasmfont] As a result of the new system we have Indar all the time! It's amazing! Why have other continents? Really?

The best form of gameplay is Indar 24/7 with all the other continents being ghost hacked. I mean, Indar can be open for 10 hours, and Hossin will close in 45 minutes. It's the best thing ever! [/sarcasmfont]

Do something about this please, it's ridiculous.

Noooot on Briggs(PC)

I personally love Esamir, but I am very partial to maps with snow in any game (I'm a winter person), but alas I know if Indar is open that is where the fighting is, or will soon move to. I wish that wasn't the case.

Any continent but Hossin (until they get the battle island and interlink facility).

Not on Emerald either

I hate when dudes think their server problems are game wide problems.

Besides; Indar-side is best side.

im on connery and i don't see this at all...

pop is very low, so that can be a factor, making the progress slower on pop places, while allowing for 10 man "zergs" to take over a continent unopposed.

Have you tried looking at the map?

Indar is popular because more people like it. Find that formula and apply it to the other continents and things might even up. But in fact I hear DBG is doing something different (the opposite maybe?) and changing Indar at some point in the future.

That's a tautology.

Hah! Nice point. It's also a fact though

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you : "Why Indar is Popular", a proof in two posts.

I don't think that is particularly true.

The way the log on system works still funnels people towards Indar, which always makes it more populous. Then since the VP change it has basically been in a feedback loop; Indar is the most populous all day which makes it by far the hardest to lock (comparatively a empty continent, which Indar never is, is ridculously easy to lock under the VP system) and because 2 other continents are pretty much perma-locked so more are funnelled back into Indar at log in making it harder to ever lock it.

It is a very bad design flaw in the VP system.

I see posts not on emerald
Not on Briggs
Well I play on cobalt and on miller and it's not there
Then ware is it?
I want indar

I don't know if I'd put the blame entirely at the feet of the VP system. To make an analogy, I'd say that that the VP system is gasoline. The PS2 metagame is a car. Without gasoline, the car doesn't really go anywhere. You need more than just gas to make a really great car, but it's a start.

Indarside however is an open flame. So instead of adding gasoline to a car in desperate need of fuel, you're adding it to a stalled car that's on fire. Now you've got a high speed raging inferno. You're definitely worse off, but it's not really the gasoline's fault.

The VP system has made the Indar situation much worse than it was (on my server anyway), because of how it works (hard to cap a higher pop continent & very easy to cap a lower pop continent - which then just feeds Indar-side 24/7 - having said that it isn't that Indar isn't ever locked, but it is much more rarely locked than the other three).

I'm not sure blame really comes into it, it just is what it is, but they need to look at the VP system and see if they can balance out the above flaws.

The formula is that the bases are terribly designed so farmers can fire into bases with their tanks....

The design of PS2 is such that you NEED armor to make attack pushes (set up and defend sunderer) and it's the most successful continent for attacking, which is what people want to do.

It's unquestionably the absolute WORST designs, yet it's popular because people are we-tah-it.

Amerish should be the most popular frankly.

Fun Fact;

The game was originally going to launch with ONLY Indar. Which is why it is thematically very different in its regions than any of the other continents. It was a big developer crunch to get Esamir launched in Beta, and stable for release.

However since a good portion of the launch population was Beta players, and in Alpha and Beta it was largely just Indar, after every continent launch the wave of players subsides as people migrate back to what is familiar.

This problem was exacerbated by multiple continents being launched before there being a meaningful system to flow battle between different continents; essentially creating a scenario where there was no NEED to become familiar with the new continents.

As Humans, we crave a steady inflow of new and novel things - but ultimately settle back into what is familiar and comfortable. It takes an exorbitant amount of effort and will to break familiarity, comfort, or habit. An amount of effort or will most human beings can't sustain for the sake of their own health - let alone for something they perceive as recreational.

So for a few; Esamir, Amerish, or Hossin hit a sweet tooth for them and it is now their favorite continent. Be it the novelty, or the looks, or what have you. This motivated them to learn the continent, leading to increased enjoyment of the continent. For the rest - it is back to the familiar.

Unfortunately I feel this is a problem that is not apt to be fixed. Culturally, Planetside 2 Veterans were raised on the concept that their favorite continent will always be available. This manifests itself in the backlash from the different continental locking mechanisms; the argument always centers on where they want to be is not available.

For newer players, they are just going where the action is. Because we still lack a meaningful way to control the flow of combat and where the front lines fall, as was present at launch in Planetside 1, they will become habituated to a given always-available continent (likely Indar). And the process refreshes itself and repeats.

No solution to this will not result in an exodus of players; which I imagine the Developers and the Bean Counters don't feel is financially sound for the game. It doesn't matter if it would improve retention, or foster a better community, or bring back old players - not if it means a sharp decline in players.

And to everyone who harshes on Hossin; I actually like Hossin. As do most of the folks I play with. Personally, I dislike Esamir (because its open areas clashes with my playstyle) and Amerish (because it is too restrictive to my movement).

I like Indar... And cold indar...

How about the mountainous/hilly Indar and THE not Indar?

I hate rolling mountain indar and swamp indar. I like Indaristan and Antarctindar