New player, need advice plz

So i plan to join the ranks of PS2 at the end of the weekend, joining either NC or TR (not sure which i prefer yet), and was hoping i could get some answers to a few things id like to know.

1. i am east coast NA, and was wondering which server would be best choice, with my priority being a server that is atleast somewhat balanced faction wise. Would really like to avoid a server where one of the enemy factions owns a large portion of the map the majority of times, and also wouldnt want to be on the faction that has that advantage.

2. Ive asked around on other sites about my system specs, but i am wondering if i would be able to run this on atleast low-medium settings with decent fps with my specs

nvidia geforce gts 450
intel core i7-2600 cpu @ 3.40ghz x8
8gb ddr3 ram
win7 64 bit home premium

From what ive been told, my video card may hold me back, but id be happy on medium settings with decent fps if this is doable with current card (if not, considered purchasing GeForce GTX 760 in about a month, but would like to avoid dropping $250 if possible).

The last thing to note, i will be away from early tommorow till late Sunday so i may not be able to reply to any posts right away. Please dont take this as disrespect, as when i return i will be reading all the replies to see what my options are.

I searched for a new players forum to post in, but could not find one, so i hope it is not a bother i posted here.

A big thanks ahead of time for any replies, i look forward to reading them!

Dump that card bud, and get a 5xx or 6xx series, everything else looks ok.

Seems like you're looking for Waterson NC.

The game is free, so just download it and give it a go. If it doesn't work, you won't have lost anything.

1. Neither.

2. I'd say download it and see how well you can run it. All computers aren't alike. Also, I have your graphics card and run it decently.

Pretty much.

Your FPS should be fine by the way, better than mine for sure.

If you're in-game send me a tell and I'll show you the ropes if I'm online (if you choose NC Waterson).

Waterson is usually NC/TR back and forth for population advantage by a few percentage during most of the day, with TR having an advantage in early, early morning and NC having a small advantage late, late night. The VS usually have between 25-30% population, always the lowest.

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For a little background on TR/NC:

NC Pro: All about freedom, liberty, and they believe that these rights are more important than anything else. Philosophy of hard-hitting/brute force and experimental weapons.

NC Con: The other factions see them as being controlled by evil corporations which are funding the NC military. The TR see them simply as terrorists and mercenaries. Unique weapons are often cool and have power, but often lack versatility.

TR Pro: They feel that peace, security, and unity are the ultimate goals, and they'll do anything in order to achieve that. Philosophy of using what has been proven to work, and laying down the largest volume of fire across all factions.

TR Con: They're essentially in never-ending martial law with little to no rights and an authoritarian government, thus the reason for the VS and NC breaking off of them. Unique weapons are often very effective, but sometimes boring as well.

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When you first start the game, change your settings to:

Flora: Off
Shadows: Off
Render Quality: 85%
Render Distance: 1000
Everything else low/medium.

If your FPS isn't high enough, change anything medium to low.

If your FPS is high but you want things to look better, change render quality to 90-100%, render distance to 1500, graphics/textures/particles/models to medium/high.

Wow thanks for the swift responses guys, didnt think id get any info before i hit the sack.

@Nc_Edacyn: Yeah that was the general consensus, gonna give it a go with current card and see how the game looks/feels, if not up to par gonna definitely invest on upgrade.

@VanuSovereignty: From what you, and another posted, Waterson definitely looks to be my destination considering both factions i am planning to pick from have solid population comparisons, with VS seeming not too far behind.

@Jrgsubzero: good to know i will atleast get decent gameplay with current card until i possibly decide to replace it

@Alarox: Very informative mate, appreciate this. The recommended settings you posted as well will go to much use, as i dont have the best computer tech savvy.

Calling it a night, likely will get a chance to check posts tommorow early, if not i will definitely upon return. Kudo's to all the help, was nice to see even VS players offering advice even though VS is a definite no go for me.

Good luck on everything. Game does take some time to get used to, but it can be pretty fun once you get the hang of things. Also, welcome to Waterson. Might see you on the battlefield on either one of the enemy factions to mine.

Waterson NC seems to be a decent choice.

Make sure you don't spend a penny on this game.

turn back now, if you want to save your sanity. or at least save your wallet from shelling out any smedbucks.

We're all Planetside 2 players at the end of the day.

Also, be sure to check out the technical section for tweaks and tips how to increase fps if you find it's an issue.

change the card, your rig deserves better !

btw, go waterson VS please, we need numbers there.

Thanks guys, i will be definitely going Waterson, it looks just overall a solid choice.

@NeverWas: I'm really a good ol' fashioned munitions guy, so VS really doesnt have any appeal to me. The only real thing i did like about VS was the no bullet drop, but id just prefer to have munitions weapons (also not a big fan of purple). With that being said, i feel bad putting your population at more of a disadvantage, but the good news is, i suspect i will provide VS alot of experiance until i get the hang of things, lol.

Purple spandex isnt appealing but i suggest you try all 3 factions because VS have some nice abilities/weapons

I'm not sure about servers as I don't play in the NA time zone (I got enough of that in DDO).

For factions:

TR - High rate of fire, low damage weapons giving average DPS. Easy to handle recoil and cone of fire bloom. Good for beginner players or people who enjoy FPS games, but aren't very good. Can be devastating in the hands of a good player. Their "tank" is actually a mobile artillery piece good for sitting at range and farming. Their fighter is fantastically manoeuvrable and the fastest in the game (by about 10%).

NC - Low rate of fire, high damage weapons, again with average DPS. Large recoil stats, with large cone of fire bloom. Very rewarding of good players who can compensate for recoil and who burst fire their weapons. Requires you to be a good play to be devastating. Their tank is the worst in the game (by far), their fighter is fairly average, but like the weapons just requires a little skill and experience.

VS - Average, average, average. Recoil is harder to compensate for due to the majority of the weapons' horizontal recoil being both left and right rather than just one of them. No real reward for good players, not forgiving in the slightest. Possibly the worst weapons in the game. Possibly the best tank in the game due to it's manoeuvrability (the downside is that you have to turn the whole tank to aim your main gun) and is great 1v1, but tends to suffer in larger fights. Their fighter is supposed to be the most manoeuvrable, but is sorely lacking and is the slowest of the three fighters (but only by 1KPH). These guys are a definite middle child, sorely in need of an overhaul.

So basically, if you want a challenge, play NC or VS. If you want either an easy game, or the chance to really shine, go TR.

I know it's been said but your rig should probably be able to run it pretty decently, all your stuff is better than mine and I still get a decent framerate of 30 fps, I could get it higher but I don't want it to look like I'm playing an 8 year old game. I'm a TR on Waterson, my NC alt is on Connery (formerly Helios) and my main toon, a VS, is on Connery. Out of them all I probably enjoy the TR's weapons the best. The VS is my main because I have a great outfit there that I've been with since they started (in beta) The NC's heavy hitters are nice but I prefer the nice effiecient feel the TR weapons have, that rapid sound of gun fire as you mow down an enemy. Stats are only half of what makes a gun, how it feels is the other. Try making three toons just to see which one feels right and now just which one sounds right by what you read.

matterson na east is good at afternoon to night time. pop balance is usually good and if you join a platoon theres almost always fights going on

go tr or nc, vs has a higher pop

your computer looks fine, tho maybe the vid card is low. but supposedly this game depends more on the cpu

i highly recommend buying a xp booster of some type. it will make the game much more enjoyable unlocking stuff faster

WATERSON DOES NOT NEED ANYMORE NC OR TR, PLEASE JOIN THE VS! There are few ways to fix a pop imbalance... merge, get players to switch, or new players to join the under pop empire. I've switched, some others have switched, but new people need to join the VS. There's nothing wrong with default VS gear, the player community is great, you get a lot more empire wide coooperation, and plus we look better than those other knuckle-dragging empires =)

Your computer will be fine. Especially after you tweak the settings. Render distance is huge; set it down to like 1500 or 1000 and you'll gain double digit FPS.

1- You system specs are fine, specially your cpu is nice and sice this game is very cpu intensive, you will get 30+ fps in huge battles in medium, i dont reconed going high/ultra ultinl you purchased your 760. I HIGHLY recomend overclocking your cpu if you need some extra frames, i overclocked mine to 4.3 ghz and im getting 40+ fps in huge battles and 60+ in medium battles. Another typ yo increase your frames is (once you have your 760) put your graphics settings in "true ultra" changing the opcions.ini files, this will give you 10% extra performance, can sound wired but it's 100% true, there are many posts out there, http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3029182 this could help.

2- Chosing server depends on what you're looking: on Matterson play the most experienced players but sometimes you will not find a decent fight because there is not enought pop. The most organized outfits (not all of course but a lot) operate on matterson, it the more "serious" server. Waterson has a more players, it fun since you allways find a good fight but usually outfits are not very organized. In waterson there are a lot of new players ( battle rank 1-20) since in matterson there are more experienced players (compared to waterson). I have an NC on matterson and a TR on waterson and i like both but i play 90% time on matterson.

I wrote this in an old post but could help you if you decide to play NC, its a weapons guide, hope it will help you.

Well if you decide to play NC:
-Heavy Assault weapon: Personally i like the NC6 Gauss Saw (the "free" weapon), amazing gun, hard to master but once mastered, its great with a *2 scope, adv foregrip, HV ammo, compensator, but if you dont like it EM6 is the way to go. The stock missil launcher is Ok but maybe later, you can buy the Anihilator if you play with friends/squads or Phenix but try them before.
-Ligh assault: Mercenary is also a very nice weapon, but if you are looking for something else, try Gd7f or Blitz, 50 round mag, high RoF, great close quarters weapon or a Shotgun (Piston if you like full auto or Claw if you like pump action, try both) You can use Blitz with infiltrator (amazing combo) and shotguns with your heavy also.
-Engineer: I would def go with the Compact Gaus S with the grenade launcher. This weapon const 500 certs or 700 SC, i recomend you to buy it with certs+100certs for the granade laucher. The combo Engineer+ammo pack+AV turret+grenade launcher is killer.
-Infiltrator: If you play as a sniper, use the free rifle, it's ok. If you play close quarters, def Blitz.
-Medic: Stock weapon is Ok, very solid weapon, but the GR 22 is grat if you re looking for something else (more close quarters) it only costs 250 certs, i would buy it with certs and keep you SC.
-Max: Buy a second shotgun, the grinder is cheep (250 certs) and great with the long cap magazine or Scatterson.

If you want to buy a gun, try commissioner and underboss. Underboss makes less damage but higher RoF, and Commissioner more damage and lower RoF (rate of fare). Pick the one that feets better in you playstile, (if you play usually light, pick underboss, if you play usually infiltrator, pick commisioner). Commissioner is a killing gun and underboss more a "finish the work" gun (your enemy has already low health and you have no ammo on your main weapon clip, you pick the underboss to finish him). Also if you are not an experienced player in FPS, i sugget you to pick the underboss.

If you like air, and you are anti infantery, pick the rockets. If you play with frends or in squads, buying a fury/buldog/halberd for you harasser could be nice.

Before buying any weapon, try it in the training room, the weapons i'm using could not feat in your playstile.

PS: i would avoid the NS-XX weapons, usually there is always something better.. they are easy to use, good all around but nothing else, dont worth the cost. I have a youtube channel with some New Conglomerate gamplay, with the weapons im telling you, if you want to check/ask something http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk2dcVP6FEDqa921VtRuw4A