[Suggestion] Nonsense

Here is a bunch of ramblings for you to crap on!:

We all know PS3 is not happening, however: I think a cool model for the “next game” would be to be able to just pick from a pool of abilities and build your “character” from that.

If you want to be an Infantry man with a…

1) Jetpack – “HA overshield” – and a Medic tool. Rock it.

2) Hunter Cloak, Engineer tool, and C4? Do it.

3) Rocket Launcher, Stalker Cloak, and Nanite Regen Shield? Sure.

4) Sniper Rifle, Jetpack, and Ammo Packs? Fine.

5) “Adreniline Shield”, Grenade Belt, Revive Grenades? I guess.

(You would still “cert” into levels, but it would make for a more diverse game.)

None of those setups would be broken ever… you are just 1 person in a 128 man battle… it does not matter what you are individually doing, it’s still a team effort in Planet Side.

Example:
Right now in game, I can kill any Deployed Sundy in game with my ENG simply if I decide to suicide the mission (and even then half the time I just run off and live). Even if I do that, one person still does not change the course of a battle. So it's not like having Cloaking and C-4 would even be close to overpowered, it would just be something you chose to do at the expense of other setups.

Example:
Jet pack with a sniper rifle!? "I would be invincible, bro!" No, you would still die from a head-shot like anybody else.

Example:
Infantry man: “Why can’t I wear a jet pack on the back and keep my Medical Nanites dispenser in a chest mounted unit or thigh mounted packs?”

Scientist: Nanite chest storage area!? The sheer audacity of even suggesting such nonsense!



Would make for a more interesting game, design wise and character development wise.

Some of those combos are just ridiculously OP. Others don't seem to have much attraction. Balancing the range of choices would be pretty hard, I imagine. But I like the idea of a certain amount of self-build for customising your avatar

Again, I don't think anything would be OP since this is not a game that is played 1v1... regardless of what you equip you would still just die in 1-2 seconds like everybody else.

Right now we all know that HAs are OP 1v1, but, that is not a factor in game balance.

Hmm... No... No...

To sum it all up 1v1s against a super OP individual is not fun. Fun is the primary goal of a videogame.

Additionally once everyone works out the meta all one would ever see is cloaked MLG Pro players with heavy shielding and CQC ARs and C4. Because fnck balance, fnck skill, fnck the learning curve, and fnck you!

You can do that now with implants... and its just not that effective as other options for the heavy. So do you have a different argument that makes any sense?

You can't do your above example - Engineer with C-4 - using implants to compensate as a non-Infiltrator. Minor Cloak doesn't work like any of the Infiltrator's slot options. Therefore, giving a player with an Infiltrator cloaking system access to C-4 is a considerable change in power as a unique unit.

It doesn't matter if it's 1v1 or all twelve of your team at once. I don't know why you bring the unrelated consideration up at all. Since, as you indicated, this game isn't about 1v1 engagements then you have to manage unit power as a fluctuation of force-to-bear across a squad, platoon, or some other social structure, and no one unit can hold all the significant options. If you do allow that, then all units will hold all the significant options at once and having choice is actually a curse.

You can't say, on one hand, to allow that people could pick-up A, B, and C, at the expense of something else; and, then, on the other hand, deny us the privilege of suggesting that one of three should have actually been one of the things denied by picking up the other (in other words, A, B, and C contain some of that mutually exclusion you were talking about).

this was the concept with PS1 but you had to live with your choices and a 24 hour respec timer

I prefer a loadout system over a class-shooter any day, but many steps would need to be taken to prevent one or two combos from being objectively better at nearly everything. A huge overhaul that would take far more than basic competence to design.

I'm for it in theory, but I'm not sure it's something for PS2. Especially not this late in the game's lifespan.

Minor Cloak sucks *** and HAs can't equip ARs, let alone super powerful CQC ARs.

That'd just be a flat upgrade to the terminal rectum cancer that is SMG infiltrators.

If there is a PS3, I hold it adopts the MAG system where you would have a loadout cost up to a certain limit. I loved playing a support sniper mix with a revive tool and a sniper rifle but had no armor or much utility.

Just play PS1 - everything possible in this game. Only PS2 restricted things to "professions"

Well I'll crap on those ramblings as well.

We already know the outcome of this type of freedom: Only a few specific configurations will rise to the top. For example in the beta Infiltrators had shotguns. This caused all other classes to dissappear as a shotgun-wielding stealth guy was far more lethal and useful than anything else in the game.

The idea of "if everyone is super, no one is" would be a fallacy. Imagine a stealth guy with C4. It would make it nigh impossible to detect someone attacking your vehicle before it's too late. This is because some kinds of super are going to be blatantly more powerful. Now imagine them with a C4 pouch...
Also you seem to have a weird idea of OP. LA's with sniper rifles is never, ever going to be OP. It's already on the best class it could be on: Infiltrators. Infiltrators can avoid counter-sniping or counter-fire far more easily with their stealth and relocate with much more safety. LA's have to be far more constantly aware of their surroundings to survive and engage enemies before they get within a certain distance. Sure they can get to the "best" sniping spots, but the problem with the "best" sniping spots is that everyone knows where they are, while the "best" sniping spots usually also have a ton of ways to be engaged from, if not get shot in the face by an infiltrator that can actually obscure his position while you can't.

My favorite "build" and role in our clans squad was sort of a support tank: Heaviest armor, lightweight submachine gun, both basic and advanced medkits as well as smoke. All the skills speced to survivability, support and cqc. Was always the last guy standing and reviving everyone up but also capable of keeping my own health topped of after/during any engagement no matter how back to back they were when going solo. still my favorite fps

Why this "OMG open systems are bad because people will find OP combos."?

The closed PS2 system has anti-OP walls made of Swiss Cheese:

Any HA with ammo printer and regeneration, a good LMG and a smart RL like the Swarm can kill everything that moves on ground or in the sky. Isn't that OP?

Any Infiltrator with stalker cloak and automatic sidearm and ammo printer/catlike can storm an entire base step by step hiding left and right up and down. Isn't that OP?

Any engineer with a Battle Rifle + UBGL, coupled with AP mines and spitfire turret can snipe and lob grenades endlessly from his mini fortress . Isn't that OP?

Any sniper with a SASR can use a +12 sight coupled with a no-sway/wait forever computer and a weapon mechanic that allows him to tap-tap 2 headshots (so a guaranteed kill) in less than half a second. Isn't that OP?

An LA can toss C4 from the sky and wipe out an MBT in a single action. Isn't that OP?

...

i think there would just be a "best in slot" for every slot and you'd be handicapped for playing with anything else.
right now you need medics and engies to keep your side going, rezzing,healing and resupplying,
all i imagine the game becoming with this change is heavies that can rezz and resupply eachother.

Yes.

Depends on the paradigm of your base assault system.

It used to be. The UBGL these days ...

It is to the extent that it defeats the purpose of having those systems in the first place, without even much loss in compensation for what was needed to set this up.

That's what people have been saying for years.

So basically PS1's setup. As a former BR20 combat engineer and medic (gave up before the cap went to 24)... HELL NO!

You know what happened when people could pick anything they wanted? Every butt-kissing ******* went Agile, Heavy Assault/ Sweeper, AV (for the Deci), Adv. Hacking, Medical, Engineer, Surge for implant, and their sole vehicle was the Mosquito. And it ******* SUCKED. You literally could not set up a line anywhere because an entire population would just hop into their throw-away stealth vehicle and fly around it, drop onto what ever base they wanted, then start blowing up everything to drain the NTU silo while hacking terminals to refill supplies. Plus the only way to stop that was to roll in a zerg because 1 on 1 or 10 on 10 they could still beat you courtesy of having a combination that meant they rarely didn't trade at least 1 of their guys for 1 of yours but could get back into the fight faster than you could.


The only way "build your own character" works is when the best stuff is spread out through multiple "lines" and requires going so deep down each line that by default getting one "best in slot" closes off the other options. Since human nature is to whine and moan when you can't have it all however you can damn well bet that whole "can't get this if you want that" won't happen. Especially not when people complain that the moment there is nothing to spend certs on they're out of things to do and thus leaving the game.

With an open system the players will choose first at random and then narrow choices toward a particular setup that matches their playstyle/role chosen (best stalker, attacker, defender, supporter,... setup) .

And for the N-th time: it is already like that today, you fear something it already exists...

The vast majority plays HA because (surprise, surprise!) is the most flexible and open to customize setup: you can fight infantry, harass ground and air vehicle, protect well yourself (armor, overshield), engage at any range (short-SMG, medium-LMG, long-BTR).

Despite MAX being more powerful and more armored only a minority plays them.

I feel like you are just also disregarding what PS2 is like, where it is just 100% controlled by the Zerg. Everybody wants to ask like its not that way, but nothing anybody does in the game actually matters anymore in game on a macro level... its just who has more people and where those people randomly gravitate towards.

You can argue that base building wins alerts, but you also have to remember, 90% of the player base just does not care about bases, they don't want to spawn in them, they don't want to destroy them, they just don't care even if it loses them the alerts. Bases only exist for the majority of players to ruin a perfectly good "join combat" button push.

*****

So yes if you give somebody 5 different options out of a pool of 20... yeah, one will be the best, but only being able to pick 3 out of say 30, you get a lot more diversity... that is just simple game mechanics.

There is plenty of room to make the game better with a build your own character system that does not go to the full-on stupidity that was PS1. Even haveing 3 trees that have different options so some of the obviously crazy combos would be available is a simple fix.

Too many of you kids just make the worst arguments.



Right now we have Self-Healing Heavy Assaults with Rocket launchers, and perma-overshields, and an offense grenade that lets them clear a whole room if used right... guess what is the best class in game? There is no diversity, it just the best, them some other crap that runs around and does some stuff.

Zergs happen, they don't control everything.
You fight against a PMB.

Given what game-play it is, to build, and the grind to actually make any progress against a PMB.. and you wonder why.

More diversity.
As 5 of 20, is 1/4. Rather than 5 classes, each with their capabilities.
3 of 30, is 1/10.

Self-healing heavy assaults? You mean using limited med-kits, or the bio-lab effect out-of-combat or the regen implant which mimics it?
permanent overshield? what you smoking.

Heavy Assault, is a universal combatant, not a superior class.
Can it properly attack any target? technically, as it has a diverse arsenal.
Can it run vehicles the best? No.
Can it scout out enemy infantry the best? No.
Can it engage at the longest range? No.
Can it help allies beyond bullets? No.
Can it take advantage of terrain? No.

A flying HA with a shotgun, or any automatic weapon is superior to a Light-assault whom lacks the overshield.
No point in using LA, without that if you aren't using cloak.
So you end up with: Basically singular class with bits taken from the other classes.
3 of 30? No, just 1 with 3 different types of tricks, so at best 1/3.