To be competitive in Planetside 2, macro maneuverability around the map is vital. Jumping lanes and bases to meet the resistance is a must. Currently infantry and air can do this quite effectively. My opinion is that amour game-play suffers considerably when it comes to this issue. Based on resource costs and their inability to cover great distances quickly, it often becomes a non viable playing strategy, and at best a secondary tactic only used sporadically. My suggestion is that armour vehicles be subject to deconstruction at select bases, awarding you back maybe 50-70% of the resources you spent on that vehicle. (subject to balancing) You would need to be within radial range of a recycle point/tower wherein you must be out of combat to complete the deconstruction process. Much like overloading a generator or hacking a terminal, a 10s interruptible clock could be used. Additionally i think the base in question would need to be in a fully defended state for recycling to be operational there. I think this would greatly improve the role of armour within a squad/platoon's tactics, partly reimbursing the costs of spawning and avoiding the need for vehicle abandonment. Dedicated armour squads could become a viable force in the fight for a continent, if they can be afforded some way to better manage their resources to meet the ever changing macro battlefield.
Tardis Tanks? Nah, armour is ponderous and should take time to get somewhere, or be spawned when you arrive if the base will let you. The light tanks of old (aka Harassers in PS2?) were an attempt to provide fast but potent support and I think we already have that, more or less.
My suggestion is to force infantry to travel more, so that vehicles become important for getting across the map. For instance, give players a maximum of 3 redeploys every 5 minutes and heavily restrict the distance they can redeploy so they won't be able to reinforce a base at the other side of the continent. This way territory control suddenly matters. Controlling a base that blocks off enemy passages or gives you a great vantage against any passing vehicles would suddenly matter, as tank columns need to travel between bases to reinforce others. The meta suddenly changes as well, as fights will take place anywhere rather than just within a base. Scouting for enemy tank columns, flanking, using transports to get your men across... I like it! Just needs an AA change otherwise aircraft would curbstomp any tank column moving between bases like they already do.
I don't agree with your implementation, but I really like the concept. It would give vehicles a use for escorting sundees and galaxies.
Not exactly.... i only point out that current game dynamics reward this macro redeploying/maneuverability in such a way that armour play suffers where air/inf does not. Some adjustments to alleviate this issue is what i propose, with a suggestion of partial resource reimbursement as one possibility. Ye nice ideas I'm very much pro any changes that make ground vehicle and armour play more viable and versatile in the grand scheme of things.
