Sever merge = Boring zerg game play

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by {joer, Mar 5, 2013.

  1. {joer

    I think server merging all but killed my desire to play PS2. I played on Soltech from day one TR. We had good organization, and despite being the underdog server population we got things done. A squad could cause trouble. A platoon could easily swing a battle.

    We had big fights on Indar constantly, and occasional good fights on the other continents. The issue was you felt you could make a difference in the gameplay.

    Then comes the merge and I'm now understanding buzzcutpsycho. Now you need a platoon to take a single point at times. You get dozens and dozens and dozens of aircraft, tanks and sunderers. No matter how good you are its all about the numbers. Every flaw in the PS2 cert system (as in everyone can be anyone and everything) comes to light.

    A big fight with planning and organization is "epic" a big fight thats just a cluster of vehicles and zerging gets boring fast. I had an alt on Matherson prior to the merge and it was bad enough then, now its just, well "meh".

    Outfit numbers are falling, and its not they are switching outfits, they are just not logging on anymore. I would not be surprised if the long term effect of the server merge is a quicker contraction of population rather than a retention.
    • Up x 4
  2. SenEvason

    I disagree. Battles are much more interesting now with people to fight back. It used to be, at least in my experience, zerg fighting a squad or less of enemies. Boring, just rolling over bases. Now, it's large groups of enemies against large groups of enemies. Now we have to flank the enemy, divide our forces to combat specific problems, compared to when the zerg just rolled over everything.
    • Up x 11
  3. {joer

    If you weren't flanking and dividing before you were doing it wrong. If fighting 20 scythes at a time is fun for you, thats great for you. For me its just "oh look another zerg of air units". Your contribution means very little. Skill doesn't matter. Perhaps thats where some peoples fun comes from.
  4. THUGGERNAUT

    agree with OP, once you get over the messy chaos "wow" factor, indar has really become even more a zerg meatgrinder. and on helios all the merge did for amerish + esamir was add a queue before you can get back to indar. still no real meaningful fights on those two conts.
  5. ShakareeNC

    I completely disagree, I was on Esamir on Mattherson and VS were defending Eisa and NC and TR were attacking from adjacent bases and TR would make headway we push them back to their base, then NC would push and we push them back, it was a back and forth non stop battle that was amazing fun.

    You seem like the type that likes small OPs cordination, Id recommend getting with a active outfit and do behind the lines fights away from the main front lines.
  6. XRIST0

    Zerg's are awesome , one of the greatest sights in Planetside 2 .. In what other game do you see an armor zerg like that ?

    Once the zerg rolls in , that means .G.T.F.O. or get your own zerg to fight back .. otherwise the base is no longer yours

    i cant see the problem here ?
    • Up x 5
  7. THUGGERNAUT

    that's the problem. defense is pretty much meaningless yet again. you only a "good" fight when two zergs collide (or bio lab), and that just turns into a meatgrinder.
  8. Pat Cleburne

    I am torn. On one hand I love the new battles and have had some epic moments since the merge, on the other, the sheer numbers negate tactics on many levels. Instead it's just throw as many bodies/air/armor at the objective at possible. The battles tend to be stalemates most of the time until people start logging off and the populations differ enough.
    • Up x 2
  9. Vertabrae

    This game was never supposed to be "one man changes everything" Your one tiny part of a huge effort. Yeah I'm sure some people have left. I think far more would have left had it not been for the mergers. Mattherson wasn't a bad server before the merge. We always had some decent fights going on. However plenty of other servers didn't. Those players would have left much sooner, and we would end up with 3-4 servers and maybe 8000 people left playing. SOE would probably close the game down at that point. Merging is the best chance to keep people happy and keep the game going.
    • Up x 1
  10. IMTasty

    Just give it time, it's just a matter of experience and practice until the medium and large outfits on the merged servers learn how to take bases from the zergs.

    If you'ee talking about lone wolfing then... well no you're not gonna take on an entire zerg on your own.
  11. SenEvason

    Fighting 20 scythes by myself? No. Fighting 20 scythes with friends? Yes. I don't much care if my contribution is little. It did something, and I had fun. I find much more joy in seeing large groups of players work together to overcome a difficult obstacle. The team's achievements over my own. But hey, that's how I was raised and trained, so I may be different than most people.

    As for skill, it always matters. People that know what they are doing are going to be more effective at attacking a base than the same number of people without any know how. Just because you can't turn the tide of battle by yourself and be a hero doesn't mean skill matters any less.
    • Up x 3
  12. ShakareeNC

    In PS1 some battles like a good Leza/Tore bridge battle would last days, a battle for the cont cyssor would last weeks with little to no momvement in front lines, people need to realize this is not COD/BF3 there is no end of the match I won the TDM moment. Cant make headway get with your outfit, go behind lines and hit a adjacent base, maybe Gal drop and hold a Gen you couldnt reach before, maybe a cordinated tank assault, MAX Crash, ESF raid....dont sit there and tell me in large battles there is no tactics, us in GOTR employ tactics every single night, we think outside the box and 9 out of 10 times we can sway a battle, if only to move the front lines closer, or to dramatically swing a battle. Remember there 400-500 other people in a big battle, 1 or 2 cant make a big difference, a platoon though can seriosuly throw a wrench in the gears for the enemy.
    • Up x 3
  13. {joer

    E911 soltech, its what we do. I went behind the lines last night and killed 3 vanguards, 3 reavers, 4 lightenings and a lib in about 10 mins. Net effect was most likely very minimal, I'm almost out of infantry resources, and its prob the only thing I find really enjoyable right now. Once I'm out of resources that won't be so much fun. I haven't seen +100 inf resources since the WG switch.

    Zergs gotta zerg, some will obviously enjoy this. Me, no, as there is very little strategy besides 'zerg go there'
  14. Vertabrae

    I think one of the problems is a lot of people still have that CoD mentality. They want to be the guy getting the game winning epic noscope 360 leet killcam. That simply doesn't happen here. So they don't see a point when they feel their actions didn't make much, if any difference. But that's the point of a huge game like this. The game is larger than the player.
    • Up x 6
  15. EventideOne

    I realized how things are more dispersed evenly now. The other day when Buzzcut's gang came into Eisa Tech with 4 full gals, tons of Air and Armor, I decided to look on the map. Every territory save for 3 around us had at least an enemy platoon on it. Before the merge, platoons never worked like that on a single continent. The server merge did its job at getting more action to each server, so its just a matter of getting people to cooperate and think strategically on where to go that benefits everyone.
  16. IMTasty

    You could always do what a lot of smaller outfits do on Miller, they coordinate together with other similar outfits and a lot of times work very closely together with large outfits on side objectives, flanks, quick reaction forces, dedicated air etc, you have to take size into consideration when your set your goals, and realize that you are in the same faction as other outfits, help each others out and cooperate.
  17. Quadron

    I think the server merge is going to be overall for the best, though I do see the OP's point. There does seem to be more zerging at the moment. There was a TR zerg making their way up to the Dakhara Amp station last night, and the NC rallied and pushed them back. It was a great moment with a huge battle.

    I think the best thing about the server merge is, that before the merge, all but the 2-3 main battles raged on a continent, and every other base on the continent was a ghost town. Now at least there are people to fight everywhere. :D I much rather have overcrowded sections (zerg), than a ghost town for 90% of the map. :D
  18. Sevre

    This is an issue that will only get inflated by the newly proposed "hexattice" system. Even more zergyness will happen when you have less options for directing battle flow.

    The odd part being that currently the zerg is thriving just fine, and the change will definitely negatively affect small spec ops squads(=\= ghost capping).

    Both proponents and opponents agree that ghost capping is a bad mechanic, opponents are trying to explain that tactical small squad play should have some viability, but all proponents of hexattice read is "ghost-capping".

    The saddest part of all is that instead of making small adjustments to help combat ghost-capping (require x people to stand on the point to cap, no flipping and leaving), they decide to tackle a waaaay harder design decision and change the overall hex system. Yes, Indar needs less hexes; yes, we all hate ghost-capping; yes, we want to create "supply lines"; but, ALL of the things that will be changed by the hexattice system can be fixed by changing other aspects of the game, WITHOUT adversely affecting small spec-ops tactics -- and in much simpler, more intuitive changes.

    Just like with server merges, the hexattice system will increase the zergyness of the game, and greatly reduce the effectiveness of smaller squad play.

    I LOVE rolling out in coordinated outfit play on our huge raid nights. It's great having a few platoons running. BUT, I also enjoy taking abreak from that and doing small squad efforts on the periphery.
    • Up x 2
  19. MarlboroMan-E

    Are you sure you should be playing a massively multiplayer game? Cause right now you're complaining that it's too massive...
  20. Cyridius

    I 100% disagree.

    What did you sign up for when you downloaded PlanetSide 2?
    Big battles on an epic scale.

    What are you complaining about?
    Big battles on an epic scale.

    If the merger killed your desire to play this game, this game was never the game for you.

    I, for one, am wholly satisfied with the merger and its effect on battles and population.
    They're larger, more intense, and everywhere. I can go to Esamir or Amerish now and find suitably sized fights. If you want smaller fights I suggest you go there and not Indar.
    • Up x 8