And while not perfect, it did seem to work on both the macro and the micro levels (helping the individual player as well as encouraging the 4th faction to play the under dogs). http://planetside.station.sony.com/game_updates/development.vm?category=Game&id=61624 Experience bonuses alone won't fix the population imbalance issues. Players need to feel as if they can actually gain experience (which you don't do dying constantly and losing bases). The health incentive gives the individual the ability to compensate for the odds stacked against them, and lets them take advantage of the xp bonus. Planetside isn't mean to be a "fair" fight, which is part of the allure of this game. At the same time, players who feel that their actions are pointless are unlikely to continue playing (and buying new toys) because it's a waste of time and money. Currently the entire game system is based upon the winners getting more, while the fight keeps getting harder and harder for the losers, thus encouraging players to join the winning empire. This might make sense in real combat situations, but Planetside 2 is a game, is what people do for fun, and switching sides has no repercussions to the individual. We players want to win - or at least have a chance to win, and xp boosts alone won't help make that happen.
No, we don't want something that would make the game fun, its better off each faction having their own server they can capture bases in peace on.
So, being weaker due to the statistical odds is ok with you? You don't think that 25 guys against a few "buffed" players would balance out in each hex? How do you propose to fix the extreme imbalance situations then? Or are you simply happy with the way things are?
How does this curb 4th faction players? Seems to me they would just chase under populated factions to get the bonuses? Overall though it sounds cool to me.
My suggestion is always having at least one balanced continent with a dynamic player cap. Players need to feel they have someplace where numbers alone don't always dictate the outcome. This way the faction with the lowest population can feel they have some impact, and the faction with the greatest population can either ghost cap the empty continents or try a different character elsewhere. They will be more inclined to pick a server/faction that is not underpopulated.
It has nothing to do with imbalances, I just feel that giving one side a base advantage is the wrong way, I do not have a good one. I have been playing on waterson since release with my outfit, we formed in Beta. Our pop would have been balanced except we had that dumba$$ total biscuts on our server and all his little fanboys ruining the pop for us. I do not want to fight stronger enemy forces because 200 TB fans log on at 4am server time. Its a bad solution to a worse problem. They talk to all these outfit leaders like BCP and what not, how about they see if they can find some organized outfits to move to underpopped servers to balance things out. If they made my enemies stronger then me because of something I can not control it would prolly force me to quit. I have 39days played , I will not reroll and I will not leave my outfit period. Sorry don't have the answer for the problem, I just feel like making underpopped factions stronger will eventully lead to the same thing your worried about. 4th factioners switching so they can be OP. Thought, maybe battle islands with an overall lower pop on each map might go towards helping underpopped factions have a place to fight on even footing, just a thought.
It doesn't forcefully curb them, so much as entire them to play on the underpopulated faction, and thus removing the "need" for extreme personal buffs. You see, the problem with balance is preventing players from doing what they want, and thus losing players to the game completely. SOE wants to make money, and to do that it wants to keep the players happy. While we as individuals may want to "punish" those who hop on the overpopulated factions, SOE likely doesn't want to do this because it's terrified of the possibility of driving customers away (smart business move really). But if you dangle the carrot, and the players follow that carrot, then the result is that everyone is happy, in theory. Ideally, I would prefer to see the personal buffs implemented per hex. As we already have an XP bonus system in place per hex, I don't see why it would be difficult to implement the personal buff both server wide (xp increase) and per hex (health increase).
From someone on the under-pop side, absolute no to -any- buff that affects combat effectiveness. We have enough balance issues as it is. Our TTKs are too low for a change to be a good step towards balance. Also, once again, it really doesn't do anything for population balance. Until you make it significant enough that the bonus is SO OTT that it allows you to win outnumbered 2:1, at which point you're making an over-pop side (WHO ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OVER POPULATION) miserable in game. Far better to punish the people who are the problem: new characters. Roll a character on an overpop side, enjoy ultra-slow XP gain. Roll a character on an underpop side, enjoy a base double XP for 3 months.
I don't find the system described in the OP fun. I don't want to know that I killed someone only because I have an advantage. It cheapens that experience to me. Keep in mind, large population imbalances is not fun for either side. You want something that makes both sides happy, but at the same time, no one wants to switch sides in a character they have invested hours/days/weeks on.
Even if the advantage is slight? As the example cited above, 4 to 1 odds results in a 20% health buff. If we adjusted the overall theory to be per hex (so it would have to be a 4 to 1 advantage in THAT area to get a health buff) would you be happier?
Thats worse. Why would I send even numbers to defend an objective when I can send fewer who can be more effective?
I don't believe those health increases actually made it live. That being said, there are alot of other little incentives I'd rather give than health increases as a single health buff to 1 side really becomes multiple penalties for the other side.
Per hex is even worse, say I am playing TR and we outnumber the VS, we send 2 squads to a base, they send 10 people and they win due to defender advantages and hp buff. I am glad people are working to try and fix this it is not really fun for anyone, but I am sorry I think this is really the wrong way to do it.
