The Ultimate Thread Dedicated to Refurbishing VS as a Faction

I do not really think that this statement is as evident as you think- why is an overhaul necessary?

Aesthetic-wise, I tend to agree and think this largely contributed to the early lack of popularity. That being said, the player studio has started picking up the slack by offering some great items.

Also, you mention loving the black (how could you not) and seem to realize it provides an advantage at night but then go on to say you want it to stay that way for LA and infiltrators- the two classes that benefit the most. I do not think this helps your position because it can come off sounding like you are bit biased in that you recognize VS has an advantage here and while you may be suggesting to remedy this with some classes you suggest leaving this advantage for others (the ones who benefit the most from it as well).

I can get behind the aesthetic argument very easily and personally believe that all factions need attention in this area (it is not as though VS is the only faction with lack luster and cookie cutter designs). In fact, you may not have been around, but I even posted the Robocop before in a similar thread discussing the VS aesthetic.

From a balance perspective, I will not even get started on that since I am NC... Still, I like the ideas you have for unique VS weapons but I think those mechanics would be really tough to balance appropriately and would basically equate to creating a new faction (or rather a new faction within an old one). Moreover, it would be a little hard to swallow as TR/NC that VS have a handful of truly unique weapons/ways to play when TR/NC have bullets or bullets (still nothing really resembling rail guns for NC and nothing really resembling chain guns for TR, etc). I realize the Lasher, performance-wise, may not be so great but it is still the only gun of its kind in the game (automatic with splash) whereas NC have another shotgun (all factions have access to a variety of shotguns, many of which perform as well or better than the Jackhammer overall) and TR have another machine gun (true, there is a spin-up and large ammo capacity but is it really that much different than LMGs?).

TLDR: I am all for aesthetic redesigns and making the game look more gritty (i.e. realistic and less comical) but the balance issue you suggest ignore 1) that VS has always been in a solid position balance-wise, 2) the changes you suggest, while very interesting, would probably require loads of time to implement and 3) TR/NC are hardly any more unique (and arguably less so) than VS so putting all this time, effort, and energy into VS alone seems out of place- ergo, perhaps the best way forward is to suggest these ES weapons as new releases when they can come up with equally interesting ES weapon variants for TR/NC.

bump

Thank you for your well-thought-out reply.

I believe I had implied that I wanted every faction to have more stealthy coloring for infiltrators and light assault, not just VS.

Indeed, every faction needs refurbishment. Elite Eskimo made the Ultimate TR Refurbishment Thread, but such a thread for the New Conglomerate has not yet been composed. Anyone who takes the task unto himself can feel free to find assistance in me. Elite Eskimo probably will also be willing to help, but he should be asked first.

As for your issues:
1) Indeed, we are not underpowered. However, we do not feel unique, and that is what needs to be addressed.
2) Any comprehensive improvement to the game will take a great deal of time. SOE has twelve years to improve the game, so it is my opinion it would be well worth it.
3) Indeed, the refurbishment of all three factions should occur simultaneously, to ensure balance and satisfaction.

Even though I'm TR: OP I like your style.

Can be summed up pretty much as: "Keep things balanced, just up the s3x3hne5s of each faction by 50%"
I like the new designs. Weapons in this game look way too much like each other.

Amazing concept art! Sadly, I don't think any of this will ever happen. SOE can't even get Hossin out, let alone fix SLI, Intel multi-core CPU optimization, PhysX and lets not even talk about the reload animation for the NS-7 PDW.

Restoring ZOE's usefulness needs to happen sooner rather than later, contrary to TR zealots it is NOT right where it needs to be, it is practically useless right now with the cool-down. I see maybe 15% of Maxes running ZOE now. There is no point. Either give us a new ability or remove the cool-down.

I hope SOE reconsiders jump jets for the VS MAX. I don't think it'd be OP considering the steep price a MAX pays for losing charge, and I do so look forward to skeet shooting them with my Vanguard AP

Welp you lost me there

Great suggestions Zorro. Anything that helps increase faction flavour is a welcome improvement to the game. I hope the developers seriously consider your ideas.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Reddit community is somewhat more negative and cynical, with what responses I could obtain.

In a perfect world, SOE would be concerned with the quality of the suggestions, rather than where it is posted or the number of trolls who respond.

Cross fingers?

VS infantry should look like this instead of grey jumpsuits.

Reddit is a self-important c1rclej3rk. You didn't post this there, how could it POSSIBLY be constructive?

Unfortunately for the life of this thread, most of the old thinkers that frequented this site seem to have moved on. All good though, as long as a few remain hopefully this will stay bumped.

Looking forward to more suggestions!

VS guns look the same IMO. But this is for all of the other factions too.

Oh, my mistake then and I apologize.

NC had a similar thread some time ago but it was focused a bit more on balance issues. I know the TR thread you refer to and have a lot of respect for Eskimo. Just to be clear, I am also fully in support of aesthetic over hauls, particularly for VS, and have been on that train for some time.

In regards to (1), I do not think anyone really feels all that unique and I agree that should be addressed and that aesthetics/sounds have a lot to do with that as well as they fact that greater uniqueness, when you have a relatively limited set of stats to adjust in a purposeful way, is difficult to achieve while maintaining balance. The other points I agree with completely and really my point was just to say that perhaps, given the state of the game and, IMO, best balance to date, that perhaps we should be directing this energy towards suggestions for new ES content. This could satisfy those who feel that, content-wise, the game has started to stagnate as well as those who want more uniqueness and if the devs pay attention to player desire in terms of aesthetics then this could really work towards improvement (not to say that reskinning a few items would not also pay off here).

Also, just a final note- I really do like the ideas about giving beam and splash weapons to add to the VS experience. Thinking of similar unique items for NC/TR is a little more difficult perhaps. I know they discussed flamethrowers and there was a poster who had a neat idea for ES MAX CQC "constant damage" type weapons that was good though.

Re-reading it, it does sound like my initial reply was more critical than I intended it to be and I should have phrased more of those issues in the positive.

I agree with this thread 100%!

This reload animation would totally sway me to VS single handed. I'm a huge stickler for reload animations.

Some pretty nice ideas here Yeah, a beam pistol with damage over time sounds like a nice innovation. Make it a short-ranged beam. 10m max, with high max. dps, low min. dps, and damage drop-off that begins at 3m. It makes no sound or very very soft noise and you don't show up on enemy radar for using it, no silencer needed. Ideal for flankers, esp. cloakers. Make it not use any batteries, but instead overheat. Let's say it does 550 dps at point blank, and overheats after 4 seconds. It is pin-point accurate and if one witnesses, he will clearly see where it's coming from.

I don't think the S1 should get damage over time, if any launcher, then the lock-ons should. Make it a lock-on releasing deconstruction nanites on impact, taking the enemy vehicle apart over time (until repair for x amounts of seconds; no repair needed for aircraft, it will simply last x seconds). Against air, it should not deal more total damage than any other lockon of that kind. Instead, what makes it special is that it sacrifices burst damage for sustained, which results in nanite auto repair system being interrupted for longer than usual.

Those are awesome ideas and hopefully SOE will use some of them for development of PS3 or some kind of future expansion pack for PS2 if the game will stick around enough time. But... It's highly unlikely that at this point developers will do a complete overhaul of one faction including music, aesthetic (beyond of recoloring already existing textures) and gameplay mechanics.

It's baffling how a purely constructive thread with so much detail put into would get more down votes than up votes on Reddit. Yet the developers rely on the reddit community for feedback and Q&A? What a joke.... But on the bright side at least the people on the Official Planetside 2 Forums recognize a good thread when they see one.

i hate it when they design armors with gigantic shoulder plates that look r3tarded. the vanu look over all needs to be more platy and practical, less round and decorative. remove the high heels and the ties that hang in front of the crotch on the max. reduce the exaggerated leg spread for the max too.

and make custom huds for each faction asap. ******* FACTION SPECIFIC HUDS