Unique explanation for vehicleside

I'm writing this in response to the recent complaints, fixes, and changes that have revolved around the idea that planetside is turning into a vehicle dominated game. I believe the reasons for this phenomena have been incorrectly identified and the changes to gameplay will actually make things worse. I have my own idea as to why so many people use vehicles rather then go on foot based largely on why I have been playing infantry less and less.

Why don't we look at what planetside would be if we took out all the vehicles for a moment?

Welcome to Loadingscreenside...
Infantry fighting in this game is unrewarding, tedious, and very very bland. Truth be told, while many angry posters claim that vehicles are going to end planetside, they are actually the very thing keeping the game together. With unbalanced classes and an extremely high TTK it can be downright frustrating to play as an infantry and the gameplay is dominated by whatever weapon can gib your opponent in one hit.

In other words...

• Rocket launchers

• Grenade launchers

• Grenades

• C4

• AP Mines

• Shotguns

• With a special mention to MAXes and SMGs who also have a terribly high TTK topping a traditional weapons already high TTK

Of these weapons I am guilty of the underbarrel shotgun and grenade launcher with a sprinkle of mines and c4. I used to use a vx6-7 as a LA but I've found it far more worthwhile to hide behind a rock and pump unlimited grenades rather then flanking and seeing a load screen for a few kills. I'll drop the LA to gibb a tank here and there which brings me to the next problem...

Heavyengyside...
There are only two real classes in the game with an honorable mention to medics who are basically there to get certs by rezzing. There is no surprise to why this is the case. Developers have tried to balance vehicles by giving these classes enhanced AV weapons.
Looking at the engineer

• Has by far the best utility and teamplay use
• Can instagibb at medium range with unlimeted underbarrel grenades
• Gaines certs through repairs, kills, and resupplies.
• Has the two most powerful AV weapons in the game. AV turrets and Mines.

Heavy Assault

• Certs into the heavy's shield makes it the best anti infantry soldier
• Assault weapons provide the best experience in medium range combat with their large clip sizes and they aren't too shabby close up either.
• Heavies can handle tanks quite well while other classes are forced to run or be farmed for the most part.
• Rocket launchers also make great suppression weapons. Like the engineers unlimited grenades a heavy can sit on an ammo pack and just fire away from a safe place.

And there you have it...That's infantry combat in planetside. Playing LA and infil is a painful experience and few players use them. This is bad for everyone because they are an essential dynamic to the game that has gone missing.

Why is this?

• Infil and LA require far more work to setup for the kill
• Infil and LA are basically nitch classes in the game. Kill an LA to C4 something then switch. Get an infil to hack something, then switch.
• Infil and LA go behind enemy lines, so they die a lot and loading screens aren't fun.

The changes the game has been doing have made this polarization worse. If I want to have a fun dynamic game I pull a scythe or a lightning. Vehicle combat is far more diverse, fun, and rewarding. Honestly in its current state I can't believe anyone still plays infantry. I worry about the new rocket launchers especially. It just means more people playing heavy then ever and the potential for vehicles to become fa less fun then they are now.

To ensure a fun game that lasts I hope the developers consider the dynamics from beyond an infantry vs vehicle standpoint and take note that all of the classes need to be more then a nitch in order to keep the game dynamic and interesting, while making sure they preserve the dynamic vehicle combat. Where just to start I feel liberators have been all but taken out of the equation and light tanks wince in fear of a future with even more cheap rocket spam, like those AV turrets.

The current idea everyone is stressing. "force people out of their tanks" is just that. You have to force us because its not fun.

I read this as "I can't aim with infantry weapons, so I prefer vehicles cause I can aim in a general direction and kill stuff". All I play is infantry and yes, it isn't as good as other games, but it is a hell of a lot more fun than sitting in a vehicle. Vehicles are usually skill less tools used to farm certs, granted the recent splash nerfs have actually made it to where you kinda have to aim with a vehicle now.

Also, your very wrong about medics. When your running in a squad focusing on smaller objectives medics are one of the most important classes in the game.

Sorry to break it to you, but when it comes to playing infantry, SoE doesn't hold your hand as much as when your in vehicles. If you have a problem with the lack of hand holding then my only advice to you is to learn the game and get better by practicing/playing more.

Tbh you forgot the most important reason. 8km by 8km is a big place, I'm too damn lazy to walk anywhere. May aswell have some kind of transport, one that shoots.

Also some people actually prefer less instagib style combat, frankly unless it's long range infantry combat, gunplay is highly twitchy and unsatisfying. Vehicles provide reward for more tactically astute players. That said infantry in sufficient numbers and organisation can dominate land and air. Vehicles can't say the same.

Guess you haven't heard of a Sunderer, its main functions are serving as a spawn point and transporting troops to various locations. Also, run with a squad and use the squad deploy options or re deploy options. This is a flimsy argument.

So your saying that being in an infantry squad holding objectives and using teamwork to hold gens isn't tactical? Infantry can take a lot more tactics if your in a squad using teamwork. Its hard to pull the tactical card when this game has no meta game what so ever. What is vehicle tactics? Sitting behind a tree while spamming HE rounds at a base? Have fun with that.

Its funny that your defending the OP. His reasons for making his post are obvious. He enjoys having the advantage over other players by being in a tank. He can 1 shot his opponents but they can't 1 shot him and therefore is at an advantage. In infantry combat your enemy can kill you just as quick as you can kill them. I understand that when your in a vehicle you usually live longer and that the OP doesn't like dying to people who are more skilled in infantry combat.

i like driving sunderers. Some people prefer tanks. I like killing aircraft and tanks. Some people like killing infantry.
I like zurvan, crown, crossroads, ti alloys. Some people like Bio labs. This game has it all, i just hope they dont nerf it all

I dont mind dying.

If i want to capture a point and a shotty user is holding it and he kills me 7 times in a row cause he is a better player, i go in an 8th time and try yet another approach/tactic. I expect to die, alot, it's a shooter with objectives. I place the objective above the shooting but enjoy the shooting cause it makes taking the objectives fun. I think the game is almost perfect as far as balance goes. Still needs more performance tweaks though and some long term goals but overall i enjoy the gaming experience in it's current, unpolished, rushed, duct taped state.

I really enjoy it, I just think people get 2 nerf happy. Some things are OP sometimes and should be nerfed but most people complain about things that kill them without even playing with that thing themselves for a few days to see how it really works. If u dont play with an engineer turret, burster max, shotgun, prowler, scatter max or anything else dont say it's op. Once u play with it for a few days and actually see "yes it's op" then u can and should say how u know it to be. If u get killed by something that doesnt mean it's op, it just means it killed u.

I like seeing people flying around, driving tanks around, swarming a base as foot soldiers. All these things are in the game because they are fun. Really fun. Dont nerf the fun Just find a way to beat them and have your own fun . If u cant then call somone else in to do it while you do your own thing. That's what the game is about. Teamwork on a massive scale with big gunz.

Great post OP, you've summed up my experience with the game really well.

I don't use vehicles very often yet you've convinced me to pull out my World of Tanks skills. Why keep beating my head against the infantry wall?

I pity you, your kind that is. Vehicles aren't a crutch for badly skilled players, maybe some. But if you think it requires no skill to keep a tank alive when a squad of infantry are trying to kill you, then I suggest you actually try this yourself. Similar deal for aircraft, vehicles are quite vulnerable to other vehicles and infantry alike. They aren't the no skill unstoppable killing machines you seem to think they are.

Badly prepared infantry will always get their *** handed to them by vehicles. Their is no excuse for this. Most decent outfits will be prepared for me in a tank or aircraft and any casualties I inflict would be minimal. I seems to me your the type who thinks vehicles shouldn't be in this game, and does nothing to actually stop them.

I'm sorry my tank I interrupted your silly little gun fight....

Low TTK*

If the LA is useless, one does not know how to use LA.

It's really tough to spot someone in the support structure of a landing pad, high in a tree, on an antenna, or even on the stairs to the roof when the enemy is assumed to come from the stairs to the ground level. It's not hard because the LA cloaks, it's hard because nobody ever looks there. I had times where I couldn't kill enemies- not because I got killed, but because I ran out of ammo...

Smoke+IR+jetpack+window= wonders...

As for infiltrators- same story. I've seen people get 15-20 or more kills before getting spotted; not to mention distracting 2 dozen enemies allowing the friendlies to have a battle they could win.

I've personally have set up a home in a watchtower without friendly influence by hacking all terminals and turrets and getting a Sundy for a spawn point; which allows the whole team to attack the bad dudes from behind.
Then for giggles one can use a hacked terminal to switch to engineer and plant tank mines on the landing pads and in the garage just in case...


PS 2 is only as bland as its players.

I like how you decided to quote my previous post in its entirety, yet offer no rebuttal or counter argument to any of the issues I brought up. Learn how to forum etiquette. I'm guessing your probably one of those people who thought it was hard to be a flyboy in the first 2-3 months this game was "released". As well as part of the crowd that believe tank zergs take skill and tactics.

Using tactics would be having AA on that sunderer or some AA maxes. Sunderers are never a free kill for ESFs, they take serious amounts of damage. If your using AA it limits the time i can spend nuking your sunderer down. Give you chance to repair it. You mistake tactics for just generic gameplay. You have to go to bases and take generators and cap points.

There are no tactics involved with that. Tactics are what requires you to adapt to any given situation, air coming at you? roll AA, tanks bearing down on you get AV going. Infantry have plenty of options to deal with any threat. I suspect they expect far more of a free ride than any vehicle player wants. I can accept dieing to most things in vehicles, most actually require effort and thought by the user.

I prefer vehicles to infantry overall as the skill cap is higher. Infantry fights in this game are too quick and too brutal. Not to say i can't tear stuff up as a LA or Infiltrator, i can. When i have resources and cds up i choose to fight in vehicles more. Just because you like to roll around in a party wagon, capping bases don't expect everyone else to want that kind of gameplay. It is very dull. As an ESF pilot i fly by the seat of my pants most of the time it is very exhilarating to destroy MBTs in an enemy tank zerg and barrel roll boost away over all their AA and tanks.

What I read... "I don't like dying, so I drive a vehicle to force others into vehicles so they don't die either. I'm also just horrible LA n INifl player"

Too be fair tho I don't get it seriously why do people want unrealistic TTK? Sure Planetside 2 ain't "realistic" per say but it's not overly unrealistic either where you need 30 bullets to kill a single guy. So please someone explain too me why? Don't you have situational awareness? Do you have some other kind of issues? I just don't get it honestly so someone explain to me why you want abnormally long TTK...

I love all the vehicles and the QQ'ing over it. Makes the game feel more epic! Usually the complaints stem from ppl bringing a gun to a tank fight or similar situations where people aren't properly equipped to counter what they are facing. They could go resupply or fallback and resupply to re-tool for the current objective.... or come on the forums and complain about it.

It's no wonder people pull vehicles all the time. They aren't expensive, the only penalty for loosing it is a cooldown timer, you last longer (usually! =) you can get to different objectives yourself, and they look awesome! Sorry you can't always rely on a sunderer AMS, squad beacon, or spawn room. Someone has to drive that sunderer to the next objective and there's a lot of rude ppl who leave you behind when you're RIGHT behind them shouting over proximity WAIT WAIT WAIT DOOOOOOOOOOOD. Someone has to get to the objective and deploy that squad beacon so you have to wait for them (or just pull a vehicle and get yourself there!). You don't always own a spawn room but still need to get there.

I can clarify why PS2 feels the way it does, lack of class specialization, erry one can be erry thang. In the grand scheme of things there is no reason to be in a squad, we are all already an army of one, becoming what we need when we need it. All that is required is a terminal, no planing, no dedication. Most player will just join the front lines and pull what ever counter is necessary.

Vehicles in my opinion require more skill then infantry in its current state. Yes it requires skill to be an LA, to shoot infantry with a carbine, to take out strategic targets. Thats why its so rare. Most infantry use the weapons I mentioned above because they are easy to use and instagibb. You don't die when you camp and shoot rockets.

@drippyskippy- I fly scythe and use an AP lightning. both these vehicles require skill and few people can pull either off. Both require aim and I get decent infantry kills with my AP cannon too. Its a far more rewarding experience and requires a lot of micro strategy to pull off kills. especially when your hunting MBTs in a lightning.

Killing 4-5 MBTs in a lighting in a single run requires far more skill then most infantry can muster. Its also extremely fun.

Your for some reason threatened by my objective post and have attacked me. I am not complaining, only pointing out a problem. You've brought no counter argument, nor did you post anything intelligent. You've only attempted to destroy my integrity through personal attacks. Thus your a troll. Please post something intelligent or just don't post anything at all.

@bengal tiger- LAs are useful in small fights, which aren't very common. Since they made many windows too narrow to fit through it really made things tougher too. Yes infils can get kill streaks. sitting back shooting with a sniper rifle. its the effect of a weak tank farming kills. Neither really adds much variety to infantry combat besides a few cheap kills here and there. OF course LA is still one of my favorite classes. I just wish I had reason to use it more often. Though I admit I'm not too great at infantry anyway. I'm too aggressive, which is why I tend to go lightning or scythe.

@duff_chimp- Your tactics are first measured as infantry vs vehicles or air. Without those infantry is down to one tactic kill infantry, and we all know what that is when we fight at the biolabs, and its not all that interesting. Honestly the answer to your problems are all answered by one class.
Infantry trouble? pull HA
Vehicle trouble? pull HA
Air trouble? Pull HA
This brings us back to the original problem. The other classes are simply niche. Pull an LA to C4 something, pull an infil to farm certs at the crown.

@nexanima- You've never been in a good platoon then. We roll over the zerg with superior group tactics. My proudest moment was taking a platoon of 25ish tanks through a concealed pass at indar to flank the enemy zerg attacking the crown while our second platoon pushed from the crown at the same time. All those enemy tanks gleefully engaged an inferior push of our tanks only to be utterly outflanked and vaporized.
Unlike a zerg force we did not stop and cap a single location but continued to roll the column through all of the surrounding points, holding the spawn rooms so that the enemy couldn't hope to rally nearby.

I'm not even one of our outfits top commanders. When we pull ops we run whatever continent we're on.


Anyway thanks for all your responses, save for the one troll I pointed out.

LLLLLOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL

Infantry have about a million different ways to kill vehicles and get TONS of score for it, go cry elsewhere because you're not getting sympathy for being bad at infantry here.

Rocket launchers (Annihilator, Decimator, empire specific launchers tier 1 AND 2 soon)
Engy AV Turrets
Mines
C4
AV Nades
Phalanx Spear Turrets
Libby guns all types
ESF rockets/guns
Hell even basic sundies can solo a tank 1v1 if close enuf.


Vehicles have been nerfed over and over because infantry keep crying so loudly that they can't compete, and yet I just named so many ways they can.


You can't claim vehicles require no skill without realizing that vehicle/infantry mix is very potent and skilled outfits use this to great advantage.

TLDR: L2P N00b

Where is the crying? hmm?

Hey buddy. Try reading the post before commenting next time. Your comment has nothing to do with the topic.

Apparently you aren't sure what this topic is about. It is about a vehicle user crying about his vehicles getting nerfed. I am setting him straight and informing him about his lack of knowledge regarding PS2.

Your entitled to your own opinion and I do think vehicles are becoming something that takes a bit more skill as they have been nerfed. However this video gives you a good look on how little skill tanks take. I have started slowly respecting flyboys, they now actually have to deal with a lot of things that threaten them. Back when PS2 was "released" I had zero respect for them because air was the most OP thing this game has yet to see. I had to take a break from the game due to how broken it was and it took SoE a while to finally realize their fault.

!

Right back at you. If you want any kind of respect fight me on even terms (infantry), if your in a vehicle 90% of your playing time you don't deserve any respect. Also, if you wish to address me again please L2 not act like a child...thanks.

actually its about infantry combat being boring.

and I run AP lightning, skyguard, and scythe. I get respect and deserve it.

Actually your mistaken. I have brought up a very intelligent counter argument to your original post. You claim that only 2 classes are worth being played, Engy and Heavy Assault. I debunked that entirely. I can add some more. I'm usually 1 of 2-3 people in my squad that runs a heavy (and they are usually ok with me being heavy because they know i'm a kill ***** and i'm good at it when i'm not getting less than 15 fps), most everyone else will run medic or engy. We normally have 1 infil for hacking consoles when attacking bases. Engy's and LA's are amazing against anti vehicle with c4 + mines. Sometimes if we need a Sundy down we will either rush it as engies or LA's not with Heavys. Now, I do admit that infiltrators need more tools to be more viable. Currently 1 is all you need in a squad, unless your doing stealth squads (don't know how effective that is since i've yet to try it). Traditionally, infils are more of a lone wolf, k/d sniper ***** class with very little purposes for organized squads.

When you make claims like you have about infantry combat that shows your lack of knowledge regarding infantry combat, which is why your making posts about your vehicles being nerfed. If you want to write off my posts as "troll" posts that is entirely up to you, but it is obvious to me there are facets of this game that you don't understand. This is in no way a personal attack, merely presenting counter arguments to your post and attempting to teach you more about how infantry combat is played. Something that I already did, yet for some reason you don't seem to think I did.

I'm sorry that you feel that I have personally attacked you. I refrain from personal attacks against people because when I beat someone with intellectual discourse, I want them to know that I kept the moral high ground. Jachim's post is a better example of a direct personal attack.