What's the appeal of playing on the high pop faction?

I just don't understand it.

I play on Genudine PS4 server. Most days VS are lucky to break 30% population but usually hover around 25%-28% with TR and NC trading spots for most pop. Today I log in and it's just crazy. Between the hours of 2100 and 0100 TR have ~500, NC has ~500, VS has ~300. http://ps4us.ps2.fisu.pw/control/?world=1000 populations fluctuate a bit but VS are usually between 150-200 players less than the other 2 factions.

If TR and NC primarily focus on each other they could still throw enough players at VS to keep them pretty well occupied. I'm not sure that that really happens. It sure felt like VS was getting double teamed with 2/1 numbers at every base for hours on end. It culminated with TR and NC both holding VS WG bases on Amerish.

I started as TR on PS4 (I've played since PC's BETA on various factions) I have a br58 TR. I noticed a few things while playing TR with a significant pop advantage. It's easier to just go with the flow and steam roll most fights. I don't have to work very hard when we can constantly throw more infantry/vehicles at a base. Eventually we'll just over run it. I also noticed it's a lot more competitive to shoot at enemies. With more friendlies it makes finding and killing the enemy before your teammates the priority over actual good game play. Basically you're trying to get to the enemy first so you can kill them before another TR does. It is a very strange meta.

After the 4th or 5th easy base take over on my last days as a TR I started to question why I was playing for the over populated faction in a zerg outfit. It just wasn't very fun. It didn't require very much from me and the closest thing to tactics that was required was to follow a way point and kill every thing along the way. It was effective though and we wracked up lots of easy wins/certs. Every one was saying how good we were doing and the enemy was trash and could only win by hacking/crashing the server during clutch bases. All that sounded hollow to me. How can we claim to be better as a faction when we are never fighting at a disadvantage?

So I created a VS character and joined an outfit I had a lot of respect for as enemies. It seemed that when we did lose a really good fight as TR the name on that base was very often this particular outfit. It really opened up my eyes the first couple of days playing with this crew. These guys were the real deal. Coordinating movements, relying on each other to get things done, going to fights with overwhelming odds and just trying to stick it to the man. I found out too that I just wasn't that good. I hadn't really developed as a player in my time as TR. I didn't need to. Suddenly I was facing 2 and 3 to 1 odds at every encounter. For every guy I killed it seemed like there was another behind me or flanking my side killing me. I died a lot more. I needed to use cover and slice doorways and stick with friendlies. I had to play a lot smarter. The enemy was plentiful and relentless.

I go back once in a while and play my TR character. It's still pretty much the same but I'm a lot better player now. It still nags at me though. Something about it just doesn't feel right. Always having that numbers advantage seems to undermine my own personal enjoyment. Every victory leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. On my VS there have been so many amazing moments where I say EFF Ya! You see how we pulled that last minute save with just the 5 of us? Can you even believe we did that?

I guess what it really boils down to is I enjoy a challenge and I love overcoming a challenge. Being on the under pop faction in this game is far more challenging than playing with a huge numbers advantage and in my opinion far more rewarding.

For all you players that continue playing on a faction that has a significant population advantage day after day. Why do you do it?

Well now if i would be def i would ask myself why there are less players on VS....maybe....really mayyyyyybeeee it could be that their MBT sucks in 1v1 the other MBTs, the Lancer and Lasher only are good in mass, the Spiker/Phaseshift charge is too low and No Bulletdrop for Carbines is just unnecessary...

It gives new/bad players the feeling of winning. They can't get kills or win equal fights but zerging provides them illusion that they are actually doing something and being useful when in reality it gives you no certs, no improvement and staring at an empty spawn room while waiting for a timer to go down gets boring very fast.

First of all, I'm sorry but I'm not one of the people playing the overpop faction, but I still had a few cents to add. I think you are on the right track, and that it stems from the differences in what different people find entertaining/fun. Like the fact that some people prefer a challenge and will always play a game at the highest difficulty from the get-go, whereas others will prefer to be able to coast through things without putting in an effort, using cheats, exploits, save-scumming etc etc. Such disparities are really obvious in a game such as this.

It's kind of like there are people that use every single opportunity to complain/whine, as there cannot possibly be any other reason for them failing than the inadequacy of their equipment. Something the above poster (Diggsano) reminds me of And then there are people that are willing to try out the different scenarios from different angles (or factions) and see how the situation is like from the other side, often coming out stronger and more experienced. Something the person above (Diggsano) doesn't remind me of.

Why? This isn't even remotely what the threat was about, and you are seemingly just trying to hijack the thread to spread your own opinions, rather than even bothering to comment on the OP. It's almost as if you tried your very best at being off-topic.

Right, because the Striker and Phoenix are awesome when used by a single person In fact, based upon the available stats, the Lancer is generally out-performing the Striker in regards to both KPU and KPH. When it comes to VKPU and VKPH the Lancer outperforms both the Striker and the Phoenix. But I'm sure it's because all the VS are flocking to using them the (according to you) "only way to use them" Got anything to actually backup your statement?

I'll give you that the Lasher isn't scoring as many kills as the Chaingun or Jackhammer, but is that really to be expected giving the nature of the weapon? It's a weapon designed for different things compared to traditional weaponry. If it was scoring a comparable amount of kills to the Jackhammer/Chaingun it would indicate it was massively overperforming. But I'm not disagreeing that the weapon could be tweaked.

It does? That REALLY depends on the situation and terrain. It's also not like the ability to face-tank another MBT is the prime statistic of those vehicles, or we might as well only have 1 NS tank. Implying the Magrider is a bad vehicle because of that indicates to me that you haven't really bothered putting an effort into using it properly.

You make it sound like a bad thing. Is it your opinion that it is useless? What about for the new players that are having issues hitting people? It is easier to use compared to similar weapons for the other factions. Kind of like the Gatekeeper!

I can understand how you feel but there is also another perspective on this.
For 'normal' play it often works like you say - its better and more interesting to play the underpop-faction. Against the odds etc. etc.



For top-tier infantry play however - it is often is the opposite.
You want to join the OVERPOP-faction because it actually give you the best chance to find and fight/participate in UNDERPOP fights. I know it sounds strange and contradictory but its true. Just think about it.

Overall however, i agree with you - its mostly best fun to join the underpop

I have only played vs on cobalt and if i remember correctly we had regularly close to 40% pop during prime at a time but I wasn't really "aware" back then. I guess it appeals to small squads and vehicle teams that don't follow the lattices from base to base. They don't need to worry about getting cheesed as much and since they don't zerg they have a clear conscience. And then there's people like me who aren't moved enough by this bother creating an alt toon from scratch.

Too close to the trees. The pattern I see is a drawn out fight 96+ on both sides at a couple bases while a few loners are capping the continent.

Each faction has there own strength and weakness. TR do seem to have the most new player friendly arsenal but it's nothing that can't be overcome and in the end doesn't make that big of a difference. I suppose preferring certain weapons over others could be a reason to stick with a certain faction over others. But in terms of balance they're all pretty good.

I actually started on TR because of the colors. Black and Red is my favorite color scheme so it made it sense to pick them.

as a current VS player on cobalt: usually VS is at about 30% max at primetime on the most populated continent, at non primetime it´s worse

I've always believed that the VS has a recruitment problem throughout its Planetside history (both 1 & 2) base on faction color, music choice and lore.

In an FPS played by mostly younger males, the Red & Black militaristic faction and a Blue rebellious freedom loving faction have more draw than this weird purple alien faction. Anecdotally, I've noticed a difference in temperament in the normal players that choose those factions. This is only for first time players (basically first impressions) as veterans tend to re-evaluate the choice later, but it still swings the overall pop.

I do, whole heartedly believe certain traits (stereotypes) do explain some things. Like TRs preference for larger zergfits (militaristic outfits with command structure and organizations) that tend to be Base capturing focused vs NC's smaller more kill-centric outfits that care less about base captures and alerts than having a good fight to kill at. In PS1, it was the old interlink fights that would draw NC and in PS2 it was the Biolab grinders. They'd lose bases over and over, but those two types of bases would have plenty of pop and would never get taken. This probably explains the TK stats as well, those grinders tend to be chaotic and since they draw more individualistic players, they care less about not TKing, more interested in getting the kill.

I think VS players are generally veteran or older players who are not as turned off by the purple spandex weird faction. The lore draws those that are a little more focused on the acedemic, IE stats, figuring out the best OP weapons and using them effectively, focusing on strategy and tactics a bit more, etc. They tend to have more of the tryhard guys. Ones who will kill a fight outright by going straight for the sundies or use force multipliers to end a fight ASAP, etc.

Obviously all of these are stereotypes and don't fit everyone, but I think trends do appear over time.

I honestly just enjoy playing with my outfit, chill bunch of people always willing to go do whatever we deem fun at the moment.
Been feeling pretty bad for VS lately though with a huge underpop so I've been working on my maggy and helping them out.

I led the counterattack east of the warpgate on esamir to help secure the lockdown we got
Which kind of led me to playing foolishly on amerish but meh, gotta get them PPA kills somehow lol

Welp, I chose NC because of the discriptor of high damage low rof weapons, the rock music and it had less pop at the time, HOWEVER being my main I find it rather unenjoyable that I played my main for so long and that even if we're dominating a fight, I still want to play with all the weapons I unlocked and have fun with. And if I was forced to play another faction I'd simply play a different game, the grind to start having fun is just too boring.

I'm just willing to try each faction but i main VS because of ex-Dusters and very different looking from typical militarism or freedom mercenaries. But i stll like black and red that's why my avatar is TR.

And Chaingun.
And Cyclone.

I didn't feel like i stood out or improved just a drop in a massive wave. Certs come easy. But it gets boring realllll fast. Better chance at meeting players I know, and not afraid (a little) to ask for help.

I'm a underdog/determinator type as well. I know i suck but I'm willing to try a little everything to improve and have fun.

Because I chose a faction and I'm sticking to it!
Just kidding, I never look at server population, only continent/base population to decide battles.

I usually go for the lowest-pop faction (unless there's a particular weapon I'm itching to work with) because that usually guarantees me more and better fights. You'll get more XP (and have way more fun) in a tough fight than you will just steamrolling bases for some paltry cap experience.

I will admit that I haven't played Vanu as much as I really should, but there's not a lot in their arsenal that I've unlocked that really appeals to me, aside from the Pulsar and Serpent.

It's TR's turn to overpop on Briggs at the moment (and it's been that way for a while). Up to 52% the other night at prime time. With only one map in play, faction population balance can't apply so it gets pretty ugly.

I think what Diggsano is trying to say is that historically the faction with the best toys generally get pop.

I rotate through all three factions every time I play, looking for a good fight.

A good figth for me is:

• not being slaughtered by a dozen or more BR100s every time I step out of the spawn room;
• not being knifed or C4'd by faction switchers when defending a point;
• not being blown apart by enormous quantities of explosive tank spam;

I sometimes wonder if seriously imbalanced fights tend to produce these behaviours.

I chose TR purely because as a noob I struggled to distinguish nc and vs 'doritos', making me a tk risk on those factions. (At the time the ability to change dorito colour had not been implemented.) The colours look totally different to me now of course.

I think a decent infantry player is better off playing VS tbh. As permanently overpopped TR I struggle to find enemy to fight a lot of the time, which is pretty boring, plus my KPH takes a real hammering (oh the humanity!). At BR 101 it's too late to reroll though, plus I've developed a healthy dislike of the crazed cultists.

lol funny thing you mention it
i actually switched off vanu because i hate that MBT.

im on cobalt PC

You don't know what you are missing out on then! In the hands of an experienced driver/crew, I find the Magrider to be by far the most fun and enjoyable tank to operate. I've heard many of the experienced tank crews I've talked to share the same opinion (but not everyone of course!). It might be a bit harder to get into initially, but it totally pays off in the long run!