Why I likely won't be playing this game ever again

I've played a bit of planetside 1, and I've stuck with planetside 2 since pre-launch and kept playing it consistently until about a week ago. With the pandemic I was able to play a minimum of 8h a day - it was the only game I played.

This game's never been really good at retaining pop, but it seems with each of the recent updates we lose more and more vets. I used to main on connery for a while, but after the escalation patch and the esamir revamp, a lot of the vets I used to fight with/against quit. Connery got to the point where the server was dead most of the day, so bad I decided to move back to emerald. At fist emerald was much better, my kpm skyrocketed and I could do directives fairly quickly again. There were still times of the day where there wasn't much to shoot, but there were typically more players and fights than on connery.

The issue is each update made the game less enjoyable, especially for the infantry game. They completely killed biolabs, esamir is no longer fun, and each update further empowers people a2g farming, killing fights, etc. I still kept playing after those updates despite now rarely having fun in the game, and most of the people I know quitting. I didn't think I'd ever quit this game, but Oshur was something else. I kept playing for a few days after the update, but I found myself maining A2G, camping tunnels or tower stomping with no cooldown beacons because good infantry fights are nonexistent on that continent, and the other continents were unlocked but completely empty. And the soul crushing respawn system each time you died to some garbage....

So after a few days of the worst gameplay I've ever experienced I just quit. Uninstalled and decided I'd rather forum patrol than play the actual game. Now after a week of not playing, I'm fine with completely ditching the forums as well. I might check out the game in the future after a big update or whatever, but I don't think the game's taking a direction where it's going to produce the gameplay I had enjoyed and was expecting/seeking from the game. I don't think I'll actually bother reinstalling just to me disappointed again, I'll just hope the few content creators that still cover planetside 2 will cover any significant updates in the future, and I'll just get my judgement from there. That said I think I'm done with this game, I know people have said this before but it's actually so bad it's nearly impossible for an infantry player like me to have fun. And given the fact most vets/people who play the game were infantry mains, I don't think pops gonna stop declining in the future, in fact they should've merged servers a while back imo.

Most of the people I knew who quit deleted their characters/accounts. I was thinking of just handing them out, but I think I'll end up deleting them, and only keeping one account (just in case) lol. I thought I'd need more time to get over the game but honestly it's become so bad I don't even wanna play, I had more fun in the forums tbh lol. In any case I'm probably going to leave all the outfit discords I joined, most are dead or aren't even about planetside anymore. I'll stop patrolling the forums in a few days, just checking any possible replies to this thread. For those who still enjoy the game, I'm glad someone enjoys the direction it took. For those feeling the same, you're not alone lol.

I've started taking up more coding bootcamps with this free time, if anyone's got a particular course or something they recommend on a programming language, or cybersecurity/ethical hacking, I'd happily check it out if you share a link to the resource below.

Take care!

feel the same way.
nOshur was not the update or new continent that we had asked for.
i have only experienced it (nOshur) from the test server.....and WOW......i said and posted on here that (nOshur) was SO not ready to go live.....and the fact that it looked a mess. graphically it looked good/ok, but that was about it.
i knew from the moment i was on nOshur on the Test Server that the place was not for me to go to.
now nOshur is live, i refuse to go there, .... or Esamir and Hossin. so, when the only option/options are Esamir....nOshur or Hossin, i log out.
good job that you have done there Wrelboy......good job.

They didn't kill bio labs.. /command realized that pop dumping is not good and to steer people away from fights that don't go anywhere. It's not just bio labs but other bases as well. I was trying to get people to realize this since 2012 with /orders chat and /command chat. People realized stalemate fights is not how to play Planetside 2. Now, I didn't think anyone really liked those fights and quit the game because they want infantry only. Maybe on the next continent they can have something more tailored towards infantry only? Like an indoor fights with no vehicles. If there was enough Planetside 2 pop they could do it but unfortunately the game isn't as well known yet.

Maybe they can make a mode where people can queue for 10v10v10 maps and do things such as CTF or something like Halo and Call of Duty? Have a mode with no respawn like S&D no respawn wise.

This way people who want that infantry-only experience can have it. Even like a 5v5 like CS:GO and first to say 10 games won wins? The game can select like one base or a new map with bases scattered the game randomly selects pre-zone regions from to keep the battle tight like that super small Shipping map in Call of Duty. Like this in a way. Add care packages and kill streaks too for that game mode? Would this retain people who like the Bio Lab fights the most?


I mean I kind of agree those "limited" fights are lacking and the desire for even an 8-team TDM would be awesome. GTA was like that, there were matches way back where there were a lot of teams and we had to get objectives or just TDM. Getting into a fire fight from all directions but holding corners and such, doing drive-bys or shooting Against drive-bys was like No other. I think this can happen in a new Planetside 2 mode where the queuing would involve all 3 factions for the matchmake than just faction vs faction vs faction only. This way the pool of not having to wait for a faction to fill before launching would be fixed.

The game should balance out and not have a team of say 10 maxs vs 10 infiltrators. There should be a way to even it out so it's fair.

I've updated all this to: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/new-game-mode-suggestion.258289/

Also Oshur could only be truly understood if you are running some sort of vehicle or going w/ the zerg. Some people love those big battles and I do too but not just taking an overrun without some sort of upper-level communication. Telling /command what is happening and what we need as recommendations. Seeing it actually happen is quite intriguing to witness. It can go from a faction being significantly overrun or starting with 5 people to having 500 people spawn out of the Only Sunderer within minutes or less. Towards the tail ends of alerts and people realizing to be in the only bases "in play"(alert timer and base capture timers), this happens but it can still happen even during early to deep middle of an alert. The mobilization can be quite incredible on a base such as Cobalt Geo on Amerish which has been one of the most epic battle ground bases on the last 30 seconds of an alert. Utilizing shields, OSes, armor, air, spawn points, it's what separates the game from everything else but truly indeed there should be a game mode option to go infantry only with great infantry-only incentives.

They would solve a lot of issues by putting the Planetside 1 metagame in so people can control the opening and closing of a continent!
Sometimes the highest pop gets ganged up on or you have intense 3 ways for days and when you finally capture it it's a feeling you have never had from Planetside 2. NEVER!

best wishes to you in what ever you end up doing in the future, game wise, or anything else

at the end of the day, if you are not enjoying this game at the moment, you are doing the right thing

cheers,

andy

Agreed, I wasn't having fun for a while, not sure why I stuck around but more and more people I used to fight with/against are leaving, if the gameplay's not fun and most the community I enjoyed is gone...Glad I finally quit, I completely stopped gaming and I'm becoming super productive now, crushed a lot of tasks I had in the backlog and took up some career-building hobbies.

Wish you all the best man, cheers!

I like Oshur. Oshur still needs some sailing purpose.
Fair if half of the infantry players aren't wanting island fights.

Pretty simple update fix; please the infantry players & please the ant defenders, just those 2 themes. The requests for either of those 2 themes, usually boils down to a handfold of things everyone agrees on. (For example, too small tridents / not enough dev made bases as for infantry requests or needing the glaive nerfed / weak hp of av turrets at medium pop hours, for ant player requests.
2 themes, 4 solutions.

I need a gaming break overall, for yoga hikes & gym. Too many days sitting, body is a rusted box of bolts till then. Or just sitting hobbies in general, I'm sure dj friends sit too often also. Path of Exile just started a new league Feb 4th, 2 days ago, if someone needs a PS2 break for awhile. Just made my new tanky mana templar build, via path of builder planner, starting lvl 1 soon.

absolutely feel the same way, f%%k Oshur. f%%k Wrel.
gameplay tonight was 'tolerable' for a few hours on the Planetside 2 maps, we had Amerish then Esamir,
unfortunately the population wasn't what it was before Noshur, it was pretty dead but like i said, gameplay was 'tolerable'.

but then esamir locked and Noshur unlocked...
GOODBYE PRIMETIME.
gameplay consisted of spamming AV crap across a bridge or spawn camped in a s%%ty Trident.
population disintegrated, gaming night over.

this is the second week in a row that Noshur has left me utterly unable to have fun in PS2.
i cancelled my sub last week and likely won't be activating it again.
this World of Tanks crap is not PS2, its not the game that i've spent thousands upon thousands of £ on,
its not the game that i've put hundreds of hours in over the past decade of my life,
wrel, the unflushable cockroach has finally done it, he's achieved his goal of utterly destroying planetside 2.

michael anderson if you are reading this (devs reading their forums, obviously not...)
YOU ARE THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO THIS GAME.

imho... you can't have ps1 gameplay in ps2... many ppl didn't play ps1 and may not like the "old skool" game play...

But switching from a system that granted us fight 55% vs 45% to a system that now create zergs around the map is simply bad design.

They literally deleted them on Esamir.

Which people realized that?

There are a LOT of people that like the high density *infantry* fights.

Dev repeatedly tries to discourage this. Deleting biolabs, literally turning off Ti Alloys for months (wtf!), the many crown iterations, subterranian nanite, you name it. The goal is to get people to play the other content. But that other content isn't as good or they already would.

Everyone wants to play base X instead of base ABC. So instead of fixing ABC they wreck X. Now people choose a new X that isn't quite as fun as the old one and it starts again. Each time the game getting less fun to play.

So people quit.

They did the same with Everquest 2. Completely altered so it was totally unrecognisable as the game it once so awesomely was. Now its just for raiders.

That said, I think by and large PS2 has got better , I just wish they would put some capital into advertising the game. Its just going to wither away without that.

We still have Bio Labs on Indar and Hossin. The different varieties makes the game better as there is a rotation rather than the same things with different looking terrain which was ok. I didn't notice Esamir having no Bio Labs but perhaps it's the reason why Esamir felt better..

This is why I made a post for an infantry only map on another post that hopefully they do. Kind of miss the city style maps when everything feels open and rural.. but it could start lagging like crazy. In Containment Sites you can see the outside (outer space/planets/etc.) from the game keeping the frame rates up by removing physical building material. That should assume to be a lot Worse in a massive City map though a City map with high-rises and such, windows to shoot out of would be insane to play.

Maybe it could work if there were zones that were like Massive Bio Labs so people are fighting in domes (mini-city/sports arena). I don't like the containment style design too much because a lot of the fighting results in tight corridors being locked down rather than a more open area.

Because a lot of people don't pay but they play and spend money elsewhere. They should have membership options for $5 where they can be a half member. People who pay $15, they should have an option where people can pay more and have some supporter perks that don't make it too much of a pay-to-win but the understanding they like the game and want to keep it alive.

I'm thinking you're a pretty new player then? Esamir had 3 biolabs since launch. They were the most played bases on the continent and had some really awesome satellite bases. Players had a BLAST at these. The rest of the continent is just a shooting gallery for tanks to shoot infantry so they were quite popular.

But it was the victim of that same mentality by dev: Everyone plays on base X but not bases A,B,C. So instead of fixing A,B, or C, they simply deleted X. Now sure, we are *forced* to play on A,B, or C but the game is now lesser for it.

They attempted to introduce containment sites which were supposed to have a big vehicle battle that would then lead to an infantry battle. But guess what? The vehicle game is broken. A zerg moves in, and there is a 60 second vehicle battle and it's over. It then become the worst infantry base in the entire game.

Removing the biolabs and overhauling Esamir was a debacle.

And not a single lesson was learned about vehicle play. That envisioned vehcile battle at the containment sites never works out the same way the vehicle fights on Oshur don't work out. Someone has a Zerg and they roll down the lattice, nobody can redploy ahead of it so **we get warpgates every single time Oshur opens**

The vehicle - infantry dynamic has been broken since CAI years ago. Each got reduced lethality towards the other but this sucks really bad. The net result is vehicles can still kill infantry with ease just as before, but now vehicles don't fear infantry in the slightest. Anything short of C4 is a spitball.

The game is really starting to suck and I get why people are quitting.

I completely knew how Bio Labs work and made an outfit trying to Direct people away from these pop dumps. I was playing since Planetside 1. If you like Bio Labs it's because you don't know anything tactical most like. As in, tactical in the sense of hundreds of other players. If you want to live in a Bio Lab, that's cool but taking a lot of other players to remain there with you who could be elsewhere more important is dumb. I might as well make a signature now so my credibly looks Higher.

Thinking there is any reason to win ground (I would go so far as to say even during alerts), other than to change the 'map' so it doesn't get stale, is pretty funny.

What amazes me is how 'tactical' players, such as yourself, want it your way and only your way. An exact hypocritical example:

"It's okay so long as only you and players who want to be there stay there."
*Ends up being one of the most popular places to fight, and lots of players end up there by choice.*
"No, not like that."

Now reverse it, and if there are good fights anywhere else, these players would go to them. I don't mind moving around the map, I even enjoy it, what I hate is having less and less bases where you can get some good (keyword), long fights at - usually where spawns aren't being actively and easily sniped.

In a way i'm with you - I loved the fact that PS2 had so many options, I often ran a tactical squad hell bent on either causing mayhem or quickly taking a base. With the latest update, routers are simply removed from gameplay. Ok it's only one option but nonetheless, you try getting a Galaxy over a zerg defended base on Oshur - forget it. Not possible. So we are left with zerg vs zerg which may be fun for some but quickly gets old.

I completely understand the frustration with Biolab fights - if running a platoon i'd just plonk the Bio fighters into their own squad (space permitting) - conscious that at the end of the day, what really really (REALLY) matters is that people are having fun.

Is it dumb (in the context of - let's win this alert) - Yep.
Is if fun (in the context of - it's a game and let us enjoy it) - Yep.

Sadly - the fun factor has gone down for many (see previous and i'll include myself) and SoE / DBG / RPG are so notoriously bad at recognising their mistakes. Just look at all the once-great (OP) things that have been nerfed into oblivion and NEVER touched since.


Ultimately we need to remember it's a game and people want to have some fun and escapism - this is not Russia vs Ukraine and all the seriousness that entails.

Confusing AF yo. Are you a Vet or not? You act like you don't know the biolabs got removed then you say you've been here since launch. ok been here since launch then.

Careful. That sounds like you think you know what I know and like which would come across presumptuous and insulting.

You're confusing two games. There is a game here where people play the map. Then there is a game where people play in the battles that result from the first.

There will always be people playing the first game incorrectly. Be that too many people in a large fight or too few people on completely uncontested border territories.

But if those people are having FUN then they are 100% playing the game correctly.

Because most people do not give two ***** about the first game. They enjoy the Alert reward of course but wouldn't be choose 90min of crap fights just to get it.

If this wrecks my day as a platoon leader or as a multiplatoon FC then that's just a thing to be dealt with. It's Live, not Lanesmash on Jaeger.

If you do not think Biolabs or similar large sustained fights are fun that's fine but it's important to recognize that others do.
Take away the thing that was fun and you better replace it with something more fun.

Trying to get people to do stuff they do not like will make them quit. Remember what OP we are in.

I'm not sure how people find it fun to camp a spawn room where you can't see inside but they can see outside. To be camped by light assaults and many other things while inside. The frame rate also sucks in that situation. I have zero idea how it even makes sense to like a lockdown like that.