The PlanetSide Hacking Epidemic

[Mrbloodworth]

The second paragraph was why i loved planetside. Gear didn't matter, nor did Battle rank (AKA "Level"). The part where you never knew what you were doing, two things. It backs up my comment about the largest determent being the games complexity ( Need to look beyond shoot people and capture places, theres more to it), and what i was talking about in regards to community. Outfits and squads, they would have helped with this, and provided the "Sticky" you could have needed.

I think I agree. I'm wondering how Outfits could have been more appealing in a long-term game. Maybe give outfits a rank like individual players, and give them little perks for being "teh awesome"?

Many many MANY ideas were discussed for spending outfit points. Nothing ever came of it.

[Ratman_tf]

Many many MANY ideas were discussed for spending outfit points. Nothing ever came of it.

I remember the idea of outfit barracks.

Blah. That just makes me sad.

[shiznitz]

Planetside "coulda woulda shoulda" threads were fun but just not worth it any more. They assfucked the game for good with that stupid cavern expansion.

[Synnoc]

Planetside "coulda woulda shoulda" threads were fun but just not worth it any more. They assfucked the game for good with that stupid cavern expansion.

I disagree.  If Sony were willing to invest some talent, they could revive the game in a matter of months.  Right now, PS only has a development team of
six or so, and I have my doubts it's that many.   Such a small team has no hope of both making a dent in the hacking problem and bringing freshness into the game.  And those two things are what's needed to bring people back.  Most of those I know left the game because they were bored or because they perceived the game to be unfair.  If they added a few devs, got the fairness problems (hacker / bad net code / CSHD) under control, made a few new maps, and reinforced the land-taking gameplay, they'd get a large surge in returning PS players.  And as MMO dabbling seems to be in vogue the last couple years, I think they'd attract new players as well.

Of course, this is all a pipe dream, because it's clear that Sony isn't willing to invest anything into the game.  This is why we've got this thread in the first place.  I love this game, and it's hard watching it die.

[LK]

I'd like a graphics update too.

[Venkman]

PS needed more world. I loved the game, and was deadly in a Mosquito back in the day. I preferred the Reaver, but the lack of intuitive missile splash damage against ground targets always pissed me off. And that's ultimately what drove me away after my third return (even having at that point run with KAAOS, which made everything fun by default).

The things your weapons did didn't make enough sense to me intuitively. I don't know how anyone could claim PS wasn't a stats game. To me it certainly felt like one.

• In COD4, I shoot an RPG, it goes, it hits wall, it explodes, explosion takes out target that was standing near it.
• In PS I could be shooting missiles at a person, but because it's a person and not a vehicle, they may die. Or not. Or lag around it. Or any number of other things.

"Skill" was trying to puzzle out what did what. We were doing that in UO before people figured out what exactly "Of invulnerability" meant. You just figured stuff out differently in PS, and the variables could change a bit more.

And I don't compare PS to MMORPGs. It doesn't make any sense to me to do so. It was always trying to be an MMOFPS and more logically trying to attract FPS players. It didn't do that at the time for all the understandable reasons and a few unfortunate ones (the need to grind at that point, the required fee, no offline mode at all, etc). MMOFPS is still an open field. The next one probably won't grab the entrenched community of PS. But they're not a big enough market to design for.

[Strazos]

I really liked my time in PS, but the lack of balance sort of killed it for me. Especially the TR bias and the ability to be a master of all with enough cert points.

I still really think a limit on your ability to carry heavy weapons of multiple types would really help; no more stupid double chaingun or chaingun/striker combos. I can deal with chaingun/decimator, at least they only have a few shots.

TR was all sorts of broken.

[Dtrain]

I learned long ago that every empire thinks the other 2 empires are broken. It's just that the TR and the NC are half right. The Vanu are broken. =)

I don't know why you think the TR were that great though. Really the only thing they had going for them was cool looks.

MCG was a good gun, but so are the jackhammer and lasher (situationally much better weapons.)

The TR AV weapon was a pest (lockon missles,) but it did fuck all for damage.

The TR tank was a joke. Sure it allowed for 3 people, but that usually meant you rolled with 2 and nobody wanted to be your canopy gunner. So essentually you went in undergunned from the start. The boosted rate of fire was nothing compared to the overwhelming firepower of the NC Vanguard, or the mobility and arcless shots of the Vanu Magrider that were highly effective AA. It also had less armor than the Vanguard. Just about the only thing it did better than either tank is the fact that it could move as quickly in reverse as it could forward (which helps when your tank can't hold it's own in a fight.) Basically it was the Sherman of PlanetSide.

The TR MAX suits were lame too, and had the worst lockdown ability. There was a time when the TR AA max was an Anti-everything max though, but that was changed eventually.

And proving I'm running out of talking points, the medium assault weapon (cycler?) was a rapid fire, high cone of fire spread, low damage weapon that the NC Gaus rifle had beat in everything except ammo capacity.

The Marauder though. The Marauder was pretty sweet. But then so where the other light vehicles from the Vanu and the NC.

[Jimbo]

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=10031.msg303953#msg303953

Nebu, how the hell do you level up that quick in DAoC?  It took me forever to level...

[Nebu]

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=10031.msg303953#msg303953

Nebu, how the hell do you level up that quick in DAoC?  It took me forever to level...

Class matters.  With a vamp, valk, or similar classes you basically get to level 25 as fast as possible and then level in the frontiers.  Granted, most of the time I've PL'ed myself with a second toon.  A necro with a cleric bot can get a player from 1-40 in about 2h.  If I had to do it from scratch with no help from anyone, it would probably take me about 2 days played, though I have leveled a vamp and a valkyrie to 50 with no help from anyone in about a day and a half.  BD's are easy too.

[AcidCat]

TR Stuff

Agreed, my main was TR and I never felt any of our unique weapons were the best. Actually I prefer the Vanu weapons in every category except the standard battle rifle, I liked the NC's Gauss.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Nebu, I played it when it came out, was with a bunch of us on Midgard, and just hated the nerf to leveling and how long it took to level.  Then again, I think all games should have quick leveling (solo and even quicker when grouped).  If you can get to level 50 in 48 hours of play time, then the game has changed a ton since I played.  I quit when City of Hero's came out and have never gone back.

Back on track...

Another thing, that is probably pretty big, is the lack of power you have as a normal foot soldier.  The 3 standar battle rifles didn't have enough punch and a lot of times you would be shooting at someone and missing.  I'll never forget, loggin in, taking the TR, loading up with the battle rifle, getting the jump on someone running into our base, and he starts moving back and forth, and I get the misses and he kills me.  That would have made a lot of FPS type say, "WTF!?!" and quit.  I just gave up on infantry combat and moved to vehicles.  Something just doesn't seem right with infantry combat.

Planetside did let me play a role, unlike the other "roleplaying" games, where you decided what you wanted to do and did it.  A guy or gal like me that was a gear head, would have pretty much the same set up  from start to end game, but hell the end game started the moment you logged on.

[Mrbloodworth]

TR Stuff

Agreed, my main was TR and I never felt any of our unique weapons were the best. Actually I prefer the Vanu weapons in every category except the standard battle rifle, I liked the NC's Gauss.

You can't look at just one piece of equipment in planetside. You have to look at the entire empire. Each has a strength and weaknesses.

[AcidCat]

I'm very familiar with the TR's main weakness - we needed more people to be as effective. The tank is a perfect example.

I barely played NC, but fighting them I never noticed any overall weakness, they always seemed strong in all areas.

Vanu ... I don't know, there always seemed to be less of them, but that was more a player choice issue. Their weaponry seemed a tad weaker on a per hit basis, but that always seemed fairly irrelevant when I played as one - a small deficiency that could be overcome with skill. Loved the mobility of the MAX units, that jump ability was easily the most useful of all Empire's MAX specialties.

[Slayerik]

I'm very familiar with the TR's main weakness - we needed more people to be as effective. The tank is a perfect example.

I barely played NC, but fighting them I never noticed any overall weakness, they always seemed strong in all areas.

Vanu ... I don't know, there always seemed to be less of them, but that was more a player choice issue. Their weaponry seemed a tad weaker on a per hit basis, but that always seemed fairly irrelevant when I played as one - a small deficiency that could be overcome with skill. Loved the mobility of the MAX units, that jump ability was easily the most useful of all Empire's MAX specialties.

Vanu's mobility was awesome. Magriders were the shit, and able to snipe reavers outta the sky and NOT HAVE TO CROSS BRIDGES! Pre-nerf, Magmowa's were even more fun. The Vanguard was pretty awesome though, and Prowler was the worst of the 3.

I found TR's guns to all be solid. I used to steal Cycler (standard rifle?). The MCG and jackhammers were both better in most circumstances then the Lasher, except when it had the week long super buff. Lock down maxes were fuckin sick. The game was well balanced. And a lot of fuckin fun.

[LK]

This is turning into the Planetside Nostalgia Epidemic. 

[Mrbloodworth]

Cycler (standard rifle?)

Yes, Empire specific rifle, but the suppressor would technically be the "Standard" rifle of all empires. Also, the suppressor is sick in the right hands.

[AcidCat]

I found TR's guns to all be solid.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I don't think they were weak, I just thought the Vanu stuff was more fun to use. The Lancer in particular, once you compensated for that slight delay, was incredibly accurate and had a long range, great AV/Anti-Max weapon.

*sigh* Yeah, PlanetSide nostalgia ..

[LK]

The worse part is I feel like playing it again, but lately it's just a big ole "What the fuck is the point?"  Sure, there isn't much point to most of the things I do, but unlike a whisper I can ignore, this game screams about what I'm doing.

[Slayerik]

What we need is a Eve like push to start playing again.

Oh wait, we tried that like 6 months ago and it died out fast. Bummer.

[shiznitz]

NC always fit me the best, but I played TR most of the time. I sucked with the jackhammer but I pwned with the ScatterMAX. I also loved being a fighter pilot, but it was much harder to come back after a long hiatus and be competitive in the air than it was to be a grunt again every few months.

[Mrbloodworth]

NC always fit me the best, but I played TR most of the time. I sucked with the jackhammer but I pwned with the ScatterMAX. I also loved being a fighter pilot, but it was much harder to come back after a long hiatus and be competitive in the air than it was to be a grunt again every few months.

Everyone pawns with a Scatmax.

[damijin]

In beta, us Vanu got rolled consistently and hard. At some point in beta one of the dev team posted on the forums that "The pulsar is functioning as intended!"

two weeks later:

"Sorry folks, we discovered a copy paste error in the pulsar, and it has been set to much less damage than we intended. It will be fixed in the next patch."

I'm pretty sure it was just a rapid-fire beamer for those first few months.

Lasher was severely broken after release though. Lasher + surge + recro armor = unfair lag kills in the highest order.

I miss playing with Ahriman Corps back on Emerald :(

[ClydeJr]

I loved driving the Thresher for the Vanu. Fast, quick, could move over water. It could bounce over most bumps with little loss of speed. Every now and then, something would get screwed up with its weight and it would get extra "floaty". I'd hit a bump and I'd float for 10 times longer than normal. When this happened, I'd try to hit big jumps and land on top of the enemies. I even used this once to jump the wall into an enemy base. It was great until 3 seconds later when I hit a mine and blew up.