Planetside 2

[Megrim]

It desperately needs a tutorial. I played last night and had 4 other people explaining things to me on TS, and I was still almost completely clueless. If I was playing alone I would have quit 10 minutes into it.

What did you find so hard to work out? I'd never played a Planetside game before this one, and I thought it was fine.

[WayAbvPar]

How do I find a battle? How do I join/quit a squad? How do I remap keys? How do I move the chat bar? What is the difference between the classes? What do the different guns in each class do? What are my objectives? How do I capture a point? What is a cert? How are they earned? How do I spend them? What do the markings on the mini map mean? How do I resize it or move it?

That is just what popped into my head today when I am not in game. It is pretty overwhelming when you are in game and trying to find out where the hell your friends are.

[Surlyboi]

I've been playing for months and I just found out last week that if you hold shift while sniping, it holds your breath. It's not exactly intuitive.

[Megrim]

How do I find a battle? How do I join/quit a squad? How do I remap keys? How do I move the chat bar? What is the difference between the classes? What do the different guns in each class do? What are my objectives? How do I capture a point? What is a cert? How are they earned? How do I spend them? What do the markings on the mini map mean? How do I resize it or move it?

That is just what popped into my head today when I am not in game. It is pretty overwhelming when you are in game and trying to find out where the hell your friends are.

Well, apart from resizing the chat box, you couldn't figure out any of that other stuff by taking a few minutes to look at the menus, or playing the game? Ok.

[Engels]

Be fair, for someone who's never played PS period, a lot of this stuff is not remotely apparent. Why can I 'deploy' to hotspots on one continent but not all 3? Why is changing continents relegated to two smallish consoles at the main base warpgate?

There are a bagillion design decisions in PS2 that only make marginal sense if you've played PS1 to start with, and even then some are serious headscratchers. Like, stats/definitions for infantry and vehicular guns aren't in the main cert pages, but under an entirely different main menu system.

Anyone making apologies for the GUI of this game is a frothing fanboy from hell and can stfu.

[Venkman]

Yea. You kinda really need to want to learn how to play PS2. They need that battleroom from the first one at least. The Map does work pretty well for getting to the action, but they need better indicators between "here's where 90% of everyone is" and "here's where one guy shot a bullet at a building by accident".

What world has changed?

Some games simply can not be in the "30 minute bite" rule. You can see them striving for it with this game, in turn it invalidates having a massive world in the first place. What has changed, is now 5 minutes of not shooting is seen as a deficiency. They keep chasing this down  to try to remove it. To the point of it being in the base designs themselves ( Defenders Disadvantaged and urged to move along after the first life/assault of said base. The dam spawn buildings are on the perimeter of bases. Causing them to be the first things surrounded in an attack )

Chasing this design point is wrong for a game like Planetside, and its the thing that bothers me the most.

I hear ya. But that's why those six complaints are still valid ten years later.

The vast majority of players are there to shoot things. I suspect this is why session-based FPS games continue to be the preferred way of playing. PS1 and PS2 are magical experiences when everything clicks. But for a drop-in-and-shoot-things player, those moments are too rare and separated by tens of minutes of running. Meanwhile they can be in a tank or plane within a minute of logging into BF*, or be shooting upwards of 32 enemies in CoD*.

That  does break the PS mold. But I don't know there's any more a market for "core PS" than there was a decade ago.

I personally feel the biggest thing they missed was separating newbs from vets. I get why they don't do it (FPS games mostly don't). But it's holding the game back from the market I think. They need to monetize the 3-5% of eyeballs that show up, which means a way large market of newbs to advance through a learning curve.

[Mac]

I took me several days to figure out that if I bought upgrades for vehicles I had to actually equip them. The slots are unnamed and grayed out until you buy an upgrade for it and on weapons there is no attachment menu button till you've actually bought an attachment. You then realize that most of the armor and performance upgrades you bought are useless because you can only slot one of each for each slot. 

No biggie with the current cert rain and I'm fine with having to make choices, but it would be nice if this was more apparent for new players.

[UnSub]

Yea. You kinda really need to want to learn how to play PS2.

If that's the case and SOE doesn't have a big tutorial mode being worked on right now, then SOE better hope PS2 is the funnest game ever.

As a F2P there are a lot of people who will give it a shot, but if they have to flounder around for an hour working out how to do stuff they'll quit and not come back.

[Ratman_tf]

Anybody got a link to the beta download? My account shows I'm active, but I didn't get the link, or deleted that email.

This this one:

http://www.planetside2.com/download

Ah. Cunningly hidden, I see. Thanks. 

[Mrbloodworth]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/218230/

[Falconeer]

The Steam move is really smart. It'll bring lots of cannon fodder people. Also, it will bring huge queues which will only be skipped by paying the monthly 15$. So, I don't know, meh.

I have a question. I could research this but I'll put it here cause I think it might be beneficial to others too.

What do levels do? I don't seem to see any direct consequence of leveling. Nothing unlocks, nothing changes, no particular rewards. Just a number and a title?

[Mrbloodworth]

Battle rank does nothing, save for you get a new title ( A rank title ) and handful of Cert points. There are also some restrictions by battle rank on a very small number of items. The only other thing I think it does, that's not in yet, is you get more load-outs as you rank up.

   
   Update Notes 11.14.2012

    The client has been updated and players may note the following changes:

    Notable Bug Fixes:

        Restarting a Twitch stream after it failed due to a resolution change will no longer crash the client.
        Using the Record function in the microphone test settings will no longer cause issues with in game voice chat.
        The Invite to Platoon function should now properly allow invitations.
        The Heyoka Tech Plant southwest landing pad will now resupply aircraft.
        The Heavy Assault Overshield ability now functions as intended and takes more damage.
        Players will now receive resources even though they are in a Phalanx turret.
        Players will no longer spawn under the world after seeing a second loading screen.


    Gameplay Changes:

        MAX AV weaponry projectile speed has been increased.
        Control point neutralization rewards have been decreased.
        A number of outposts have been provided additional cover and tweaked with additional jump pads and walls to improve flow.
        Continent locking will now provide a 10% cost reduction to a single resource when owned.
        The Forward grip has been removed from a number of assault rifles, carbines, and light machine guns.
        The extended magazine skill has been removed from some light machine guns.
        Players will no regenerate health automatically without their empire owning a biolab.
        Performance Upgrades are now setup in packages.

    Flash

    Combat Chassis - Improved traction, turning, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.
    Power Chassis - Improved handling and hill climbing.

    Sunderer

    Combat Chassis - Improved traction, turning, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.

    Lightning

    Combat Chassis - Improved tank rotation, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.

    Magrider

    Combat Chassis - Improved strafe, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.

    Vanguard

    Combat Chassis - Improved tank rotation, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.

    Prowler

    Combat Chassis - Improved tank rotation, brakes and reverse speed.
    Runner Chassis - Improved speed and acceleration.

    Scythe

    Dogfight Airframe - Improved turn, roll and agility.
    Air to Ground Airframe - Improved hover, air brake and vertical thrust.
    High Speed Airframe - Improved speed and afterburner.

    Reaver

    Dogfight Airframe - Improved turn, roll and agility.
    Air to Ground Airframe - Improved hover, air brake and vertical thrust.
    High Speed Airframe - Improved speed and afterburner.

    Mosquito

    Dogfight Airframe - Improved turn, roll and agility.
    Air to Ground Airframe - Improved hover, air brake and vertical thrust.
    High Speed Airframe - Improved speed and afterburner.

    Liberator

    Precision Bomber Airframe - Improved brakes, turn and roll.
    High-G Airframe - Improved vertical thrust, pitch and agility.
    High Speed Airframe - Improved speed and afterburner.

    Galaxy

    Precision Drops Airframe - Improved brakes, turn and roll.
    High-G Airframe - Improved vertical thrust, pitch and agility.
    High Speed Airframe - Improved speed and acceleration.

[Sky]

Count me as another one that could use some tutage. I played for about an hour, went to some base and ran around trying to figure out how to gear up and then figure out how the infiltrator sniper guys works (apparently not well without certs as I could stealth for seconds at a stretch) and then went to sit in a turret because I saw some air activity. After plinking away uselessly at aircraft in the distance, a guy comes up and shoots at the turret, so I jump out to confront him and die instantly.

Then when I went to log in again a couple days later it wanted to download several gigs of patch, so I haven't played since and still have no clue what I was doing.

[Stormwaltz]

Oh, cool, it's not just me.

I got in last night, and played for a half hour. I died a few times. I think I killed (or helped kill) a couple of people. I barely knew what I was doing, but I assumed that was because I haven't played a shooter any significant amount since BF42. I assumed everyone else was working off interface conventions established in those Call of Metal Warfare games I don't play.

[Falconeer]

I am not saying people have to like hard things, but we are veterans here and we grew up with shitty UIs and no tutorials whatsoever. From a 2012 perspective this game is terrible when it comes to introducing itself to anyone.

But I am a little more surprised about the complains, in general (so not about Planetside). Sure, when you get into the game things are not immediately clear. But is it really so hard to figure out stuff? And is it really so painful?

I am sure the answer is yes, or we wouldn't be having this conversation, but I can't help but feel a little weird about it. This is not a 4X game. It's a shooter with a few rpg/meta element and a big map. Haven't we become a bit too spoiled?  (Again, this is NOT a defense of Planetside2, more like a sidetrack on older gamers).

[WayAbvPar]

Figured out a bit more about how to maneuver around and where to find fights, but it is still pretty tough on a newcomer. I weep for anyone trying to play for free 6 months after release. All the hardcore folks will have uber-equipped characters on top of their knowledge of the game mechanics. It will be really tough to attract and keep non-masochists.

e- to answer Falconeer

With so many games to play these days (including several in this genre), PS2 needs to make a concerted effort to attract and retain new players. Think of how offputting Eve was (is), and how many times CCP revamped the new player experience to try to grow their player base. This feels similar- for someone who just wants to log in and shoot shit, it is a lot of work. I have been playing games for 30+ years, and shooters for 20+, and there are many things about PS2 I still don't understand after ~10 hours of playtime. Not being immediately great at the actual gameplay is expected, but I don't think some advice/information for new players is too great a demand.

And for the love of everything that is holy- PUT IN A FUCKING AUTORUN KEY. In an game that expects players to cover hundreds of kilometers in a play session, and where vehicles are not always available, not having an autorun key is fucking criminal.

[Stormwaltz]

I started out in a base that was some kind of force-shielded oil rig thing. It took me a few minutes to first realize there were no ramps down to the ground from where I spawned, and then figure out what an elevator looked like (weird sparkle-tube) and take one to the surface.

That was less a UI convention problem and more of a level design trip-up. Still, that was my first experience in the game - trying to figure out how to reach the ground without splattering on it.

[Mrbloodworth]

We have 7 5 days people. The meta game is barely in. Like I said, they do not seem to have learned much from Planetside 1. Also, I would do my part as a PS2 community member to help new users, but I fear I will be once again labeled as a shill.

PUT IN A FUCKING AUTORUN KEY

This has been asked for since the tech test.  

[croaker69]

Figured out a bit more about how to maneuver around and where to find fights, but it is still pretty tough on a newcomer. I weep for anyone trying to play for free 6 months after release. All the hardcore folks will have uber-equipped characters on top of their knowledge of the game mechanics. It will be really tough to attract and keep non-masochists.

e- to answer Falconeer

With so many games to play these days (including several in this genre), PS2 needs to make a concerted effort to attract and retain new players. Think of how offputting Eve was (is), and how many times CCP revamped the new player experience to try to grow their player base. This feels similar- for someone who just wants to log in and shoot shit, it is a lot of work. I have been playing games for 30+ years, and shooters for 20+, and there are many things about PS2 I still don't understand after ~10 hours of playtime. Not being immediately great at the actual gameplay is expected, but I don't think some advice/information for new players is too great a demand.

And for the love of everything that is holy- PUT IN A FUCKING AUTORUN KEY. In an game that expects players to cover hundreds of kilometers in a play session, and where vehicles are not always available, not having an autorun key is fucking criminal.

If you're stuck in the middle-of-nowhere w/o a ride it's better to just use the redeploy feature to move to a spawn point.

[Goumindong]

If you're stuck in the middle-of-nowhere w/o a ride it's better to just use the redeploy feature to move to a spawn point.

If only there were some sort of tutorial to explain that to people. And jump pads and teleporters...

The biggest map failing is that while everything else is marked, jump pads and teleporters and their destinations are not at all, which makes it a pain to get around in you haven't memorized anything

[Mac]

I think it's easier to get vehicles in PS2 than in PS1, since they are no longer dependent on a captured Tech Plant but maybe I'm misremembering.

At most bases you can at least buy a Flash and it's cheap. Lightnings aren't that expensive, they are fast and a lot of fun. Better to roll with an oufit though, but that's not for everyone.

[WayAbvPar]

If you have a group to play with, the game really shines. For a single player, it is going to suck a lot of ass.

[Venkman]

I am sure the answer is yes, or we wouldn't be having this conversation, but I can't help but feel a little weird about it. This is not a 4X game. It's a shooter with a few rpg/meta element and a big map. Haven't we become a bit too spoiled? 

Nah. Why should we ask for what other contemporary games do better? We'll slog through it because we are veterans. But if we complain about it, imagine the average Halo 4 player.

Sure, ok, PS2 ain't for them any more that is for Black Ops II or Medal of Honor players. But then, nor should any company be trying a semi-big-budget game on  the nice faded-glory ex-PS1 player whose been around since insta-hally-hit/8x8 days when you didn't even get zone chat unless you used IRC. 

[5150]

Anyone know if there is a final player wipe and if so when that will be?

[ilyatha]

I believe that when the shut down beta tomorrow, they'll do a full wipe before the release on the 20th.

[Yoru]

My primary concern with release is that they've locked most of the fun stuff (liberator bomb turret, fighter rockets/A2A missiles, heavy assault guided missile launchers) behind pretty substantial unlock barriers.

The lowest of them is the man-portable guided missile launchers, which cost about 100 certs. That's a couple solid days of playing for me, and I'm not sure I want to run around bored until then. The A2A missiles are my bar-none favorite and they're almost 1000 certs. I don't like flying around enough to drop 10 euros on unlocking the goddamn missiles, and 1000 cert points is almost a month of playtime for me.

Not to mention the additional 500-ish certs needed to reduce the unlock timers to a decent level, get flares ranked up high enough to not die repeatedly, etc.

If the game's not fun out of the gate, I fear for its long-term survivability.

[Mrbloodworth]

For those who need guidance, check out the button just about Play on the launcher.

The lowest of them is the man-portable guided missile launchers, which cost about 100 certs. That's a couple solid days of playing for me, and I'm not sure I want to run around bored until then.

If I am right, its 1 cert every 500 XP, also a handful each battle rank, and I believe you get certs every 8 hours while offline. There are also medals, "A Medal is awarded for obtaining a certain number of kills with each infantry and vehicle weapon." that are a sort of achievement. There are four levels of medals.

There are also kill streaks and such from Arena games of old.

Kill/Support    Bonuses
Bonus Type      Bonus XP
MAX kill      20
Headshot    10
Vengeance Kill    ?
Domination Kill    ?
Kill Streak    ?
Kill Streak Stop    ?
Group Kill    ?
Infantry Kill Assist    25
Infantry Critical Damage Assist    50
Vehicle Kill Assist    Varies
Vehicle Critical Damage Assist    Varies
Roadkill    10
Sunderer Spawn Bonus    5/Spawn
Ammunition Resupply    10/Magazine
Recon Detect Device Assist    ?
Repair Assist    5/tick
MAX Repair Assist    10/tick
Heal Assist    10/tick
Squad Heal/Repair Assist    +5/tick

Facility Bonuses
Action    Reward XP
Control Point Neutralization    100
Control Point Capture    100
Facility Capture    250-1000 (depends on the facility)
Initiate Generator Overload    100
Stabilize Generator    100
Generator Destruction    100
Destroy any Terminal    100

[kaid]

I am not saying people have to like hard things, but we are veterans here and we grew up with shitty UIs and no tutorials whatsoever. From a 2012 perspective this game is terrible when it comes to introducing itself to anyone.

But I am a little more surprised about the complains, in general (so not about Planetside). Sure, when you get into the game things are not immediately clear. But is it really so hard to figure out stuff? And is it really so painful?

I am sure the answer is yes, or we wouldn't be having this conversation, but I can't help but feel a little weird about it. This is not a 4X game. It's a shooter with a few rpg/meta element and a big map. Haven't we become a bit too spoiled?  (Again, this is NOT a defense of Planetside2, more like a sidetrack on older gamers).

I would have to agree I figured most of the stuff out but until I went to my friends house for a week I never realized most of the basic guns you can select between auto fire and single fire so you can with a scope turn even a newb gun into a half decent sniper gun for engaging things at longer range.

They really could use a tutorial area like PS1 had. That let you play with virtual versions of all the weapons and all the gear and if you went through it you came out with a fair amount of certs and at least a working idea of the basics of the game.

[kaid]

You can turn the sprint key to a toggle so it basically works like an auto run key. Go to options then gameplay I believe to turn that option on.

Figured out a bit more about how to maneuver around and where to find fights, but it is still pretty tough on a newcomer. I weep for anyone trying to play for free 6 months after release. All the hardcore folks will have uber-equipped characters on top of their knowledge of the game mechanics. It will be really tough to attract and keep non-masochists.

e- to answer Falconeer

With so many games to play these days (including several in this genre), PS2 needs to make a concerted effort to attract and retain new players. Think of how offputting Eve was (is), and how many times CCP revamped the new player experience to try to grow their player base. This feels similar- for someone who just wants to log in and shoot shit, it is a lot of work. I have been playing games for 30+ years, and shooters for 20+, and there are many things about PS2 I still don't understand after ~10 hours of playtime. Not being immediately great at the actual gameplay is expected, but I don't think some advice/information for new players is too great a demand.

And for the love of everything that is holy- PUT IN A FUCKING AUTORUN KEY. In an game that expects players to cover hundreds of kilometers in a play session, and where vehicles are not always available, not having an autorun key is fucking criminal.

[Sky]

But I am a little more surprised about the complains, in general (so not about Planetside). Sure, when you get into the game things are not immediately clear. But is it really so hard to figure out stuff? And is it really so painful?

It's not fun. Why would I bother taking time to figure things out if it's not fun?

For a single player, it is going to suck a lot of ass.

And this is why it will fail to gain a large following. Even if you have a group to play with, you need to support players when their group isn't around or they just want to do their own thing in a supportive way. I played solo for most of the time in PS1 and it was fun (stealthing CE). And it added to the battle in a big way, capping towers setting up resupply, harassing the enemy supply lines, etc. Not putting in fun, interesting and helpful things for solo players is myopic.

This was a stupid impulse purchase for me. Too bad I can't return it. Ah, well.

But then, nor should any company be trying a semi-big-budget game on  the nice faded-glory ex-PS1 player whose been around since insta-hally-hit/8x8 days when you didn't even get zone chat unless you used IRC. 

That's about it, right there. And even from my side of the fence PS1 did it better.

[WayAbvPar]

For all my complaining, I am almost certainly going to spring for the Alpha Squad package. There is enough beneath the surface to make me want to explore more. I wouldn't do it if I didn't have a clan, however.

[Mrbloodworth]

Who are you rolling with?

[WayAbvPar]

My buddies from World of Tanks (Evil Chickens).

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Your name has successfully been reserved:
Kryten

So I am in  

[Falconeer]

What bothers me is that game is launching in 5 days and SO MANY weapons and unlockables are not in yet. Look at this page and all the weapons that are supposed to be. I think it's not even 50%. And that reflects one of my feelings I had in the beta. There's not enough stuff worth unlocking. Don't get me wrong, I don't play a game like this to unlock stuff, but since the mechanic is in game, at the moment it just feels weak, underwhelming and unfinished. Hope they'll surprise us on launch day.

[Sky]

And it needs the firing range for testing unlocks for both infantry and vehicles.

As a crappy solo newb, I'm not sure how I'll like having to pay for vehicles. I won't be earning much and I'll be dying quickly. For every 'learn to play' there is a 'I'll just go play something else'.