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July 20, 2025, 05:35:42 AM

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It also means a lot of people with very limited firepower.

Well - unless they pick Terran.

Battlerank 6 can lead to some nice things, you could pick repair (gotta have the glue gun), light tank, prowler, and raider. And if enough people are on, you can actually crew a raider and wtfpwn! things quite well. KAAOS (Hendron's unit from the old Lum board) has shown that a good group of people running around with just reavers can decimate BFR's, heck they did it in a "pajama party" style once, where they had all 20 of them spawn in agile armor and chainguns.

But I'm sure the other empires can tell of how they can overcome with good tactics with so-so weapons.

The only problem will be getting the new people into the battle and once there, that they will follow orders.

The following is off the PS website, http://planetside.station.sony.com/news_archive.vm?id=67028&month=current

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Planetside Reserves FAQ

View the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the PlanetSide Reserves program. You can also join the discussion on the Official PlanetSide forums.

Q: What is the demo program PlanetSide Reserves?
A: Demo players will be able to download the PlanetSide Reserves demo and will be able to play for free through Battle Rank 6. Once they reach BR 6, they will be able to continue to play the game, but will not accumulate additional experience points unless and until they upgrade to a paying account. On exit from the game after each play session, players will be taken to a website that will allow them to purchase the game client and upgrade to a paying account. Upon purchase of the game client, you will receive an additional 30 days of play after upgrading your account. This offer is not available for existing PlanetSide accounts.

Q: Is Battle Rank 6 the maximum rank that PlanetSide Reserves accounts can reach?
A: Yes. The PlanetSide Reserves accounts can only progress up to Battle Rank 6 (BR 6). Once BR 6 is achieved, you will be able to continue to play the game, but will not progress further unless you purchase the game client and upgrade to a paying subscription.

Q: How do I access PlanetSide game files to try it out?
A: We will provide you a location to download the demo game files. There will be a link on PlanetSide.com with more details.

Q: How would a PlanetSide Reserves account user convert to paying subscriber?
A: On exit from the game, you will be taken to a website that will allow you to purchase the game client and upgrade to a monthly subscription for the price indicated on the website, which includes the opportunity to obtain the Battle Frame Robotics (BFRs), the giant robot units, and gain more XP to progress through higher Battle Ranks. With higher XP you will be able to gain new implants, better weapons and higher command ranks.

Q: How long can I play the demo?
A: The program will run for a fixed 12-month period. The length of your demo time will depend on when in the promotion period you sign up. If you sign up on the first day, you will have almost 12 full months of gameplay. If you sign up one week before the end of the program, you will have one week of demo time.

Q: When a PlanetSide Reserves account converts to a paying account, what happens to the characters and account if they decide to cancel later on?
A: Once an account converts over to a paying account, normal cancellation procedures apply. To play that account again you will need to enter billing on it. Please note, only one PlanetSide Reserves account per Station Account will be permitted.

Q: What other features will I receive when I purchase the game client and upgrade to a paying account?
A: When you upgrade your account after purchase of the game client, you will immediately receive an additional 30 days of gameplay before your first subscription is paid. Also, the very next time you login after upgrading the account you will have no restrictions on the growth of your character and can progress past Battle Rank 6, Command Rank 2 and will be able to imprint your character to use BFR’s (Battle Frame Robots) after completing the prerequisites in the caverns.

Q: While playing the demo, will I be able to work towards merits?
A: Yes. All of your kill statistics towards merits will count, but some merits do not apply until after you’ve reached a higher battle rank. So, you may not be able to get all your merits while in your demo period.

Q: Will these accounts have access to the caverns?
A: Yes. There will be no restriction on areas while playing the demo.

Q: Will a PlanetSide Reserves account be able to obtain a BFR?
A: You will be able to finish the prerequisites for obtaining a BFR but you will not be able to get the imprinting of the BFR until the account is upgraded to a paying account.

Q: Will I have any identifying feature on my character to single me out as a PlanetSide Reserves player?
A: Fortunately for you, no. Until you unlock your account and gain enough XP to reach Battle Rank 7 your armor design will be the same. If you want to avoid being singled out as a lower level player, purchase the client and upgrade to a paying account as soon as possible.

Q: Will I be able to join a squad?
A: Yes, it is highly recommended for learning the game quicker and keeping your character alive. You’ll be able to join or create a squad from the moment you start playing. Just hit “P” to bring up the squad commands and controls to create or search.

Q: Is it true that joining an outfit is a great way to learn the tricks of the game? And can I join an outfit as a PlanetSide Reserves player?
A: Yes to both. Outfit members only succeed if their teammates know what they are doing to cover their backs, and you will be able to join up as soon as you enter the game. It might be a good idea to find out the play style of the outfit before accepting and invitation. Many outfits have their own web sites so check it out!

Q: Will I be able to gain experience after I achieve Battle Rank 6 and Command Rank 2?
A: No. Experience will stop as soon as you reach each ranking, until you upgrade to a paying account.

Q: If I wait awhile to upgrade to a paying account after achieving Battle Rank 6, will my experience be saved up and then be applied to my account when I do upgrade?
A: Unfortunately, no. You’ll only accumulate additional experience after you upgrade to a paying account. So don’t wait too long to get into the action!

Q: What is a population lock on a continent?
A: There is a cap on the amount of players that can enter a continent per each empire. This number may fluctuate by continent, but if your empire has capped out on a continent you will have to wait your turn to enter or pick another battle on a different continent.

Q: Will PlanetSide Reserves players be given the same priority as paying players when waiting for a spot on a population locked continent?
A: Players on accounts that are paying a subscription will have priority over PlanetSide Reserves player accounts.

Q: Will PlanetSide Reserves players be limited to the amount of players per account?
A: All demo player accounts will have the same character limits as paying accounts. You can have up to 8 characters on each server.

Q: When will the PlanetSide Reserves program launch?
A: We have not locked down an official launch date as of yet but we hope to have it live within the month of March.

Hmmm, unless I'm very much mistaken, BR6 would get you at least a mosquito, repair, and a shotgun. What else do you need?

Quote

I seriously hope they get rid of or drastically reduce the time delay in removing certs

Recertification? Why would I want that? I ALREADY HAVE A MOSQUITO.

PS. I hear PS now supports joysticks. whoohoo! I may well be resubbing sometime soon.

Quote from: eldaec on March 03, 2006, 02:37:14 AM

PS. I hear PS now supports joysticks. whoohoo! I may well be resubbing sometime soon.

Yes it does.

If you want to see what you can get with BR6, try this: Planetside Cert Calc. It seems to be current in it's costs.

Quote from: tar on March 03, 2006, 02:40:42 AM

If you want to see what you can get with BR6, try this: Planetside Cert Calc. It seems to be current in it's costs.

BR6 should be enough to give you one set of toys to play with (either good grunt armour and guns or all the MAX suits) you just wont be versatile(sp?) outside your set

CR2 doesnt give either the EMP or obital strike though (just the command channel and show friendlies from the CUD)

Do you still need to do stupid cave stuff that should have never been added to the game in order to get battleframes and those horrid Eldar-ish artillery things? If the answer is no I'll probably resubscribe. If the answer is yes, the game can still choke on my nuts and die.

Quote from: angry.bob on March 03, 2006, 09:28:07 AM

Battleframes, yes. But since reserves/fodder can't get BFRs, it doesn't matter. Plus, BFRs are something of a specialized 'standoff' kind of tank now, since their shields are not indestructible and BFRs are weak against specialized infantry.

Flails, sortof. Flails require an vehicle mod, which must be 'stolen' from the caves and plugged into a friendly base. One you have that mod available and linked directly or indirectly to a base, you can draw a Flail from any friendly base. But like the BFR, Flails are for artillery support and are definitely not a soloist weapon anymore. You don't need to go into the caves to cert the flail.

I can't even remember the last time I went into the caves...

Please bump it when it goes live.

Quote from: sinij on March 03, 2006, 05:25:33 PM

Please bump it when it goes live.

Curious myself....

Wouldn't mind taking my BR20 CR4 outta retirement....if there was a large playerbase.

I actually upgraded to Station Pass to start playing PS again but have yet to actually log in.

Let's say I only want to play Stealth; I can't use rifles, so that removes a lot of cert possibilities, right? And I can only drive a wraith - so that's not a lot of vehicle cert investment. Would I have enough certs available to make a decent stealther in PS free mode?

How is stealth in Planetside?

At BR 6, you would have (last I checked) 9 certs.

Infiltrator Armor is 2 certs.
ATV is 1 cert.

At that point, its a matter of what you want to do.
If you want to plant explosives, that's 5 certs.
If you want to hack things good, that's 5 certs.

So, sort of.

Free accounts are either going to be vehicle pilots and light infantry, fighter pilots, UNI-MAX(power armor) infantry, or specialized heavy infantry. With the current guidelines and notes, you could have a separate character for each.

The commandos and elite troops are going to be the domain of paying accounts: that's sort of the nature of the beast.

Quote from: Televangelist on March 22, 2006, 05:07:48 PM

Stealth in PlanetSide is very very good. You have a lot of both strategic and tactical options as a stealther. There are counters to stealthers (e.g. Darklight implant) but then you have counter counters as well (EMP grenades will temporarily knock out implants). Unfortunately at a max of BR 6 you won't be able to make a full blown stealther which requires both Combat Engineering (with Engineering as a prereq) and Advanced Hacking (with Hacking as a prereq) even if you skip your stealth ATV. You can do CE or Adv Hacking (plus the stealth ATV) individually to get a sense of what they are like though. CE + Hacking is enough to let you blow up equipment in bases if you can handle hacking lockers in enemy spawn rooms.

But the real question is: Can I make a decent Sniper?

Quote from: Strazos on March 23, 2006, 06:29:02 AM

But the real question is: Can I make a decent Sniper?

Yes you will have just enough points to make a decent Sniper:

Medium Assault (prereq for Sniping)
Sniping
Medical (heal yourself in the field)
Engineering (repair your armor in the field)

or

Medium Assault
Sniping
Reinforced Exosuit (more armor and inventory spaces but slower movement)
Engineering or Medical

So...uh...

When do we get to play for free? evil

BTW this cert calculator looks to be reasonable up-to-date:

http://www.1cmm.net/ps/cert/

There are many others out there but the game has changed certs, costs and the number of starting points over time so many of them are out-of-date.

Demolition sounds fun. If I just went stealth/planting explosives without hacking, would I be able to do alright? What about sneaking up and assassinating people - is that possible?

Also, will I be able to tell when someone is turning on a darklight implant?

Quote from: Televangelist on March 23, 2006, 01:03:14 PM

Stealth Combat Engies that are good can have a lot of fun dropping boomers at the feet of unsuspecting MAXs. One shot kill ftw! The problem is movement. Stealthers really should use a Mosquito to get around quickly.

Quote from: Televangelist on March 23, 2006, 01:03:14 PM

Yes as long as you are fighting near a friendly AMS (mobile respawn/equipment dispenser) or friendly base/tower, yes (knifing snipers is always fun), and I can't remember (didn't play Stealth much).

The infiltration suit has a very small inventory so you can't carry much stuff with you in the field so you constantly have to go somewhere to resupply assuming you aren't killed. Without hacking/adv hacking you have to use an AMS, equipment terminals at a base or tower your side controls or the trunk of a vehicle like your stealth ATV that you loaded with explosives (ACEs in PlanetSide-speak which can also be used for other things like turrets and motion sensors).

Quote from: Strazos on March 23, 2006, 06:46:08 AM

So...uh...

When do we get to play for free? evil

Goes live today.

The Planetside website is really bad. Lots of Flash, but I'll be damned if I can find any Fodder program or play for free beyond the 10-day free trial.

Well, the FAQ says its goes live today - whether SOE actually manages to make it happen is an entirely different kettle of fish.

The official forum thread has people asking where the sign up link is as well

Looks like SOE dropped the ball (dare I say 'again')

I'll be on Markov/VS once it starts, will not be playing too much but it is nice to have an fps to goof off in. I'm wondering though do I need to make a new station account or can I use my old one?

You currently have to download the above file (all 1.8 GBs of it) even if you already have PlanetSide installed. They are apparently going to try and set something up next week so you can download just want you need through the Launch Pad.

I downloaded it Saturday, took about 1.5 hrs.

Installed it, ran it, entered my old station account I haven't used in 3 (?) years, it said I was good to go.

Fired it up, it did a couple of patches, and I was in the game. All very clean and painless.

Except they must have added stuff since beta, since I had no problems running it back then on the exact same box. Now the game is totally unplayable if there are more then 10 players around. Also it must use tons of memory, it takes 5 min from exe launch untill I can move, and takes 4 minutes from when I quit untill I can use my PC again. When it gets slow in play I can't even move the mouse pointer.

Its nice when you buy a vehicle you just jump in automatically now.

I flew around some on the edge of small battles. I normally was killed by unseen weapons, I would see the hits, but never anything directly or on radar.

Maybe I'll try again when I get another PC in 6 months.

Check your settings. Some time ago, PS added an option to cap your framerate. This option seems to work reasonably well as managing what it should draw to keep your fps at the level you want. Also, your default settings from when you last played might have changed. Turning off grass helps a ton.

So do you have to download the "Reserves edition" program? I have a full install of Planetside already on my pc, from a few months back where they gave everyone a "come back for free month" and see what we did package. Is there no way to just convert my existing account over to a reserves account?

Quote from: SurfD on March 28, 2006, 01:48:53 AM

You can try creating a new LaunchPad shortcut with this path (you'll have to modify it if you installed somewhere other than the default):

"C:\Program Files\Sony\Station\LaunchPad\LaunchPad.exe" /game:planetside /batch:2007908 /plan:426