Planetside v2

The original PS was my first MMO game, MMO in the sense that the world was massive, it was persistent and the theatre of combat was continually shifting and evolving. The game remains the place that spent a large potion of my 20’s, when I wasn’t working, I was on Auraxis, fighting, laughing and making friends with a group of players who remain a big part of my gaming life.

Planetside 2 isn’t a successor, but as the title implies it’s a reboot of the franchise bypassing all of the awkward elements that were shoehorned into the game which had the same effect as the NGE had on Star Wars Galaxies. This is making the world as it would have been made in the original version had technology been available, everything is super sized, from the buildings to the landscapes.

SOE has been rather sneaky and rather than leap into newer versions of Direct X the engine runs on DX9, which for anyone with a modern rig you can run at high end settings without too much trouble, this of course means that older machine should be capable of running the game.

However there a number of elements of Planetside 2 that I haven’t got to grips with yet.

1) Server bound characters
This is a normal practice in MMOs, yet this move in PS2 is hampered by the fact there are limited number of continents on a server thus resulting in locks and queues. Yes I know there were queues for continents in the original game, but you could still get onto the server even if you had to fight in a less populated battle. This new system instantly means that at peak time, not only can you not get to the main fight you can’t even join your outfit and have to fight elsewhere, to me this is a step backwards in character/server configuration.
Maybe just another cheap trick to incentivise players to opt for membership/VIP status.

2) Target audience
PS2 is targeted at more main stream FPS gamers, drawing from players of Call of Duty and Battlefield, this is a both a good and bad thing. Planetside requires team work in order to maximise the enjoyment gained and to also to achieve objectives. A big problem is that standard FPS games allow casual players to join matches solo and work towards a team objective with little or no interaction with fellow gamers.
Players who arrive with that attitude will find the game difficult maybe even boring
It is clear to see this selfish approach with simple acts such as not offering transport when you are commanding a vehicle with 11 empty seats, to the Zerg mentality that didn’t that much fun to watch or endure.

3) Pay wall versus idiot haven
As other games have proven Free to Play titles face a problem griefers, the effect of removing the pay barrier results in a large number of persons who are out to misbehave to the detriment of other players.
This even appears in the form of rage over perceived kill stealing, twice in the last week have I been gunned down due to some moron missing out on a kill (I believe), not that conducive to happy game.

4) Interfarm
As veteran players will recall the interlink farm was a time sink and primarily used for all those kill whore players to add some more figures to their kill streak. In PS2 the tech plant appears to have filled this role, however there is a stark difference between the games that means in PS2 camping out in a base to farm enemies for XP is a cost that is paid via the loss of other regions.
In the original game the lattice system meant that you didn’t lose too much from a little Interfarm now and again, where-as last night I watched as territories were taken all around us, yet the double XP kept a large chunk of players in one location.

Those as are the biggest issues I have with the game, there are other nigglingly points that aren’t worth pointing out at this time.

PS & Me

Maybe my reason for playing this game has changed, my definition of enjoyment certainly has compared to others. For example last night we end up in a techplant farm, after 25 minutes I commented that we should leave but the feedback from an outfit member was that the “Alamo” situation was the best place to be during double XP.

I promptly redeployed elsewhere, rather gutted that others seem to get more enjoyment out of  a repetitive and mundane battle rather than using some initiative.

 

The game is wonderfully detailed and allows for battles on a scale that we have never seen before, but for me the f2p design leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, which I’m not completely sure if it’s a long term thing at this time.

3 thoughts on “Planetside v2”

  1. The fact that PS 2 appeals to the CoD crowd yet does not reward that play style is its biggest strength IMO. It has the look/feel of modern FPS yet rewards team play and punishes solo from my experience. The solution is to play with people who you know – all the issues you list don’t appear to be game issues but player issues.

    1. Thanks for the reply. I usually play with my outfit who run squad number around 12 to 18 and being a veteran PS players we normally have multiple operations in on evening. As you say the Karen,t rewarding the mainstream FPS player, however they aren’t educating them otherwise, hence the reason for my list of issues.
      In time these players will sink or swim, but for each 1 that learns how to play properly, how many will have quit in frustration or boredom?

  2. I suppose I just hope the detail remains in the game and like you say they work harder on educating the masses. Sounds like you have the teammates all lined up! I am hoping when the systems get better known (I seem to learn something new about the interface or some game mechanic every nite I play) the players who aren’t of the dude-bro mentality will have long since gone, or even better maybe they will be elevated to a new level by the way PS2 encourages teaming up instead of lone wolfing it.

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