Re: Planetside Next by Summer?
A feature update has been posted over at PC Gamer:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/08/planetside-2-what-we-know-so-far/
What ya think? I find it interesting that comparisons to EvE Online are now being made.
Okay... so there are some things I like and don't like and somethings that became obvious right away with the first game.
Here are some things that I have some opinion on:
Skills, also called certifications, are trained very similarly to EVE Online (over time, and continuing while you’re offline), but also go faster when you’re actively playing. - They already had certs which the played used to purchase armor classes, weapons, perks, etc. The idea of having them "train" overtime sounds kinda stupid tho since it's an FPS and it should only be active while online. Never played EVE but it sounds like a silly idea to me.
Outfits (clans) will have separate skill trees to unlock and specialize with as well. - Really interested in seeing what this turns out to be. I played with a few of the best outfits in Planetside and this seems like a great way to reward the better organized outfits.
A leader is as viable as a role as a scout, healer, tank, assassin, or vehicle pilot. - This and the idea of a single large server are common sense. The original game was already merging servers within months of the release and now I hear they're down to one single server.
There is currently no plans to allow players to jack other faction’s vehicles with the Hacking skill. We hope they change this, but it sounds unlikely. - Really?? What are these people... stupid? That was a great thing to see on the battlefield when the armor coming to your rescue was their main battle tank all dolled up in your colors. Same goes for the BFG's. I don't understand why not implement this?
Unlike PS, you can capture any territory at any time, but you do get “significant bonuses” to capturing a territory adjacent to your own. The example given was that someone back-capping a territory way behind the front lines may need 30 minutes to capture, whereas the team that controls all the territories around that one can go take it in 30 seconds. - Already had this implemented to some degree.
Expect to see a lot of influence from top modern shooters, which Smedley frequently referred to when discussing how PlanetSide 2 has changed from its original–at least when it comes to FPS mechanics. One small feature borrowed: a skill that lets you spawn on your teammates, instead of at a spawn location or on leaders only. - This is probably the worst idea for a game like Planetside. First off, it just ruins teamwork and will just piss people off if your defending a base. Forward spawn locations, towers, bases, all allowed for tactics and strategy. When Planetside was in its heyday this idea would have upset just about everyone. If you were near a base and you lost your forward spawn tough. You had to regroup at the nearest location and try a different strategy. This isn't PlanetModernWarfare. It's worthless and just feels like they're already headed down the path of the first one imo.
With SOE taking inspiration from modern shooters, I bet some sort of kill streak mechanic will be worked in. - They implemented a way to track your kills and deaths during every in-game period you were online. It also tracked how long you were on and how much XP you gained. No need for stupid killstreak ideas. Some ideas are best left in the garbage. I wonder if these guys played Planetside before SOE killed it?
Unlike PS, you can capture any territory at any time, but you do get “significant bonuses” to capturing a territory adjacent to your own. The example given was that someone back-capping a territory way behind the front lines may need 30 minutes to capture, whereas the team that controls all the territories around that one can go take it in 30 seconds. - This was sort of already implemented. However, I liked that continents were locked if a faction captured every location. That meant that the other factions had to capture bases at other continents or form up for a raid through the only way in. It allowed for strategy and some epic battles. The back-capping thing was already in. It was slow and you usually needed at least a platoon to successfully pull off a back-hack.
Lastly this is SOE. They outright killed the original Planetside game within about a year. They listened to all the whiny players who didn't understand how to use their heads to play. Didn't listen when everyone begged/pleaded for unique bases and cities and towns. They nerfed a ton of weapons and unbalanced the game constantly. An example was you could kill and infiltrator with one shot from a sniper rifle if you shot them. The last time I played, you had to use 2 shots to do so. I really hope that SOE does not do the same and does re-implement some of the pre-nerfing and expansion ideas.
