Planetside 2 Catch-All

This is great news. Resubbed same time as nuean. I'm praying that there are no BFRs until about 4 years into the game.

Here's a new vanguard that Smed tweeted a pic of
http://yfrog.com/h4l78xj

Rumor has it that paid accounts as of Feb 1 get an invite into the beta!

I really hope this is more than a graphical update. The way they are releasing info and the fact that we have heard next to nothing about it with supposedly only a month before launch leads me to believe it isn't more than a graphical update.

If it is truly a graphical update I will be mad because this will be nothing more than a diversion and it will take away momentum from The Agency.

Oh how I wish Blizzard would just get on with it and release a Planetside-style Starcraft mmo.

Nuean wrote:

Here's a new vanguard that Smed tweeted a pic of
http://yfrog.com/h4l78xj

YES! THEY GOT RID OF THE OFFSET TURRET!

Omg how I despised that thing. Gave the tank a huge blind spot on the left flank.

IMAGE(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/11/feb/psn2.jpg)

I wonder if that is the mossy, wasp, or something new? Wish they would show something in the VS theme. Cant wait to fly this!

That would be a trusty old Reaver http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...

Personally I can't wait to get back in the gunners seat in my shiny new Vanguard
IMAGE(http://www.planetside-universe.com/media/main/screenshots/psnext/l78x.jpg)

Wow it looks a little light for a reaver.

I'm hoping to get into the beta. At this moment, the thing I most hope for is that they will keep the story-element light or non-existent. Players tend to create their own mental narrative, and that's always more interesting than anything some sci-fi writing nerd at SOE comes up with. As Planetside was originally circling the drain, they incorporated some incredibly goofy story ideas. Bending anyone?

Case in point: Global Agenda's laughable backstory. I still like the game, and jump in for rounds of play now and again, but the backstory reads like D-grade crap-fiction. What's worse, though, is that it could have been entirely omitted because it literally doesn't matter.

For FPS's in particular, the story needs to be either deep in the background and barely referenced (see also: Half Life), or just stupid, irreverent fun. For this example, let's remember that nobody's nitpicking TF2's story because it's just color versus color. It's zany and it works.

Beyond that, I just have a more please attitude. Planetside's team-based element is still very strong and I have a lot of fun... when I'm with my buddies (Spacedog, get a 3rd shift job or something; your NZ-timezone is killing me...). When I'm not with my buddies, the game is some weird Thin Red Line commentary on war. There's all kinds of stuff going on, but who knows what to do, and who knows how to extract value from it? Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but soloing needs some purpose-creating mechanics, somehow.

Any of you who might be interested in our weird little group of Section 8'ers, we've got a Ning site. I look forward to forging some ties to get some big groups together, once the shiny newness comes out.

I look forward to crushing docbadwrench and his fascist NC dogs. Hiding behind your oversized boomsticks won't save you.

Long Live the Terran Republic!

Flying my Galaxy in and dropping in some buddies to unleash hell on the enemy, and then flying away while my tail-gunner took out an enemy fighter is one of my favourite gaming memories.

I'm in, Female Doggoes.

SpaceDog wrote:

That would be a trusty old Reaver http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...

Personally I can't wait to get back in the gunners seat in my shiny new Vanguard :)

Anyone else notice the Reaver has two seats now? Interesting...

I really hope they add a hull gun to the others tanks like the Magrider did. Driving a tank could get pretty boring. Especially when you get crap pubbie gunners and the lack of voice chat in general. That or make the gunner optional and allow the driver to control the turret in the absence of one. (Bad Company style)

That's definitely a Reaver. I'm not sure what they'd do to integrate a second seat because gunning in a Reaver would not only be boring but nauseating.

I'm hoping they introduce a faster & stronger version of the Liberator. That bomber always had the potential to be a game changer but it never worked out that way.

It would be nice to see an increased emphasis on Galaxy tactics though. 40 for 50 guys jumping out of one assaulting a tower is pure awesome!

The first one was awesome! Can't wait to play this one!

Never played the original. Would it be worth trying now, or just wait for Next?

Hey all. Just because some of you are fellow PS freaks, I wanted to let you know that I just blogged about Planetside. Nothing big, but I've had fun writing and want to share the game's idea with some of my non-gamer friends.

Unless this comes out on PS3, there's little chance of me playing it. :/

I can remember the hayday of HMX-1 (TR). We used to organize massive assaults with just our guild. We were organized around a real Military structure, with an Armor Brigade, Airborne Brigade, Support, Aircraft, etc. I was in the Reaver group, and occasionally Armor. I remember flying reaver cover to clear the skies (there would be like 5 of us) while 3x Gals come in to drop Airborne all over the base, and tanks file in colums to take down the exterior defenses. It was so well coordinated that we'd never lose a battle. It was awesome. I have never had a similar experience. It made raids look like hacked together small group affairs. We literally had to coordinate hundreds of people's actions and abide by a real command structure.

I mean, I actually had an assigned wingman and we practiced protecting our "precious cargo". Once they added the tank lifters, air superiority was even more important, and we ruled the skies. No one could compete against that level of coordination. Near the end of the hay-days, people actually would surrender continents to us when we showed up.

Shoal07 wrote:

We used to organize massive assaults with just our guild. We were organized around a real Military structure, with an Armor Brigade, Airborne Brigade, Support, Aircraft, etc.

Time allowing, I'd absolutely love this. A massive coordinated Goodjer strike-force? Oh yes.

I just posted a second thingie in my series of (eventually) three. God, what a nerd I am. I can't wait, though. A few more old outfit-mates have suddenly surfaced now that P:N is getting a little bit more conversation on the interwebs.

There is a new pic of a stock terran soldier. Nothing necessarily to write home about. The vehicle pictures so far are far more inspiring.

Well SOE is up to their usual shenanigans.

Planetside Next Is Alive but Delayed

SOE wrote:

As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern.

Says nothing about it being delayed... just getting more resources.

ranalin wrote:

Says nothing about it being delayed... just getting more resources.

SOE wrote:

PlanetSide Next is getting More resources and will be out a little later in the year but we are pulling out all the stops to make it great.

This was the second quote box of the linked article/blog post thingy.

I'm hoping it gets a PS3 release, otherwise I might want to hold out on getting a desktop until I know the recommended requirements for this. I LOVED the first Planetside until the sort of "balanced" the crap out of it, and all of a sudden the pistol was more broken than the one in Halo.

Still, some great memories of the game.

Damn, and I was hoping to get a job at SOE Tucson.

I'm very hopeful. I think the game, flawed as it was every time they updated it, proved its worth as a boutique title. They're at least breaking even on it...

That's good to hear. Breaking even is a lot more than you can say about most mmos these days.