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1: NC

2: NC and TR

3: NC, TR and Vanu

[UXLZ]

I'm thinking about giving this a shot again, but ehhh, it's so hard to justify. I've got sooo many games demanding my intention. >_>
And other stuff besides, really.

[Toaster]

If only they had added any new content in the past year or so.

[Aseaheru]

Dident they add that new continent, plus a new aircraft, piles of weapons both silly and not, all in the past year?

[Toaster]

Well, let's see, going back in time (based entirely off any post on the official forum titled "Game Update"), new content in the past year:

6/17: Engy anti-material rifle
5/19: New Galaxy Defensive Slot Items (2)
12/18: Wieldable knives
          Spitfire Turret
          New tier of implants, new implants
          A few new squad/UI options
10/30: New gold/black weapon variants (cosmetic only)
10/2: A few new directives
8/29: Valkyrie
        New ribbons and medals
8/5: Directives system
      New ribbons and medals
      Faction pistols
      Advesarial Alerts


So... one major new gameplay element ten months ago?

[Ozyton]

New continent is okay (and some say it is better than all the others but I am bad at judging that sort of thing). The valk doesn't work because ESFs, Galaxies, and redeployside already exist, but it looked good on paper. There's already been discussion on the Valkyrie, but if you had to land to safely get out of a Galaxy then maybe the valk would be more useful. A lot of people have said it'd be cool to watchm, after a base is captured, a bunch of valks/gtalaxies landing to let people hop in then moving over the next base to do drops inside it, maybe even having to land inside which would prove difficult with AA weapons present. This is opposed to going to the flight ceiling and crapping out endless waves of people from your galaxy as it stands right now.

The problem with new content is it's coming in very slowly, but more importantly there are other parts of the game they need fixing instead of adding in implants and activatable knives and such.

On a side note, they're actually making burst weapons viable as seen on the current test server. Can't wait to use my SABR-like Gauss Burst. For those that didn't know the first shot recoil multiplier on burst weapons was identical to their automatic counterparts, so the Gauss Burst for example would get 2.15 times as much recoil at the beginning of each burst on a two-round burst gun. The SABR was unique in that is has a FSR lower than 1 so the first shot of each burst is actually less than the recoil of subsequent shots, making it the only good burst weapon in the game (EDIT: When I say 'only good burst weapon in the game' I actually mean 'only burst weapon you have any benefit of using rather than its automatic counterpart' which is partly due to TR not having another 162 damage AR, and partly because of the unique FSR). With the buffs currently on test the Gauss Burst has a FSR of 0.5, which I think is the lowest in the game at the moment. However the buff isn't applying to other burst guns such as the TRAP which has a lot of people up in arms.

[Gabeux]

Well, as I said, I played the game post-release (and maybe on beta? I can't remember) for a few weeks and dropped it out of boredom - and I was dying for bugs left and right.

I installed and played it again, and it's pretty much the same game with a few new items and customization.
It's still all about dying and camping spawns. But in between that, there's fun to be had - especially on Platoons - just like before.
And at least, I don't get stuck on the ground like I got every minute on beta/post-release. That happened WAY too often.

I never expected it to grow in features too much, given that when I played in its early days, the ONLY thing that was working, polished and perfectly bug-free was the store. So I knew from day one their top priority was to make stuff that sell.
There's no doubt new useful stuff, vehicles and all that got made. But if the game had an actual development focus on gameplay and fun-factor rather than Gold Shop, I bet it would feel much different now that I came back almost 3 years later.
Heck, even Firefall, I game I hate myself for spending over 60 USD in, usually have interesting changes every time I get back to it.

But as I said earlier, I miss a game with huge chaotic fights. So it'll be fun to play casually, until some gameplay-focused dev comes up and makes something better.

[Ozyton]

Supposedly they are really hurting for money which is why the cash shop is as prominent as it is, and in fact why they aren't even SOE anymore. It's still pretty cool that, for the most part, the game isn't P2W. Despite that, I've spent more money on PS2 than any other game.

I really loved my time in Planetside 2 despite its flaws, and I'd love it if someone decided to make a new MMOFPS of sorts (A new WWII Online Blitzkrieg would be pretty cool...?)
Problem is with an MMO a large part of the content is other players, which means you need an active player base in order to have an active game, especially when it is PvP oriented. Or you could have an MMO where large groups of other players around doesn't matter, in which case why make it an MMO at all.

[Rolan7]

I play this casually as a combat medic sometimes, it's pretty fun!  I don't dedicate enough time to play with a clan, but the automatic squad-joining is surprisingly decent.  Sometimes I play support engineer or go heavy to take out vehicles.  I just love the scale of the combat, I feel like I'm a small, relatively unimportant cog in a grand war.  I rarely kills but I get a LOT of revives and some assists.

So, given that I do enjoy the game for multiple reasons, and plan to keep playing, I just have one minor quibble.  Spoilered for strong language.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Why the FUCK does the minimap use the same icon for wounded as for medics.  Seriously, what the actual fuck?!  As a medic I want to be near one thing ASAP and ideally away from the other.  They shouldn't have the same icon!  This is absolutely absurd, particularly since I I'm pretty sure it was introduced a month or two ago.  Fucking... WHY!?!

How did any developer, no matter how out of touch, think this up
How did it get past basic testing
How did it not provoke a massive outcry from the player base, causing an immediate reversion

I seriously can't understand how this happened, it's one of the worst bits of UI I've seen in any otherwise good game.  It's even inconsistent - the SAME medic icon only floats above wounded soldiers, it doesn't float above medics.  WHY
why
argh

In other words:  I don't like that the medic icon on the minimap now represents both wounded soldiers, who I want to heal, and fellow medics who I want to avoid.  This change is inexplicable and negatively impacts my gaming experience.  It fills me with ire.

Edit: O-oh, it's at least a tracked bug: https://dgcissuetracker.com/browse/PS-1409
"Tracked Internally" so I guess they're working to fix it.  B-but the issue was created back in May...  I've downloaded hundreds of megs of patches since then, yet this tiny script error...

[Aklyon]

Wrel has made a video with both PC/PS4 gameplay, for comparison.

[Ozyton]

Why does the minimap use the same icon for wounded as for medics?

Once upon a time this wasn't the case. Medics would see wounded players as crosses, but they wouldn't be able to see other medics. As a primary medium assault medic player when they changed the icons I got really confused, and many people still do get confused. It may be better to wait until they come to you or until their cross turns into a skull and crossbones before running out to 'help' someone who may not actually need help.

I remember they had a (poor) reason for changing it, but I still prefer it the old way. I think people who use the voice command to call for medics actually flash on the map helps, if people can be bothered to use it.

As for your first point about not playing with a group, do what I do. Open the squad menu every time you log in and join various squads that are related to outfits or have squad/leader names you recognize. Eventually you'll find a squad that suits your playstyle and has cool people in it regularly. Squads and platoons like those are the main reason I even played PS2 for as long as I have, and I'm not even in an outfit. In fact I get outfit invites somewhat regularly when I play because of my high battlerank and because "You play medic so well" as one person put it.

Wrel has made a video with both PC/PS4 gameplay, for comparison.

Link for the lazy

[Rolan7]

It's on the bugtracker as "tracked internally", I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's a bug.  A bug that should be simple to fix yet has been around for months...  The idea that they did it on purpose is just too stupid.

At least I can rely on the floating icons in the 3D realm.  Though that means ignoring the minimap, which is suicide - I essentially lose the squadsight.  Which means deaths, lots of deaths.  Good thing I don't care about K/D (mine was horrible anyway, and that's fine.  I'm such a good support, I support the enemy players too )

I also really hate biolabs because I still don't remember how to climb them.  I've been playing since January, just very occasionally.  Like 2-3 week breaks between a few days of interest.

[Ozyton]

Most biolabs have teleports directly into them from adjacent bases (you can tell which teleport it is if you're at the base that has a teleport from the spawn, because the biolab teleport is the only remaining one that doesn't bring you between spawns which is a great UI choice) and jump pads to the landing pads. There was at least one biolab that changed things around: the jump pads were moved further away and teleports into the lab were moved underneath the lab. If all else fails, there are elevators leading up to the landing pads from the bottom which is a popular place to park spawn sunderers.

Honestly though, most people avoid biolabs for a reason =p

If you hit H (by default) you get a bigger minimap which I use all the time. Unfortunately there is no way to get a size that's in between, because one is too small and one is too big. I also have zooming on the minimap bound to my second scroll wheel.

[Rolan7]

I... thought teleporters were strictly an in-base thing.  There are unmarked teleporters from one base to another?
Yes I agree completely that is an outstanding UI choice.

[PTTG??]

I really wish Planetside was the game it could have been instead of what it is.

[Ozyton]

I really wish Planetside was the game it could have been instead of what it is.

This applies to a lot of games, actually