Planetside 2

[Aklyon]

You have resources, and a cooldown. (the resources are gained passively based on terrain control, if you aren't idle. This explains things pretty well.) If you have the former, you can obtain tank. (or other vehicle/aircraft). If you immediately explode, then you have gotten nowhere, wasted resources, and have to wait for the latter to expire before you again can haz tank.

Also, the Vanu have a hovertank instead.

[eRe4s3r]

And how are damage values against enemy solders with main-gun? And is armor hit angle taken into account? (as it is in BF3, you might not believe it ,p but it actually has a very realistic damage calculation on tanks.. if you ignore the fact that a welding torch repairs it ;P And how are repairs done? Or aren't there any?

[Aklyon]

Engineer is repairman (also ammoman. And turretman.) Medic is (combat) medic. For the specifics, you'd need to ask someone who knows that, I just know what I've learned looking through videos and that pic.

[Volatar]

Heading off to war in the snow.

[Coppermantis]

I think that the bright light and fog should be toned down on Esamir--It looks pretty, but would be better if that was only conditional, such as in a snowstorm. Other than that, I love Esamir. The fewer bases make more intense fights (plus the fact that everyone is forced on two servers=All the big outfits are now fighting together) Haven Outpost is now one of my favorite bases; feels a lot like Hoth.

[Volatar]

I actually have not yet had the opportunity to play on Esmir yet. I probably will tomorrow though.

[Echo35]

Just got in the Beta today thanks to an invite from a friend. Enjoyed the small amount of time I've spent on it, but that'll largely depend on how the pay model ends up being. Also the game is insanely pretty looking.

[Coppermantis]

So, this game is now live and free-to-play. I think it launched too soon, but we shall see. Good to have tons more fresh meat around, regardless.

[Wingflier]

This video gives you a good idea of what squad combat is like. And even that is just a smaller engagement with minimal vehicle support, in larger battles you'd see dropships ferrying troops in, bombers overhead dropping bombs, Sunderers moving in and acting as advance spawn stations and more.

What the hell.

The video is like 15 minutes of a complete stalemate.  A large group of infantry holding a building (the red team) and a bunch of blue people trying to cross the bridge with vehicles over and over and failing.

That was the most boring 17 minutes of my life.  Do the stalemates just go on forever?  How would you even win in that situation?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m85LgVPwchE&list=UUy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ&index=24&feature=plpp_video

[Aklyon]

Forever, no. They can drag on if one side lets it happen or insists on using less than great planning though, this is not the fastest-paced of games (No, you are not going to have success in running up one of the small canyons to The Crown with your 2/3/4 mates. The enemy has the high ground, doesn't have to run uphill, and can respawn at the base. Better strategy is needed, involving quite a few more people and probably involving air support, vehicles, or sunderers.)
Its essentially a war, with changes made to suit a game and fun. Wars take time, effort, and logistics. (Thoguh it doesn't hurt to want to shoot the redshirts/blueshirts/purpleshirts for any number of reason, lore-based or nonlore-based)

Edit: Also, that involved a bridge. Bridges are special cases, since theres hardly much cover and if you can see one side of the bridge, you prooobably can see  the other, which means you can shoot the bridgepeople.

[Coppermantis]

This video gives you a good idea of what squad combat is like. And even that is just a smaller engagement with minimal vehicle support, in larger battles you'd see dropships ferrying troops in, bombers overhead dropping bombs, Sunderers moving in and acting as advance spawn stations and more.

What the hell.

The video is like 15 minutes of a complete stalemate.  A large group of infantry holding a building (the red team) and a bunch of blue people trying to cross the bridge with vehicles over and over and failing.

That was the most boring 17 minutes of my life.  Do the stalemates just go on forever?  How would you even win in that situation?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m85LgVPwchE&list=UUy1Ms_5qBTawC-k7PVjHXKQ&index=24&feature=plpp_video

Hmm. To each his own I guess, I thought it was pretty entertaining.

In any case, battles can last pretty damn long depending on how effective each side is. An army of uncoordinated nooblings hitting another army of nooblings over and over will last a painfully long time (and is something that I think must be fixed before the game can be particularly good) but coordinated outfits can perform quite effective and quick strikes if they work well.


The video was more demonstrating what an organized group is capable of against a less organized group. If the Purple guys had used a more effective strategy than sending tanks through one at a time through a choke then they could have won that battle. As TB says, a few bombers with escort could have done serious damage to the infantry which lacked significant AA.



Having played a little into the full release: Tutorial needs work. Also, it shouldn't just drop you randomly into battle after it is completed. Spawning at the warpgate would be much more friendly to new players; drop-pods are essentially death traps unless you are lucky/skilled enough to avoid enemies as you pop out.

Also, my performance is abysmal. It was okay before, but with all the newbies my framerate is so terrible I can't even hit anything.

Release should have been delayed :V

[Wingflier]

In any case, battles can last pretty damn long depending on how effective each side is. An army of uncoordinated nooblings hitting another army of nooblings over and over will last a painfully long time (and is something that I think must be fixed before the game can be particularly good) but coordinated outfits can perform quite effective and quick strikes if they work well.

I agree with this.  If you're relying on 50 people who don't even know each other, and who are, most likely, bad at the game (especially at launch) to be coordinated enough to crack a base constantly spawning tanks, aircraft, and with all kinds of defenses...

I mean without a Commander?

I'll pass on this one.

[Coppermantis]

In any case, battles can last pretty damn long depending on how effective each side is. An army of uncoordinated nooblings hitting another army of nooblings over and over will last a painfully long time (and is something that I think must be fixed before the game can be particularly good) but coordinated outfits can perform quite effective and quick strikes if they work well.

I agree with this.  If you're relying on 50 people who don't even know each other, and who are, most likely, bad at the game (especially at launch) to be coordinated enough to crack a base constantly spawning tanks, aircraft, and with all kinds of defenses...

I mean without a Commander?

I'll pass on this one.

I would have hoped that they would have worked to improve this aspect before release, but yeah, just trying to zerg a base isn't too fun; without the logistics it's nothing more than a glorified team deathmatch.

On the flip side, I find that coordinated outfit play against other coordinated outfits is fun because each side will use interesting tactics and put up a nice fight, defending and attacking objectives in a sensible manner rather than "LOL TANK SPAM"

[Aklyon]

Some outfits will probably use LOL TANKS as their main tactic. But in a coordinated, more annoying way because they aren't just throwing tanks at you scattered across the entire dang continent.

[Lancefighter]

did someone say LOLTANKS?

After playing a fair bit of this today, I noticed that when there are tanks, there are LOLTANKS. And where there are infantry, there are hundreds of infantry.

I find the tank combat quite boring though - Coming from world of tanks, the whole 'my gun deals damage when it hits you, no questions asked' kinda thing is.. meh. I find most damage models pale in comparison to WoT's though.

That, and there is basically no organization.. I dunno. It seems fine to waste time in, but I feel like I simply dont know enough about it to fairly play it. Additionally, trying to fly a jet is a pain, with the spinning on the mouse..

I will probably end up spending a fair bit more time in it, but I am just not sure how well it will keep my interest after hte novelty pays off.