I've been playing a lot of Planetside 2. A lot. I'll sit down for an hour at the end of a stupidly stressful day at work. As I play more, it has changed for me (for the better) and being in the Maniacs [MACS] outfit has certainly made it more fun.
Gameplay feel
PS2 is overwhelming at first. The scale and ferocity of battle is bewildering. If you play it like UT3, Battlefield (3 or Bad Company) or the CODs then you're dead. Dead dead dead. It doesn't work.
There are loads of differences but a lot of the problems I read are people thinking that their skills simply lift off the other games. They don't. You need to think differently. That's not bad, it's just different and I think it catches people out. A bit like Tribes in that sense but more so because of the scale of the battle. You may be fighting for an objective that is no longer plausible. You're overrun! Pull back, get out of there, choose a new target.
It's still overwhelming at times but I am better at deadling with it. 15 aircraft above. 20 tanks in a column pushing through the base. 100 infantry. And then there's your side. It is a lot to deal with, so you give yourself objectives (take down generator X or fix that tank over there that's firing a lot). You reduce to something manageable and deal with that. Yes, air is spamming the ground like artillery, stay in cover. Yes, there is an enemy tank there. Let it roll by. Or run away. Find another route.
People complain a lot about being sniped on open ground. WTF they are doing on foot in open ground is beyond me. You have to think around that. You have to be clever than that.
Choices!
Unlike 99% of all other online shooters, you're not restricted to one type of tactic per map. There are hundreds of tactics - I'm still finding new ones.
For example, for more relaxing times, you can pick an objective that is away from the main pinch points where the Zerg (low level players who just go to the action on mass) aren't hanging out. You can take those just on your own or with a chum. As part of a platoon action, I have been sent on missions with a couple of others to capture 3 or 4 smaller places to cut off the main Zerg-based fight, making it difficult for the enemy to capture. Awesome tactics.
Still no cash spent, still no sign of buy-to-win
In a session I play most of the classes (except the Max exo-suit jobbie) and I find that they are all cool. New Conglomerate weapons are known to be a bit difficult to use: powerful but with recoil. I'm getting used to that now. I like medic as I like being useful but I really do play all a lot depending on what needs doing. I am spending the in-game certs on making the things I like to do quicker.
Some weapon mods do make you better at killing, it is the manner in which you play that makes the big difference. I unlocked C4 for my medic (after saving a bit) and it's difficult to use - but fun!
I might spend some cash but will see what happens in the next update first. I like the idea of spending some cash for a fancy outfit. Sad, yes.
[MACS]
I've joined the Maniacs [MACS] outfit (clan) which is "run" by two regulars called MePhizto and LightBrigade. They use voice chat a lot and the banter is light and fun. Being in an outfit is great because most evenings there are a few of them online and you know that there are people who will back you up. As I am often in a support role, it means that there are plenty of people I can support.
I've started to get a real rappor with some of the others. I pointed out that Lightbrigade's Squad's colour was lilac and refered to them as happy squad. That caught on. BlakezX kept ending up attacking the same objectives and (me being a medic) was forever picking him up. He now talks to me like a mother/butler. For chuckles. In the middle of a brutal firefight with explosions going off everywhere, having someone ask me for healing - and a sandwich - allows an interesting outlet of laughter. It's not THAT funny but because the game can be so stressful, the laughs diffuse it.
Being in a clan is more fun for me - although I do like running solo some nights. Last night MePhizto got a report from a scout that there was a 10-strong platoon made up entirely of wankers that needed splatting. There was a quick deploy button over it so MePhizto told everyone to open a map screen and wait for a count-down. On the count of 0, we all hit it and 90% of the platoon, which was 42 - YES FORTY TWO - players landed on this little (but pivotal) outpost in about 10 seconds. As we mashed the wankers, the comms channel was filled with laughter. Seeing that many drop pods in flight at once was awe-inspiring.
That's what PS2 gives you: war stories. Lots of them. Although I'm explaining them here, the impact of when they're happening to you is 100 times more powerful. Like we had with Air Buccaneers. Like that, war stories. But var more visceral. You had to be there.
Longevity
I love it as a shooter but that's not enough these days. Call yourself an MMO and you have to offer more. I like that I can fight to take a point three times in one night, that's fine for me. I like attacking it differently but I think people want more of a long-term result to the hard-fought wins. I can understand that but I don't think it's core to my enjoyment.
Comments
Two things came out of last night's game. Firstly was a very high level player of considerable good humour and respect pointed out that he thinks the reason that people die a lot is because they try and play PS2 like they would BF3 or COD and by doing so constantly run into a meat grinder because they're not used to being able to choose their own strategic goals.
He's also on his third character (one in each faction) and although his misses some of the toys he's bought for other factions, he's found that it's not harder because it's the manner of play - not the equipment.
It was that which caused me to spend my first real money in it last night. After all, I've clocked 70 hours, so I thought I'd throw 20 quid at it. I've still got a load of the in-game money left but I wanted a heat-seaking missile launcher.
It was particularly hilarious last night because there were 20 of us standing on a hillside with these heat-seeking missile launchers. Although you need a couple of rockets to take down a fighter and four for a gunship, we ruined the evening of an outfit that brag they are the greatest air warriors. It was a swarm, tho. At one point we lost count at 22 aircraft at once.
You'd think that 20 of us firing rockets at tanks and aircraft would run out of targets but no, they kept coming. I stayed there until I fancied a change, set up another squad in the platoon and went capping. Chuckles, tho. For the sceptics, I was doing more damage in an AA-turret on a base we were defending that with the missile launcher. Different tactical situations require different tools.
The update has come and a load of stuff has got a lot easier. The HUD has had some superb improvements, simple but very effective for picking out Squad/Platoon members. Also, "Spot Spamming" has now been nerfed, which is brilliant for lone wolfs. Spotting the enemy is no longer a simple case of spamming the Q key and hoping a bad guy shows up on the screen. You have to have actually seen them, which makes camo and stealth possible.
I've also got a PS2 signature badge, which makes me happy. My K/D is low, even for me, but that's because I'm mostly a medic!
Initial impression...too many keybinds for me to re-do!
Get proper hands then!
The hands are perfectly functional, however the software running them is apparently European.
I need a firmware upgrade, but I'm about 32 years out of support.
Probably cheap knock offs made in China, hence the hardware/software mismatch. I would complain to the manufacturer.
I did...loudly and voraciously.
They seem to have gone out of business though...
With the poor quality of workmanship it comes as no suprise.
I have had a look for a manual, however I think this has been lost. You would assume there would be some sort of factory reset option.
Probably need to turn it off, and back on again, however apparently the reboot function is faulty, and tends to brick the device...
There was a workaround created a few years back it involved putting an insulating glove on the right hand and then electrifying everything so that the natural inclination to reach with the left hand is reset.
The burning smell fades after a while I'm told
PS2 are merging some of their servers together. I think they probably launched with too many as player levels are increasing on some servers but falling on others. Our server (Mallory) is being merged with Ceres. Each server has 30k registered accounts, merged will be 60k accounts.
Some fecking huge battles are incoming.