PlanetSide 2 Message Board older than one year ago

Hello, Internet. I’ve gathered up all the recent images from Planetside 2 and made a gallery of them for you. Look, there are the new MAX suits! A a tank, and some before-and-after shots showing the original game’s assets compared to now. Click to make large, of course.(more…)

We never understood why they call aerial combat dogfighting - it's not like dogs can fly, right? Wait, can they? ... No, we're pretty sure that's just a dream we had once.

If there’s any justice in this dark, terrible world, PlanetSide 2 will be the last action videogame we ever need. If it can do what the first game did, fix the problems and escalate it to new places… then ooh. Ooh. I do fear what the post-COD ubiquity of ranking systems and unlocks might do to it, mind. This peek at ‘massive air combat’ certainly allays worries it’ll be a small-scale territory war at least, and demonstrates that PS2 intends to use the skies far more than its proud predecessor did.(more…)

I have to say, this PlanetSide 2 trailer is probably one of my favorite pieces of game-related promotional material in quite some time. No, it’s not packing the megaton budget of, say, Metro‘s fantastic live-action scene-setter, but in this case, simplicity wins the day. For one, it’s yet another impressive demonstration of battles’ ridiculous scale, with a colossal swarm of ships raining rockets on the parades of just about everything except an actual parade. But also, it features what would surely have become the 1856 videogame trailer equivalent of overused dubstep – if, you know, they had videogames in 1856. Or trailers, for that matter.

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There’s nothing about Planetside 2 that makes sense. I’m convinced that what’s actually happening is we’re all under some sort of group delusion, that Sony couldn’t possibly be remaking an MMO, and that something as impressive is also free. Did anyone offer you a choice of a red and blue pill, lately? Hmm, no, that’s the wrong question: if you took it you wouldn’t have known. Did anyone NOT offer you a choice of a red and blue pill? No! Ah-HAH! That explains why Planetside 2′s marketing revolves around weapon concept design. Next up: the silly amount of work that has gone into designing one of the many sniper rifles, the NC4X Sniper Scope.(more…)

Global warfare comes home!

This guided walkthrough of PlanetSide 2's GDC alpha demo takes pride in how "MASSIVE" every part of this game apparently is, from its day/night-cycling environments to its customizable tanks, planes and support vehicles. Even the infantry combat is MASSIVE, despite being totes normal-sized.

If the Planetside 2 GDC presentation was a novel, then the video that Sony Online have just released is the abridged audiobook. If you didn’t have the time to watch the 30 minutes of off-screen recordings we snuck up, then SOE have a decimated 3 minute trailer for your enjoyment, showing off the bits of the world, the vehicles and the combat that appeared at GDC.(more…)

So, I am basically posting this because I am ludicrously excited about Planetside 2. I realise it’s partly nostalgia for my MMO summer of 2003 kicking in, but there’s still a part of me that thinks this could be the event game on PC this year. I can hardly bare to watch the half hour of footage that came out, but I can handle these still images that were release for GDC. You can click on them for a larger size.(more…)

This morning I’ve been watching this off-screen GDC presentation of Planetside 2, and realising that my life is incomplete without it. I thought I need a cat, flat and significant other, but really my goal in life is to be the best damn Infiltrator I can be. There are four videos below, with about 30 minutes of Planetside 2 exposition, starting with an overview and showing everything from the large scale battles and maps, to the store and stats. They’ve finally released details about the most important/worrying aspect: the business model. Succinctly: they’re selling customisation options, side-grade weaponry can be earned or bought, and anything that’ll directly affect the way you play (medkits or implants) are earned in-game. As is the way of these things, there will be a subscription option as well.

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It’s always pleasing when development trailers give us some insight into the sheer amount of work that goes into making things as matter-of-fact as concept art for game weapons and vehicles. The video below shows the preliminary design of Planetside 2′s “Sky Lance”, which was created to shoot down dropships and keep away hot-drops by enemy infantry. (Just thinking about hot-drops is making me do a silent squee.)

Worth a watch. (Via VG247.)(more…)

Probably the most sizable amount of PlanetSide 2 footage appears in the video below, intercut with team members explaining why the game is going to be so brills. But I suspect they may be biased. However, if it can be more PlanetSide, spruced up, and with a larger player-base, then yes, there’s a good chance it will be. You can also see the design aesthetics of the three factions, should that slice your cake.

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Want to sign up for Planetside 2's beta? Well, go sign up right here. [Planetside 2] More »

Planetside 2‘s launch creeps steadily closer, and SOE have quietly gone and relaunched the website to contain a bunch more information and the beta registration page. You need an SOE account to sign up, of course. Thanks to Planetside Universe for this, who also note this phrase from the new details on the revamped official site: “With air, ground and seaborne combat, the battles will be larger and more intense than ever.” Could there be boats this time? Or are they just referring to the odd hovertank? We shall see!

If I run an RPS Planetside 2 outfit (and I vaguely plan to) then it will be with the Vanu Sovereignty. Yes, the purple tech-worshippers are my faction, and so it’s with some delight that I feast on the neither-red-nor-blue goodness of the Vanu faction trailer, below. It’s just some rotating weapons and armour, but it promises so much! PCG also have a bunch of Vanu screenshots. Floaty! Glowy! Purpley!(more…)

Actually, I’ll let you off for skipping this one, because it’s really not all that interesting to anyone other than the Planetside hardcore. It’s a trailer for the New Conglomerate faction, and as such shows nothing in the way of in-game stuff, and instead delivers a bunch of spinning schematics of pistols, kneepads, and aircraft. Tsk. Get with the real trailers, Sony!(more…)

Sony Online Entertainment recently showed off the latest version of PlanetSide 2 to PC Gamer, and if you were worried about not having enough elbow room in the sequel to the popular MMO shooter, worry not. The game takes place on landmasses that can stretch out to eight virtual kilometers on either side, and battles can rage all across those areas, with some weapons firing up to an in-game kilometer. The continents also contain "facilities," which hold courtyards of action, some of which creative director Matt Higby says are "the size of a Modern Warfare level."

The team also talked about another form of scale: How many players are involved in these massive battles. At times, they admit, it'll be around 200 people fighting against only 30, but they're attempting to design the game so that with the right tactics, "you can still have fun and enjoy yourself as a group of 20 people defending against an onslaught."

Of course, it takes even more design acumen to figure out how to also make that fun for the 200 as well. But we're hopeful SOE can figure out something smart.

Marv Wolfman is a great name for a person, especially if that person is a comics writer who launched Crisis on Infinite Earths and invented Blade. The same guy is responsible for writing the story for PlanetSide 2, according to Gamespy. Presumably that won’t be too much a stretch for Wolfman because wait… they brought in a pro for the story? Really? They needed to bring someone in to write the story to “three factions fight over planet, forever”? The source Gamespy story comments “Nice. PlanetSide definitely needs a bit of meaning added to its conflict.” And I am thinking: No, it really doesn’t.

I wonder, actually, if this is some kind of commercial response to Firefall hiring Orson Scott Card? Anyway.

How free will Planetside 2 be? So, so free. At least, in some part, according to Sony Online Entertainment prez John Smedley. In two recent interviews, Smedley confirms the long-awaited sequel's business model, saying, "The game will be F2P. What form will it be? We're still working that out." Smedley specifically notes that the team is looking at Riot Games' enormously popular League of Legends as a model, meaning you can pay for visual upgrades, but not for ability upgrades.

Those excited about the upcoming sequel will get a chance to go hands-on in the coming months, as Smedley also promises a beta by the end of 2011 or early 2012. That said, it could be a bit longer, as he also notes that the beta will be "ready when it's ready and we are proud of it."

We recently caught up with Matt Higby, Creative Director of Planetside 2. Read on for what he had to say about various aspects of the game world, the factions, and the game mechanics, including vehicle customisation, and Higby’s penchant for griefing.

And no, we didn’t get that payment system stuff cleared up.(more…)

I hadn’t really considered PlanetSide 2‘s payment model. I just assumed it would be the same as PlanetSide. For I am a fool. Speaking to the efficiently named Chinese site 17173.COM, translated somewhat on the equally perfunctory title MMO Site, SOE president John Smedley gave a few hints about how it’s all going to work. And inevitably, it’s some form of Free To Play. But what form?

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The Planetside 2 trailer is below. Doesn’t show much of the new bases, or more than a couple of vehicles, sadly. Just a lot of pew-pew sidearm action. That said, there’s plenty to suggest that this is going to be very like the original, with the tower under siege, a torrent of gunfire and a flight of reavers to finish things off. There are a few glimpses of familiar weapons, too. Familiar indeed.(more…)

Planetside 2′s developers were apparently abroad at Gamescom 2011, and our own sinister agents arranged a furtive rendezvous for discussion of the game. We’ll report back on what happened there soon. Meanwhile some images have escaped, and I’ve posted them in a little gallery for you to see, below. Click for full size, obviously.(more…)

#planetside Planetside 2, the massively multiplayer first-person shooter with persistent warfare between three competing factions, is shaping up to be a pleasantly hardcore experience, if a presentation by the team is anything to go by. FPSGuru.com spoke to Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley and Matt Higby, who described Planetside 2's dynamic, gameplay-affecting warfare, multiple planets, skills that can be trained online or offline (not unlike EVE Online), as well as—and it warms the cockles of my gun's heart to hear it—friendly fire. More »

While SOE don’t seem ready to reveal the exact business model for Planetside 2, they have said that the game will have a “free component” and also a cash shop. Speaking to Planetside Universe Smedley said:

There will be a cash shop for the game however the goal is not to sell power. For example we would sell things like customization because we would like there to be a massive amount of ways to customize your characters. So people could recognize you or your outfit out of a group. We will not sell a more powerful gun or vehicle.

Quite what this means isn’t clear, although it sounds promising. I am hoping it will mean that we get free reserves to keep the numbers up and a premium option for the more dedicated players.

The dev team behind the fast-paced MMO shooter hosts an informative panel at Sony Online Entertainment's Fan Faire 2011!

The Panel opens up to questions about the rebirth of PlanetSide in this Q&A session from the Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire 2011 event!

Find out how Sony Online is bringing the core First-Person Shooter experience into a deep MMO world in this Interview with Creative Director Matt Higby!

Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide Next didn't make it out in the first half of the year, and it's no longer called PlanetSide Next, but it's still coming. During its Fan Faire event, SOE officially took the wraps off of PlanetSide 2, the sequel to its MMO FPS

Players in one of three empires (the Terran Republic, the New Conglomerate, or the Vanue Sovereignty) will be able to customize their fighter, vehicle, and weaponry, and build up the character with "ranks, unlockable traits, and skill sets." Creative director Matt Higby talked up the "massive scale of PlanetSide battles" in the announcement.

The new game is being built in SOE's new Forgelight engine, and will feature Nvidia's PhysX tech for in-game physics. Check out a new trailer above, and some new screens in our gallery, and then get right back to waiting -- SOE tellingly declined to provide a date, saying only that it's "currently in development" for PC.