There's alot of poor/misinformation in this article.. Let me start with what I agree with:
- the deffinitely should have put a bit more effort into weapon models.. They really do look the same (by class)
- big agree on progression rates, though you should hve mentioned light assault as well as infiltrator.. Light assault suffers from the same problem as infiltrator as capping points and blowing generators are a poor method of exp gain (although invaluable to the team). And yes medics and engineers get tons of exp from healng/repairing and this SHOULD NOT BE NERFED!!!!! The solution is to provide greater incentive for LA and Infil to sneak into bases and take out generators, lets say you get a sizable bonus when you flip a base for each generator, hack, point conversion you did.
- finally, also agree on weapon functionality.. Most weapons do not vary enough to make it worthwhile in buying new ones.. Vast majority of players can stick with starting infantry guns and do perfectly fine with major exception if you arnt NC infiltrator, u need a bolt action rifle
- agree heavies bring massive firepower to battle.. Damage reduction is incredibly overpowered to the point where its easily the single most played class and it actually becomes refreshing to get sniped.. LMGs have retardedly low recoil (tr and nc) and can easily counter-snipe an infiltrator


Now to the bad parts of the article:
- ur progression complaint, i addressed that above
- only certain small arms can damage aircraft and only at VERY LOW altitudes to the point where if they are that low they are going down anyway, your statement was incredibly misleading
- max suits: yes dual bursters are very effective AA, but a new player doesnt have access to them right away without spending cash (they are 1000 certs)... You have a fixed left arm anti-infantry and a choice of aa/anti vehicle for ur right. And while i'm at it i should mention that the anti-vehicle max weapon is not great, single shot at a time does ~10% of a tank Hp.
- talking about anti-vehicles as infantry.. Only heavies are currently highly effective. C4 is a joke.. Needs a serious buff considering the difficulty in getting up close enough to plant it on a vehicle or perhaps a cert to increase throwing/planting range. Similarily, engineer anti- vehicle mines need a buff.. A tank rolling over 2 mines doesnt die. Now i don't want to make armor useless by buffing the crap out of all anti-vehicle infantry items, but the fact that you typically get blown away far away if u are anything other than a heavy means other means need buffs either in terms of power, or massive exp bonus for being successfull despite the odds.
- suppression system is just an awful idea for PS2.. It would result in rediculous cert gains. And i'm really not sure what your point is about accuracy.. Your crosshair jumps all over the place while ur getting shot and explosions really shake the crosshair which theres plenty of.

Something you didnt mention at all which is critical to infanty and FPS games is hitboxes!! They are fairly well done for a brand new game! When you aim for the head you get a headshot and no 'random' headshots from a shot 3 feet up and to the right of a head! Havnt seen a single complaint in-game about hitboxes either (dont read forums).

Originally posted by FrodoFragins

I have a few questions.

 

1) How smooth is the gameplay?  How does it compare with the top FPS games?  I haven't really played FPS games since Unreal Tournament, Q3, Battlefield 1942 but if a shooter doesn't have great responsiveness then I quit really fast.

 

2) How big is the download?

 

3) I assume there are no "maps"?  It's just world PVP with bases?  Do people choose factions?

You don't really need an amazing computer to play. I am running it with a cheapo ($150 last year) Geforce 560 and a $60 AMD quad core proc with 8gb of ram and i am running 30-70 fps with everything on high except shadows.

 

I have a laptop with a good I7 proc and a Geforce 360m and it is marginal on that. I have to turn everything low to get 15-35 fps. Still playable unless it is a crazy 200+ people fight (which there are a lot of)

 

They have a deal right now on Tigerdirect for a Geforce 650 for $80! 

 

I would say that the feel of the game is somewhere between BF3 and COD Black Ops when it comes to the guns. Not as weak and floaty as BF3 but not as accurate and crisp as Counterstrike. More like COD.

 

The fact that most weapons are not really upgrades but different feeling weapons makes the game pretty balanced no matter what your time in the game is. 

 

For a free download it is certainly worth trying.

 

To start, the game is FREEEEE! FREEEEE FOLKS! FREEEEE! I never played planetside 1 but i had heard of it. It intrigued me enough that when I saw this was for free I jumped on it.

Coming from a love of both MMO's and FPS's I am really enjoying this game.

At first it was massively confused with where I should be going, what objectives I should be going for and mainly what all the menu options were. Rest assured if you keep playing everything will get much much easier to the point that you get more strategic with the choices you make. I.E. your team could use some armor, so you spawn back over at base A, set your waypoint so you can find your way back, and bring the pain on the mofos to take the base.

I enjoy how you unlock things with points as opposed to the typical usage unlock for weapons and scopes like BF3 or COD. Really helps you customize your character.

that being said the character variety really only comes after you pony up $$$$ for asthetics. Want that sweet armor? $$$$ cha ching! Want a cool looking face? $$$$ cha ching!

The gun hit box feels good so far and I have had my fair share of kills vs. deaths so I definitely feel affective in fights and the more I get used to things the more affective I feel.

Things that bug me a bit are not being able to see the icons (through the terrain) for class change terminals too well, flying controls don't feel tight enough to me currently. This might just be from my setup so i'll have to see.

The game would definitely benefit new players with a comprehensive tutorial.

Also certain parts of the menu system could stand to be more streamlined and less of a bear to view.

In closing I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with just how many people can be on the screen battling at any given time and the game still runs smooth. The feeling of epicness due to this is great! The ground / air combat doesn't feel disjointed as I felt it was in BF3. Certainly worth a try and give it a fair run because there is a learning curve.

 

Originally posted by Vyeth

I think Light Assault is the only class without a really useful special.. Sure they can jetpack, but it's not really useful during a fight, and some spots you would have to unlock all the levels of it in order to reach.. Most rooftops have access from jump pads, and you have to unlock your C-4 to be able to do any damage to vehicles..

I think they should allow Light Assault troopers to capture points at a faster rate than other infantry types.. These should be looked at as the "spec ops" guys that go in ahead of the main force and secure it. (no not infiltrator, who is more like the sniper in an ops team, disables shields to let them in and supports them from afar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r2-uSO_CxMY

In case you're wondering about the fast kills, he's using a shotgun.

 

Some light armor gameplay. It's hilarious how easy you can drop on people and they don't realise it's not their own, or how vertically challenged at shooting some people are.

 

@Militant

Your starter MAX loadout has one anti personel and one anti tank weapon. You do get one anti air weapon for free as well, but you need to replace the anti-armor for it. Go to the customise screen and change your loadout.

 

For those asking about or complaining about performance issues:

 

The game engine just runs like crap and stutters from poor optimization. It's similar to how The Force Unleashed or RAGE stutters on PC no matter what settings you use or what hardware you have.

 

I have a i7 at 4ghz, 32 GB of RAM, an SSD for Windows and another SSD for games (Planetside 2 in this case), an overclocked GTX 670 to GTX 680 speeds, and the highest settings and lowest graphic settings give the same stuttery performance. Nothing can run this game smoothly at the moment, and anyone who claims its smooth is likely accustomed to stuttery gameplay and considers that an acceptable experience.

I played some in the beta. I found the company did NOT like frank statements about what an individual thought was wrong with the game and needed work.I was banned from the forums for my "negativity" (I'm guessing since one day I was just not allowed to access them) . Like so many companys this one has some people who have a vision  for the game and  they don't like nay sayers who have and opinion contrary to what THEY want to do...and NOT do.Having a vision is essential.Having the willingness to listen to voices suggesting change is also essential.

Frankly when you're investing millions and want to get a good return on your investment..you had better be able to listen to a wide range of views..and be able to seperate the wheat from the chaff.Many game developer decision makers cannot do this .....and pay the price.

STOR and Illum come to mind as a classic example.

GW2 and needed WvW changes seem to be on the same course

Den - I have a much lower spec pc than you and get good performance on medium settings. I do however have a 30gb internet connection. That might be your issue.

Shadan

What were these glaring swtor level problems you pointed out?

I mean for all we know you could have said something like "add pve" in which case the devs were right to ignore you.

Originally posted by Denambren

For those asking about or complaining about performance issues:

 

The game engine just runs like crap and stutters from poor optimization. It's similar to how The Force Unleashed or RAGE stutters on PC no matter what settings you use or what hardware you have.

 

I have a i7 at 4ghz, 32 GB of RAM, an SSD for Windows and another SSD for games (Planetside 2 in this case), an overclocked GTX 670 to GTX 680 speeds, and the highest settings and lowest graphic settings give the same stuttery performance. Nothing can run this game smoothly at the moment, and anyone who claims its smooth is likely accustomed to stuttery gameplay and considers that an acceptable experience.

 

45 fps is bad for you? That's where I'm standing with a non overclocked GTX580 I7 system. SSDs are irrelevant really.

 

Everything on high, all effects on besides bloom, shadows on medium.

I reckon its his isp. His pc should handle ps2 no problem.

The more I play the more I enjoy this game and ive been testing since early beta.

I mainly play medic and heavy for NC but i do enjoy all the classes really..

My specs

i7 2700k @ 4.6ghz

8GB ram

Geforce 670 OC

Win 7 x64 on SSD

Games installed on 7200rpm 1TB drive.

 

The game runs perfect for me everything maxed out and i get no stuttering at all.

Forget about taking out vehicles with anything but rockets or other vehicles. The upgrades take way too long to get. (C4 for instance is a total of 700 for 2 sticks[200 for one stick slot,500 for a second stick]) Thats a few days worth, if not a few weeks, for the working class, just to get something that barely balances the vehicle to infantry win/loss ratio. Vehicles are easy enough to get, but should we all have to rely on some fancy truck to win against 1 lousy apponent that we could have killed 1 on 1 without that frustration machine of a helicopter-like demon he's riding.

The pay-to-win ratio is VERY high at the moment. Especially considering how long it would take to get all the items necessary to be tactically viable with every class. (darn you rocket pods)