Planetside: Anyone else playing?

[Hatchling Dragon]

I just broke-down and bought Planetside last weekend (about 5/23/03) and have been playing it pretty heavily since. I've started wondering if there are others out there that are playing, and if so where/when they log in. I'd love to get together with fellow ENWorlders for some structured carnage.

I play on Emerald, as part of the Vanu (sp?) Alliance.

I've also been very tempted to trash all three characters (all about BL 6) in favor of the "Red" side, never can remember which 'terran' that is.

There doesn't seem to be much organisation at all on the Vanu side of things. Every newbie that starts almost immediately tries to get 9 others together in a Squad, and then start his own Outfit (clans basicaly). I'd heard that the 'Red' have fewer over-all members, but at least 2 Outfits that are very organised and 300+ members. I know they kick our butts more often than not when the populations even remotely approach equality, or even when they're not horridly out-numbered.

Hatchling Dragon

 

[Neowolf]

I was in the beta, and to be honest, I don't think it's worth a monthly fee.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fun game and all, with very nice graphics and sound and all. What I kind of realized though, after a few weeks of play, is that every time you sit down and fight for hours to gain a continent, you're wasting your time because it's not like you're going to get to keep the land or anything. The next time you log on it'll be over run by enemies again.

I'm not saying it's a terrible game or anything, but I wouldn't pay to play it... it's a bit too much like the Greek myth about Sisyphous (sp?) for my tastes.

 

[Blastin]

Any one else have an opinion about this game? I'm seriously thinking about getting it, and have been doing some research on it, but would like to hear more from people who have actually played/are playing it.
Blastin

 

[LrdApoc]

I was a member of the Beta, and am now a player on the full service..

Planetside is a great game if you enter into it knowing a few things..

1st: The sides are not currently balanced. Those who choose the Vanu almost always discover this immediately.

2nd: Like Everquest the experience relies on finding good squad memebers to play with regularly. Random run and gun play won;t get you much.

3rd: There are a lot of options in the game besides grunt. Feel free to explore them. I personally thing Tank drivers have a blast!

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

I have all four of my slots filled on Emerald, they include:

Reaver / Engineer: He flies his 'attack plane' around blasting whatever needs holes, and then lands and repairs (engineer skill) and reloads missles in quiet spots/moments.

Galaxy/ Combat Engineer: Flys the big transport around, uses his Engineer skills to repair the Plane whenever he can (they're popular targets), often using his Combat add-on certification to plant automated Spitfire turrets and mines/sensors to guard his plane.

Advanced Medic/MAX(Quazar): Youngest character, can actualy revive people if they 'die', but not getting a lot of use from this last bit as few people remember that he's THERE, and thus respawn (can't heal those that have respawned). For fun I use the MAX (powered armor) suit to raise heck, it's the Anti Infantry version.

Infiltration/Advanced Hacker: Spy type, sneaks around in his Infil. Suit and tries to 'hack' (take over) enemy bases, or (more often) follows the fighting and hacks into terminals of enemy bases to allow his own side to re-equip from the enemies own supplies.

All these varied characters, and I still have a lots more combinations yet untried. I can't decide if I want to restart characters that aren't that much fun (iether re-make, or just turn in Certifications) or just start new characters on other servers.

Hatchling Dragon

 

[Lazybones]

I'm really torn on this one.

On the one hand, I'm starting to get bored with BF1942, and I need a new FPS fix. But on the other hand, there's the monthly fee issue, the repetitive nature of the gameplay, and the lag issues that have been discussed on numerous forums about the game.

Can you guys comment on that? I've heard that there are insufficient servers and that when some get clogged, lag becomes an intolerable problem. I've also heard that the game lags terribly if you have <512MB memory; not a problem for me as I have 784MB of RDRAM, but I am concerned that my 64MB video card won't be able to handle the more detailed textures when many folks are on the screen at once.

 

[LrdApoc]

I've had some serious lag during peak times, but Sony will end up fixing this when they begin to develop long term players. Personally I think the game will begin to lose the quick hitter soon and move on to more serious, strategy within 6 months.

As will all initial launches there are a lot if morons running around and generally not building a friendly experience for new players.. however they are a minority overall.. getting a good squad is key.

With 512MB RAM and a GeForce TI 4200 (64MB) I've not had problems graphically... just with network congestion.

 

[Blastin]

wow...go away for a little while and everyone jumps in. Thanks for that.
I did get the game today and have only played around with a vanu in the trainer.
I have been reading the PS boards and have seen MANY comments that Vanu is the weakest and TR the strongest. I just hate the role playing aspect of TR's background and so will probably avoid it (I know, stupid to think RP in a FPS game).
Maybe I'll try NC and see how they do.
Is there any servers to avoid? I have heard that Emerald has the worst Lag.... And any suggetions on how to find a good squad?
Blastin

 

[Blastin]

well, Have now put in about 10 hrs of play with tha vanu, got up to BR5, and have to say it's pretty tough. The weapons do seem weak, 'course, I could just be getting killed 'cause I'm no good
The Vanu also seem to be VERY disorganized from what I've seen, at least on the server I've played on (the one that starts with a K).
I'm gonna try NC and see how they compare.....

 

[Seaver]

Konreid is the one that starts with a K.

Previous beta tester here as well.

Something to keep in mind is that the main purpose of the game is to fight. Taking the bases and continents are just temporary goals to focus the battles.

Once the game was released to the public I re-joined with a Terran Republic outfit I had been in during beta on Emerald. I ended up leaving because I was tired of the less than mature attitude and behavior shown by many in that particular outfit.

That is something that always has bothered me about FPS games, the childish, rude, and flat out offensive behavior.

Fortunately I decided to try out the Vanu Sovereignty after switching to Markov (Emerald was way too crowded and due to continents being overloaded would frequently crash.)

After a couple of days on the new server I ended up joining an excellent outfit. Most of the people are in their 20s and 30s, they are well organized, and seem like decent people.

I had actually been thinking about cancelling my account until I met this outfit. Another reason I am going to be playing for at least another month is that I get bored easy and need some kind of game to play to keep myself occupied for a few hours. $13 to renew my subscription is much cheaper than buying a new game.

I do like Planetside and I am curious how the game is going to evolve as MMOGs do. I'm already really looking forward to the new bomber coming out soon.

BTW, just a note to anyone who may pick up the game and neglect to read the manual, you can get to BR 3 (level 3 Battle Rank) just by going through all the training in the Virtual Reality center. Try everything. And don't forget to jump into the gunner positions of all the vehicles because you get xp for those as well.