Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
PlanetSide: Planetside Re-Review
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Chris Higgins takes another look at SOE's Planetside in this week's review, a six year old MMOFPS that still has the power to get the job done.
)
Planetside went live in May 2003 and after six years, the war still rages on. If you are not familiar with Planetside, it is the closest thing to an online war you will ever see. Most online FPS games have maps and time limits to achieve goals. However in this game, it is all about gaining ground by taking over bases. Each faction has a base which cannot be conquered; from there these factions fan out taking one base at a time. Each base must be connected back to your main base which creates a lattice of base connections. At the end of the day, control of the bases is tallied up and a victor is declared. Then all the bases are reset to neutral and war begins again.
The action is on par with any other online FPS on the market but I like this one better because it really feels like a war vs. ten players on a map for five minutes. There are a lot more things that make Planetside stand out above all the other online FPS games out there. This includes not only land vehicles but also a variety of aerial vehicles. It also has a certification system which allows players to not only customize their characters but re-specialize if they should get tired of the same old combat role.
Read the Planetside Re-Review
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I'm not completely certain why it never took off, I liked the game myself, but I know my brother and I stopped playing mainly because of lag issues.
So of my greatest experiences online were with the early days of Planetside. It was really, really fun back in the day. I'd love to see a sequel.
they need to take more care of the new players. i found myself totally lost when i started..
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
I think several factors played into its lack of popularity.
1. Lack of any real marketing of the game, rarely saw any mention of it outside the SOE Forums.
2. First MMOFPS out there, the Call of Duty and Battlefield multiplayer FPS phenomenon hadn’t happened yet. This game wallowed in obscurity.
3. Had a SOE Label, there are strident opponents of anything SOE touched.
4. Like any MMO, lack of refining. Bugs that were there on day 1, are there to this day. Doors not opening up.
5. Lack of Developer/Community Relations. I suppose you could make the case for any MMO, but the feeling I always got was SOE was even more resistant to listening to their fanbase.
6. The fiasco that was Core Combat and the walking Robots.
7. Extremely overpowered weapons one day, useless the next. (SurgeAgile JackHammer) Yes typical of any MMO, but when one shot meant a 5 min run back into the action, or a loss of a key base, it was ridiculous.
8. Peoples innate desire to "solo" in a team tactical based game. These people would be the people that run off and do their own thing, only in a squad or platoon to mooch battle experience off the game.
Those are just a few I can think of.
Best strategic scale mmo ever done !
if only it was a bit better on personal dev with more character option
and with the graphics of today, it will be fabulous
lol?
Before I go on, I assume we're talking about how the game didnt take off during it's launch and not 4-5 years later.
1. This I agree with, there wasn't a lot of marketing, but there was some.
2. This is completely wrong. Planetside came out in 2003, battlefield 1942 was out in 2002. Hell medal of honor allied assault came out in 2002, and that had a huge multiplayer following. Also don't forget quake.
3. The anti SOE thing didn't start till way after planetside was released, around the time swg made the game changes.
4. There were bugs yes, but the critical bugs were fixed fast. The only issue some had was fps (due to poor gaming machines) and high pings, since it could get messy in some battles. But they did do a fine job optimizing the servers.
5. Again, this is a later thing and has nothing to do with why it didnt take off.
6. Core combat wasn't a fiasco, the BFR were. They made regular joes overpowered, and were able to quickly turn the tide of battles. This is actually the reason why many people left PS, since they didn't feel like it was the same game anymore.
7. True, but you got respec tokens whenever anything huge was changed so I dont think this is a game breaking factor (remember, you don't "buy" weapons in this game, you just take them from a machine).
8. Yeah it's not a game for solo players, but that doesn't mean you can't be on your own. But hell, joinning a squad is as easy as going to a hot zone and asking for an invite to a squad in the chat.
Overall, I feel PS didn't take off due to it's timing. In 2002 we were just getting decent gaming machines for decent prices, and internet was still in it's improving stages (i was playing with 128 kbps -.-). However, what really killed PS for me was the lack of new content, the Islands were all the same, not artist but objective wise, and the caves quickly became dull and boring. What I had always hoped for was new planets and new forms of gameplay like battleships etc. But alas, they decided to focus on the current game mechanics and bugs, and occasionally add a new vehical or weapon.
Hell, sounds like their team was too small and SOE didn't want it to take subs from SWG/EQ2. But ah well, only SOE knows.
This is not a very accurate review. I will point out some very important flaws.
1. weapons do not get any more powerful as you gain battle ranks. within 5 mins of playing planetside you can wield the most powerful weapon your empire has. The only thing that separates low BR players and high BR ones is in game experience. As you gain battle ranks you gain more cert points which in turn can be used to get qualified to use different equipment and vehicles. The higher your rank the more stuff you can do without recerting, but there is nothing that high level players can get that low lever.
2. this review makes it seem like there are only two unique weapons in the game. Every empire has a special pistols, medium ranged weapon, heavy assault weapon, and anti-vehicular weapon.
3. 2 kinds of bases? wrong. there are 5 different bases with unique roles and base layouts, as well as three different kinds of towers. There is no base in planetside that doesn't allow you to pull ground vehicles and air vehicles. The 5 different base types are interlink (gives mini-map radar benefits within 100m of a base), bio lab (faster respawn times), tech plant (gives vehicle repair abilities, as well as access to heavy armor vehicles such as battle tanks and assault aircraft), amp stations (which provide vehicle shields), and the dropship center (which provides air vehicle repairs as well as an airpad big enough to spawn the galaxy, a 12 man air transport with a cargo bay and the galaxy gunship, same ship but with big guns mounted on it). All of the benefits are linked though the bases so controlling a tech plant is vital to taking bases anywhere on the continent (well planet, they changed it). The three towers are, a watch tower (no guns mounted and an additional level of stairs), a gun tower (just has guns on it), and an air tower (has guns and air vehicle repair pads on top).
4. bases are not reset as neutral at the end of the day, that is only done for events. The ultimate goal in this game is sanctuary locking an enemy empire. This requires some coordination among the empire since you need to pick on 1 enemy while ignoring the another. If i am playing as TR and attacking the VS home continent (every empire has 2) and the NC are attacking there other continent, i need to prevent the TR from attacking NC, which would cause some NC to leave the VS cont and defend against us. Sanc locks happen when an empire owns nothing, and are a rare sight and definately warrant a screen shot.
5. its important to note implants real quick, they can add a unique spin the fights by giving you short range personal radar, extra HP, increased speed, etc.... every implant drains stamina from the player in varying amounts. O, and every time a player jumps it drains 10 stamina. If you reach 0 stamina you are forced to walk until you regain 20, so you wont see people jumping around like idiots and calling it skill (which it isn't).
6. MAX suits: i can't believe these got no mention.while light and medium armored soldiers can provide support to each other though healing and reviving, the MAX is all offense. The max is a personal sized mech suit designed for the express purpose of killing crap. They can't heal themselves, so they require team support in order to be effective. every empire has 3 unique MAX, each designed to kill a certain threat. AI- anti infantry, AV- anti-vehicular (also anti-MAX), and AA (anti-air).
Pros of PS: sheer scale of battles. there can be a max of 400 people on one cont fighting (133 for each empire). i have never seen an FPS with those numbers. There is very little distinction among ranks since they technically can use the same weapons (higher ranks can hold more certifications at once though). Vehicle fights in the game can be epic with coordination. As i have played i have seen 5 galaxy gunships flying in a perfect row circling a base and beating the hell out of it. Its the kind of crap that gives you goose bumps. O, and try holding a generator for an hour.
-scale of battles
-balance between beginners and veterans
-coordination=dominance in this game
-you will never see a guy hoping around to avoid damage
-vehicle battles in this game are very fun
Cons:
-SOE has rectal warts and are ignoring this game while they get treatment (i.e. they don't really care about the game anymore)
-Cheating is prevalent for the above stated reason
-No content is added since the coding is extremely old, and all the devs have since moved on to other projects
-Fighting on the same continents every other day can get very annoying
-Besides trying to sanc lock empires there is no real overall goal to the game
-old graphics
afterthoughts: there is no game in existence that has duplicated the scale of Planetside as an FPS. The premise for the game is rock solid and needs to be adopted by newer games. My in game name was RideInMyWhip, BR 30 CR 5 fighting for the Terran Republic.
I know the following points are mentioned above, but I think it's worth restating two fundamental errors in the review, which make me think the reviewer has not played the game for more than half an hour or so.
1) Bases are NOT reset to neutral at the end of each day.
2) All bases have vehicle and aircraft terminals.
If a reviewer can't get the basic facts right, then the whole review becomes worthless.
P.S. I love Planetside!
The gameplay in Planetside was always great. But unfortunately FPS players have plenty of free deathmatch and capture the flag options so this game never took off. I would have loved to go back but last time I logged on the world was pretty empty, and the graphics are too dated at this point.
Planetside was one of my favorite games of all times... with raging battles involving 100s of people in bases, troops, vehicles and air units, it's epic.
That said, the interface is outdated/painful to use, and it gets boring taking over the same bases over and over. They need more base types, urban warfare, and a system like Eve where the factions have their center areas but groups can take and claim territory around it, giving some point to the fighting. Yes, I'm looking forward to Dust
It had many issues:
Sniper rifles require 2 shots for a kill and load too slow.
The most powerful weapon on a friggin tank is its bumper.
The chain guns, for some balance reason, have a spread pattern you could fly a 747 through without getting hit. You could jam your gun barrel in someone's stomach and miss over their shoulder. I guess the gun barrels of the future are made of limp macaroni noodles.
The game is a neat idea, but the immersion is lost because the weapons are all so wimpy.
Planetside was one of tehe best concepts that never got expanded on. I CB and OB's it and it was one of tthe funnest times I ever had in a game. 10 or 20 drop ships flying over a base and dropping full fire teams on bases was a powerful site back then. "As long as it did not turn into a slide show". It was a game to far ahead of its time which is why it never really took off. After going gold it seem like the hardcore fighters left the game. Once the beta faction leadership moved on it lost its way. Other games have tried but I tell I've never came acrosse another game that gave you the War feel that PS did. Its the open world that makes all the difference never knowing whats around the bend.
I think if the game was retooled and a Plantside II was built and tweaked with some add functionality. Then it could see a new golden age and bring the FPS MMO Open world style into the 21st century.
Planetside before it was released was epic, crisp, balanced, and deadly.
Then they released the game and nerfed everything out of balance. All in the name of not making the game so difficult for new players id guess.
I'm not sure why they did this, i mean it was perfect just before release It was seriously deadly nothing like todays airsoft guns...
Since that patch they have been nerfing, changing, buffing the hell out of the game. They cant find that balance again.
SOE abandoned the game pretty much, they added bfrs, i love them, i love any new content, though a lot of the people that don't like them, don't like anything that changes game play at all. They have a difficult time adjusting to change.
And they added new air assets then the adv combat engineering.. that was added so they could justify raising the subscription price monthly.
Now the game has alot of hackers and imbalances that really hurt the game. the poor bfrs are really hurt by these nerfs. weapons are airsoft and no one would ever use weapons that shoot so poorly in the future.
There is no real objective, nothing to work toward. You fight hard to take a base and lock a continent, but the question that keeps getting asked is why.. no answer SOE doesnt have one.
FoE Fist of the Empire
Played PS a while back before BFRs. My brothers and I loved it, except for the lag spikes, the noobhammer (we were Elmos, I loved the chainsaw) and the monthly charge. Still now to come back they want $15/month? We just didn't see any reason when you woke up the next morning or played the next day and everything was back to square one. I would definitely have a go at PS2 if it had updated graphics and more reasons to pay a recurring fee than just to keep the servers up for deathmatches.
Snack on it!
I miss Planetside
Unfortunately, they still ask for a ridiculously high monthly payment for a game that's lost most of its community over the years. I'm really hoping a Planetside 2 appears or they revamp the original Planetside up as to making it a worthy game once again. I really do miss the epic battles though.
"IRL is a pretty upstanding MMO with thousands of classes, a lot of PvP and even some pretty unique emotes and titles you can acquire. Explore that world first, then we'll talk about this virtual one."
Never played PS but heard of it from the days of it coming out.
People that talk about never seeing such scale before online probably never played NovaLogic's, "Delta Force (3): Land Warrior".
I remember maybe 100 or more on better servers lobbing grenades out of grenade launchers, explosions everywhere, sniping and being sniped from long ranges, and the myriad of game styles (King of the Hill, FFA, etc).
Those were fun days.
twitch.tv/itpaladin
@ITPalg
YouTube: ITPalGame
I heard of that game. Never played it like you said though, and the only reason I can remember it is because I think I read an article on how the game world for that game was made up of voxels. Kind of random
"IRL is a pretty upstanding MMO with thousands of classes, a lot of PvP and even some pretty unique emotes and titles you can acquire. Explore that world first, then we'll talk about this virtual one."
I also loved Planetside. What turned me off was the underground fighting. In order to unlock the giant mechs they released your faction had to be in total control of the underground part of an island. I didn't enjoy the look and feel of this battle area.
Is this review a joke?
I played PS in both closed and open betas, and up until core combat after release. I've been back through the years plenty of times between resubs, and winback offers. Never misunderstand - I loved the game.
The review is right in that this game felt like war. This game's world was massive. It'd literally take you 30 minutes to even try and run from one side of the map to another - a fact barely touched on. In that massive world you had tanks, aircraft, APCs, and all sorts of vehicles. Each faction had their own versions of each - some that hovered, some that could be driven in water, some that spammed shells at its targets, and some that lobbed massive amounts of damage slowly. But you know... that's not the point of my reponse, so try the game or read up if you want that info...
"I will never understand why Planetside never really caught on. I am not sure if it was lack of marketing or what. Even as a six year old MMOFPS it is still not a bad game. However for some reason Planetside never really got the credit it was due."
Anyone that played this game in beta, and particularly at its release can tell you why. Folks complain about AoC and WAR being released incomplete, well this game was literally a beta-in-a-box. Everyone in the beta screamed at SOE not to release their imbalanced, bug-ridden game, but they did anyway. Thank God back then it wasn't the instant death-sentence it's become for games these days, because if it was, PS would've never made it the 6 years it has. Server outages, lag spikes, bugs-a-plenty, unscheduled downtimes for patching, patch server issues, amongst a laundry list of other problems are why its release stunk like week-old garbage at a daycare. Those of us that loved PS stuck it out anyway, especially since we were already accustomed to these problems from beta. We just happened to be paying for the problems now, on a monthly basis.
Honestly, in spite of all its issues, the game was so amazingly fun that those who played it loved it anyway. People can gripe all day long about there being no motivation for taking bases or caring, as it were, but what's the point in any FPS? I've never played a shooter that didn't cycle the same maps day in and day out that people quit playing for that reason (not counting the occasional custom map). Nah, that's not what hurt PS. What hurt the most was being 5 months into release with game-breaking bugs and balance issues, followed by yet another rushed release - Core Combat.
So the playerbase, filled with people who understood they were pushed an incomplete game by publisher deadlines, were now handed this gift, for $30, which broke the game much, much worse than it ever thought of being. Caves could barely be called functional at first. The majority of the playerbase couldn't even enter them because when they tried, it'd bluescreen, crash the game, or cause a whole host of other problems all leading to the same result - crash. Those that did hated them for how completely absurd they were in the world of PS, nevermind the inherent issues that already existed. Enter BFR's. Deathmachines they were, so imbalanced in a game where teamplay, skill, and balance were key. Players weren't meant to run around racking up 50:1 K:D ratios, but in a BFR that was your guarantee. Trouble is, getting one had a steep cost of certs, and required participation in the caves. So, mass majority can't even access the caves, and those that do are now gods. SWEET.
At that point, I and a mass exodus of others left PS, sad as we were. With population decreases, the game floundered. Planetside was a game built for the masses, and without the combat just stagnated. In my returns to the game, it was always during times of winback promos or free trials. At times, the game was very lively, and you quickly got that feeling of why you loved it in the first place, usually causing a resub for a month or two at a time. Trouble is, after a while you realized why you quit in the first place. $OE.
Updates always took an eternity. The team would break something one day, then break something else while they attempted to fix the former problem 6 months later. Game-breaking bugs still existed, and still do to this day. It's always such a joy to raid a new continent with your empire - 6 years into the game - and take a technology plant as your first base (wise choice - access to adv. tech vehicles, and plenty of conts start with one) only to watch it get hacked, and the term bug set it. The "term bug" as it's so fondly referred to, is a bug in which your facility's terminals no longer function. It's a bug, caused when hackers (no, not cheaters - people who take control of enemy vehicles, equipment terminals etc.) attempt to give your empire control of its facility's terminals again. Trouble is, when more than one hacker starts hacking the same terminal, and both finish...well, the terminal just breaks (not physically - it just no longer functions). Suddenly, your faction is stuck on a continent with no bases, fighting from the spawn tubes in their pajamas (starting armor, shit weapons) against soldiers in reinforced armor, MAX armor, and heavy weapons. FUN.
In my last stint back during their recent 45-day winback period leading up to the ultimate server merge of the UK/US servers into a single server for the game, I had some of the most fun I've had in PS. Bugs were there, but not as bad. My latest PC runs the game like a champ - no lag issues whatosever, under any circumstance. BFRs are no longer godlike - quite the opposite, barely able to score kills for itself at times while on a 30min reuse timer (they're still useful, don't get me wrong). Balance issues were definitely still an issue. At the time I was playing, the lasher (Vanu heavy assault) was the weapon of choice. The VS generally outnumbered everyone else, and a short time fighting them and you knew why. It was as broken as always, but for their good. Regardless, it wasn't so bad that you couldn't compete, and there were plenty of good fights to be had.
"So Shiymmas, what's the problem??"
#1: Hackers. Not the kind you get certifications for in-game. The ones using software to manipulate the game. Some are subtle - normal players using hacks to gain slight benefits such as cone of fire reductions (COF) and rate of fire (ROF) hacks that make them have what an edge over players that is very hard to detect because it's hidden extremely well. However, it's quite the large advantage. Then still you have others who hack hardcore. Guys who take it to the extremes of the imagination by teleporting around the game at will, flying through the air all but invincible, firing off entire clips in under a second that should take a minute. This of course means they can instagib even the toughest of vehicles, the best of players, and literally impact every player on the entire game. How? One hacker can push entire forces back by destroying all of their vehicles. One hacker can single-handidly wipe out a force attacking a control console while trying to take a base. Not only is it no fun for the guys it happens to, but it also ruins the competition for the rest. Does SOE do anything? The in-game options are there for a /report and a /appeal. In spite of this, the responses are dreadfully slow (one Saturday a pair of hackers ran rampant for hours without being banned) and even when these players are removed, they simply make new trial accounts and return. As for the subtle guys, well, SOE has no way of detecting them, so they play like normal folks, only making you wonder in the back of your mind from time to time "was that guy cheating?"
#2: Bugs/game balance. The game, even after 6 years, is dreadfully imbalanced. The review is right - they've updated it through the years. The shoe's just on the other foot after each one. SOE has never gotten it right, or even close at times. There's always a clear advantage for one side or the other, and it makes being faithful to your faction all the more difficult at times. After their latest patch after they merged the final two servers, the favor left the VS, and once again they were weak. This was heavily reflected in-game by populations of 35-40% for one of the two other factions (TR and NC), and as low as 20% at times for VS giving them not even a fighting chance. Typical Sony.
Furthermore, one of their biggest updates prior to their winback was to increase the maximum level in the game from 25 to 40. Understand, many players hated the change from the original 20 to 25. This game is heavily reliant on teamwork, and at BR20 a player had to be very specialized in its role. The update to 25 didn't break that too badly, but still had an impact in that players could do more. Now, the cap is BR40. Before you ever reach 40, a player would have enough certs to be so capable of multiple tasks, they'd never really want more. It's a good time to mention that milestones in levels have always had rewards be it appearance upgrades (your armor changes looks at BR7, BR14, and BR25, with BR24 unlocking an option to use helmet, hat, or go without, and a command earpiece, sunglasses, etc.) or more implants (first implant is at 6, second at 12, and third at 18). Players knew the reward at 40 would be something substantial. Getting 40 is no overnight deal - it took the most hardcore of PS players well over a month (maybe two - I'm not positive) to be the first in existance - and he started at 25. Many thought the BR40 would get a cape, possibly a 4th implant, maybe even a free cert as a pat on the back, but nothing game breaking. Nahhhhh, after all, it's SOE.
Nope, SOE busted out the notepad update and simply gave BR40's the wonderful reward of having every last certification in the game. I'd love to get into why that's game breaking, but suffice it to say, any BR40 will be a super-soldier. One guy could now hop in the fastest aircraft in the game, stealth it up, zip to an unoccupied/lightly defended enemy base, insert a virus, hack out a respawn vehicle, blow the gens, hack the control console, and hold its CC while backup arrived and when they did, they could revive those buddies, heal them back to full, and repair their armor! Yeah, shenanigans. Bye-bye teamplay.
#3: Price. People are still expected to buy this game, then pay $15 a month? WTF for? So SOE can spend that money elsewhere? It's clear as a player at this point that SOE's updates are getting worse (slower), and now players are down to a single server. At least when you had more servers, if you got sick of your main character, you could swap to another server, play a different one, and a different faction for a full-on change in gameplay (different vehicles, weapon sets, etc.). Now, you have to wait 12 hours to swap sides since they don't like the idea of people playing spies, then jumping back to their usual side. Yeah, good policy given I can send a tell to my buddy from the other empire anyway. Yup, $15 a month for them to provide absolutely awful customer service (appeals .. good luck and hold your breath til they respond) and a single server to play on. Nevermind that loyal VS customers immediately left in droves for other factions, or other games after this latest patch, or that the hackers still run rampant. I actually paid for another month after my 45-day winback ended. Huge mistake. The nerf immediately after, followed by the extreme levels of hacking that exist daily made me want my money back within days after spending it.
In summary, PS had the most incredible potential of any game I ever played. Hell, it's still my favorite game ever to this day. That's why it pisses me off that it was run by SOE. They sat on a gold mine and let it die. Honestly, and I now understand why people have said it for years, I will never pay SOE for another MMO. I'd sincerely rather miss a good game than bother. Between what I've read and seen about SWG, and what I've experienced first-hand with EQ2 and PS, it's just not worth it. Vanguard doesn't even get honorable mention here.
In all, I'd say try their 14-day trial. If nothing else, just so you can say you've seen Planetside. I wouldn't advise bothering to pay for it though, unless you're a masochist. What a shame, too. As for this review? Pfffft. This guy didn't play for long, and if he did I'm sure he got that amazing feeling PS gives you. Beyond the honeymoon...........
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde
I heard of that game. Never played it like you said though, and the only reason I can remember it is because I think I read an article on how the game world for that game was made up of voxels. Kind of random
I don't know what you mean by "kind of random", but I think you are thinking of DF 2. That ran in software mode and was very rough on lower end systems. It was still fun to play sneaking around in high grass. DF: LW was fully graphics card run. I may even still have it somewhere in a box.
twitch.tv/itpaladin
@ITPalg
YouTube: ITPalGame
Maybe after Bioware remakes the Starwars MMO, they will remake the Planetside mmo.?
This is my signature .There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My signature is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My Signature without me is useless. Without my signature, I am useless. I must sign my signature true. I must sign it better than the noobs who are trying to kill me. I must kill them before they kill me.
You should give it another go. After the recent server merge, things are a LOT busier.
Planetside, hah! I wasted my life on that game. I will contest your thought on it being repetitive, seeing as that is what the game is. Get your gun, go out there and shoot stuff. It's a give or take kind of game, like arcade games. You can call that repetitive, but to steve wiebe, he played donkey kong jr for years and that game just involves jumping haha. After you master every weapon, armor, vehicle, and pretty much everything else. It might get boring, but that'll take time. Yeah basicly the game is easy to understand, get certified for a weapon, armor, vehicle, and well do your thing. The new player experience I can see was lacking, mainly because I learned the game through the porch method. Another player taught me. Back then this game was stacked with players. Now I bet only maybe 1k play, if that. This game was more for twitchy pvp players who liked guns. If you could stand PVPing for hours on another game and like the feeling of competition, this game is for you. Sadly I won't recommend it since the population is drasticly low. I'll sum the game up though for those who want to play
From the begining you chose a faction, New Conglomerate (NC), Terran Republic (TR), Vanu Soverignty (VU) [ yes I spelled most of that wrong forgive me]. It doesn't really matter what faction you choose, Some have faction-specific vehicles weapons and armors. you can check that out on the website. After you chose your faction, obviously you create a character. Once that's done, you'll be thrown into you faction's Sanctuary. Now comes the slightly hard part. I suggest going into the training center and heading to the Virtual reality room. it's an instance that you can try every weapon, armor, vehicle, or mech. Try them all, you get XP for everyone you try. =] basicly that's your battle tutorial. Now I'll explain everythinggggggg else.
*Ahem* PS is made up of planets and cores (if you have the expansion) Open your map to see all the planets if you click on one you can see the bases and who controlls them. The goal of the game, Capture all bases. I'll try and make this brief there's a lot I can go in depth with but I'll try. To get to a planet you can use your dropship ( Located in your sanctuary, big thing in the middle) it's timed base and what it does is "Hot-drop" you onto a planet. Or you can chose the instant battle function by pressing escape. To get to cores, you have to hot drop to a planet that has a Transporter node for the core you want to go to. Last way to travel is using the Broadcast Transporter in your sanctuary. Look on the map you'll see it. They are the main way to teleport to different worlds. The broadcast one can teleport you anywhere, but one's you'll find on the planets will take you to the places they mark. Worlds can be Population Locked, which means there are too many of your faction's players in that world, you can't go there yet untill the pop goes down.
Basis of the game, Bases, and towers. Bases make up the game really. your objective is to capture them, first to capture a base you must have captured a tower that LINKS to that base. you'll notice the line following the tower to the base on your map. most bases have 2. Bases can give you bonuses depending on what kind of bases they are, and some require special methods to capture, but first you need to capture a tower. it's really simple. you need a HACKER certification to do this. I suggest getting Stealth and Hacking. You hack the door terminal outside the tower, then you go in and go up the stairs you'll notice the Control Terminal. Hack it, after you do so the tower is yours. Now time for the base, you can go in two ways, the front gate or the side door. most players will be fighting to get into these so you shouldn't be alone. after you get in, you can either.
A. Destroy the Power terminal, which leaves the base defenseless, they cant access their supply terminals so they can't arm themselfs unless they use their lockers. and well, the entire base is shut down.
B. Just go straight to hacking. YOU CAN destory the med terminals and everything by shooting them if you want too. that's up to you.
Follow the players you'll find the hacking terminal no problem it has 2 Flags on the map after you hack the base if the base is a Hack and Hold base you just wait out the 20 minutes it takes for the hack to complete, mainly all your tank-like combatants guard the terminal. After you get the base captured time to repair the damages, if you destroyed the generator you'll need to fix it, or else you can't use anything. ALSO to maintain a base you'll notice the NTU's which is the % of the bases power under its name on the map. you can use a NTU vehicle which you get by training in ANY vehicle. and go to a warp gate (Which I called Transporter's earlier im just too lazy to fix it.) and press V to charge the Truck to get NTU's after you charged press V again to stop and go back to the base, the big green gauge on the inside wall of the base is the NTU silo, when your close press V to recharge the station, if the NTU depletes to 0% the base becomes neutral and doesn't require the 20 minutes you need to wait after you hack it.
That's basicly the game. there are lots more like players who get dropship certs and you can do a 20 man drop on a base. but hey, you can figure that out.
Good Luck
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
I played Planetside years ago and it was a great game and a one of a kind experience.
However, it's been on SOE station pass life support for years. It hasn't even received any significant new content since BFRs in October of 2004. Of all the games out there, why rereview PS? It's had one foot in the grave for while now.
Yeah, planetside at release was amazing...its a combat experience unparalleled and I hope a company (not SOE) will make a similar game with a similar idea, that isnt just a massive FPS (like a halo or COD). I will say the fault of Planetside is making it a "full MMO". I would of been more than happy to pay say 3-8$/month to have it as a sidebar to another running MMO, but to pay full per month...just wasn't worth it if you play it casually.
To this day my fiancee' hates it, she almost broke up with me over Planetside...good thing I eventually learned to alway buy her a copy as well