You'll have to excuse me for cutting down on the quotes; don't want to make this too gigantic
Originally Posted by Sirisian
Yeah this is the big question. I think the primary issue is the view of balance leaning toward an RTS. <snip RTS detail>
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Games like SC2 are easy to look at for not only three sides as opposed to two, but unique sides as well. However I wasn't think of an RTS, for many of the reasons you touched on - in an RTS the entire kit of the faction is available to a single player, and the challenge is correctly utilizting it. A game like E&B however has much more relevant similarities, although it was not Empire vs Empire.
ESRL's feel like an odd man out right now because they are - they are the first things to function differently between empires. The closest we've had so far are MBT's, and those aren't wildly different. So they definitely can't be balanced in relation to the whole empire, because the empire's don't have unique "kits". Personally I think with the proposed changes (especially the quite brilliant idea of making infantry hard-to-see on the phoenix) things will be in a good place.
Originally Posted by Sirisian
I digress since this is looking a tad long, but playstyles shouldn't be defaulted to one faction. It's the only reason we have the fourth empire at all and accounts for most of the complaint threads. Reading the threads you either come out of them with the realization that they need to be patched or like me, from watching this through Planetside 1, you realize that maybe asymmetrical balance isn't offering people the kind of customization they really want with their playstyles.
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I believe the contrary: If all empires have the same weapons and only their particle effects differ, why would does it matter what faction I play as? Just find the one that has the most population or the most organized outfits - (or the opposite if you like being and underdog). At that point you just have Team Red, Team Yellow, and Team Purple.
I completely agree the customization people want isn't available, but I don't believe it has anything to do with faction proficiences. Using myself as an example - I absolutely loved running around in PS1 as a Rexo with the Lasher and Pulsar. What I liked was 1) Vanu Rexo looked awesome and 2) I had one gun I could use "surgically" and another I could go crazy with. The HA in this game
almost captured what I wanted, except I don't want an AV tool. Let other people deal with tanks. And I don't want an LMG either. I'd be just fine with the Pulsar AR and Lasher. Now lest this turn into a bring-back-inventory-down-with-classes discussion, I'm not saying that classes don't have their place. I just don't understand why some of the restrictions are the way are (cloak guy with a rocket launcher or shutgun bad, ok... why could an LA not pack some kinda of ranged AV?).
I do appreciate your clarification on what you want out of balance, but I still believe that uniqueness is very important to Planetside.