[Hyncharas]

I would like to see MLG be successful, since that a few developers see it as the next step in MMO gaming even if a lot of us are left scratching our heads. But given the amount of "fair play failures" that happened during Ultimate Empire Showdown, I think they seriously need to consider how exactly this will play out. As TotalBiscuit and others experienced, a lot of technical problems occurred in not just trying to stream the event to fans, but simply providing gameplay all sides would actually enjoy. In a multiplayer match, particularly games like StarCraft II that Hamma mentioned, this is relatively easy since all players start with just enough resources to set up a base, before establishing forces to scout the terrain and then go on the offensive. Typically an RTS match with 1-on-1 pro players will last about 15 minutes.

Regardless of the MMO (that usually involves combat), however, a prolonged conflict to fulfil operational objectives is necessary or it becomes untenable. In PlanetSide 2 you’re dealing with thousands of players per side, each trying to maintain cohesive control of their forces, in order to maintain their advantage without losing ground elsewhere. Outfits are used to this more than most as they train to operate like a military unit – they have a strict chain of command, so people know who’s in charge and what they should be doing. Unfortunately when the majority of your assault force is unaligned players, which most of them are, years of prior experience has taught outfits that such players are interested in having fun. Not following orders from commanders that are boring.
The other problem is being able to push forward without having a small force sneak behind to deprive territorial control/supply lines behind them, and experienced players will know that being cut off by an opposing empire is highly effective. Traditionally an empire will fight tooth and nail for a base, before 90% of troops and armour moves out leaving a base mostly undefended when, a few minutes later, the empire that once held it takes it back with impunity. TR players will know this backwards, when they have fought for half a day to take a continent, only for the VS to swarm in by air and quickly overrun 15 territories in less than an hour!

So what can we do to properly manage an e-Sports campaign with PlanetSide 2 on a continent? Well for starters, people may have to be delegated to defend a major facility, maintaining a rearguard whilst missing out on persistent respawns from combat. This may sound deeply depressing for many who like to always be in the thick of it, but if it helps an empire keep the territories they have gained, sometimes sacrifices must be made. These could be handled by some major outfits hanging back to administrate unaligned players as other outfits engage, and then once a continent is captured, those groups that stayed behind to defend in the campaign’s earlier phase go on the offensive in the next. Perhaps the upcoming squad/platoon/outfit-based mission system will also cater for skirmishes in a more focused manner, providing players a chance to level their character, despite not entering massive battles.