What is your #1 Balance issue in PlanetSide 2? [Archive]

Kerafyrm

2012-08-31, 10:49 AM

I would have to say I worry for the VS as their weapons suck right now compared to TR and NC and it's no different then how Planetside 1 was TR and NC weapons were better back then also and still are now... It's pretty lame but whatever I don't plan on switching factions because of it but this day in age for Planetside 2 if Vanu never get fixed it's going to end up being a huge problem as now days people will quit for reasons like one faction being underpowered or they will all simply reroll another faction (that has the current most powerful weapon just like MMOs people roll the most OP class at the time period.)

VS sniper is a joke its so bad I don't even want to talk about it. I laugh at them saying Vanu have less recoil and no bullet drop because both are simply not that true we have bullet drop and lots of recoil. However all weapons and attachments can't be used yet so who knows really VS might be stupid overpowered when other weapons can be used. But anyways you would think that a faction that is obsessed with alien technology would be better.

Also another problem I see is when people are looking at the servers for what server to pick and so on well most people now days will pick the server and the faction that is owning most. You shouldn't even let people see who's faction is most populated why would anyone pick VS it's the lowest population on every server right? Seriously if the game was retail and new people were starting the game and picking their server and saw for example the populations saying something like this VS 20% TR 40% NC 40% doesn't that put the idea in your head that that one faction really sucks and they must get owned all day?

OnexBigxHebrew

2012-08-31, 10:53 AM

My biggest issue thus far is zurvan. Seems that 90% of people don't even know how the generators work - I don't blame them, nothing in game to tell them - thus making even getting in to fight ridiculous.

All in all, I love the game, I do, but the game is rarely coming down to fighting.

Also, it's waaayyyyy too easy to shut down galaxies. They should be more common, or stronger. Maybe this will be fixed with certs, but it seems that there are so many AA cannons there isn't anywhere to land, and with the new build, foot/vehicle assaults aren't nearly as cool on a large scale.

Kerafyrm

2012-08-31, 10:55 AM

Some people say the TR are OP :P

But personally I can't say for sure. Perhaps the Scythe could use a boost?

I honestly don't think the Scythe needs a boots I think we need our certs to increase how the thing will handel better however ive been in dogfights with the mosquito and I sware that thing can fucking handel way better currently even with no certs than the Scythe and I can only imagine it's even better with certs.

Kromatic

2012-08-31, 10:55 AM

I totally second what Kera mentioned. VS is so weak right now compared to the other Empires. It makes it hard to play cuz you're always dying every 5 seconds. I do hope they get a bit of a buff. Hopefully Certs can fix some of these issues.

Blue Sam

2012-08-31, 10:56 AM

The current OP nature of A2A missiles, though that should be fixed quickly enough once flares are in.

Chief W

2012-08-31, 10:58 AM

The NC are getting too much favor. The devs have given NC such good PR that the TR and VS suffer because of it. NC consistently have 50%+ presence on West 02, and usually control most of the map.

Marketing strategy:
TR = Fascists
VS = Cultists
NC = Brave kick-ass freedom fighters, heroes, embodiment of awesomeness

Boone

2012-08-31, 11:00 AM

vs hit like sissies add burn affect ala dot in mmos or just buff em

all vids you just see tr vs nc....no fun.

Saxywolf

2012-08-31, 11:00 AM

EVILPIG

2012-08-31, 11:00 AM

Too be completely honest, I have never wanted a lock-on A2A missle in the game. Let the Dogs dogfight!

Mordicant

2012-08-31, 11:05 AM

Maxes. Bring back revive on maxes. And add either resource cost or timer.

Kerafyrm

2012-08-31, 11:06 AM

My biggest issue thus far is zurvan. Seems that 90% of people don't even know how the generators work - I don't blame them, nothing in game to tell them - thus making even getting in to fight ridiculous.

I agree maybe if more people knew about the generators it would be easier to attack but right now currently the base is what I would call a turtle base (extremely easy to defend and rack up kills) and there is no fucking point in attacking it but yet on the server im on every faction is there all fucking day long and its retarded but if you want a lot action its almost like you HAVE to go there. Oh and one more thing the console you take over that's in the middle underground that only has TWO ways in is so easy for a bunch of engineers to set up camp on both sides and then there is no way anything can get in with 6 turrets lighting up both sides. You say grenades or rockets to kill them? I say 2 medics can keep them all alive.

Gimping of the Vanu tank.

In Planetside, most drivers would simply ignore their cannon unless there was a target of opportunity. You're much more effective as a tank if you avoid enemy fire while you let the main gunner shoot targets.

It simply doesn't make sense to be facing the enemy. While you'd be able to move toward them quickly, that effectively makes you a stationary target. Strafing never made much difference as is was slow enough and changing strafe direction was not fast enough to be able to make it at all difficult to lead you as a target, plus you couldn't see where you were going. You couldn't fit between many obstacles going sideways. You couldn't quickly turn to see where you were going and then turn back to fire at the enemy.

i.e. It was bad enough using two people for a tank that effectively had a single gun. Now the tank's main gun is in the hands of the person who can't aim it at the enemy?

Vanu are "supposed" to be the most "maneuverable" faction and no this is also not true lol the Vanguard and Prowler can move and shoot you at a faster rate then the mag can strafe or fucking even turn at that. A faction using alien technology simply wouldn't even design a tank like that seriously who puts the main gun where it is on that tank. Who the fuck designed this tank? Im glad you don't work for our military in real life. Its so awesome dragging my mouse across my huge mouse pad so many times just to get the stupid thing to turn. However one of our secondary weapons we can add onto the Magrider is extremely powerful and way better then the main gun also so your better off unlocking that and putting it on the Magrider then sitting some where and switching to the gunner seat and use that.

Quovatis

2012-08-31, 11:23 AM

Air to ground rocket spam. No question. Aircraft should not be able to take out a tank in one pass with rockets. It's just ridiculous. In PS1 the reaver had to reload MANY times to kill a tank. Now, if an aircraft with rockets sees your tank, you might as well just kill yourself now, because there's nothing you can do to stop your imminent death in 3 seconds.

VoodooJanus

2012-08-31, 11:26 AM

I'd increase the strafing speed of the Magrider. As is, it's barely an advantage, but the tank as a whole still suffers compared to the other two factions' tanks.

The Scythe also needs a maneuverability boost. The terran Mosquito can be more maneuverable.

The problem is that the Vanu's advantages are supposed to be maneuverability and no bulletdrop/recoil (which seems to be not the case from the weapons I used) but the game seems to have half-assed it a bit. A tiny bit more maneuverable is not enough to offset the armor/firepower of the NC or the raw speed of the TR. If that is what the Vanu's advantage is going to be, then it has to be as noticeable as the other two factions' advantages.

I've also noticed that whoever controls the northern warpgate tends to hold the northern half of the map, probably due to the natural barrier presented by the cliff. Even with vanu in the state that it is in was able to hold it pretty reliably.

Sledgecrushr

2012-08-31, 11:27 AM

Its hard for me to tell since i crash every fifteen minutes.

Haro

2012-08-31, 11:27 AM

Hmmm, the VS is obviously a big balance issue... Class balance could use work especially with maxes. I think the lightning needs a buff or three, as do basic machinegun level fighters. Tr pistol needs to be nerfed badly. Other than that, everything else should wait for more features to be implemented.

OnexBigxHebrew

2012-08-31, 11:28 AM

I agree maybe if more people knew about the generators it would be easier to attack but right now currently the base is what I would call a turtle base (extremely easy to defend and rack up kills) and there is no fucking point in attacking it but yet on the server im on every faction is there all fucking day long and its retarded but if you want a lot action its almost like you HAVE to go there. Oh and one more thing the console you take over that's in the middle underground that only has TWO ways in is so easy for a bunch of engineers to set up camp on both sides and then there is no way anything can get in with 6 turrets lighting up both sides. You say grenades or rockets to kill them? I say 2 medics can keep them all alive.

I agree. Also, the magrider sucks. Period.

I would like to have a meaningful fight somewhere other than zurvan. A week ago, the biodomes were rocking, now it seems like people just don't want to deal with air only assaults so they don't fight there. Common theme in PS2 right now seems to be "Tone it down to make something more defensable" and it gets abandoned. Sad truth haha.

Syphus

2012-08-31, 11:31 AM

Gimping of the Vanu tank.

In Planetside, most drivers would simply ignore their cannon unless there was a target of opportunity. You're much more effective as a tank if you avoid enemy fire while you let the main gunner shoot targets.

It simply doesn't make sense to be facing the enemy. While you'd be able to move toward them quickly, that effectively makes you a stationary target. Strafing never made much difference as is was slow enough and changing strafe direction was not fast enough to be able to make it at all difficult to lead you as a target, plus you couldn't see where you were going. You couldn't fit between many obstacles going sideways. You couldn't quickly turn to see where you were going and then turn back to fire at the enemy.

i.e. It was bad enough using two people for a tank that effectively had a single gun. Now the tank's main gun is in the hands of the person who can't aim it at the enemy?

The Magrider is great if you know how to use it properly. Earlier this week, I was at a fight between Feldspar Canyon Base and The Stronghold, and I destroyed 10 tanks (A combination of about 60% prowlers and 40% Lightnings), before dieing. Also, I became weapons locked from running guys over. But anyway, my point is the tank is not gimped at all, in fact the gun facing forward also means that you rarely expose your weaker armor to the enemy.

My top issue right now is probably still AA and A2A. Opening up Flares has helped a bit, but honestly sometimes there is so much A2A up there, one flare can't save me.

Top Sgt

2012-08-31, 11:35 AM

The current OP nature of A2A missiles, though that should be fixed quickly enough once flares are in.

Flares are in People just too cheap to buy them lol

Max's to me need a timer period.. Spammed way too much at gal's and objectives.

And TR overpowered? Are you kidding? We shoot rubber bullets most of the time. VS weapons drop you at close range dayum near instantly and NC weapons win the mid range easily.. you barely burst and if your aim is good enemy die. With TR we have to hit you 10+ times to even make a dent.

Kerafyrm

2012-08-31, 11:36 AM

Maxes. Bring back revive on maxes. And add either resource cost or timer.

Adding a resource cost would do nothing it would at the start of the game for example when it first comes out retail and we have so many things to spend our Auraxium on but come one year after that and we have so much unlocked guess what you spend Auraxium on resources making it extremely easy to pretty much have unlimited which it already is anyways.

MAX might need a cool down once all of them MAX users have flamethrowers and start owning us in the Bio labs with them. Personally I don't know how you would balance this cool down would be nice but I wouldn't want to limit people who only want to use a MAX suit. I think a big problem with this and people who have problems with all the MAX units are just we don't have enough weapons we can even use yet to fight against them better.

Im almost never low on resources other then the one that you use to buy Scythes with and the only reason I get low on that is because I have no flares and no A2A while so many TR and NC have A2A and A2G and shoot you down instantly.

OnexBigxHebrew

2012-08-31, 11:36 AM

Also, I lied. The biggest balance issue in the game is the Auraxium at bases. Rich get richer, vanu live in cardboard boxes.

Kerafyrm

2012-08-31, 11:54 AM

Also, I lied. The biggest balance issue in the game is the Auraxium at bases. Rich get richer, vanu live in cardboard boxes.

This right here its no different then real life except it would be the other way around the guys with crazy "alien" *cough US government cough* technology would be on the top plain and simple.

Anyways NC and TR gain Auraxium much faster and easier than Vanu due just to population and being able to take over so much more content. This is a reasons why you don't see Vanu Scythes shooting rockets yet and if you do its what one guy on the entire Vanu side right compared to 5+ TR and NC with them. Personally I have not seen any Vanu Scythes with A2G or A2A yet other than in TotalBiscuit ONE video and im sure a dev gave him them.

Canaris

2012-08-31, 11:57 AM

One thing I'd love to see changed and this is for all three Empires is the standard 20mm gun on most vehicles that comes with all vehicles. Out of all the ones I've tested this is the weakest sister of the lot made even worse by the fact it is the standard gun.

It has many compound problems that need to be addressed.

1# - Guns don't fire centered to the cross hairs there always shooting to the right even when stationary
2# They sound like pop guns, they added in that wind up noise now and it just makes them sound sillier
3# WHERE ARE MY BULLETS GOING? This is the biggest issue with them, the rounds are so small you can't see where they are going even at night with the tracer fire in full effect. PS1 version of the 20mm is far superior in all aspects.
4# It doesn't even feel like I'm firing a heavy machine gun, it has this crazy sink plunger action for animation.

These guns need to be butched up no end.
See the heavy guns on the front of the ducks at about 2 mins in, that's a heavy machine gun

The Pacific - Peleliu Beach Landing Scene *HD Quality* - YouTube

DayOne

2012-08-31, 11:57 AM

Reaver rocket pods and AA and A2A. VS lock on missile (A2A) just falls off at the slightest turn. Rocket pods destroy EVERYTHING. They need to have various types for various things, NOT one size fits all. AA is just weak.

JMUsFinest

2012-08-31, 11:57 AM

Blue Sam

2012-08-31, 12:01 PM

Flares are in People just too cheap to buy them lol

Sorry if that was less than clear, I meant "in" as in "being used in game".

EVILPIG

2012-08-31, 12:02 PM

Also, I lied. The biggest balance issue in the game is the Auraxium at bases. Rich get richer, vanu live in cardboard boxes.

This matters little in the long run. First, your analogy does not work because we all live rent free on Auraxis. What you earn you keep. Second, while one empire on each server will get ahead in the arms race when the game is first released, it won't matter much in a month. Everyone who is playing is banking Auraxium and eventually we'll all get there and have nice toys. There will also be boosters for resources and you'll be able to flat buy weapons you want from Day 1.

Blue Sam

2012-08-31, 12:03 PM

Anyways NC and TR gain Auraxium much faster and easier than Vanu due just to population and being able to take over so much more content. This is a reasons why you don't see Vanu Scythes shooting rockets yet and if you do its what one guy on the entire Vanu side right compared to 5+ TR and NC with them. Personally I have not seen any Vanu Scythes with A2G or A2A yet other than in TotalBiscuit ONE video and im sure a dev gave him them.

Don't think it's got something to do with VS rockets in general being useless?

On the other hand, the VS AV max (or maybe AV max's in general, I haven't seen enough of the others to say one way or another) is beastly. Seriously, I went 8v1 against lightnings and walked out of it, despite being completely useless.

Kitsune

2012-08-31, 12:51 PM

Numbers.

If 30% of the server playing VS
45% of the server playing TR
25% of the server playing NC

TR wold have a huge advantage over the others individually at that moment. If the VS and the NC team up (not likely) they would only be 10% more populated. Bases will be easily captured. When the NC and VS players log in/wake up, their faction could probably be half gone over night.

Not in beta so I dunno if they can prevent this in any way.

Bags

2012-08-31, 12:58 PM

Everyone having access to maxes with no timer or cost.

Maxside is fun, I guess.

Whiteknight

2012-08-31, 01:00 PM

Numbers.

If 30% of the server playing VS
45% of the server playing TR
25% of the server playing NC

TR wold have a huge advantage over the others...

I could work out like this, but after having played both NC (primary) and TR (I refuse to play VS, long story - not going into it), It seems like the NC is filled with idlers effectively farming Aur at the base, where as the TR has been Active on the server I play on.

The point is, the % online really doesn't mean anything as to how well your side will do. I saw the %'s @ 32VS, 35TR, 33NC, and the NC were pushed back nearly entirely to their main base because -- Mainly Idlers online trying to farm Aur.

The advantage will go (typically) to the groups that are semi-organized, as opposed to the one that has the most Lone Wolf players... As it should (imho)

GTGD

2012-08-31, 01:12 PM

The great majority of VS gear is trash right now, and somehow they managed to make aircraft and rocket pods better than they ever were in PS1 (despite their promise that pilots wouldn't be able to just hoverspam).

Syphus

2012-08-31, 01:15 PM

This right here its no different then real life except it would be the other way around the guys with crazy "alien" *cough US government cough* technology would be on the top plain and simple.

Anyways NC and TR gain Auraxium much faster and easier than Vanu due just to population and being able to take over so much more content. This is a reasons why you don't see Vanu Scythes shooting rockets yet and if you do its what one guy on the entire Vanu side right compared to 5+ TR and NC with them. Personally I have not seen any Vanu Scythes with A2G or A2A yet other than in TotalBiscuit ONE video and im sure a dev gave him them.

Actually, the reason you didn't see any Scythes with them is because the Tomcats were broken on the Scythe for some inexplicable reason.

OnexBigxHebrew

2012-08-31, 01:32 PM

Don't think it's got something to do with VS rockets in general being useless?

On the other hand, the VS AV max (or maybe AV max's in general, I haven't seen enough of the others to say one way or another) is beastly. Seriously, I went 8v1 against lightnings and walked out of it, despite being completely useless.

Vanu max is a beast!

Crator

2012-08-31, 02:16 PM

Apparently aircraft can hover and spam bullets at ground troops easily? I had a hard time staying alive by myself at an outpost with hardly anyone around except that one aircraft. As soon as I walked outside I was dead. I seem to remember the DEVs saying the "Hover Turrets" that we had in PS1 were not going to happen in PS2.

JawsOfLife

2012-08-31, 02:18 PM

My biggest complaint is probably base mechanics. They encourage zerg rushes to cap bases, no strategy really. Pick an aircraft, clear out the area, then infantry rush the cap points. Bases really need to be more fortress like. Battles shouldn't be long and drawn out in the open, and short spam-fests indoors, but that's exactly where the gameplay is at right now.

Wizkid45

2012-08-31, 02:26 PM

I personally find it ridiculous that you can bump a friendly going 5 kmph in your tank and kill them, yet completely run over an enemy and do virtually no damage. I kill more friendlies backing my mag up so that someone can hop in than I kill enemies with the thing. Quovatis can attest lol.

Aircraft flight mechanics work, but are stupid. Apparently A and D are strafe? Because they sure act more like a really slow rotate. It would also be nice to have throttle control like PS1 had: When you press W you accelerate forward, let off W and you slow down to a stop and if you want to cruise you press Q. Cant say I care for the "W is throttle up and if you let go you maintain that speed" More "Realistic" sure, but I like how it was implemented in PS1 more with the number keys acting as a percentage of throttle to allow cruising at specific speeds. A more effective reverse would be nice too. Galaxies not exploding if you don't set them down like a feather would be nice too, they take way too much damage and are way too easy to destroy yourself trying to land one on uneven ground.

Sleepy

2012-08-31, 02:34 PM

Currently, AirCav decimate everything, counter everything, and are only countered by other Air.

Incoming rocket equipped Reaver? No problem. Convince just 6 players to suit a Burster MAX and fire shells to hopefully discourage (not kill) the solo pilot from attacking for 20 seconds. Your Empire would be better off having those 6 lads simply pull Aircraft themselves.

AA MAXes need, for ES purposes as well, G2A missiles. At least for the NC and VS. They worked in PS1 and would work here as well. Additionally, they give ES variation to MAXes, which unfortunately is lacking (much like ES AV rockets for infantry - gone are the Lancer, Stryker, and Phoenix).

HeatLegend

2012-08-31, 02:36 PM

Not sure what I think it the #1 Balance issue, but I think MAXes need a cooldown- I know they've said they will implement some anti-MAX weapons/gadgets, but I'd rather they just put a cooldown on em ( or both ).

As for the guy above me; I haven't had much problems with Air- if I'm in an AA-gun or a gunner in a lib I can easily take em out if they're close enough.

If they attack infantry- then yes obviously you wont stand much of a chance, it's supposed to be like that :P

goneglockin

2012-08-31, 02:49 PM

Max suits should not be in the game. Out of all the other things they dropped from PlanetSide 1, why they chose to keep max suits I'll never understand.

Worst design decision ever.

If devs wanted heavy armor classes, they should have looked to Tribes: Ascend for an example of how to do it right. Even then, I don't know how it would work because infatry play is ground based and there is little advantage in being able to outrun or outmaneuver a max suit.

Gameplay loses nothing without them and it gains everything when it comes to delivering an FPS game worth playing.

Crator

2012-08-31, 02:51 PM

Max suits should not be in the game. Out of all the other things they dropped from PlanetSide 1, why they chose to keep max suits I'll never understand.

Worst design decision ever.

:eek: Really?

Exmortius

2012-08-31, 02:55 PM

anti air being weak and reaver speed/afterburner bugged atm

Max suits should not be in the game. Out of all the other things they dropped from PlanetSide 1, why they chose to keep max suits I'll never understand.

Worst design decision ever.

If devs wanted heavy armor classes, they should have looked to Tribes: Ascend for an example of how to do it right. Even then, I don't know how it would work because infatry play is ground based and there is little advantage in being able to outrun or outmaneuver a max suit.

Gameplay loses nothing without them and it gains everything when it comes to delivering an FPS game worth playing.

they had to keep maxes they are iconic for planetside.

goneglockin

2012-08-31, 03:00 PM

:eek: Really?

A thousand times, really.

They were only ever in the first game because SOE knew ZERO about making a shooter in 2003. They had no business being there then, and you figured they would have learned by now.

Really. If 9 years has shown you anything, it's that they NEVER properly balanced max units after ENDLESS cycles of buffs and nerfs. There's nothing radical about someone who simply remembers how fucking lame they were.

They are a boring class to play as, and they are nothing but a pain in the ass to infantry focused gameplay; which is what has always sold a million billion copies. But if SOE wants to keep them because they already made the models, they're only shooting themselves in the foot.

I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Already counting on writing PS2 off. Someday, someone who first knows how to make a proper shooter will make an MMOFPS, soon as SOE is done fucking it up.

Exmortius

2012-08-31, 03:03 PM

i dunno 1 decimator would kill a max easy back in ps1 they weren't invincible

Crator

2012-08-31, 03:05 PM

A thousand times, really.

They were only ever in the first game because SOE knew ZERO about making a shooter in 2003. They had no business being there then, and you figured they would have learned by now.

Really. If 9 years has shown you anything, it's that they NEVER properly balanced max units after ENDLESS cycles of buffs and nerfs. There's nothing radical about someone who simply remembers how fucking lame they were.

They are a boring class to play as, and they are nothing but a pain in the ass to infantry focused gameplay; which is what has always sold a million billion copies. But if SOE wants to keep them because they already made the models, they're only shooting themselves in the foot.

I wouldn't expect anything less from them. Already counting on writing PS2 off. Someday, someone who first knows how to make a proper shooter will make an MMOFPS, soon as SOE is done fucking it up.

I actually agree to an extinct with this. I never played with the MAX armor in PS1. But as someone said above, they are so iconic to Planetside. Hard to imagine them not there in the second one. Just needs to be balanced properly is all I think.... Be glad they didn't add BFRs again! ;)

IMO, all play-styles should be valid which means appropriate counters to offensive measures.

goneglockin

2012-08-31, 03:06 PM

:eek: Really?

i dunno 1 decimator would kill a max easy back in ps1 they weren't invincible

The best answer to max units was always to pull more max units. Nobody wants to play that game.

Just needs to be balanced properly is all I think....

This is the problem. Everyone seems to forget 9 years of PS1 school and thinks they can just add a timer and solve the problem. They were never balanced in all that time, and they won't magically figure it out now.

They should have saved themselves the embarassment and just left them out of the game. It's already the biggest sore point on the beta forums by far. Now who wants to take bets on when the complaining will stop?

waldizzo

2012-08-31, 03:19 PM

Everyone having access to maxes with no timer or cost.

Maxside is fun, I guess.

I agree. Way too many MAX units running around. There is little reason to play any other class for indoor fights especially if you're defending a location. A lot of times it is easier to die and come back three seconds later in a fresh MAX. They need to be treated more like Vehicles, resource cost and timer. A MAX unit should require a proper support structure to operate at peak efficiency. Losing a MAX should hurt for both attackers and defenders.

Also, Ground to Air seems too weak. It used to be way too powerful, but now it hardly does anything.

VaderShake

2012-08-31, 03:26 PM

Boone

2012-08-31, 03:40 PM

The best answer to max units was always to pull more max units. Nobody wants to play that game.

This is the problem. Everyone seems to forget 9 years of PS1 school and thinks they can just add a timer and solve the problem. They were never balanced in all that time, and they won't magically figure it out now.

They should have saved themselves the embarassment and just left them out of the game. It's already the biggest sore point on the beta forums by far. Now who wants to take bets on when the complaining will stop?

take that bet seeing as they have months to do it
ill

Aunt Jemima

2012-08-31, 04:28 PM

For a while I was very concerned with the state of AA in the game, but the latest patch seems to have alleviated most of those concerns. While I agree that the sheer number of MAX suits in play at any given time can get a bit ridiculous, good teamplay between other MAX suits, HAs and engineers does often deal with that, especially in more confined bases such as Biolabs. That said, I agree that there should be a small resource cost or timer associated with the MAX suit in order to cut down on the MAX spam.

At this point, I'd say NC overpopulation is one of the bigger problems, given the location of their warpgate. Still, I find it difficult to point out any one thing as the biggest balance issue, as I feel SOE has done a pretty great job so far of dealing with things.

For a while I was very concerned with the state of AA in the game, but the latest patch seems to have alleviated most of those concerns. While I agree that the sheer number of MAX suits in play at any given time can get a bit ridiculous, good teamplay between other MAX suits, HAs and engineers does often deal with that, especially in more confined bases such as Biolabs. That said, I agree that there should be a small resource cost or timer associated with the MAX suit in order to cut down on the MAX spam.

At this point, I'd say NC overpopulation is one of the bigger problems, given the location of their warpgate. Still, I find it difficult to point out any one thing as the biggest balance issue, as I feel SOE has done a pretty great job so far of dealing with things.

whoever controls the northern warpgate tends to hold the northern half of the map, probably due to the natural barrier presented by the cliff.
This.

The Magrider is great if you know how to use it properly. [...] the gun facing forward also means that you rarely expose your weaker armor to the enemy.
I think people complaining about the Magrider underestimate just how effective this is.

Fenrys

2012-08-31, 04:49 PM

Not enough counters to air, and not enough counters to MAX.

qbert2

2012-08-31, 04:57 PM

Air and Max balance is pretty poor right now. Air can take out just about anything without fear making ground armor useless. Maxes are a huge problem because it's so easy to switch in and out of them. Plus the respawn time is so quick that if you drop on an outpost with a spawn once you've killed everyone there they just come back in 4 seconds as maxes.

Helwyr

2012-08-31, 05:05 PM

Overall I feel it's too early in Beta to be overly worried about balance issues, atm everything balance wise seems to be constantly looked at and adjusted, and a lot of stuff isn't even in the game available to testers yet.

In the current build; Air is a concern, AA needs to be stronger. Like PS1 a lot of Pilots seem to have a very warped sense of balance, so you'll see them here saying air isn't strong enough. The developers are working on this though, and have decided to boost AA in small increments until the sweet spot is found rather than wildly nerfing and buffing things... sounds like a good plan.

MAXes aren't really a big issue, but I agree with others they would have been better to be on a timer.

Lonehunter

2012-08-31, 05:20 PM

I can certainly see some balance issues but half of the game isn't even available yet. Certs, store, continents, etc. I just can't judge till I get more of it lol

Retaliation

2012-08-31, 05:34 PM

The interaction between air and AA. Right now air can safely ignore all but the heaviest of AA because they can kill and run faster than they can be killed. I'm worried though that SOE won't be able to find a sweet spot here. I think it's very possible air's firepower:health ratio when coupled with it's mobility will result in air being extremely underpowered with AA around but equally overpowered when it's not. I don't know if SOE is prepared to make the hard choices rebalancing air if that comes to pass.

Blackwolf

2012-08-31, 05:50 PM

What is your #1 balance issue right now in PlanetSide 2? Obviously it's a beta game and there's a lot to accomplish still but there are some glaring balance issues already. What are your #1 Concerns?

GTA AA is broken. A dual Burster can barely score 4 kills particularly against Reavers, this in a target rich environment with several other Bursters and AA base turrets firing on similar targets at a time. On most servers the NC population levels allow the NC to dominate with air superiority using Reaver/Liberator while the other two empires struggle against them.

It's pointless taking up an AA role from the ground unless at least 4 others help, and even then you'll be lucky to kill something. Scaring anything off by yourself is a futile effort.

Miir

2012-08-31, 06:21 PM

Number one issue is: Lack of a system to balance the population.

I Sure hope SOE has some plans to help deal with population imbalances. No amount of resources or XP bonues make a difference when the population is that out of balance. The game just becomes no fun.

It's not fun for the empire with the least population and from what I've read it's not that fun for the empire with the most either because of the lack of challenges.

diLLa

2012-08-31, 07:39 PM

As I'm mostly fighting infantry battles, MAXes is my #1 concern. More times than not a good battle is going on, only to be smacked dead by mass MAX pulling, resulting into a major borefest of who can pull the most MAXes.

batfastard

2012-08-31, 09:33 PM

Anti air needs loads of buffing, quickly, like next patch.

goneglockin

2012-08-31, 10:01 PM

take that bet seeing as they have months to do it
ill

Well then your a sucker, because they've had 9 years to fix them before that.

ClockworkAug

2012-08-31, 10:09 PM

For me the vanu just dont have decent weaponry.

The vanu sniper rifle is an especially big joke. it has no different recoil to the terran sniper, and while its true it has no bullet drop it has worse! Bullet gain!

I swear. try it out. at least for me, the bullet always hits above the scope's reticule. Headshots are a right pain.

The bullet damage degradation is no fun either. Not when trying long range sniping. usually have to hit 5 or 6 times, and frankly it takes so long i rarely if ever get kills at extreme distance.

All of my jealousy goes to the gorgeous beautiful NC bolt action. My dead space-jesus i love that gun.

Frankly the entire vanu weapon concept needs more to it. bullet drop is never a problem except for in snipers anyway. But the bullets glow so much for all factions its monumentally easy to figure out how to drop and adjust. its never an issue. certainly not enough of one to warrant such a drastic power imbalance.

Also jealous of the other two factions pistols. All-But-Revolver Vs Machine Pistol Vs the freaking flashlight.

FriarFin

2012-08-31, 10:30 PM

Maxes need a Respawn timer, and possibly a resource cost, like a vehicle.
And/Or...A specific terminal is required to get into one, like Galaxys. These would be located in big tech plants and/or Warpgates, and since they are so slow, they would need to rely on Sunderer-galaxy transportation to get to the smaller facility's.

campingkarl

2012-08-31, 10:45 PM

cyberkiller

2012-08-31, 11:44 PM

Chefkoch

2012-09-01, 03:54 AM

They need to increase the death respawn timer for every one, and or use the system in PS 1, death = more CD time. Near instant spawn cause continuous zerg rushes and a person you just killed to come back to the same location in 10 seconds. More time will restore some parts of the game

This !

I also think that tracking K/D and Killstreak Bonus Systems do more harm then good to the teamplay aspect of the game.

Timealude

2012-09-01, 04:29 AM

The best answer to max units was always to pull more max units. Nobody wants to play that game.

This is the problem. Everyone seems to forget 9 years of PS1 school and thinks they can just add a timer and solve the problem. They were never balanced in all that time, and they won't magically figure it out now.

They should have saved themselves the embarassment and just left them out of the game. It's already the biggest sore point on the beta forums by far. Now who wants to take bets on when the complaining will stop?
well currently C4 can one shot a MAX so i dont think they are that bad.

ENochrewt

2012-09-01, 04:30 AM

Another vote for MAX spamming. They need a cool down.

I'd really rather not comment other balancing, the game needs to breath a bit more. Shots not consistently hitting in the center of the reticle when they should drives me crazy though.

Canaris

2012-09-01, 04:33 AM

yeah I'm going to throw my bulk behind a MAX cool down.

The team said they'd have to buff them in order to allow a cool down to be added? No you don't. You just need to fix the NC & TR AV guns and it's all gravy after that.

The MAX is a fine beast as is, coupled with getting them ressurectable again it will work out grand.

Setanta

2012-09-01, 07:29 AM

Gimping of the Vanu tank.

In Planetside, most drivers would simply ignore their cannon unless there was a target of opportunity. You're much more effective as a tank if you avoid enemy fire while you let the main gunner shoot targets.

It simply doesn't make sense to be facing the enemy. While you'd be able to move toward them quickly, that effectively makes you a stationary target. Strafing never made much difference as is was slow enough and changing strafe direction was not fast enough to be able to make it at all difficult to lead you as a target, plus you couldn't see where you were going. You couldn't fit between many obstacles going sideways. You couldn't quickly turn to see where you were going and then turn back to fire at the enemy.

i.e. It was bad enough using two people for a tank that effectively had a single gun. Now the tank's main gun is in the hands of the person who can't aim it at the enemy?

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read, and I thought Kyra's post was terrible.

All tanks are designed for frontal assault, that's why their armour is strongest face on. The advantage of the Magrider was that it could outmaneuver the other two MBT's, basically you can circle strafe and iirc it could float over water. That is massive advantage.

The vanu infantry weapons feel weak, but are actually pretty spot on. The lasher/Jackhammer/Chaingun argument is ancient and will never be resolved suffice to say they were all overpowered in different ways, precisely as intended.

In summary, no faction grossly overpowers an other, you just need to learn how to play as that faction and use their weapons in a way that provides you the maximum advantage.

Arkaiden

2012-09-01, 08:10 AM

Da hell? Since when was the lasher overpowered in any way?

Sure, you could get 20 people spamming it down a hallway for it to finally be remotely useful, but some guy with a minigun farther down that hallway could kill all of you thanks to the slow speed of the projectiles and their extreme inaccuracy.

Gortha

2012-09-01, 08:26 AM

Gimping of the Vanu tank.

In Planetside, most drivers would simply ignore their cannon unless there was a target of opportunity. You're much more effective as a tank if you avoid enemy fire while you let the main gunner shoot targets.

It simply doesn't make sense to be facing the enemy. While you'd be able to move toward them quickly, that effectively makes you a stationary target. Strafing never made much difference as is was slow enough and changing strafe direction was not fast enough to be able to make it at all difficult to lead you as a target, plus you couldn't see where you were going. You couldn't fit between many obstacles going sideways. You couldn't quickly turn to see where you were going and then turn back to fire at the enemy.

i.e. It was bad enough using two people for a tank that effectively had a single gun. Now the tank's main gun is in the hands of the person who can't aim it at the enemy?

/signed!

Air to ground rocket spam. No question. Aircraft should not be able to take out a tank in one pass with rockets. It's just ridiculous. In PS1 the reaver had to reload MANY times to kill a tank. Now, if an aircraft with rockets sees your tank, you might as well just kill yourself now, because there's nothing you can do to stop your imminent death in 3 seconds.

/signed

BUT
We should have in mind, that there are not all the Anti-Air-Weapons around as they could.

Like all th4e Anti-Air Turrents für Tanks and Lightnings, the Heavy-Assault-Anti-Air--Lock-on-Rocketlauncher and very few AA_Maxes.

.....

I've also noticed that whoever controls the northern warpgate tends to hold the northern half of the map, probably due to the natural barrier presented by the cliff. Even with vanu in the state that it is in was able to hold it pretty reliably.

That´s a think i also saw, since i am in Beta.

vVRedOctoberVv

2012-09-01, 10:42 AM

Balance persay seems ok to me. Bugs, incomplete/unfinished vehicles/weapons, etc... That's my main issue with things now. Incomplete/nonexistent squad/platoon features. As time goes on my complaints will be fixed, so no biggie.

Electrofreak

2012-09-01, 10:43 AM

Relative ineffectiveness of AA. It's been improved a little bit with the last patch but it's pretty out-of-control.

I was rolling a Skyguard Lightning yesterday and TR Mosquitoes were strafing me while I fired flak at them. O_o

I think AA should be very effective at shorter ranges but much less so at longer ranges. With the Burster, they've made the flak rounds have a pretty slow speed and a significant arc, so that leading maneuverable air targets at range is very difficult. The Skyguard, on the other hand, has high projectile speed and a relatively flat trajectory, but has such wild recoil that it's very difficult to use.

Frankly I'd like to see more of a middle ground. The Burster should have more recoil but a flatter trajectory; it seems silly that it is such a stable platform while the Skyguard tank turret jumps all over the place.

Meanwhile the Skyguard just has too much recoil to be useable. I'd say lower the recoil and decrease projectile accuracy. It should be a fairly stable firing platform, but still not terribly accurate at range.

Notser

2012-09-01, 11:19 AM

AA, currently not worth the investment. If a player sacrifices the ability to effectively kill infantry and ground vehicles then they should be very strong against air. Reduce the radius flak hits but boost the damage, could be cool if flak could push a vehicle around so the pilot had to compensate.

Reizod

2012-09-01, 12:39 PM

Too be completely honest, I have never wanted a lock-on A2A missle in the game. Let the Dogs dogfight!

Wow, I actually totally agree with you on something! :cool:

I was hoping that the flares would negate the A2A, but as it stands now, no dice.

Rico Suave

2012-09-01, 01:13 PM

The backhacking. Specifically, the ability to backhack anywhere at anytime. They did stick an adjacency rule in and it turned the game into a barrel of fun.... then it uh, reverted back to the old ways. I'm not against backhacking, just this whack-a-mole gameplay, especially since there is no warning that any of your territories are getting hacked.

Oh yeah, and NC overpopulation. NC is my side but it is not fun at all to simply dominate through sheer numbers, they gotta put a cap on or something, so I've moved to TR on a different server for now and am planning on testing the Vanu.

Pullo

2012-09-01, 08:28 PM

Air power exerts too much influence on the game at this point. It requires a lot more balancing.

Syphus

2012-09-01, 08:32 PM

Wow, I actually totally agree with you on something! :cool:

I was hoping that the flares would negate the A2A, but as it stands now, no dice.

If flares could simply negate A2A, then they would be useless. The balance for them is about right now, where the problem lies in is in the missiles themselves.

If their turning rate, fuel / speed and whatever is adjusted, then we will be fine. A flare can then get you out of a bad situation, but good piloting will always be better.

HungrySpirit

2012-09-01, 11:05 PM

The VS have way to much power in the weapons. they need cut back.

The VS have way to much more power in there hand held weapons. they need to cut it back.

Diehard

2012-09-01, 11:10 PM

Get rid of A2A missiles!

HenchAnt

2012-09-02, 07:00 AM

Currently its Ground-to-Air that feels imbalanced most. Mosquitos diving head on into 3+ AA-Maxes, rocketspamming the infantry at close range and living to tell the tale feels just wrong.

OcO

2012-09-02, 08:35 PM

I think it is still to early yet in the beta for a lot of the balancing issues to be properly worked out.

Air may seem to strong right now when there is an average of like 50 people per Empire on a continent at a time but the game is suppose to be about MASSIVE warfare and needs to be balanced around that.

Currently its Ground-to-Air that feels imbalanced most. Mosquitos diving head on into 3+ AA-Maxes, rocketspamming the infantry at close range and living to tell the tale feels just wrong.

Besides the fact that not everything is unlocked yet, what happens when each Empire has 500 people on at any given time and there are like 50 AA maxes at each base insta-glibbing any aircraft that comes near?

Balance issues need to wait till all the game mechanics are properly in place and available to test and there are enough players testing per server to get an idea of how things will really play out on a more grand scale.

Malorn

2012-09-02, 09:09 PM

Flak ineffectiveness is the #1 for me due to the profound impact it has on the rest of the game.

OcO

2012-09-02, 09:37 PM

Another example of how balance will change when the populations increase.

I've seen a number of people complain that aircraft can to easily hover and rocket spam ground troops. When there are 10 times as many aircraft in the air cause the populations are so much higher than they are atm, aircraft will not have such an easy time hovering in place or doing a slow strafing run cause there will be way more defending aircraft in the air keeping them engaged.

I don't believe it is possible to balance everything for both small scale and large scale warfare. IMO the focus should be on large scale balance.

Fenrys

2012-09-02, 09:45 PM

A large conflict is many small conflicts happening in parallel. If the small scale is not balanced, the large scale will just magnify the effects of imbalance.

HenchAnt

2012-09-03, 12:37 AM

Besides the fact that not everything is unlocked yet, what happens when each Empire has 500 people on at any given time and there are like 50 AA maxes at each base insta-glibbing any aircraft that comes near?

If 5 AA maxes can't stop 1-pilot-aircrafts from rocketfarming the 20-30 footslogger next to them, then 50 AA maxes will have a very hard time preventing 10 1-pilot-aircraft from rocketfarming 200-300 footsloggers.

And 10 solo pilots farming 1/3 of an empires population is kind of a worst case scenario. ;)

You are right that things might even out once the AA-rocket for infantry becomes available. But it won't increase the impact and fun factor of AA maxes. And I honestly doubt it will be enough. What I've seen so far were mosquitos taking turns to do solo attack runs (and surviving). Once the airjocks manage enough teamplay to attack as packs or pull groups of heavier planes, things will only become worse for ground sloggers.

PS1 was already a farmfest for Reaver pilots. And the PS1 Sparrow felt quite a bit more powerful than the PS2 Burster does now.

fod

2012-09-03, 01:12 AM

my number 1 balance issue is aircraft and the lack of effective AA
the skyguard has bad recoil on top of the screen shake bug
the AA for tanks (A30 walker) is horrible for AA (but awesome at everything else lol) because of massive bullet drop and bullet travel time

meanwhile aircraft can instakill just about anything with their rockets

Sunrock

2012-09-03, 01:25 AM

NC is OP!!!!!! ;)

Seriously though. The Galaxy spawning is a bit OP...

psychobilly

2012-09-03, 02:04 AM

My biggest issue is with a light assault flying over head, dropping a c4 pack on you, and one shot killing a max unit. Should a pack of c4 kill most anything? Yes in real life, but it's an obnoxious game mechanic. If the c4 had to be carefully placed with a small timer... ok. But just whipping a glob of c4 at someone and detonating it... shitty mechanic.

Emperor Newt

2012-09-03, 04:31 AM

Currently population imbalance is the biggest issue for me. When you log in and see Vanu at 24%, TR at 32 and NC sitting at 44% and all you get as VS is a 1% increase in XP you just laugh and most likely go to another server as you will just get farmed.
For one they need to increase the bonus for underdog factions and maybe even need to cap faction population in some way.

What might play into this is that even with an organized team it is way to hard to impossible to hold a base against an unorganized zerg. Often it's wiser to just leave and cap something else. There is too little incentive to actually defend bases and also it's too hard to hold against a zerg.
Currently it feels more like to zergs rushing at each other and outfits flying around in Galaxies "backhacking" stuff and ignoring the larger fights. Especially on underdog factions as there is no use in fighting if you know you cannot win.

Also I think they should increase respawn timers on Galaxies and give the Sun a mobile spawn certification. But that's not really balance related ;)

Raka Maru

2012-09-03, 04:46 AM

Played a max for a bit today.

Couldn't capture points so had to yell for real softies to help. Was able to hold my ground against most units. It took a small squad to displace me when I wasn't lag killed. One guy just suicided into me with c4.

if I keep my distance from NC maxes, I survive a 1/1. The VS max is a monster tho, it's really close every time.

Maxes can't capture, so I ended up "guarding" the rooms. A small timer and maybe resource cost would help the ones complaining about the Max. For those who find it boring, don't bother complaining, 'cuz you are cutting into someone's play style again and we shouldn't listen to you cuz you're already bias. ;)

When I finally unlocked dual bursters, I was disappointed that most of my kills were just assists because 90% of the planes I shot at got away from me. Do I need lockdown also to take down a single plane? I saw the planes swooping in on our weak AA, kill some of us then fly away to repair.

I don't think the pounder is working too well either, was wearing dual ponders and hitting every time, but still couldn't kill a tank after several clips, then got shot dead. Will have to test this more.

I hope they get this right, cuz I like my max suit more than my stealth suit right now since cloakers can't do much except snipe at the moment.

Nausicaa

2012-09-03, 07:17 AM

Aircraft Rocket Pods - being able to gib a bunch of softies or a ground vehicle in one reload is just silly.
Lib Bomber Gun - you get no warning at all, at least in ps1 you had an audio que that you were about to be made paste.
Maxes - these need a recource cost and/or a timer/more counters, in a defensive fight theres no reason to pull anything else.
VS AV max - far too powerful against infantry atm.
VS Sniper Rifle - At the moment there is no upside to this weapon: it has the same shot drop as the other rifles and similar recoil to the tr rifle but also suffers from worse damage dergradation and the fact the shot hits above the centre of the reticule.
imho the shot drop needs to be drastically reduced (as was originally stated, its an energy weapon after all) and the targetting fixed so the shot hits the centre of the target (before shot drop comes into play)

Bullseyebill

2012-09-04, 04:35 PM

The sniping needs to have the adjusting cone of fire again. I feel that would create more balance and stop the walking-snipe from pwning.

Raka Maru

2012-09-04, 07:31 PM

The sniping needs to have the adjusting cone of fire again. I feel that would create more balance and stop the walking-snipe from pwning.

I really liked that focus timer. And it didn't make me sick after 4hrs of weaving scope.

KamiGaijin

2012-09-04, 07:43 PM

PLEASE NO REAL MONEY BOOSTS post I made earlier aside, here are some wild suggestions I'm gonna throw out here. Keep in mind that this is what I would like to see, it may differ from others:

Spawning.
Needs more spawning options. Gals are NOT filling the roll of an AMS or base tower the way it's needed. They either die too quicky, primarily because when you fly one in every single enemy for miles around knows exactly where your only spawn point is, or they require an army of engies to rep them, which cuts your offense down too much. And the nearest outpost may not be a good idea, since most don't have air pads and the the terrain on current cont is sometimes too rough to grab a vehicle.

Base capture.
We need more variety. Now I am definitely NOT saying make everything a 15min hack n' hold with a random LLU here and there. 15min hack n' holds were most of the time boring because they were uncontested, but if you were to, say make the base nearest to the enemy warpgate one, it would be contested most of the time. The rest of the bases could be defaulted as a mix of current point capture and LLU.
Plus, this one's kinda wild, but I'll throw it out there anyway: I think what would be interesting is if an empire, both attacking and defending, can choose what type of capture method is needed for a base and have a hacker with the right certs use a control console to change it. This would add a good strategic element to attacking and defending, based upon the current status of the fight. A swift ,organized outfit could attack a base, make it an LLU run, and grab it before the enemy can react, or an Alamo can make it hack n' hold to buy time until reinforcements arrive.

MAXes.
Maxes need a cooldown and/or resource cost. Right now I can pull an AI MAX every single time I die and solo several infantry, even HA's. I feel the AI MAX should be able to kill several infantry...it is a walking indoors tank after all; just not every single respawn.
Plus small balance issue: TR Pounder MAX can't kill anything. It has too few rounds in it's clip and the ballistic arc is a joke. You can't hit a tank that's 120m away.

Armor.
I strongly agree with what some others have said in this thread: Tank battles aren't happening because they die too fast. I can understand the lighting dieing the instant it sees action because it has always had paper armor. However, ground AV or Reavers shouldn't be able to kill a MBT as quick as they do now. And on the issue of driver/gunner: You forced the class system for certs upon us to make people work in groups, why do the exact opposite for vehicles? Maybe make a cert where the driver can remotely operate the gun from the drivers seat, but it will have slightly reduced accuracy and reload time.

Base turrets.
I have yet to find an AA turret that can actually shoot at aircraft because they can't aim down...which is funny because all of them are high up on bases/towers allowing aircraft to sit underneath them. Plus, the turn rate is absolutely abysmal; you have to run you mouse across you entire desk to turn it, and it turns too slow to track a moving target.

Base design.
First off, I like that bases are large and more open...but there needs to be some fine tuning. Some are too open making them impossible to defend against vehicles, and the others can ONLY be accessed from the air, making them impervious to land attack.

Sniping.
I had hoped that someone who is trained in sniping could actually hold a rifle steady enough to aim and shoot it...maybe add less bobbing in the crouch position? Or maybe add a prone position that holds the rifle steady?

Map.
The map needs a lot more work, primarily in the information giving area. Teamplayers want to be able to look at a map and tell where there squad/platoon is. Plus, I think an influence indicator to determine a rough size of enemy forces just like in PS would be tremendously helpful in allowing squad/platoon leaders in deciding where to go. And please, put in hack indicators and gen status...this information is VITAL to a commander.

Flying.
The flight controls seem just plain off. Turning with the keyboard is too sluggish and the mouse is too sensitive. Granted, I've always been a really bad pilot, using aircraft only as a fast means to get from one point to the next (Will ejection seats be out soon? <3), but I simply can't fly as it is right now. This may be just me though. As said, I'm not the world's best pilot.

I do have more suggestion, but I'll wait until I've played more and you have released more content (hopefully CE and hacking soon, because I'm a dirty bastard who loves being sneaky) to finalize them. Especially the class system. I'm undecided yet because I fell that with the current unlocks, the support classes seem to be highly underwhelming.