Community Q&A With Higby - PlanetSide Universe

Our very own MgFalcon had a chance to sit down with Matt Higby yesterday at PAX East for a Community Q&A:

MgFalcon: Can we expect armors color to change as players progress similar to PlanetSide 1? Many have noticed that some of the armors seem low level when using PS1 as a comparison.

Higby: Nope. Players will be changing armor based on their own personal customization, not based on leveling up. Yeah you'll be able to change all of that for sure but that will be part of your character customization, it's not something you have no control over.

Check out the full Q&A by clicking here. And tune into the Auraxis Global Network tonight at 7PM CDT as we talk PAX East and more!

36 comments

2012-04-07 06:04 PM

Latest Comments

2012-04-07 11:23 PM

dsi

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Owalpo

It will benefit players with out microphones. And give players without one ability to help their squad.

A little red marker goes a long and better way then "uhhzf ovr theer them rocks!!!>>"

If you are in a massive battle and you are a squad leader and want your squad to single out a group of people or vehicles the ability to target them for your squad will be faster and easier then having to call it out or type out. Especially if your squad is scrambled.

You can't say the tanks to the northeast if half your squad is busy in other matters a couple dozen meters away from you.

If you don't know how to communicate (mic, text, or radio system) that's your problem. Game mechanics can't fix bad players, they can only bring everyone down to the same level.

2012-04-07 11:23 PM

Stardouser

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Owalpo

As long as 3D spotting is squad only, it will be fine. But until I see SOE confirm that's how it will work, I feel like we have as much chance of getting it to be squad only as winning the lottery.

2012-04-07 11:40 PM

Owalpo

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by dsi

If you don't know how to communicate (mic, text, or radio system) that's your problem. Game mechanics can't fix bad players, they can only bring everyone down to the same level.

I don't how a system could bring everyone down if it is simply to used to figure out where people are. If the system is squad only and as soon as you lose LoS the target disappears then it doesn't bring anyone down. It helps those who don't have a microphone and those who don't want to die typing or use a generic radio system "Over there!". Ya that will help.

2012-04-07 11:40 PM

Yutty

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

one of things i hated in bf3 was looking up at the sky and only seeing a orange helicopter icon. Pretty lame shooting at a icon, sounds like 3d spotting is gonna be staying for the noobs who find it too hard to spot things with their eyes and need a icon to shoot at.

2012-04-07 11:45 PM

Stardouser

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Owalpo

3D spotting doesn't just help you figure out where people are, it tells you where they are with such precision that you can shoot at the 3D marker and not the player. Also, if the player moves, the marker moves with him.

2D spotting also helps those who don't have microphones. The way this works is, you see the enemy on your 2D minimap, and you point yourself in that direction. You know where they are, but you still have to spend a moment looking for them to actually get your eye on him. And if he's not in line of sight, you have to actually travel around the obstacle to look, or else ignore them and play the objective. 3D spotting goes the extra step of giving you something to simply place your aiming sight on and fire.

2012-04-07 11:47 PM

Owalpo

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Yutty

If you ever played Planetside then you know aircraft rarely stay around to long. And by time a aircraft got into a populated area everyone and their mother would be shooting at it. So spotting only lasts as the person who spotted has eyes on the target. That icon would go away really fast.

Air vehicles are not the main problem for spotting other aspects are.

2012-04-07 11:54 PM

Ertwin

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Owalpo

So spotting only lasts as the person who spotted has eyes on the target.

Now there's an idea. If you're spotting someone, you have to keep them in your sights or the marker goes away. Possibly making it so you can't shoot while spotting.

2012-04-07 11:56 PM

Owalpo

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Stardouser

Yes that is bad 3D spotting I know. I have covered this with you before, you are better than that.

What I am saying is a better more appropriate 3D spotting alternative that I would think would do well for the game.

Lets say for example it's limited to squads.

Squad leader has eyes on a tank. Tells his squad he wants it gone. So he spots it. Tank gets out of the squad leaders line of sight and the marker goes away.

Now you might say that is pointless. Why have the spotting system if it goes away the second the person who spotted it loses sight of it?

Simple, to allow players who don't want to talk, who don't have mics, who are deaf, who have lung cancer, who are socially awkward, what ever the case may be. It will allow them to communicate to their squad enemy locations, but it will not make everyone a homing missile running towards a orange dot on screen.

It gives PS2 a larger community, a stronger and more intelligent community at that. Would you rather have all the above people giving no tactical help or at the very least some? I take the latter.

2012-04-08 12:07 AM

Stardouser

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Originally Posted by Owalpo

Yes that is bad 3D spotting I know. I have covered this with you before, you are better than that.

What I am saying is a better more appropriate 3D spotting alternative that I would think would do well for the game.

Lets say for example it's limited to squads.

Squad leader has eyes on a tank. Tells his squad he wants it gone. So he spots it. Tank gets out of the squad leaders line of sight and the marker goes away.

Now you might say that is pointless. Why have the spotting system if it goes away the second the person who spotted it loses sight of it?

Simple, to allow players who don't want to talk, who don't have mics, who are deaf, who have lung cancer, who are socially awkward, what ever the case may be. It will allow them to communicate to their squad enemy locations, but it will not make everyone a homing missile running towards a orange dot on screen.

It gives PS2 a larger community, a stronger and more intelligent community at that. Would you rather have all the above people giving no tactical help or at the very least some? I take the latter.

That definitely may be a better implementation of the mechanic, but two things:
1. People 2D spotting is not "no tactical help".
2. There's no proof that 3D spotting brings a larger community, as any game that has ever had 3D spotting simply has it, period. There have been no massive community wide polls(although SOE could do it for sure through the beta interface), and no controlled studies have been performed on the issue, in other words, games that did or did not have it could just as easily have been more or less popular because of other features. Also, it doesn't make the community stronger or more intelligent, because the skills you have to have to find the enemy with your own eyes will not be developed if you don't have to find them with your own eyes.

2012-04-08 02:18 AM

oosik

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

sandman,

I played in PS1 beta and PS1 for a year, every day. Left in mid-2004 and just resubbed starting last week. I definitely think it is worth it to buy and try out to get a feel for PS2. It won't be the same,. but you will get a feel for the weapons, the different factions, and the basic mechanics of an MMOFPS.

PS1 now is a very fun game when there are enough players. Granted, you will die a lot, but you get to re-cert as much as you want the first week to get a feel for anything as you start earning more cert points. Get in a squad and check your map to see where the populations are and where the fight is. Very few bugs like there were in the early PS1.

Originally Posted by mr sandman

i have never played planetside and i was wondering if it would still be worthit to get the first planetside.

2012-04-08 02:29 AM

MrSmegz

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

That "outfit bonus" thing is really what I was looking for, glad he gave some answers on it. Much better than the Curse Gaming Interview.

2012-04-08 02:33 AM

Ruffdog

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Thanks MgFalcon!

IMO 3D spotting should be squad only and the squad leader should need to invest xp to get the ability.
Failing that it could start ON at BR1 and diminish as you progress e.g. BR 6 it's partial and BR 9 it turns OFF?

Slight trepidation about the new capture mechanic, but many of us will perhaps feel this because of the 8 years of the tried and loved REKing. The most exciting, most memorable battles for me have been inside the CC of a base during an offensive hack, trying like hell to stop one focal point getting breached. This new system sounds like it takes that funnelling of the action and spreads it wider, dare I say, diluting it. Eager to see the "ticket-mechanic" in play.

Interesting the uniform/armour will be independent of BR. Maybe now the Smurfs will stop complaining about flannel shirts

2012-04-08 04:49 AM

atomos

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

I love the outfit mothership idea, in fact I was hoping that the sanctuaries would be a mothership which players decide which direction it travels. I really do hope they go with 2D spotting on the minimap because at least then you have gained that advantage of knowing where abouts the enemy is but you still have to do some work in thinking where does that 2D minimap position correspond to in the actual 3D environment. If there is 3D spotting what I wouldn't want to see is that the enemy is immediately revealed to you with a marker over is head because from my experience, it's an automatic headshot, it's too easy. As for covert operations to take out generators I hope there are generators which can be destroyed to stop the operation of the vehicle terminals and resource collection.

2012-04-08 06:32 AM

ringring

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

They should have left the REK in for the initiate capture mechanic .... it won't make much difference but it would have been a respectful 'nod' towards old time planetside.

I'm a bit worried about the almost instantaneous captures. Why not allow epic base defences? How many have been in an epic defence where the CC was hacked, resecured, hacked again, resecured again after many minutes, hacked and and resecured yet again. - A planetside epic battle.

I know SoE say they want to speed up the game. Short hack timers are actually the only thing I've seen that really would speed it up (removal of sancs won't) and by having the short timers you gain something but you lose something too.

As long as a 'hack' is long enough so that defenders have a chance to respond.

2012-04-08 06:49 AM

NCLynx

Re: Community Q&A With Higby

Awesome read, thanks for puttin this together.