Well just registered here after hearing of the mere possibility of a new Planetside
. Theres actually alot I'd like to see and its a bit on the long side but who cares its exciting after all this time to have even a glimmer of hope!
1) First and foremost is an extensive and determined marketing campaign, not only in the months leading up to release but long after it as well. Planetside had next to no marketing outside of PC gaming magazines and that swiftly vanished a few months post-release. Core combat had even less.
2) Secondly, I would really really like it to be in the same setting as the first game. The NC, TR and VS are good factions with good concepts for a FPS. What I would like is for them to return, with their differences refined a bit more so we don't end up with a 'common-pool empire' like the VS initially but without compromising their uniqueness at all (in fact enhancing it). I appreciate this is difficult to do but it should be sought after in my opinion.
3) I would like Auraxis to return obviously, preferably as one planet with everything we are used to (warpgates, rebirthing, the bases etc) but not necessarily identical. There are several things I'd like to see in this regard.
- Reshape the world. If the new game picked up the NC-TR-VS conflict then it would presumably be after the original so war has been going on for awhile. Rather than remake Auraxis exactly as is now, change it around. Have the planet littered with ruined bases from the original, with some still in existance, some new ones built and others just bombed out husks.
- Different Base layouts, add more variety, make some bases compact like the originals and make others massive fortifications with mutiple rings of defences inside and out.
- Along major land routes between some bases (not all) have fortifcations and chokepoints established. By this I mean pillboxes, more towers, trenches, bunkers even walls to form large defensive structures to give people places to hold the line at. Since this is a harmless what if post, make them destroyable but with massive amounts of health and likewise repairable but only very slowly so once an invading force has broken through they can rebuild them for their own use but repairs can't be done as effectively whilst under attack.
- Have a few new continents, preferably linked to one another rather than 'islands' but have each 'region' function the same as a normal continent. Put heavy chokepoints/forts (not bases) along the land borders between each 'continent'.
- As part of the above, add faction capitals. Lots of people want urban warfare and how I always imagined it for the original was adding a new continent for each empire. As a rough explanation, put the only enemy usable warpgate at one end of the continent, put a large city at the other end where members of that faction recall to/cert at/ HART from etc, bases/fortifications in between and let the other empires invade it if certain objectives are met (e.g hold continents x,y,z and caverns a,b,c). This would allow for the urban warfare everyone wants, add some uniqueness to the factions (with the different cities) but not make it more common than the open battles/base assaults we have now. If an empires capital is taken then they respawn/recall to Sanctuary which could be identical to now except only used for training/as a retreat point if the capital is taken. Add in some bonus' for taking the city/defending it and you've got some really nice battles going. Probably far from practical but no harm in throwing it out there.
3) Mostly gameplay/mechanics stuff but: -
- No NPCs, just don't go there, I have yet to play a FPS where people actually liked bots.
- Better hit detection.
- More variety in armour/appearance. Optional camouflage/armour patterns for each empire, but keep the empire colours on key points regardless (e.g shoulder pads/shinpads, boots). Maybe even a armour between pyjams and agile which is only a breastplate over standard vest/trousers?.
- No empire swapping (one empire, per account, per server), no Black ops.
- Achievements - yeah I know a bit gimmicky and everyone does them now, but they're a fun laugh and a nice way to see how your doing in the game + an easy way to maintain enthusiasm for those who love to chase them. Possibly add entirely non-gameplay effecting items/appearance options to certain achievements ranging from the merit ribons to berets/armour styles.
- Artillery - We had the flail which was okay, but I'd really like a full blown range of artillery. Everything from AA guns, through AT guns to Howitzers. Give each faction one of each + a common pool selection, and make them towable by the transport vehicles (e.g sunderer (?), deliverer, harrasser etc)
- Heavy Bombers - The Liberator was fine as a close support bomber, but I'd love to see some old fashioned Lancaster/B17/B52 style heavy bombers carpet bombing from high altitude.
4) Day/Night system where it actually does get really dark at night but on something like a 6 or 12hr cycle as opposed to a real 24hr one. Better weather.
Bit excessive I know got a bit carried away (weee PS2 *cough*)but flame away, we've got a long time to wait....