PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - H1Z1 and the cannibalization of Planetside 2
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Old 2014-04-13, 09:16 AM   [Ignore Me] #13
Mordelicius
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Re: H1Z1 and the cannibalization of Planetside 2


I'm not bothered about Planetside 2 dying though, it already is dead, has been for awhile though, all my friends quit in December 2012 and never went back, the population died so quickly and so did the fun with it. SOE released the game is such a sorry state..
I'm not gonna say PS2 is dead but it's nowhere where it was months ago. The most frustrating part of all of this is that they've fixed this already. They they nerfed the broken stuff (harassers, Zoe), they fixed the Sundy survivability problem and they even had that major performance patch.

For a brief period, Planetside 2 was actually growing in population again. Was there any major content update? Nope, they simply realligned the basics and just like that players like the game again.

Then, as soon as this happened, they kept trotting out broken stuff such as the Sniper buff, the WDS and the Liberator update. The sniper buff killed alot of player movement. The WDS not only killed battle flow and alerts, but also eventually killed server faction balance. The Liberator hurts the Sundy spawn too much.

On the subject of Sniperside alone, there should be low risk/low reward, normal risk/normal reward, or high risk/high reward. No more low risk/high reward like the ZOE and Harassers should be allowed.
- Low risk/low reward. Example: 3 vs 1. Average the xp from 3 getting on 1 kill is below the normal reward.
- Normal risk/normal reward. Example 1 vs 1.
- High risk/high reward. Example 1 vs 2. Fighting and killing 2 is high risk but you get double the xp if you succeed.

But PS2 still has 3 lifelines:
1) They fixed the basics before. They can fix it again.
2) A lot of the gameplay will be riding on the resource update and the intercontinental meta and future features.
3) Playstation 4 version. This will be big. Given that DCUO has 2/3 of their playerbase in PS3 and 1/3 in PC. It's proven to be their gateway game coming from consoles.

The problem with DCUO is PS3 cuts both ways. While DCUO arguably has the best combat mechanics for PvP in any MMO today. They don't do anything about open world PvP. They tried to implement open world PvE raiding but had to remove and scale it back since it was killing PS3. In short, PS3 is limiting what they can do with DCUO. Given Playstation 4 is new, my guess is this will bring a whole new generation of players to the game.

Originally Posted by EVILoHOMER View Post
I think it will take players away, Dayz took all my friends away from BF3 and some other games, now they don't even bother with other shooters and just play Dayz and ARMA 3. These are time consuming and much more rewarding than conventional shooters and they will naturally suck players away.

I think it has the possibility of becoming what Planetside 2 should have been, a world we can create and have giant meaningful battles between huge guilds and then you'll have the solo people doing what they want to do inbetween it all.
THIS! This is exactly what I'm talking about. I didn't use the word 'cannibalization' because it's a cool pun. It's the only apt and applicable word.

It's not the 'market' or even 'genre', it's the player type/roles. Hence, player base cannibalization. If you take PS2, there are only 3 player roles/types

Hardcore (Leader type)
their kicks: Leading, Organizing, Creating, Initiating, Instigating
examples: PSU, Hamma, Community Clash, Redditside, Vanulabs, Kogoros, Murdah, Moukass, Wrel, every outfit leader/officers etc.

Normal (Selfish type) no negative connotation here.
their kicks: winning and dominating (personal or faction.
examples: Most players: faction loyalists, 4th faction, Alert switchers, solo snipers, cert/kill farmers.

Casual (Social type)
their kicks: socializing, helping, supporting, being part of a group.
examples: players who play because their friends play. Players who love support roles. Players who like to help others. Players who like taking on tasks/order. Players who like to derp around (vehicle races, doing stunts etc.)

You take all that (make a Venn diagram it's really all the same) and slide it into their Zombie game and everything will fit. The only difference is that H1Z1 will have a PvE component so it will also attract player types that Craft/Farm/Hoard/Sell (some things that's not in PS2)

Secondly, you got feature set cannibalization.

Alot of these features are planned long term for PS2. Fortifications (build/destroy), Seamless large maps and now (just announced) a weather system.

Some argue this is actually a boon to PS2. It's possible. But then again, it's already built-in for H1Z1. How much more renovation will it take to get it to the same level? Which lead us to developer cannibalization. Sure, at best it's speculation and induction, but it's hard not correlate the quality of recent patches to the number of developers they still have.

If you look at the H1Z1 videos, you'll see Planetside 2 pistol animations. You'll see Planetside 2 suicide screen. It's difficult to shake off the notion that their attention and focus is now on this game and not on PS2.
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