[Figment]

It also helped that at the start of PlanetSide, you were only allowed to play one faction per server. This lasted quite some time actually.

Later on servers merged and the policy became pointless, faction hopping (fourth empire) was frowned upon as this destabilised populations. But more than that, to many it was considered treason to your buddies!

Teamwork and therefore outfits being so important further strengthen your roots: you and your buddies are all on the same side.

When YOUR home continent is attacked, it's not just the empire that's attacked, it's YOUR empire, YOUR continent, YOUR base, YOUR home, YOUR pride, YOUR pie stash that's being attacked. As leaders, you always got the best response from your troops by making such invasions feel as if they were after the dearest thing you had. The audacity of coming on YOUR turf and claiming it for themselves! How dare them commie bastards and purple scumbags! D:<

And if you win, you as a group can gloat about it on forums (people still do!).

Basically, everything you do in PS has always been an "us versus them" thing. It was designed this way and I still support the one empire one server basics, tbh.