ANTs and NTU Silos

[Madprofessor9]

I personally like Privatemonkeys open mindedness on this subject
he's looking at this as the big picture and not just on a small scale. And for people to think this would be a boring job. I personally beg to differ, Sure to some of the hardcore fps gamers it could be boring. My advice to you is to stay away from it if it gets to boring. One of the wonderful things about PS is it offers so many different roles to so many different people. People who like flight sims will most likely stick to piloting aircraft people who love tanks will most likely stick to calvary tank roles. People who love fps will mostlikely stick mainly to infantry roles. But people who say the the quote "resource gathering" role will get dull. To some people that role is probley more exciting then going out killing a person then getting killed then doing it all over again. if you think about it that role can get just as boring as "resource gathering". In the ANT role at least you know the situation can change at a moments notice. One moment your refueling bases the next moment your under attack so if you think about it the ANT roles can't be that dull. Resuppling a number of bases sounds like fun as well as challenging reguardless on how ever many bases your empire owns. Thing to remember is keep the active bases toped off and then make a occassional run to the inactive bases. To call a person a newbie just because they find resource gather more interesting then run in guns blazing making kills and getting killed then restarting again to do it again. Is really narrow minded. But to call someone a newbie for a role he or she prefers to play. thats like telling someone you don't like there haircolor they chose that best suits there personality. But really gets me is people deeming people as newbies already. The Last time I checked we are all still newbies to PS.
I personally look forward to escorting galaxy's with ANT's in my Reaver anytime.
And I'm also wondering which empire PrivateMonkey is going with
so I know which one to join.
I personally think he would be a easy person to get along with on the servers and I personally would love to be his dedicated air escort.
Basicly it all falls down to what ever game genre someone likes they will play it reguardless of how other people may feel about it
and what ever the dev choose to do wether it be resource decay or not. I support them because they know whats best for there own game . and I know I'll still be there to help out with what ever support I can
I appoligize if anyone feels flamed here I wasn't pointing at anyone in particular. And if I did I appologize

About the flying Scout like ANT I personally don't think that would be good I think a ant in a galaxy with 3 chainguns will at least give it a fighting chance in hotzones . and with a reaver escort its chances of survival will be a little better then a no armored fast flying ant. but thats just my opinion

[Mazelmavin]

This game has a HUGE scope. As I once saw on the main site:
This is Planetside, not Yourside.

If you think something in the game will be boring, you are absolutely correct. It will be boring for you. But maybe another will find enjoyment.

I (and Dave for that matter)keep saying this and nobody is listening. Planetside is not just a FPS its a MMOFPS. There is a big difference between the two.

"Its like nothing you have ever played"
-SmokeJumper (Dave)

[Unknown]

I like the idea of ANTs. A few points:

Originally posted by Toimu
You currently have 2 was to fill an ANT, take it to a warpgate by land, or air. And maybe you can store filled ANTs in your locker.

I highly doubt you will be able to do anything like that. If so then you'd be able to go fill up an ANT and then deconstruct it and carry it back on foot or in a friendly transport. That nearly defeats the purpose of the ANTs. I'd bet they are either non-deconstructable, or they lose all power when deconstructed.

As for inactive drain, I think it's a good idea, especially for locked continents. That sounds like the best of all places for inactive drain to apply, because the bases won't be very active. In order to keep a base you should have to pay attention to it, if only remotely, and in order to keep a whole continent you should have to keep all that much more attention on it. Plus it helps keep a continent from being totally abandoned after lockdown to encourage disputes with droppod'ers ("podders" -hehe) and also gives them another strategy for taking a continent back, as suggested before: target a base low on power and simply cut all supplies from reaching it. If it's low enough, that might even be faster than waiting 15 minutes for the hack, and surely quieter. No pesky "X base is being hacked" alert to the entire empire.

As for the specific numbers (ie. drain time, fill amount, resupply time, etc.) these are going to be constantly in flux for a while till they can set on a good balance. Suffice it to say, the devs know of our worries and will see any balance problems in-game and promptly fix them.

While I'm not saying abandon this argument, I am saying: trust the devs. Post your worries and give your input. The devs are bound to see this, nay, guaranteed to see this, especially with a thread this big on such a recent and important topic. So don't think you will go unnoticed and your fears will go unaddressed. The devs have it under control

[Madprofessor9]

I agree with Mazelmavin and unknown on this issue and personally I trust the devs will do everything in there power to make this work

[Mazelmavin]

Yeah,

I agree with Mazelmavin too.

[CDaws]

After reading through the thread I don't remember if any one brought this up. The Engineer/Sabatour, like myself, or a whole squad of them will be one of the ANTs worst probs if they don't have an escourt or if they are off guard. Strategicly deploying ACE packs all around the warpgates, though the devs said something about not being able to gatecamp. I'm not sure on how close you might be able to set them up even if you can. Shed some light on this please. As for choke points on the ground, this will be a real good way to keep the squads on there toes. Being an ANT driver will and won't be boring at times. It will all depend on the enemy forces if they will be waiting to ambush the convoyes or just let them slide. Only time will tell.

[Unknown]

Warp gates are, to put it mildly, HUGE.

...That wasn't very mild was it? Heh, my point being, it would be esentially impossible to deploy mines all the way around a warpgate. I'd bet theres a limit to how many mines a person can deploy or something. But even without a limit it'd take forever to put mines all the way around a warpgate (which, mind you, will most likely have a pretty constant stream of enemies who will shortly become very angry enemies should they be met with mines/mine deployers on exiting a warp gate. While it may be possible to mine the roadways, it's doubtful the mines will last long or hit their intended target, depending on how heavy the traffic is of course.

[Ludio]

I think everyone trusts the developers so we can stop repeating it in every post ok?

Madprofessor9, combat is not mindless killing until you get killed, thats what everquest is for. Planetside is unique among MMO games because of the complete focus on balanced pvp combat, no monsters. And it is not based completely on certs either. A good twitch gamer at lvl 1 should be able to kill an average/poor twitch gamer at lvl 20. The 20th lvl character can fill more roles, but the weapons dont make them better, just more flexibile. The point being that it is you versus an enemy at all times. It is like chess except for with more explosions.

Im not saying that ANT drivers wont have any combat, but they arent testing their skill against other people, just against the ground. This is fine for newbies (I do not mean this in a derogatory manner) who arent good at twitch gaming, but I think that even they will tire of it when there is no combat (locked continents). I am pleased that the devs are including so many roles for non twitch people (pilot/driver/medic/engineer). I just think that the decay system (especially on locked continents) could be a weakness in the game.

And yes we are all newbies when it comes to Planetside...one more reason to say

[Saint]

Even on locked continents there is gonna be a lot of combat. I guarentee that as soon as a continent is locked there are going to be hordes of enemies dropping in to say "hi" or "uhhhhh na na nana na na nana" The ANT wont be a problem so everyone shut up about it.

[Madprofessor9]

excatly what I was saying ludio.
no I can't dub combat as mindless as its a integral
part of the game as will. As ANT's be a integral part of the game.
what I was mainly trying to get across was the fact that people
are already starting to dread the fact of the ANT
Because there afraid it will be dull and boring.
one thing to say about that is. How do they know
if it will be dull and boring. ANT drivers will always be on there
toes. Sure most dedicated ANT drivers might become the most
paranoid people as they will feel everyones out to get them haha .
until we actually play the game and see how this will work. We can't dub anything being boring.
and when the devs get to balancing the issue there is no way people
can dub people newbies just because they find this role interesting.

[Headrattle]

Sure most dedicated ANT drivers might become the most paranoid people as they will feel everyones out to get them.

See, that is why I want to be part of a resupply team. I am already paranoid. So why not make that mental problem an asset?

As for the lack for action that people are complaining about.
Remember all of the C&C games on multiplayer? Unless there was an agreement not to, everyone attacked the harvesters.
I like the idea they are slow and not well armored. If you are carrying cargo you won't be fast. If you want armor, you won't be able to carry much cargo. It just forces the players to protect them. If they were fast, or well armored, what would be the point? Then they wouldn't need an escort and the teamplay goes away.

That is all I got. My child is fussy.

[Sputty]

They remind me of Dune's harvesters. They get pciked and transported by air. For all we know we could see a small army of transport galaxies in amny continents.

[Airlift]

I think the speed of the ANT should be slower than a buggy but faster than a heavy tank.

You don't have to worry about everyone driving one, becuase it's unarmed and poorly armored. However, it is important that ANT drivers have a chance to escape pursuit.

[Navaron]

I bet good money that the ANT is the free vehicle "you don't know about yet". It's unarmed and fits the description.

[�io]

The whole thing reminds me of C&C : Ren where you had to wait for the tiberium, i'm anxious to see if the ANTs will be as big a target as the harvesters.