Story Time: Planetside 2

So, I promised a Planetside 2 article. Awhile ago, actually. But here’s the problem: every time I sit down to write one, it never comes out good. I just can’t get the nuances of game play down properly, or accurately describe how much fun base to base fighting is. So after thinking about it for a while… I’m just not going to do that. Instead, I’ll tell a simple little story about one random day where I was flying a Scythe and wound up having the time of my life.

So, it was the day after a big patch, and I was pretty eager to get some practice flying. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot, just for how sick the Scythe looks, but lacked a lot of certs for it and couldn’t afford a secondary missile pod. So when I finally got my pods, I decided enough was enough with the waiting. Slotted in a Scythe Spawn implant to cut the cooldown as low as I could and took off.

My first few attempts went pretty much like you’d imagine. I’m pretty sure there are a few Scythe-sized holes in the cliffs around the then-Vanu Warpgate, but eventually I got the hang of it. Mostly I’d just grab a Scythe and fly around Vanu air space as low as I could, having to dodge terrain and buildings for an hour or so until I felt comfortable flying. Then it was time for the real fun to begin. Dropped a marker over Zurvan and started making my way there.

Real combat was far, far more than what I had ever anticipated. Reavers and Mosquitos were prowling their own air space, and whenever one came close, flak would churn the air. I managed a few kills over the course of a couple hours, and lost an equal number of Scythes. But the real fight was just about to begin.

By now I was running out of Polymers to spawn more fighters, and we were starting to lose ground to the Terran Republic. Figuring it’d be my last one for a while, I grabbed a Scythe and went hunting. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the most delectable treat flying away into New Conglomerate space.

A Galaxy troop transport and Liberator gun ship, flying around without any escorts.

Planetside 2 Stream

So, I know I promised another article on Planetside 2, but honestly I don’t see it coming yet. Written four different bloody ones, and each one was terrible and did nothing to really showcase what Planetside 2 is really about. Wracking my mind for a week to come up with something to give you guys to show how incredible the game can be when it finally hit me… why not stream it for a bit?

So I’ve been trying to get FFSplit and Planetside 2 to work properly over the past few days. I think I have it, but latency is still a problem when trying to dogfight. If I can, I’ll bring you guys aerial combat. If I can’t, then I’ll make up for it with more amour play on the ground. The stream will start at 3pm EST tomorrow and go on for a couple of hours over at http://www.twitch.tv/bloodyselene. Tune in if you want to know more about PS2!

I’ll try and keep an eye on chat to answer any questions, and if you guys enjoy it, then why not make it a weekly thing? Make sure to let me know. See you on the battlefield!

Oh happy day!

Very short one today, mostly just so I can squee over how amazing Planetside 2 is shaping up to be. How amazing, you might ask? Well, besides looking at Totalbiscuit’s videos, we finally got to see something I’ve been very interested in. Care to guess what it is? I’ll give you a hint.

For those of you who don’t feel like clicking a link, let me just show you why today is one of those rare days where I get to be in a good mood:

NC Female

Looks good, right? It gets better.

TR Female

Really? Really? She looks like shes outfitted in military gear! You know, what the TR are famous for. Oh man, I’m so excited for this… wait, what about the Vanu?

VS Female

Nope, nope. I can’t stand it anymore. I have to have this game. Keep in mind this is only the Light Assault armor. There are more armor models for Infiltrators, Heavy Assault, etc. But with everything looking this good already? SOE, you stole my heart. I can’t stand not playing this game now! Very eagerly awaiting beta.

Open Letter to the PlanetSide 2 Team (Regarding Female Models)

Edit: For anyone else who may have had the same fears as me (either not having played the original, or not remembering it very well like me), I’m happy to point out the Developers were already on this. The original Planetside did a fantastic job of creating female player models, and I’m very eagerly awaiting on how we’ll get to look in Planetside 2. A massive thank you to Tramell, Higby, and everyone here and over on Reddit that confirmed what I dared to dream. Can’t to get my boots (never going to forget about that) dirty on the fields of Auraxis with you all!

Dear Planetside 2 Devs,

Do you mind if I call you devy? Too informal? Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. I don’t want to be too formal, because we’re all good friends around here, right? You guys work on the bestest game ever, and we salivate and jump around at all the tasty morsels you throw at us. Like sweet air vehicles or concept art of a human/transformer hybrid. And we absolutely love it. I love it. PlanetSide 2 is setting itself up to be one of the greatest games I could imagine playing, and I’m happily sitting here, PC Gamer beta key in hand, waiting to lovingly get into your game and tear it apart from the inside out. What, you called it a beta test. I’ll test it, even if it means jumping up and down for an hour to break the world geometry. And shooting. There will be shooting.

However… I’m now generating some doubts about a single aspect of the game. See, I was perfectly fine with PlanetSide 2 as a whole when I assumed that everyone would be a similar-ish Male type character, which is standard fare. You don’t see a female option in, say, Call of Duty. Or Tribes. Battlefield 3. I could go on, but the point is most of the time we’re given a homogenized ‘Man’ character, and that’s that. It’s not like we’re playing Dark Souls and spending an hour and a half crafting a face, it’s about the game play and guns, right? And since all of the war shooters are first person anyways, it’s simple enough to ignore the occasional grunt and pretend that I’m playing the game. But you see, I wasn’t born a guy. No, I was born as a space butterfly girl. A girl who likes war games, and likes to kick a little ass.

So, it seems perfect that PlanetSide 2 would offer a female model, right? I mean, that’s like a dream come true for me. You mean, I get to be in on the action this time? Not just as some faceless guy, but as a faceless girl? I love the choice, it brings a smile to my face. And having it would really cement PS2 in the top 5 ranking games ever in my heart (assuming game play is what I’m expecting roughly), but I am worried now. See, my half of the population has a pretty abysmal representation in gaming. Let’s look for a sec at another FPS coming into beta real quick, alright?

Into Auraxis (PlanetSide 2)

So, last time there was actually a lot of interest in the new Planetside, so I’d like to get a little more info out there. Starting with basic things like who everyone is, and faction benefits, then going on to the delicious scraps of info we’ve been fed so far. First and foremost, the best news of it all. PlanetSide 2 is free-to-play, and will feature a cash-shop like what’s found in League of Legends. Power won’t be for sale, but you can buy convinence items and cosmetic changes. Hard to think of anything they can do to make Vanu look more amazing though.  Hopefully we can generate even more interest in the game and give a long, long life. Part of the joy of PlanetSide is the massive battles and the world filled with constant warfare. So, let’s start with the basics; the Three Empires.

Terran Republic:

One of the more common in promotional materials (that I’ve seen), the Terran Republic are loyal to the Earth government that has been cutoff ever since Auraxis lost it’s connection with Earth. The TR weapons and vehicles focus on speed above all else, whether it is vehicle speed or rate of fire, the Terran Republic can’t be matched in terms of speed. They are also more reliant on numbers than the other factions, needing more people to fill the air with as many bullets as they possibly can. Their designs also tend to be fairly fluid and slender. Good choice if you want to be group oriented, to bring the most out of your Empire’s strengths.

New Conglomerant:

The New Conglomerant are the second of the three Empires, and are a group of misfits ranging from massive corporations to thieves and terrorists. Their weapons may not be as state-of-the-art as the Terran Republic’s, but don’t let that fool you. In terms of raw power, nothing can beat the NC. Their weapons and vehicles pack the biggest punch and will hurt like hell if you happen to be caught by them. They also tend to be more armored than what you’d expect, but all that firepower and armor comes with a cost, and they aren’t the most mobile of the empires. Their designs tend to be extremely bulky and have more than a few sharp angles. Good for more solo (relatively speaking, you will still need backup) players, giving a bit more punch to make up for a lack of numbers.

Vanu Sovereignty: 

The third and favorite Empire of mine, the Vanu Sovereignty. The VS are a group of transcendentalists who believe the ultimate evolution of humanity can only be achieved by incorporating more of the ancient Vanu technology. As a result, their armor and weapons tend to be the most out there, having lasers and plasma where other empires might use bullets. While the Vanu Sovereignty aren’t the hardest hitting or quickest of the Empires, their mobility is second to none. While the Terran Republic may be quicker, the VS have greater mobility with anti-gravity technology. While the New Conglormerant hit harder, they can’t match some of the utility the VS bring to the table. Though, I could be biased about this. Maybe. Vanu design is more out there, with triangles and overlapping metal plates. Also, their color is purple. Whats not to love? Good faction for players who want to abuse the greater mobility of the vehicles or use the different weapons the Vanu have at their disposal.

PlanetSide: War Unending

So, today is a special day. Not because of any holiday (although Riot did release 4 amazing skins for the New Year), but because of an influx of information about a game I absolutely loved. So today, you’re going to be getting a story. But first, a little set up. As you can probably guess, the game I’m referring to is PlanetSide, the old MMOFPS of yesteryear. I can’t tell you when, exactly, I picked the game up, but it was early in the MMO journey. It was a little bit after I stopped playing EverQuest, but couldn’t sate the desire of a game… bigger, than what other games were offering. I wanted something massive. Something to scratch that budding shooter itch I was developing. And then I saw it in my local E.B. Games, PlanetSide. A PC game that captivated me just from the box art. I took my money and bought the game, and got a family member to buy me a month-long time card. And thus my adventures on Auraxis began.

There is plenty of story to the game, but to keep things brief, there was a mineral rich planet found on the other side of a wormhole, that people flocked to for riches and wealth. Sadly, the wormhole began to destabilize, isolating the world of Auraxis. To complicate matters, alien artifacts belonging to a race known as the Vanu, and some of the technology that was recovered preformed miracles. Death became nothing, as Vanu technology gave people the ability to be reborn instantly, and the world quickly shattered. The Terran Republic remained loyal to the Earth government that it had been separated from, and formed the first of the three empires. The Second was a miss-match New Conglomerate, a democratic empire founded by everything from industrial giants to lowly terrorists and mercenaries. And then, the Third empire, the Vanu Sovereignty, who believed human evolution would only come through the Vanu technology. Transcendence through Alien tech, oh gee, I wonder what faction I was playing as?