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When Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide launched in 2003, it didn't exactly set this planet on fire. The massively-multiplayer first-person sci-fi shooter is certainly ambitious, and according to diehards is a lot of fun, but it has never earned the numbers of more traditional MMOs like World of Warcraft.
It could have been technical hurdles and a lack of variety of battles, but, for whatever reason, PlanetSide always seemed like one of those good ideas that never quite took off.
Now that it's 2009, the technical hurdles could be cleared, and a few tweaks in level design could eliminate some of the repetition of the original. So the time is right for PlanetSide 2. -- and it's not just me who thinks so: Sony seems to have quietly revealed the game recently.
Sony Online Entertainment sent a mass e-mail last week to current and old PlanetSide subscribers, asking them to fill in a survey that would help SOE design the next generation PlanetSide. The email read, in part, "We plan to expand the PlanetSide universe with another game and we need your help with the design." The original game will not be closed down, according to the email.
Further evidence: The company registered the domain www.planetside2.com on September 21, 2009.
Yeah, people! It looks like a PlanetSide sequel could be coming, but my question is: Will you play it? It seems weird to me that there isn't now, nor has there ever been a successful FPS-MMO. Is this because the FPS genre doesn't really lend itself to the rest of the MMO world? Or is that, essentially, games like Halo 3 already are FPS MMOs, in that everyone plays them and "exists" in the same space of rankings and leaderboards. What do you think? Will you pay a monthly fee (if that's the revenue structure) to play PlanetSide 2?
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pr0fet
I quite liked the original Planetside, I started playing when it was at it's "peak" and the scale of battle that the game had was impressive. So many "MMOFPS" now think "MMO" means 32 people. Planetside hosted battle in the hundreds on each team and it was amazing.
I'd like to see SOE do some fansy server work and just run as few worlds as possible. Make each island its own "server" and it locks (like the original) at its population cap. That way there is always as many people as the game has subscribers. When you go to change islands you pop over to a different server so the load isn't too heavy for all the action, but there is still a lot of people connected.
rogueknight26
I bought Planetside the day it came out and im still playing it. A game that can keep people paying to play for seven years speaks for itself. Yeah I have played all the Battlefield series, Frontlines Fuel of War, and Call of Duty series and more. Let me tell you "NONE" of them games can even compare. I only played RPGs before Planetside. This is the game that got me into FPS.
No game out there that is a FPS can even compare to the "Massive Battles" this game has to offer. This is by far one of the best games I have ever played or ever will. To those who never played it before, you do not know what your missing.
I cant wait for Planetside 2 to come out I am sure I will play that just as long as I played this one.
JubeiZon
I hear a lot of people who say they haven't played the game and yet think they can give it a review based on other 'mmo' fps. Many of the supposed mmofps games are not true mmo fps, a true mmo fps is one where you can interact with hundreds potentially thousands of people within the same reality in combat. All the current mmo fps games are instance based limiting the number of players on each team. Now to explain how this relates to Planetside. Planetside, in it's early days, had often up to 400 players on each of the 3 factions fighting each other; and this is after they limited the number of players per empire on a continent. Each continent easily being as big as a a major city between Boston and New York. I hear a lot of concern over repetitiveness of the game, but what people don't realize is because of the true sense of it being an MMO, the goal is repetitive but the tactics, methods, and play-style are not. PlanetSide was one of the very few games out there that you could have 20-30 well organized players hold off 100+ simply by using intelligent tactics and teamwork. Basically Planetside is the closest thing you can get to REAL warfare because of it's sheer size and plethora of vehicles, weapons, and equipment that can't be found in any other supposed mmofps. The reason the first Planetside failed was because of the fact that SEO (Sony) did not listen to it's players and did not continue developing the game properly. they did not fix bugs quickly enough and released new features and expansions based on a non-gamer project manager (at SEO) rather than the community feedback.
MaVannas
Always wanted to play the original Planeside, but by the time I was old enough to sart working the game had slowed down. I'll certainly check it out next to SWTOR.
TheRealStinky
Old topic but near and dear,
I'm a long time player of Planetside, play it to this day and stay active with the forums. PlanetSide Next is still in development even though SOE is not officially saying it is, we get the "we can't discuss on going projects" response when we ask. The only thing even close to official we got was the tweet from Smed saying "Planetside is next" nearly a year ago.
I have notice a couple trends popping up here and other places, people seem to be confusing MMOFPS's with MMORPG's, in my mind these have nothing in common other then MMO, suggesting an MMOFPS must have RPG elements is a misconception. Planetside for example is a FPS with 3rd person elements. I like to think of it as a twitch shooter with optional thinking. There's little to no RPG elements involved with it, and its completely Player vs Player. The closest thing to an NPC is an equipment terminal for acquiring weapons and vehicles and it sure as hell doesn't try to talk to you....
Another misconception is that a 64vs64 or less FPS with a virtual lobby is MMO, No....MMOFPS is 300+ people simultaneously shooting at each other. I personally feel that a persistent world is a defining point as well, but that one is debatable. MMOFPS is a genre, not a particularly successful one at the moment but a genre none the less, and most will agree one with a future. I honestly believe this is the future of team based FPS's, Even if SOE screws the pooch with PS:Next its only a matter of time before someone hits that vein and the main stream perception of FPS is changed forever.
FYI. Planetside has a free 14 day trail system in place, for anyone who hasn't played the game yet. Download the "Station Launcher" and create a new station account to access it. Pops are very low these days, so don't expect to see the 400 player battles we had years ago but still around 150-200 people playing at any given time,
VicC
I would absolutely play a sequel to Planetside. If anyone says they wouldn't they never played the original before Core Combats and BFRs (which ruined the game).
Best game I ever played before it got messed up by the developers. I actually work with one of the animators who worked on the original and it's a shame what happened to the game with the lack of support.
But in all honesty, no game has come close to ever replicating that feeling I had in planetside in the early days. I was one of the first CR5s on my server for New Conglomerate. Name was Fief if anyone remembers me... was a mean sniper and top in kills on my server for the first 3 months of the game. As a commander I remember duking it out with SaltyRhino a VS CR5er.
I have so many great memories about this game and it really saddened me to cancel my sub because of the bad support and developer choices.
There are definitely things that need to be worked on to make the game more enjoyable, but the core idea is phenomenal. Seriously any gamer who played it when it first came out in its hayday (and could actually run it well) will probably feel the same. I can't tell you how I completely nerd rage out when talking about this game.
Most fun I've ever had in a game. And yes, I have stories... oh so many stories. Can't wait for a new one... if I didn't already have a great job in the industry I'd beg SoE to be on that development team.
ConcreteRocks
I started playing Planetside when it was still in Beta. I still play it once in while. I don't play regularly because I tire of the repetive battles. How often can you have a 3-way battle for Leza? No wonder the regular players call it commiting "Cysor-Side".
There is no doubt that PS is a one of a kind game in the FPS world.
I hope that for P.S. II SOE can keep the huge epic battles and the Certification system it currently uses.
To improve the game though, SOE will need to do more than just update the graphics and add more bases. The only way to keep the battles from getting repetive is to have a way to make player modifieable and buildable bases. It just takes some of the fun away when taking a base is predictable (The CC is upstairs in Tech plants and Amp stations). Imagine how much more fun the game would be if a platoon of engineers could build a base on top of a hard to take hill or add walls weapons and features to bases. I think there should be perminant and destroyable bases. There could be a whole new class of certs and construction vehicles for building and maintaining bases.
One of the other things that always made planet side fun was the way you could be infantry, drive an armored vehicle or fly helicopter like aircraft. To round out the epic battles, SOE needs to add a Navy and ultra-fast jet craft that need a runway or special a base to land.
I also hope that SOE will make a head shot worth more than a shot to the leg. The fact that a sniper always takes out a full health reinforced exo-suit with two shots (no more - no less) has always bugged me a bit.
I really look forward to more huge epic battles. If SOE does it right, Planetside could be as much fun as was years ago.
Good Luck SOE -- Pull out all the stops on this one. Do it once, Do it right.
GenTech4
As long as they keep the NC theme, it'll be awesome.
CaptJamesTKirk
It figures a Vanu would talk openly about intentionally dropping the gen. ;-) I can tell you all that if you haven't tried this game you should. I think they still offer 14 day trials. Its best appreciated with more time than that but it gives you a good introduction. I think the author misses part of the point of the game. That is TEAMWORK. You can't do much by yourself. It takes a coordinated team to get something accomplished in Planetside. That's half the fun. Working with guys (or gals) that you like to hang with. Any of the problems with Planetside could be addressed and with some proper dev time, it could be updated and well worth the subscription. However I look forward to see what they do with Planetside2. If done right, it could bring people back to the game or at least bring new people into the game.
clockwerkspec
im a avid planetside player, i cannot wait for planetside 2 though it sounds like its not going to be coming out real soon prolly a couple years... but i will play it when it is released THERE IS NO GAME that can match the sense of mass combat than planetside. untill then tho ill be playing dust514 google it.
Arktek
the original planetside was tons of fun when i started playing a while back... the only reason i stopped is because my computer was too old and weak to handle it :[
1MuNrOe2
Planetside is the biggest true FPSMMO ever released. With massive player battles on a ever persistent battlefield. It never took off due to poor marketing on the sony team also because people were not willing to pay to play around that time. It is the best game ever and if you have never heard of it I strongly suggest you check it out. If Sony do this properly Planetside 2 will be a definite game to add to your daily game play.
IMO the general gaming community has been waiting for a game of this caliber to come along for a long time A game based upon SKILL not on playtime or items like the current grind your life away games that flood the market at the moment.
Amalica
I would play planetside 2 to for sure. Ive been playing for 5 years. There is no other game like it on the net. Like creovex said there is no other game where you can have 400-500 people on one planet going to war. The thing i like most about the game is anything can happen at anytime and it usually never happens the same so your constantly learning. Theres so many ways to die in planetside and so many ways to kill. Its not for gamers that expect to be good at a game right off the bat...there is a learning curve on this game that still keeps me interested. Its too bad that more people follow the mainstream of WOW and Everquest which i have also played but found myself only leveling my characters in those games to PVP. The problems i have with planetside is the cheats and that sony kinda gave up on the development of the game. They would give us a few little updates here and there. They coulda done so much more with it, but it is still a good game and i will continue to play it. If you are a FPS fan at all you should check this game out. There is nothing like logging on with some friends and coordinating attacks and being successful at it because this game is as close to actual war that you can get on the net.
Tuscarora
Creovex stated accurately. WWIIOnline and Planetside are the only examples of an MMOFPS to date. Halo, Battlefield, Half Life are all FPS's not MMOFPS's.
Sony had the right formula and the right developers and had they kept them staffed, Planetside would not have stagnated the way it has. That and one other problem, which every MMO has, they have to stop listening to the vocal minority whining about this or that nerf needed to play the game. After years of play and I am also a 6 year veteran and reading about nerf this factions weapon cries and reading the same coming from the other faction, the problem was not that one weapon was more powerful than the enemies, it was that people died to quickly under the fire of those weapons. HA did not imbalance the game so much as it killed to quickly and pissed people off who died.
I never used HA myself, I preferred to infiltrate up to an opponent and knife him in the back and/or blow him up with a boomer.
My biggest problem with planetside as the rampant use of cheats in the game and Sony not dealing with it quickly enough. The programming should exist to detect rate of fire cheats, targeting cheats, etc... it is not the difficult to confirm or force the conditions from the client and deal with cheaters permenantly. This does not mean let them back in because they are a known player who cheats... yeah, you guys know who you are.
Enough for now. Back to work.
LOPster
How sick would the new Operation Flashpoint be as an MMO........ just sayin'...
Polynomial
I would so so so play Planetside 2
Creovex
It amuses me how many individuals on here make a comment about something they never played. At the time (back in the summer of 2003), this game was ground breaking. Imagine 100vs100vs100 battles over bases. With the technology then, server architecture and all, it was ground breaking. it allowed for the most massive battles, the best clan/guild interactions of all time. In WoW your biggest raid is what, 40 people and your playing against the same AI, while here you had 6 times that many PLAYERS involved in constant PvP, it made for an amazing feeling.
SONY's main mistake, it's expansion and basic game changes. Prior to that, if you talk to most veteran players (6 years of service here), the game was addictive. Had they not released Core Combat, the Tonka Mechs and the lattice changes, this game would easily have over 100,000 subs today.
Talk to a guild/clan who was there. I rolled Vanu back in the day and we had outfit assaults (OA) with 90+ people on the same continent fighting, with over 500 people in the outfit were playing on OA nights alone. To top it off, we had Teamspeak 2 back then and that is when Channel Commander was important, when you have 20 guys in an air wing flying cover, 40 guys in tanks, another 20 doing special ops (like dropping the generators) and a bunch of Infantry and Maxes to add to the fun.
TO: Stephen Johnson
Please correct your gaming terminology. A MMOFPS is a game that harbors mass amounts of characters in the same environment. Would we consider Battlefield 2 or Battlefield 2142 a MMOFPS because it had persistent, universal stats? No, the difference between an MMOFPS and standard FPS is not the amount of players who play the game, but the capability of the game/server architecture to have excessive amounts of concurrent individuals playing at the same time. (--- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M assively_multiplayer_online_ga me) Planetside/WWII Online are MMOFPS games, Halo 3 is not.
I still find it laughable when they advertise games (thanks FAD marketing departments of gaming companies) as MMOFPS when they harbor at most 64 players over the net... When you played the truely MMOFPS games, like Planetside or WWIIOnline for a length of time, you have to chuckle at this....
PopReference
"Man a turret!"
Erthazus
Sony must make allready E V E R Q U E S T 3 to burn WOW and Microsoft out of game industry.
Planetside will not be that great.
XwingVmanX
I think a successful fps-mmo would be fallout3 made into an mmo.
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