Planetside.... Sequel?
<a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105953-Sony-Online-Strongly-Hints-Planetside-Sequel-Coming-This-Spring" target="_blank">http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/...ing-This-Spring</a>
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->SOE President John Smedley said that the sequel to the MMO shooter Planetside will land in March 2011.
While getting the tour of the Sony Online Denver studio, I was able to snag John Smedley to chat for a few minutes on the state of the gaming industry. We talked about SOE's biggest competitor, Blizzard, and how other MMO companies react to what the WoW-maker does, as well as what can be learned from the demise of APB's Realtime Worlds. But when I asked him to confirm whether the titles that I'd been asked out to Denver to see, Magic The Gathering Tactics and DC Universe Online, were the only games in the pipeline for SOE, Smedley dropped a bomb. Not only is he heavily invested in social and casual games, but Smedley is super excited for Sony's return to the MMOFPS genre with the tentatively titled Planetside Next. Sony has hinted at a sequel with that working title before, but this is the first time that we've gotten wind of a release window.
"We have a very big launch coming in the month of March," Smedley said. "It's a big first person shooter franchise that we're really happy with."
I took a leap of logic and asked whether it was Planetside.
"Could be," Smedley said sheepishly. "We haven't technically announced it." He then told me that I could say that he "hinted" that the new Planetside was imminent, which translates to 99% of a confirmation. "This is the farthest I've gone [discussing it with the press] and the PR people are going to shoot me."
As for why it's called Planetside Next, it appears that Smedley might have learned something from his signature franchise. "We don't have the official name for it. Planetside Next is kind of the working title," Smedley said. "We've learned some lessons with Everquest II , not one of the better moves that we've ever made. We should have called it EverQuest Something. Having Everquest I and II sit on the shelves at the same time, in hindsight, was probably not the the brightest of moves."
That's because the two fantasy MMOs are separate products which both have their own servers and audience. That will be less of a problem with Planetside, due to the small number of people still playing the 7 year old game on its one remaining server. Does Smedley think that the update will bring in more players than the first one did? Well, it's safe to say that he is excited about it.
"[Planetside Next] is the coolest god-damned game," Smedley said. "I'm so in love with that game."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Can you dig it?
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->SOE President John Smedley said that the sequel to the MMO shooter Planetside will land in March 2011.
While getting the tour of the Sony Online Denver studio, I was able to snag John Smedley to chat for a few minutes on the state of the gaming industry. We talked about SOE's biggest competitor, Blizzard, and how other MMO companies react to what the WoW-maker does, as well as what can be learned from the demise of APB's Realtime Worlds. But when I asked him to confirm whether the titles that I'd been asked out to Denver to see, Magic The Gathering Tactics and DC Universe Online, were the only games in the pipeline for SOE, Smedley dropped a bomb. Not only is he heavily invested in social and casual games, but Smedley is super excited for Sony's return to the MMOFPS genre with the tentatively titled Planetside Next. Sony has hinted at a sequel with that working title before, but this is the first time that we've gotten wind of a release window.
"We have a very big launch coming in the month of March," Smedley said. "It's a big first person shooter franchise that we're really happy with."
I took a leap of logic and asked whether it was Planetside.
"Could be," Smedley said sheepishly. "We haven't technically announced it." He then told me that I could say that he "hinted" that the new Planetside was imminent, which translates to 99% of a confirmation. "This is the farthest I've gone [discussing it with the press] and the PR people are going to shoot me."
As for why it's called Planetside Next, it appears that Smedley might have learned something from his signature franchise. "We don't have the official name for it. Planetside Next is kind of the working title," Smedley said. "We've learned some lessons with Everquest II , not one of the better moves that we've ever made. We should have called it EverQuest Something. Having Everquest I and II sit on the shelves at the same time, in hindsight, was probably not the the brightest of moves."
That's because the two fantasy MMOs are separate products which both have their own servers and audience. That will be less of a problem with Planetside, due to the small number of people still playing the 7 year old game on its one remaining server. Does Smedley think that the update will bring in more players than the first one did? Well, it's safe to say that he is excited about it.
"[Planetside Next] is the coolest god-damned game," Smedley said. "I'm so in love with that game."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Can you dig it?
Comments
Now, in THIS padded enclosure..."
Now, in THIS padded enclosure..."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What he said, but more coherent.
It wasn't a game thing, like "look at those noobs lol", it felt more real. Not real as in you actually felt like you were a real soldier in a real war, but there was a palpable feeling of experience and knowledge in the more seasoned players, and the way they interacted. It was an awesome feeling to be part of.
The reason I mention this is because now all I can imagine is old Planetside players in Planetside 2 telling all the new players about "the last war" and such.
Also I bet they ###### it up.
So, really, I think the way SoE screws this game up is to actually get it right.
Pff, TR arsenal was the best. What did us NC have? The jackhammer? Worst weapon in the game. Vanguard sucked. And the phoenix? Worthless.
You're crazy man! I played NC in the beta, and the phoenix was the most bestest anti armor ever. I suppose they might have killed it later, but I liked being able to guide the rocket. I was never able to decide between the Gauss and Cycler, either. But I have to say that TR had the coolest MAXs.
Pretty sure he was being sarcastic. Everybody complains about the Noobhammer, nevermind the "###### ass ###### ###### noskill Phoenix".
We *did* have the worst AA max, though. The sparrow was more than useless.
Rob, you couldn't decide between the Cycler and the Gauss? That can ONLY have been the beta. When I played, the Gauss was so clearly the best assault rifle in the game it wasn't even funny.
And yeah, Stickman has been trolling me about how much the NC arsenal "sucked" for years. This is the first time he's actually outright ADMITTED it by including the Vanguard, though.
Rob, you couldn't decide between the Cycler and the Gauss? That can ONLY have been the beta. When I played, the Gauss was so clearly the best assault rifle in the game it wasn't even funny.
And yeah, Stickman has been trolling me about how much the NC arsenal "sucked" for years. This is the first time he's actually outright ADMITTED it by including the Vanguard, though.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I still honestly maintain that the jackhammer wasn't *so* much better than the regular shotgun. Most, if not all, of the higher level NC players I knew didn't take it so they could save the 3 (or whatever it was) cert points and use them on something else.
But really, everyone on a side complained about the cool stuff the other sides got. I'm sure being blown apart by the Phoenix without being able to do anything about it is no worse than being wtfpwned by the Starfire MAX while just strafing a base.
That's really why I played TR anyway. The Prowler looked cool and had two (2!) main guns... That was enough for me to drive one by myself and try to ram Vanguards for the glory of the Republic.
But it looked cool and had two (2!) main guns.
GO NC! Yay!
Seriously though, the individual NC weapons were generally somewhat better than their TR or VS versions, but the game was balanced by the fact that the NC was also full of idiots. We had way more idiots than the other two emps.
>VS: Science!
>NC: OMG REBELS FIGHT THE MAN
Gee I wonder why?
Also, when you say the NC had the worst pistol to use as a cloaker, apparently you've entirely forgotten about the Beamer? The Beamer's SOLE use was humiliation kills. Because it was TERRIBLE. The NC pistol could actually kill something.
TR pistol was awesome as a cloaker in the caves, for some reason. Like a mini sniper rifle.
The TR Repeater pistol was the best sidearm bar none. I kept a stash in my locker because I got infinitely more kills with them than I did the MagScatter pistol (which was like, zero - thus infinity). Also I do know at some point the Cycler was the best Assault Rifle too - but the game went through so damn many balance changes who knows when that changed.
The Phoenix was garbage. Yeah it was fun to hit snipers with, but it was utterly worthless at attacking vehicles. If you did manage to find AND HIT something with it, it could just casually drive away by the time your second missile was ready. It was pretty much totally impossible to shoot down aircraft with as well. The TR's missile launcher was nice if only because it could scare aircraft away due to the locking mechanism. The best though was the Lancer - no warning, no way to trace where it was coming from, and super-fast projectile perfect for sniping any kind of armor.
I do remember the TR Burster being great anti-air just because you couldn't really run from it like you could the other two. Though the NC Splattercannon MAX was hilarious.
And yeah, I guarantee you SOE will ###### it up. Unless Dave Georgeson is on board, there's no hope for that game at all. Expect consolitis.