Tag: Planetside 2

Planetside 2 Unlocks Will Be Account-Wide, Retroactive


Those of you familiar with Tribes: Ascend should already have a good idea how to unlock weapons and attachments in Planetside 2. You can either pay a one-time fee through the Station Cash store, or you can leg it out and gain enough certifications through actually playing the game in order to land your new red-dot sight or new sniper rifle. Unlocking through either method can quickly become a very time-intensive or expensive endeavor, as weapons are only unlocked on a per-character basis.

The good news is, Sony is listening to your feedback, and has plans in motion to make weapon purchases account-wide.  Apparently this is for Station Cash purchases only, so if you’re going the route of completely free, you’ll still have to go through the rough with each character. Additionally, any weapon that is faction specific will not be usable with other faction characters, obviously.

(Source: Massively)

This Week In Launches: Dual Wielding Shotguns


Happy days are here! November 20th has come and gone, and left us with a little early Christmas present. Over on the browser side, Jagex has finally unleashed the Evolution of Combat. After five months of strenuous beta testing, the update went live on servers Tuesday to some mixed but mostly positive reactions by the community. Along with the new ability bar (and abilities), Evolution of Combat overhauls the combat formula, changing the way everything from weapons, armor, and NPCs work. Players are now able to dual wield weapons as well.

Over on the Sony Online front, Planetside 2 is live and running. Players are fighting on three factions over three continents in an endless tug of war over territory control. You can download Planetside 2 on Steam for easier access, the game is free to play with a cash shop and optional subscription. Planetside 2 brings three factions and thousands of players together to fight in massive, multi-hour battles over large portions of land and resources. The game does require a decent computer to play, so make sure you check out the requirements if your rig is dated.

Finally, RaiderZ has launched today (the 21st). I have a review coming soon, but to sum it up: RaiderZ is a lot like a free to play version of TERA, with a few alterations to flavor thrown in the mix. A free to play game with a cash shop, RaiderZ emphasizes on action-based combat, where you’ll have to be active in dodging your opponent’s attacks and coming back with your own. The game is supported by a cash shop and published by Perfect World Entertainment.

Planetside 2 Alpha Squad Prepurchase


There seems to be a trend in MMO shooters lately. Both DUST 514 and Tribes: Ascend have offered pre-purchase packages, including benefits from currency to bonuses, and more importantly; beta access. Players intending on playing the game have an opportunity to both nab some exclusive items and gain access to the game early.

For $39.99, Sony Online Entertainment is selling the Alpha Squad package, including $40 worth of Station Cash, exclusive decals and titles, as well as instant beta access. The offer also includes twelve weapon unlocks. This package cannot be purchased with Station Cash. You are not sent a key, so access cannot be transferred.

While early access starts now, it is important to remember that Planetside 2 is still a long way from release. There will be regular server downtime, character wipes, and a whole lot of bugs and balance issues.

(source: Station Website)

John Smedley On: PlaneSide 2


John Smedley dropped by Reddit for an “Ask Me Anything,” and the community certainly did ask him anything. Naturally, the Q&A started with Smedley being asked, once again, to apologize for Star Wars Galaxies, which he did. For the sake of time, I’ve compiled a few of his more interesting answers.

In regards to Planetside 2’s premium subscription:

“subscription will NOT remotely be something you need to have. just something nice to have.”

When asked about an Everquest Classic (non-progression) server:

“if that’s what EQ fans wanted we would”

On Everquest Next:

“we plan to make EQ Next great by going places MMOS have never gone. I know that’s vague but it’s coming”

On advertising DUST 514:

“I’m sure helping get the word out. It is a great game. CCP is awesome.”

On balance in Planetside 2:

“At it’s heart, PS2 is similar to PS1. play it and let me know what you think.”

On hand-holding in MMOs:

“I despise the hand holding shit. hate it in a big way.”

On Vanguard:

“It’s going F2P next week with many members of the original team on it! It’s getting a lot of love.”

On streaming Planetside 2:

“We might even be working on a secret twitch.tv and youtube streaming thing I can’t talk about that might or might not be going in as I’m writing this.”

If you want to look through the comments yourself, check em out here:

(Source: Reddit)

Planetside 2 Beta Test Is A Beta Test, Not A Free Demo


Planetside 2 is still some ways off, but that doesn’t mean players can’t take part in the beta test. If you’ve been following Sony Online Entertainment for the past few months, you’ll know that Planetside players and those who purchased PC Gamer or went to the booth at E3 will have priority access to the Planetside 2 beta. Matt Higby appeared on the Planetside Universe forums to announce that external testing will kick off sometime this week, and that players will be let in as they are needed.

However, Higby also reminded the community that this is indeed a beta test, not a free game demo.

Beta testing is a critically important part of our development cycle on this project, we may be asking you to only play on tanks for a play session, or only play aircraft. We are doing true beta testing, not just a game demo and we implore those of you who are invited to understand and respect that. Things will break, the server will be unavailable sometimes, we will cancel scheduled tests when we find something that breaks before the test starts. All of this will help us make a better final game.

With more and more MMO developers using their betas as little more than publicity stunts, it is a breath of fresh air to see someone using them for their intended purpose: testing. Planetside 2 launches in the future.

(Source: Planetside Forums)

Get Early Planetside 2 Beta Key in PC Gamer


This notice is specifically for our friends in North America. If you pick up a copy of the latest edition of PC Gamer (April), the cover is for Planetside 2. Inside, however, there is an excellent coverage of Planetside 2 including a priority beta key.

Grab a copy, get your key, and add it to your Station account. Sony will contact you further when the beta is about to begin.

Video of the ____: Planetside 2 Shows Off Ground, Aerial Combat


The latest video from Planetside 2 comes from Sony’s publishing partner, The9. You may remember The9 as the Chinese publisher for World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Free Realms, and Hellgate London. Details in the video aside, you can see some glimpses of ground combat, aerial combat, and vehicle combat, and boy does it look good.

Planetside 2 is set for release hopefully this year.

Planetside 2 Now Accepting Beta Applications


Planetside has always been a standout IP. When the original game launched way back in 2003, the idea of a shooter where hundreds of players could participate in a single battle, where instances were nonexistent and everyone fought on the same world, and your actions could determine the outcome of a war, was virtually nonexistent. Even now as 2011 comes to a close, the number of companies willing to take on such a task has barely budged at all, and several projects promising an updated version of what Planetside offers are either still in development or caught somewhere in limbo.

When Planetside 2 launches at some point between now and the apocalypse, you will be able to jump in free of charge. Before that point, why not sign up for the beta and have a chance at trying it out free of charge? All you need is a Station account and the ability to sign in and click the “I agree” box.

(Source: Planetside 2 Website)

Planetside 2 Will Have A Cash Shop

Planetside 2 will have a cash shop, but without offering exclusive weapons/armor.


I’ve downplayed cash shops quite a bit here on MMO Fallout, but I understand the people who do not like them, and why, and the factions of supporters and opposers continues to widen as new ideas are implemented. On the extreme sides you have players who won’t play a game now unless it has a cash shop, and players who will not play any game with a cash shop. There are issues over items in the cash shop being attainable through natural gameplay, or only selling vanity items or variations of existing weapons (for instance a different color/design but with the same stats).

So for some, the SyndCon experience of Planetside 2 was less about destructible buildings, space gameplay, and skill-based system, and more about the inevitable presence of a cash shop.

If a weapon can be bought in the cash store, he was quick to assure us that it would be attainable in the game as well. Definitely though, one of the things that will be sold would be customization.

In a game like Planetside 2, the cash shop ultimately comes down to a matter of skill over stats. Unlike a traditional MMORPG, will it matter that your store-bought rifle does 20% more damage if you can’t aim it properly? Or how a tuned sniper rifle won’t change the fact that the player still has to draw a bead on your head from across the valley. Watching the impact of the cash shop will be interesting, to say the least.

More on Planetside 2 as it appears.

Planetside 2 Announcement Coming.


Hold your BFR’s folks, something big is coming from Sony regarding Planetside 2, and hopefully not like March’s announcement. A clock has appeared on the Planetside 2 website, at 45 hours currently, putting the countdown to end sometime late Friday EST. Stay tuned for more information.

http://www.planetside2.com/