Eve Online style leveling in Planetside 2

[smiffyjoebob]

While yes I can somewhat see the 'get rewarded for waiting' system of advancing your skills can maybe work in a futuristic space business simulator, I cannot however see it working in a pvp oriented action shooter.

When you are playing any kind of pvp experience you would expect to get rewarded from hard won battles with a little exp and a maybe a nice skill point(this ofcourse if there is a progression system in your game) to better murder your enemies with. It gives you a chance to get a better handle on the games controls and mechanics while your character gets better through your actions.

With an Eve style progression there can be top tier players who have not set digital foot in a battle, its kind of the same problem I observed in global agenda with its 'Boosters' which double everything you get so there are effectively level 50 noobs running arround who can not play worth a damn and make pvp battles either really difficult when they are all on your team or really easy when they are the enemy, not to mention getting murdered by players who actually play the game cannot be fun for people who just waited to get to the level they are.

Also that wait and level system engenders the question, 'does the developer really want me to play his/her game, or just give them my money?'

 

[BloatedGuppy]

There are two ways to look at it.

One is that the EVE method rewards you whether you play or not, which feels awkward given how conditioned we are to getting rewarded for things we do. It doesn't feel very "game like".

The other way to look at it is that allowing vertical progression in a competitive PvP environment means you will need to dedicate enormous time to the game in order to maintain a level playing field, never mind gain a competitive advantage. There WILL be people willing to play from dawn till dusk, and the barrier for new players becomes crushingly high the longer this goes on.

 

[smiffyjoebob]

I can understand how it makes the game more accessible to new comers and makes it so you do not have to devote giant swathes of your life to keep up, but it just doesn't make sense with an action game. Call me conditioned if you like, but grinding through battles without reward (unless you count resources, what ever they are going to be used for) seems pointless, and if I am going to be paying a subscription (its SOE don't try and tell me there wont be a subscription) I want my play time to matter.

 

[VladG]

Well, first of all, there's more to EVE Online than JUST the skill system that works in real time and you don't have to actually play the game for. That is just ONE aspect of the game. Why is everyone so fixated on that? There are rewards for playing the game, like you know, money, without which all those skills are kinda useless since you won't be using them much anyway, or faction rep, or other resources.

Also there's, you know, having fun. That seems like a sort of decent reward for playing a game... kinda like the whole reason we play games? What more reward do you want? Or do people just have fun in a game by watching the XP bar go up?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I can understand how it makes the game more accessible to new comers and makes it so you do not have to devote giant swathes of your life to keep up, but it just doesn't make sense with an action game. Call me conditioned if you like, but grinding through battles without reward (unless you count resources, what ever they are going to be used for) seems pointless, and if I am going to be paying a subscription (its SOE don't try and tell me there wont be a subscription) I want my play time to matter.

Good grief. If it feels like "grinding", stop playing. There is no reward in a video game that is worth "grinding" your life away for. Play for fun.

 

[smiffyjoebob]

The game has only recently been announced, I cant possibly stop playing a game that isn't even out yet haha. All that I am trying to say is that I cannot see how an Eve style leveling system can work in an action shooter mmo, it just doesn't track. I have played Eve it is great fun when you are in the mindset for it.

 

[mezorin]

Its worth noting that if you are actually playing the game, your skills go up much faster than leaving your character unplayed. Plus you will have to earn a certain battle rank to unlock skill tiers, so you can't just AFK your way to having a perfect character. Also, many of the extra goodies you can equip on your character will require you to get off your duff and secure resources for your empire.

I'm willing to give the idea a try personally, as I have a bad habit of doing lots of alts in games, so it'd be nice to have a few characters all working on skill progression, even when they are not being played at the time. I can be playing my medic/infantry uber medic while my ninja/sniper is leveling off in the wings, or vice versa, and feel like my characters are getting somewhere.

And for those of you out there decrying this will turn into the next EVE: Planetside is *nothing* like EVE. In PS, an entire base or continent can be won or lost in the time a single EVE fleet gets its collective crap together and starts shooting at something. You'll have plenty to do in PS while you wait for those bars to fill