New Player Inexperience - PlanetSide 2 Gameplay

UPDATE: Holding off on part 2 until further notice. Looking forward to seeing how Koltyr changes the new player experience.

Talking about the new player experience (or lack thereof) in PlanetSide 2. There will be two parts to this video, but the first one offers up a handful of ideas that would do a world of good for new players and veterans alike.

Related Links
-------------------

Subscriber Sponsor
----------------------------
Team Danger (Connery outfit)

Are you a supporter of the channel?
----------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
OR Leave some helpful feedback in the comments section!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Any help is greatly appreciated, folks!

Want more content?
-----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
@WrelPlays
--------------------------------------------------------------------

[daniblabla]

About teamkills... I was playing medic and there was a MAX very low on health and, since I couldn't fix him, I had the great idea of killing him and reviving him, hoping that he would come back to life with more health. I have to say, that fantastic idea actually worked out quite well, I revived him with more health. Thing is, he didn't realize that I just flat out helped him, instead turning around and blasting my face off. Nobody revived me :-(

[TheChoisington]

Now I REALLY hope the devs listen to this video, all those recommendations are absolutely fantastic. I think the biggest thing for a new player is to have fun. I got instantly into planetside and fell in love with it because of a platoon that was doing a Sundie run (everyone gets in groups of three pulls a healing/ammo sundie and the whole platoon just drives around trying to survive and distract the enemies.) Having fun was the biggest and #1 priority above getting kills and actually helping out capture territory. This, for me, is the biggest key to any game is prioritizing fun. If I see some random lone enemy and I am in a tank and there is no way for them to hurt me, I just drive up to them and say in yell chat Hi or something and we just become instant friends even though we are supposed to be killing each-other. If they implemented the "Newbie squad" that would be great, the squad leaders are then responsible for prioritizing fun over killing or other things. 

[MattiAceGaming]

This is a very good video, watching this inspired me to make a few beginner guides myself. I realize that my ESF tutorials are far to advanced for new players and the once that I've seen that are out, are mostly focusing on the wrong things.

 But there are many things that would benefit both the new player experience and making it more interesting too keep playing for veterans without one thing excuding the other.

Thanks for sharing!

[t-rex]

when i was kid, i was trying to learn a tre-flip on a skateboard (tre flip is considered a pretty advanced trick that's still accessable to learn). I absolutely destroyed my shins in the process, even to a level where my pants would stick to the dried up blood and i just slept with my pants on for a couple of days. after 3 months of mentally torturing myself ( i was like 13 years old so it was literally the most imporant thing in the universe for me) i finally landed it. I had never felt so great about an accomplishment, and always carried the pride that i'm a persistent person who never gives up no matter how hard the world kicks you down.

I lasted roughly 40 minutes in Planetside 2 before i quit.

[maxbarton]

Wrel, I love the idea of the rating system for squad leaders by members of the squad, I think this could go even further and be implemented into normal squads (squads not solely for newcomers), with the formation of a squad leader leaderboard showing the highest rated people. I have been playing for a number of months and I think something like that is key to the game, for both new comers and veterans. Another great video Wrel :) - TheArchitectDuke

[Nodrog]

I would so be okay with lowering friendly fire to 50%. I can't tell you how many times I'm shooting down a hall or chokepoint at an enemy and some guy from my team decides to place his head right in front of my sights. I feel bad about it, but it's also frustrating because I very rarely have time to let up on the trigger before I get a teamkill. Lowering damage to 50% might also help distinguish a bad stream of teamkills from a genuine griefer.

[axon]

Holy hell Wrel, this has taken one of the top videos that I like on your channel, WE NEED TO SPREAD THIS VIDEO :D

[CorazonSierra]

Liked! this is really awesome Wrel! i recently invited a couple friends who've never even heard of planetside 2... and they were screaming about how much fun they were having as i led them around taking bases... i thought how much i enjoyed helping new players get into the game *especially sense the Valk lends to being one of the best vehicles for this*. If more of the features you mentioned were implemented, id just love this game even more and it would strengthen the community by a great deal. i saw the drill sergeant meddles i was earning and suspected they had something to do with the interactions i was having supporting my new friends... i didnt know it was special for helping newbies... i want more stuff like this in my game!

[JoshinoGaming]

I started playing battlefield 4 recently and it reminded me a lot of the planetside 2 new player experience, for which I experienced for about 3 games before I got used to the cover system, what sounds are most dangerous and how to handle guns. I feel the two are very similar, a part from the map system which can be a little mind boggling at first on PS2. But for those 3 games I felt the frustration I feel is the same on planetside 2, getting killed by choppers (ESFs) Gunships (Liberators) and so on. You can't escape the farmers! Perhaps that is helped a little by the killcam, as you can see and learn but I feel it would probably be out of place in PS2. The newer battlefield games are much more arcadey because of this and the spawn on any squad member feature. Either way I just thought I would mention the fact I noticed the same difficulty in the first game as the second, for new players and both share this weakness imo.

Nice suggestions btw wrel!

[NoWuffoYT]

This. This. A hundred times this. Wrel, once again I'm blown away by your eloquence and brilliance. I love the idea of making the tutorial part of the gameplay, since many other MMO's have you go through the tutorial in the presence of other players. And yes, death is a part of this game. SOE needs to stress this so people aren't discouraged by it! Great vid overall, man. Keep up the good stuff.

[legendofJupp]

another idea for new player experience: local squads/platoons

an computer generated squad without a human leader that you can automatically join when a fight in your local area breaks out. it would offer basic leadership by givings hints with voice overs like
"enemy soldiers approaching alpha point, get in there",
"generator offline, need repairs",
or, when the local group composition is lacking:
"troops are getting decimated, medics appreciated"
"enemy vehicles incoming, heavy units requested"
with an advanced ui that highlights the orders on your main screen, and awards you accordingly with bonus exp, like when fighting/dying near the capture point or even just other people in the local squad and switching to/playing with the requested class. these orders should be sorted in priority, meaning more focus should be placed on holding the capture point/scu than defending agianst enemy vehicles.
orders placed on the map by other platoon leaders should also be highlighted with voiceovers and bonus exp for helping out.
if the fight ends one way or the other, the local squad will dissolve (for sticking around you should still get rewarded, even in defeat) and you will get a pop up, asking you if you want to instantly join a new local squad or if you want to join a regular squad.

on another note: give new players reasonable starting gear! why not give them all access to max double burster/first tier anti tank and anti infantry weapons? if they spent the majority of their ressources on a max suit, they should be able to at least make a little dent. the lack of certifications and experience put them at a major disadvantage anyways. having to deal with mixed weapon loadouts is just disencouraging. if they feel helpless on a loosing streak, they should at least be able to collect a kill or to every couple minutes when spawning with a max. maybe the cost of the max suit would have to be adjusted accordingly

[Autoxidation]

Lots of really solid ideas in here Wrel. Support everything you mentioned.

[hedgehog]

Your suggestion for new players squads reminds me of what we have been doing in our outfit for a while to recruit new people. We set up a squad with only BR 20 or lower then use the ingame chat a lot and make it a jolly good time. Then we give them the TS server and lastly our forums it has worked quite well in getting new active members.

[Derezzed_]

Great video as always, and I couldn't agree more with all of your suggestions. I remember when I was a new player and was completely lost after being deployed into a battle for the first time...

[MichaelBearPerry]

I've been playing PS2 for a few months now, and everything you said was a pain point was right. At least to me. The joining a squad was more a miss then a hit a lot of the time. So i'd solo, but it really wasn't that fun. My thought was I was playing this MMOFPS game, with all these people, and I am playing this game like its a single player game. However, it was the good squads/platoons I would get in and man, a whole new game! Interaction, help, support, and directions! I'm still learning the game and flow of it, however your videos have helped me greatly. Anyone I have referred the game to, I tell them about your channel. The more support a person gets, the more they will understand and apply it. Which will result in a better game experience for them, and everyone they interact with. Thank you for your channel, and I hope they do implement your ideas.

[derrmann]

I came back from a good year of not even thinking about PS2.

The most jarring thing for me is how continents are so artificially locked down. Not to sound old, but back when I first got into it, there was a constant battle for Indar, which is my favorite continent by far. Now after some arbitrary alert dictates that it's time to move on, there's no point in staying.

As far as new player experience, there still really isn't any. My friend jumped in with me the other day, after I returned. We're both BR 13 Vanu, he's pretty ready to quit. It isn't for lack of trying. BR 100's are everywhere, the common consensus is that all the fights are either one-sided stomps or boring stalemates with little progression both on a battle sentiment and on a personal sentiment. Squads are atrocious; The good ones are always full, and every other one seems to have some sort of super-serious "Milsim gtfo newb" mentality. I can't tell you how many times we've been banned for simply being less than BR 50 (Join squad, insta banned after someone says something about rank). My friend's biggest issue is Cert gain rate. He's fed up with not being able to move forward because we're always being stomped, and he's beginning to that the cert system is pushing hard towards pay-to-win. I can't say I wholeheartedly disagree, more often than not I feel like we're being cheesed by our opponents despite our best efforts. It almost seams like a waste of time trying to ask for help, the response always verges on "Git gud", unless the person is a fellow low BR, then we usually get slaughtered together. <3

That's my review of NPE circa 6/2/15.

[jmknsd]

One of the things I really liked when playing Gauntlet is that even when I get wiped, or just failing in different ways results in you work towards achievements that make you more powerful in a related way.

Giving players who die to small arms getting small arms resistance would be a bit OP, but something like a reduced spawn timer after dying to small arms would be awesome.

[kylemccrea]

Funny that youd post this video today.. i was playing NC trying to araxium my RailJack and i stumbled upon this BR1 Sniper... so i invited him to join my squad.. after an hour or so he was sniping like a pro and i helped him cert into his cloak and medkits and he was ready to kick ass.. which he was because he left about 10 minutes ago but when i checked his stats he was a BR 11 and had a +1 kd... it felt good... hes also in my outfit now so i can continue to help him progress :3 made me feel good

[Hagstro]

I hope there are Developers watching this.  I am always struck by your ideas and the zen-like manner in which you present them.  Hats off to you Wrel, this is an extraordinary game and I appreciate all the good work and videos you do. Watching you has made me a better gamer. Thanks. 

[simeonvanderpol]

You have Nice ideas and it is Nice that your video's arent all About new guns but also about new players