PlanetSide 2 Interview
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IncGamers: Planetside 2 is a first-person shooter MMO, can you explain how the mentality of such a game differs from the RPG format that most MMOs take?
Matt Higby: Well, we want the focus to be on combat. We don't want you to feel as though you've got to play this pseudo crafting-style game to be able to gain resources and progress. Our game is entirely PVP, there is no PVE element each server can hold thousands of players.
There are still skills to earn. For example, with vehicles there are different engines and weapons to unlock which you can use to customise it to your own liking. In terms of abilities there's different infantry classes, each of which can customise themselves in a number of ways. For example, if I want to have a '˜light assault' character that has an assault rifle that deals a lot of damage then I can do that but it'll come at the cost of increased recoil.
IncGamers: How are those customisable elements balanced?
Higby: All of our weapons are balanced to allow a five minute player, a five month player and a five year player to be able to compete with one another. Of course, the five year player will have many more options to personalise their set-up but it doesn't mean that they will be more powerful.
As you progress through the skill tree you gain access to more and more things. We still have experience points and level progression that are used to unlock further items on the skill tree; so a level three player will only have access to a few branches but level 20 will have many more.
