Since 2003 I will never forget the first game that truly had my attention for years at a time. This game was Planetside. Developed by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) after being picked up by a private developer, the game was the first true MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter). Imagine a game with hundreds of players fighting each other over massive continents where the players are piloting aircraft, manning armored vehicles, infiltrating bases, and being heavy foot grunts... all at the same time. Also there is not one single NPC in sight.
That is Planetside. Yes, the game is still around, but for the few that were privileged to play the game during it's prime, nearly every one of use can ramble on and on about how awesome and unique it was.
When John Smedley announced a sequel to Planetside was in the works, I flocked back to the original along with hundreds of other players, all eager to relieve the game while we waited for the sequal. We all had our doubts due to previous bad experiences with SOE, however a beta date was in the back of all our minds. The beta is a couple months late now, and SOE had massive layoffs. On top of that, mid development, it was announced some of the planetside engines needed an overhall. That's not a good sign so late in the game.
Of course it gets worse. Sony announced to the world that millions of user's information had been stolen by a hacker shortly after 200 SOE employees lost their jobs. The result? It can't be good. Even Sony's stock has declined sharply in the past weeks.
It's not looking good at all, but Planetside:Next, I hope you come out afterall. We've been waiting for years. GG SOE. GG.
This happens to a lot of games, they just don't end up getting finished. It's a shame really.
ReplyDeleteDidn't heard of the game in it's time, looks good.
ReplyDeletexbl4l
ReplyDeleteI never even heard of this game, is the community still thriving? And I mean enough to give the experience you experienced to me.
ReplyDeleteThe community isn't what it was, but tons of players still stay in touch. There are entire sites that are still active with former players. markovforums.com is an example with over 200,000 posts.
ReplyDeleteI would wait and try to dive into the beta if it's ever released. It's just not worth taking the time to learn an old game at this point, particularly one like Planetside.
I played several different SOE MMO's and they were all awesome games. I had never heard anything abut a sequel to Planetside, I'm stoked now.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty cool, never heard of it though
ReplyDeleteThis actually sounds like a cool project. Never thought of other mmo genres. I really hope they work it out
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's taken them so long to redo Planetside. It's almost offensive it's still running! It has SO much potential there's nothing out their quite like it. I've been following news of the sequel for at least 5 years, there's hardly anything!
ReplyDeleteAwesome project idea... Never heard of it though.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of the game before. It sounds fun though.
ReplyDeletecheck it off the list. and it's spelled sequel.
ReplyDeletessoooo much fun
ReplyDeletePlanetside was awesome, hope Next will be too
ReplyDeleteoh, sony, you so crazy.
ReplyDeleteWas this PS2? I'll look out for it :D
ReplyDeleteAh, it's PC... :D
ReplyDelete:D
ReplyDeletegotta just wait man. all good things come in time. i suppose Playstation could just die though.. .with all this hacking. but lets hope not!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this game. I wonder would now be a good time to buy Sony stock...
ReplyDeletegreat stuff here!
ReplyDeleteWannum?
ReplyDelete