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PlanetSide 2 Command Center brings a beta update and spotlight on Heavy Assaulters
Creative Director Matthew Higby and Senior Art Director Tramell Isaac are back with the sixth episode of PlanetSide 2 Command Center, everyone's favorite show about the adventures of a wacky MMO. On tap for this episode is an update on the beta, the reveal of Esamir, a video featuring the Heavy Assault class, some fan movies, an interview with a concept artist, news about SOE Live, and... fan spam. Higby says that the team just did a full wipe in the beta due to the sheer amount of changes and improvements that SOE made. He also said that the population cap has been increased for this next step. Isaac invites SOE Live attendees to participate in the $10,000 PlanetSide 2 tournament. While online registrations for it are closed, players can sign up in person at the event. Check out episode six after the break!
Massively Exclusive: PlanetSide 2's New Conglomerate Q&A
With the cold war in PlanetSide 2 quickly turning hot, potential players have to ask themselves: Which side will they join? Today SOE is making a bid on behalf of the New Conglomerate, painting them as the scrappy underdogs of the war with plenty of attitude to go around. We sat down with Creative Director Matt Higby to see if we could figure out what makes this faction tick. Massively: As an introduction for new players, what's the philosophy behind the New Conglomerate? Matt Higby: The New Conglomerate are an insurgent guerrilla force fighting against pretty stacked odds: an enormous military machine in the TR on one side and the vast technological superiority of the VS on the other. This forces the New Conglomerate to be adaptive, use creative tactics and take advantage of every possible opportunity they can to accomplish their goals. Their weapons run the gamut from conventional to experimental, and they're not willing to say no to anything that might give them an edge.
PlanetSide 2's scale dwarfs Battlefield, Call of Duty franchises
Does it strike anyone else as particularly fortuitous that Sony Online Entertainment chose the week of Battlefield 3's release to let a bit more PlanetSide 2 info slip through its tightly clenched marketing fist? Regardless of the timing, today's article in the new issue of PC Gamer will likely help the three-faction juggernaut gain some more momentum. SOE creative director Matt Higby is featured heavily in the PC Gamer piece, which intimates that PlanetSide 2's battles will dwarf those of the much-loved Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises. "You're going to be fighting in battles sometimes when it's 200 people fighting against 30 people," Higby explains. "Because there's only 30 people defending that base and then suddenly 200 people log in from the other group and go do it." This is a far cry from the 64-player limit on Battlefield 3's PC version, and PlanetSide 2 will also offer huge maps that measure eight square kilometers as well as weapon ranges up to a full kilometer. Oh, and did we mention the persistent gameplay elements? [Thanks to PlanetSide Universe for the tip!]
SOE releases new PlanetSide 2 Terran Republic info
Well, it's not exactly a deep gameplay reveal, but it's better than another lore snippet! What the heck are we talking about? Why, the latest PlanetSide 2 press release of course. Sony Online Entertainment has dropped a new screenshot on the masses, and the exciting image is accompanied by a wall o' text from creative director Matthew Higby. Higby spends a bit of time telling us about the Terran Republic, which is one of three warring factions in SOE's sci-fi shooter universe. The Republic is a professional military organization, and as such its members are equipped with weapons that "have the fastest firing rates, largest ammo capacities, and are generally designed to allow for maximum sustainable damage." The Terrans also have two unique vehicles at their disposal. The Mosquito is "an extremely agile attack aircraft" and boasts the highest top speed of any PlanetSide 2 air vehicle. The Prowler tank is the fastest empire-specific piece of heavy armor, and Higby describes it as "one of the deadliest vehicles in the game." Check out the full article at the official PlanetSide 2 website.
SOE enlists comic book writer Marv Wolfman to pen PlanetSide 2 backstory
Comic book writer Marv Wolfman is taking a cue from his superhero stories to team up forces once again with a powerful ally -- in this case, Sony Online Entertainment. The writer, who last worked on DC Universe Online, has now returned to the studio to flesh out the backstory for the upcoming PlanetSide 2. Wolfman is in charge of writing a series of fictional episodes depicting the life and history of the people of Auraxis and the rising war between the three factions of the game. He's pretty jazzed about the opportunity: "I'm thrilled to be working with SOE again. Not only do I get to take elements from the original PlanetSide and further develop an extensive backstory that can help players more fully understand this incredible new world, but even better, I get to create dozens of individual characters that I hope will help bring alive the story of PlanetSide 2 for the entire player community." In a dev diary, Creative Director Matthew Higby stresses that it's important to have not just a solid game but a believable world in which that game can take place. "Beyond grounding the design of the world, the story gives meaning to who the people fighting on it are, how they got there, their motivations and what their conflict signifies," Higby writes. The first of these episodes will be released on the PlanetSide 2 site later this week.
