As May was coming to a close, we wanted to take more time to craft this letter and address a recent patch issue. Today’s topics include information on what happened with the recent release of the Sunderer Rework to the live client, what we are doing going forward to address future issues in a promptly manner, and details on our work on a new Alert and Warzone capture system.
The Sunderer Rework update is in a much more polished state and can be tested on the PTS server. Learn about the new additions and changes to the Sunderer here.
Regarding The Unintentional Release of Sunderer Rework
Last month, parts of the Sunderer Rework were unintentionally released to the live client. We reverted this patch the following week, but it should have been addressed sooner. This resulted in a major disturbance for many Auraxians that weekend, and we are terribly sorry for the frustrations this caused.
There are many moving parts when it comes to multi-client updates, and we missed disabling parts of the update to the live client. We learned quite a bit where the flaws in our release process lie and are doing our best to adjust them to avoid a repeat of that weekend. We have also revisited the process of rolling back a previous live build should such a major issue happen again.
Double XP For All
We are scheduling a Double XP For All event starting from 6/11 through 6/16. Thank you for your patience and continued support.
Looking Ahead: On Alerts & Capturing Warzones
One of the ways we feel the game has room to grow is with the Alert and Warzone capture system. Ideally this system is there to represent a snapshot of the "campaign" where players must cooperate and anticipate their opponents' actions, making decisions about what objectives to prioritize and how much to commit to them.
The alert system and the way warzones are captured have several key issues:
The system is rigid, with only a single alert able to be active at once.
Only a single alert outcome can lead to the capture of a warzone.
Much of the diversity of the system has been removed with, other than some special events, only meltdown alerts remain.
There is a lack of interesting decision-making on a map wide scale, currently which base to attack or defend is the only decision of consequence.
What would a rework achieve? Ultimately, the alert system should give purpose to the smaller, tactical actions players take; such as capturing a base. Having a more diverse set of goals, something other than "paint the map." has several benefits.
It creates **dilemmas** that present interesting choices to players on a group and individual level.
It encourages coordination between faction members.
It gives players more immediate purpose and direction.
It prevents losing factions from despairing by opening up avenues for catch-up mechanics.
How will the new system work? Currently, a warzone is captured directly through the alert system. There is a single alert, and the winning faction captures the warzone. Only this alert has any meaning when it comes to determining who owns the currently open continent. The experience has been further degraded by the removal of nearly all alerts other than a meltdown due to the way they interrupted the basic flow of the game.
With the new system, capturing a warzone will no longer be totally contingent on the winner of a single alert, but instead the winner will conquer it via a more flexible system that can account for combinations of objectives.
Alerts will be divided into two categories; Strategic and Tactical.
Strategic alerts are longer-running and relevant throughout the entire warzone. They give players their primary purpose and an overarching objective. Only one strategic alert can be active at a time, and it provides the primary amount of capture weight towards winning a warzone. Meltdown would be an example of a strategic alert and will likely be the first one the rework has to maintain familiarity and continuity.
The real change comes with the introduction of tactical alerts. These are less restrictive and more flexible. They can be longer, or shorter, or even one-shot objectives up for grabs to whichever faction completes them first. Importantly, they also contribute towards conquering the warzone, and thus are meaningfully worth considering appending time and effort on. One example of a tactical alert could be the appearance of the Ghost Bastion, which in addition to its ownership erasing properties could also grant a large lump sum of capture weight to the faction that manages to destroy it.
We think this combination of multiple potential objectives, some of great potential value, will create faction-wide dilemmas on which objectives are deemed the most important and how much to commit (if anything) to them. Hopefully, this will encourage communication and Outfit scale interactive decision-making.
We do not have a specific date yet, but the general system design phase is complete, and the rework is in active development.
Initial implementation of the rework will only have a reworked Meltdown as the strategic objective, as well as some tactical alerts that may or may not appear during any given campaign. Concentrating on a few things early will help us get the rework out more quickly and provide valuable feedback for future additions. Over time we plan to add more strategic and tactical alerts to create a much more dynamic and interesting experience to the PlanetSide 2 strategic layer. The system is open-ended enough to consider many suggestions, and our team is continuously trying new things.
- PlanetSide 2 Team
📢 June 11, 2024 - PC Update📢
We will be having a scheduled a game update tomorrow at 6AM PT. / 3PM CEST. to fix misc. bugs and start a holiday sale event. Server downtime may last up to three hours.
Sales Events
Fathers Day Sales Event with 40% off all infantry weapons coming June 17th - June 19th
June's members only bundle hits the depot for the low price of 10 Certs! If you previously missed out on Prime Gaming rewards then here's your chance to grab them with your Daybreak Membership!
Because this is offered for Certs, this will only affect the character you purchase the bundle on. You will need to purchase the bundle for all of your characters. We are currently looking into this.
Bug Fixes
Purchasing the Aviator Helmets for NSO and Humans will now allow you to receive all of the helmets and the title for your account
For those that have purchased the bundles before this fix, please contact customer services. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank you for your patience. We are still getting to grips with a few of the systems behind the scenes.
G40-F Ranger (Harasser , Ant, Sunderer, Prowler) has had its audio reworked to improve responsiveness and performance
G20 Hellion (Valkyrie) has received all new weapon audio
Lightning Skyguard audio has been redone and no longer sounds like someone beating on sheet metal with a spoon
Sunderer's M18 Palisade-S has had its audio normalized so that its volume is more consistent
M20 Basilisk (Harasser , Ant, Sunderer, Prowler, Vanguard, Magrider) has had its audio reworked and improved
Dramatically reduced repeated sound issues when quickly firing on the following weapons; AF4-Cyclone, NSX Kappa, NSX Tomoe, Terminus VX9
The NSO Defector has had its animation audio blending adjusted to fix issues with 3rd person running and sprinting audio
VHO Reflex (2x) now has an icon that correctly represents its in game visuals
The Damage/Distance graph in the UI will now draw a Horizonal Line at the weapon's damage value instead of nothing when there is no falloff
World Space Indicators (such as those for capture points) have had their location calculations adjusted so that they no longer shift position when the camera is moved around
Weapons will no longer reappear for a single frame during the grenade throw animation
Fixed texture faces not appearing properly on a Facility Canopy Wall asset
The Silo's tutorial prompt now refers to the welding tool
The alert icon on the Recon Array notification UI should now be more correctly and aesthetically positioned
Known Issues
Cert only purchases are NOT account wide. We are looking into this for Member Only bundles. For now you will have to purchase these bundles on each character
📢 May 29, 2024 - PC Hotfix📢
We will be having a scheduled hotfix maintenance tomorrow at 6AM PT / 3PM CT to fix misc. bugs.
Here are the hotfix notes:
Bug Fixes
Retropunk Camo now works on weapons.
Removed Daybreak Cash (DBC) prices from items that are Cert Only purchases.
Fixed an issue where the Cobalt server would not cycle out of the Hossin continent
Fixed a crash with world.exe.
Members Double EXP Weekend [ MAY 24 - 26 ]
📈Members Double XP Weekend📈 ⭐️Enjoy our Members Double XP event happening now through Sunday 👉Learn more about Daybreak All-Access: https://www.daybreakgames.com/allaccess
📢May Update - 5/15 - Maintenance📢
New Warzone Rotation System
The way warzones rotate after an alert has been reworked. Previously, Warzones simply rotated through the list of valid Warzones with the oldest being the next one selected. This meant that one Warzone always followed another and the course of the rotation was entirely predictable. We've added two new settings to the Warzone rotation system, the ability for Warzones to be skipped during the selection process and also a chance to be selected. This means we can adjust the frequency of Warzones while still generally following the pattern of oldest next.
We've done 2 things with the new settings. First, the oldest Warzone is by far the most likely one to come next, it will not always happen that way. This means that the rotation is no longer static, but will shuffle itself slightly from time to time. And second, Oshur is now much, much less likely to be selected; and after it has been selected it will not be again for several rounds. This is the compromise we found from removing it entirely as explained previously. Furthermore, Oshur will now have a near instant alert with a short time so that it will be completed more quickly.
New Music in Sanctuary
In honor of the franchise anniversary, we have composed a new music for Sanctuary heavily inspired by the Main Title Theme of the first game in the series. Please enjoy!
Introducing Member Bundles
We are aware of the popularity of the Prime bundles and were also sad to see them discontinued. But fear not, its spirit lives on in the form of the newly introduced "Member Bundles". Each month we are bringing back a Prime bundle and offering it to members for only 10 certs. These bundles will go live on the 1st of each month and will disappear after the last day of the month, with the exception of this month's bundle (May) which will be available with the patch. After all members have had the opportunity to receive previous bundles we will begin introducing new items each month.
May Member Bundle (May 15th - May 31st) - 1 DBC/10 Certs:
The Blue Crystal Commissioner is available for purchase in the store
This is a variant of the NS-44 "Primed Amethyst" Commissioner with a blue crystal theme
More New Stuff
Combat Medic Class Decal, Banner and Banner Frame have been added to the Depot for only 1 DBC/10 Certs
Razzle Dazzle Camo has been added to Exceptional VIII Directive Tree (Tier 4 - Master)
Serbian Flag decal added to the depot.
Aviator Helmets have been added to the depot for all factions to purchase
Sales Events
We all know how fond mother is of infantry cosmetics, that is why they are 40% from May 12th - May 14th.
Mother's Day Sale (May 12th - May 14th)
40% off infantry cosmetics
Known Issues
The member bundle is also available for 1 DBC, this isn't intended but the player's may use that option if they want until the option is removed.
Alerts don't always trigger properly causing warzones to get stuck in the rotation.
Bug Fixes
The friends list has been fixed - This turned out to be a substantial rewrite of the entire system to get it working correctly and reliably. For that reason the system is relatively untested and new/different bugs may crop up. We would like everyone to please let us know if there are bugs in this rewrite so that we can fix them as soon as possible
Outfit chat has been refactored and should now work correctly - Similar to the friend's list, the chat system had some fairly significant changes, our internal testing shows that it works consistently and reliably but please be on the lookout for new bugs
The Conduit should no longer be lost if a facility is reclaimed by the defenders
Fixed application settings of non-ASCII named audio devices when using English localization
Voice and Audio device names are now shown correctly in non-English localizations
Bastion hardpoint destruction VFX should now correctly disappear after a hardpoint is destroyed
Ambient noises should no longer be heard on the character select screen after logging out in Sanctuary
Spawned Sunderers no longer collide with the ceiling in Nason's Defiance and become all wibbly wobbly
3rd person weapon firing audio no longer becomes louder after resupplying underwater
Audio for the following weapons has been adjusted to prevent it from spamming multiple cues when tap firing quickly; AF-20 Rogue, MGR-C1 Charger, MGR-C1 Gladius, NC2 Gauss Compact, NS-30 Vandal, NSX Kuwa, NSX Sesshin, NSX Tengu,
The EM6, EM1, NC6 Gauss Saw, NC6S Gauss Saw S should now have the correct reload animations
Lunar Dragon Helmet (Lunar New Year 2024) helmet now displays faction colors
Mother's Day Appreciation Sale [ May 12th through May 14th ]
🪖Mother's Day Appreciation Sale🫡 Enjoy 40% off Infantry Cosmetics May 12th - May 14th. Which cosmetics will you be rocking this weekend?
Members Double EXP Weekend [ APRIL 26 - 28 ]
💹Members Double XP is Live!💹 The Members Double XP event runs today through April 28th. 👉Learn more about All-Access: https://www.daybreakgames.com/allaccess
A Letter from Toadman Interactive
Dear Auraxians,
We are excited to announce that our team at Toadman Interactive is taking over development duties for PlanetSide 2. Our colleagues at Rogue Planet Games have created a unique gaming experience that has thrived for over a decade. We have assembled a team of developers who have many years of experience working on Massively Multiplayer Online games and First Person Shooters. Although we are not the purchaser of the franchise, the team is delighted to carry the PlanetSide 2 torch forward. Additionally, we will continue working with the Daybreak Games publishing team to ensure the game continues to receive best-in-class marketing and community support.
Our vision for PlanetSide 2 is to highlight unique aspects that have given it such a storied place in gaming history while improving the general game experience. To that end we’ve laid out three major principles to guide us moving forward along with our 2024 roadmap following below:
A renewed focus on the elements that make PlanetSide 2 great, rebalancing mechanics and content while addressing the current pain points that get in the way
Create more objective-based player goals within the core gameplay loop to
capitalize better on the breadth of PlanetSide 2’s potential
Infuse each major update with more theme, lore, and world building to give more
structure and context to the world we all inhabit
2024 Roadmap
Q1 If you look back on Q1, you can see that we put quite a bit of effort into fixing bugs that were major causes of pain points for everyone. We're not at the end of the road just yet, and we are dedicated to identifying and squashing more.
The tradition of developer letters that started at the end of last year will continue. We want to be as transparent as possible and also share some insights with our community on how we create assets and develop features for PlanetSide 2. In addition, we reworked Capture the Conduit and created several beautiful bundles celebrating Auraximas, Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, and St Patrick's Day.
You may have noticed that the reward structure for the Seasonal Directives is much more rewarding. Below is an example of how we want to continue with directive rewards:
Q2 We have exciting content waiting for you in Q2, which we are working on right now. We’re starting with the Puzzler Bundle on April Fools' Day, in which you will find a handful of Puzzler themed cosmetics, all for only 10 certs.
New color variants for the NS-44 “Primed Amethyst” Commissioner that were featured in the 11th Anniversary Bundle are entering the Depot as well as a new base/facility capture method (more details to follow).
Q2 also includes the PlanetSide Franchise Anniversary and other equally exciting holidays such as: Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Father's Day.
Q3 Q3 is going to be hot with the return of two summer directive events with great rewards. We are also very excited to release the updated Sunderer, although it may happen sooner if we manage to overcome some technical limitations. Additionally, we will have another new game mode, which some of our colleagues have already started working on, and we will also celebrate holidays such as Independence Day and Labor Day in a big way.
Q4 The most anticipated PlanetSide 2 updates will arrive at the end of the year. We do not want to reveal all the cards just yet, but at the same time we want to share some of the novelties that are waiting for you closer to the end of the year. We will start with the traditional Halloween celebration, for which we are preparing an intimidating event, and right after that we will release the Anniversary Update. There, we will introduce a completely new theme, which will include a new vehicle type, armor sets, helmets, weapons, and cosmetics.
We cannot wait to show you a behind the scenes look at our upcoming new art assets, story elements, and the technical workings of creating a new type of transportation in PlanetSide 2. Expect more Auraximas events, a bundle with winter weapons, sales, and holiday decorations.
Concluding Thoughts
Naturally, to accomplish our goals for the year, there will be a learning curve involved, not only for technical reasons, but also because PlanetSide 2 is a large and venerable game with many gameplay niches and a deeply passionate community. This transition has been under way for several months and is largely the reason updates have been smaller and slower lately than what the community is used to seeing.
As we become more proficient and knowledgeable, the scope and pace of updates will speed up and our ability to take risks will grow. Becoming experts in the full scope of such a massive enterprise will take time, and mistakes will be made. However, we promise to listen closely and carefully to your feedback so we may learn and grow as quickly as possible.
- Toadman Interactive, PlanetSide 2 Team
40% OFF Infantry Weapons [ Now through April 7th ]
Equip your weapon of choice with 40% off infantry weapons. This discount runs today through April 7th.
Which weapon is your primary pick this week?
Double EXP for All [ APRIL 1 - 4 ]
📈Double XP For All📈 🫡Enjoy double xp today through April 4th. How will you be spending your certs this week?
