SOE Live officially kicked off last night, bringing with it some major announcements about Planetside 2, which were preceded by even more news from earlier in the week. I’ve broken them down below for a quick recap.
Release Date: November 20th, 2012 (Yes, a mere month away!)
Continents: 3 at launch (Indar, Esamir, and Amerish), with 3 more announced to follow (Searhus, Oshur, and Hossin)
Auraxium (in game currency) has been axed. Now you will purchase new weapons with certifications, which the rate you acquire certification points has been increased 4x
Outfits 2.0: Uniforms, Specialization, Decals, Recruitment, and Browsing
A new-player mini tutorial will be added
A player website coming within 2 weeks
External APIs are coming out
Android and iOS mobile apps
Twitch.tv live streaming built right into Planetside 2
Youtube built into Planetside 2
SOE Player Studio Support: Create your OWN content, get 40% of the money made, and you license it to them, so you keep the ownership rights.
Meta Game:
- Biolab: Reduced respawn timers at connected facilities / outposts
- Amp Station: Overcharged base turrets, longer overload times on facility generators
- Tech Plant: Access to MBTs – yes, facilities will be unable to spawn MBTs without a connected tech plant
- Ability for a faction to lock down a continent
New Vehicles:
- Snowmobile
- Snow tracked Sunderer
- Buggies
Player Name Reservations for joining the Alpha Squad
Player Owned Bases (Built, designed by players, in the actual world, not in an instance, and is able to be captured by the enemy)
Wow, that’s a lot of stuff, and all this week, and with SOE Live still going on, more might be announced still. You can watch the SOE Live Keynote over at Twitch.tv. I’ve had a chance to play Esamir, and it is just as fun as Indar, while offering up different gameplay given it’s snowy climate and constant day light (Esamir is located at the northern end of Auraxis, therefore never experiences night, only day and dusk). Planetside stacks up against the best the FPS world can throw at it, and with player bases, outfit customization, and the meta game, it looks like it’ll stack up against the best the MMO world can throw at it as well. Wondering if the game can actually handle as many players as it claims? Planetside 2 already has more players in beta than there ever was in Planetside 1, and more are being added. I’ll see you on Auraxis next month.