General Information

PlanetSide Basics
Characters
Items & Equipment
Combat
Implants
Certifications
Vehicles
Facilities
Worlds
Group Play

Overview & Summary

General Information

What is PlanetSide?
PlanetSide is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) involving thousands of players fulfilling all the roles needed to wage war across the face of a planet. The war will involve infantry, ground vehicles and air battles in a science fiction setting.

Gamers join any of the three global empires, each empire struggling against the others to dominate each base, continent and ultimately the planet.

Who Developed PlanetSide?
Sony Online Entertainment developed PlanetSide.

How many people can play at once?
Thousands play on each world. The servers themselves have capacity for hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

When will PlanetSide be released?
PlanetSide is available for purchase now.

Is PlanetSide available for the PC exclusively?
Yes. There are no current plans to develop the game for any other computer or console platform.

How is game delivered?
PlanetSide is available in retail stores, including online retailers. 

Is a monthly fee required to play?
Yes, the subscription price is $12.99. This fee goes toward the cost of bandwidth, server maintenance, continuous feature improvements and content updates, as well as customer support.

Is there be a multiple subscription discount for those who subscribe to other SOE premium games?
There is the SOE All Access subscription, which gives you access to all SOE published games with one low monthly price of $21.99. 

Will there be updates and/or expansions? How will they be delivered?
Regular content updates are planned, as well as new features. Many of these will be delivered free through the pregame patch program. Updates and additions that dramatically increase gameplay opportunities, or require a substantial amount of new code or art, will be released as expansions and will most likely be sold through retailers.

What ESRB rating does PlanetSide have?
We are aiming for an ESRB rating of "Teen" (T).

Gameplay

PlanetSide Basics

Is PlanetSide PvP?
Yes. All combat in PlanetSide is player-versus-player.

Give us a brief overview of PlanetSide's setting.
The millennium-old Terran Republic discovered a new planet beyond a recently-charted wormhole. Since the Republic bases its stability on continued expansion and acquisition of new worlds, they immediately sent a large expeditionary force through the wormhole to colonize the planet.

Upon its arrival, the expeditionary force deployed orbital platforms, and proceeded to build numerous support facilities across the planet's surface. However, traces of alien technology were unearthed on the planet, leading to one of the greatest discoveries--matrixing technology. With the discovery of the ability to store a matrix of any individual, the population stabilized and the colonization effort continued.

During the latter stages of the colonization, the wormhole collapsed without warning (possibly due to continued travel stress but without any of the usual telltale signs), stranding the expeditionary force on the planet. Cut off from the main Terran Republic government, the expeditionary force split along ideological lines into three Empires. Each side claimed an orbital platform and a main base on the planet, and a seemingly endless war for dominance began.

What are the three Empires?
The Terran Republic is the established order, fighting to preserve its tradition of unity and power. The New Conglomerate is an anarchistic organization that wishes to cultivate a new society on Auraxis, free of the oppression they feel dominates Earth. The Vanu Sovereignty uses the alien technology found on Auraxis to guide human and social evolution along the path it has determined.

What is the game like?
The planet itself consists of ten continents that encompass a gigantic amount of land area. The settings vary greatly between warm tropical environments, barren desert badlands, arctic tundra and hellish volcanic landscapes. But the game is not just an outdoor game. Interior areas (seamlessly entered into and exited from the outdoor terrain) include alien-tech warp gates, human constructed buildings, underground labyrinths and orbital space platforms.

Successfully waging this war will require a wide array of talents. This game lets everyone play using his or her strengths and be the best they can for their team.

Outfits can be formed of the best and brightest players in order to create the most adaptable squads for each combat challenge. These outfits will vie for honors, glory and conquest in order to become widely known among their peers...and feared by their enemies.

How is PlanetSide persistent?
The war rages on continuously, 24/7, on an international basis. Player characters gather certifications and implants or Command Abilities as they pursue their goals of taking more and more territory for their Empire. Also, enemies and friends will be made in these large communities as people gain reputations among their comrades and foes.

Does the war end?
Never.

Characters

What roles can a player assume?
Roles in PlanetSide are highly customizable. Players may specialize in specific roles or mix their certifications for more rounded characters. You may choose your certifications to create the perfect role for yourself, such as Sniper, Driver, Pilot, Hacker, Medic, Heavy armor, Skirmisher, Scout, Commander, Tactician, Engineer and more!

How can a player less skilled in "twitch" style gaming be effective?
Many of the roles listed above do not require twitch skills in order to be great. Basically, you don't have to shoot well to succeed in PlanetSide. You can do just as well as a non-twitch gamer. The game is set up to support as many types of players as possible. How does a player rise in rank? There are two types of ranks: There is Battle Experience (BEPs), and Command Experience (CEPs). Player gain BEPs by killing players, destroying objects and taking base complexes, as well as by being part of a squad that does those things. Players gain CEPs being the commander of a squad that takes a base complex. Thus, five-star commanders are those folks that have led many squads to successfully take many base complexes. There are quite a few benefits to CEP rank (oriented toward command of groups) that are over and above the benefits of BEP rank (which is how you get certifications and implant slots).

If I focus on only BEP or CEP, will I gimp my character?
No. If that's what you want to do, then you have a good reason for it. We anticipate that most folks will chase BEP for the simple fact that not everyone wants to be a commander, and BEP is the road to certifications and implants. The commander types out there will most likely balance their CEP with BEP so that they get certifications. However, a pure CEP commander would still have a good gaming experience because he is choosing to focus on the pure command aspects of the game, and we allow that.

Will there be computer-controlled NPCs?
No. If you see someone in armor holding a gun, then it's a player. Guaranteed.

How many characters can I have on a world server?
Currently, you may have eight characters on each server. You may have characters from two of the three Empires on each server.

Items & Equipment

Will I have to earn money to purchase equipment and vehicles?
No. All equipment that you are certified to use will be available to you at equipment and vehicle terminals.

What are the different armor types?
A standard issue vest is given to all players and is the default armor. Players can also acquire and become certified in the Infiltration Suit, Agile Exo-Suit, Reinforced Exo-Suit, or an extremely heavy Mechanized Armor (MAX).

Are there any specific limitations regarding armor?
You must be certified with a suit in order to use it. The MAX suits come with an integrated weapon, and no other weapon may be equipped. The MAX may not fire while it is in travel mode. Also, the MAX may not be purchased from AMS or tower equipment terminals. Players in reinforced armor may not pilot closed-cockpit vehicles.

How is inventory management handled?
Each suit of armor will have a certain number of holsters to ready weapons and equipment. The number of holsters will depend on the type of armor. There are two different types of holsters: one pistol-sized and one rifle-sized. You will also have an inventory grid to store extra weapons, equipment and ammunition.

Combat

Will my Certifications improve my weapon accuracy?
No. Unlike in an RPG, combat skill is determined by the player's actual skill, not the character's skill. Your character's accuracy will depend on your own hand and your own eyes.

Does PlanetSide use pixel-perfect aiming?
No. PlanetSide uses a cone-of-fire aiming system. When crouched and stationary, the cone is very tight and close to "pixel-perfect." However, as you move, fire rapidly, jump, take damage, etc., the cone will open up somewhat. Projectiles fired with a wider cone may hit anywhere within that cone. Thus, skill is important, but it also matters what you're doing, and how you're doing it.

How many weapons will be available?
There are 23 handheld weapons and four grenades. Also, several vehicles have weapons onboard. Many of the weapons are "common pool," meaning that all empires have access to them, but some are empire-specific, ensuring that each empire has a distinctive "flavor" to it when playing.

Are there secondary attacks associated with weapons?
Many weapons have secondary attack modes. These secondary modes range from firing all rounds available, to guided methods, or even switching from normal ammo to AP ammo.

What happens when you die? Is there a limit on the number of people that can respawn from a location?
When you die, you may choose where your character respawns in the world. Respawn locations are:

• Nearest friendly facility
• Nearest friendly and deployed AMS
• Nearest friendly tower
• Manual Bind at a friendly facility
• Manual Bind at a friendly and deployed AMS
• Empire Sanctuary

The Empire Sanctuary will always be available. The other spawn points depend on whether or not that resource is available when you die. There is a respawn timer that must expire before you respawn back into the world.

Implants

What are implants and how do I get them?
As you gain battle experience, you will gain the ability to use up to three implants. You can acquire implants at any Implant Terminal.

Can you reveal some information regarding these implants?
Each character can gain up to three implants in the course of their career. This access is gained at certain Battle Ranks. Most implants can be turned on and off at will, but use stamina to power them. Therefore, extensive use of implants can eventually tire out a player and make it difficult for them to run or jump. The offensive or defensive boosts gained from implants must be balanced against other needs. Types of implants and their benefits range from regeneration to personal shields to advanced targeting and more.

Is there a limit on the number of implants that can be equipped?
Yes (see above). You cannot have more than three implants at one time. Many implants use your stamina to be activated (bioenergy). You can have multiple implants activated, but you will run out of stamina more quickly that way.

Certifications

What are player certifications?
Certifications are purchased with battle experience and they unlock skill capabilities. They are not ranked skills (as in other MMOs). Rather, they are skills that allow a player to use new equipment, vehicles, armors, or other items. The skill that a player has with that equipment is entirely up to the player. Certifications only make specific types of equipment usable.

Can I acquire any cert?
Yes. However, each player can only learn a certain maximum number of certifications, which is well below the maximum number of certifications available. Thus, you'll have to specialize. Some certifications will have another certification as a prerequisite that you must learn first.

Can I ever unlearn a cert?
Yes. You can unlearn a certification by visiting a certification terminal. Although you can learn something else right away, you can't unlearn an additional item until after a 24-hour waiting period. You can unlearn one certification at any given time.

Vehicles

Are there vehicles in PlanetSide?
Yes. Both air and ground vehicles are available. Like weapons, some vehicles will only be available to certain empires. A list of some of our vehicles can be found on the website.

Can multiple players board the same vehicle?
Many vehicles can accommodate multiple players. Some even require it to be fully functional (for instance, the heavy assault tanks aren't nearly as useful unless they have both a driver and a gunner).

What type of controls do vehicles use?
Standard mouse and keyboard is the default, but joysticks will be supported as well.

Can someone steal my ride?
Vehicles can (and will) be jacked. This is done with the Hacking certification. Once a vehicle is jacked, its markings will change to reflect the empire that now owns it. The prior owner will be notified about the vehicle's theft. Vehicle owners are able to set permissions on their vehicles so other members of their empire do not steal their vehicles.

Will I need a certification to use a vehicle's weapons systems?
No, anyone may assume a gunner position and use that weapon with any certification.  However, the driver of the vehicle must possess the proper cert to operate the vehicle. 

Facilities

What types of towers are there?
There are three different types of towers. The gun tower is three stories tall and has gun turrets mounted on the roof. The watch tower is five stories tall without gun turrets. The air tower has air vehicle landing pads and also has gun turrets.

What can I capture, and how do I capture it?
Any base complex or tower can be captured. Base capture can be accomplished by infiltrating or invading a building and hacking its Control Console. In a base complex, control must be kept for some time before the building will actually change sides. Towers will change sides as soon as the Control Console has been successfully hacked.

How are facilities linked?
Each of the base complexes is interlinked with all other facilities on a continent. Each of the buildings has an ownership benefit. When you own a building, all other buildings that your empire owns on that continent gain the same benefit, regardless of which one you are inside. Thus, strategies for attacking continents will also need to take into account the buildings possessed by your chosen enemy.

The facility benefits are as follows:

Amplifier Station

• Increases the radius of the sphere of influence (SOI)
• Activates shields on the wall turrets
• Reduces the amount of NTU consumed by 50% (friendly facilities remain operational for notably longer before needing resupplied)

Bio Lab

• Reduces respawn delay at other friendly facilities 
• Upgrades medical terminals to advanced medical terminal functionality (where health and armor are repaired)

Interlink Facility

• Reveals the majority of enemy vehicles on radar when within an SOI
• Wall turrets will fire upon any of the revealed vehicles in automated form when not manned

Tech Plant

• Provides access to all vehicles except for the Galaxy dropship. Other facilities can only produce standard vehicles, but when linked to the Tech Plant they can then produce heavy assault vehicles.

Dropship Center

• The Dropship Center does not carry any link benefits of its own, but it is the only facility that has a Galaxy terminal.

What is the benefit of a sphere of influence?
Orbital drop pods cannot come down in a sphere of influence. Also, radar functions only operate within a controlled sphere of influence and deployable sensors and turrets may only be placed within a sphere of influence.

Do facilities require resources to maintain?
Each facility requires an NTU Silo to be powered in order to maintain energy in the grid for terminals and such. The Silo drains as the facility is used, and even if not used, though very slowly.  If it reaches zero, then all energy to the facility is lost. If an NTU Silo loses all energy, then the facility reverts to Neutrality and must be recaptured.

To power a Silo with a full charge of NTUs, a driver must acquire an Advanced Nanite Transport (ANT) at any vehicle terminal and then drive it to a warpgate where it will deploy and charge from the energy in the bubble. The driver will then drive to the Silo that needs recharging. The ANT is deployed next to the Silo and energy is transferred smoothly.

Worlds

How big is the world of PlanetSide?
There are ten continents encompassing a huge amount of land, covering several hundred square kilometers. Suffice it to say, it's a tremendous amount of gaming area.

How will I get around the world?
There are several travel options available. All players have access to the HART dropships, which will deliver you to any region of any continent (excluding other sanctuaries) that is not within an enemy's sphere of influence.

Also, every continent has two to four warp gates on it. Each of those warp gates can transport players to a specific warp gate on a different continent. Thus, there are many different ways to get to another continent, sometimes requiring a couple of hops through other continents if any one single way is blocked. If a player drives or pilots a vehicle into the warp gate, it will also be transported to the linked continent.

What happens if an enemy empire overruns a continent?
If an empire controls every facility on a continent, it will have a continent lock. Under this condition, the warp gates on that continent will become closed to the opposing empires. The only way those Empires will be able to gain entry to the continent is through the HART dropship. Because of this, enemies will be at a substantial disadvantage, as they will not be able to bring vehicles like the AMS with them as they attack facilities to unlock the continent.

Is there neutral territory?
Any base or territory not claimed by an empire is neutral.

Are there large bodies of water?
Yes, there are very large areas of water. Each continent is surrounded by ocean, and there are lakes, ponds and marshes on various continents.

Are there water-based battles and vehicles?
Not initially. Water is an area we might develop further in the future.

Will my character be able to swim?
No. If your character is plunged into water, he or she will sink to the bottom and have to walk out before the oxygen meter reaches zero. If a vehicle is completely submerged in water, the driver will lose control of it and have to dismount to get out of the water.

What types of environments can we expect to see in PlanetSide?
Currently, there are several variants on temperate, volcanic, arctic and desert environments. Expect some alien twists on things since this is not Earth.

Is there a day and night cycle or weather system?
Yes. There is a global weather system that you can track on the global map. In first person view, you can watch weather fronts move in. Visibility will be affected by the weather system.

Group Play

What is a squad?
A squad is a tactical unit of up to 10 players that you gather temporarily together in order to get the necessary skill sets in your attack group (e.g., sniper, heavy armor, dropship pilot, hacker, etc.). Squads can be created and disbanded at any time. They can be considered the equivalent of RPG groups.

Up to three squads can be linked together (temporarily) into a platoon in order to better accommodate tactics in a large battle.

What is an outfit?
An outfit is an ongoing organization formed by players in order to more easily gather groups of friends to play alongside in the game. Unlike a squad, the outfit will feature a stable membership across play sessions. An outfit can be considered the equivalent of a clan or a guild in other games.

What about cheaters and griefers?
Systems are put into place on both of these fronts to help prevent gamers from being too big of a thorn in their own empire's side. If a player injures other members of his or her own empire, that player will begin to accrue grief points. As the grief points add up, the grief player will begin receiving certain disadvantages. At lower levels, he or she will not be able to fire weapons or drive vehicles at higher than 10% of its top speed. If the player manages to gain more grief points, the penalties will become more severe, up to and including suspension or permanent expulsion from the game.

We also have systems designed to nail down cheaters. More details on these will be publicized later.