Planetside 2 is a thing, a beautiful, addictive, mind-expanding thing, which is apt as, according to SOE’s CEO John Smedley, large features of its design were inspired by the universe in a box, EVE Online.
Smedley was talking with prominent EVE player The_Mittani– it’s a short but sweet interview that’s well worth reading – about the effect his own play of EVE had had on SOE MMOFPS:
“My experiences as an Eve Player have had a huge impact on Planetside 2,” said Smedley, “the concept of Cert Points and the notion of gaining them offline came straight from there, although our system gives you points that are flexible and we also give you more experience when you’re online than off. Also our resource system started out very similar to Starcraft but it’s evolved a lot into something more akin to what Eve has. Right now it’s not going to get as much use as it will in the future when we allow player owned bases that require rare resources that players fight over. Right now we don’t have a market but that will come over time.”
We’ve been playing a fair bit of Planetside 2 beta round these parts – more on that soon – and it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Smedley’s been in deep with EVE. There’s a tone to the game that feels similar. Don’t get this wrong, they’re largely different games and both cater to different crowds but they both inspire awe in same manner. They give the impression of a vast network of humans playing together in a way that World of Warcraft and its ilk don’t. Again, more on that soon.
Smedleyexpandsa little on the player-owned bases – something that’s not appearing in the beta, and sounds as if it’s way off in the distance – “We’re going to make huge continents that are empty and have vast resources on them and players can fight it out and put down their own bases there and other players can come and obliterate them.”
Now, that sounds fun.