Filed under: PlanetSide

The only thing I can tell you for sure about the gameplay in PlanetSide is that it seems to be a battle that is constantly on recycle. You take over a base, and the enemy takes over another. You shoot a dozen enemies, and they shoot a dozen of yours. You get shot out of the sky, then you mount a gun and blow someone else out of the air. It's never-ending, an endless war over territory and pride. This is all the technical stuff.

Why are we fighting? I have no idea. I'm sure there is plenty of lore on the website or wiki, some fantastic explanation for what exactly my motive is in getting myself murdered over and over, but honestly I don't care. I have played PlanetSide off and on over the past several years, and I just needed to play it at this time. The week prior was a rough one, filled with glitchy games and articles that did not come out exactly how I wanted them to. It was, for a stay-at-home writer, a rough week. I needed PlanetSide to give me some fun. Some real, tangible, tasty, blow-'em-up fun.

Click past the cut and I'll tell you what I found.

News of PlanetSide Next has been scarcer than we'd like of late, so it was with marked interest that we devoured the preview of a new producer letter from Sony Online Entertainment's Andrew Sites. PlanetSide Universe has the early scoop on the document, which alludes to an expansion of the PlanetSide sequel's development roster to include "several team members from the original PlanetSide art, design, and code team."

While Sites doesn't name names or offer much in the way of additional details, he does tease the fact that future producer letters will introduce both team members and game features, beginning with the next update.

Paying for subscriptions with a credit card is definitely fast and easy, but if you're a regular Sony Online Entertainment game subscriber, you might want to consider switching to a game time card this month! As a way of rewarding players for picking up and paying with universal game cards, Sony Online Entertainment is giving players $10 worth of Station Cash (1,000 SC) just for redeeming a $15 universal game card. The nice thing about these cards? They can be redeemed for either a month's subscription to an SOE game or 1,500 Station Cash. However, to get the bonus cash, you'll have to redeem your card between 3:10 a.m. EDT (12:10 a.m. PDT) on March 17th and 2:59 a.m. on March 21st (11:59 p.m. PDT on March 20th).

Along with getting an extra Station Cash reward for using a universal game card during those days, players will be entered into SOE's Luck of the Irish sweepstakes, the details of which should be out sometime this week. We'd also note that SOE's disclaimer indicates that the promotion is only available to gamers in the United States/District of Columbia and excludes Puerto Rico and other outlying territories. Keep your eye on the forums or the SOE Facebook account for all the sweepstakes information and official rules.

While war itself is a hellish, nasty activity that we'd be better off without, there's always been something compelling about playing war as both kids and adults. When you strip war of death and suffering, the play version can become downright compelling as we get engrossed in tales of heroics, deep strategies, risky gambits, and clear-cut victories. It's why we invest so much time in simulating war throughout our lives -- in snowball fights, toy soldiers, laser tag, and MMOs.

For the soldiers of PlanetSide, the war has been raging for over eight years now with no end in sight, and that's just fine with everyone involved. The game was designed to be a perpetual struggle between military forces -- not due to politics or prejudice but simply for the love of the fight.

In the year or so I've been writing this column, I've never seen so many people come forward when asked to share their experiences with an MMO as have done for PlanetSide. There's definitely something compelling and unique about this MMOFPS that's become a dear part of many gamers' memories, and I'm pleased to be sharing those stories with you today. Hit the jump for the glory, trooper!

Famous PvPer George S. Patton once said that "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other n00b die for his." We here at Game Archaeologist University applaud that line of thinking, especially when we want to be entertained. This perhaps explains the long-lasting appeal of PlanetSide. Another working theory is that Sony Online Entertainment is into witchcraft.

For an MMO I never gave much of a thought past "Huh, that's still around?" PlanetSide's surprised me with such a loyal -- and literate -- playerbase. Ever since starting this column, I've never received so many emails about an MMO. Memories and fearless love run strong in this community, and that intrigues me. What have I overlooked? Has PlanetSide proven that our ancestors' DNA contained the hybrid FPS/MMO gene, a gene that was passed down to a select group of winners?

In my quest to unwrap the formula of cult success, I first paid a visit to the folks over at PlanetSide Universe, one of the most established PlanetSide fan sites on the web. Hit the jump to have your mind blown -- and your internal organs donated against your will by a rocket launcher!

He's tough, he's gruff, and he ain't going down without a fight: This is the Terran Republic Soldier in PlanetSide Next. While we've seen a number of vehicle models for the upcoming MMOFPS, this is the first PlanetSide Next character model to grace the public domain.

SOE has been using fansite PlanetSide Universe to promote the game by passing along exclusive pictures, although the studio has remained tight-lipped about the project as a whole (and has yet to release a PlanetSide Next website). The character model here -- a grim, dark-eyed soldier with a buzz cut -- shows a much higher level of detail and resolution than PlanetSide's current avatars. The red, black and grey color scheme puts the Terran Republic in somewhat of a sinister light.

You can catch up on all of the revealed pictures of PlanetSide Next in the gallery below.

How close is this game to release? Planetside Next is dropping images, images, and more images. Now, Sony Online Entertainment released yet another exclusive image to the Planetside Universe fan site. However, we are just teased again. Fans scarcely have any information on what seems to be the next release from SOE, but there is some hope. Planetside Universe promises to have another exclusive on the Auraxis Global Network tomorrow, February 12th, at 8 p.m. EST.

One thing can be said about this teaser: this is definitely the Mosquito. Some fans questioned if last Friday's reveal of the Reaver may have been the Planetside Next answer to the the original Planetside hover-copter. Now players will be sure to know what vehicle just blasted through their armor. It is always a comfort to know exactly what shot you before you die.

Buzz on over to the official forums or make a note in the comments below to speak your mind about the next evolution of this game.

[Thank you Kyle for the tip!]

Unlike fantasy, the sci-fi genre has had a rocky relationship with MMORPGs. While studios have tried just as hard to make and promote them, there seems to be a curse that hovers over most of these games. From the canceled (Earth & Beyond, The Matrix Online, Tabula Rasa) to the radically retinkered (Star Wars Galaxies) to the relatively niche (Anarchy Online, Star Trek Online), sci-fi struggles to be seen as relevant and embraced as its bigger brother. That isn't to say that these games or the genre is worthless, just that it's a harder sell to both investors and players to throw players into the future than the mythical past. Fortunately, the industry hasn't given up on these games, and some of these titles -- such as EVE Online -- have proven that they're worth pursuing.

And if science fiction is a difficult sell, first-person shooters are doubly difficult in the MMO space. After all, it's not as though the world is suffering a shortage of FPS titles that can be played without a monthly subscription. To convince players to part with a monthly payment, the studio has to make a powerful, compelling case as to why its MMOFPS is worthy of that premium price.

Enter PlanetSide, circa 2003. While sci-fi MMOs, multi-faction PvP and online shooters had been done separately at that point, PlanetSide stepped up to the plate to combine all three into a persistent war on an alien planet. Due to popular demand, this month we'll be setting our sights to the far reaches of the galaxy and beyond as we explore one of the more unique MMOs in existence.

Today let's take a look at what made PlanetSide a unique twinkle in SOE's eyes by counting down the highlights of this futuristic war.

For a new MMO that's supposedly launching this year, we've heard precious little about the tentatively titled PlanetSide Next so far. Today, our knowledge grows by an inch as PlanetSide Universe got its hands on an exclusive picture of one of the new ships of the game, the Reaver.

Like the ships in other screenshots we've seen, this is a model and not necessarily representative of the actual vehicle in-game. Still, it definitely looks like it means business, and evokes the image of modern attack helicopters minus the rotor blades.

SOE's John Smedley has talked up this MMO sequel as having "massive battles on a scale no other FPS will touch." The studio is looking at late Q1/early Q2 2011 for a release window for the game. The first beta testers will be current PlanetSide players, so if you want to get a look at the future, it may behoove you to jump on board the present.

Oh John Smedley, you coy devil! The enterprising Sony Online Entertainment bossman has dropped another PlanetSide Next tease bomb on the frothing faithful, this time in the form of a new concept model from the upcoming massively multiplayer shooter.

Fans of the original PlanetSide will no doubt remember the Galaxy heavy troop transport, and an updated version of the model is now viewable along with the previously released image of what appears to be a New Conglomerate tank. The Galaxy ship was a gargantuan heavy hauler, capable of stuffing nine infantry and two MAX (Mechanized Armored Exo-Suit) units into its ample cargo hold.

Fan website PlanetSide Universe notes that this is a preliminary model and not an in-game asset, and the site also managed to get a tiny bit of additional info from Smedley regarding the reveal. "The Galaxy plays an even more pivotal role in the new game," he told the website, while his Twitter announcement is a decidedly more cryptic "I love me some Galaxy!"

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

John Smedley, the President of Sony Online Entertainment, is a big tease. Players are clamoring for information about all the new games SOE is releasing this year: DC Universe Online just released, but fans already want to know more about the promised monthly updates. We're all looking forward to The Agency, which has been quiet for about nine months and is rumored to come out this year. Then there's PlanetSide Next, which seems to be on the tip of Smedley's tongue, too. His hints about beta testing suggest the game will launch this year as well.

Imagine the speculation that erupted when Smedley tweeted, "NC ftw!" then a link to the picture above. What does it mean? We suspect "NC" stands for "New Conglomerate" from PlanetSide. Is that a New Conglomerate tank? It has to be; Rock, Paper, Shotgun agrees. Is Smedley teasing us with the idea that we can battle in tanks in PlanetSide Next? We can only hope so. It looks like SOE's got some exciting things planned for us in the coming year!

Big things are happening at SOE these days, and whether you're talking about the newly minted DC Universe Online or the company's PlanetSide followup and spy-centric The Agency, it's an exciting time to be a fan. Eurogamer brings us a bit of info regarding potential release windows for both PlanetSide Next and The Agency, and the former looks to be gracing our desktops much sooner than we expected given the general lack of information to date.

"We're looking at late first quarter, early second quarter [2011]," says SOE head honcho John Smedley in regard to the long-awaited PlanetSide sequel. Players will have to wait a bit longer to get their espionage fix, as The Agency is still slated to arrive "late this year."

Why so long? It boils down to SOE's desire to differentiate itself from the competition. "There's some stuff coming out in the next two or three months, MMO-wise, and a lot of it is generic copycats of other games," Smedley tells Eurogamer. He also talks a bit about the impending arrival of Free Realms on the Playstation 3, intimating that the free-to-play title will spread its console wings in early February.

All of our readers have their favorite MMOs -- and their favorite events in those MMOs. With that said, this has to be one of the more unique event occurrences in a game we've seen to date. Today's image comes to us from Captain1nsaneo, who loves to play Sony Online Entertainment's MMOFPS, PlanetSide. Not sure what those odd things are in the foreground? We'll let him explain:

"This is from PlanetSide, the best MMOG ever made (totally unbiased). This was from an 'event' where the backpacks left behind when players died were replaced with pie, cake, or donuts depending on which faction the deceased belonged to."

Or as his PlanetSide character put it: "Sure it's made of people. But I think you're overlooking the most important fact here: it's delicious."

We love to see strange and funny things going on around the MMOGsphere. If you've captured an image of a funny moment in your favorite MMO, you should email it to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy, and give you the credit!

The clock is still ticking. In less than a week, something happens in the world of Planetside. Something what? We honestly have no idea, although the quickly-ticking countdown clock on Planetside's website teases the mind. We've been watching this clock for a little while now, and the only hint that SOE will give about it is that it is "anniversary related."

Planetside recently posted a new comic as part of this countdown, where a mysterious figure cackles over obtaining nanites in preparation for converting them. Into what? We still have no idea! It won't stop players from speculating, of course. Stay tuned, as we'll find out when the countdown hits zero in about a week.

Last we checked, PlanetSide was up and running. The game's not still in beta, no announcements of anything imminent on the way, right? Well, maybe not.

Sony Online Entertainment added something to the PlanetSide site this evening with no fanfare or announcements of any sort: a countdown clock and a comic. The countdown clock currently sits at 18 days, 6 hours, and a whole bunch of minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. The comic is set "in a secret laboratory high above the mountains of Searhus" and features the familiar Big Red Button in the last panel.

So what happens when that big red button gets pushed? Well, let's get the obvious guess out of the way first. The game is approaching its seventh birthday, so it's the right time of year for a big announcement of some sort or another. We'll keep our eyes peeled for more information, and in the meantime feel free to join in the forum discussion thread about what this could all mean.