PlanetSide 2 News

[MARCH 4 EDIT: The schedule below has been updated to include today's playtests at 11AM PST and 4PM PST]

The Escalation Game Update is nearly upon us! Join us on the Public Test Server (PTS) this week for one *final* series of playtests during the times below and help us ready this massive update to roll out on Live servers:  

• Tuesday, March 4: 11:00 AM PST - 1:00 PM PST (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM GMT)
  
• Wednesday, March 4: 4:00 PM PST - 6:00 PM PST (12:00 AM - 2:00 AM GMT)
  

As a thank you for your participation, we're bringing back the Analyst Helmet (good for all VS/NC/TR characters) for everyone who logins during either playtest*! We need concentrated bodies to truly Test at scale - that means you! - and will grant the reward to participating accounts shortly after both playtests conclude.

If you're downloading the Public Test Server (PTS) for the first time, check out our Test server policies and how to patch here. We'll see you planetside soon, soldier!

*Note: Be sure to login to Test using the same account as you login to Live (aka the main game) as that account will be granted the item. You'll get access to the helmet for all characters (VS/NC/TR) on Live regardless of what faction you play on Test.

[h3]DEVELOPER UPDATE: Tuesday, March 3 (Patch Notes)[/h3]

Just a reminder that we are running a playtest today at 4PM PST the Public Test Server (PTS). The build is scheduled to publish to PTS at 12PM PST and will unlock once completed. Below are the changes going into today's new build:

Bastion

• Bastion attack waypoints no longer persist after the Bastion is destroyed.
  
• Fixed an issue where multiple Bastions from the same faction could be present at the same time.
  
• Added a transitional screen effect when launching from the Bastion into an Interceptor.
  
• Added more descriptive names to Interceptor ESF variants.
  
• Weakpoint explosions should now be easier to see on low graphical settings.
  
• Bastion vehicle stats now have the expected information on the My Profile screen.
  

War Assets

• Orbital Strikes now have updated visuals.
  
• Adjusted sorting of Waypoint right-click menu.
  
• ANVILs now use faction-specific colors.
  
• New Outfit members now properly see the status of War Asset crafting that was in progress when they joined the Outfit.
  

Misc.

• Fixed a UI issue that could cause periodic framerate hitches for some players.
  
• Test-server-only bundle for free outfit resources has been added back to the Sanctuary resource vendor.
  
• Audio stingers no longer mute Sanctuary’s environment music when they’re done playing.
  
• Fixed Sanctuary description on the World Map screen.
  
• The Flail now uses the correct icon.
  
• Fixed blue squares incorrectly appearing on the map and minimap for multiple Amp Stations across all continents.
  
• Drop Pods now properly display visuals and audio for remote clients.
  

Depending on today's results, we may prepare another build for tomorrow's playtest at 11 AM PST / 7 PM GMT for our EU region players to participate. Also, all participants will receive the Analyst Helmet for joining at the specified times. They will be granted within a few days after the playtests.

I know I've said this many times, but THANK YOU SO MUCH for your patience and help continuing to refine the Escalation update.

-Andy

Hey everyone,

I want to provide a quick update on the current state of the Escalation launch.

Based on community feedback from our playtests this week on the Public Test Server (PTS), we've identified a small handful of issues we feel are critical to address before launch. While we've been making good progress fixing critical bugs and improving performance and client/server stability, the Escalation launch date is still a day-to-day decision. Once we are able to conduct multiple playtests on PTS at scale, and confirm the issues above have been resolved, we will greenlight the update to Live servers. 

Your participation in these playtests is and has been critical - I can't tell you how much we appreciate your willingness to jump in on short notice and help us. In the interest of full transparency, we'll continue to regularly update this page until we go Live so that everyone in the community is fully aware of the launch status and timing.

Thanks,

Andy Sites
Executive Producer, PlanetSide 2

[h3]UPDATE - February 28, 2020[/h3]
The team just completed the publish of a new build to the Public Test Server (PTS) and servers have been unlocked. Please patch up and report any critical issues that you may encounter.

We will be monitoring feedback over the weekend and publishing any necessary fixes to PTS on Monday or early Tuesday. If the build is looking solid by early next week, we plan to conduct two larger-scale public playtests by mid-week to confirm whether or not its ready to go Live.

Today's changes below:

[h3]Bastion[/h3]

• Deployables (such as Turrets) can no longer be placed on Bastion weakpoints
  
• Flak Cannon rounds now damage Bastions
  
• Increased amount of damage Orbital Strike does to Bastions
  
• Fixed a rare client crash that could occur when a Bastion that a player is controlling is turning
  

[h3]Sanctuary[/h3]

• Optimized spotlights in Sanctuary for performance
  
• Adjusted how sections of Sanctuary for performance
  
• Sanctuary resource vendors no longer incorrectly preview a gun model if the user has nothing to trade
  

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that caused the last Orbital Strike in your Armory to occasionally be a dud
  
• Increased the maximum flight height on Indar by 10%
  
• Fixed Desolation world map using the wrong icon and description
  
• Outfit War time and date is now displayed correctly
  
• Added feedback to Black Market vendor purchases, which should prevent accidental repeat purchases
  
• Empire Strength scoring is no longer shown when a Meltdown Alert is active
  
• Fixed numerous minor UI issues
  
• Fixed a physics crash that was occurring for some players
  

Members, your double XP weekend starts today!

And stay frosty next week: Escalation is coming to PC on Wednesday, February 26! We'll be celebrating this massive game update with more goodies to come...stay tuned!

The Public Test Server (PTS) will be taken offline on Friday, February 21 at 2:30 PM PST (10:30 PM GMT) to bring you the newest Test update. Estimated downtime is 2 hours.



(See here for more information about the upcoming Escalation game update, which launches on live PC servers next Wednesday, February 26)

• Mid-continent events (Aerial Anomalies, Maximum Pressure, etc,) have been removed.
  
• Territory control of 41% now awards 5 Empire Strength.
  
• Territory control of 44% provides an additional 5 Empire Strength, and this effect also occurs at 48%, 52%, 56% and 60% territory.
  
• While a Bastion Fleet Carrier is hovering over contested territory, the faction will earn progress toward unlocking 15 Empire Strength. This process takes roughly 17 minutes to complete, and progress made toward this objective is not depleted when the Bastion is destroyed.
  
• Eisa Tech Plant (Esamir) Empire Strength benefit from 30 to 25.
  
• The Ascent (Amerish) Empire Strength benefit from 15 to 25.
  
• The Crown (Indar) Empire Strength benefit from 15 to 25.
  

Dev Note: This is a first pass at the new continent progression, and we will be making adjustments and doing some UI cleanup here in the future. Bastion power projection will earn Empire Strength more quickly and in smaller chunks, instead of the lump sum we're sending to PTS, in a later update. There will also likely need to be more tuning done post-launch to ensure continents don't feel like they're rotating too quickly, or inversely, feel like they're relying on a Bastion to appear every continent.

• When a Meltdown alert triggers, the faction that started the alert will receive an immediate 5x tick of resources from bases they own.
  
• When a Meltdown alert ends, the faction that won the alert will receive an immediate 5x tick of resources from bases they own.
  
• Unstable Meltdown alerts do the same, but with only a 2x tick of resources from bases owned.
  
• At the end of the alert, all outfit ownership is wiped.
  

Dev Note: These notes were removed from the previous PTS update as the system seemed bugged. These effects should be properly working now though, please report any issues you find.



Movement

• Bastion will now rotate in place towards its movement waypoint and won’t move forward until it is facing that direction.
  
• Rotation speed has been increased a few degrees per second.
  
• Flying too close to the mountain range of The Ascent on Amerish will now push the Bastion away from it.
  
• Bastion no longer pitches up and down while ascending or descending, and instead remains level.
  
• Movement waypoints will now be rejected if placed too close to Bastion's current position.
  
• Fixed various movement related issues and exploits.
  

Weapons, Softpoints, Response Fighters

• Weakpoints now have much more health, and have been given a shield bar that regenerates up to 25% of their total health pool while out of combat.
  
• Weakpoints should now always properly despawn when the Bastion does.
  
• Mauler (waypoint controlled) turrets are now much more powerful, and deal damage in a larger area.
  
• Mauler (waypoint controlled) turrets should now always correctly face the direction of their shots.
  
• Turrets now have new cameras that showcase the weapons more, and turret angles have been increased.
  
• Response Fighters (Interceptors) are now specialty ESF loadouts, fitted with an ejection seat, rank 1 composite armor, rank 1 decoy flares, quick-recharge fuel tanks, and default nosegun variants with higher magazine size.
  
• NSO characters will now eject themselves into the Interceptors of their currently assigned faction.
  
• We're leaving the door open to do more with these Interceptor variants in the future (including the possibility of customizing them personally).
  

Misc. Bastion Changes

• Fixed an issue where Bastion could get into a bad state when the user summons a different vehicle as the Bastion spawns.
  
• Bastion Terminals can no longer be interacted with while continents are Unstable.
  
• Bastion icon no longer pops in and out when it is on the edge of the minimap.
  
• Captains have received new first and third person Bastion cameras.
  
• Going out of bounds with a Bastion will now destroy it.
  
• Removed extraneous collision from the Bastion model.
  

Environment

• Fixed numerous geometry, visibility, and texture issues in Sanctuary.
  
• Work continues on the outer ring of Sanctuary.
  
• Skybox has received significant visual changes.
  

Vendor Changes

• Nascent Expeditions Rep. now properly deducts resources you trade to her, and we've added a TEST SERVER ONLY item that will instantly restock all outfit resources when purchased.
  
• Expedition Coordinator will notify players when "the boys are on expedition" if the player has no completed expeditions available for debrief.
  
• Nascent Expeditions Rep. and Expedition Coordinator now reject players who aren't in an outfit or don't have Expedition Asset Use permissions.
  

• Upon completion of the Outfit War alert, the continent is now locked to the victorious faction, and players are booted 30 seconds after.
  
• Placeholder particle effects have been added on continent lock at every obelisk location. In the future these will be more thematic, and better showcase an outfit's victory.
  
• The victorious outfit now receives a free Bastion Fleet Carrier if they do not have one already stocked.
  
• Fixed significant graphical issues in Desolation, particularly in the Command Centers.
  

• Merit balance now updates dynamically on Vendor screens.
  
• Players will no longer become stuck if in the rumble seat of a Flash XS-1 as it despawns
  
• The Flash XS-1 can now be driven out of the Warpgate area if initially summoned there.
  
• Unlock button now changes to “Unlocked” after user reaches the inventory cap on Flash XS-1.
  
• You can no longer start crafting Bastion components if you already have a Bastion Fleet Carrier stocked or under construction.
  
• Expeditions can now only be crafted one at a time.
  
• Biolab snowy visuals have been reverted.
  
• War Assets now use "realistic" values more akin to how they'll be on Live, and the timers remain low for TEST SERVER ONLY.
  

• Bastion can get into a state where it’s collision or location in the world appears differently for separate players.
  
• A.N.V.I.L. collision may stay in place if players are atop it, and will disappear only when they leave.
  
• Sanctuary's framerate issues are still being looked into.
  

The Public Test Server (PTS) will be taken offline on Friday, February 14 at 3:00 PM PST (11:00 PM GMT) to bring you the newest Escalation Test update. 

Thank you everyone for helping us test the upcoming Escalation game update on PTS! We're continuing to gather community feedback, make improvements and fixes, and add additional polish to each major feature, which should be reflected in the large update we're pushing today to the the Test Server. Today's patch should have most of the major structures in place, including an accelerated Outfit Wars loop that will allow players to freely participate in tournaments on PTS.

Read on for full patch notes:

Outfit Wars is now available for public testing! As shown on our recent livestreams, Outfits will be able to participate in a special competitive event that pits top-scoring Outfits against one another (read here for an Outfit Wars breakdown). On the Public Test Server, players will need to create new Outfits (or join ones that already exist there) in order to participate. Only Outfit members that qualify and place in the brackets will be eligible to join the War.

Outfit Wars matches have now been enabled on a recurring schedule. There will be two Outfit Wars that take place each day (EU and NA primetime), starting tomorrow, Saturday February 15, and running through Tuesday, February 18. They will follow the schedule below:

First Outfit War:

• Opt-In Phase Begins: 8:00 AM PST / 4:00 PM GMT    
  
• Outfits must opt-in during this phase by using the Outfit Wars tab.
  
• Qualify Phase Begins: 11:00 AM PST / 7:00 PM GMT    
  
• At least one base must be captured in order to earn points during the Qualify phase.
  
• Preparation Phase Begins: 11:30 AM PST / 7:30 PM GMT   
  
• This phase is meant to allow players to let their Outfits know that they've successfully qualified for a match.
  
• War Phase Begins: 12:00 PM PST  / 8:00 PM GMT  
  
• When this phase is active, Desolation will be unlocked, and the game mode will go through its routine.
  

Second Outfit War:

• Opt-In Phase Begins: 3:00 PM PST / 11:00 PM GMT    
  
• Outfits must opt-in during this phase by using the Outfit Wars tab.
  
• Qualify Phase Begins: 6:00 PM PST / 2:00 AM GMT    
  
• At least one base must be captured in order to earn points during the Qualify phase.
  
• Preparation Phase Begins: 6:30 PM PST / 2:30 AM GMT   
  
• This phase is meant to allow players to let their Outfits know that they've successfully qualified for a match.
  
• War Phase Begins: 7:00 PM PST / 3:00 AM GMT   
  
• When this phase is active, Desolation will be unlocked, and the game mode will go through its routine.
  

Outfit Wars Scoring has been adjusted as well.

• Facilities and Large Outposts are now worth 15 points on capture, and 6 points per 5-minute tick.
  
• Small Outposts and Construction bases are now worth 5 points on capture, and 2 points per 5-minute tick.
  

• The "Nascent Expeditions Representative" in the center shop will now allow you to "trade" resources with her. While on Test Server, resources will not be deducted at this vendor, so if you need more Outfit resources for crafting, you can gain them from her.
  
• From the "Outfit Vendor" in the right shop, players can purchase a consumable / deployable flash that is equippable in the Utility Slot (for now.) The "Flash XS-1" is available for Merit, and must be restocked on-board Sanctuary when you've run out.
  
• Collision with enemy players has been removed in this zone.
  
• We've made numerous geometry fixes, and have added ways to get out of some of the pits players could get stuck in, like the one near the Atrium window.
  
• The patrolling Bastion beyond the Atrium window has modified visuals (no contrails, more docile engines,) and the audio has been removed.
  
• Shop icons have been added to the Sanctuary minimap.
  
• The "Expedition Coordinator" in the center shop will now be more responsive based on the state of your expeditions being crafted/finished in the Outfit armory.
  
• Updated visuals of Equipment Terminals.
  
• An initial blockout (a blockout is a rough form with very little detail) of the external structure that orbits Sanctuary's hub will now be visible from the various windows aboard Sanctuary.
  

• Capturing Small Outposts now grants 5 Auraxium to any participating Outfit.
  
• Capturing Large Outposts and Facilities now grants 25 Auraxium to any participating Outfit.
  
• Owning bases with your Outfit still provides the tick rates shown on the map. Ticks occur every 5 minutes.
  

• Various terrain and cover adjustments have been made. This zone is still very much a work in progress.
  
• Vehicle and Air pads have had their visuals converted to Construction-style structures, and we've reduced the number available to two of each.
  
• Currently, each pad has its own Cortium supply with which to pull vehicles from, but in later updates we'll be adding a main Silo structure which fuels all pads, similar to the normal construction system.
  
• Nanite recovery in this zone is still broken, and will be fixed in a later update.
  
• This zone no longer appears unlocked when it is unavailable.
  
• Relic H is now properly connected to the Warpgates.
  

• Bastion no longer moves or fires without active waypoints, and waypoints will be removed when the Captain exits the Captain's seat.
  
• Bastions now require four separate War Asset components to be crafted before the Bastion itself.
  
• Captains no longer receive grief points when allies are damaged by running into the vehicle.
  
• Interacting with the Bastion preview model in the terminal no longer causes framerate drops.
  
• Bastion map icon no longer detaches itself from the player's map indicator.
  
• Players can now redeploy into a Bastion despite leaving and re-entering the zone.
  
• NSO characters can no longer deploy into Bastions belonging to other players.
  

• Six more Expedition types have been added to the War Asset menu. In the future, only one Expedition will be active at a time.
  
• A.N.V.I.L. no longer floats above the ground for some players.
  
• A.N.V.I.L. now reserves its landing area, preventing players and vehicles from clipping into them before it lands.
  
• A.N.V.I.L. waypoints will now reject placement if they are placed too close to a vehicle or player.
  
• Citadel Shield no longer enters a state where its bubble can stay up indefinitely.
  
• Outfit Name has been added to the Home screen.
  
• Improved the UI feedback for buttons in this screen. It should now be more obvious why something can or can't be crafted.
  
• Steel Rain no longer pulls players out of vehicles.
  

• Optimized the HUD health elements to reduce framerate spikes.
  
• Fixed an issue causing players to be unable to Warp to other continents through the map screen.
  
• A7 currency no longer resets when the player logs out.
  
• Cycling through weapons in Sanctuary no longer causes audio spam.
  
• Cortium icon is no longer missing from the Construction terminal.
  

• A minimum of three Outfits are required to qualify for a full match in the War Phase.  Get organized!
  
• If a spawned Flash XS-1 is despawned (via the owner re-deploying), if a player is in the rumble seat they will become unable to move.
  
• There are some visibility issues in some of the interior structures (Command Centers) in the Desolation map. As a result, terrain geometry will disappear when inside them.