Sony Online Entertainment Updates Planetside

New Content, Gameplay Have Impact in Online World

Several weeks ago, Sony Online Entertainment announced future plans for PlanetSide and started on the never-ending journey of continually adding content and gameplay. The Liberator bomber and the SkyGuard anti-aircraft buggy have had a huge impact on battle conditions across Auraxis. Commanders are now able to rain destruction on their enemies through the Orbital Strike and EMP Blast. Medics are now able to locate soldiers that need their help easier.

In the next few weeks, SOE will be shaking up the base capture process by introducing a Capture the Flag system. In order to successfully capture a base, rather than waiting inside the base's sphere of influence for the capture process to count down, players will need to capture a base's Lattice Logic Unit and deliver it to one of their nearest facilities.

In the month of August, SOE will be finishing up the long-awaited Facility Link Benefits across the world. As described previously, these include the following:

• Bio Laboratory: Reduces all respawn penalties by 50%, at linked facilities only. (Not Towers and not AMSs.)

• Technology Plant: Makes "advanced" vehicles available at all vehicle pads linked to a friendly Tech Plant.

• Amp Station: Allows vehicles to recharge their shield capacitors in the courtyard of any linked facilities. This shield strengthens the armor of the vehicle, but dissipates as damage hits that shield. Vehicles recharge over time when in a linked courtyard, and only dissipate energy when damaged. There is no way to recharge a shield capacitor "in the field."

• Dropship Center: Allows access to Repair/Rearm Pads at linked facilities. Air vehicles can now land on the air vehicle pads and ground vehicles can pull up to a wall station in the courtyards. Once there, the vehicles can repair themselves over time, as well as access a terminal interface based on the Equipment Terminal that allows them to fill their trunk space without leaving the vehicle.

• Interlink Facility: Greatly enhances the coverage area of your basic radar and makes your Phalanx Wall Turrets much more effective.

In addition, SOE will be implementing the Base Ownership System. This will allow Outfits to stake their claim on a friendly base and claim certain benefits. Outfits will be able to quickly recall to owned bases, similar to recalling to Sanctuary. The Outfit owned base will always be available as a respawn point to players on the same continent, regardless of their proximity to it. Of course, controlling your own turf isn't half as cool if nobody knows it's yours, so enemies will be given warnings of who they are about to attack once they entered an Outfit-owned SOI. The Outfit's logo will appear on the Empire hologram flag and be visible over the base SOI on the Continental Map.

To help those brave soldiers who choose to stay behind and defend their Empire's facility holdings, there will be an Enemy Density Warning. Soldiers in a friend SOI will be alerted when enemy forces begin to build up near the facility.

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