Windows Planetside goes free

My personally most loved online FPS, Planetside, has a free to play for 12 months program going on at the moment so if you ever wondered what a sci-fi MMOFPS is like then hop on over to http://www.planetside.com and download the client.
It's 2GB and the program runs for 12 months from the 24th March 2006 till 24th March 2007.

You are limited in battle rank and command rank which limits the ammount of weapon/vheicle abilities you can use but the planetside site will explain a little more.
The program is open only to new users only so ex-subscribers have to make a new SOE account.

I will also warn everyone its not a graphical feast as its about 5 years old but it's pretty good fun imo though ill put on the flame proof suit now
Check out this fan made video for it over here to see a little about what you are in for.

Damn I sound like an SOE advert

 

Cool, might have to give this a try.

 

Forgot to mention, the best server for europeans is Werner due to if being located in Amsterdam.

I play on the side of the New Conglomerate, though I've just started a new char on the same side via the reservs program because I can't afford my normal sub right now

 

Indeed you do

 

Ooo have to check that out when I go home next weekend, ta very much for the heads up

 

Dunno why Planetside didn't really blow up. I thought it was a great idea. I played it for a few months when it released and It was a Blast. I was part of the 666th "Devil Dogs" Special Operations Outfit in their Air Squadron . I loved that game. Especially when we got into massive Air Battles.

Sadly I ended up cancelling due the loss of interest (it was a great idea but just didn't hold up well in the long run to me).

 

Ooo i might try it

 

I'll give that a try I will. It seems Anarchy Online might have started a very good thing, ad-supported free versions of games, and paid versions that allow you to be better, have better weapons and tools, etc.

Tis good stuff.

 

I think SOE spent 2-3 years making it then as soon as it became obvious the game wasn't getting hundreds of thousands of subscribers imediately, switched to a minimal development team, personally I feel had they kept developing the game it could have been a big success, but as it was, there just wasn't quite enough of it there to stay interesting for most.
(I picked it up just after core combat launched, played occasionally up untill last november, when what SOE did to SWG (Which I'd just started playing a month before) shattered any and all faith I may have had in SOE, so canceled them both)

 

Nice find

I used to play it a while back, it's a good game but like Bladestorm says it didn't get the development it needed. I think it was too far ahead of the industry in some ways, I think if they were to keep the core elements of the game and re-release it with up to date graphics and gameplay they would have a winner

TBH I think a lot of FPS games will be going in this direction in the next few years.


Unofficial Bit-Tech outfit anyone?

 

I'll definitely have to try this game out. I really wanted to when it came out, but I don't like to have to pay a monthly subscription.

 

Agreed. Just downloaded it last night. Seems pretty fun, but I'm still trying to figure everything out.

 

anyone got a link to the download page? or how to get the thing? i keep getting asked for cash

 

I think you can click on Join Free on the title bar at the top or Click on the Joint eh Reserves dogtag in the top left.

 

This looks like it's going to be great fun...

Always had a problem with enjoying MMO's properly because my friends never played them because you had to pay a subscription and nobody except the hardcore gamer (me, lol) bothered. However, now it's free I'm going to be able to enjoy it the lads properly and it's going to be mighty fun.

 

Well, If any of you lot end up playing on Werner, and New Conglomerate, be sure to look out for some Easy Company members or if "Vangellis" is about (leader of our clan) then give him a shout. We will try and help you out or you can squad up or what ever..

Im BioSniper3 on there right now.. as its my 3rd char

 

It's a shame that this doesn't apply to previous users, or else I'd be back in a heartbeat. I played PS for over a year, and the only reason I left was I simply got tired of it and the whole BFR debate. It reminds me of the "good old days" if they can be called that, back when SOE was pretty good MMO-wise. I'd probably say it was (and still might be) the best MMO I've ever played, and one of the only ones to encorporate the MMO and FPS aspects as seamlessly as they did. It had vehicles, both land and air and some sea way before BF2 was written and the gameplay was really really great overall. I'd certainly encourage anyone to try it out. I used to play as HapeMask (BR20 CR4.8) on Emerald (outfit was HMX-1, one of the largest outfits on the server IIRC) if there's any old players still here On second thought, seeing as it's free, I might as well grab it again.

 

Me and my old roommate used to hunker down with stashes of snacks and play this for days at a time in the summer. I will be jumpin on this as soon as I can.

 

HapeMask: I decided to use reserves to play for free as right now I just cant afford to pay a sub, its alright so long as you make another account but you are still limited to BR6 CR2 on a reservist account.
BFR's are nerfed to death now (flight variant has no shields in flight and 9 Deci's kills one) too though still pretty useful if used in the right situation.

But I know what you mean

 

Why do they make it so hard to get the game for free, I can't find out where to actually dl the client from without paying for it

So either I'm blind, or it isn't actually a *free* trial atall.

could someone kindly point me in the right direction?

I already registered a 'Station' account, similar to steam, as in a platform for which all Sony games run off, or so I hear..)

Cheers,