I Know You Planned It: PlanetSide 2 Gets Mission System

PlanetSide 2 has been very good (or at least very impressive) for quite some time, but no one can deny that it continues to be a work-in-progress. It's a massive, multicolored jelly bean bowl of coordinated carnage, yes, but when you're not rolling with friends or a full-blown outfit, the whole experience can be a bit aimless. The solution? Well, SOE seems to think it's a mission system, but that too is a work-in-progress. The imposingly named Phase One is now live.

Here's what PlanetSide 2's new mission system (currently) entails:

• Two types of Missions, which are automatically created by the system:
  • Attack missions are always created at any capturable enemy facility.
  • Defend missions will be created if there is significant enemy presence at a vulnerable friendly facility or a friendly facility is being contested. They will not end until that enemy presence has been removed and the facility is fully resecured. (The guy who keeps accidentally TKing you with C4 is not technically an enemy).
• Mission Assignment
  • Missions are automatically created and assigned based on proximity to capturable/contested facilities. Players wishing a different mission can go to the region of choice and the appropriate mission will be automatically assigned.
  • The closest mission to the player’s region by lattice-links is the primary selection logic, then action scoring if there is more than one. (If you didn't understand this, it's ok. It just means we are always going to point you in a direction that may get you killed.)
  • Players in vehicles (especially aircraft) will experience delays in mission assignment as a convenience to avoid rapid re-assignment spam while travelling around a continent. (Your Outfit leader however may continue to yell conflicting orders more quickly.)
• Squads & Missions
  • Players in a squad always inherit their squad leader’s mission. No action by the squad leader is necessary for this behavior.
  • The rules for squad leader mission assignment are the same as players not in a squad.
• Mission Rewards
  • Players in a squad that are in the area of their squad’s mission will receive a 15% experience bonus for staying together and participating in the squad’s mission. (Once again TKing the guy in the squad for improper C4 use does not get a bonus.)
  • There is currently no reward for completing a mission for this phase of the system.

No rewards! Hurrah! Seriously though, it's a pretty simplistic system at the moment, with waypoints guiding you to various locations for good old-fashioned blasting and capping. In the future, SOE hopes to add different rewards, more specific mission objectives, and maybe even class-based goals, but this core foundation is meant to keep players from eternally wandering the grim expanse that is confusion while muttering, "What do I do now?"

If all goes according to plan (hint: it often doesn't), SOE will upgrade the mission system based on feedback in April. What would you like to see out of it. SOUND OFF, SOLDIERS.