<finche> Can I have a OS gun?
<Raijinn> No

<Werner|Basti> Well, xahn, there is just one question: WIll be there a unbend? :)
<Xahn> That actually came up in a meeting yesterday. :) We haven't decided what we want to do or what we can do, but it's funny that you brought it up. It's definitely on our radar.

<Nobel> We need more players soon... or these other games will suck up all of currently planetsideplayers
<Xahn> We're actually looking at a number of ways to increase server numbers. A merge is planned, but I hesitate to talk about it till I have serious concrete details. One other thing we're thinking about is bringing back reserves.
<Xahn> We realize that without people to shoot at, the games not a ton of fun. :)

<GrandpaMojo> Why are powerful weapons given out based on character age? This gives out advantages to people based on an uncontrollable factor
<Raijinn> The weapons were initially done as an anniversary present for those long standing players. We will eventually allo you to acquire the the weapons similiar to how the HSR was initially done.

<Exovamp> what is the next vehicle u guys r gonna bring out?
<Xahn>We've got some new vehicles coming very soon, and you're just going to have to wait to see them. Be ready for Fan Faire, that's all I'm saying. :)

<finche> how big of a planetside event is going to be going on there?
<Raijinn> We're going to have a Laser Tag event and an extra special in game event with everyone in attendance.

<The-Q> Xahn - First of all, welcome. My question to you - what are the short and long term plans in general for Planetside. Are you aware of the current issues that trouble most planetside players?
[17:14] <Xahn>Our short term plans are basically to get all existing assets in the game as new content, get the population up and keep things interesting. Long term, we're developing a plan that'll give each "class" a roadmap for new things to do. Also, we've got some big long term plans that we're starting to work on, but they're going to take some time. You'll see a hint of it at Fan Faire though (or at least during).

<Moisty> are there going to be any new aircraft added?
<Raijinn> are there going to be any new aircraft added? - Yes

<HamoPope> Xahn, a question for you - What is your experience working with FPS games? I know we've had problems in the past where players feel that the devs don't understand the way the game should be run
<Xahn> I've never had a past of working on them per say, but I have been a FPS player all my life. From doom - unreal tourney - Quake - Counter Strike. But I've got a good MMO past with SWG, EQII, and also some EQ work I've done.
<Xahn> I'm a huge lover of FPS games, they're primarily what I play.

<Werner|Basti> Not including the Phantasm and Gal gunship Raijinn?
<Raijinn> What is this Phantasm and Gunship you speak of?

<Xahn> Ok, so those who want to know about bugs, I'm gonna type a decently long one. :)
<Xahn> After each update, we'll be addressing bugs for about 2 weeks (give or take) before we start working on new content or changes again. That way we have a plan for addressing legacy bugs that are driving you guys nuts. I know it's frustrating when you feel like bugs aren't being addressed, and I don't want oyu to have to feel that way.
<Xahn> And these bugs include things that have been around a while, to things more recently introduced.
<Xahn> So we're looking at between 1.5 to 2 months on our update schedule. This insures that we can get some bug fixes and some big content items that'll make a different in your play experience.
<Xahn> Oh, and one additional thing, we've got an update planned around Fan Faire for the first since I'm in command.
<Xahn> New implants are on the radar too. Right now I want to leverage the assets already done to get them in game, once that's done anything is fair game. :) I always thought implants were a cool part of the game, and could use some expanding.
<Xahn> I think right now the biggest plan is to bring back Reserves in one form or another. We've got some bigger plans for the servers, but I don't want to commit to anyhting till I can get all my ducks in a row. But the immediate plans are reserves. Specially since it's summer and more people have time. :)

<BloodyBear> What are plans about having active GMs in our game? I'm noticing an increase in speed hacking, as well as lame antics that drive people from this game.
<Raijinn>In game support is rather active in PlanetSide, I personally have seen them in game quite a bit. If you happen to see anyone who is hacking please feel free to report them.

*Noyjitat* Any plans to increase base generator armor? So many fights end short because of house easy it is for 1 - 3 players to down a generator before defenders can arrive to it. Increasing the generators armor and maybe adding a strong painfield would help out alot.
<Raijinn> Currently the base generator has a good amount of health to help sustain it long enough to attempt a rescue, this may be something we look out down the road if it's excessively bad however ultimately the gen is something that you need to get to quickly to help defend.

*Losty* Are there any plans to create a new command structure where Cr5's will get their use back? Currently It's mostly used for global spam and random nonsense. Plus the lack of incentive to listen to the cr5's makes them useless.
<Beady> We're not looking at changing the command structure at the present time. Although many CR5's use the channel to spam "random nonsense", other commanders use it as it was intended. Still, we know there are a lot of CR5's out there and modifying the command heirarchy is something we can look at down the road.

*SS89Goku* 'We knew Planetside's design needed work - namely, it needed PVE combat and smaller, Counter-Strike-like skirmishes,' says SOE president John Smedley." Is that what PlanetSide really needs? i thought it focused on PvP and large battles
<Xahn> While I'm not sure that I completely agree with what John says exactly, there are some good points to his ideas. We do like the idea of having some smaller, more focused combat. Something along the lines of outfit VS outfit. Something to maybe settle scores and such? To show dominance? We like the idea, but we don't have anythign set in stone yet. :)
<Xahn> The PVP and large battles are the bread and butter for us though. So don't think we'd EVER leave that out in the cold. :)

*The-Q* What about major bugs like freezes, crashes, blackout bug, white textures bug?
<Beady> We know there are a lot of major bugs out there such as the blackout bug that have been around forever. We've had people looking at them over the years, and the reason they haven't been fixed is that they are really hard to track down. As Xahn stated earlier, we are going to spend some time looking into bugfixes in-between development cycles and these bugs won't be left out.
<Beady> However, since these bugs were looked into by some talented programmers previously with no progress, it's possible that they won't be fixed for awhile yet. But they won't be ignored.

*LONGFELLA* QUESTION: one of my outfit members has been working with his AMD dual core...this is out of control, you can turn it on and off whle in game!! Anyway to stop this? Clicking on and off DUAL core is almost GOD MODE
<Beady> We know there is a problem with dual core processors where running both at once will speed up your avatar. We're also aware that users can switch this on and off on-the-fly to try and escape detection. There is a chance that this can be prevented, but the game would need to account for both processors, and that's still aways off.
<Xahn> It's not an easy change, let's put it that way...
<Raijinn> From a CS side of things, be sure to get in contact with in game support if you see someone who appears to be speed hacking. Brewko and company are always willing to chime in to help sort out the matter when it comes to something of this nature, we want the game to be fun for everyone. There's also some great information on the Technical Support boards on the forums that could help with some of the issues that dual core users
<Beady> Know that it's definitely a concern for us on the programming side of things and we are looking into getting it done...but you probably won't see any changes soon.

*vMECHv* There are few if any fights in the caverns, could you change the way you Imprint to a BFR so that the kills & base captures can be done on the surface too?
<Xahn> I agree with you MECH. It's something we've been discussing and planning on adding to. No details yet, but it's something we're interested in too. BFRs are cool, and sometimes it's hard to get them. That's not fun.

*Noyjitat* Any plans to implement shielding on doors at bases and towers similar to the shield mod effect? One of the biggest annoyances is being stuck at the bottom of a tower due to vehicles with instagib cannons camping the doors all day.
<Beady> That could go both ways. On one hand it definitely sucks to walk up from the spawn room and get obliterated by tank shells when you don't even walk outside. So it might be a good thing to create some kind of BFR-type shield so that only small-arms fire can pass through. On the other hand, it might create annoying gameplay similar to near warpgates where people are going in and out to try to avoid getting hit, and it gives
<Beady> ...it gives a great disadvantage to attackers trying to take the tower without camping the doors. Its something we'll need to discuss further before making any drastic changes.

*Anon877* Will the 'shell explodes on touch' with water ever be changed back the way it was (where it sunk)? It was done becouse the MAgrider had to much of an advantige. But currently there are so many vehicles that can float that it could be changed back in my oppinion.
<Beady> We're thinking about putting some kind of time limit on the Magrider to how long it can stay over water. We might do the same with other vehicles as well. It's nice that some vehicles can float over water, but they should just be using it as a medium to get to their destination. It's no fun to have a vehicle sitting out there shooting at you when there's nothing you can do about it.
<Beady> As for the shells exploding on contact with water, there aren't really any plans to change how they work right now.

*Nobel* So what Exactly are the current development plans... what new content can we expect to see within the next 3 months?
<Xahn> Well, we've got some vehicles coming up and some other suprises around Fan Faire, but beyond that we've got some desire to round out our advanced paths (sniper, medic, that sort of thing). We've also got some weapon variations for existing weapons to make them a little more customizable. We've got some other things as well, but it all depends on how much we can get done and how quickly. :)
<Xahn> Obviously we're also planning things like reserves, but that's not exactly a development sort of thing.

I stopped reading these back in 05.      

Whats the purpose of having a Dev chat if they don't tell you anything anyways...this is what I got out of it.