PlanetSide 1 Emulator + PlanetSide 1 Live Revival

[PSForever]

PSForever.net -- PlanetSide 1 Emulator Project

PlanetSide 1 Live Event April 8-10th

I just wanted to share a bit what was going on with PlanetSide 1, the emulator project, and to try to find some old veterans that may be lurking around in the EQEmulator community.

F2P and the "Death" of PlanetSide
PS1 went F2P in 2014, a couple years after the release of PS2. The problem with this was that hacking became rampant, and SOE/DBG GMs abandoned the server. Some hackers just came to ruin the game and make it completely unplayable. The hacks in PS1 are so advanced, they can just simply kill you from anywhere on the map.

PlanetSide 1 Emulator
Fearing the game would be shut down forever, a team was formed to create an open source PlanetSide 1 emulator server. Significant progress has been made by only one developer, and with old and new developers joining the team this month, the emulator seems to be a reality in the near future. So far, a packet collector, launcher, and groundwork for the loginserver has been made. Current estimates are character creation being done within a couple months.

Third Party Anti-Hack
This team has also been working on modifying/hacking the game client itself. Doing so, new private hacks were created that simulate freezing a defined player's screen. This private hack is only available to a few members of the community to combat hackers from ruining the game.

Rising Populations
Since these private, third-party moderation tools have been created (very recently), and the absence of hackers, the populations have been rising quite a bit for a game that was once dead. When I say dead, I mean completely dead. No one logged into the game at all. Now we see 20-30 on weekdays, and 50-60+ on the weekends. Still a small number for what the game is capable of, but just enough to have some pretty sweet base fights.

PlanetSide 1 Live Weekends
With the game given a new lease on life and the hacker's threat mitigated, the community decided to run PlanetSide Event Weekends, where we spread the word and gather as many old veterans as well as newcomers to the game as possible. The next such event is this weekend, April 8-10th. If you've never played the game, there will be training for beginners by veterans. More info:

What?
The PlanetSide 1 community and PSForever.net is holding a “PlanetSide Weekend” April 8-10th to play some good old PlanetSide 1! All are welcome to participate, veterans and newcomers alike!

Why?
Why PlanetSide 1? PlanetSide 1 is a free to play, MMOFPS game that has a lot of key differences from PlanetSide 2. While it is an older game, it’s still extremely fun. It has a lot of interesting features and content that was neglected for PlanetSide 2, and is definitely worth checking out. Curious where PlanetSide 2 came from? Come check out the original!

Training for Newcomers (Saturday, April 9th @ 10AM PST / 12PM CST / 1PM EST)
If you’ve never played PlanetSide 1, you’re new or inexperienced, or have a friend that’s new or wants to try, we will be holding a training session held by veterans of the game on Saturday morning for people to learn a bit about the game. Topics covered will be certifications, loadouts, hotkeys, and combat. If you would like to participate, there will be a squad listed on each empire for “Training.” Join this squad at the scheduled time. (If there is a change, we will post about it). Additionally, we have created a write-up for players who are new to PlanetSide 1, particularly in 2016: Beginner’s Guide to PlanetSide 1 in 2016 - Google Docs

Hacking/Moderation
One of the main reasons that the population died off significantly in PlanetSide 1 is due to hackers. The hacks in PlanetSide 1 are pretty advanced and can do a lot more than just the traditional FPS hacks you may be familiar with. Fortunately, the hackers have been pretty inactive as of late. Due to this, we've been seeing a large increase in population over the weekends and even during the week! Additionally, some members of the community has taken upon itself to design their own tools to help deal with the threat of hackers. These community members will be on hand to deal with any problems and ensure fair play.

Voice/Text Chat
If you would like to voice or text chat with your fellow players, the PSForever.net public Discord is being provided. This will also be a helpful tool if you decide to participate in the training session (even if just to listen), albeit not required. Additionally, if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback regarding the event, feel free to chat with us in the above Discord server. Discord is a browser based (or downloadable, with additional features) text/voice chat application that requires no sign-up. The join link is: Discord

Game Account
Use your existing Daybreak account or sign up for a FREE account at: Register | Daybreak Game Company

Download
You can download PlanetSide 1 here: https://launch.daybreakgames.com/installer/PS_setup.exe

What are you waiting for Soldier? Join the fight today! For land. For power. Forever.

Several more event weekends are being planned as well, including for PlanetSide 1's 13th birthday on May 20.