This message is to introduce you all to Planetside 2, the main game of this group.

To start off, here's a video of actual gameplay, and yes, you can do everything you see in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb90FBLfPBA

In Planetside 2 there are three factions: the Terran Republic (our faction), the New Conglomerate, and the Vanu Sovereignty. We are all fighting for control of the planet Auraxis and its three continents: Indar (a rather barren, desert-like continent), Esamir (a frozen wasteland of a continent), and Amerish (a continent dominated by forest / jungle).

The Terran Republic's forces on Auraxis are the left-overs from their former dominion on Auraxis, and they strive to regain contact with the homeworld (Earth) in order to bring back peace and stability to Auraxis. However this faction is similar to the Imperium of Man in 40k in the aspect that they have little regard for individulaism and are an authoritarian regime. This dominance over the people of Auraxis is what caused the New Conglomerate to rebel against it. The TR boasts the best small aircraft (the Mosquito) and the best Light Assault & Heavy Assault troops.

The New Conglomerate is the rebel faction in this game that is attempting to regain Auraxis for the freedom of its people. However there is a problem with their campaign: their dubious corporate sponsors. Although the companies are agreeing to help them now by supplying them with the weapons and machines to fight the TR, it is possible that the NC is actually replacing the TR with another dominant force: the companies. That debt all leads somewhere, and everything the NC is fighting for could go to waste in the aftermath. The NC boasts the best engineers and MAX suits.

The last faction is the Vanu Sovereignty, a separatist group of humans who discovered alien technology that they now exploit to their advantage. They call themselves the "Vanu" Soverignty because they worship their technology goddess Vanu. They boast plasma weapons that are slightly better than the bullets we use, but their armor isn't as good as that of the TR and NC. They boast the finest tank in the Magrider and the best medics and infiltrators.

The way the game works is that on each of the three continents (which are 64 squared kilometers each, takes about an hour to run across the whole map on foot) there are resource areas in the forms of Bio Labs, Amp Stations, and Tech labs, as well as numerous forts and other resource areas. Each area contributes to the building stations (for troop weapons and vehicle spawning) at each base the faction controls. These areas are divided into hexes so that they can be distinguished from one another on the map, and whichever faction controls the area's checkpoint gains the resources from that area (the faction can easily be pushed off though). There is also terrain to take into account, such as mountains, gulches, forests, and tundras making the continents unique. Whichever faction captures all the resources on a continent conquers it and the map is later reset (takes a few hours I think).

That's pretty much the nitty-gritty of it, if you want to learn more check out this gameplay video and see you later!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ49o7GA0O8

- Jimmy Rustler