Lattice System - 2013
First an overview of the hex and lattice systems advantages and disadvantages:
Lattice
The originals game lattice was a great feature when it was introduced, focusing fights (previously there was nothing to stop you taking any facility on a continent) and making large battles develop. It appears that following the meta-game design meeting the developers are looking to move PS2 back to this system because of issues with the hex system. See a work in progress picture here.
Advantages
Specific order of targets to attack leads to large battles and predictable paths for forces to take.
Defenders can prepare defences in the direction they know the enemy is coming from.
Lack of influence system means a flat timer will be more likely for territory capture making the system more obvious to all players.
Disadvantages
Battles always happen in the same places.
Some areas of the map will be ignored.
Lattice structure means that it will be much more difficult to cut an enemy off from their warp gate.
Is not necessarily intuitive when it comes to open terrain – the SE of Indar is obvious with the canyons, but what about the SW? Should Ayani labs link with just Highlands Solar and Vanu Archives as it is on that road, or should it also link to Peris and NS Research Labs? Should there also be a link up to Allatum? If you add all of these then you may as well keep the hex system as the outcome is the same!
Some warp gates are not fair when it comes to a lattice system – again SW Indar, the warp gate there is only physically connected to Ceres Biotech and everything must go through this territory (there is rumour they will be removing/moving territories behind warpgates such as ARC Bioengineering). Compare this to the SE of Indar and the forces there have 4 routes out. Major road and map overhauls would be needed to balance this.
Hex
The hex system was one of the key differences between the new and original game, being touted as making us fight over every inch of the map. I really like the system, and I think it has some great advantages over the lattice system. However we see issues with the system as large fights rarely develop except around the centre of the map where the main forces tend to congregate, and on the outskirts it is generally a steamroller with defending forces smashed within minutes of combat joining.
Advantages
Battles can take place in any location.
Attacks can come from any direction.
All the map is competed over.
Influence system allows you to play strategically to encircle a target and capture it quickly.
Allows you to cut a territory off from resources and restrict defenders options.
Disadvantages
Large battles rarely develop because of the above advantages, uncontested captures are very common.
Encourages the zerg steamrolling through territories.
Defence is difficult as the only place you know where the enemy will be is in the capture point.
Conclusion:
I really liked the idea of the hex system when it was first discussed and I still see it as being a great system and the benefits are really good. However we do see defence as being a big problem with armies rolling around the map until they eventually meet. The lattice system would make it much more obvious to see where the enemy would hit next, restricting their options allowing you to mount a more effective defence. This would help larger battles to develop which are in the end what Planetside is all about. With the current state of the game the lattice is needed to help focus fights to give the majority of players a good experience with large battles. However the lattice does remove strategic options, options that organised squads and platoons exploit to work around the zerg. With better command tools to help players direct the masses the hex system could be made to work.
Edit - Lattice/Hex hybrid is on its way!
Lattice is in game for Indar and is on its way for the remaining continents.