The excellent PC game blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Quintin Smith has posted an epic war story about not winning a war, bu the great memories that come from losing one. His tales of frantic fighting from but a few holding out against the might of a full-scale assault comes direct from SOE's hugely ambitious, but not hugely successful, Planetside. The annoyances of a bug bring about one of the most epic last stands ever recorded in the MMO world.
It should be pretty easy for you to understand the severity of our situation if I just tell you that it felt like we were the ones doing the damn assaulting. We were so outgunned that just trying to man the walls got you shredded by lasher and sniper fire before you’d even lined up a shot. It was wild. Those forests around us were more purple than green. I’ve got no idea how it was we lasted as long as we did, but I’d hazard that those guarding the doors ended up pulling off some real Battle of Thermopylae shit. - Rock, Paper, Shotgun
I never played Planetside myself (although there was a time when me and my brother were determined to get out hands on it. Sadly I could not afford the monthly fee in my teenage years) but it always struck me as a pretty epic game that was way ahead of its time. The fact that you were fighting a war with and against thousands of other players must have led to some pretty memorable moments, and it makes me sad that I couldn't be a part of it. It's also strange to see that such memorable moments come about from something the developers didn't originally intend to happen, but gamers always have a knack for doing that. You couldn't lose in Planetside so when people were faced with that very prospect it gave them something to fight for.
I have plenty of memorable moments from multiplayer video games and I may someday record these moments (although probably not as well as Quintin Smith managed). This is why online multiplayer games will always have a special place in my heart, as everyone has their own unique and completely enthralling stories to tell.
Don't pull the TL;DR excuse, give it a read because it's definitely worth it.
Planetside: The 1% - Rock, Paper, Shotgun
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