It exists like the undertow at a beach. It can transition from a gentle tug to a surging tropical storm. It is, outside of outfits, one of the most redeeming features of Planetside 2. It’s what keeps me coming back, again & again, just to see how far I could push myself against it — that is, chaos.

Chaos, in the context of Planetside 2, affects everyone. Veteran to new player, PC to Playstation 4, die-hard infantry to dedicated pilots — no one can avoid the fact that the player isn’t always in control. This uncontrollable aspect of the game often leads to frustration, rage & a loss of satisfaction. In this state of mind the Respawn Screen pops up and in it is implied the question, “Why are you playing?”

It is those magical moments when you enter the zone and everything works that you can reduce chaos to fragility. The best players in the game can consistently reproduce this effect. From the lone wolf, to a small squad, platoon and multiple platoons it is possible to pierce the chaotic, unpredictable element and force the game to play into your hands. To use a sports analogy you force others, via various elements, to play your game. Every moving part of Planetside 2 is another human controlling something. What they do and how they react is what creates and maintains this chaos. Like Dota 2, Planetside 2 is a game that thrives on these, “Did you see that?” moments.

There are three elements that veteran’s take full advantage of: movement, awareness and luck. These players are the 1% of the 1%. Expert infantry players that can fight off many times their numbers. Pilots that appear out of nowhere and can wipe out enemy swarms. Force Commanders that lead Server Smash teams in resounding victory. Small harasser squads that are as tenacious and difficult to deal with as a group of honey badgers.

Movement

There is more to movement than pushing W on a keyboard or tilting Up on an analog controller. Movement is seemingly the simplest of the three elements I’ve described. In its highest form, it is a combination of movement and awareness that allows a player an opportunity to excel. This opportunity is constantly challenged by the movement (presence) of other players.

For a new player spawning at their first battle and watching the tracers fill the screen, vehicles rolling out of a base blasting shells at the opposing force, infantry players constantly shifting, running into and out of rooms, MAX’s filling your ears with their constant firing, grenades exploding around corners, rockets slamming into walls. It’s overwhelming. It’s awe inspiring. It’s a chaotic jumble of sensory overload. It’s easy to get filled with a sense of urgency — I need to shoot at someone!

The ideal scenario is firing at an enemy who isn’t looking in your direction. Faced with the initial exposure to Planetside 2’s hectic combat it seems a far off and possibly luck induced phenomena. It is a curious aspect of Planetside 2 that the average player remains in this first state. The different talent levels at any fight are constantly shifting. There is no MMR, league ranking system or ELO. You can run into an elite squad after minutes of facing new players. All it takes is one moment of losing focus, rounding the corner into a more competitive player and you’re stuck facing the redeploy screen.

A straight line is often the worst decision. Filling the gaps nets players with solid flanks and firing positions. Movement isn’t always about moving. Understanding how other friendlies are moving, where they’re going and finding weak spots can often put players in an advantageous position. A highly tuned aggressiveness opens up weaknesses within the enemy’s movements. Being unpredictable, harnessing that chaotic element, as a solo player or a squad fighting over an objective makes the other players struggle in frustration.

Coordinated movement is the height of Planetside 2 tactics. I’m not talking about micro-management or the slow, plodding stuff of laying out points for different squads to take. I’m talking about the type of movement that occurs within sports teams. It’s the type of movement that leads to behind the back passes, alley oops, instinctive midfield crosses, or a throw down the field 5 feet ahead of a receiver.

Coordinated movement is synergy. Synergy in Planetside 2 is what allows outfits to hold back against outrageous odds. Synergy is a small beacon of light facing an oncoming storm. It is Lieutenant Dan strapped to the boat challenging greater forces.

Movement can occur within a small base or across a continent. This is where the chaos steps in. There is simply no way to account for every single enemy. There exists a type of fog of war. It isn’t highlighted by darkly shaded areas on the map. It is a lack of information. A squad may well be preparing to drop a fully loaded Galaxy on the point you’re defending. MAX’s may be getting ready to charge. There may be, out of nowhere, an ESF pilot who chose you as his target for Rocket Pods. Perhaps an enemy tank has a decent angle on the base you’re at and moments before you decide to charge a room a shell is fired, arcing across a hex to land at your feet as you begin to move. These situations are uncontrollable. There is no way to account for any of this happening.

Movement isn’t just about moving. It’s about interpreting scenarios after hundreds of battles and carrying in mind a heat map: places to avoid and areas where, interpreting all the local information, presents an ideal timing to breach into a room or secure an area. Processing all this information becomes instinctual. It becomes part of your flow. The most effective leaders know how to shape battles to their will by an innate knowledge of how their teammates move. The enemy disposition, types of players present in a particular fight, reading the continental map to predict cross-hex movement and understanding how long a coordinated friendly force will survive against the inevitable crush of enemy numbers are some of the things rotating in a leader’s.

Planetside 2’s reward for out mobilizing your opponent isn’t highlighted by a number in the Win column. Like Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The reward of a thing well done is having done it.”

[note: this is less of an article and more of a thinking-out-loud blog post. I’ll address the other two aspects I mentioned — awareness and luck — in a future post]