Ultimate Empire Showdown - Wintergaming Interview

Welcome back, soldier!

We a day away from the Ultimate Empire Showdown, our 10th Anniversary mega event! Catch it live on our Twitch account Tomorrow 11/20. Today we have the honor of interviewing the team captain for the Vanu Sovereignty, Wintergaming!

Hello Wintergaming!

Your epic bastion battle streams and fun events on Twitch are super entertaining to watch! How did you get started with streaming and producing content for PlanetSide 2?

Terran. Space Marines. Siege Tanks. But really, coming from StarCraft 2 I'm addicted to hardcore RTS games. Besides a quick week of melting my underpowered PC in 2012, I picked up PS2 in ~2017 and was immediately drawn in by the idea of RTS, but with the players as units. That's why I started an outfit originally, so that way I'd have enough units on the continent map to play it like an RTS (I've had...limited success so far).

What were some of your most memorable moments in PlanetSide 2? Walk us through the events that transpired that day.

Honestly some of my most memorable moments are from when the game is played 'wrong', either by myself or with a platoon.

I'm a big fan of “Sunderer Curling”. Two teams of vehicles battle to escort/disrupt the sunderers and get to a specific part of the map. Except no one is allowed to shoot. Since the game's physics have only a loose relationship with reality, it makes for a very dramatic ride :)

Another one of my favorite moments ever was the release of the Shattered Warpgate and the whole destroyed part of Esamir.

For almost a week all factions abandoned the “meta” and built massive, sprawling bases. Hand to hand combat over carrots in the small pockets of trees. Flails arcing over canyons and smashing down into skyshields and infantry. Constant armor charges with no other purpose than taking the next hill. It was peak Planetside 2 for me.

What sets PlanetSide 2 apart from other games you broadcast?

Planetside 2 can't be compared with any other game (that I broadcast or otherwise) because there is nothing like it. No other game comes remotely close to the scale of FPS combat, the sheer level of coordination required to even pretend to be useful, and the sandbox style of perpetual war.

I've always been drawn to games that let you set your own goals. Planetside 2's greatest strength (and maybe criticism) is the ability to decide what success looks like for you.

Is it leading an outfit that conquers territory in high intensity battles? Is it building the coolest & most effective construction bases?

Is it sitting on a mountain barely in render distance of the enemy with a long range scope trained on a vehicle terminal miles behind enemy lines waiting multiple minutes to ruin some random person's day for several seconds? Up to you.

What elements of PlanetSide 2 do you feel are relatable to the RTS community?

In my mind, Planetside 2 IS a Real Time Strategy game. Constantly moving units around to secure territory (and in some cases resources). It has always been an RTS first and FPS second for me. Knowing when/how to counter certain strategies and even your opponents is a huge part of being an effective RTS player, and every bit of that is present when leading in PS2.

I mean, there is also literally mining minerals and using them to build bases. Bases that can be used to create air & ground vehicles, defenses & infantry if we really want to draw some direct parallels…

The Ultimate Empire Showdown is just days away! What kind of playstyles can the community expect to see from your team?

I'm well known for dramatic, decisive action, especially in cinematic faction (you mention the Bastion battles). While that doesn't neccessarily translate to strategic victory, our true goal is winning the hearts & minds of our robot overlords at Nanite Systems, the only faction that truly matters.

Nanite Systems has perpetuated this war for decades and now they join the battle themselves?? No wonder Wrel is planning on [REDACTED]

You have the floor! What would you like to tell the PlanetSide 2 community? Let’s hear it!

I am constantly impressed and thankful for all the people that go into organizing events, from RPG to Planetside Battles. Getting two nerds to show up on time in StarCraft is hard enough and here we are with hundreds of them! Thanks to Haldyl, my outfit (WNTG/BCD1) & all the leaders from this event for carrying me through it.

To the nerds who read to the end of a text interview in 2022, you are my target demographic! If you ever want some background noise from someone who yells all night about the same old games you (hopefully) still enjoy, would be awesome if you would check out the stream & youtube. Strength in unity, loyalty until...enlightenment ;) GLHF

Thank you Wintergaming for taking some time to chat with us!

Thank you for stopping by, soldier. Be sure to Like us on Facebook and Follow Us on Twitter for more updates!

- Mithril, PlanetSide 2 CM