PlanetSide Arena Changes Spawns And Pain Field In Low-Pop Matches

Our biggest complaint about PlanetSide Arena is its population. A game that's meant to support 300-player battles doesn't play well if there are only about half that many online at any one time, spread out across many different servers and different matches. While there's only so much Daybreak Game Company can do about that, the developers can at least try to make low-population matches more enjoyable.

The first bullet point in the patch notes for yesterday's update attempts to do just that. In low-pop matches, squads will spawn closer to each other and the initial safe zone, and the phases between pain field advancement will be shorter. That in and of itself should make matches more entertaining, as well as shorter, which could have the bonus effect of meaning fewer players are tied up in long matches and more can participate in each individual match.

There are other enhancements and fixes in yesterday's patch, such as underbarrel weapons being available for all rarities, improved sound effects and UI, anti-cheat improvements, and "Nearby Engineers no longer appear to have their head sink into their torso while moving." Read the complete patch notes on the PlanetSide Arena site.