It's always a bummer when a game's servers go down, even if it's just for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. But if that downtime results in as many positive changes as the PlanetSide 2 Game Update 2 brought on Saturday, that downtime is just fine by me.

The patch list is absolutely bonkers long, so you can read the full thing over at the PlanetSide 2 official page, but here are some highlights:
  • Repeated spotting without a valid target will now put your ability to spot on cooldown.
  • Mouse movement optimizations have been made for vehicle turrets. They should feel a bit smoother and more responsive. Some players may find the sensitivity to be different and should adjust the sensitivity slider.
  • Players in vehicles can no longer capture points.
  • Upgraded all spawn rooms to be more defensible. This should lead to less spawn camping.
  • Adjusted the tower to help reduce spawn camping.
I'm loving the changes to reduce spawn camping, as a lot of attempting to defend bases ends in an endless stream of getting shot down right inside of the base. That's rarely fun. And by "rarely," I mean "never." Also, any changes to make the occasionally clunky vehicle controls work better are more than welcome by me.

Of course, there's a ton of little weapon tweaks and balance updates that I can't even pretend to understand, but for those who are interested in that sort of thing, go ahead and pore over them right here. Maybe that'll be a good way to spend your four hours of downtime.