I imagine the first couple weeks/months after launch the Tyranids are going to be a very large part of the game, as I don't imagine numbers being anything like Planetside 2's launch. Whether everyone wants to believe it or not, Warhammer 40k is a very niche market. So most likely we'll definitely run into situations such as what OP posted. However, for them winning a campaign? No, probably not. But seeing it as a PVE type dungeon where you have to hold the line until extraction, that would definitely be something I would love to play.
You know that Dawn of War has sold 6 million copies, and Space marine sold 1.2 million world wide right? And that PS2 has just barely over 4.76 million accounts - not even close to the 376,000 "active" accounts spread out over several servers.... to a completely free game? 40k is a silent giant that just needs some more poking and attention to get the fan base behind it again. Fighting against endless hordes of Tyranids once in a blue moon would be one way of keeping players active.
It'd be interesting if they had a special event where a full blown hive fleet decided to descend on whatever campaign planet, making any and all battles precarious due to overwhelming Tyranid infestation. Shouldn't be a common occurrence but it'd be a great little bit of active story.
The series has sold over 6 million copies. That's including Dawn of War, Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm, Dawn of War 2, Retribution, Chaos Rising. That's really not that many. Planetside 2 has just barely seen its 1 year mark. I was more specifically referring to the launch of Planetside 2. Where I said: My whole statement was emphasizing the reverse of Planetside 2's community. Where Eternal Crusade will launch small and eventually grow. Where as in PS2 it launched incredibly well, and fell off quickly. You seemed to have missed the entire point of the post. Let me elaborate: What I said was that I imagine there will be situations on the battlefield were we will be looking down large numbers of Tyranids early post-launch because 40k is a niche market. So situations would arise that the OP detailed. However, having a campaign that is basically a count down timer to "you lose" is not something that (again, in my opinion) would be a good way of holding player attention at the start. Perhaps later on down the line when the player-base is fully established would be the hold the line until retreat situations arise. There could also be situations where if we don't cripple enough Tyranid spawning grounds in the allotted time, we would suffer serious Tyranid incursions across the planet and could increase the frequency of attacks or number of beasts in attacks. Again, in my opinion, that would be a better way of beefing up the Tyranids and giving the impression that if they aren't stopped they very well could overrun the planet, without actually taking victory away from the players.
The Nids are explicitly supposed to be a balancing check for PvP, so they are definitely going to be involved. The Nids are meant to be a feature to keep size of player base from inherently guaranteeing victory for one side. It's necessary because PvP isn't going to be instanced so a faction like the Eldar, which thus far looks like it's only going to have ~15% of the population, actually has a chance to compete against the Space Marines, which are going to have ~40% of the population. If the Nid aren't there to pressure the Space Marines on other fronts, and as many people can join a given fight as are available and interested, then the Space Marines will always win simply by sheer strength of numbers.
well what i could see is maybe your not paying attention to you flank in your territory and well you deserve to get killed then but if they expand what could happen is that the factions would call for an alliance and take them out before they kill them but then you could have one faction stab the other in the back and use it to their advantage, like fighting a 2 or 3 war front to wipe out the most powerful of the factions.
Honestly I'd like the Nids to stand a fighting chance. In Aion, the Balaur (NPC faction...similar to Nids) would at time go on rampages conquering several fortresses which would then have to be re-taken. I'd like to take it to the next level
I think every few months would be cool. Events like the Zombie plague from naxxramus would be enjoyable.
They should definently evolve and grow in number when they aren't dealt with. Tyranids aren't like termites. You can't ignore them.
