I'm a little uncomfortable with attachments being able to be purchased with SC.

Absolutely nothing wrong with allowing people to buy attachments for their weapons, provided they are also available from certifications. I think it is funny that it hasn't always been available...

This game has already been P2W with purchasable 36 effortless certs per day and unlimited grenades/hp kits/MAX suits if you've had Membership.

The only thing that worries me about this is the underlying cause.

The fact that they need the additional revenue stream speaks volumes about the state of the game nearly 2 years on.

These upgrades will not produce the revenue they need and it's only a matter of time before they reach further into the pay to win grab-bag.

The problem with this is that the game NEEDS drop-in players to maintain the "epic" feel. Most drop-in players do not spend SC.

*puts conspiracy hat on*

Then again, maybe this is why they push the MLG/small battle theme so hard... they know what's happening internally and small battles of paying customers is the only sustainable future for the game.

/DISAGREE COMPLETELY - If the attachments where available ONLY for Station Cash, then I would agree. As long as players can earn certifications in game at a reasonable rate the the attachments are sold for a reasonable price in certifications, then this is not P2W....

I will go even one step further and say this is a good thing both for the game and for new players, who want to jump into the game and are willing to spend some money, to get the things they want without having to spend the time to grind it out...

Exactly what I logged in to say.

People have been calling this game P2W for a long time. I still see no evidence of that being the case.

To cert a weapon only takes some days anyway. It's worse if they starts to add pay 500sc to upgrade your medic or something like that :/

I'm going to vote with my wallet and buy some attachments that I don't need =)

Now this may surprise some who ever saw a posting from me, buuut i don't mind this.

Before you get out your pitchforks and torches and skin me alive, let me say that i actually spend some thought on it (while i'm waiting for my acc to get out of the prosieben pow camp):
Basically, selling this stuff isn't any better or worse then selling weapons, i'd argue that all of them are "sidegrades" (more afterburner fuel vs. rockets comes immediately to mind, i'm sure that's not the only one). So now some BR1 can buy himself stuff to be on par with a high br player, circumventing grind with cash. Which is basically the same thing as circumventing grind with cash to get a weapon that otherwise costs certs. I kind of fail to see why this is somehow worse considering that sidegrade argument is mostly bs (which i think it is).

That being said however, the absolute lack of ideas and effort by SOE being put into their, ahum, efforts to monetize this game is damn off putting. Where is my purple fro? Why can't i change my name, sex or server? Why can't i buy a clint eastwood face? Why are the only worthwhile cash shop items that look interesting and make me want to spend money the player made helmets?
When you see all that and then they are coming with this implant crap which i now had the joy to experience live (it ain't p2w or anything, but it's just completely confusing for no reason - i pretty much just ignore it, not worth the hassle) and this "idea" now...
...well then you get a game that tends to look cheap, a game that doesn't work fr its money but tries to sucker it out of you with lazy methods. And that makes a lot of people not spend money on it.

Tl;dr: Give me a purple fro you lazy bastards and then sell attachments for SC, but then you might aswell sell vehicle attachments too. But not before the purple fro.

They wont make everything purchasable because it would remove the "carrot" that the game needs in order to hook new players.

If the game ever gets to a point where its addictive enough to not need a cert "carrot" that would mean a better game for us all. This really isnt the kind of game where rank and equipment matters more than tactics and strategy. It should be a game where everyone could start at BR100 and it not make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Hopefully the game has enough legs to mature into that kind of game. I haven't certed anything for a while now, and i still have fun. The game AFTER the grind is what this should be about. Eventually, i dont see a problem with players skipping the grind part.

I don't think this is a huge deal. Attachments don't (completely) replace player skill. Do they make things a hell of a lot easier? Of course. But, a crappy player with great attachments is still a crappy player. Hopefully, they'll use the profits from this move to get some things in the roadmap finished.

I like smeds honesty. Although reading between the lines I wonder if PS2 isn't hitting it's forecast revenue targets.

Considering PS2 is there only next gen game (ie running forge light) it must account for a sizeable chunk of their profits. Money which they're presumably using to fund the development of EQN, landmark and h1z1. They really need PS2s revenue stream.

Oh no! Someone will be able to get a foregrip an hour before me!

The most amusing thing about this "outrage" is that most of it is from veterans that already have every attachment they want. I suppose those people prefer having an advantage over new players.

Personally, I think the decision to sell attachments is good at this point in the game. We're trying to retain players, and allowing them to start off with a completely equipped weapon will help.

Okay, so the argument I see being tossed around now is apparently people have no patience and want it now, and if free players have to wait to get something its unacceptable.


*slow facepalm*

Look, its a free to play game, if people have a problem with SOE including new ways for people to get items with money... then theres nothing we can really say to change their minds.

SOE needs to make money to keep planetside 2 running, a free player CAN get the exact same things for free, there is no pay to win, its pay to skip the grind, if someone wants to be impatient and pay, let em. They retain a small advantage until the free player grinds enough to get the same things.

I can still kill people just fine with the stock weapon, the one everyone starts with, with no attachments.

Free players are quite literally simply content for the people who pay. Is it a good choice to keep them happy? Yes of course, but what can SOE possibly do when they already allow free players to get any of the same items for free within a reasonable amount of time? (Only exception being cosmetic items) If they let them get the new weapons and attachments quickly, then theres little incentive to put money into planetside 2, the fact that free players HAVE to grind is what gets people to think about paying to skip the grind.


If a brand new BR1 player jumps to the conclusion the game is pay to win when they get killed by a br 50+ with one of the different weapons full of attachments, then that is their problem for not understanding that they can get the exact same things if they simply play the game.

I hope it is sustainable. i honestly thought this game would be a bit more popular than it is. I dont think it has the marketing behind it. Its also more hardcore than other shooters on the market. People who are use to CoD or BF just want to hop in and kill things, not read maps, find a platoon, and strategize. It can be a difficult game to get into right away, especially if you are used to something else.

How do you not realize paying to skip the grind is Pay2Win?

I don't see the issue with it, I mean it's not like they are saying, "Farm 1000 certs for this advanced laser sight, or just pay us two bucks and we'll unlock it for your account."

Attachments are cheap enough that it doesn't feel like much of a grind to unlock them with just certs. So it's definitely not a "pay or suffer" kind of deal.

Technically it was already "pay to win" since you can effectively buy resources with real currency, and resources do make a difference.

This is just a little step further and honestly i dont care much because the game is like 90% based on skill/awarness/experience which you cant buy.

That depends on your defination though, by that defination it is not, by another (just as correct/reasonable/valid) defination it is; it is a fairly meaningless argument though as it is like arguing if an orange is orangey enough or not.

I suspect we've just seen the stage where SOE is no longer targetting new players being drawn into the game (the PC version anyway) so much as trying to monetize those players they have left....... which is why I suspect we'll see MAX & Infantry armour and upgrades & vehicle upgrades all buyable with SC sooner rather than later.

As long as it sticks to weapon attachments then I'm fine. I mean I can buy all the attachments I want and have the most kick-*** scope but I still need skill to use a weapon. If I can aim at the ground and can't even hit it, that's on me, not the attachments.

If however they start selling upgrades and abilities (like C4, AV grenades, armors, etc) then we're going to run into some major problems

It's only "pay to win" if that 500 Cert ammo couldn't be obtained any other way except by paying RL money. As it can be it's not "pay to win"; by definition!