Replacing K/D with SPM? Don't make me laugh

Game would be 10X better if they replaced KDR with SPM, (or with anything at all)
Its the next best thing to removing the death count all together.

I want to know this too

Getting me all excited

Do you really think SOE cares about hackers other than it affecting their bottom line by people quitting who would have paid? If the perception of hacking is less, its good for them even if the reality is unchanged. Its why they do their silly "Spy Drone" global messages.

Separation of exp and score. OP doesn't read dev updates and is butt hurt about the possibility of losing his kdr/epeen/phoenix camper index number.

Awesome rant op but no one cares about your interdick and you don't actually know what you're talking about.

Fallacy #1: Removing KDR will magically make people play unselfishly
If you believe this, I have a property on the moon I'd like to sell you...

Killing enemy = reward (XP, certs, level up)
Dying = punishment, 10 sec timeout, respawn away from action

People will always regard killing as good, and dying as bad. Killing lots (and getting permanent cert rewards) and dying seldom, is GOOD, whether it is measured as a kdr or not. Thus players will always be "selfish" and prefer to avoid dying - removing a KDR will not magically fix that.

I'd agree KDR in a game like PS2 is more an indicator of time spent in vehicles rather than skill. Although it does have some meaning - I've personally always felt that a .5 or lower KDR may suggest you need to reassess your playstyle (if you are spending twice as long as the average staring at a spawn screen that is twice as much you are not helping your team; even support classes can learn to take out their gun and shoot back sometimes)

Fallacy #2: SPM is better than KDR

SPM is even MORE open to abuse. This is partially because scores are not balanced and "score" encompasses so many things. For example, I seldom cap bases anymore - I'd rather set up an AV turret and pop random tanks far from the action - its worth more certs (permanent reward) AND it's more fun then sitting around in an empty base- which is only going to be capped back 15 minutes later, anyway... ...heck we are rewarded for repairing our tanks. You got the tank damaged in the first place - and now they REWARD you for screwing up? So did that 1000XP medal someone got for repairing his damaged ESF really show someones' "good play" or the fact he kept flying past the same burster MAX like an idiot? SPM can be a reflection of "bad play" as well.

At least KDR is a specific score that measures the time you spend in action with the enemy. A well organised outfit player may have MUCH LESS SPM than a random pubbie who flings himself wildly into the action or farms at the crown or a meaningless biolab. Good "team" players may spend more "down" time travelling in Sunderers, Galaxies, or patiently defending, waiting for an enemy attack.

SPM may include me racing flash bikes, playing knife tag at the warpgate, and mock dogfighting on deserted continents. Or when the wife calls me to help out with house stuff (shudder). SPM actually discourages FUN far more than KDR. And that's why we play games.... or is it?

Fallacy #3: People actually care about your KDR/SPM/size of your w@ng

Unless they think you are hacking, no one cares. YOU are the only one who truly cares about your stats.

^5 star post, couldn't have said it better myself.

Has SOE actually announced that they will be replacing KDR with SPM (or, in other words, removing KDR and leaving only SPM)? I was just wondering based on the potentially misleading thread title. I'm not sure if the thread-starter is laughing at an upcoming change SOE has announced or just folks here on the forums requesting that the stat be replaced, so I thought I'd ask.

I disagree with this solely because of the fact that I know the reason I often play selfishly is because I want to protect my KDR. I'm not even afraid to admit it. I'll often find myself going on a streak, then not wanting to take risks or put myself in potentially dangerous situations because I want to preserve my positive KDR and make it even higher. If the stat was not tracked or even visible, those scenarios would never occur because there would be absolutely no incentive for me to play carefully. In that case, so what if I die, since the stat -- or at least deaths -- would no longer be tracked? I know of numerous other players who feel the same way. It isn't a "fallacy," it's a very real problem that affects more than a few players. Even if such a simple change as removing the number of deaths and leaving only kills was made, it would drastically change the way I approached the game.

they're going to be changing it sooner or later so that your "SPM" is measured on the base score rather than the boosted score.

was in the roadmap but i haven't really looked at it in a little while.

exactly! And it works the other way round too i used to have an reasonable k.d. but then i went a few months of using a battle rifle and I ended up with a 0.62 kd.

This. Nothing needs to be (or should be) taken away.

Just provide all the stats (as they do now) on a menu and let people look at whatever they want to look at. We want all the stats not the removal of certain stats just because a percentage of the community doesn't want them (when a large percentage does want them!).

what i am sick of is people saying "ooohhh you only have a 0.62 KD your opinion must be total ********"

Honestly... Who gives a ****? Just go play the game.

Ignore the K/D stat or look at it... Nobody cares. All it does is show your playstyle.

Couldn't have summed it all up better. K/D is fine, leave it, it's a tried and proven quantification of performance for many players. SPM is a vague stat that can be altered by all of the mentioned things in addition to the fact that we're all locked into one server and

Different servers have different activity levels, which drastically alters SPM.

My SPM on the near ghost town server Jaeger right before the merge was well below my SPM on Connery server at the same exact time, despite the ping issues (I'm from CT). This is simply because Jaeger was a ghost town, there was not a lot to kill outside of literally 9:30 PM-10:15 PM. My SPM on characters on Mattherson and Waterson both vary a lot because of the same issue, Waterson has a lot more activity than Mattherson.

SPM is not a useful stat to compare cross server performance or even same server performance because activity levels vary drastically depending on the server and time of day you play.

and what about the medics? who may get 1 kill 3 deths yet 50 revives? do they know how to play the game?
also i started off crap, really crap but now i am reasonably good yet i will never be able to hit a remotely good kdr because my old kdr is ******** on my new one

Problem with SPM right now is subbed players vs non subbed players, non subbed players won't get past 120-150 SPM, before I ended my sub a few months ago (had 50% bonus) I was ~190 but now averaging 75 without sub and booster.

Stats really shouldn't matter in this type of game where there's dividing type of players.

PS- I support removing KD, when Battlefield: Bad Company 2 came out it didn't have KD on the scoreboard but when DICE added it, the gameplay changed drastically. Despite Bad Company 1 being console only, it was a fun game because of no KD to go after. Call of Duty and Counter-Strike is where I'd go if I want to play with KD ratio.

they are separating score from XP so boosts will not apply

A medic can still get a decent amount of kills while still reviving (maxed heal tool), it's the first thing you should dump points into as a medic anyways.

Whats your source on this? Where did they say that they're replacing K/D with SPM?

K/D is meaningless in this game.. A high K/D just means you prefer to roll in vechicles or play infiltrator.
They should just get rid of it entirely, but they can make money selling you a K/D wipe, so it not going anywhere...

K/D Ratio is a vague stat that can be altered by many things that require no skill and has indication on that players performance. There are plenty of weapons and tools in this game that don't increase your kill count and often increase you death count. Strikers and lock on's in general don't increase you kill count. Choosing to go after enemy tanks and aircraft often increases your death count while not increasing your kill count as pilots and tank drivers hop out a instant before they go up in flames. Taking out enemy sunderers often require a suicide with no increase in kills as stopping to fire a shot often gives your game away.

Getting the occasional kill streak defending a point alone on your infantry can require skill but who does that often enough to get a high K/D? As soon as you go after tanks with C4/Mines/Rockets or become the squad medics your K/D lowers. As soon as you become the front line pushing towards a defended point in a alert your K/D lowers. If you dedicate yourself to going Anti-air or Anti-tank your K/D lowers. If you choose to fight while outnumbered your K/D lowers.

The whole K/D ratio defences in this game are stupid. If EVERYONE played like K/D ratio was the most important stat no one would ever defend a base. Everyone would be Lib gunners or ESF pilots or Maxes or move in tank zergs. No one would ever leave their spawn shields unless they out numbered the enemy. Infantry would never push unless 10 other guys are acting as their human shields. Unless you believe farming as a lib gunner/ESF/Max/Sniper = skill then there is no skill to having a great K/D ratio.

If you play like K/D ratio matters you play like a coward and rarely make a difference to your faction, outfit, squad or platoon.