Please do not go through with implants in their current form.

I have played this game since around the time it released retail, November 2012. I enjoy it quite a bit. So much, in fact, that only a few months after I started playing, I decided to get a premium subscription. I believe that, in total, I have spent about $200 on the game so far. Now, I didn't spend money on the game because it was too hard and I wanted to make things easier. I did it because I enjoy this game, and I want to support the developers, as well as get more enjoyment out of it myself.

This is my problem with implants in their current form. They seem to miss what customers want - instead of being a way to get more enjoyment out of the game, they simply make the game easier in a way that breaks the normal conventions of how in-game items work.

In-game Items and Upgrades: How Things Should Work

As I am not the developer, I certainly can't be seen as a judge of how things are supposed to work. However, this does not mean that certain things are not in question:

From this, we can quite clearly see that the intent is as such:

• Upgrades which affect gameplay (things that positively impact your character with no drawback) will be free. This means that you can only purchase them with certs. This is consistent with what is in-game - things like Nanoweave Armor, upgrades to class abilities, and vehicle performance frames, can only ever be purchased with certs.
• Sidegrades (things that are different, but are neither an upgrade or a downgrade) can be unlocked with or without paying. This is where the implants tie in. This is where it would seem that implants would go, based on their pricing scheme. However, I do not see any implants having any drawback over standard functionality.
• Cosmetics (things that don't affect gameplay at all) are unlocked only through paying. This is reasonable. Sure, some people use camos to (gasp!) blend in with their environment as opposed to looking like a giraffe, but I think this is countered by every time that I see someone trying to sneak around in their vehicle with lumifiber on.

Now, we must understand that these lines have occasionally been edged closer to. I would like to clarify what things are and are not over the line:

• Yes, weapons are sidegrades*. The reason for the star is that while we do see unbalanced weapons, at least SOE is trying to make them balanced. Some people might cite the Dalton as a straight-up upgrade over the Shredder. Trust me, it isn't. The Shredder does much more damage than the Dalton, with the exception that it has damage falloff. If you try swooping down really close to a Sunderer and shooting it with the Shredder, you would find that it kills the Sunderer in about 3 seconds at most. However, it trades this close-quarters domination for the fact that it is nearly useless at longer ranges. Most Liberator pilots prefer to attack from longer ranges, thus we see more people using the Dalton and Zephyr. It just happens to be an easier playstyle to adapt to.
• Vehicle horns are pushing it. Out of all cosmetic items, the vehicle horns are the only ones which have functionality and practical use. It is nothing I can't accomplish by yelling at people in proximity chat, but it does something. However, it isn't like the horn kills people or anything. It's no more damaging to the game than an ice cream truck horn for a Sunderer would be - in fact, SOE, if you are reading this, please do this. It will make you at least twice as much as current implants would.
• Boosts and membership are excusable. Yes, while extra resources and XP are an upgrade no matter how you look at it, these only affect the metagame - they don't affect gameplay. They allow you to progress more quickly, but ultimately, your weapons do the same amount of damage, your enemies are just as skilled - if you pulling an extra tank every now and then or you having an extra rank of nanoweave stops them from having a fair fight with you, then it is likely because the opponents in question aren't trying hard enough.

Another standard we notice (while it hasn't been explicitly stated) is that permanent things are bought with certs, and that anything one-use is bought with resources. I don't have to pay 200 certs again for every EMP grenade I want to throw. I pay a one-time fee of 200 certs, then a bit of infantry resources for every EMP grenade. This is the main thing that implants violate, and the thing that has the most negative effects.

Right now, any certs are spent on things that will last forever. If we add temporary items into the mix, players who don't spend SC on implants will use the certs that they would normally use to make their character permanently progress. These players will fall behind because of this. Where they would spend their certs on a permanent upgrade, they will instead use certs on a temporary boost, ending up in a vicious cycle, and ultimately quitting due to slow progression on permanent upgrades. Meanwhile, SC users will get to reap the benefits of implants without harming their normal progression. This is pay-to-win. This is unacceptable.

This all being said, I propose the following solution, which would fix ALL of the problems with implants:

Step 1. Make implants only need to be certed or bought once.

This is rather self-explanatory. Cert points are always used to buy things that permanently stay with your character. You can either make them equippable like something in loadout slots and make them permanent, or make them last a certain amount of time (or make them last one life), after which you must use resources to get another. I don't care, as long as we don't have to spend certs on something that only lasts temporarily.

I would advise using a price of 250 Certs or 500 Station Cash per implant. This leaves a reason to buy implants if you want them all quickly (hint: sell an implant bundle = $$$), while leaving them reasonably within reach for new/free players and well within reach for subscribing players.

Step 2. Give each implant a drawback if you want to sell them.

Again, rather self-explanatory. There are many things that can be done here, such as slightly decreasing movement speed. In fact, if you did this and made it to where implants took a while to turn on, you'd have something sort of like what Planetside 1 did. Anything must be significant enough to cause there to be a reason to not have an implant equipped. If there is no drawback, then don't sell implants for Station Cash for the sake of consistency. Just try to avoid making it too "Cybernetics Eat Your Soul". Not choosing either of these would be contradictory to what Higby said above.

Step 3. If all else fails...

If things can't be worked out with implants, then don't implement them. Nobody will blame you for excluding a broken and/or unworkable mechanic. We are simply players concerned about the future of the game, and want the best outcome, even if it means less features. Note that implementing something broken and pay-to-win as implants would almost certainly scare off the MLG crowd. And while some people have been a bit less than content with the idea of MLG in Planetside 2, I'm sure they would agree that implants are a bigger issue right now.

I really do hope that SOE takes these remarks into consideration (and it would be even better to see Higby or Luperza's comments on the current situation so we can know something is being done, the current activity on Reddit and on the forums is currently only a little bit short of a riot it seems). As I have said, this is an issue that concerns all of us, and it is in everyone's best interest to make sure it gets resolved in such a way that does not break the game.

Thank you for posting this. SoE really needs to address why they are wanting to do a 180 on their previous statements. I really hope they have some better reason than "for more money lol!"...

I didn't know that Higby previously stated implants would be a cert only purchase. If he's going back on that then why should be believe anything he says? What's next? A atomic bomb launcher for the MBTs that is 2000 certs and 700 SC, rounds must be purchased for 50SC each and kill all enemies in a hex?

Yeah, not realistic I know. It's not even the implants. It's just that SOE is showing that they can say one thing Monday, and the total opposite on Thursday. Cmon guys, your word is your bond. Don't sell out.

implants are not P2W

Plans change. You have two choices for obtaining implants, SC or Certs. Whereas before the plan was Certs only. What's the problem?

The decay is the problem. It means that instead of certs = power (no matter how long it takes you to earn them), it shifts instead to certs/time = power. The latter means people with higher cert income get buffs that people with lower cert income don't. This gives an unfair advantage to two groups of players:
1. people already heavily invested in the game and who are good at it, to the expense of the new plaer
and
2. people who spend money on boosts and memberships.

The whole point of the F2P model is to get people in and playing for free, then turn them into paying customers. If their first experience in the game is 'pay up or get out' then most of them are going to get out. The game suffers for this, because it needs players for other people to shoot at.

All of the veteran players started out with nothing as well. By and large the only real limitations on obtaining certs is the player's skill, involvement and time commitment. If someone is good for nothing but being a bullet magnet, an implant or two isn't going to transform them into Thor.

I agree with the OP's argument.

These two are ********. The first one makes any silencer or hidden sniper visible to anyone arround on the minmap. So the second one is a must-have for those who want to stay unseen on the minimap. What is a scout radar that you have bought for many certs worth it if you can't rely on it?

I don't want to waste all my certs to buy tons of these implants to stay compete. I don't like the change that the players with the highest certs/hour rate will be the winners and dominate the ones with a lesser rate. I must confess, that I don't know the exactly cert-costs of the implants but as it is said that they will only work for a few hours you will have to buy a lot of these to keep the implants work all the time. Even if they only cost 50 certs/implant those who are unable to collect them will loose in the long run.

I really don't like these two implants because they are way too OP to not to buy them.

Exactly correct.

However, the limit on how many certs you can gain in 30 minutes of play is governed by skill (minor), involvement (medium) and the presence of boost effects that you pay for (major). This is cert income, and the implant system is a step towards making cert income the deciding factor, not total cert gain.

You do not need to have boosts/membership to gain certs at a reasonable rate. Many people don't and get along with it just fine. Surely it helps, but you'll gain certs just fine by getting into the action.

My point being, implants are just a "nice to have," really. You don't need to have them, if you have to prioritize gaining certs to upgrade skills and weapons, that is the tradeoff. You need to decide which is more important. Certs spent on skills are going to have more impact for players early on than implants will.

Laser sights and larger magazines are nice-to-have, too. The thing is implants make a difference to gameplay: they situationally turn a loss into a win. This means they are having an impact on the game.

They're nowhere near the same value. Something like Laser Sight isn't "situational" unless you're putting it on the wrong weapon, it's something that has value in all situations. Same goes for things like Nanoweave, or Resist Shield, better scopes etc. These are all things that have a direct consistent impact on your ability to kill or survive. They're not just "nice to have," but essential.

And on top of this some implants are completely too strong, everybody will take the sensor shield.

And radars will be useless.

And SOE make money.


SOE do you think we are all completely dumb?

* don't show up on radar
* have snipers or other assailants using good tactics against you auto-highlighted for you and all your friends
* automatically see enemy explosives, such as the mine just around the corner
* make your gun more accurate when in close range and not ADSing

Are you honestly telling me that the top three are far less valuable than the bottom one? Really?

You are discussing business policies when the main issue is how OP some of those Implants are, and how counter Infiltrator(Including the Infiltrator changes coming) in particular? Slap an Implant on, you can do what Infiltrators do even! Well, the important part- Not showing on Radar! LOLWUT! OK forget the last sentences if you don't agree, but Implants are definitely are OP. So I don't care how they sell them, I care that they need to take them back to the drawing table... YESTERDAY.

1) Cloak works, if you like infil. Out of all the implants Sensor Shield is pretty good though.

2) It just removes a button push, myself and people I know spot everything already. Infils will already have recon darts going, or vehicles nearby with scout radar. Auto spot is a non-issue.

3) IRNV scope already does it for you if you use it. Otherwise that's just an awareness crutch.

4) For some weapons, yes. But if you think it's limited to just getting yourself a Laser Sight, you're missing the point.

edit: for comparison sake, lets say an implant costs you 100 certs. For a new player, you then have a choice, spending 100 certs on an implant or on your first levels of abilities. So you could have Sensor Shield, or for the same cost pickup a rank of Nanoweave, 1 or 2 ability slot upgrades, a scope of your choosing and 1 rank in pretty much every single acquisition timer and/or zoom optics and/or ammo capacity for vehicles and MAX's. Which is going to have a more significant impact for a new player?

Beter idea then implants !!!!!
Make another sloot in inventory !!!!!
I like cary 2 rocket lanchers on my HA

I really dislike the idea of having to buy the damn things over and over again. It makes them unique amongst things you can buy with certs, and blurs the line between certs and reosurces. Does anyone think that's a good idea/fun and/or anything but annoying?

'course, SOE'll probably sell more of 'em that way. I hate to be so cynical as to assume it's a cash grab, but I don't understand why else they would have them expire.

Calling it a cash grab when you can buy them without spending a dollar is kind of asinine, don't you think?