I like implants

I mean, not in the way that I like aircraft, or sunderers, or flashes, but I think they add to the game. Though I usually don't notice them, when they do help me out, I turn to my implant and tell it, 'thank you implant, you have helped me.' Though I probably have a lot of charge left over from double XP weekend, I've been able to consistently run T1's and T2's without dropping below 20,000 energy, so that's barely been a concern. It also makes a couple other class combinations and tactics viable that wouldn't be as effective otherwise, like putting regen on a shield dropper medic. On the couple of higher level implants that my squadmates share with me, things like clear view and sensor shields add another team dynamic, not unlike res grenade bandoliers, or repair sundy chains.

So is it perfect? I don't know what perfect would have been, but it is a welcome addition, so far as I'm concerned. I do miss the cert screen though.

I got a cellar you can take shelter in cause there's a lynch mob coming your way.

I agree OP, all around a good system, and well implemented.

Years down the road we'll be quite happy with it I think.

I should add that I really like the 'drop' system, it's nice. More of this type of thing IMO!

I like the fact that you can combine implants to get better implants. Such a system in a game just taps into the pleasure centers of my brain somehow.

The implants dropping also feels like a very substantial reward. Certs and experience are things that can lead to other things, but implants and chargers. It's just "You've been doing well. BOOM! Here's a thing for you."

I like it that its a passive feature and that the drops stack like flies on a sticky tape.

Their design is:
1.) A shallow way to customize your character.
2.) A cert-sink for lower BR players.
3.) An attempt at getting money from impatient people.
4.) An intentionally exclusive aspect of the game in order to make #2 and #3 work.

I am not a fan.

Yeah i agree also.

Besides there aren't any gamebreaking / OP implants. I dont know why people are so mad about em.

My favorite implant imo is enhanced targeting which you get free and is T1 and very energy efficient, love to see how much the max has HP so i can calculate my chances and same with vehicles, also very good at finishing wounded targets off from zergs.

As opposed to what else? Certs are a money sink for low BR players, unless they want to grind without boosts or a membership. A lot of this game is geared at you spending money on it. I've yet to spend a dollar or a cert on it, so I don't really mind. If I ran out of energy and never used my implants again, I'd probably barely notice the difference.

As to #1, sure, that's true. In fact, I think that was intended. If SOE tried to do anything too 'deep', there would have been a major backlash, and maybe a ton of work put right back to the drawing board. So far as I see, the backlash has already died. What I get is another feature, and one that I've personally had no reason to complain about. You can buy scopes with real money too. Who cares?

Implants are a good addition to the game. That fact that people on the forums are against them completely baffles me. They're FREE! You get them simply by playing the game. No certs. No SC. Just play the damn game, and you'll be swimming in implants! To me, it seems like the people that don't like them:

1.) Can't be bothered to take 2 minutes and read how they actually work
2.) Can't be bothered with extra customization of their character
3.) Can't be bothered clicking the button that gives them more energy from all the chargers that they get for free.

These people probably would have protested suit slots if they weren't already implemented on release. "Nanoweave? Flak armor? Meh... just a cheesy gimmick."

Implants like they had in PS1 - better in every single way (except for P2W).

IMPLANTS ARE GREAT. you get a lot of implants from just playing the game X). Implants were only released a while ago, and i have already got 3 tier 3 implants. i did buy a few packs, but most of the implants you just pick up.
IMPLANTS ARE BALANCED. because implants have such a small impact on fights, newer players don't need implants to be effective. They are also very easy to get hold of, and no implant provides a massive boost over other players.
IMPLANTS ADD A NEW ASPECT TO LOADOUTS ironically the community actually desired implants. Youtubers like Wrel and EnergyOne complained that the class customisation was rigid, that there was few combinations etc, etc. This was a majority opinion. When SOE implantment implants to change this they get hate all of a sudden.

It seems ok, however we don't know how they will be abused en masse. For example, once we start seeing whole squads running with "Clear Vision" and Grenade Bandoliers, for example, there may be tears.

However, while you can theorise all you want, I have not yet seen anything particularly unfair about implants yet.

I like the implants as well, only thing I don't like is the energy that needs to be refilled.

So you guys mean that the emp shield, clear vision, and regeneration are fine?......and this isnt a bad attempt to milk us?
Because if THIS, CURRENT implant system is the best one which could they come up with than it's jsut pathetic....
No progression, no "implant tree" so you could specialize in only 1...nope..just massive cert, money sink.

(*looks around*.....i bet all of the guy here liking the implants are...devs..i tell you they are all devs in this post!)

The economy of features we had in Planetside 1 is very different than the kind we have in Planetside 2. For example:

• In PS1, we had base fixtures that replenished health (and energy). We do not have such things in PS2; instead, we have a class with unlimited healing potential that you either query the services of or switch to yourself to use self-healing.
• In PS1, you need to be a certain battle rank to obtain your first implant; in PS2, this could be seen as a barrier to new players and against the general design paradigm where all resources are available through one avenue or another right from the start of the game, though it takes time to flesh-out their customization systems.
• In PS1, energy consumption was related to physical activity levels (bioelectric energy?) and some weapon operation (alternate fire mode of the medium assault pistols) and recharged through disuse, thus existed the reason you were to regulate it via toggles. In PS2, as of the current implementation, energy consumption is only related to the implant system and means of "self-charging" are awarded for service.
• In PS1, implants had limited places they could be equipped or changed - the sanctuary HAART building and BioLabs. I forget whether there was also a machine at the capitols. In PS2, any loadout terminal, even that of an S-AMS, or the deployment screen, can be used to adjust implants. You can mix them while in the middle of standing on a turnign capture point.

The only aspect that does not fit the current or the former economy of features is the random drop system and the slightly random crafting feature. That, however, was introduced to extend the initial fairness required of obtaining implants. It would have made more sense in a setup where the implants were consumerable, but the energy recharged, as that would mean you would have to plan to mix and stockpile the implants that you wanted; but, the playerbase rejected that system, perhaps fairly, perhaps not.

That kind of specialization system does not exist in this setting. It was a part of the PS1 economy of features (limited certs per Battle Rank and a prerequisite tree to make certain their distribution was less abusive than it could have been) but not a part of the economy of features of PS2 (infinite cert gain that can be allocated to all class toolsets freely). I would also argue that, if we were introducing such a system, there are more fundamental aspects of the game that should attempt to benefit from it before a not-absolutely-necessary implant system.

Edit: I will grant that the scope system used to have this kind of progression system but it was phased-out. The only "scopes" that continue to use this system are the ones for vehicle weapon zoom levels (we do not have dynamic zooming scopes and players wanted access to the lower scopes they certed into); and, the only features that use this system are the advanced foregrip (needs normal foregrip) and advanced laser sight (needs normal laser sight). The Engineer's Utility Pouch is an abominable Gordian Knot that I have been advocating the dev's to unravel for ages.

the most favorable possible interpretation of the implant system currently on live is that SOE created a needlessly complicated and clunky system of crafting and drops in an attempt to wring a few bucks out people who lack the patience to combine up to their T3 of choice. It's terrible and there's pretty much no way to defend it.

In a sane universe implants would just be something you cert up, and batteries for them would be purchased with the same infantry resources we use for everything else. The high-end versions could still be a big cert sink and they'd be incentivizing people to become members.

To some extent being nickel and dimed is the cost of doing business in an F2P game, but the implant system is so obnoxiously transparent about it that it turns me off. It's even worse than stuff like class specific helmets, since implants directly affect gameplay.

Hopefully nobody's buying the implant packs with certs and this system will be an obvious flop, but experience with games has taught me that you could put up a 'pay five dollars to get kicked in the junk' button and not only would people press that button, they'd try to convince you of how awesome it was.

There's no "economy" in PS2, there's just attempts to sell stuff for cash.

The only reason PS2 implants are different from PS1 ones are that they want to make SC sales off them.

Now that may BE the F2P model, but it is completely disegenous to suggest that PS1 implant wouldn't have work perfectly in a game-play sense, because they would.

Would they have made as many $$$'s for SOE? Maybe, maybe not - personally I think they might have done if they'd been sold like weapons are.

Completely agree. None of them are OP, all of them are possible to maintain (if you don't use them when you don't need them).

And best of all, the most useful (to me) implant is Enhanced Targeting - the default one, and cheap to maintain. The decision between firing a couple of bullets or pulling out the RL when you see a MAX is now much easier. Seeing tank health also helps stealing kills.

Some people like Arsenio Hall. Different strokes for different folks I guess.