This game is a boring grind for certs

Why do so many players feel that if their character is not totally maxed out, and has every weapon and attachment they want, then they're somehow weak, or behind, or can't compete? I personally couldn't give a hoot how my character matches up with others. I grind for gear completely for fun.

F2p's are supposed to have a grind, it's how the company makes money and continues the development. The longer the grind, the longer the development. And not every game can be a hat simulator and gambling operation like TF2.

Probably the #1 complaint of f2p gamers is "the grind" and the 'need' to buy a membership to get anywhere. But it's supposed to be this way. Otherwise, it would all just return to the old way, and you'd drop $50-$70 for each game, with a percentage of players regretting the purchase but having no money left to buy a different game.

F2p has so many advantages over the old way. You can dive in and play for free, and find out that you don't like it, without any loss of money. You can try every f2p out there until you find one you like, or you can go back to the old way and buy the complete game up front.

As others have mentioned, just play and enjoy the game. The certs will come when they come.

You don't need a lot of unlocks/certs to do okay or have fun in the game. It's more about practice, tactics, and knowing the map/bases than anything. That is probably why you feel "left behind" after years of not playing, not so much because of unlocks/certs. A lot of people have been playing the game nonstop so jumping in after a long break is basically the same as being a brand new player since they have reworked a lot of systems and most bases in the game.

Here is a random alt I made a few weeks ago (BR21), nothing unlocked with real money: https://www.planetside2.com/players/#!/5428477718715649377/killboard Could I do better with more unlocks? Maybe a little bit but the difference would honestly be negligible.

From my 1240 hours on this game I can tell you that gameplay comes first, certs comes second. This game is nowhere close to progression-oriented, what keeps players in this game is not the grind but the experiences.

Hmm, all i do now is grind the auraxium kills. All i worry about is getting the essentials for the class i'm playing. Right now i'm farming assault rifles so my medic has maxed medkit, medgun and shield cap. All certs i get now are extra and i just save them up for the next gun. I'm doing CME atm, the certs i save will probably go towards Terminus.

I am having some trouble tho, i need two pistol auraxiums (the underboss and commisioner) to get black camo but i have no idea how to grind these guns. I've tried stalker cloak but everyone seems to be able to see my cloak or kills me the moment i uncloak :|

All I can tell you is that you spend your certs badly. Instead of trying to "max out" a single class try to spend your certs equally across all the different classes. For example do not generally buy the final level of anything unless you just can't live without it. The last level usually gives you a very small improvement for a lot of certs .For example Icarus jump jets level 5 cost 1000 certs and give a mere 3,5% faster fuel regeneration rate.

For all those certs you could buy yourself (from lvl 1)
- level 5 nanite mesh generator (331 certs) for heavy
- level 5 medical applicator (190 certs) for medic
- level 4 hunter cloaking (310 certs) for infil
- level 4 nano-armor kit(90 certs) for engi
- and you'd still have 79 certs left. For 3,5% faster fuel regeneration rate.

This game needs a "hardcore" mode/faction. XD

Its not even that bad
Given i have premium now but i never worried about it being a grind when i didnt

Spend your certs wisely and its not an issue

Its progression

Otherwise youll burn out

If its not one thing its another

After nearly 2 months of play, I don't find it that bad.

Skill > cert perks.

I just hit BR 32 and can easily stand up against BR 120 without much issue. I'm not even fully certed properly and just wasted 2300 so I could have an invisible sufferer. :3

Certs are merely, for me, just bonus perks at this point.

Hardcore outfits force spawn at warpgates and you only get one life.

Its not that bad - especially for a FTP. Just skip the last lvl and most things are kinda cheap. When starting up, years ago, with a rig that wouldnt let me hit ****, i felt like... "damn, its gonna take like a month to get weaponX". But now, i am making 800-2000 certs per weekend...

They still need the 2% of ppl, buying their stuff with realMoney, u know? Without them, no PS2

To summarize what this thread has been saying: if you feel you're behind the eight ball and that you must get more certs to get better at the game, you will only keep struggling to stay somewhat decent at it.