The Slow Decline Has Started, Planetside 2 Is Dying, This Is What Will Save It

i think you are confusing this with Battlefront 2. in Planetside there is no RNG unlocks except for the new implants and even those are pretty tame cause you only have to unlock them once and then upgrade them with a ressource that is not primarily earned by RNG. If i want to unlock Liberator afterburner, that is the very first thing i can unlock in the game as soon as i have the certs for it.

Planetside 2 is over five years old. Sooner or later, it has to "die."

"Shhh, if I keep preaching its death every year, eventually I'll be right!"

As in the entire grind for things that matter - rather than reduce, it just eliminates it.
Not side-grade equipment either.

Not to mention, if paired with your removal of any threat from non-paying users, it becomes insane.

And it's entirely different game, not dependent at all on population numbers.
Nor about numerous counter-weapons & weapon systems.
No AI, AV, AA.
So their paywalls, and anything you mention are entirely different levels for entirely different things.

In GTAO, you aren't giving everyone a specific gear of gear, countered entirely by all manner of gear above it.
Nor giving force-multipliers on a battlefield no value to one type of player -- with those said multipliers needed by the other type to kill the very same multiplier.

They are an entirely different genre, with a lot of racing, and DLC packs.
PS2 is a wargame.

Without any motive to stay & be mercilessly killed by paying customers, you'd run out of targets.
And be left with people hell-bent on buying their way to victory given that is what is implied.

How to fix it:

FIX YOUR DAMN BUGS:
-Ranger bypassing all resistances
-Air Vehicle Quick-pull

FINALLY NERF OR BALANCE STUFF:
-buff Lightning durability
-nerf Harasser durability
-nerf C4 vs MAX units
-rework or buff VS MAX ability

Add some fun stuff people can do that are not designed for people to just spend money:
-Interlocking Base Components (this post:https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/interlocking-base-parts.248041/)
-Fleet beacons and Low Orbit Capital ships
-Add or link some proper tutorials for different elements in the game
-Player platoon leader-driven mini-alerts

I created my 1st character back in 2014. Life threw me a curveball. I then forgot about this game. Recently, I quit playing a game that was F2P, but P2W. I dont mind playing a game that allows one to pay to keep up with new tech upon release, but when it takes months to F2P your way to get the new item, they tend to become obsolete by then, due to new tech release. Thats how most F2P/P2W games work. Ive come back to this game, hoping its still focused on a F2P with a P2Support the F2Pers. That said, Im BR13 and completely lost on how to set my character up. So far, being a "new" player, I can see that I already have to delete my character, so I can spend certs appropriately, but even then, I still dont even know what proper is, lol. This is one confusing game, from a new player perspective. This might be why new player retention could be an issue. Im not planning on leaving. The challenge as been accepted and I have even attempted to get a membership and buy some DB. Had to submit a ticket for some purchasing issues already, lol. I dont enjoy reading how many certs are needed for the Lib and all of its glory, but hey, guess I gotta grind or shell out cash...

At BR15, you get a one-time cert reset, so you may as well keep going since you should get a full redo.

You say 2014 but talk about yourself as if you were new. Give Iridar's orientation guide a read-over. Watch Wrel's yet-still-relevant discussion on lag compression in the game. The tl;dw of the latter is that you see on your screen what your opponent did "one second ago" and need to work in a frame of mind where you see your opponent first or break line of sight on your opponent if tardy.

As far as spending goes, don't buy new weapons yet. Get a 2x scope on the primaries you do use. Find just a few classes to work on rather than dividing attention between all - at least one of the support classes (Combat Medic or Engineer) and one of the assaults (Heavy or Light). Focus on your Tool slot items, your Ability slot items, and some protective Suit slot option (but don't overspend on it). You don't have to progress things all the way as it does get expensive. Above all else, don't focus on buying things. Just focus on getting decent with the game, its controls, even if you have to adjust optoions like mouse sensitivity to do it, and the base layouts.

@Demigan I was suggesting something similar to some sort of giant tank, also giant walkers, etc. but all I got was circular reasoning, red herring, slippery slope hate comments.

Good work mongoloid, you revived a thread that's been dead for months. Go sit in the corner and think about what you've done.

This is actually a pretty relevant thread though considering what's been happening to PS2 lately, with all the game-crippling new features, bugs, and now the unplayable server latency impacting multiple servers in Europe and America...

I was saying that the game dying long before this thread was even made, but now it really seems more apparent than ever.