[Suggestion] Unlock all implants permanently and for free

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Campagne, May 22, 2018.

  1. Campagne

    By making all implants permanently available right from the inception of a new character no players are inherently weaker or stronger than others, at least in the benefits provided by implants. Thus, implants become a playstyle choice much as they were in PlanetSide classic, if I can recall correctly.

    Earlier today I was playing my underused TR alt because Miller was crapping out on me, as per usual. Rather than not play at all (13K server ping, great job server hamster), I figured I'd just play on a different server.

    It didn't take long for me to realize how ridiculously impeded I was without any useful implants and no spare certs to buy them with. Not having Battle Hardened was very noticeable and its absence got me killed on more than a few occasions, while the lack of Catlike left me feeling lethargic.

    Of everything, the unfamiliar guns, the incomplete abilities, weaker tools, half the normal quantity of medsticks, and especially stupid teammates, the one thing which I really felt was holding me down was not having any useful implants. It's like missing a suitslot, they're direct upgrades to the character.

    If they were simply all free, (maybe except for the rares), there would not be such an equipment gap between newer and older characters.

    I know this will never happen, because lootboxs, ISO-4, UI assets, etc., but there isn't a doubt in my mind doing so would improve the general gameplay.
    • Up x 2
  2. Jbeasty

    It just feels wrong without catlike 5 at this point. Max ammo printer allows me to take nanoweave etc. suit slots in more loadouts. Playing my alts without those 2 maxed is supremely annoying. Would love for implants to be account wide, but ofc, people would have been exploiting the current meltdown alert system to farm ISO if that were the case.

    Obviously, what you suggest has 0 chance of happening, but with the alert rework coming, I hope ISO is at least easier to get now. I think getting ISO currently is absurdly slow as a veteran player, who has been playing A LOT. A casual/new player would have an infinitely worse time trying to rank up implants, let alone get some of the rare ones. Only have one exceptional myself after quite a few recyclers and deluxe packs. Would love to get counter intelligence and logistics someday...
    • Up x 1
  3. gorillax

    If you feel that impeded not having implants it might just be a skill issue rather than some p2w illuminati scheme. While regeneration and ammo printer might help you sustain yourself out of combat it's not going to be the deciding factor over who kills who in a fight. Making all implants free also cuts a (probably) significant percent of their revenue.
    • Up x 5
  4. infilallday

    I think the only problem with implants is the random nature of them when buying them.
    I dont mind random implants as rewards for directives, but if you are going to buy them with either real money or hard earned certs, you want to be able to get what you want.

    Its an obvious cash grab.

    I started as an LA on an alt account not long ago and i have to get all my implants again. Ive already gotten a few back that i used to use. I never really felt majorly disadvantaged because of this. I am still able to compete, just not as good as people that have put alot of work into getting to where they are, and thats fine.

    If you make this game too much in favour of newbies, then vets are going to complain. I understand new players frustration when being butt ***** by vets but come on, we all started there.....

    I see implants as one way to prolong the playing life of this game. Something to work towards and dream about. If you have everything instantly then what is there to grind for? What motivates you to keep logging in?

    Every game i have ever played has become boring once i unlocked everything. Sure it'd be fun if everone was on the same level, but for how long?
  5. FateJH

    I would call that being pigeonholed, perhaps "dependent." It's been so long since the silver spoon has been removed that you don't know how to play the game anymore. It's all only subtle changes, but each perceived millisecond feels like an eternity because your sense of timing is stuck tuned to a pace you can barely kit yourself out for, maybe just barely strategize around. Instead of trying to adapt your playstyle to what tools you have, and relearning ways around the game you might have forgotten, you're attempting to force a playstyle borne of the use of different tools out of the wrong tools.

    All I am saying is that the judgment you are making is ill-suited because that mindset is not compatible for the battle rank of your immediate player character.

    It's been a few characters since I've even ranked anything from my suit slot options.
  6. Sazukata

    Battle Hardened and Catlike give a direct combat advantage.

    Assimilate does as well if you're fighting more than one player within ~8 seconds.
    • Up x 1
  7. infilallday


    Of course they do but its not like we have always had them. It just means learning new strategies to deal with the task at hand until you also have the implants yuo want.
  8. Sazukata

    It's okay that uncommon RNG rewards give an advantage because they weren't always there? What?

    What the HESH does "new strategies" mean? What strategy is there to counter someone with an advantage I'm punished for not using/not being lucky enough to even own?

    This reeks of apologism.
  9. infilallday

    Gee quick on the attack arent we? must have your keyboard warrior facepaint on i guess...

    Its not like we have always played with implants. So obviously you CAN play without them. Then some players got some implants first and upgraded them first, they then had what you obvioulsy see as a "great advantage". Those of us who werent as good at getting these implants so quickly then still had to compete, and that we did, until we also got those implants.

    So i admit "new strategies" was a poor choice of words and should have instead said. "old strategies"

    I think you must ASSUME i have awesome, fully upgraded implants that allow me to destroy any one that doesnt.
    I can assure you that is NOT the case, but you dont see me on here complaining.....

    So then it becomes quite obvious that i am not defending something because i am using it. I am defending it because i am not, and it still works.

    Im not sure all of that makes sense, but it felt like i was explaining something to my 5yr old.
  10. Sazukata

    If I happen to refresh the forums right after you reply, I'm not gonna wait around and withhold my reply just to not look weird.

    That said, my attitude levels were unusually high there. :p I'll tone it down.

    I think I see what you're getting at.

    A player having some kind of advantage due to being farther along the progression is one thing, but that advantage being 1) tied to randomized acquisition that is 2) in a feature meant for niche/quality-of-life upgrades is problematic in a PvP game.

    It also falls into the same design mistake they keep making: 'If you don't run this one option, you are at a disadvantage against those who do.' Nanoweave, Heavy Assault, Battle Hardened, etc. are the main examples.

    A good habit to get into on the internet, honestly. We all come from different countries, cultures, age groups, and backgrounds, so it helps to be very concise and transparent.
    • Up x 1
  11. Campagne

    The fact of the matter is that if my two characters were to fight Commissioners at dawn, my NC character would likely win even with everything else as stock equipment, simply because the hits wouldn't through off his aim.

    Dependent on a silver spoon? I just don't want to miss my next three shots because a frag went off 10 meters away. :p
  12. infilallday

    Well i admit, i clicked into your reply expecting an escalation. I even threw in some lines to get a bite, but you didnt, so thank you.

    I am totally against random acquisitions of implants if you buy them. You should be able to choose. The current system, i believe, is broken. Random rewards for objectives? less broken.

    Nanoweave is another issue altogether and i see what you are saying and i agree. There should not be go to load outs that everyone uses because they are the most powerful. Balancing needs to be done, it is a hard task though.

    Your main example of HAs with BH and NW, to me is hit and miss. Yes there are the go to loadouts for the majority (if not all, but i doubt it) HAs but if they were that OP, everyone would be HA. I dont know what the actual figures are for class populations however.

    The fact that not everyone is HA shows they are counterable, and while those loadouts are meta for HAs, they are not really meta for other classes, so i dont think its that bad for each class to have its own meta.

    Just my opinion, been playing since 2015 but not very solidly so other people would have a much better idea of how these things work.
    • Up x 1
  13. raffa2

    Today you picked the worst day to play TR on miller, i haven't seen a worse day than this in months, extreme double team, no platoons running, 6% underpop and a weird amount of less mentally gifted people. Between all of this instead of playing normally i chose to farm.
    I even heard guy talking about how hard is it to play max as the cherry on top.
  14. frozen north

    Anything to help the new guys is a good thing in my book.
  15. Campagne

    Actually I was on Connery since Miller wasn't working for me.

    I don't think Miller had it all that bad compared to that hot mess. :p
  16. DarkStarAnubis

    it won't happen, Implant boxes are a good soruce of income for DBG.

    However, it would be good to have at least a dynamic RNG concept in which the drop percentages are adjusted according to what you already have.
  17. customer548

    I got Battle Hardened and Assimilate implants in the 3 first Implants Boxes I bought with Certs, on 2 of my chars.
    I had to wait for the 5th or 6th box in order to get BH implant on my 3rd character.
    Not the end of the world.
    • Up x 1
  18. Prudentia

    see here we come back to the last devstream where everyone whined that there wasn't anything new there.

    Cause the biggest news imo from that stream was that they are planning to allow you to straight up buy any implant you want if you don't want to depend on the RNG system.
  19. tommyrocket

    Just recently got Carapace myself, and it's actually really OP. A considerable advantage from the moment you get it. If you've got at least 3 restoration kits and resist shield as heavy, you're good to go. This is because restoration kits restore a percentage of your MAX HP per second, not a flat amount. Resto kits are actually slower if you have less total max HP, but thanks to carapace, you heal like a full bar in less than 3 seconds, and can fully heal and then some in just the 12 seconds. OP? Yes.
  20. Prudentia

    Restokits heal 75 health per second. period. they do not heal a percentage