Anyone else found their initiation difficult? I'm not even talking basic mechanics here. As soon as you join the game you have NO decent anti-air capabilities... that in the end i had to purchase an anti-air lock-on launcher just so that i wasn't always dominated by players flying; and it took me a good 2 hours of fly time before i was able to not crash a fighter plane into a cliff even when not dog fighting; and these things are on a 20 minute, 200 aero-recquisition cool down. There was just no way i was farming 1000 certs for a lock-on when it was already a drag playing the game and feeling hopelessly out classed by air. Getting it made my life so much easier, it kept me alive longer and the certs coming faster (especially with the new anti-air damage gauge xp as opposed to kill assists only). Obviosuly SOE shouldn't make it too easy or fast to acquire these items otherwise no one would ever buy them, but there were serious balance issues and still are that make the easiest solution to countering particular assaults just to buying the necassery counter-weapon because there's nothing else you can do but throw more players at the problem. A similar thing could be said for ground vehicles, without the lock-on you basically have to get within a stones throw from a tank to be in for a chance of a 50/50 hit/miss ratio with your dumb fire launcher at which point you're gibs waiting to happen from a single shot, whilst you have to pump 5 more rockets into it knowing if a single rocket misses you're out of ammo and out of luck. Obviously this is a team game and in an ideal situation you'll heave friends supporting with more AV or at least an engineer to replen ammo, but particularly for new players struggling to find cooperative sqauds there's a curve that's steaper than the learning curve in regards to how out gunned you are by anything other than other basic infantry. Every time there's a patch it's difficult dealing with the power shift without basically having a high value item in your possession that would either take over a week of moderate+ playtime or money out of your steam wallet. I didn't mind the initial investment as the game was F2P and i had enjoyed it enough to warrant investing £15 to purchase 2 high value (A>G and G>A) weapons and the spare change for some aesthetics, but i shouldn't be forced to do this every patch and players shouldn't be forced to do this at all so that they don't feel like cannon fodder. Part of the problem is many of these unlocks are straight up upgrades as opposed to alternative options and others are items you'd expect or find you need in your arsenal from the very beginning. Other F2P models have players fighting on even footing for most of the game (towards end-game) so that the game can support casual players which will make up a large portion of the games player base and this is particularly important for a new MMO (like PS2) that relies on large player populations to function. Whilst every new player will suffer the "air issue" this doesn't constitute balance. There needs to be other immediate options that don't constitute "qq learn to fly" or "qq spend some infantry req on a MAX" even though it only has 1 anti-air weapon as standard with questionable DPS).
Those terms aren't mutually exclusive. Most F2P games are P2W, even the beloved LoL: If you don't have a full rune page for your favorite champions, you are at a distinct disadvantage and for some champions that's upwards of 6k IP meaning literally 50+ hours of time played.
I have payed too much to state that you're in distinct advantage over the other guy or not, but played enough to know that I'm no where near as good of a player, like some other people. You can't buy power directly anyways, so no it's not pay to win.
Starter MAX kit has a burster - pretty decent anti-air IMO. A lot of people say to me, "I'm not getting into PS2 because it's pay-to-win." But it's not - the beginner weaponry is great, the VS have some of the best weapons in the game as their starter weapons (Orion & Solstice). If you want to be more of a specialist to anti-air or anti-armour, yea you will have to invest a bit. Or just wait for a pack to come around that has all of that stuffed combined, for 1/8th of a AAA title. Pretty good deal IMO. Is PS2 pay-to-win in the essence that purchasing a gun will mean your KD suddenly rockets and you have a huge advantage. No.
I used to feel like PS2 was pay to win, then I realized that it is not. Teamwork and tactics beat buying all the weapons in the game every time. Just because someone bought a weapon does not mean that they will win the fight by any means.
Pretty much every single F2P is P2W to some degree. Even if they somehow balanced it perfectly, just having more options and being more flexible will give you a distinct advantage over other players. The basilisk, cobalt and bulldog for the sunderer are all pretty balanced, the A30 walker is even underpowered, but there are some situations where the basilisk will not be the ideal choice, and here the paying players will be at a advantage. That's true for any game
It's a F2P game with some P2W elements - the lock on launchers, camos and vehicle weapons being the obvious examples. Sure you can buy the weapons with certs but they're so expensive that realistically you're not going to be able to spec out a multi-role character with weapons just from certs, especially with how many certs you need for other stuff, and even if you did you'd still have gone through hundreds of hours at a disadvantage. The camos, especially the ones that make you look like the other factions, you can't buy with certs so no argument there. I don't mind spending money on the game though. For the £20 or so I've spent I've had >200 hrs of enjoyment. Bulletstorm cost me £20 and lasted 7 hrs.
Is there a single weapon in game that you can buy for money that you can't earn with certs? No? Then not P2W.
The problem is the cert cost and the obvious advantage and superiority of unlocked weapons. They want you to spend money so that's the reasoning behind it. I will most likely just buy what goes on sale when something comes up that I want, like the Cycler today.
i have noticed that some weapons really are not better than the default weapons you have. some weapons are a little bit better but in reality the best weapons in the game are the default ones. (not including vehicle weapons)
As an outfit leader, i can firmly say there is an advantage for paying players, but it is not P2W. If properly organized a squad or platton can combat pretty much an situation. That being said if you roll solo you will be at a distinct disadvantage that may make the game feel P2W. Generally speaking if you form up with a platoon (preferably an outfit) there will be enough specilists (some pay, some cert) that can protect you from more specilized threats, such as air and MBTs. This game is all about teamwork without it things can be very difficult regardless of wether you are a free player or not. And i know you said it can be difficult to find organized squads, my suggestion would be to keep an eye out for ones with 'Outfit' in their name. Many Outfits are friendly to new players and can help people see the game in a new way.
If you factor in that unlocked weapons have additional forward grip, laser sight levels as well as ammo types, scopes etc then the default weapons can't really be considered better or on par. It's more about vehicle weapons, like rocket pods and AA missiles for ESF. You can't do much with an ESF until you unlock a decent weapon for it. There's a lot of pretty bad default vehicle weapons. As far as actual guns go, yeah they are all only slightly different. The biggest differences being a decked out CQC weapon with a level 2 laser sight and one or two other attachments that would make it a beast compared to a default gun.
Paying will certainly get you a slight edge, if nothing else in versatility by having more weapons/certs -> options than a free player. Still, playing for free, with 0 certs and you can still do really good. I think when people hear pay2win they all think about this dude that puts down hundreds of $$ and is an unkillable god of destruction in the game. That never happens in PS2 though. A crazy, no life, free playing, "rank 100 colonel" can mop the floor with any number of regular players that spent a lot on the game. I think people need to remember that the whole "free to play" fever that seems to be going around these days as far as big publishers are concerned, is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Do you really think they want to make games for free ? They just figured out that making a game where people CAN play for free if they want is always going to be more successful because even when the game is not doing so great, it'll not outright die. They can also charge people that do like the game and have the funds to spend on it a lot more than a regular game (I will admit I have so far spent far more than a usual 60$ AAA title on this). TLDR: Paying gets you some degree of advantage, but it'll never be a deciding factor in a big battle and rarely noticeable in a small scale engagement.
This is the official qualification for P2W. You can earn all the weapons by playing and you are not going to be at a huge disadvantage even with the defaults. Thus, not P2W. If you want to see a real P2W, try APB: Reloaded.
oh geez. not this kind of thread again. there is no means of acquiring greater strength, or firepower which is not available to you through in game certs. No this is NOT a P2W. the most significant advantages you can earn are earned through cert upgrades which CANNOT be purchased with SC. Every game out there requires you to invest $50+ just to have access to the game. THEN you have to unlock everything and you still have the option to purchase additional weapons. in PS2 you are given a free, unlimited demo, and if at some point, it becomes worth your while to spend on PS2, what you spend on EVERY OTHER GAME OUT THERE, then you can buy $50 worth of SC on a triple SC event and literally have the ability to purchase dang near every weapon you could want. These threads are for people who are cheaper than scrooge or have the uncontrollable NEED to complain.
