Refund everyone who bought an AA launcher

That's not SOE's fault. They made everybody aware things would be changing, and it was up to buyers to take the risk.

Learn to use it, it's all about feeling.

****, SOE shouldn't even need to specify this. Unless this is your first competitive online game you should be aware that patches occur frequently, and that these patches have the potential to drastically change any given aspect of the game. If this isn't an acceptable situation for you, then don't spend your money on anything.

Threads like these are hilarious.

Question for the people complaining and wanting refunds: Did you people ever stop to think of the possibility that weapons could be changed in the future before you dropped cash on them..?

Changes? In a week old MMO? Heresy!

Considering the lock on launchers had their dumbfire capability throughout the entire beta test, yes I felt it was a relatively safe assumption that they wouldn't be changed in this fashion.

So sure, if they want to burn their bridges and destroy customer goodwill with unethical business practices, there's really nothing I can do about it except not spend any more money and spread the bad word when people ask about the game.

I bought the G2A RL to help deter enemy air while still having the ability to contribute vs. armour or structures, albeit at the price of reduced damage. Incidentally, after equipping I also preferred it for its clear sight picture which doesn't block the area beneath - allowing for far improved corrections.

It's not so much the dumb fire being removed that grates, but the removal of a mechanical feature of the equipment I bought. A cynical thought occurs that in a few months time we may see 'all new AA and AV launchers...with dumbfire mode!' Regardless, it plants the seed in my mind that there will be precedent set for significant mechanical changes that will completely invalidate the basis of my choosing to invest. The solution? I will stop doing so.

That can be offset however, by a gesture of good will, an acknowledgement. Could be certs or SC - I'd be happy with either.

I can think of games which did similar and did not do the latter, of course I stopped playing them - the transaction stops working when you feel you are being taken the mick out of/duped/toyed with to see how much you'll take while paying. Yet it takes comparatively little on their part to dispel that sensation.

Pretty much my feelings summed up.

Just add that in the same post Higby had the chutzpah to announce "oh, and here's a new dumb fire weapon for you to buy". Do they think our heads have a zip up the back?

All of these silly kids/manchildren ignoring the point arguing about EULAs (which are not ironclad, I don't care what it says) aside this is a lot of potential negative customer goodwill over something that doesn't make sense to begin with.

The AA launcher has serious problems to the point where it was already a sidegrade of sorts as far as HA launchers are concerned. If you create a launcher that's intended to counter air less desirable then air remains dominant which is the very thing you wanted to avoid in the first place. All that was needed was some minor tweaking to some damage numbers to cement the launcher's role in sidegrade-ia.

There's normally a point in time where you start to second guess the ability of devs to think rationally about their changes and have some foresight. From my personal experience, a great game with a long life keeps me wondering when that point is going to arrive. If this change goes live I think we'll have set a record time for hitting this magic point. I have to believe this is an oversight, that the game isn't being balanced around incompetent pilots that can't dodge G2A missiles.

I wont be putting in my ticket from a refund, you got your pittance from me, but if this goes live I can't say I'll be inclined to support this mmo much further with my money if this is how you plan to treat me as a customer. Dangerous precedent is being set here.

Wow, what a pile of rubbish this thread is.

People getting their knickers in a twist because the anti-air weapon they bought for the purpose of destroying Ground vehicles has had that ability removed. Anyone with reasonable sence would have realised that ability would be removed at some point, and thank goodness SOE have done that

I also look forward to destroying these whiners with my Lib bomber after they have got their refunds (if they ***** enough SOE might give in) after they relise they may be 7 dollars richer but now have no AA defense hahaha

Sorry, but most of us already have a second burster arm, and look forward to saying "hi" in game later.

Oh, and by the way, I had my first ever run in a lib with a Dalton the other night. Talk about easy mode! I cleaned up a whole TR lightning column of 7-10 tanks in a minute or two at no personal risk. Talk about OP. Maybe the Lib needs to be the next target of the nerf hammer?

Translation:

I bought the G2A launcher to exploit its fast launch speed vs ground targets. Now that they are fixing the exploit (while also buffing its intended actual G2A ability) I feel the need to whine.

Oh so your not trying to use the burster AA weapon as a ground deterrent? Well at least some weapons are used for their intended purpose

Can't help but think that a long range lock on AA launcher would do a better job at downing a lib ;P

I don't dispute that a long range lock on AA launcher might do a better job at downing a lib. In fact I applaud the Devs on the air/ground balance initiative. What riles me is the totally unnecessary removal of a useful but not OP feature on a weapon I paid real money for and had no relationship to the balance problem at hand. But that's just me, old fashioned to a fault.

nope, I didnt. I assumed that once a weapon had gone thru an extensive betatesting period I could maybe (but unlikely) see small changes here and there, not massive ones that almost completly redefine the weapon, its capabilities and its use.

whats even more, it never crossed my mind that such could happen on a weapon that they supposedly had enough confidence in, to start charging people real money for it.

now my turn, let me ask you a question.
assuming you have spent some money in the game so far, will you keep spending money from now on, knowing that the weapon you buy today could end up changed in such a way that it could be completly different tomorrow, with no warning and no refund?

imagine for a second that you buy the rocket pods, and overnight the devs decide that to preserve balance, they can only be used against turrets. players, tanks, other aircrafts etc recieve zero damage from them. ONLY turrets receive damage.

would you think the weapon you spent 7 dollars yesterday is still worth seven dollars today? would you make the same purchase if given the chance to reconsider it?

Yes I have and yes I will.
Your metaphor is flawed btw. It is not like they removed your dumbfire and restricted you to only be able to lock on to Liberators.

A better example would be if they had changed the rocket pods to only be able to attack ground vehicles and buffed them so they would be more effective in that role.

I own the rocket pods and no I wouldn't really mind if they did that.
They nerf it in one aspect and buff it in another, and I wouldn't expect any less from items bought in a pure multiplayer game. Ingame stuff will get rebalanced every patch. If you're not prepared to deal with that you probably shouldn't be spending your money or certs on stuff that seems a little to versatile or OP.

Now what if they rebalance factions? Will demand to get your certs transferred to another faction character?
Or what if they had straight up buffed the AA launcher and increased the cost to 1500 certs/1200 SC? Would you still demand to get a refund for what you had paid for it?

You made an incorrect assumption. You know what they say about assumptions?

And there is nothing here in their business practice that is unethical. Just because you are unhappy doesn't mean they did anything wrong.

It's absolutely unethical. The weapon had two firing modes in beta. The weapon had two firing modes at launch. The weapon specifically stated in its details that it had two firing modes. The weapon was put available for trial with two firing modes. There has been no post, indication, or hint from developers until now that it wasn't intended to have two firing modes. No one was complaining that it had two firing modes. It even had a damage reduction, specifically because it had two firing modes.

And it's being reduced to one firing mode.

If that happens with no refund of certification cost or station cash, that's absolutely unethical. That's why in basically every other MMO made, when they remove core functionality of a given class or ability, they refund and let players redistribute.

You can argue until you're blue in the face that the weapon wasn't supposed to be able to be dumb-fired in a pinch, and you'll still be wrong. Up until Higby made that post, the weapon's dumb-fire capability was absolutely intended, and we made that purchase (whether SC or cert) as informed consumers, knowing that the weapon had two fire modes and that that was the correct functionality for the weapon.

Well then, that is a mistake on your part. Balance is never perfect in any MMO game and developers don't stop balancing after launch just because there was a beta. Developers are always balancing different aspects of the game trying to find the right sweet spot.

Before you drop cash on a weapon, you need to be aware that there is the possibility that sometime down the road, changes may be made to a weapon and at some point you may not like that weapon anymore. Don't assume weapons won't be changed because you spent money on them.

Before I dropped cash, I already knew the weapons I purchase may be changed in the future and I have no problem with that. I will continue to spend money on this game.

As RF404 said, your analogy is flawed. I'll answer your question using his analogy which is a bit more similar to this situation with the grounder.

If I purchased Rocket Pods and for whatever reason they decided to make it so I could no longer attack air units while buffing their effectiveness against ground units, hell i'd welcome that change! After all, I most likely bought those rocket pods in the first place to take out ground units.

Same goes for the grounder.

If I were to purchase the grounder, it would be for it's AA capabilities. If I heard SOE wanted to make the launcher better against air, but at the cost of it's dumb fire mode meaning you can't use it for AT anymore, i'd also welcome that change. I get a more effective AA launcher and if I want AT, I can choose one of the other launchers, including the SKEP which is also getting a buff and will be more effective in it's role as an AT launcher.

With that said, I would not mind an option to refund SC or certs which is actually something I want to see them add. But please people, before you start making purchases, understand that major changes can be made to weapons, vehicles, etc.

I can't shoot infantry in the face with my AA launcher now, or shoot tanks. QQ.

Everyone knows heavies should be able to do everything all the time forever right?

Good change.