The recent implant changes won't make them more profitable. Here's how to make us want to buy them:

Definitely agreed with a low-tier, PS2-only subscription level. Actually, make it stack with an SOE subscription. Allow double subscribers.

As far as implants go though, I actually like the energy system, and find even the new system sustainable via Ultra Charger crafting. Random lottery sucks though, honestly, and that's a -good thing-. Take the suggestion for SC purchasable implants a step further, and allow the purchase of specific implants, and make it so SC-purchased implants do not require energy, and, like other SC purchased all class items make them available to all characters owned by an account. Furthermore, only allow up to T3, or maybe T4 once the T5 system is in place to be purchased with infinite energy via SC, that way there's still an end-game implant option available which requires management, and potentially monetary input , meaning profits from everyone that gives a **** about high-tier implants and doesn't mind the energy system anyways.

You can fix the issue, Sony. Hell, you already had different versions of the holiday hats with and without exp boosts in accordance with whether they were bought or earned via directives. Just explain these away as Auraxium-powered implants, or something. Allow people to buy the implants they want and opt out of the energy system, while also having end-game, upper-tier options requiring energy and generating small levels of sustainable income from those of us who plan to participate anyways. Side note, you really need to devise a few more implants useful toboth tankers and career pilots. As things stand right now, the pickings are slim.

Trying to help you SOE, hopefully somebody at HQ with some economic sense reads this.

Renting something for $$$ is hard to do, especially virtual somethings....... it is basically what the orginal subscription model was, of course, but there you got the WHOLE game (or potential access to the whole game, baring expansions, anyway).

Looking at the cost per play of renting implants it is extortionate, basically, only someone with more money than sense would ever buy them.



I like the proper subscription idea, but I suspect it will never fly at SOE, back in the earlier PS1 days when it was starting to lose subs, two things were mentioned again and again.

1) Proper advertisement for PS1 - it never happened.
&
2) Dropping the sub price from the $15 a month (which was the same as a game like EQ1 with all its content and depth) to maybe $7 a month, which was much more reasonable for a PS1 type game as people simply didn't play PS1 like they played EQ1 - again it never happened.

I didn't Buy implants before and I have no intention of buying Implants in the future. I run them when I have them and if I run out of charges oh well it doesn't change the game for me in the least bit. If they made implants give a greater impact to game play and I was forced to buy them to compete, I would not be a happy camper.

I already have a subscription and I'm happy to pay it, to support the game, but if you attempt to force me to buy things I really have no interest in, then you will lose a customer in the end. I agree with many of the other posters that suggest giving people a lower subscription level.

I have also made the suggestion to SOE to add a Black Market.

It's a pretty simple solution and it could be done multiple ways. In a nutshell, Players can purchase weapons from the other factions off the Black market using SC ONLY. They would be basically Identical, just a change in colors for identification when being used, But here is the kicker, the ammo can not be replenished using your faction terminal, you would need to either spend SC or cert points in the Black Market to re-arm them.

I really don't care about the implants since I'm only using battle hardened 1 anyway, but I'm still canceling my subscription until they actually finish the VS as a faction.

Still only having 1-2 decent choices on VS each weapon category 2 years after release is just horrible when TR/NC have a wide selection for each category.

If they're going to Nerf drop rates, that should at leased make Ultra Charges drop, making it a rare drop, slightly lower than Tier 2 drops or something..

Well in fact, they should just make Tier 1,2 and 3 all dropperable at this point.. with Tier 4 being out now..

I think a lot of people would.

Haven't spent a cent currently using tier 4 sensor shield , have all the tier 3 implants about 120 something chargers and 20 something ultra chargers from burning old tier 3 implant duplicates.

Have a heap of tier 1 and 2 implants that I just don't use or couldn't be bothered melting them down.

Half the time I don't even have them charged.

Play the game, if people want to pay money for these things good for them, in all honesty it's not going to make you win. For me it's something to do when I get bored killing things.

Would be nice if I could sell them for station cash and buy stuff. Meh

If I buy station cash cards I usually give them away to outfit members during outfit events. You don't need to spend money to have fun in this game. But if you do your supporting the further development and longevity of the game.

Pay to make your character look cool. You don't need every gun or every launcher or every attachment , you can get this by just playing. If your spending money on anything other than cosmetic stuff you are wasting your money.

The reward of earning a weapon through Certs is much better than paying money for it. Pick a gun you like and become a master of it. Rather than a jack of all trades master of none. Pick 1 vech you want to build up and focus on that.

As for implants who cares. It's not going to make you a good player the advantage is so small it's hardly anything. When these thing start to become anything other than that we have a major problem in this game. A MAJOR problem. If I wanted a game where gameplay/money time makes you a better player I would play Warcraft. In planetside all players are to be on equal footing where the best player wins. It's the grounding of planetside 1 if that changes you will see a mass of people leaving.

You hit the nail on the head. I'm not running anything above T2 atm or what I can sustain. However, I absolutely DO NOT agree with making implants cash only. This flies in the face of everything done so far for balance. Cosmetics cash only sure. What next? OP guns that are cash only? You'd be starting a very dangerous trend.

700 SC or 1000 Certs for each T4 is a good start. They should be like every other weapon and tool.

Seriously, just make up to T3 purchasable with SC only with infinite energy, and leave the rest of the system intact, as-is, and definitely allow implants to be dynamically turned on and off, while playing.

Several posts after mine... again people who aren't effected by the low drop rate keep posting about how they don't even care or never spend money on Implants or Charges, because they're such efficient players..

Pointless comment when you're a player who has everything and can kill anything, vs a player who just got in to the game and has a KD or 0.3.. and their only income of exp is from base captures and repairs/heals.. which many will continue to have a KD in the 1.0 until BR40 or more..

Tryhards, Farmers and general players who know to not follow the zerg blindly will get the most out of their class as a Free to Play player, but people who just want to play the game with their friends and have fun or to take it slow, will spend more time gathering Certs, unlocks and abilities because they are having to buy Charges to actually use their Implants and maybe even craft their low tier Implants they have in to Charges to continue using them.

last week I had 100 and something Charges, this morning I have less than 20 left and 40 something Ultra charges..
Tier 4 Implants uses a ridiculous amount of energy and the drop rate for Implants and Charges is getting to the point where I'm spending most of my time "FARMING" instead of actually playing PlanetSide 2.

I'm doing it, the Farmers are doing it, and NO ONE CARES about Alerts or the tiny bit of META this game has to even bother capturing bases, when we can farm/defend a base for more PROFIT!

This game needs to drastically change it's way of development or it's going to turn in to just "Another one of those F2Ps" with no actual game play. The players will kill the game, and the player base will plummet! and the worst thing is, the MLG mind set of the Devs wont even care..

This game needs Control Consoles, REMOVAL OF ALL CAPTURE POINTS i,e dog piling to capture and just standing there.. New Tactical objectives i,e New Generators, new spawns rooms and less spawn camping and spawn hiding.. ohh and not forgetting the introduction of the T-Rek for the Universal slot, so Inf and Meds will play a more important role in the game, instead of every single player owning Med Kits..

NO ONE FROM PLANETSIDE LIKES PLANETSIDE 2! But we keep playing this pile of **** because there's nothing else like it..

Apparently they are planning more things along the same avenue.

Before t4 implants i was swimming in implants.

Now i don 't even have all the t4 implants yet.

Still have 200+ chargers and 50+ super chargers.

They've nerfed all drops (implants and chargers) seemingly, so getting T4 will take anyone quite a while.

I think more people will realise by how much once their charger stocks run out, although it is hard to judge if it is possible to retain implant use by crafting chargers (and charger drops) at the moment (I'd say it isn't personally), because as you say getting T4 take all your implant for a long, long time.

PS1: Awesome and balanced impant system. Not perfect (second wind/regen) but pretty good, balanced around a 0/100 stamina bar (energy) that fills up on its own over ~20seconds, and a button to toggle implants on/off when you want.
All implants are free for everyone, balanced and you can equip up to 3 different ones at a time.
Designed to customize/personalize your character for fun.

PS2: Complicated system that nobody wants, designed solely to suck more money from people at the expense of gameplay and everything else.
Also further punishes new players (something that is already a big problem) that wont gain as much xp and get even less energy/drops.

Anyway. Recent implant changes wont bring more revenue. Its going to have the opposite effect, because unhappy customers dont spend money. They leave.
Something SOE doesent seem to want to understand or believe, even though its what ultimately kills off everything they make.

Fixed it for you. I agree with the PS2 and the anyway.

That's the big problem with the whole thing.

First, let me tell that I don't like the way implants are going.
Implants give a battle advantage, while not begin sustainable without spending cash. That's the definition of something building a "Pay to win" situation.

In a Free To Play game, monetarization is only seen as "sane" by players if the fit in this three categories:
- P2A: Pay to Accelerate ... you do not get better than others have, you just get it faster (exemple: weapon that you can have for certs, but faster with SC)
- P4C: Pay for Confort ... you do not become better, you get options that make the game more confortable (exemple: character slots)
- P4V: Pay for Vanity ... you do not become better, you become more shiny, more pretty, more handsome (exemple: banners, stickers, horns)

See the pattern: you must not make pay for things that make your character better that long-term, non-paying players.
Chargers do not fit this view, because those players will never get enough of them to sustain the high-tiers implants

So... my point is: chargers should not be sold for real cash. Because either you allow everyone to sustain them for free, or it becomes a P2W schema.
Every player should be needed choose between running a lower tier implant everytime, or a higher tier only sometimes.

The only thing that should be sold are nominative, not mergeable, implants, for people not wanting to do hundreds of merges to get the one they hope for (P2A)

Basically some implants give a similar "boost" as a 1%, 3% or 5% DPS boost would (maybe even more). This is why they cannot be behind a pay-wall.