[Suggestion] Unlocks are virtually impossible for me

The problem is that even though he barely plays, he still splits his time between multiple characters and therefore barely progresses.

You missed the point of growing up.

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what I mean by progression.
Unlocks are but one form of progress. If what you said was true, I would have quit WoW after I reached LVL85 and got decked in BiS gear.

Progress can be obtained on many levels, character progression is but one very limited part of it.
It's about goals and challenges.

Planetside 2 has neither goals nor challenges.

You ask why players who play more have an advantage over you?

BECOUSE

THEY

PLAY

MORE.

I mean the current pricing on the weapons is controvetial enaugh but still managable unless you want EVERYTHING. However, having someone at BR1 come at me with a fully decked out tank while I only have the bare basics is just plain ridicoulus. At least with boosts and bought weapons they still have to work to get them properly outfited.

Can't spend hours to read through 5 pages

To summerize:

Not a speed game ..... ie no rush

Stock weapons are good enough to kill with

Try to concentrate on 1 class only ....that you like.

Don't waste certs on features that you don't or won't use regularly

Use the Trial feature (when applicable) BEFORE all weapon SC purchases

Become a Liberator gunner with an awesome pilot. Suddenly, CERTS EVERYWHERE!

That's horrible. Get rid of your job and/or your family. Priorities.

Solved.

Game built for people who play 8+ hours per day? Nonsense. It's built for people who spend money every day.

You aren't supposed to unlock anything with certs.

My goal is to beat the other guy. The challenge is when he brings friends. I don't think anyone who has a full decked out WoW character would really get that as its simply a different style of gaming. I got bored of WoW's "challenges" very quickly, and the thought of playing again makes me physically ill slightly.

On the other hand, after we capped a continent last night I stuck around solo at one of the bases directly next to their warp gate. Three of us vrs the returning NC. Blowing up tanks and denying them the base for as long as possible was a blast. My favorite moment was when four vanguards without gunners show up and I tried to tank mine them. The one driver was smart and moved away before he blew up, but I'm running between the tanks who can't hit me since I'm next to them, I can't hurt them, and they are afraid of shooting the other tank instead of me. They eventually got me, but I wish I had a video.

Most people I see complaining about a lack of progression (in mmo's in general, not this forum specifically) are actually asking for a stat advantage.

Assuming you are not talking about getting an advantage, can you provide some examples of what progression you would like to see added?

Beating the other guy is an infinitely broad statement in terms of PS2.
I can beat the other guy with a tank or with my LMG.
It is true, I can -create- challenge for myself, like only playing engineer or sniper or only engaging in outnumbered fights.

Similarly I can impose challenges to any real life activity.
I can set my goal to only open doors and manipulate door-knobs with my left foot for the day, it doesn't make opening doors challenging.
Stacking Galaxies on top of each other at the warpgate is similarly challenging but adds nothing to the challenge of the game.

PS2 in its current state provides an environment far too limited to "create my own fun" (which is a fallacy in the first place) to the fullest extent, as well as an environment too uncontrolled to be challenging by design.

As an example stand Crown and the Tech Plant (pre-patch). People don't play them solely because they are (were) good farm, they converge on those locations because they are (were) challenging.

PS: Was the slight against WoW (me) necessary to convey your message?

Thing is, ps2 isn't linear. It has some linear goals (br, unlocks, medals, etc) but is primarily a sandbox game.

Players do set their own objectives, literally in the case of organised platoons.

But there's a limit on what linear progress you can make while keeping the current balance of power between the highest and lowest br character and the current level of openness from the sandbox play style.

It's not a case of one way is better, they are two different ways which appeal to potentially different people (some will enjoy both).

Gladly.

First, I refer you to my post after the one you quoted in the first response, since it seems you missed it when reading the thread: http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/...ly-impossible-for-me.67568/page-2#post-842744

Second, here are the things I would expect:

1. Proper territory control. i.e. Faction Progress

Example: In EVE if my Corp blows up a player owned station, thats a huge blow to the opposition, possibly thousands of combined hours of work that were denied to the enemy. Owning an asteroid belt or a system with crucial resources, a planet, etc. is important and denotes progress, this progress is also highly persistent and unless the enemy faction immediately mounts a counter offensive, we can control and defend that system for weeks.
PS2 is handing territory left and right on a 10-20 minute basis, the map looks different every time I log on, there is no true persistence, no long term investment. Also the resource system is completely irrelevant.

2. Specialization and side-grading i.e. non-advantageous player progression.

Example: In any other class-based game I can be an exceptional DPS, Healer, Tank, Controller, etc but NOT at the same time and not change at will. This means I can get indeed better at what I do in a specialization, but not overall gain an advantage, as every step in specialization a exposes crucial weakness to another (RPS balance).
PS2 relies on RPS balance however every player is able to switch roles at a whim making it entirely pointless, not to mention half the cert unlocks are straight upgrades and specialization is not properly rewarded.

3. Personal Player Progress. i.e. player skill progress

Example: A League Of Legends veteran is not only distinguished by his LVL30 character and his decked out rune-page, he is distinguished by knowing the nuances of the game. This is not just related to what button to press when, or what to capture where. A skilled player in tactical games knows how to deal with situations, knows the metagame, knows the strengths and weaknesses of other players (classes, characters, gear, etc) and knows how to adapt to situations.
PS2 has this in a limited sense: See aircraft - spawn burster MAX. See tank - spawn HA. See infantry - Spawn HE MBT/LBT.
It is shallow and hence not conductive of progress, there aren't any "secrets" to tease out of the gameplay or experience to acquire beyond a standard map-awareness.

4. Rank and Outfits i.e. Player Command Progress

Example: EVE features extensive tools to manage and expand your outfits with promotions and access to management functionality.
PS2 lacks the tools to delegate any tactical/strategic/managerial tasks. You can not place markers, give incentivized orders or even "quests" to your troops, your second in command can't even manage platoons or squads properly (everything is on a verbal gentlemen-rule basis)
Promoting someone to SL is pointless as they don't have any real "command" its just a title, he have 1000 Master Sergeants running around in the game.

Those are the basics, there is more but i think that these are the most important parts.

It depends on what your playing as, I've been piloting a lib, and I'm getting maybe 100 certs ever few hours, or I play as AA and I get maybe 30/40 certs every few hours. The biggest problem with this game is it completely discourages support or tactical roles, so you can end up rolling with an outfit with no AA support and 3 ESF's are deadly to 50 tanks...

edit: also those number for cert gain only applies when their is little AA while in the liberator, or i'm in a platoon stacked with AA. My normal rates are abysmal, I caved and ended up buying the better guns on the liberator so i'd have them before 2014

I play the best class for the situation and have every class certed out a bit, either in the weapon or the abilities. At times I'll play an infil with claymores and mess up bases behind the lines. At times I'll be a HA rushing a point, and at times I'll be flying or driving.

I've been playing FPS's for 20 years now. The challenge is always the other player. Maybe he is better than me, maybe he isn't but there are more of them. I enjoy that. When someone is better than me or knows I trick, I want to learn from that. Now perhaps you are a gaming god and this isn't a problem for you, and you can beat anyone with one hand tied behind your mouse. In that case, no PS2 won't be a challenge.

See, I can't even grasp what your point is here. It doesn't register. It seems you are asking for a concrete goal (say kill a world boss). The closest thing so far in PS2 would be a continent cap and I will say those are anti-climatic. Since I play for the fighting though its a non-issue.

I played them because it meant a lot of people to kill. Not to farm, I wasn't farming, I didn't CARE about the certs. These were epic battles, and motivation of the players didn't matter to me. The other day we were completely outzerged and I've NEVER seen so many air units. The platoon I was with all spawned AA maxes and enginers and we destroyed the air zerg (who came without the ground support at first) and it was epic. Finally their ground got there and we started to lose maxes and the battle was lost but it was still some of the most fun I had in PS. ESF's, liberators, and galaxies all blundering into our death zone, followed by a brutal struggle to hold the points. THATS why I play this game. No idea how many certs I got, not too many if I recall being I only got solo credit for maybe 4 infantry and 4 aircraft.

Its only a slight because people use WoW as a slight so you expected it. I played WoW up until the first expansion where it showed the devs were taking the game in a direction I wanted no part of. WoW appeals to a different mindset than PS2. If that playstyle is your taste I can see why PS2 would not be your taste. For me the joy of watching an enemy scythe go down in flames is better than getting a rare drop. I still have fond memories of some moments in PS1 and I haven't played that for many years. The difference is that in a game like WoW its always about micro progression. There are essays written on the subject and why that works on the human brain. Its why people log onto farmville, or play any number of games. These games just don't have that same hold on me, after a while I reject them and when I do its cold turkey. I never wanted to play WoW again after quitting, though with PS1 after getting bored I came back 2 other times. I only found out about PS2 in beta because I wanted to play PS1 again and did a search.

I don't know what that has to do with anything I wrote since i'm not arguing perceptions.

Something very much like World of Warcraft's Rest mechanic might alleviate some of the more casual players' issues. For anyone who is not familiar with the mechanic:

A person who plays a lot will still gain a lot more XP, but people who can't play as often won't feel quite so screwed.

We have a passive cert gain system already to reward people for not playing.

This is apparently in effect all the time, whether you're playing or not (source), so it doesn't actually help the casual players.