1 SC = 1 cert ?

Athanasios · 2012-11-01, 04:31 PM

it's common place that we have 0 clue of what the SC value will be for PS2... and of course this "triple Sunday bargain" sounds cool, but what is the point in buying more SC if i can unlock whatever i want with 4000 SC and still have some left?

i tried to make some rough estimations about the SC : certs rate, here's what i came up with (which might be not even close to reality, but anyway

)

IF they design the system so that with 2000 SC (half of Alpha's pack) you can max out any vehicle (by maximising i mean certifying a single system for each category - utility, defensive etc), and assuming that each maximisation needs 480 certs, then we'll need about 2400 certs. So, the rate in this case is 1.2

with the same concept, if we need 1k SC for a maxed out vehicle, then the rate becomes 2.4, for 2.4k it's 1:1 and so on

Anyway, i'll stick to my Alpha SC, i'm not buying something without knowing its buying power.

maradine · 2012-11-01, 04:39 PM

1 to 1 seems too cheap at first glance. 4000 cert points would put me into almost everything I want from BR1. That's a good set of MBT guns with 2x optics each, rockets, a nice libby payload, and a bunch of infantry gear. I'm not sure I'd ever toss money into it again. Maybe I'm non-typical?

xuur · 2012-11-01, 04:40 PM

Im thinking moreso you'll likely be able to fully (or nearly so) enable one class (vs vehicle) as a baseline target (and with that of course be able to spread it around as you would see fit to vehicles etc instead).

still...all speculation at this point. I can sure envision that 4k being vanished pretty quickly just for the leg up on day one.

my personal thought is that I'll sit on the SC for awhile until things appear to be sorted a little better economy-wise to ensure better bang for the buck rather than spend it and find out an economic tweak a month in makes what I did frustratingly useless.

Athanasios · 2012-11-01, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by xuur

my personal thought is that I'll sit on the SC for awhile until things appear to be sorted a little better economy-wise to ensure better bang for the buck rather than spend it and find out an economic tweak a month in makes what I did frustratingly useless.

this is my initial thought as well, stay away from buying anything for about 1 month and see how they experiment with the economy

BUT, even if i'd buy something day 1, and then they reduce that price, then i would expect to refund me the SC. I'm not saying if they reduce prices 6 months post-launch, but there should be a minimum between tweaking so that the customer doesn't feel cheated.

Ruffdog · 2012-11-01, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by MrBloodworth

Im not following how Station cash = Certs? The only things you can buy with station cash are new weapons variant and cosmetics. Not scopes, sights, nano armor, tank side armor etc..

Certs for the "depot" page I think he means. You'll still have to graft your way through the cert tree to get the optics, side armor. Taking Auraxium off the table has given certs dual significance

MrBloodworth · 2012-11-02, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by Ruffdog

Certs for the "depot" page I think he means. You'll still have to graft your way through the cert tree to get the optics, side armor. Taking Auraxium off the table has given certs dual significance

Ok. But, that's like, two different things being lumped together.

You do not use station cash to get optics, or rail items. So, why include them at all in trying to figure out the "worth" of SC?

Side note to Devs. 5 dollars is my limit for unlocking things. I will not, pay 10$ for a gun. I'm sorry. 1-5$ is the range.

PoisonTaco · 2012-11-01, 04:43 PM

Possible. The more expensive items will likely be cosmetic anyways.

McFeeble · 2012-11-02, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by PoisonTaco

Possible. The more expensive items will likely be cosmetic anyways.

Yeah this is what I think too, but I have to look like a zebra

MrBloodworth · 2012-11-01, 04:50 PM

Im not following how Station cash = Certs? The only things you can buy with station cash are new weapons variant and cosmetics. Not scopes, sights, nano armor, tank side armor etc..

EVILPIG · 2012-11-01, 06:31 PM

The possibility of buying certs for SC has been on the table for a long, long time. There are mixed opinions about it, mostly those who would never spend a dime on the game oppose it vs. those willing to invest. Either way, yes, it would unlock certs for you earlier than those who "earn" them, but you're not going to have anything available to you that anyone else could not have eventually anyways, so why not let SOE get the money? The game has to be paid for some way and cosmetics alone won't do it.

SKYeXile · 2012-11-01, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

The possibility of buying certs for SC has been on the table for a long, long time. There are mixed opinions about it, mostly those who would never spend a dime on the game oppose it vs. those willing to invest. Either way, yes, it would unlock certs for you earlier than those who "earn" them, but you're not going to have anything available to you that anyone else could not have eventually anyways, so why not let SOE get the money? The game has to be paid for some way and cosmetics alone won't do it.

Yea, even so i still dont think id be for it, at the point where you can simply pay to unlock everything, then whats the point of playing? the game then does just simply look like a dash for cash and if they did let you buy certs to me the game would just feel cheap and nasty and it would probably not be a game i would want to continue playing.

maradine · 2012-11-01, 08:06 PM

If you wouldn't play the game after cashing in for all the unlocks, why would you play it after BR20 (or equivalent)?

EVILPIG · 2012-11-01, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by SKYeXile

Yea, even so i still dont think id be for it, at the point where you can simply pay to unlock everything, then whats the point of playing? the game then does just simply look like a dash for cash and if they did let you buy certs to me the game would just feel cheap and nasty and it would probably not be a game i would want to continue playing.

I'd say I would support cert purchases (you already will be able to buy weapons, which cost certs) because they are a good source of revenue (which is absolutely necessary) without offering overpowered weaponry that only cash can buy. I do struggle with what you said, because, I don't play this game to unlock things. I play this game to have fun through ownage and teamwork. Do I enjoy unlocking things? Absolutely, but that's not why I play. Not saying that is specifically why you play either, but you made it sound like that. At the end of the day, would a game where everyone is on completely even ground and only had certs they "earn" (I always say "earned" because boosters affect this too) be best? Probably, but the reality is the game needs to earn money to recoup costs and to continue to develop. Does it bother me that players will dump cash to buy unlocks early? No. Especially when it means avoiding having to offer "cash only" items because skins and window stickers simply won't be enough.

Helwyr · 2012-11-01, 10:58 PM

The confusion over buying certs comes from the removal of Auraxium, basically anything you could buy with Auraxium before can still be bought with SC, so essentially weapons. If they were to make all certs purchasable with SC that would be way too far down the Pay2win road for my liking, and I think I would walk away from this game at that point regardless of how good the rest of it turns out to be.

As to the value of station cash, yes I find it very bizarre purchasing something when you have no idea of it's value. SOE should at least put out some rough guidelines or samples and their costs.

SKYeXile · 2012-11-01, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by EVILPIG

I'd say I would support cert purchases (you already will be able to buy weapons, which cost certs) because they are a good source of revenue (which is absolutely necessary) without offering overpowered weaponry that only cash can buy. I do struggle with what you said, because, I don't play this game to unlock things. I play this game to have fun through ownage and teamwork. Do I enjoy unlocking things? Absolutely, but that's not why I play. Not saying that is specifically why you play either, but you made it sound like that. At the end of the day, would a game where everyone is on completely even ground and only had certs they "earn" (I always say "earned" because boosters affect this too) be best? Probably, but the reality is the game needs to earn money to recoup costs and to continue to develop. Does it bother me that players will dump cash to buy unlocks early? No. Especially when it means avoiding having to offer "cash only" items because skins and window stickers simply won't be enough.

It did sound abit like that i only play for unlocks, but obviously this isnt the case. I had thought that there maybe some form of acquiring certs through SC, i certainly wouldnt put it past SOE, but i still think essentially just been able to buy everything does still make the game feel"cheap" for lack of a better word.

I know you're familiar with world of tanks, obviously they have the convert EXP button to free XP button, where they make an insane amount of cash from, while this is still a very aggressive payment model you are at least still earning that XP. If they can do something similar in Planetside 2. eg: convert ernt XP(or score...) to Certs at the cost of station cash i see it as a better alternative. Atleast the players then not paying for this service would still feel that those players have infact in some way earned the attachments etc.

Iv been playing MMO games for along time, one thing i have noticed in that time is you need a carrot or a goal to keep people playing these days, few people will continue playing games because they like the combat, people want to feel like they have accomplished something and they're competing for something. when others players can simply unlock everything i think some people will feel "cheated" out of that.

Obviously there's no problem with everybody been on even ground, but with no real individual goal, do you really believe players will stick around and PvP all day and all night? I suggest you look at guild wars 2 for the answer.