The Issue of the 10%-20% Power Differentiation

[Lartnev]

I initially voted that advancement was necessary and reading this thread almost made me change my mind... but then I realised something.

I think it is "necessary" because that's the overall design goal of PlanetSide 2 (and PlanetSide too, just with less depth). Could someone make an MMOFPS that was entirely skill based: A Halo, Battlefield, or Team Fortress 2 with a thousand players in a map? Sure. But that's not SOE's philosophy and isn't what they're aiming for with PS2. It's not a question of putting players off but of attracting players who want the experience PlanetSide 2 will provide.

The game isn't out yet but apparently has a "community" which wants to see one of its fundamental apects changed. If you want an entirely skill based MMOFPS then you should wait for the next train, perhaps playing PS2 in the meantime. You're trying to fit a square peg into a square hole with rounded edges by wanting PlanetSide 2 to change to fulfil all of your gaming desires when you've come here because it fills more of them than the others.

Remember that the 20% difference is the maximum difference (out of a range of maximum differences) resulting from a combination of character skills, outfit skills, squad skills, and any empire bonuses in a given situation. The situation doesn't need to change by much to see that advantage dissipate (and if it doesn't then it should be in line for some balance management). From what Higby has said the number of skill combinations which would yield such a difference is very limited and that most options are about flexibility rather than direct improvements. That means that someone who has 100 certs is no better off in a particular situation than someone else who only has the same 10 certs which are relevant to that situation.