Auraxium and its issues

[ringring]

Originally Posted by Shenyen

So, what are they going to sell in the shop after they removed Auraxium and make weapons available via certs?

.

erm, why not sell the same things? Except where it says X Station Cash or Y Auraxium it will say X Station Cash or Y Cert Points.

[Mox]

I totaly agree with basti.

Ps1 offered well fuctioning game mechanics. Instead of ruin ps2 by experimenting with some shitty mechanics stick by the thiings that already proved that it works.

For sure Ps1 wasnt perfect. The System can still be tweaked. But doing something totaly else is not a good idea.

[Shenyen]

@ringring
If you've had experienced the F2P disaster that is EverQuest 2, you would understand my concerns.

EQ2 isn't even Pay2Win, it is Pay2notgetkilledbygreymobsandhaveatleastsomechoice inclasses/equipment.

I was very afraid that PS2 could have been designed in the same style, milking as much money out of the player as possible.
And i was very relieved, when i saw that PS2 was using a F2P system which i think is as fair as possible for SOE, paying players and nonpaying players.

The removal of Auraxium may be the first step in a chain of events that could lead to scrapping that fair system and just selling ALL certs for money.

[SpottyGekko]

I'm getting the feeling that the dev team have lost their way a little. They might actually be starting to panic a bit. Launch day looms large in the not too distant future.

They seem desperate to attract the widest possible audience at the cost of all else. And they also seem a bit flustered about the vigorous complaints about the lack of "free content" and how F2P players feel "disadvantaged" if they don't spend money in the Cash Shop.

So they are simplifying the "complex" resource system to make it more "intuitive". After a move like that, what hope could there be now for them to risk implementing anything actually remotely resembling complex gameplay ?

I have great sympathy for the dev team actually. They've been handed a very difficult brief. The game has to launch as F2P and make a consistent profit to earn back the development cost. There is no upfront cash flow boost from initial box sales, and the target audience is highly critical of anything that they perceive as "forcing" them to spend money. I'd not be surprised if Higby develops ulcers or a drug habit in the coming months...

[FortySe7en]

Originally Posted by SpottyGekko

There is no upfront cash flow boost from initial box sales,

*cough* alpha squad *cough*

Having AS is probably giving them enough money atm to not really have to worry about much. As a free to play game, they are banking on people buying in game items, which they will. I definitely plan on spending at least 10 bucks a month on PS2, as well as a lot of other people I know.

Saves me 5 bucks a month.

[TerminatorUK]

My solution would be as follows:

- Remove Auraxium entirely
- Merge Weapon purchases into cert points
- Increase the rate of cert point gain considerably (currently it takes far to long to unlock even a simple scope)
- Significantly reduce resource income from territories (giving people the urge to fight for new territories)
- Make vehicle purchases either free or at a significantly discounted rate when bought at the warp gate (to give losing teams / players with no resources a fighting chance to use vehicles and push out)

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Khrispy

It's not that we don't have a reason to fight - let's be honest, we're going to fight each other no matter what - but last night during Squad Ops we realized that there is no real incentive to anything EXCEPT fight, because it's the only thing that gives XP.
It didn't matter which base we fought at, because they were all strategically meaningless - territories were valuable only because there might be fighting there.
As wrong as it felt to us, we just mounted up and left for the next base as soon as it was apparent that the enemy had given up and stopped spawning... there was no reason to wait for the base to flip or even to stay behind to defend because we weren't getting any points for it. Even worse, it was inherently unclear how we were helping our faction by doing any of it.

Hitting the nail on the head right here man.
The only thing really rewarding right now is offensive actions, people don't have any incentive to defend and the current "static foothold" map layout stagnates Faction interaction.

Long ago I forsaw the defense problem and came up with a solution, but I'm still worried...

Originally Posted by Shenyen

But with switching to exp/certs only, I fear that they are creating the basis for a pay2win-model, where a new player could throw a bucket of money at the game and use final level skills from day one.

Indeed, I've had the same fears myself...
Auraxium was clearly suppose to be a Currency earned through in-game play time, the thing that Station Cash could easily be bought to substitute for while Experience and Certifications would be the true measure of Character Advancement.

The original issue was that it was distributed as a Resource instead of a payment for how well your Character's Faction was doing, making the actual Resources insignificant in comparison.

Making it something gained through Character Advancement isn't going to solve anything and probably just create more problems for the Freemium income model.

I've been throwing around the idea of putting back in Major Facilities generating Auraxium, but tying their production to your Faction's income of a specific Resource.
That way, Factions have an incentive to capture, hold, or defend Auraxium Facilities AND Resource-producing Outpost.

Originally Posted by SpottyGekko

I'm getting the feeling that the dev team have lost their way a little. They might actually be starting to panic a bit. Launch day looms large in the not too distant future.

Yeah, I've been getting this feeling as well...
The current setup leads me to believe the only selling point of Planetside 2 at launch will be "Team Deathmatch over three huge maps," which isn't very impressive and will probably be the death knell for SOE...

I mean, look at this diagram I whipped up:



Honestly, if they can only launch with three maps by the end of the year deadline, I'd sincerely urge the Dev team to beg for a delay until they can whip up a fourth Continent and Sanctuaries.

Seriously, if you need us to whip up enough support to push back the deadline so that you can deliver us a truly great MMOFPS, we WILL mobilize!

Originally Posted by SpottyGekko

So they are simplifying the "complex" resource system to make it more "intuitive". After a move like that, what hope could there be now for them to risk implementing anything actually remotely resembling complex gameplay ?

Yeah, not really sure why dumbing down the Resource system was a better idea than making the User Interface more informative and intuitive...

I mean, was that REALLY a complaint?
Did anyone see any threads complaining that the Resource system was "too complex?"
What was the logic behind such a change?!

Originally Posted by SpottyGekko

I have great sympathy for the dev team actually. They've been handed a very difficult brief. The game has to launch as F2P and make a consistent profit to earn back the development cost. There is no upfront cash flow boost from initial box sales, and the target audience is highly critical of anything that they perceive as "forcing" them to spend money. I'd not be surprised if Higby develops ulcers or a drug habit in the coming months...

Yeah, and the saddest thing is I can actually see this game being a HUGE SUCCESS, but I'm afraid that such a short developmental deadline is just going to cripple it!
Again Devs, if you are reading this and you think you need more time, TELL US!!!
This concept has HUGE gameplay and profit potential, enough to rival the likes of Dungeons and Dragons Online and become Sony Online Entertainments Crown Jewel, so I'd hate to see it fail because you were force to rush it out too early.

Originally Posted by TerminatorUK

- Make vehicle purchases either free or at a significantly discounted rate when bought at the warp gate (to give losing teams / players with no resources a fighting chance to use vehicles and push out)

This is the only one of these that would actually be helpful, and only then I'd make a slight discount.
It encourages ad-havoc Vehicle Formations to develop at a Faction Sanctuary, helps put butts in gunner and passenger seats, while compensating someone for the time needed to get a Vehicle back into a fight.

[Headless]

Originally Posted by basti

But I know one thing for sure: Right now, I have no reason to log in. There is no reason to fight, other than gaining XP.
Right now, Planetside 2 wouldn’t hold my attention for more than a month after release. And im saying that as a diehard Planetside fan, who played PS1 for the first time in 2004, and went crazy when SOE announced Planetside 2.

If you think like me, make your voice heard. Otherwise, we end up stuck with a system that removes the soul out of Planetside 2.
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/i...o-shine.31970/

You mean to say that you only play games for their experience bars? Battles with hundreds of human players on land and in the air isn't the soul of Planetside, auraxis is? As a diehard fan of the game, you will quit in a month unless your demands are met?



No, seriously. Can't a game be fun anymore without progression systems?

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by Headless

No, seriously. Can't a game be fun anymore without progression systems?

It could, but we need a much more complex map setup, with at least four Continents and Sanctuaries at launch...

Still, the "progression systems" are how Freemium games make their money, if you don't want to spend the time to unlock something you pay for it.