Cert rate business

Sawboss · 2012-11-26, 07:59 PM

Now the games been out for a week and everyones had a chance to play with the final cert rate, i'm curious about what peoples opinions are on it. I think I make between 20 and 40 certs an hour, according to the tab menu, not trying specifically to farm experience. So if I wanted to get, say, the full prowler deploying ability that's probably about 50 hours play more to go. My numbers are scientific.

What do people think of it? Is it too slow/just right?

Does it make you think about investing in boosts or membership?

If you already have a membership how is it then?

wutzibu · 2012-11-26, 08:14 PM

I may not be that experienced and so im not a crazy killing machine but i make like 50 certs a day! and i play more than 2-3 hours... 40-50 certs per hour would be more than 10k xp

are you serious?

Crator · 2012-11-26, 08:17 PM

20 - 40 certs per hour sounds about right without any boosts. How much is the deploy ability for the tanks?

I'm not sure how I feel about time investment reward vs. cash investment reward just yet. I've not played that many hours yet is why, I think. I have only purchased one weapon, the rest were cosmetics. I don't find myself bored or gimped while playing either. I am a PS1 vet however so used to this kind of play. The only reason I've not played more (trust me, I used to play many hour long sessions in PS1) is because I need more meta-game depth which I hope is coming when they add more continents.

Tooterfish · 2012-11-26, 08:20 PM

Cert gain is increasingly controversial. On one hand, a lot of people want the game to succeed, flourish financially and see improvements in the future; on the other hand, it seems most people want to unlock the game's full potential entirely, without spending a dime.

I think what we have here is necessary. The game rewards you heavily for spending about 25 bucks. You can specialize in something, and after a short while you can unlock some sidegrades etc with casual play. I think this is fair, and worrying too much about making the game easier and more fulfilling for F2P'ers is counter-productive, as many of them wouldn't buy anything, regardless, to support the game and PS2 is already on par as being one of the most generous F2P games I've ever experienced.

I think the boosts are good, because rarely have I seen anyone complain about them, even though I'm not the biggest fan myself.

Sawboss · 2012-11-26, 08:24 PM

The reason I mentioned that ability in particular is the first level of it for 150 certs roots you in place and only increases your reload speed by 12%. 1700 certs later it's 48% I think, which is a pretty damn good increase.

Thing is, why save for that when there's other abilities like armour plating or flares, which you only need one level of to get the full effect, which seem alot more efficient for the amount of certs you put in.

Edit: I imagine if I bought a boost i'd just spend any time not playing PS2 thinking, "Holy shit i'm wasting potential xp!" Then spend any time playing PS2 thinking, "Holy shit i'm not getting enough kills/raising enough dead/ fixing enough crap, i'm wasting potential xp!" :P

Tooterfish · 2012-11-26, 08:29 PM

I'm assuming it comes down to balance. The value of certs should reflect its benefit to the player overall, whether we recognize that benefit or not. I doubt it's perfect, and I reckon it will change over time as SOE gets more data.

Crator · 2012-11-26, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Tooterfish

Cert gain is increasingly controversial.

You're telling me. My head is about to explode trying to teach people what Free-to-Play actually means. I had to take a break from those discussion actually. They actually want to redefine the term. And I've seen people throw mud at SOE saying they lied about the game not being Pay-to-Win.

EDIT: Also, I'm not trying to say that some of the cert costs don't need to be adjusted. They probably do. And it needs to be made more clear about limits of what you can use at the same time (i.e. Cosmetic items that only have one slot and the limit on weapons/load-outs)... I'm guessing SOE is watching closly at this and keep in mind, the meta-game isn't all there yet I don't think. XP rates or new things they add to the game that give XP will most likely change.

Sawboss · 2012-11-26, 08:40 PM

I definately agree with this being among the most generous F2P games out there. You get access to all classes, vehicles and maps for nothing.

I've heard some of the infantry weapons are just straight up better than the starting ones, but with the ttk being low it's not a huge difference, tactics and situation play a much larger part. The vehicles weapons are more specialisations. Though i'm still annoyed I spent SC on that skyguard..

AThreatToYou · 2012-11-26, 08:50 PM

I score about 40-50 an hour. It's really great.

Accuser · 2012-11-26, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by Sawboss

I've heard some of the infantry weapons are just straight up better than the starting ones, but with the ttk being low it's not a huge difference, tactics and situation play a much larger part.

I don't even think that's true.
You won't start with a shotty, and you wont start with a bolt-action sniper (unless you're NC, then you don't start with semi-auto).
It's annoying now to see BR 3 guys blowing up troops with OP rocket pods, but it'll even out over time as people play more and specialize.