In Planetside 2, the drop probability and the strength of the implants have been adjusted, likely to sell new Tier 4 implants to customers. This raises Pay2Win accusations from players that SOE cannot fully refute.
As the gaming blog In An Age reports, there were only 3 tiers of implants in Planetside 2 until recently. Then a fourth tier was introduced, and to make it more attractive, the existing implants were weakened. Additionally, with the patch from December 17, the drop rate of all implants was reduced. This was done through the back door with a “general statement in the patch notes.”
Overall implant rates have been adjusted to accommodate the inclusion of new Tier 4 implants.
This understandably does not sit well with the fans. Accusations of “Pay2Win” are raised, referring to it as one of the despised money grabs. They say that SOE is reaching into the players’ wallets and indirectly charging a fee if they want to compete at the top.
Representatives from SOE have now commented on the crisis. The weakening of the drop rate is not a real nerf, but it was originally set too high and has now been corrected downwards. SOE President John Smedley tweeted, “We are sorry that we want to make money. But I don’t see it as a money grab.”
@AdamNowotny @planetside2 @mhigby @RadarX sorry but we are actually trying to make money. I don’t consider it a money grab.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) December 31, 2014
A community manager also addressed the accusations in the internet forum reddit. If one sees implants as “Pay2Win”, then indeed some changes in the future may displease the players.
