SOE’s plans to add new implant feature will get scrapped for now.
After reading through your comments we have decided to go back to the drawing board on implants— John Smedley (@j_smedley) July 18, 2013
Sony Online Entertainment has a lot planned for its free-to-play shooter Planetside 2. To keep the community plugged in, it has a roadmap where players can vote on the features they like the best. An upcoming feature that would have added implants that grant buffs to players has been scrapped, despite garnering a high number of votes. SOE president John Smedley tweeted that implants won’t be in the next patch, and that it will rework the idea.
The announcement comes after Planetside 2‘s subreddit was flooded with various complaints. Most of the arguments seem to center around the fact that the implants would be both consumable (and thus temporary), and available in the cash shop, thus becoming pay-to-win, according to posters. Many also referenced creative director’s Matt Higby’s assurance that “anything that affects gameplay, such as grenades or medkits or implants that give you additional power within the game, will be exclusively unlocked via [in-game] resources.”
The implants would have added special bonuses like silent footsteps, less falling damage, and increased spot distance.
Meanwhile, Planetside 2‘s next update, GU13, will launch later this month without the implants. The major update will add new weapons and overhaul almost every facility on the Esamir continent, among other tweaks. While the game is currently free-to-play on the PC, Sony plans to launch it on the Playstation 4 sometime in the future.
Published: Jul 18, 2013 07:30 pm