Killcount rewards - massively unbalanced.

[John Yuki 21]

So over the last couple of days, I have seen people getting the full range of killcount rewards - myself included. I want to outline my reasons as to why I think they are unbelievably unbalanced and broken.

 

The killstreaks and their issues:

 

UAV Jammer - Completely fine.

 

Airstrike - Somewhat fine, but really inconsistent. There have been times that I have walked right through an enemy airstrike and not been touched, but other times when I am hiding underground and died instantly. 

 

Artillery - Same as above, but slightly worse as the explosion radius seems larger. 

 

Predator missile - Mostly fine, but there is a massive red "KILL" sign above everyones head, meaning you cannot hide from it, even with UAV Jammer.

 

Shoot Down Heli - Not sure what it is called, but it is the thing at 12 killstreak that can shoot down enemy choppers. This is the only single counter in the game to the rest of the killstreaks from here on out. 

 

Helicopter - Mostly fine. The only issue is that it counts towards your killcount. This means that in larger games, once you call it in, you can just sit in a corner hiding, and let the helicopter do the work for you. This is a massive problem because as soon as you get the helicopter, it is unbelievably easy to just go straight to a nuke. 

 

Drone Strike - Same issues as Predator Missile, except multiple times over because you get multiple predator missiles to shoot. 

 

AC130 - Same as above. You cannot escape the blasts because the blast radius is huge, meaning even if you hide underground our deep inside a building, you will still die. There is also the huge red "KILL" sign above everyones head, meaning there is 0 counter to this killstreak.

 

Piloted Heli - One of the worst. It lasts for what seems like forever. It also has an unbelievably high healthbar. An entire team has to suicide many times over just to shoot it down. The piloted heli can also go through buildings and the ground, meaning it cannot be shot down. It also does not take damage when it collides with things.

 

Nuke - Completely fine. The only grudge I have against it is the radiation afterwards. Is it not enough to make the entire game BLIND, but you also die a few more times due to unavoidable radiation? It's just adding insult to injury. 

 

My solutions for the above issues:

 

UAV Jammer - N/A

 

Airstrike - Balance out the explosions. I shouldn't die if I am underground, and I should die if I am outside walking through it. 

 

Artillery - Same as above, except artillery should be slightly more powerful than airstrike. However, I still should not die if I am underground on maps like Backlot, Pipeline, and whatever other maps there are that have underground sections.

 

Predator missile - There should be massive "KILL" signs for people that have UAV Jammer on. Again, it needs counter play.

 

Shoot Down Heli - Seems completely pointless to have this so high. If you are on a 12 killstreak, chances are that the enemy team are nowhere close to getting a 15 killstreak for the helicopter. It either needs to be replaced with something more useful, like an EMP that lasts for a minute or so, which would kill all electronics on the map (UAV, predator strike, airstrike, literally everything apart from players, just like it does in MW2 onwards). Another solution is to lower the killstreak needed to acquire this "shoot down heli" perk. If your team is getting terrorised by all of the helicopter killstreaks, there is no way you are getting to 12 kills to be able to counter them. It could also just be removed outright, but I think the EMP is a much better solution.  

 

Helicopter - This should just not add to killstreak. None of the other killstreak rewards count towards your killcount, so why does the helicopter? Another solution is to make it so that the helicopter cannot target people with UAV Jammer, just like in later MW2 games. Both solutions should be combined in to one, so that the heli does not count towards your killcount, and it also cannot see people with UAV Jammer.

 

Drone Strike - Should not have a massive "KILL" sign above your head if you have UAV Jammer. Everything else is fine really, it's just the severe lack of counterplay to it. 

 

AC130 - Same as above.

 

Piloted Heli - Lasts WAY too long, and has WAY too much HP. Lasting so long is not too much of an issue, my main gripe with it is the fact that I could stand there and empty 10 mags of RPD ammo in to it, and it would be fine. It should also take damage if it hits in to buildings and other solid objects. 

 

Nuke - Radiation is just overkill. Everyone already died once, why do they have to die 2-3 times more, be blind, and have no chance of escape. It's just unnecessary, especially when there are no killstreaks after it. It could also be that the Nuke just ends the game like it did in MW2, so that the user of the nuke wins the game for their team. 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by John Yuki

[leiizko 121]

Okay the explosions part is not really fixable. There is no way of knowing if a player is inside a building or not, airstrike does try to predict that, which is the sole reason why it is so random at killing you. Other hardpoints (AGM, Drone, Arty) will just flat out kill you if you're in range for the sake of consistency - also a good tool to kill those pesky campers in houses.

 

The KILL sign - UAV Jammer actually counters that. If you have it you won't be marked.

 

Helicopter counting toward kill streak was actually a bug and has been fixed, piloted one has been nerfed. You should be able to kill it much faster now and also lasts 1 minute less.

 

 

That being said we will do a experiment regarding hardpoints. For the few next days it will be based off a shop system. Let us know how that feels and whether it should stay for good.

 

Thank you for your feedback.

[John Yuki 21]

I've just played a few games with the shop system and I really don't like it so far. It makes it feel less rewarding when you go on a large killstreaks, and also helps out the bad players way too much.

 

Oh you just got a helicopter? Nah too bad, that player at the bottom of the scoreboard that is 12-45 that has been saving all his points all game just destroyed it with Fighter Support. It's a step in the right direction as far as making Fighter Support more useful, but it makes the game so much less rewarding if you're a skilled player. There is no penalty for dying either. Maybe if you lost money when you died (like $30), it would be a bit better, because then even the bad players wouldn't be able to insta-counter the stuff that you buy, as they wouldn't have much money unless they managed to string a couple of kills together.

 

Saying that, I still much prefer killstreaks. Bad players benefit too much from it, and it lessens the impact that good players have on the game. Whilst I get the whole "balancing the playing field" thing it has, it is not a great idea to tell the good players that being good isn't nearly as much of an advantage as it was anymore. It feels like playing a game of football and winning, but the losing team still gets points because they scored a goal. It's just way too much of a change and not what I had in mind at all when I made this post. 

Edited October 30, 2017 by John Yuki

[Mighty Jayster 444]

I can totally see what you have in mind.

 

Thank you ever so much for your feedback there @John Yuki 

[leiizko 121]

Hardpoints have been switched back to kill streak based system with slight adjustments.

Let us know if they still feel unbalanced.