Mm. Wrong.
Realism aka simulation fidelity is one thing that can in fact be objectively determined. And limiting in-game visibility to something moderately nearsighted guy without glasses would see isn't that realistic. Ditto for complaints about "too fast gameplay".. I've linked before to the study where sprinting speed was measured for full combat gear with body armor and just clothes. In-game speed falls between the two so I don't see a problem with base speed. It would needs adjustment on stairs, rubble and so on, of course. Also falling flat on your face is completely missing, try running down a flight of stairs with a stick in your hands sometime..
You should know that Simulator fidelity can be summed up into 3 points.
Physical fidelity - Things being physically the same as reality
Perceptual fidelity - Things being perceived the same as reality
Behavioral fidelity. - Things/People behaving the same as in reality
(and for all 3 there are loads of generally accepted testing methods being applied to various simulators today).
The effect of changing zoom is not something your eyes can do in reality. And functionally your eyes are able to view with a 180 degree fov.
Going for real physical fidelity would mean that both things show the same size as in reality, fill up your whole real fov as in reality, and being as detailed as you can maximally see in reality. Preferably combined with stereoscopic vision.
Zoom got some advantages in the realistic sense such as:
- Ability to see things at a size comparable to the realistic size if your monitor fills in around 45 degrees of your real life fov.
- Ability due to seeing things closer to realistic size to see enemies when zoomed at a realistic size, allowing you to possibly spot enemies at a realistic size.
- Ability to see things with more detail (still not enough) so your eyes can easier discern between things at realistic distances.
Zoom got disadvantages in the realistic sense as well.
- Things in reality don't ever change size with your eyes. You always see things in the same size.
- You do not have a multitude of views, you see things in a big and detailed size while having a wide field of view at the same time. At long range you can still use your peripheral vision, and at short range you can still make out loads of detail. You do not have to choose which property of your eyes you are going to use, you use it all at the same time.
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In the end the primary reason for picking whatever viewing method you use comes down to taste, based on what you want the end user to act like and experience.
Personally I prefer an average view, so I never have to switch between viewing modes. So like in real life personally I can use my real eyes to decide to scan the entire picture or focus on something specific on screen.
However if zoom is implemented, it should be such that the end user can control when he thinks a wide fov is more important or a bigger picture is more important. Whether you are running or looking down Ironsights.
Next to that, an issue that can easily occur with zoom is that, the zoomed in view becomes completely useless for short range, and the wide fov view becomes completely useless for long range. As normally both views are available at the same time, its probably best to try and find an optimum in the differences between modes.
Such that for the most common engagement ranges (and in stalingrad that is quite short range) that you can still use your wide fov effectively to spot enemies or other things. Using your narrow fov primarily for further identification of the target, and being able to pull of a better aimed shot.
However when zoom is constricted to when you are standing still, it acts no different than a sniper rifle does in other games. And there whether realistic or not, most people don't like playing a game where every body acts and is forced to act like a sniper.
When zoomed is always enabled when going into iron sights, with no way to disable or enable zoom at will. Then at close quarter combat you are missing your wide peripheral view making the system work against you.