Putting my neck on the line a bit here, I've not really posted any kind of opinion on these forums regarding the Beta of RO2 but the more I think about the game the more some issues are playing on my mind. Feel free to disagree with me, down-vote the thread, and throw personal insults. This is just my opinion, which happens to be shared by some others, and I hope TW at least note my points without thinking I'm here to bash their hard work.
I'm a long-time player of Red Orchestra, I bought Unreal Tournament back in 2004 specifically to play the mod way before retail release of Ostfront - and I've loved the series to death since.
The one thing that undoubtedly made RO appeal to people was its realism, and I'm pleased to see many realistic factors added to RO2. I love that weapons handle more realistically now, and there are extra features like bandaging and bleed-outs. RO1's take on weapon performance was always a little too hardcore and ironically, unrealistic - think about the inaccurate MG's, massive recoil-pitching on SMG's and Semi's, and the very slow reload times for all weapons. But it didn't matter, the fact it was hard convinced people it must be realistic - and to be fair it was far more realistic than anything else available on the gaming market. It was a slow, tense affair in which a players' brain-power counted for as much, if not more, than point and click ability.
Smiling then, as I found the weapons to behave much better and more importantly more believably realistic in RO2. But then all of a sudden, a smile is replaced with a frown as silly features such as never-ending ironsights stability and weapon readiness speed have been implemented into what SHOULD be a life-like game. I wouldn't mind so much but these things drastically alter gameplay, and the devs who have been bashing CoD kids for so long have changed the very core of what made RO1 great.
Speed. It's what is for me, spoiling my experience thus far in RO2. Running around like an athlete with full kit until absolutely shattered with heavy breathing, but then being able to bring up very steady ironsights with slow and relaxed breathing is a fine example of what I'm getting at. The rate at which you can raise your weapon after sprinting is almost instantaneous and encourages rushing at any opportunity without the need to think too much. Reload times are fine, and are a vast improvement on RO1 - but other areas where speed and NON-fluidity matter are taking us away from realistic behaviour and is giving us a Call of Duty saga where running and gunning is the name of the game. Where's the clumsiness? Panic? Fatigued weapon handling? Why are we all apparently athletic super-humans who can hold a heavy weapon seemingly forever with next to no sway?