I invoke the powers of the Necronomicon upon this thread; abandon hope all ye who enter here.
Anywho, rather than making a new thread for the idea I've got, I figure it'd be better to dredge this one back up so here it goes.
I think that the M4/203 on the demo should be re-purposed as the entry-level weapon for the Demolitions Expert. I think it should cost one thousand quid base (which means 300 quid as the final L6 cost).
Why?
Well, simply put, most people (discounting the odd few) readily view the M4/203 as one of the most underpowered, underused, and over-costed (probably also likely despised by new Demos) weapons in the game and I think this thread sums up a greater proportion of it's problems (reiterated here for completeness).
It's an underwhelming assault rifle with a high rate of barely controllable fire and an ungodly reload time (the ability to fire grenades during that time notwithstanding) with an attached grenade launcher that has half the ammo compared to it's counterparts (or less than half compared to the '32) and no real advantage compared to them (in terms of the projectile, all the 40mms are the same). As the final nail in the coffin, it's costed as a weapon that should be used into the mid- to end-game where it doesn't perform all that well anyways.
However, I think it would be a great entry-level weapon for the Demo at a low level, and would help supplant even a veteran's starting game if it was priced as one as I stated above.
Think about it:
1. It has a close-range defense ability that would actually mean something when the most dangerous things you'd be seeing are husks and sirens.
2. It's ammo is rather cheap and plentiful, allowing a Demo to score some kills while holding down his grenade stockpile when it's not needed, thus freeing up his team's LoS and making him more self-sufficient; however it's not overwhelmingly powerful so a starting Demo with it wouldn't be able to off and Rambo everything.
3. It's a bit more natural than the '79 as a starting transition weapon for new Demo players. Most players would know how to point and shoot the assault rifle portion, but the M203 would sit there as the true Demo weapon, while still maintaining the comfort zone of having the rifle to use as they're learning how explosives work outside of the hand grenades. It also has a lessened grenade stock base, so once players are comfortable with the launcher portion, it'd feel like the smart thing to do to move on to the '79 as it is a more dedicated Demo weapon. It also might lessen the spam as players notice what targets which portion of the weapon works better against and that knowledge has a better chance of making it to the other Demo weapons.
4. It would do little to shake up the game honestly, besides having the M4/203 see more use and maybe making new Demos a little less shaky. I'm not suggesting it be a starting weapon, or anything particularly drastic like that. Factoring in everything, it still probably wouldn't be taken off-perk due to weight concerns, nor would it provide a crazy early-game advantage to the Demo besides being able to actually defend himself from smaller targets.
Hopefully this idea makes it's way into somebody's ear that can do something about it, but it probably won't get changed this way, if at all. At this point I guess it doesn't even really matter, but unless we as a player-base are missing something, this weapon is rightfully swept under the rug most of the time, despite me wishing otherwise.
At any rate, I'd really like to hear some opinions on this, so comment away!
