So, hey.
I purchased this game just as it was released, and have been through most of the changes and additions made to it. My thoughts? I really didn't have a preference. I play Support Specialist, because I like shotguns a lot more than I do assault rifles. I also like carrying lots of things. Don't laugh at me?
Although I had the game all this time, it was until maybe sometime last year I got to Level 6 with the class. Don't play video games really religiously. Got aspirations to become an engineer, you know?
The best thing for me was when I got to carry a LAW (which I could purchase at a reasonable price) and an M3 at the same time. Yes, I'm one of THOSE types. Unfortunately, as of a fairly recent update (which you all must be aware of by this point), I don't get to do that anymore, and the bullheaded Commando that I play with most of the time gets angry at me because I insist on carrying it anyway, even though it costs twice as much for me now and I don't get any damage bonuses.
Now, I'm not the one to throw the heinous *****y-fit over losing influence over such a powerful and wondrous weapon of sheer potential and explosive magnitude -- in other words, I could be in this case! But I'm not.
No, I'm just a little confused. Regardless that the LAW was only Support-special because it was there before the Demolitions class, it's still a very heavy weapon -- and Demolitions doesn't get weight block increase bonuses. That means that any Demo-Man who decides to augment himself with such a special weapon essentially can carry only Pipe Bombs with a LAW. Does it not restrict his abilities?
I'm not going to sit here and try and convince you to take away the LAW from the Demolitioner either -- no, it would not be respectful to have him taste the fruits of bliss and then just as quickly yank them away.
Since the weapon is an explosive weapon but is also very heavy, it could just as well be suitable to both classes, forcing one to pick and choose how they use it. So why not give it to both? It, along with other weapons in the game, could and should just as easily be shared by multiple classes, based on their attributes and how they correspond to class abilities.
Still using the LAW as an example. I believe that it would be fair to give discounts to both the Demolitions and Support Specialist classes, while at the same time, allowing the Demolitioner to do considerably more damage with it than the Support Specialist. This way both classes can enjoy the weapon while compensating in some way for using it as their respective class.
This could also apply to lots of other weapons. Why not split the Mk. 17 SCAR and the M14 in a similar manner between the Sharpshooter and Commando? Or the M3/Coach Gun/AA-12 between the Berserker, Demolitioner, and Support Specialist? The difference would be set by what basic player attributes are available to the classes already (health, speed, weight capacity, fire/explosive resistance), all that would have to be done is to establish variations in damage.
At this point in the game's development all the classes and their weapons are boxed into their own places. This makes balancing tricky, because each class has their own respective system of weapons -- thus when you change a weapon's performance for the sake of balancing a class, you drastically change the performance for that single class. If the devs start melding weapons to multiple classes, then aside from the initial balancing issues, it may be possible to get to a point where a change in one weapon won't have such a drastic effect on a class's ability to use that weapon.
Not only that, but it would allow players to have a variety of weapons available to him that wouldn't be just a variation of the same basic function -- as in, a Commando doesn't have to use only automatic rifles, and the Berserker isn't constrained to melee weaponry.
I don't mention all classes in detail, but I'm sure there's something that can be done to include them into all of this? It would be so much more effective than changing individual class limitations through weaponry, or having to create whole new weapons to make them feel useful.
I purchased this game just as it was released, and have been through most of the changes and additions made to it. My thoughts? I really didn't have a preference. I play Support Specialist, because I like shotguns a lot more than I do assault rifles. I also like carrying lots of things. Don't laugh at me?
Although I had the game all this time, it was until maybe sometime last year I got to Level 6 with the class. Don't play video games really religiously. Got aspirations to become an engineer, you know?
The best thing for me was when I got to carry a LAW (which I could purchase at a reasonable price) and an M3 at the same time. Yes, I'm one of THOSE types. Unfortunately, as of a fairly recent update (which you all must be aware of by this point), I don't get to do that anymore, and the bullheaded Commando that I play with most of the time gets angry at me because I insist on carrying it anyway, even though it costs twice as much for me now and I don't get any damage bonuses.
Now, I'm not the one to throw the heinous *****y-fit over losing influence over such a powerful and wondrous weapon of sheer potential and explosive magnitude -- in other words, I could be in this case! But I'm not.
No, I'm just a little confused. Regardless that the LAW was only Support-special because it was there before the Demolitions class, it's still a very heavy weapon -- and Demolitions doesn't get weight block increase bonuses. That means that any Demo-Man who decides to augment himself with such a special weapon essentially can carry only Pipe Bombs with a LAW. Does it not restrict his abilities?
I'm not going to sit here and try and convince you to take away the LAW from the Demolitioner either -- no, it would not be respectful to have him taste the fruits of bliss and then just as quickly yank them away.
Since the weapon is an explosive weapon but is also very heavy, it could just as well be suitable to both classes, forcing one to pick and choose how they use it. So why not give it to both? It, along with other weapons in the game, could and should just as easily be shared by multiple classes, based on their attributes and how they correspond to class abilities.
Still using the LAW as an example. I believe that it would be fair to give discounts to both the Demolitions and Support Specialist classes, while at the same time, allowing the Demolitioner to do considerably more damage with it than the Support Specialist. This way both classes can enjoy the weapon while compensating in some way for using it as their respective class.
This could also apply to lots of other weapons. Why not split the Mk. 17 SCAR and the M14 in a similar manner between the Sharpshooter and Commando? Or the M3/Coach Gun/AA-12 between the Berserker, Demolitioner, and Support Specialist? The difference would be set by what basic player attributes are available to the classes already (health, speed, weight capacity, fire/explosive resistance), all that would have to be done is to establish variations in damage.
At this point in the game's development all the classes and their weapons are boxed into their own places. This makes balancing tricky, because each class has their own respective system of weapons -- thus when you change a weapon's performance for the sake of balancing a class, you drastically change the performance for that single class. If the devs start melding weapons to multiple classes, then aside from the initial balancing issues, it may be possible to get to a point where a change in one weapon won't have such a drastic effect on a class's ability to use that weapon.
Not only that, but it would allow players to have a variety of weapons available to him that wouldn't be just a variation of the same basic function -- as in, a Commando doesn't have to use only automatic rifles, and the Berserker isn't constrained to melee weaponry.
I don't mention all classes in detail, but I'm sure there's something that can be done to include them into all of this? It would be so much more effective than changing individual class limitations through weaponry, or having to create whole new weapons to make them feel useful.