My Thoughts on the BFBC2 Patch

**WARNING – LONG OPINIONATED POST ALERT!**

In Donncha’s post about Shotguns I followed a couple of links and came across the definitive patch list from the horse’s mouth.

The original post can be found here.

I’ve read through the changes and feel my nerfaphobia rising. Weapons should not need to be nerfed or buffed. Issues should be resolved at the very latest in the Beta stage. That’s the point of a Beta isn’t it? The nerfing and buffing appears to be a reaction to general whining rather than genuine issues. When the game is played properly and in the manner it was intended then it is extremely balanced. But when you try and play it as if it was Modern Warfare 2 then it becomes unbalanced.

The nerfing and buffing that is going on is only going to make people move to the next most effective weapon combination. Then what? More complaining? “Oh such-and-such a gun is sooooooooo overpowered :sadface:” More nerfing and buffing until it’s all Ogga Ug Banga Whack Whack?

Here’s each nerf/buff section by section, along with my opinion on the changes:

Increased the base range of all Automatic and Semiautomatic weapons for more consistent close range combat.
Slightly increased the damage of Semiautomatic rifles over long range for more consistent damage output.

….consistency.
agreement, harmony, or compatibility, esp. correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complex thing

So they’ve all been made the same for close and long range damage? That’s what that means to me.

Ogga

Slightly reduced the base damage of the M16 and G3 to balance the increased range.
Slightly increased the damage of the AEK971, F2000, AN94, and AUG over long range to balance them with other Assault Rifles.

…. so the M16, G3, AEK971, F2000 and AUG now all have the same damage to range ratio?

Ug

Reduced the lethal blast range of the 40mm grenade and M2CG to highlight their role as a secondary weapon against infantry.
Slightly Reduced the max range of the 40mm shotgun to balance it with other shotguns.
Slightly increased the base damage of shotgun rounds and reduced their range to clarify ideal shotgun combat distance.

Okay – this has to be the most messed up nerfybuff so far….. reducing the explosive damage of explosive weapons to make them more of a secondary choice against infantry. Both the grenade launcher and Carl-G take one lunar cycle to reload which means that unless you’ve actually killed everyone on the map you’re going to be dead if you try and use either of them as a serious choice for offence. They are explosive weapons, not bubble blowers – the clue is in the name. KABLAMMO go BOOMY! If a weapon is capable of taking out a tank or a helicopter then funnily enough it should also be ideal for vapourising a group of enemy that are engaged in a group hug.

Then we have the shotguns (which Donncha’s original post was about). Fair enough, reduce the range of the Master Key attachment (which should have a ridiculously short range anyway), but upping the damage and reducing the range of the shotguns in general…..

Banga

Reduced the base damage of the PP2000 to balance the increased range.
Increased the damage of the 9A91 over long range to balance its lower magazine size.

So the PP2000 (which is crappy compared to the Uzi) is now the same as the 9A91…. which means that the fifth gun you unlock a gun is not really any better than the first gun you get except it has a higher rate of fire…. Fab!

Increased the damage and range of the M9, M93 pistols to make them more desirable as a secondary weapon.
Increased the range of the MP443 pistol to make it more desirable as a secondary weapon.
Increased the damage of the MP412 over long range to balance its low rate of fire.
Slightly reduced the rate of fire of the M1911 pistol to balance it with other pistols.

Don’t bother reading that ^^
In a nutshell: all the pistols are now the same.

Whack

Increased the repair and overheat speeds of the Power Tool. Now overheats sooner but repairs the same amount before overheating.
Increased the maximum number of Motion Sensors that can be carried from 2 to 3 and increased the speed which new sensors are acquired from ammo boxes.
Significantly increased the speed of the Tracer Dart projectile to make it more effective against airborne targets.
Increased the reload time of the Mortar Strike and reduced the damage it does to heavily armored vehicles.
Decreased the range of Bolt Action Sniper and Pump Shotgun Slug rounds when using Magnum Ammo for better Kit Balance, especially in Hardcore.
Slightly increased the Health of soldiers in Hardcore for better Kit Balance.

The first one, the repair tool – lolwhut? Increase the repair speed and overheat speed so it has the same effects but faster!? Why?! I’m not a mechanic but I know that it takes a damned sight longer than a couple of seconds to repair a vehicle. The repair time should be INCREASED not decreased. Or have it on a damage/repair ratio – the more heavily damaged a vehicle the longer it takes to recover each “blip” to a certain amount. Instead they make it easier for Engineers to keep vehicles running?

Tracer dart speed – I’ve considered this one for a while as I have a real problem hitting helicopters with the tracer dart. The increases speed will help me no end….. but I don’t want it. I think it’s fine the way it is. If they increase the speed, why not introduce bullet drop as they are effectively grossly unbalancing the tracer dart just because people complain that they can’t hit shit with it!

Increasing the mortar strike reload time…okay, I don’t have a problem with that, but reducing the damage against heavy armour? Now there’s an excuse for a whole squad of wookies:- “we’re providing mortar support….”

Decreasing slug range….. okay, fair enough on that one. Realistically slug rounds are heavier so shouldn’t go as far. But increasing health in hardcore – seriously!?

Increased the benefit from the Medkit Heal+ specialization to make it more desirable as a Specialization.
Decreased the benefit from Vehicle Reload Speed to balance it against other Vehicle Specializations.
Slightly decreased the benefit from accuracy specializations to balance the changes to range and accuracy tweaks.

Fixed a bug where the BMD3 would take extra damage to the front armor.
Reduced the explosive damage from Attack Helicopter cannons.
Increased the damage of AA guns against all targets. The AA gun should be much more effective against infantry on Port Valdez.

Medkit Heal+ isn’t used in preference to other specialisations because you get more points for kills. If they want people to more interested in objectives and using kits as they are intended then they should change the scoring.
Why reduce the vehicle reload speed spec? It is offset by an enemy running armour…..or did they forget?
Reducing the accuracy spec because the weapons have been equalised…… oh come on! What’s the point of using it then?
And the last couple…. talk about schizophrenic. Too much Boomy, not enough Boomy, all go Boomy Boomy. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Whack

But I’m not complaining. I couldn’t care less what they change. If you have a decent squad then it doesn’t really matter what the other side are using. Getting M60’d is annoying, but not as annoying as an M60’er being blown away from across the map by an M870 magnum/slug combo (muahahaha!).

There’s always a counter to something that is being used in game. Whining is not a valid tactic. (but winning is)

Peas and loaves.

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