Tweet
The game needs a balance patch
Let's focus on balancing issues. There's a lot to complain about but this is still a sharp game, very fun to blow off steam after work.
The meta is absolutely impossible to keep up with right now. It requires a lot of money and a lot of luck to be able to get the current hot gears and weapons. The playerbase is bored of it and they are leaving.
---
Basic modes (Elim, Elim pro, capture the flag, search and destroy)
- The weapons
This was the first big problem. Our old guns would slowly become obsoleted by weapons only available in lottery boxes. Higher damage and fire rate, it makes it very hard to keep up with once solid guns like the m4a1. I had to take a break after that automatic pistol that does 50+ damage per bullet came out, which just felt unfair. On top of that, some absolutely broken SMGs came out like the candy p90 that kills in two bullets but has a high fire rate and a 70 bullets magazine. There were a few stray overpowered guns, a few snipers here and there that felt unfair in standard settings. There are also a bunch of weapons that completely ruins the other modes, we'll go over them later.
- The gear
That's the biggest issue, it makes the basic modes nearly unplayable right now. 80%+ protection, on top of speed and stamina so high that a zombie can't even keep up with a walking player in QR. It's very often that I meet a player that tanks a sniper shot, which would usually 1-shot. But not only tank, only take 28 damage from a SR bullet to the chest. I can't even get an assist point from that. I had a few instances where 5 bullets from my M4A1 CQBR would deal less than 10% on an opponent. That used to be a guaranteed kill on tanker gear. I had an instance where with 3 bullets, I dealt 2hp of damage. This means I would need 150 bullets to kill the opponent. On top of that we now have HP regen tools, so you end up with players completely destroying the opposing team. My sniper (L115a3 Ghillie core that I paid 70$ for...) can't even kill those people with two bullets to the chest.
Add these two together, and you see someone walking at the speed of sound, and in an instant, you get two p90 bullets to the chest and die, while they tank the few bullets you could land for less than 10hp damage. This makes elim very depressing to play. I just leave the lobby and go find another game when one of those players pop up. This also makes Elim pro, search and destroy, VIP and other modes absolutely unplayable. The playerbase can't keep up with the meta, and they're just leaving. The playerbase is shrinking because of that.
To add to this, we could be using the free guns and gears that are given every day to the player, but that's just not a solution to the problem. One of the fun things about this game is having your own set of gear and guns that you like, and when I can't keep up anymore due to pay2win mechanics it's just not interesting for me to keep playing. I like my recon vest because I can change its skin with uniforms and I wish it was even remotely viable anymore (I paid real money for it). I used to go 3.00kdr+ every game, now I can barely go even if I try really hard.
The worst thing about this is that we used to be able to moderate what was allowed into a room. But now there's just so much broken stuff available to everyone that it's impossible to moderate.
Pure mode
It is still fun, I had a great time earlier today. However, the game turns super slow, and that's not really what the playerbase wants. Really hard to find a lobby, and I'd rather use my own gear in standard rooms.
Sniper only
It basically doesn't exist anymore due to overpowered protection and the need to use some specific lootbox-exclusive snipers to be able to keep up.
Quarantine Regen (The zombies got nerfed for some reason)
- The weapons
Turrets. Those are another problem that I haven't talked before, but they just aimbot. It makes it impossible for the zombies to get in. This was removed for a reason, I don't know why you brought them back, even upgraded versions (?!?!?!) that are harder to destroy. So many explosives, miniguns, launchers, explosive crossbows. The zombies stand no chance whatsoever just due to that.
- The gear
You get so much speed from lootbox gear that a running female zombie can't keep up with a walking human. You have to get lucky and swipe someone that's inexperienced or greedy to get any kind of zombie infections. Now you can get 100% poison resistance and camp in the water of oil rig. Look like a big oversight.
This is honestly the most fun mode in Combat Arms, this is what makes it unique and it's just a really fun mode to play. But it's just not fun anymore, the zombies can't do anything.
Fireteam
Still very fun, this is the only place where it makes sense to have stronger gear and weapons. Make harder modes where more zombies spawn to keep up with the overpowered gear, it's still fun.
In short, it feels like the new sets and new gear just get some random stats without any regard for balance. You end up with stupid stuff like crazy protection, faster walk speed than running zombies and game-breaking advantages like 100% poison resistance, which are just huge oversights right now.
-----
How do we fix this?
- Well first of all, I don't think competitive/esports-like modes fit the spirit of combat arms, this is not why I am playing the game. I play it because it's fun and a good way to blow off steam after a long day of school/work, but it's not as fun as it used to be. Shift the focus towards casual modes like QR, Fireteam and well balanced basic modes.
- The weapons need to be nerfed, and some older weapons need to have their damage upped a bit. Also patch up some of the stupid weapons like the two-hit kill automatic pistols.
- The gear boosts need a nerf. This is the most urgent fix in my opinion. The boosts feel random and don't take balance into account. My sniper should 1-hit opponents with fast gear, make a good dent in opponents with protection gear.
- Turrets... patch them or remove them. A fix I have in mind is to give some delay to their aiming, kinda like COD turrets where you need to be in line-of-sight of the turret for it to lock on you. Right now one turret can take on two zombies by quickly switching target every bullet and it makes absolutely no sense. If you can't do that, remove them.
- Make it so that bullets don't stun the zombies anymore, but push them. This way they can escape the other way without getting stopped in place by bullets. And you can still corner them.
- MORE RESTRICTIONS IN THE LOBBIES. Make it so you can put multiple restrictions even without an elite moderator. This alone would fix so many problems. So no elite gear (grenade launcher, claymores, turrets, etc.) which has been a insanely popular request for nearly 10 years. It would fix the balance of your game tenfold.
- Take balancing into account when you add new stuff.
I've been playing this game for over a decade, and I'm very grateful for you to be keeping the game alive. New creative weapons, gears and skins are super fun and I'm all for them, but I want the game to be playable.
The meta is absolutely impossible to keep up with right now. It requires a lot of money and a lot of luck to be able to get the current hot gears and weapons. The playerbase is bored of it and they are leaving.
---
Basic modes (Elim, Elim pro, capture the flag, search and destroy)
- The weapons
This was the first big problem. Our old guns would slowly become obsoleted by weapons only available in lottery boxes. Higher damage and fire rate, it makes it very hard to keep up with once solid guns like the m4a1. I had to take a break after that automatic pistol that does 50+ damage per bullet came out, which just felt unfair. On top of that, some absolutely broken SMGs came out like the candy p90 that kills in two bullets but has a high fire rate and a 70 bullets magazine. There were a few stray overpowered guns, a few snipers here and there that felt unfair in standard settings. There are also a bunch of weapons that completely ruins the other modes, we'll go over them later.
- The gear
That's the biggest issue, it makes the basic modes nearly unplayable right now. 80%+ protection, on top of speed and stamina so high that a zombie can't even keep up with a walking player in QR. It's very often that I meet a player that tanks a sniper shot, which would usually 1-shot. But not only tank, only take 28 damage from a SR bullet to the chest. I can't even get an assist point from that. I had a few instances where 5 bullets from my M4A1 CQBR would deal less than 10% on an opponent. That used to be a guaranteed kill on tanker gear. I had an instance where with 3 bullets, I dealt 2hp of damage. This means I would need 150 bullets to kill the opponent. On top of that we now have HP regen tools, so you end up with players completely destroying the opposing team. My sniper (L115a3 Ghillie core that I paid 70$ for...) can't even kill those people with two bullets to the chest.
Add these two together, and you see someone walking at the speed of sound, and in an instant, you get two p90 bullets to the chest and die, while they tank the few bullets you could land for less than 10hp damage. This makes elim very depressing to play. I just leave the lobby and go find another game when one of those players pop up. This also makes Elim pro, search and destroy, VIP and other modes absolutely unplayable. The playerbase can't keep up with the meta, and they're just leaving. The playerbase is shrinking because of that.
To add to this, we could be using the free guns and gears that are given every day to the player, but that's just not a solution to the problem. One of the fun things about this game is having your own set of gear and guns that you like, and when I can't keep up anymore due to pay2win mechanics it's just not interesting for me to keep playing. I like my recon vest because I can change its skin with uniforms and I wish it was even remotely viable anymore (I paid real money for it). I used to go 3.00kdr+ every game, now I can barely go even if I try really hard.
The worst thing about this is that we used to be able to moderate what was allowed into a room. But now there's just so much broken stuff available to everyone that it's impossible to moderate.
Pure mode
It is still fun, I had a great time earlier today. However, the game turns super slow, and that's not really what the playerbase wants. Really hard to find a lobby, and I'd rather use my own gear in standard rooms.
Sniper only
It basically doesn't exist anymore due to overpowered protection and the need to use some specific lootbox-exclusive snipers to be able to keep up.
Quarantine Regen (The zombies got nerfed for some reason)
- The weapons
Turrets. Those are another problem that I haven't talked before, but they just aimbot. It makes it impossible for the zombies to get in. This was removed for a reason, I don't know why you brought them back, even upgraded versions (?!?!?!) that are harder to destroy. So many explosives, miniguns, launchers, explosive crossbows. The zombies stand no chance whatsoever just due to that.
- The gear
You get so much speed from lootbox gear that a running female zombie can't keep up with a walking human. You have to get lucky and swipe someone that's inexperienced or greedy to get any kind of zombie infections. Now you can get 100% poison resistance and camp in the water of oil rig. Look like a big oversight.
This is honestly the most fun mode in Combat Arms, this is what makes it unique and it's just a really fun mode to play. But it's just not fun anymore, the zombies can't do anything.
Fireteam
Still very fun, this is the only place where it makes sense to have stronger gear and weapons. Make harder modes where more zombies spawn to keep up with the overpowered gear, it's still fun.
In short, it feels like the new sets and new gear just get some random stats without any regard for balance. You end up with stupid stuff like crazy protection, faster walk speed than running zombies and game-breaking advantages like 100% poison resistance, which are just huge oversights right now.
-----
How do we fix this?
- Well first of all, I don't think competitive/esports-like modes fit the spirit of combat arms, this is not why I am playing the game. I play it because it's fun and a good way to blow off steam after a long day of school/work, but it's not as fun as it used to be. Shift the focus towards casual modes like QR, Fireteam and well balanced basic modes.
- The weapons need to be nerfed, and some older weapons need to have their damage upped a bit. Also patch up some of the stupid weapons like the two-hit kill automatic pistols.
- The gear boosts need a nerf. This is the most urgent fix in my opinion. The boosts feel random and don't take balance into account. My sniper should 1-hit opponents with fast gear, make a good dent in opponents with protection gear.
- Turrets... patch them or remove them. A fix I have in mind is to give some delay to their aiming, kinda like COD turrets where you need to be in line-of-sight of the turret for it to lock on you. Right now one turret can take on two zombies by quickly switching target every bullet and it makes absolutely no sense. If you can't do that, remove them.
- Make it so that bullets don't stun the zombies anymore, but push them. This way they can escape the other way without getting stopped in place by bullets. And you can still corner them.
- MORE RESTRICTIONS IN THE LOBBIES. Make it so you can put multiple restrictions even without an elite moderator. This alone would fix so many problems. So no elite gear (grenade launcher, claymores, turrets, etc.) which has been a insanely popular request for nearly 10 years. It would fix the balance of your game tenfold.
- Take balancing into account when you add new stuff.
I've been playing this game for over a decade, and I'm very grateful for you to be keeping the game alive. New creative weapons, gears and skins are super fun and I'm all for them, but I want the game to be playable.
Comment