As many of us now know, DICE has implemented what are to be “Combat Drop” weapons. These weapons are situated across the map at strategic points and are a one-time use weapon, as in, once the ammunition is depleted, you cannot replenish it and continue using it.
Weapons such as the M82 .50 BMG anti-material rifle, USAS-12 automatic shotgun, and the M32 grenade launcher fall in the category of “Combat Drop” weapons.
While I applaud DICE for trying to develop new methods to encourage players to play differently and alter their individual strategies, with what little is known about this new system, I fear there is a great deal of abuse that could result from the way it’s being implemented. Currently, it appears that each weapon will spawn in, and will be accessible to any class that can reach it and pick it up. It is unclear if these will be a 1 weapon per map (meaning, only one can be in use at any given time) or if it will be on a continuous re-spawn timer, and that anyone, so long as they are present when it re-spawns, may pick it up and use it regardless of the fact that there is someone else currently using it at that same instance.
The biggest concern I have is that these locations are pre-set and fixed; this may encourage camping of said spawns, further hindering and discouraging actual team work by playing the objectives, as many players will be more apt to trying to go for these “ultimate” weapons. This was and still is the case when it comes to aircraft in the BF franchise, some players sometimes several will sit back, away from the action, camping the spawn location of a helicopter or a jet, in hopes of getting their hands on this valuable asset in the game. This normally wouldn’t be an issue if it was just one or two people, but that is usually not the case; in many instances, it can be upwards to 4-6 individuals waiting for such a craft, further reducing the actual effectiveness of their team, as these individuals sit idle, while waiting for their chosen craft.
I fear the same problem will befall these “Combat Drop” weapons, with people camping their spawn locations.
For this reason, I’ve developed my own ideas on how I think such weapons could be implemented into the game, while also driving forward the idea of squad play and team work.
It is a well-known fact in the FPS gaming world, that a well-coordinated group of individuals that are communicating with each other can be a force to be reckoned with. In the BF franchise, this takes the forms of squads, allowing players to team up in groups of 4 to reap the benefits of greater organization and increased point income by performing squad related actions (re-supplying squad members, attacking squad designated objectives etc.)
While the points increase and ability to spawn in on friendly squad members is a boon, the actual reward system for squad play, I feel is lacking a little, most of the features unfortunately get left unused, as in most cases, the squad splits up and goes off to do their own thing instead of staying together and working together.
To solve this, I propose the following system.
The system in Home front first comes to mind, in the game Home front each player was granted a “wallet” and were awarded “x” amount of points for performing various actions within the game. From killing enemy players to arming bomb/capturing objectives. The amount of points gained varied from the action being completed, and these points could then be spent on acquiring powerful weapons of war within the game. From AT rocket launchers, scout drones, humvee’s and even tanks, this system, while slightly flawed, rewarded the player for doing well and actually encouraged them to play the objectives within the game.
A similar system could be applied to Battlefield on a squad by squad basis I think.
Each squad member has their own personal “Squad point” wallet, each action they perform as a squad yields “squad points” This could range from healing, re-supplying, capturing objectives, destroying enemy vehicles etc.
All the points varying from action to action, just like before; however, not all actions are created equal. For example, simply killing players while within a squad will not yield a lot of squad points, only a small pittance per kill. However, killing an enemy player at a squad designated objective will yield a much higher amount of points, perhaps 3x as much. Same thing would be for capturing or defending a designated objective.
Players that are not present while performing these actions, of course will not get credit for doing so. To elaborate, a squad member that chooses to sit on a hill in the middle of nowhere, attempting to snipe while not playing the objective, will receive little to no points for their squad points wallet. While, on the other hand; player that is actively assisting in the capturing of an objective or destruction of a vehicle will get the maximum points. Reviving fallen members will also yield x amount of points, however, to prevent “farming” x amount of revives of the same player in quick succession will yield diminishing returns. Healing and re-supply will give small amounts of points as well. Furthermore, greater control will be given to the squad leader, such as designating a spotted vehicle for destruction, or an enemy player to kill etc. This could allow further visual cues to enhance squad efficiency within the game. Mind you, these points are ONLY available to squad members, with the points return scaling from highest to lowest
Objective capture/defend
Designated Target kill
Revive
Heal/Re-arm/repair
tango down (general enemy kill that is being engaged by your squad mate outside of an objective zone)
So what’s the point of these, well, points? How does the, combat weapons pick up fit into this system? Players may choose to purchase passive upgrades within the game, some of which that the whole squad benefits from. For example, depending on which tree you wish to follow, your squad can pool their points together to purchase a squad upgrade (such as increased grenade capacity, or improved sprint) individual passive upgrades would include better ammo/med packs etc. These are all up to the squad member’s discretion. Other options could include air dropped light vehicles for transport, ammo drops (for instances where there is not support player in the squad at that time) and perhaps brief recon flights over a location that reveals all troop movement within a small area on the mini map (Similar to the recon’s motion sensor ball, but does not continuously ping and reveal the enemy for x duration)
Combat drop weaponry would be the cream of crop, and the most expensive in the game. Each player would have to save up their points to reach their cap (5,000pts for example) the weapons would function just like they would now. however, they must be bought within the confines of a squad. For balancing reasons, the player will not have said weapon immediately, they will receive it after their next legitimate death/respawn (Sorry no suicides)
Each member may purchase one weapon per life time, and the purchase of said weapon would deplete their point pool, forcing them to work back up to 5k if they wished to purchase said weapon again and of course, the ammo is not refillable. Each player may pick and choose which weapon they want to purchase, so, in theory it is possible to have an entire squad outfitted with M82’s or M32 grenade launchers, but since these weapons take the place of the players primary, it begs to question how effective they would be, since kills would not amount to much in regards to acquiring squad points.
Obviously there are things that would need balancing out, since an entire squad of skilled marksmen with the M82 could be over powered as all hell gets out (which is why they’d be so damn expensive!). The alternative is that only one specialty weapon of each type may be active within the squads at any given time, for balance sake.
With that said, please give me your views and opinions on this system. Do you think it would work? What do you think is the pro’s and cons of such a system? Can it be abused? If so, how?
I look forward to your comments and opinions.
