This is a lovely game so far, and I think it has a lot of potential, but like everyone else, I have some opinions.
I’ll start with the most obscure suggestions I imagine not many other people mentioned. So, pardon how weird some of these may sound.
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Handguns are out of frame when you are running. For a game where you spend hours grinding for your dream handgun; you don’t even get to look at it while you play cause the view model drops too low independent and regardless of the FOV. — this seems a matter of personal preference, but I imagine I wouldn’t be the only one pleased with more eye-candy. In my opinion instead of craning the weapon lower as you run, your character should flail the weapon in a jogger’s arm fling and swab it across the frame (like in Battlefield One). This is a less “tactical” look and a more “I’m in a war zone” feel. — Also, I don’t think I need to stipulate how unfair it is that handguns can only be acquired through loot boxes.
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Handguns are held with two hands. Yes, the two-handed martial technique of handling guns was first introduced by the Americans in the 50s, so it is plausible that American soldiers would’ve been trained to handle small arms like that during the late stages of the second world war; but I personally believe that a one-handed stance would be more historically accurate and more cinematic. The “Weaver Stance” wasn’t popularised by pop culture and firearm enthusiasts until the 70s and was still in its infancy of recognition during the war. Meaning it is quite likely that European combatants and unobservant American combatants would often resort to a far more familiar one-handed stance. The stereotypical “Gangster Stance” could be considered an indication that simple criminals and civilians alike are much more likely to point guns with one hand, as is intuitive to the human anatomy. – it also is derived from older, single shot weapons that didn’t incur a need for recoil control and promoted a free hand for a melee follow-up. Considering that the early 20th century was the wild west of technology, it is quite likely that most conscripted soldiers would’ve owned a single shot at home as a keepsake or some outdated home ordnance. — I also believe that videogames are both art and entertainment and it is important to manipulate stereotypes in design. The Weaver Stance has a small, unassuming, and cowardly posture, providing the same gesture and layout as the hunchback of Notre dame, versus the much more romantic; proud; and heroic pose of the rapier fencing tradition that is not only casual, but brave. — Yes, the Weaver Stance is more effective – but so is an m16 and an Apache helicopter.
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Mud. Battlefield One had wonderful visual FX where mud and rain would gather on your gun. This is immersive and impressive, and I hope to see it more. It might sound small, but my gaming-drive is motivated by little touches like that. I still come back to BF1 just for that; and people continue to praise games like Mafia 2 for letting you get your shoes shined by a street urchin even though it serves no purpose; Small touches make sales.
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I understand that Free-to-play is profitable these days so I’m not going to contest it – but I do believe that you would have much less push-back from the community if the game was more focused on acquiring cosmetics through grinding and paying – Things like cigarette boxes in helmet meshes; types of German camo tarpaulin; types of gloves; WW1 Adrian helmets for the Russians; burlap wraps for gun stocks; weapon straps and lanyard chains; custom sight pictures; vehicle decals; winter coats; tattoos; rolled up sleeves; being able to take off pieces of uniform; etc. — instead of focusing on making people grind and pay for basic features of the game, like being level 7 to “earn” the M1 Garand; a standard issue rifle that the Americans started with. – I don’t mind grinding for regular guns too much; but it’s unfair that unique weapons require a pricy battle pass and continued grind; or an equally pricy but less cost affective instant purchase. I personally feel extorted and bent over a barrel when forced to pay for one firearm. But I would happily pay to give one of my guys a tattoo and wrap my Sten in some burlap.
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Customising Squad Icons. Emblem making.
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Obviously Gijin has previously made War Thunder and thus it is no mystery that the tanks and their armor mechanics are impressive. However, even it if is a balancing or realism issue, I do feel like the tanks are quite claustrophobic environments and switching between the different roles is an artificial burden. I suggest a system where perhaps there is a third person view for the tanks, however Fog of War enables in this mode, and you can only spot enemies and combat FX within your tank view(s) cone of vision; outside of which everything is black and white, and enemies don’t render. Upon peeking out of the top hatch as the commander (CTRL) the field of view widens, and you can spot enemies easier. — This is one method in which I imagine a balanced third person experience that doesn’t let you navigate meta information whilst still allowing you to navigate your environment in a way that is more enjoyable.
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Some guns I would like to see in the game: Webley Revolver; Rast and Gasser Revolver; Webley Self Loader Pistol; Mannlicher 1901 Pistol; 1912 Steyr Pistol; 1914 Mauser Pistol; Bodeo Revolver; Galand Revolver; Nambu Pistol; Winchester 1887; and any early self-loading rifles that aren’t too much of a stretch. — Not all of these are realistic, but neither is the Pedersen device and the Johnson rifle. Though a surprising amount of the ones I mentioned are in fact realistic.
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The soldier management menu is clumsy. It’s like playing Tetris. I spent 10 minutes trying to take my engineer from my engineer squad and put him in my assault squad, but I needed to juggle all my units because “this squad doesn’t have enough soldiers in it” even though I intended to retire it and not use it anyway. It’s kind of hard to describe but I hope that’s good enough.
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The map should have ammunition boxes already on it scattered throughout places (so you didn’t have to kill yourself after you ran out of ammo as a sniper or pick up a worse gun) — you should be able to loot ammo from bodies instead of having to switch weapons (scoped Kar98 uses same ammo as non-scoped Kar98)
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The map should have more anti-aircraft guns on it, and they should be more nimble versions that can actually turn and face the aircraft fast enough.
