General feedback after 100 hours

Hello, I have decided to make a post for some of the things that I personally noticed during my playtime. Nothing groundbreaking and nothing that has not been discussed before, just my take on some points. The main reason I am making this post is to put down some of my thoughts and see what other people think, as sometimes we might not be able to get past our own tunnel vision.

Before getting into it, I would like to say that the game is shaping up nicely, while is not quite "there" yet, but I trust that NWI has the best of intentions to make the best out of this game.
Not only during Beta, but also during CTA, I can see a big part of the feedback provided in the forums being implemented in the game and the way the game feels really improves from patch to patch. Kudos on listening to the community!

Apart from that, I always liked the fact that NWI has been close to the community, not only with the weekly streams that Mikee started, but also with Alex who took his role to the next level by being actually a part of the community, jumping on Discord and playing with us or just discussing stuff around the game.

To the specifics:

Overtime
I think is a good addition to address the requests of the comp. community of finding a solution to the endless stalemates that would occur from time to time during matches. Personally I did not really mind those nerve-breaking situations where nobody wants to make a move out of the safety of his spot as a lot of mind games can take place in those situations. However, I can clearly recognize the problem.
There were suggestions to add a big message on the screen which informs the players that overtime is on. I am not really a big fan of such a solution as I would prefer something more discrete which will not be breaking the immersion. Something like a voiceline e.g. "we are running out of time" and then the countdown could turn to red, instead of being white.
Nonetheless, it should be made really clear with a hint/tip/tutorial how overtime works exactly and how the winner is determined when time finally runs out.

Sliding
I like the fact that sliding is back in Sandstorm as it's a cool mechanic although not realistic (gameplay > realism, if I want a mil-sim I can find it elsewhere).
I really liked the addition of being able to turn left and right while sliding either to get info or even prefire corners while rushing into a room/objective.
What I don't like is sliding uphill/upstairs. Not sure if this is intentional or is about to change until release.

Sound
In general I like the sound design. I do not think that is exceptional (although is clearly better than most of the shooters out there) but it serves its purpose in a really good way.
What I don't like is weapon sounds. All the weapons sound kind of muffled and compressed when shot in POV. The sounds are not as crisp and distinctive as they used to be in the Source game. The other day I was shooting the MK18 with and without the suppressor and I could not hear such a big of a difference.
It might be just a matter of habit but in the previous game I could recognize what weapon was somebody firing across the map. Each one had a very unique sound. This is something I am missing from this game.
Stepping sounds are not consistent but I know that this is something that will be fixed either before, or soon after release.

Sniper rifles
I think that bolt action rifles should always be one shot kill for unarmored targets if hitting anything else than the legs. Even with a hit at the legs, one follow up shot from a makarov should finish off the target.
When it comes to wall-banging unarmored targets, could possibly be OSK too? What do you guys think? Maybe with the help of an attachment (long barrel, possibly AP ammo for bolt action rifles only?)?
In addition, the 7x scope ADS time seems to be really low in Sandstorm. I have not tested it but I think it was slower in the Source game. Maybe make it slightly slower? I almost never played sniper (even when I did, I had more pistol kills than sniper kills) so I do not really have an opinion when it comes to balancing this detail, this is just a thought because now it feels more arcadey than it should.
When it comes to the weight of sniper rifles I remember several people pointing out that bolt action rifles were so heavy in the Source game that made it really difficult for a sniper to rotate in 1vX situations. I think this is a valid point although I don't have adequate personal experience.

Restricted areas
It would be really useful to have them marked on the map. Right now is a bit confusing.
In addition, the other day (I think it was a comp. game) while I was in the restricted area there was a countdown and after time ran out, I lost my life. I have not put much though on it but I cannot really see the reason for such a feature. Why restrict players from performing a large, high-risk/high-reward flank? Not being able to fire your weapon after some seconds is a good enough punishment. What are your thoughts on this?

Competitive matchmaking
I do not feel the need to comment on the long queues as this is a Beta thing and is understandable.
However, I think is really important to find a way to "ensure" that people that are queuing have solid knowledge of how Firefight works. Unfortunately, I do not have the solution on this but I think is an important point.
Some people have suggested on adding a short video-explanation (please make it in a way that cannot be skipped) before joining for the first time (or even before each one of the placement matches). Other ideas are to implement a level barrier so that people are at least familiar with the map layouts and the Firefight mode, or an achievement of winning "X" Versus Firefight games before joining for the first time. I am sure that a lot of people found themselves spectating the last teammate alive, camping in a corner waiting for free kills while the enemy team is capping all the objectives.

Edit: Ready button is a must-have and the rounds per game should be more (bof 15 maybe?)

Armor
I know that a lot of people will argue against that but why should we have light and heavy armor instead of just armor?
We could have only one type of armor (heavy) that allows players to survive wallbangs (most cases where you could see someone running armor in Source competitive) and that would be able to raise the TTK to 2x or 3x. It could be implemented in a way that would provide a high level of survivability but with significant trade-offs such as weight, mobility, ADS-time etc. What are your thoughts on this?
Armor should be also able to tank the OSK of bolt action rifles and make it two shot kills (when running in the open) or three shot kills behind walls for example. Maybe adding AP ammo (for bolt action only) as a counter?

Again, all of the above are not necessarily solid suggestions that I would like to see implemented in the game. Just some ideas that I think are worth discussing. If not, well then... all good! 🙂

Please share your thoughts.

last edited by Bullet59

@bullet59
Stopped at the sliding comment, sucks so bad.

@bullet59 said in General feedback after 100 hours:

Armor

Oh boy, here we go again!

@bullet59 said in General feedback after 100 hours:

why should we have light and heavy armor instead of just armor?

Because light armor is for pistol calibers and heavy is for rifle calibers.

@bullet59 said in General feedback after 100 hours:

Armor should be also able to tank the OSK of bolt action rifles and make it two shot kills

Uhh no. Unless you have a ceramic plate (i.e. type iv armor) you ain't stopping a round like that at that velocity. Heavy armor should simply be able to soak a significant amount of rifle calibers. If we want to be realistic that would be everything that isn't a 5.56 or sniper caliber.

@bullet59 said in General feedback after 100 hours:

three shot kills behind walls for example

Heavy armor should tank those shots to the chest anyway, not necessarily through a material.

@bullet59 said in General feedback after 100 hours:

Maybe adding AP ammo (for bolt action only) as a counter

Certain rounds already have AP qualities, such as 5.56 rounds or the MP7's special rounds (HK 4.6x30mm), and the higher caliber sniper rounds .30-06, 7.62s of the M24/Mosin (the velocities they're launched at are ridiculous and make them AP). Having an AP round option for anything other than sidearms is stupid. Even for pistols, heavy armor would still take a bunch of, say 9mm AP.