I’ve been mulling over the responses here combined with my own experiences. I would say most people, including myself, agree with some of the A.S.S changes. Personally, I like how there is now a squad preference list. I also think that the bravo spec and SG being placed in a different squad by default is probably for the best, given that they would almost universally be assigned to a front fireteam. I think where most people disagree with A.S.S is the changes to Charlie. Here are my problems with A.S.S, and how I would change it.
As a preliminary matter, I think A.S.S represents an overall good change in direction for the game. Fireteams have always been somewhat of a clunky, though still useful, feature. Having Kilo and the support squads where people opt in to a fire team I feel like works much better. However, these support squads have led to a lot of problems.
- The support squads tend to be woefully anemic. I often end up having to group squads together, e.g. Charlie and Kilo or Bravo and Oscar just to set up comms or guard FOB.
- Charlie has been absolutely gutted. It feels like a real shame that one of the OG squads is now no longer a main force in the game.
- Bravo has also taken a hit. With fewer marines in the squad, there are fewer marines to build the FOB or who stay behind to defend to build the FOB.
- Because of the above points, experienced queens will often circumvent the front entirely, opting instead to flank and hit the FOB.
I would thus propose the following changes to A.S.S:
- Remove the support squads except Kilo
- Alpha, Charlie, Delta, and Kilo all have a specialist and SG.
- Bravo and Kilo form the “Support Operations Platoon” and need to be specially opted in to. Charlie is part of the Assault platoon but is opt-in only.
- (If possible code wise) make Kilo an locked squad, requiring at least 30 hours in a squad role.
- Give Bravo vending machines a discount to the engineering pamphlet and +1 to its comtech slots in order to better fit into the FOB Machine role.
This accomplishes the goals of A.S.S while maintaining a lot of the original CM-13 Squad Cultures while also bringing some new ways to play the game, both for Marines and CIC.
For starters, these changes would remove the handicap on Charlie, returning them to a fully functional squad as is proper for an OG squad. However, Charlie would be opt-in only, meaning people would have to actively chose Charlie. The hope here is Marines who actively chose to be in Charlie would put more effort into roleplay and game play, making them a step up from Alpha and Delta. This change would also keep Kilo, retaining the High Skill small squad play that people really seem to enjoy from ASS. Kilo would be the “cool squad” to the game, encouraging new players to come back to the game to unlock the squad.
Bravo would also be rebalanced to focus on its FOB mission better, allowing for better FOB construction and the ability in higher pops to send fireteams to help defend comms. I would be open to welcoming an Oscar squad in highpop which would act as a Kilo overflow.
In sum: Bring Charlie Back, Upgrade Kilo, and Retool Bravo.