Yeah I think maybe we ought to just bite the bullet and make all the UPP guns reskinned USCM guns… equal stats and what not. It’d kill some of the faction identity, but cube’s basically trying to juggle all this balancing stuff himself with steel, and I think making the balancing process less of a nightmare would be worth it.
Overall, I still believe UPP firearms are generally superior to their USCM counterparts- They hit harder for sure (instant frac + shrap on the first hit 
), yet also feel more accurate.
Obviously it doesn’t look that way if you look purely at the stat sheets- After all, the Mk2 has 240 RPM and only 7 less damage per AP bullet compared to the Type 71. However, it’s no secret that it still feels worse- And honestly, I believe that it IS worse. Whenever I pick up a Type 71 as marine, I notice that I kill consistently more often, and are more capable in firefights against UPP opponents. Perhaps it’s just anecdotal, but given public sentiment is the same, I think there’s a strong basis for it being true.
The issue of UPP consistently attracting more ‘veteran’ players seems to also be a contributing factor, and one I don’t think is really solvable balance-wise, though I suspect part of the attraction is the perception that UPP gear is superior- I think if faction balance got better, it would mitigate this problem somewhat.
The last 2 HvH rounds were… interesting.
The first round literally lasted 6 fucking minutes. Ceasefire ends. 6 minutes later. Total USCM wipeout, UPP victory. That was an extremely unsatisfying round, given I was itching to try out the XM88 as UPP, yet basically shot a grand total of 2 marines before the round ended.
The second round almost followed the exact same formula. Ceasefire ends. 6 minutes later. USCM forces on the verge of total collapse. UPP overrunning FOB.
However, the CO rallied the approx. 7-8 surviving marines to retreat into north caves, then flanked FOB from the south via Marshalls. The plan worked, and we wiped out the majority of the UPP force, thus restoring the balance of power.
The medical situation was ridiculously bad for marines, with the CO at one point being the sole person capable of defibbing. The UPP attempted to drive us back, and heavy fighting ensured in medical. We wiped out the attempted flank, waited for them to effectively perma, and eventually pushed the UPP back to their FOB and won after a lengthy war of attrition.
Frankly, if the CO didn’t rally us we would’ve lost the 2nd round in 6 minutes.
So, the USCM won through superior coordination due to better CIC players, as well as some decently competent marines. I like to think that cuberound’s plea for people to switch to USCM for the 2nd round might’ve actually convinced people enough to turn the tide, but that’s kinda impossible to verify.
However, there is one thing I think contributed heavily to the USCM collapsing so quickly at the start of both rounds. (nadespam sucked, but that was from a bug so eh)
In both rounds, the ceasefire ended while both sides were basically inside medical/marshalls. This meant that from the get-go, the UPP had already ‘taken ground’ and advanced 80% of the way to the enemy FOB, at a stage in the game where the enemy FOB is the most squishy and vulnerable it can be. These are the perfect conditions for a 6 minute blitzkrieg victory. I don’t know why marines didn’t do the same and advance to engineering or something, even when they were the first ones to land.
It’s meta to be the first faction to land planetside, and immediately order everyone march as close to the enemy FOB as you can. By maximising the ground you take during the ceasefire, you minimise the enemy’s defensive advantage. The opposing side won’t do the same, because people tend to just freeze and hold positions to ‘face’ the enemy for when the ceasefire lifts. E.g., UPP were already at Marshalls when USCM landed, USCM refused to push out of Marshalls and stared at the UPP until ceasefire ended.
As a result, whoever advances first will decide where the frontline starts, and you’re incentivized to start as close to the enemy base as possible.
I think the gameplay advantage this offers is pretty substantial. In order to counteract this, I can think of two pretty braindead ways:
A) Give FOBs rush protection, just slap in the OP spaceborne turrets and make them last for X time. Alternatively, you could just give both sides extra turrets at the start, so engineers can quickly give FOB a strong defensive bonus.
B) Physically prevent either side from crossing their halves of the map, or something. I know fog was scrapped, but maybe it wasn’t such a terrible idea?
@cuberound I think nivrak meant gun and equipment stats, rather than actual character stats
EDIT: I exclusively used the Type 71 carbine this event rather than the rifle, and mostly refer to it when I say ‘Type 71’. I was using a Mk2 for the 2nd round, died, ditched my Mk2 for a Type 71 carbine and rolled with that for the rest of the round.
, it’s hard to put into words.
