Guys, I'm worried about the release
I was really hoping that the landing screen, where the small guy stands awkwardly in that one room (basically looking like he's impatiently waiting in line to take a dump) was just placeholder, but seeing it - and the character models - unchanged so close to release troubles me.
It just screams low-budget, especially since the character models are pretty poor. I thought they looked a lot better, more battleworn and authentic in previous games. The clothes in Sandstorm are waaaay too tidy and colorful, all the shirts are perfectly buttoned up, looking like they were picked up straight from the drawer, with the only sign of wear being a slight, generic dirt texture splattered over everything.
I would seriously prefer not to have any cosmetic customization if it meant more quality models that look like actual, battle-hardened fighters.

Then I launched the actual game and... the stuttering is unbearable. Having low settings doesn't help. It's worth mentioning that I am able to play UE4 games like PUBG with medium-high setting without problems.

Overall, it still feels like the first alpha, and I don't think I'm gonna be playing until you finally optimize...

EDIT: The recent patch helped only ever so slightly. I have turned frame smoothing and limit on, still having everything on low and the frames still drop significantly during fire exchange. The game continues to be hard to enjoy at this point.
I also like the new customisation screen, the contrast of the lightning is a good way to cover up any imperfections of the models. The zoom is also good. HOWEVER the low-budget main menu still remains pointless - what's the reason to show an unequipped guy just stand awkwardly in that room?

character models have always looked poor. they stated before the alpha (not even 1st beta) that the character models werent changing. theyve never looked better, nwi isnt known for great looking character models. character model loading problems like that are bug and you should just wait a minute for a load. regardless, youre supposed to reset your character to get to the new system

It does raise a lot of concerns, especially with the narrow window until release. Here's hoping this beta addresses a lot of the optimisation issues and helps carve out better models, even if it feels like it's a tad too late.