Greetings, I have some general gameplay feedback I'd like to see solutions to in the future.
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Spawn Killing
• I'm not sure if it's an exploit or just general map flaws, but it gets really frustrating when an entire team can be handicapped by one guy with an LMG/rocket that has sights into our spawn or can access the one or two choke points we have to run through after spawning. It's not so bad that it's every game yet, but I'd say maybe 3/10 games I play, I get spawn camped, and it's just aggravating and makes me want to quit playing for a while. Some people agree with me, some people just say "it's part of the game". I can't think of too many solutions, but some I have thought of include: Spawn Protection for a few seconds after spawning, increasing the restricted zone for the opposing team so that they can't get sights on our choke points, or maybe tinkering with the waves system (they know when to get ready to spray us down because they are notified when a new wave of us is incoming). -
Weapon Scope Rendering Bug
• Sometimes the reticle of my scope doesn't render, so it's basically a circle/square that zooms in with no reticle. I've noticed this bug especially occurring with the 7x on sniper rifles, and it makes sniping a challenge. I think this usually occurs in conjunction with the invisible hands bug. -
New Commander Restrictions
• I've had a little trouble thinking about the new commander restrictions. I think they made the game more balanced in that the Security commander calling in both choppers no longer effectively ends the game, but now I feel like the security team doesn't have that many tools to use to its advantage if you play the commander. Perhaps adding different supports for different situations (Attacking vs Defending vs Firefight) would help, including adding new supports (such as some type of "firebombing" that basically acts as dropping a huge molotov or incendiary grenade on the map). -
Shotgun Balance
• Shotguns are extremely overpowered right now, so much that I refuse to use them myself because I think they are so unfair. You can literally snipe someone up to 100 m away with a shotgun if you use the right attachments. I think shotguns should be balanced to be what they are - a CQC weapon, not something you can use for CQC, medium and long range combat like a rifle. -
Matchmaking
• It is fairly common to join a match that is either about to end or has just ended and is a complete waste of time. I think something should be done so that a server "closes" when the game is almost done and past a certain point where, no matter who joins, it would be pointless. I understand that this may complicate things if a team experiences a mass exodus of rage quitting near the end, but if the game is effectively over anyway, new players joining in probably won't make much of a difference.
• Also, it seems that somehow I keep playing on the same maps over and over again with random match making. I don't know how the system works, but increasing map variety between matches would be great. It feels like there is a "map of the hour" when I play and I only experience the same map for that hour (sometimes 2 hours), and I rarely get to play a different map until a couple hours has passed. -
Push Gameplay Tactics
• The attackers can run into a restricted zone into the next objective and the cache area, so that if their teammates capture the previous point, they are already on site and present a threat to the incoming defenders, which can result in "fast-capping" or an instant end to the game if they blow up the cache. I think this defeats the purpose of the attackers/defenders gameplay and the restricted zone in these areas should result in death after a certain number of seconds to prevent this type of "dirty" tactic.
• Some of the caches can be blown up without even getting close to the cache - firing a rocket through a window from 150 m away (I forget the map name for this particular instance), calling a mortar strike/explosive drone as a commander, etc. If this is the intent of the devs, then okay. I can tolerate it, but I just thought I'd point out that sometimes it's a little easier to get to some, more open caches than others.
• I think when the attackers get to the last cache, instantly dropping the defenders waves to 0 is a little unfair. Sometimes the entire team is running onto the last objective when it is suddenly capped, the waves are dropped to 0, then we must retreat and run back to the cache, and half the team gets picked off by the attackers as they retreat and that leaves less defenders to defend. I think making it a "conditional wave system" would be more fair - if the defenders have multiple waves left (say 7, for example), they should have it dropped to 1 or 2 waves instead of "0." But if they are already on their 0 wave (meaning the attackers are also probably at their 0 wave), then leave it at 0 instead of raising it to 1 or 2. Another option might be to just eliminate the system where, if the cache is reached, the waves are instantly reduced to 0, and allow the game to progress as with the previous objectives. This would include leaving the defender waves as-is and maybe giving the attackers an extra wave or two upon reaching the cache too.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Zin
P.S. This is hands down one of my favorite FPS games. I used to enjoy Battlefield, but I believe that franchise has gone downhill, and I'm glad that Insurgency: Sandstorm can provide enjoyable FPS gameplay for me again.