What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
I expect this to be controversial, but right now stingers seem to be in a bad place. Infantry regiments feel that they're completely ineffective. Air regiments seem to feel that they're overpowered.
From the infantry side of things, general consensus is that they're simply too unreliable to be an effective counter to helis. Some basic maneuvering allows a heli to dodge incoming missiles, a co-pilot can shoot the stinger user and they have flares on top of that. When training we've needed at least 4 people firing at once to take a competent heli down, yet in the field we're limited to 2 AA jobs. Even with the 2 job slots, the vast majority of our players don't have the mastery level to use it (15). Particularly in late/low player count wars we end up with only 1 player able to deploy a stinger, and in those cases the weapon is effectively useless. The lock-on mechanics also feel extremely buggy and unreliable, sometimes it just won't start the lock-on beep sequence for seemingly no reason.
The end result of this has been infantry frustration with being constantly CASed without a proper countermeasure, and a move towards trying to use KwKs and AT4s instead. If people are resorting to unintended mechanics that usually suggests a problem. Seriously, the AT4 is seen as more effective right now.
In contrast, we often hear from air regiments that the stinger feels too powerful. I expect this is because an inexperienced pilot cannot effectively dodge missiles and that creates a steep learning curve. I've also heard complaints about the missiles being buggy in general and doing too much damage. Happy to hear input from air reg members about this.
A compromise to improve the situation might be to decrease stinger damage but increase the reliability/tracking. i.e. make it harder to dodge but less disasterous if a heli is hit. Having someone fire several missiles at a heli should not be something that can be shrugged off, and once flares are spent that should be an incentive for the pilot to back off for a while. The lower damage would let pilots RTB while giving infantry a fighting chance to actually fend off CAS, particularly when only 1 player has access to AA (a lone stinger should not be completely worthless).
Alternatively, lowering the mastery requirement for AA and increasing missile stocks per player might also help. A general bug-fixing pass over the stinger logic would probably be worthwhile too.
Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
- Less frustration among infantry provides better player retention.
- Equipment is used as intended.
- Fewer instant heli kills gives pilots a better chance.
- Smoother experience for new pilots.
- More chance and incentive to repair damaged vehicles.
Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- More missiles needed to down an inexperienced pilot.
- More usage of stingers in general, so heli gameplay may be impacted.
- Complaints from pilots who'd rather there were no effective heli counters.
Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
Right now I don't think anybody is happy with the system. "I fired 20 stingers this war and nothing hit" should not be the general experience from infantry, particularly when this role is so important for game balance.
I expect this to be controversial, but right now stingers seem to be in a bad place. Infantry regiments feel that they're completely ineffective. Air regiments seem to feel that they're overpowered.
From the infantry side of things, general consensus is that they're simply too unreliable to be an effective counter to helis. Some basic maneuvering allows a heli to dodge incoming missiles, a co-pilot can shoot the stinger user and they have flares on top of that. When training we've needed at least 4 people firing at once to take a competent heli down, yet in the field we're limited to 2 AA jobs. Even with the 2 job slots, the vast majority of our players don't have the mastery level to use it (15). Particularly in late/low player count wars we end up with only 1 player able to deploy a stinger, and in those cases the weapon is effectively useless. The lock-on mechanics also feel extremely buggy and unreliable, sometimes it just won't start the lock-on beep sequence for seemingly no reason.
The end result of this has been infantry frustration with being constantly CASed without a proper countermeasure, and a move towards trying to use KwKs and AT4s instead. If people are resorting to unintended mechanics that usually suggests a problem. Seriously, the AT4 is seen as more effective right now.
In contrast, we often hear from air regiments that the stinger feels too powerful. I expect this is because an inexperienced pilot cannot effectively dodge missiles and that creates a steep learning curve. I've also heard complaints about the missiles being buggy in general and doing too much damage. Happy to hear input from air reg members about this.
A compromise to improve the situation might be to decrease stinger damage but increase the reliability/tracking. i.e. make it harder to dodge but less disasterous if a heli is hit. Having someone fire several missiles at a heli should not be something that can be shrugged off, and once flares are spent that should be an incentive for the pilot to back off for a while. The lower damage would let pilots RTB while giving infantry a fighting chance to actually fend off CAS, particularly when only 1 player has access to AA (a lone stinger should not be completely worthless).
Alternatively, lowering the mastery requirement for AA and increasing missile stocks per player might also help. A general bug-fixing pass over the stinger logic would probably be worthwhile too.
Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):
- Less frustration among infantry provides better player retention.
- Equipment is used as intended.
- Fewer instant heli kills gives pilots a better chance.
- Smoother experience for new pilots.
- More chance and incentive to repair damaged vehicles.
Possible Negatives of the suggestion:
- More missiles needed to down an inexperienced pilot.
- More usage of stingers in general, so heli gameplay may be impacted.
- Complaints from pilots who'd rather there were no effective heli counters.
Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
Right now I don't think anybody is happy with the system. "I fired 20 stingers this war and nothing hit" should not be the general experience from infantry, particularly when this role is so important for game balance.
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