Newsflash: Pointing out inconsistencies to the arc in their development narrative and providing constructive feedback is not even remotely synonymous with "flipping out" I know that it may seem premature to some to express concerns regarding a gun we admittedly didn't see in the first person, but this is just healthy skepticism which'keeps them honest' when it comes to further developments.
The difference here is that the game DOESN'T WORK yet. And will not work for quite some time. They said it multiple times.
Right now it's still too early, though. And I don't think it would be too late to change - many MMOs have had massive balance changes, including changing how things work during their lifetime. Sure, it should be done before release, but first everything that may factor into this balance should be implemented - other weapons, defensive equipment, all vehicles, all terrain, all races, all classes. No weapon works in a vacuum.
Guys, keeping an eye on the devs, suggesting what to change is all very good but you're all missing one point: we haven't seen lascannon in action yet. All we have seen was just several red beams of energy and maybe one or two frags - that's it. We don't how this gun operates yet, what preparations are needed to fire it etc,etc. But that's ok, I think this issue needs...Brent in here
We're mixing threads here. I didn't see lascannon shooting at the predator, only heavy bolter and maybe somebody threw a grenade like Grigdusher suggested. But you're right, the tank is definitely too soft now and its main gun sucks so far.
I'm certain the weapons evaluation and balancing will have a spotlight in due time. Right now from what I've seen, the game is being put through its bare paces or a certain stage for particular mechanics. Me personally, a heavy bolter taking down a Rhino or a Predator is a little worrying (if it were an Autocannon or Heavy Plasma Cannon I wouldn't give it a thought ), but I remain confident that all what we've seen in weapons mechanics will have its share of rebalancing when the time comes.
If they "balance" a lascannon before everything else is implemented it might turn out that it's not balanced at all after the other factors come in. As you said remaking things is way harder, that's why they should wait.
Yeah, I think you guys will see in a future stream (when we showcase them) that we have the same goals for the Lascannon. Our intentions for the Lascannon are as follows: The Lascannon must be effective against vehicles The Lascannon must generally be an instant-kill against infantry Even with #2 in place, the Lascannon must not feel effective against infantry Right now, the moment you press the fire button you have (1) second before the Lascannon actually fires. During this time it telegraphs where it's going and you can barely move your aim. After firing, there is a (1.5) second cooldown before you can initiate firing again. The Lascannon has only (4) rounds per clip, and has a (5) second reload time. All the numbers in parentheses above will change to ensure we hit our stated goals (the weapon's only been in the game about a week). However, the intended experience with the above mechanics is as follows: When firing against vehicles you have to lead your shots but generally vehicles are too big and it's too difficult to change direction for a vehicle to get out of the way. When firing against infantry, so long as the target isn't staring down a scope* they'll be able to see the attack coming and all they have to do is roll to avoid the shot. Then they'll know exactly where the attack was coming from and they should be able to shut it down. Have we hit this intended experience? Do these mechanics actually allow us to define the role we want for this weapon? We won't know until we've tested it more but we're not going to say the weapon's done until we know it's not the best choice for effective anti-infantry. That doesn't mean it won't be fun to try (it is), but it's not intended to be a valid strategic option. Also Heavy Bolters are not great anti-armour, trust me. It takes forever and when we put more anti-armour weapons in the game we might balance them to be even worse against heavier vehicles like the Predator. Until then, we needed something internally to fill that role in our playtests and understand the broader experience. The lascannon is MUCH better at killing vehicles. In fact, with the current numbers it's probably too good! -Brent * If they ARE looking down their scope, hopefully their friends will warn them.
This sounds perfect, pretty much spot on to what people were looking for. Nothing but good news today!
