Quoted from "Ritobasu"

Got to play two rounds today, one match as Defenders as Medic and one as Attackers on Support.

The G43 felt really good to use as I expected it would, zero visual recoil meant being able to rapid tap targets quickly with ease. MP40 had a subtle kick, but nothing too bad. The Bren on the other hand had some pretty serious horizontal recoil, making it pretty tough to drop targets fast at midrange, even bipoded (or maybe I never set it up). Didn't know how to use it, as even doing 2 round bursts was just as difficult as magdumping. A couple of friends got to talk to the lead designer for BFV, and I actually wanted to ask him how he planned to balance the LMGs differently from the SMGs/ARs and if giving them huge horizontal recoil was the plan. Never got to ask though

Overall, the few weapons I got to try made the guns feel really crisp and good to fire. Much better than BF1. There's plenty of things I want to mention but I don't know where to start, other than the demo left a good impression for me. I'll write up something tomorrow maybe

Would you say the shooting mechanics are more like BF4? tapfiring/microbursting or would you say its different?

Quoted from "NoctyrneSAGA"

What else is a tank supposed to do besides leverage overwhelming force against an enemy?

Being a kill chariot isn't an inaccurate statement about their purpose.

Are you implying that tanks aren't capable of such in BFV? Because they still can be, they just no longer confer a straight power-up and have actual limitations to work with. We'll probably see some tank buffs anyways, considering that two of my friends who were there complained about the same things that you talked about. And since AT gadgets are no longer a joke, I'd be fine with some balancing on tanks provided we don't go down the same infantry vs vehicle balancing path as BF1.

Quoted from "Teh Maged"

Would you say the shooting mechanics are more like BF4? tapfiring/microbursting or would you say its different?

I don't have enough experience with all weapons to answer this question properly. From what little I played, I don't think people should expect the weapons to behave too similarly to BF4.

Quoted from "Ritobasu"

Are you implying that tanks aren't capable of such in BFV? Because they still can be, they just no longer confer a straight power-up and have actual limitations to work with. We'll probably see some tank buffs anyways, considering that two of my friends who were there complained about the same things that you talked about. And since AT gadgets are no longer a joke, I'd be fine with some balancing on tanks provided we don't go down the same infantry vs vehicle balancing path as BF1.

And that's fine.

BF1 mechanics and design strongly discouraged tank CQB and encouraged ranging enemies down.

With actual launchers again, it doesn't make sense to double-nerf tanks by giving them zero viable ranged options in the face of these new (returning) threats.

Quoted from "Novan Leon"

Quoted from "Ritobasu"

Got to play two rounds today, one match as Defenders as Medic and one as Attackers on Support.

The G43 felt really good to use as I expected it would, zero visual recoil meant being able to rapid tap targets quickly with ease. MP40 had a subtle kick, but nothing too bad. The Bren on the other hand had some pretty serious horizontal recoil, making it pretty tough to drop targets fast at midrange, even bipoded (or maybe I never set it up). Didn't know how to use it, as even doing 2 round bursts was just as difficult as magdumping. A couple of friends got to talk to the lead designer for BFV, and I actually wanted to ask him how he planned to balance the LMGs differently from the SMGs/ARs and if giving them huge horizontal recoil was the plan. Never got to ask though

Overall, the few weapons I got to try made the guns feel really crisp and good to fire. Much better than BF1. There's plenty of things I want to mention but I don't know where to start, other than the demo left a good impression for me. I'll write up something tomorrow maybe

That is good to hear. I know JackFrags made a comment about the weapons feeling good (or something to that effect) but overall the gameplay I've seen from E3 2018 actually lowered my excitement for the game rather than the opposite. My first impression is that a lot of the changes are very superficial and very little seems to have substantially improved in BFV over BF1.

I do like the Grand Operations concept though. I liked BF1 Operations but it had plenty of room for improvement. Grand Operations seems like a step up, as long as it's executed well.

I wouldn't trust a bunch of influencers on any topic though. Not out of malevolence, but because it is hard to be unbiased if you are shipped to a place as part of a select few to play a game you and your audience longed for. And, if you are not excited enough, you will get dropped from the program and this will have a direct influence on your cash flow. They also tend to be a very specific type of gamer, not the casual bunch that actually makes up the largest player portion. From what we saw the recoil seems to be all over the place as well as non-existant. I applaud the lack of visual recoil, but if a recoil only operated system is better than one that stands on more than one foot is rather doubtful.

Well they are doing a lot like BF1, that is true, but that is mainly visual stuff, i.e. not being able to see shit. I just noticed an insane amount of lens flares for many effects that made me think I was in a Star Trek Movie. I also saw a lot of lighting issues which made places absolutely dark, when looking in from the outside. Also there is mud and snow kicking up everywhere shielding the view. This might be realistic and/or nice to watch, but is totally detrimental to gameplay. Westie said that Daniel Berlin talked about the issue of identifying players and reading the map without 3D spotting and he said they would do a lot in terms of player lighting and differentiating teams from there. I honestly could not tell what side a player was on, when he was more than 10m away. Everything just turns grey by that distance.

As far as reading the map goes, I think it is a lost cause, with that scarce 2D spotting (even less when players eventually stop the Q-spam that was part of our game for 5 years) and that amount of destruction and lack of clear lanes and paths. Engagements when advancing will be random. This is particulary bad design when you are so heavily showcasing a mode that features designated attackers and defenders.

Edit: On-topic of tanks. They should indeed be a force multiplier, especially for the casual players. I recall when playing BF3 and 4, many just did better in a vehicle, because suddenly reaction time does not play such a big role any more, because you can take a hit or two. And they should work well in CQB as well, because they are needed on the flags, even more so in BFV, where flags are likely so fortified. At the same time, we had in BF1vehicles that could be a force multiplier in the hands of one skilled player and that is where the issue lay. I believe if the tanks have an issue in BFV it will not be by their design (although I would agree that the gunner should have a potent weapon), but it will be an issue when you are attacking a fortified position (likely every time on benchmark gamemodes) and you are greeted with a mass of infantry and vechicles with unlimited supplies, while yours will run out.

Have 360° passenger MGs not returned to any tank?

Quoted from "Novan Leon"

@VincentNZ: Rest assured, I take any hands-on feedback on the game at this point with a grain of salt. E3 isn't the best environment and so much could change between now and release.

That said, my impression of BFV from E3 was that the game was ugly with a bland color palette and the screen cluttered with too many special effects. Some of this could just be the snow map (which I've never been a fan of) but if not, I could definitely see visibility being a broader problem if they don't tone down the effects and clean up the visuals.

Oh BFV will surely be more colourful. Even in Narvik, you might want to check out some of the gameplay videos of the map with clear sky and the very coulouful houses. When you look at the Reveal trailer map you see a richer palette as well. As a European I do like a gritty look more, but I think the route they went with in BF3 is better, where they added a blue or yellow tint, to create a mood but still retain visibility.

Personally I also think that the UI is not very clean and especially when you unlock a ribbon you get a very disturbing lensflare effect. Also these skulls when you do a squad wipe are very intrusive for a meaningless information. THe constant barrage of points generally is something they should adress. The ever ticking damage count especially I find rather intrusive.

Quoted from "Ritobasu"

Are you implying that tanks aren't capable of such in BFV? Because they still can be, they just no longer confer a straight power-up and have actual limitations to work with. We'll probably see some tank buffs anyways, considering that two of my friends who were there complained about the same things that you talked about. And since AT gadgets are no longer a joke, I'd be fine with some balancing on tanks provided we don't go down the same infantry vs vehicle balancing path as BF1.

This was entirely because tanks utterly suck in close quarters in BF1, especially given the potency of tossing 2 heavy and 1 light at grenade. But they didn't have much to worry about at range other than enemy tanks. The game design thus dictated that you stay away from areas where you can get grenaded and instead just slaughter infantry from a distance to prevent them from moving around.

In BFV their solution is to introduce mechanics that keep the tank out of actually fighting as much as possible. And then when you actually get them into combat they are sorta meh. That isn't fun for anyone.

Quoted from "Shalan"

Have 360° passenger MGs not returned to any tank?

Doesn't look like it. Only front hull mgs and some pintle mgs. It also looks like medium tanks will be doubly disadvantaged because they can carry no repair support, and they cannot act as spawn points, unless BFV adds spawning next to a squad vehicle. So much for more "squad focused gameplay".