soLucky

I don't see LO making a lot of sweeping changes all at once. Should probably narrow the focus of this a bit to say fixing car game-play or the spawn system.

Why does no one else think that this is a problem? People shouldn't spawn close enough and in LOS to be able to immediately kill someone who just killed them. Ill take 150m spawns over the current system as long as they are consistent and everyone gets them. You shouldn't be rewarded with stupid spawns for dying.

Both rtw and G1's first attempt at threat and matchmaking had their own issues which were abused pretty heavily. I personally don't like the new system but I do think it is a bit easier on newer players than the older ones.

This wasn't an issue in the past because there used to be a number of districts to choose from. If they plan to do cross-district matchmaking hopefully they will take a close look at optimization as switching between districts seems to degrade performance quite a bit.

Yeah, I don't think that they really care about balance too much. Most people just want wacky items added and don't really care what it does to the game-play.

No, this is not ok.

I'm sure battleye delays the bans for while in order to flag as many people using that cheat as possible. I agree though, people shouldn't be getting theirs hopes up that this game will be cheat-free with a new anti-cheat. There is always the ability to reroll so if anything we will probably just see a decrease in the average rating of cheaters as they are caught sooner. Some people cheat at video games and no matter what happens they will continue to do so. The best way to decrease cheaters is to lower the perception that they exist so as to prevent the players who wouldn't normally cheat from convincing themselves its alright to do so since everyone else seems to be getting away with it. Its a kind of feedback-loop in that the more people there are that feel they are being cheated against, the more cheaters there will be.

RTW's threat system had only 15 levels(no gold/silver/bronze) and was determined by your 15-20 most recent mission outcomes. Essentially, if you were on a large win streak you would be the highest threat level. It was a simple system that didn't take into account individual performance or the skill of your opposition, it literally just looked at if you won missions or not. G1 introduced the 30 level gold/silver/bronze system with a hidden rating behind the scenes. This system was quite a bit more complex and similar to what a lot of other games have in place as far as mmr/elo based skill tracking and matchmaking. I believe this system is still in place they just reduced the number of visible rank-pools a player can be put into to 4 (gold/silver/bronze/green). I think a lot of people liked the old 30 level system as climbing the threat ladder was a kind of end game progression mechanic to do after you had maxed your character's rating. Of-course there were some drawbacks such as all the negatives that come along with the increased stakes missions had as there was actually something on the line to lose.

I believe matt also said that apb definitely has the perception of being p2w. Everyone has their own definition of what p2w is and for me the release versions of the scout, nano, troublemaker, and csg would all qualify. The first and only weapon I bought in this game was the csg because it was a direct upgrade to the jg in every way. The nano was unquestionably the best secondary in the game for a long time as well. Today, things like the yukon, true ogre, and volcano just seem miles ahead of their counter-parts. Instant-car osmaws were certainly a problem back then but they carried some amount of risk in that after you fired your rocket you were out in the middle of the street with a secondary -essentially dead if anyone survived your shot. Where is the risk in sitting 90m away from the objective with a volcano and ammo box? The problem with hard-countering weapons with other weapons which has been the direction of apb's weapon balance since the range changes is that it actually limits player choice. If you want to compete close range you PMG, long range you hvr. When you slot weapons into being unmatched at specific ranges, winning fights becomes more about what you decided to equip before the fight and less about your aim/gameplay during the fight. While having a jack-of-all-trades weapons like the old carbine/ntec presented their own issues I think the way things are now is more stale and less engaging. I tend to agree with most of what the OP wrote in regards to the things G1 added being a determent to the game. While some things such as epinephrine injector, brick, and the satchel charge have a minor impact on gameplay and give a bit of flavor to the game, things like car-spawner, radar, blow torch, and ammo boxes have far too much impact and have become necessities. I guess what it really comes down to is how you view skill in this game because what you decide to equip for weapons and mods can make a huge difference in your performance. Personally, I think what you decide to equip shouldn't have such a significant impact but unfortunately that hasn't really been the direction this game has been heading.