Flaws

It seems that you don't understand why APB's community has become so toxic then. It only takes you to actually scroll through a few bans (you can take mine for example) and read through the comments, the meme pictures and the psychopathic doxxing that has gone on ffbans for those few years you will be quick to realise that some of the players who didn't get banned and shamed are even worse as people than said banned players. It has shaped the community as is now where there are 0 morals and no consequences for being an objectively horrible person. You need to think about these things further than your own egos. Just because it would make you feel better to see some player who beat you banned on a wall of shame doesn't mean that it won't have other effects on the overall picture. Also, most people who comment about my bans and my "cheating" are completely clueless about how things really happened and why I have said bans. They just repeat what other people have made up and spread which is false 9/10 times because they don't have a clue themselves to begin with. It's the only thing people can use against me and it's not even valid, they just like to believe it to be valid as they have nothing else to hold onto, but it's actually all false and made up.

Public ban announcements + ffbans which allowed you to comment on them are the biggest reason for the sorry excuse of a community that APB has on it's hands right now. The toxicity came from that more than anything ever prior or after it. Never bring that sh*t again. Also, EAC has been doing wonders for APB, We've been at an all time low cheaters wise. There are waves every few months when some new cheat comes out but they cleaned up pretty fast. Unfortunately, that's the cost of the game being F2P. 99.9% of the players you speak of are simply high/top tier players just playing the game casually. The real problem is the matchmaking which will be fixed after the engine upgrade comes out.

Precisely this. And lesser players should focus on getting better at said competitive game. That's how it is in every other competitive focused game.

I wouldn't oppose it, I hate explosives in this game, even grenades. Not so much in other games but in APB they are immensely overpowered. It definitely decreases the skill required to take out enemies.

Literally clueless.

You're very confused and you've misunderstood many things over the years it seems, even if you are unaware of that.

They do exist, they are just very rare and far between nowadays. Yes, it is pretty good because I actually know what I am talking about

You of all people wouldn't know whether it's a joke or not.

Nope to all of that except for cheaters, there are barely any cheaters right now as EAC is doing a good job so far.

My steam link is in my forum signature. Just click the Steam icon.

Yes, I am actually currently using the old Vegas and Bishada sounds replacement mod in my game.

N-TEC only seems like it's so much better than the FAR because the playerbase has decided that it is meta but if they had picked the FAR, we'd be having the same exact conversation about the FAR. I've seen enough top tier players go from N-TEC to FAR after the N-TEC nerf and they've been devastating N-TECs left and right. Since the N-TEC also had jump shooting capabilities, everyone kept whining about it and it is now gone. Had it been the FAR, the fate would've been the exact same as that weapon is perfectly capable of filling in the N-TEC's role 1 to 1. The Star is more of a noob gun than a jack of all trades. It says it in the description of the gun but guess what the description of the weapon also says: It's supposed to be the noob gun which allows you to more or less spray all you want with little consequences but it isn't supposed to excel at what the N-TEC does. The N-TEC excels at mid range but it ain't no training weapon that you can spray with at ranges like the Star can, even pre-nerf. It requires much more knowledge and feel for the game before you can use it efficently at what it's made for. There's a reason noobs tend to jump from Star to ATAC or any easier alternatives and they stray from the N-TEC. The N-TEC isn't nearly as easy as you think just because people have mastered it and are able to dominate with it consistently. They do the same with the FAR and recently even with the Star if they feel like it. If you feel like APB is a balanced place I urge you to check out the Manic which has no bloom and is probably one of the most efficent jump shoot weapons that easily work at mid range as well as close range while full autoing. Take a look at how incredibly accurate the AMG weapons are, specifically the Euryale and Stheno which can full auto snipe people with ease unlike the Shaw which requires quick bursts, accuracy and extreme recoil control/management. Take a look at the OBIR's quickswitching mechanic (which I am not necessarily against but it is considered broken). The HVR's damage output like I already stated. The PMG which now largely dominates the OCA since the last OCA nerf. There are many examples of weapons that need changes but no one is talking about most of those because nothing slays noobs better than a good N-TEC.

N-TEC is "easy af to play" if your N-TEC abilities start and end with average speed tap firing at range which you've picked up from watching a video or a stream. No one who hasn't spent a respectable amount of time with the gun is able to use it efficently at close range and is most definitely not going to make use of faster tap firing. And when someone does master it, the N-TEC can defend itself in CQC but it cannot dominate in CQC. If someone complains about consistently losing to N-TECs in CQC while they are using a CQC weapon then that's 100% on them alone and not on the game's weapon balancing. ARs are supposed to be versatile and more jack of all trades kind of weapons and that goes for every game. It's the same thing in every game out there you can think of. The Star and FAR might be ever so slightly slower (irrelevantly slower) at tap firing but their max bloom is ridiculously small, allowing for more reliable spraying where the N-TEC loses a lot of accuracy. On top of that, Star and FAR are both better at CQC than the N-TEC as their hip fire accuracy is also very high even with HS3. They both have the same jump shooting capabilities as pre-nerf N-TEC too, those are still in the game and virtually no one is talking about it. Yet despite them being this good at CQC (and ever so slightly worse at tap firing than the N-TEC) they still cannot dominate CQC because actual CQC weapons are so much better for CQC. I hope that you are beginning to understand where you are wrong. Being able to defend yourself in a field =/= dominating a field to the point where you can call it overpowered. It just isn't. Every other mid range weapon is more than capable enough of competing against the N-TEC. If you want to claim that the Star and FAR are at such a big disadvantage due to their slightly slower recovery speed (which isn't even relevant), consider Carbine and Oscar which have incredible mobility and have very little that you need to control to use it. They barely have recoil, the oscar has no bloom and it has decently high drop off range + everyone uses IR3 on it (with no downside to it). N-TEC doesn't have even close to such mobility and has to ADS to combat anything which makes it way less mobile and a much easier target. An N-TEC user needs to have mastered the recoil, the vastly different fire rates depending on range (bloom control) and aim tracking as the gun has every weapon mechanic and element that needs control to be used to it's full potential. All SMGs and shotguns are perfectly capable of dispatching any N-TEC user easily without a hitch even after recent rebalancing because they are made for CQC and they are so much more accurate, faster, more reliable and much easier for CQC than any AR in the game, as it should be. The same thing is applicable for mid-long range weapons such as the Obeya Rifle. The Obeya can obliterate an N-TEC even within the N-TEC's optimal range if the user has the fire rate down, the OBIR will devastate an N-TEC if used combined with cover correctly and well timed shots which is how the OBIR is meant to be used. I fail to see how other weapon's niches are broken while they are already capable of dispatching N-TECs just fine. Then that simply means that you fall into the casuals category who simply enjoy getting kills and not the way you get them or how much skill and effort you put into it. Most (European) high tier players don't receive much fun or pleasure from slaughtering people with broken and overpowered weapons so it is very different (aside from when they are trolling and messing around). How much fun a weapon is isn't defined by meta or non-meta, it's defined by how the weapon is designed and more often than not - the aesthetics of it will play a role too (which is where the Star and FAR are lacking severely). I don't know who these high skill players are that you speak of but as we've seen, EU houses the top players the game has ever seen and I'm yet to hear of someone who thinks that the N-TEC needed a nerf. The closest I've heard to that is that the nerf isn't that big of a deal and that's only from one person out of many others that I've discussed it with. The reason you don't see N-TEC fights as fun is that you just don't perceive the game in the same way some of us do and there's nothing wrong with that. However, if you are a more flexible player you could also pick a CQC weapon and push said N-TEC player either with a car or flank them or you'd pick any other mid range weapon. You can't take how a weapon performs at face value based on sitting out in the open with no cover and no movement because that's not how APB is ever played by anyone. If you put zero thought into your gameplay, you deserve to lose to someone who does put thought and skill into their gameplay. HVR's main issue was never QS as it's not even that hard to counter but even if you want to say that it is, they could've nerfed it in a number of different ways instead of making it the unfun mess of a weapon that it is now. They could increase the equip time so that it remains viable at long ranges which is what a sniper rifle is supposed to be. The main problem with the HVR has always been the damage output it has even at 100m which makes all the difference. The fact that it can leave you at 1 hit from virtually anything in the game is absolutely insane. It gives so much credit and reliability to even the worst of players (we all know about those bronze HVRs who never miss) and it allows ANYONE to make a difference so huge that it changes the entire course of a mission 9/10 times. It's ridiculous. Just think about why every crutch player instantly swaps out their N-FAS or ATAC for an HVR the moment they start struggling at range. My idea for the HVR is to first revert it to previous stats (aka get rid of the ridiculous damage based on accuracy mechanic that makes exactly 0 sense) and then increase equip time some, maybe just enough to make it so 3PS3 gives the HVR the current stock equip time. And then reduce damage to say 75 or 80 or something like that. That will deal with both quickswitching as we know it and it's ridiculous damage output while keeping it the definitive heavy sniper rifle that it is intended to be. If you genuinely think that high tier players who use N-TEC are using it as a "crutch" and they can't dominate lesser players just as much without the N-TEC you are delusional. If someone needs to use a crutch they will use N-FAS, ATAC, AMG, Manic, Explosives, HVR, Showstopper secondaries, percs and so on. The casuals need to deal with playing bad at the game whether by choice or not, facing much better players pretty often due to the matchmaking system being as scuffed as it is. It has nothing to do with them having to deal with consequences of loadout choice lmao. If they picked the exact same loadouts as those high tier players, they would still get smashed just as hard if not twice as hard because they wouldn't have their actual crutches like N-FAS and ATAC. The N-TEC isn't a crutch and it never was. It's just very good for killing noobs. You can't change the mid range aspect of the weapon when those are the exact AR standards for mid range, if you start nerfing that then it would outright kill the gun. The other ARs in the game behave the same exact way at mid-long range so there is no valid reason to touch that either. The 3 main ARs in the game were already balanced decently as each of them excelled in a specific areas of AR. The Star and FAR are more reliable in CQC and the N-TEC is better at mid but less reliable at CQC. Regardless, as it is in every single game in existence, there will always be a meta that everyone will use. One will always be better than the others for X and Y reason unless all of the options are identical which they are not. In our case the N-TEC is the meta AR as it is strong at mid range and at CQC you can pull out a secondary if need be. If we brought down the N-TEC from meta then something else would take it's place and overtime people will start complaining about that too and it's always the people who have no way of dealing with it themselves in-game so they take to the forums to cry and whine, living in a dream world where they become better players just because some weapon gets nerfed lol. I really hate having to type up essays on the forums.

Account sharing is bannable. This is the best anti-cheat system APB has ever seen and it's been doing wonders for the game. Also in regards to how they could detect account sharing, IP isn't the only way, Hardware ID (HWID) is also something they can probably look at which is how HWID bans are issued in games.

Both the STAR and the FAR have practically no full-auto bloom and are capable of jump shooting so the N-TEC was perfectly in line with them but isn't anymore. The only reason it's been nerfed isn't because it needed a nerf but because people cried about it non-stop so it got attention. There are so many other examples of overpowered and broken guns in the game that are completely overlooked because there isn't enough noise about them (two examples are AMG weapons and Manic). It's the N-TEC that took the hit because of extremely loud bad players who get smashed on a daily basis by good players who happen to be playing N-TEC due to it's versatility against mediocre players. Not to mention that both STAR and FAR are incredibly boring to play, they feel very plastic, slow and just overall meh which is why I still stick to N-TEC for ARs even if the FAR is currently superior (and it always was in line with the N-TEC until now). On that note, don't compare the N-TEC with HVR, C2 or the ATAC. Those are weapons that are largely only used by lesser players who need a crutch to carry themselves while the N-TEC is/was massively used by actually skilled players who've mastered the weapon which is the only reason they could make it somewhat work in close range. If you pay attention to who uses what, you will largely see new players, lesser players, people with low FPS playing those weapons exactly due to how easy they are and require zero knowledge yet they yield a high reward. The N-TEC was never dominant because there were and still are weapons in the game that are more than capable enough of smashing any N-TEC user at any range. The HVR, C2 and ATAC require no skill, aim or knowledge about the game. The difference between the crowds that use those weapons from the N-TEC is 180 degrees off. One's a group of casuals who don't care to learn the game or are simply incapable so they pick the easiest ways to go while the others are talented players who practically play a whole different game in a completely different world. Yeah, buff weapons that actually require skill to make them fun and more in line with a weapon such as the N-TEC that has so much more depth than any other gun in the game. Players don't play the N-TEC just because it's good but also because it's fun and it feels good to use it, it is satisfying. For a skilled player there's nothing satisfying about getting kills with an ATAC, it just feels like a cheap waste of time unless you're bored or trolling around. Like others have pointed out, the ATAC is a braindead gun as it requires literally no knowledge of the game. It is simply hold LMB and you get free kills similarly to N-FAS and these mechanics simply cannot be a part of a game that is trying to be competitive. You can't even begin to compare it to the N-TEC, it is simply not serious. The players who will "whine" about N-TEC nerfs are the high skilled players who don't want the game to become more boring as it already is becoming slowly. For example, the HVR nerf is awful as they didn't address the main problem of the HVR but instead made the weapon dreadfully boring to play while it maintained it's broken damage output. So do you genuinely think that high tier players won't be able to dominate lesser players without the N-TEC too? Come on. Also, I am not sure what weapons you speak of that got nerfed by N-TEC users or that were too overpowered for CQC. The fact is that when I face an ATAC (which is supposed to be an AR) I'd go and pick an SMG to counter it due to how broken and easy it is for others to get kills with but when I face an N-TEC I'll actually pick an N-TEC too because I don't need to overpower it with something else that's not even made for that range and I can enjoy an interesting N-TEC duel instead of who's gonna get better RNG while holding LMB. Every weapon in every category is more than well equipped to take on the N-TEC. Every SMG and Shotgun is capable of devastating the N-TEC in close range if you're not terrible. Every marksman weapon is capable of devastating the N-TEC in mid range (Carbine, OSCAR, Obeya Rifle, OBIR) if you're not terrible. Every long range weapon is capable of devastating the N-TEC at it's range if you're not terrible. The N-TEC in its previous form was not dominant at any range unless you were actually good at the game and even then you'd need actual skill, aim, extra effort and correct positioning to take on players of equally high skill who pick different weapons. You can't just expect every weapon to be able to take on every weapon at face value as it is a game that attempts to be competitive therefore some skill, thought and effort must be put into defeating players. Regardless, players being low skilled is not the concern of game devs and that's one of the biggest points that need to be driven on these forums. The N-TEC debate problem seems to stem from the fact that the players who want a weapon such as the N-TEC nerfed are players who play a vastly different game than the players who could use N-TEC to it's full potential. The way these different groups of players perceive the game is 99% different. One group just does everything they can to get kills but they either don't care or are incapable of playing the game on a higher level so they stick to their ATACs, N-FAS and remote detonator. The other group have already mastered every mechanic of APB and will simply focus on strategy and outplaying enemies who are of similar skill level. I am fully aware that there are plentyful short-sighted people who are going to read this and take offense (and probably downvote only due to that) because I call them bad but these are the facts. There's no way of settling this without talking about the Grand Canyon that is the skill gap between these two groups of players. Unfortunately, the terrible matchmaking plays a big role in this conversation but most people are unaware of that. The same can be said about the endless cheating discussion in APB and to the people who think that EAC is somehow disabled or a bad anti-cheat which is just downright delusional and comedic in a sad way. I disagree with both changes as they take away from the N-TEC's fun, versatility and skill ceiling and it is no longer in line with a bunch of other weapons in the game.

I've attempted that way too many times, especially with you and one or two others on this forums over the past year+ in many different threads made about the N-TEC changes prior and post the nerf and you've had nothing of value to put forward other than "you just want to keep your crutch" which is a laughable statement.

I've lost count of how many times I've explained exactly why the N-TEC is balanced on the forums but since it's not what people like you want to hear, they just stick their fingers in their ears. I've no interest in discussing things with clueless people who just want to have the final word regardless of how wrong it is. Besides I don't much like discussing things on forums to begin with due to it's limited messaging flexibility.

I'm not entirely certain about how that specific pack's price has changed as I've never had interest in it and then eventually bought KTTW as it has all the items in it save for the shotgun. It might be a mistake on their end, I don't see why they'd increase the price on that so dramatically.

It is character bound. That exact variant of the TAS-20 is unobtainable account wide currently.

I am far more experienced than you and that's not ego talk, that's just facts. It is indeed the best balanced weapon in the game and most everyone else who is good at the game has acknowledged that. Just because they don't come on the forums to argue with certain individuals because it is a waste of time and energy doesn't mean that they don't acknowledge it, they just can't be bothered and they are probably right I am downvoting simply because you are typing up bs. You come here to read what you wanna read and be in denial about everything else even if it's factual. I have no reason to be salty.

No, the unnecessary nerf to one of APB's best balanced weapons in the history of the game.

Not being able to sprint with medium items makes no sense to begin with. You could just hug it and sprint or something you know, you remain unarmed anyway and not using your other hand to shoot your secondary looks way more dumb. Also frick heavy items, let's remove those from the game.

Nope. It is currently suffering from an unnecessary nerf that should be reverted.

.45 AP is definitely better if you have the aim required for it so for a good player, it is the superior choice. The FBW is just the easy way to go but it's ttk is higher. I still do think that the FBW is too easy. You have the mobility that secondaries carry so you can strafe and jiggle everywhere (as you don't ADS with it). You have 15 shots where you only need to hit 6 which not only means that you can miss all day long but if you don't miss, you can take out two players with one mag. It's very accurate for it's 30m drop off range, it's very spammy and it takes no skill to handle it since it has no real recoil, nothing to recover from etc. Then you also have the Sight Zero variant of the FBW which gives it RS1 and takes it's hipfire accuracy ever so slightly higher. It's an unpopular opinion but I'd go as far as to say that the FBW needs a slight nerf in some regard. It's literally a pocket carbine that you can spam when you can't handle your primary in tighter situations. .45 AP is my choice definitely. Edit: In regards to the latency argument, I still used to play .45 AP on NA when I still had 160ms there and owned with it (so I'd say it's still perfectly capable if you have the aim for it)

It's necessary for the changes that APB needs in order to be a game one would want to play in 2020.