Weapon Balance and Gameplay Discussion

[MorganKell]

My opinion is that the grenades were altered based on the viewpoints of a small group of people who have neither the time nor desire to learn how to fight nade spam. They also have signally failed to recognize the true potential of grenades as a primary weapon. Being a grenadier is very fun. It adds a level of diversity to AC that increases the tactics, teamwork, and strategy exponentially. Knowing grenades are coming at you heightens your senses. It makes you get good by forcing you to dodge the flaming balls of death. That knowledge can then be taken and applied to dodging bullets. You get very very good at self-preservation. Now let's take a look at the other end of the spectrum. The grenadier is taking his life into his hands in what is an absolutely unbelievable amount of trust in one's skills and therefore a very lethal combination. Knowing that while you're cooking and aiming your grenade for that one perfect shot, which is required, you are being riddled with bullets is an exhilarating experience. Odds are you will die before you can get that shot off. And even if you do you'll be left too weak to immediately charge back into the fray. You must replenish. In the time it takes you to do that two or three kills may have gone by that you would normally have had if using a gun. Allowing two points per gib makes up for that. The grenadier is still getting the short of the stick to some degree, but the glory more than makes up for it. The visceral awesomeness of a grenade kill is worth every delicate and painful second one puts into learning and becoming a grenade king.

The new grenades takes away any desire to excel at such an underdog weapon. The abilities to cook them are limited, the range they can fly is smaller than a toddler's fastball, and their explosiveness has been practically annihilated. I've thrown grenades that blow up right at someone's feet and they keep on coming. How is that humanly possible? How is that even fun? The basic principle of a game is to be fun. Stripping grenades of everything that makes them great does just the opposite. It tears away an aspect of AC that many people found supremely exciting. I'd rather have 2 grenades that go BOOM, than 3 that serve as nothing more than doorstops. Grenadier is a profession that I have embraced whole heartedly since discovering it's awesomeness in .93. When 1.0 came to the fore I lamented only the slightly shortened range, but eventually saw that 1.0's nades were more realistic and a lot more fun. With 1.1's version of grenades I saw my profession denigrated to nothing. There is no longer any fun in playing as a grenadier. I can use an SMG like anyone else, but that 1-2 Punch Combo of grenades and an old-school shotgun is not there anymore. Imagine grenades as a primary weapon, and the shotgun for wetwork. That is true fun. However it's no longer feasible because the grenades are a fraction of their former self and the shotgun annihilates anything within a 50 mile radius.