After my sulky flounce I came out of retirement and started AL again but only a couple of hours a night and towards the end of Season 5 I was really enjoying it.
The problem - as I see it - is this game is more of a squad game than ever. That's fine, but as soon as you lose a member (usally via disconnecting or quitting) it's game over. Most of the players I played with yesterday didn't understand that you simply can't go running around like in the past, especially in the open. If someone with a Volt or Devotion spots you, it's game over, and it's game over for your squad too.
You also need to keep well away from the ring now. If a Rampart has parked at a pinch point then there is simple no way of getting through. You might as well die in the ring.
Players with mics and pre-mades have a massive advantage over random squads now. Unless you co-ordinate as a trio, you're not going to get a top ten finish, or a game that lasts longer than a minute.
Crafting seems pointless. I only ever used it to upgrade my armour but then a 'team-mate' stole my armour as I was standing there crafting it by punching me out of the way. Not making that mistake again. I will only use it to buy ammo.
Having to take your armour off to craft it is way beyond stupid. This is 'magical' armour that can keep track of how much damage you have done then upgrade itself accordingly. Suddenly, if you want to shave 100 off your damage requirement you have to take it off and shove it in a machine? Makes so sense.
The weapon meta has changed too much (I think). Before I was confident in running around with a 301, LSTER or Flatline or even a Spitfire or Hemlock at a push - heck I've even managed to get to two squads left with nothing more than an Alternator. Now unless I have a Volt or Devotion I'm as nervous as ****.
My go-to gun in S5 was the 301. In 50 games yesterday I found ... two. Compare that to the 745 P2020s I found.
I fear for new players coming to the game. You can't learn the map if you're going to be dropped within 20 seconds a dozen times in a row.
I can't imagine what will happen when KL comes back. Can you imagine a Rampart, Wattson and Caustic in a room with only one door, or even two? Shut the door, put up amped cover and fences and a pylon and gas traps. If the room has windows set up Sheilas to fire out of them. No one is getting in there.
It was noticable in play yesterday (even in ranked) around 75% of my games ended with no one in the squad getting above 100 damage.
So far, it has not been fun. I hope it gets better as I was starting to enjoy the game again, and Hyper Scape sucked.
