Subjectively, i agree *right now*.
I don't think 2042 isn't salvageable though nor that i can't surpass 4, but it does require some interesting choices by Dice between now and launch. (if they delay because they accept that specialist might not be what quite a few want and that it causes a lot of IFF confusion, I'd be fine with that delay for instance)
For every FFXIV-style "we dun goofed, let's fix it" though, there's probably 10-20 that continue completely tone-deaf, but at the end of the day we'll see at launch.
Fairly certain most people at Dice *want* the game to be successful, question is will design priorities end up making or breaking it or will someone just want something like the specialists so bad that they're hedging the franchise on it to an extent.
BF is a pretty clearly established franchise with a solid-sized "loyal" following, and while i doubt anyone minds the odd experimentation, there's a few core things that have made it what it is.
Removing that and making the replacement the core of the latest title might not have been the greatest idea, as shown by the IFF issues most people have in the beta.
Again, we'll see, if anything "we" (the players/customers) can at least try to make our points for or against rational and "helpful" rather than just subjective rants.
(not aimed at anyone so far in this thread btw, just something i can also see going wrong based on the last couple of days on the forums)
I'm personally hoping they make a megathread here on the forums at the end of the beta so we can keep feedback and suggestions in one place to avoid good suggestions buried under an avalanche of similar/random threads and make it easier to see how many actually lean one way or another regarding specific gameplay/feature issues.
Been said by others and myself in multiple threads across the forum already, but a quick "fix" would be slap in the old classes, recycle the skins for the 10 planned specialists and AI soldiers, make 3 separate visually distinct factions out of that pool of already assembled assets, and that would go a *long* way towards making the core of the game, aka the combat a lot more enjoyable and easy to "run" with.
(ie; you could see who was running what on your team and make an estimated guess at what you could spawn as to help the squad, which is near impossible with the current system)
Oh, and adding one non-rational suggestion, make sliding 3 times inside 15 seconds blow you up with the force of a tank shell.
(or, just add a 30s cooldown to make it situational if we *have* to follow the rules i suggested myself)
Oh yea, and add a velocity break when you touch the ground after using the grappling hook, because cracked bunnyhopping assaulters hasn't gotten out of hand at *all* in the last 12 hours.
