Separate driver and main gunner in tanks?
I thought I saw that tanks will have 4 man crews with a separate driver and main gunner. Is this true? If it is, this is an absolutely horrible gameplay design decision by DICE. Whoever decided...
Forum Discussion
Yes, there are 4 man crews. In reality, one of those crewmen is the loader (in a M1A2 MBT, which coincidentally has no insight or means to interact with anything outside the tank), however it looks like in BF2042 there will be driver, top gunner, back gunner, and spotter. So yes, I doubt each of those positions will have a weapon.
To address your thought of this being horribly gameplay design... it has been this way since Battlefield existed. Transport vehicles, such as helicopters, have always had some positions, usually the driver, without any means to directly engage enemy players, other than roadkills.
So... I am confident this model has returned in BF2042. Lastly, teamwork has always been a focus for Battlefield games. You can certainly enjoy it as a lone wolf, but some game features that directly support team-play will be of no-use to you.
Tanks aren't transports, so I don't think the transport model of interaction where the driver just drives should be used. Transports are for getting you to the action quickly and efficiently; if you can do damage in them that's just a bonus. In BF, they are usually abandoned once you get there or are used as mobile C4 platforms; jihad jeeps are awesomely fun. Tanks, APC's, attack helicopters, and jets are weapons first, so the driver needs to be given control of the main guns.
I stick to my point that controlling the main gun while driving a tank is MORE FUN than a separate driver and gunner. And how much fun would reloading be? Less than none, it would be annoying as hell. IRL should't apply there because it isn't fun in game.
Separating driving from the main gun wpuld absolutely ruin tanks.
