DMRs Need a Tuning Pass — They’re High Skill, Low Reward Right Now

I think the only issue would be that even a 1.75× multiplier for the SVK would cause it to just be a semi auto sniper with one tap headshots, not a dmr (a headshot already does between 85 to 90 damage on a full health target, which is absolutely fine imo). Its niche is a 2 shot, slow and steady fire rate dmr, and its relatively easy and predictable to use in my time using it, since it rewards careful shot placement and accuracy, and punishes spamming. I think you have a fantastic argument with that aside, specific headshot multiplier values for each dmr are probably needed based on their base damage, but i really dont think the SVK should be the new SR338 or whatever that semi auto sniper was called in bf4. The other dmrs really do need some love, the LMR especially. 

I was an avid fan of DMRs with BF3, with BF4 and every BF after they got nerfed massively.

I tried them all in Bf6 and they seem only viable for a very specific play style, while even when playing to their strengths I would argue there are better performing weapons for those roles. The TTK numbers alone vs other weapons even on 80m even with really good skill I would argue you will never overcome this difference. Even on normal weapons a ~50ms TTK difference can make a world of difference.

In BF3 they were an recon only weapon which gave them the benefit of the 1.2x <15m multiplier in the neck area, that made the SKS a 2 shot weapon which is a faster, more accurate and higher damage version of the SVDM. Love to see this return as well.

All round Bf3 was just a better game for DMRs, suppression, slower movement and bad hip fire accuracy. 

Really hope Dice will listen to you, been trying to get DMRs some love since BF4 and they never got any.

In a game where people run around hip firing their massive LMG like they are playing Battlefront, there should be room to make the DMRs more viable :)

I agree with your opinion that DMRs are underpowered, and I also agree with your suggestions on how to fix DMRs, but I'd still like to offer a few small corrections.

Time-to-Kill Comparison:

This isn't exactly a fair comparison. You're using the close range TTK of SMGs and Carbines, while not properly taking into account the fact that those weapons have significant damage drop off, while the DMRs have damage drop off, it doesn't affect their TTK or bullets to kill. This means that beyond 50-80 meters DMRs have better TTK values. There are obviously other things to consider, but it does make more sense if you start comparing weapons at the distance they are supposed to be used at.

Most DMRs use the standard 1.34x headshot multiplier. 

This is incorrect, most DMRs use the 1.5x headshot multiplier except the LMR27, which presumably because of its high fire rate only has a 1.34x multiplier. For the M39 and SVDM, headshots  reduce the BTK, but only in case you combine one headshot with one body shot. Increasing the headshot multiplier beyond 1.5x, to 1.75x or 2x doesn't fix the TTK in most circumstances. The exception is the SVK, which does benefit from a multiplier of 1.75x or higher, as that would extend the one shot headshot range.

I don't think that (certain DMRs being one-shot-kill) would create that big of an imbalance in the game or jeopardize the sniper class. Snipers have bigger scope magnifications (I didn't check on DMRs), and will predominantly be used by the recon class, and their headshot kills are "fatal," unrevivable—which DMRs or any other headshot don't achieve.

I can't think of any old-school FPS (albeit, most are placed in the WW2 era) in which you didn't have the classic Kar98K being a one-shot kill (not even HS). High risk & high skill = high reward. Even the M1 Garand had its role.

But let's face it, such skilled players are a minority. My guess is that somewhere along the line, most FPS games decided to strengthen automatic weapons so that the majority of the player base can feel competitive. Nowadays, I struggle to find a game in which automatic weapons (Carbines, ARs, LMGs) are not overpowering this class of weapon. I would even say that putting certain weapons on semi-auto mode gives you roughly the same outcome as having a DMR. The TTK of some of these weapons over distance is ridiculous and breaks the balance. I even got killed the other day by a guy with an SMG at 100-110m. That simply shouldn't be possible with their bullet caliber, recoil, etc.

It's another example of feckless design. They don't know what they are doing.

DMRs in BF4 - when they were alternatives to class-locked weapons - were a nice-to-have choice.

I regularly remember using DMRs instead of SMGs as an engineer on larger maps, for example.

With an unlocked/open weapon system this just doesn't work, but DICE has thoughtlessly gone with it anyway.

I remember that Battlefield 4 had multiple weapon balance passes and that DMRs were pretty terrible at first, but only became decent to use later down the line. Weapon balance isn't something that's so easy that you can get it perfect the first time around.

Yes, it must be complicated, but they have DECADES of stats and a couple of games that had nearly the same weapons.

It's ridiculous. They get it wrong again and again and again.

Whether it's because they mess up the formula themselves (open weapons) or just incompetence or lack of testing or lack of expertise or whatever, it's not really very excusable.

Pretty much every Battlefield has adjustments to how weapons work on a technical level. The way recoil and spread works is quite a bit different from how it was done decades ago. So just because the weapon model is the same, it doesn't mean that the way the weapon works is going to be the same.

Every game is also different in terms of engagement distances. So every game requires its own balance. They can test it all they want, but the community will use weapons in ways that the developers can't necessarily predict. There is no multiplayer FPS game in existence that manages to nail the balance the right away.

DMRs have gone the way of how most games handle shotguns. It’s a fine line and they usually go “better safe than sorry” so they slightly over nerf them to cause no backlash.

Just look at shotguns beta vs now, can’t even remember the last time I got killed by one.

The TTK comparison seems fair to me, both on paper and practice these weapons outperform the DMR TTK on most ranges. The way DMR TTK is you simply cannot miss a single shot ever, while taking careful time aiming also adds to the TTK

Shotguns are honestly fine as they are right now. They drop people quite easily within the ranges that they are supposed to excel at, but are pretty ineffective beyond that. The one exception is slug rounds, which can be used at longer distances, but that's a niche loadout. You'll not find them all that much in Conquest or Escalation, but they are still very much a thing in any of the small map game modes.

DMRs can be separated into two categories, one category is the SVK and the second is all other DMRs. The SVK is great. The TTK in theory is slow, but because it's a 2 shot kill, there's a much bigger chance of you consistently landing the required shots on an opponent. The headshot damage deletes injured people and it can one-shot headshot at close range when you build it for that extra headshot multiplier damage. 

The other DMRs generally suffer from the issues that both you and the OP have mentioned. It's not that I disagree with the overall conclusion that the TTK for some DMRs is too high, I specifically disagreed with the way he did the comparison.

In my opinion DMRs don't necessarily need to compete in terms of TTK. It's much more important that you can consistently hit those shots at longer ranges. So like the OP suggests, they should have fast recoil recovery and low spread values.