Oh boy, this subject huh. There are a few smaller changes I would make to improve the game for all players, most of which is definitely going to annoy more than a few older players. Lets go over them, shall we?
1)
Lower Matchscore and Cbills gained from combat-based bonuses and increase Matchscore and Cbills gained from Objective-based bonuses.
This is pretty self-explanatory. Part of the problem with the game is that it rewards combat far too much. This naturally drives players into the heavier weightclasses in order to actually earn Cbills to do stuff with the mechlab while also making it harder for lighter mechs to achieve anything, since most of the normal roles they play end up paying next to nothing. Not to mention the fact that it encourages the ever annoying issue of people playing every mode in game as Skirmish, thus ignoring the objective entirely in order to make the match worthwhile. Altering the bonuses to encourage playing the Objective is a fairly easy way to give a leg up to Lights and lighter Mediums without actually buffing them as well as encouraging a bit of Role Warfare, which is never a bad thing.
2)
Remove Map and Mode voting.
This is a change that has popped up in the forums with relative frequency, and it's fairly easy to see why. Map and Mode voting has caused the diversity of builds to fall rather dramatically since it's implementation. After all, why create a build capable of handling most maps and modes in game if you can simply force the game to pick the ones you want all the time? Random maps and modes would cause players to actually have to adapt, thus improving the diversity of builds since it removes the ability to force the game to give you the exact map and mode your build is set up for.
3)
Revert Pre-Civil War, Non-MG Ballistics back to 2016 stats while applying a Ghost Heat limit of 2 to CUAC-10s.
Another spreadsheet change with big potential impacts on the game, since around the time of the Kodiak's launch Ballistic weapons were in a fairly good place with one glaring exception. CUAC-10s lacked Ghost heat for some reason, which was a bit of an issue. Prior to the Bear's launch, the only mech that could successfully boat those particular guns was the Dire Wolf, which, like most Clan Assault mechs at the time, had a slew of built-in flaws that prevented it from being a problem. The Kodiak lacked any of the normal flaws to keep it in check, resulting in the KDK-3 becoming the next godmech. Now, admittedly, a lack of Ghost Heat on CUAC-10s was not the only reason the Dakkabear was as oppressive as it was(the mounts on the 3 were a definite factor, as was the issue of post-Rescale PUGs thinking that charging a DPS-based Assault mech head-on over open ground was a good idea), but it was a major factor that could have been avoided with a simple application of Ghost heat, but instead saw the collective gutting of the entire weapons category that, even now, still has not been fixed.
4)
Remove Skirmish from the game.
This change is a simple one that should have happened back when Incursion was added. Assault is literally just a better Skirmish, since it has a secondary objective that allows a losing team to win if they play smart. Seeing as Skirmish's continued existence adds nothing of value to the game, there is no reason not to remove it.
Edited by Requiemking, 31 August 2020 - 04:24 PM.