Ok, so, I guess it's time for my feedback/suggestion post on our beloved PR:WW2. Before we get too deep into the matter, I'm very pleased with what has been given to us, it's been very enjoyable too and I think the team did a really good job overall.
It's a bit of a long read, you might want to skip to the part you're interested in.
Sound Feedback:
I think I'll start with this first because there isn't too much to say. The only real issue I see with the sounds currently are the MG34 and MG42. Both are incredibly silent and it's hard to make them out as the threats they are judging from just the sound. Starting on mid-range the 34 is almost silent, and if I didn't know that it was the 34, I would've never guessed. I personally recommend increasing volume to make them more distinguishable over the rifle fire. The rest of the sounds are fine, everything sounds quite believeable. I didn't hear the infamous M1 Ping either when somebody is emptying his clip, which I hope stays like that(it's just not audible).
Vehicle Feedback:
I only really played with the SdKfz 231, and I liked it. But I must say that the view port was really small and made using it harder than it already was thanks to turn rate limitations. I would argue that more of your screen should be showing the outside instead of, you know, nothing, for the sake of gameplay. It's really easy to sneak up on the vehicles as it is, and they die quickly, too, no need to nerf them further than that. Some people mentioned that the vehicles are really slow but the thing is, most of the roads back then were simple dirt roads. Of couse you can't reach a Sherman's top speed on that.
The halftracks, well, I think I would like it better if the MGs had a bit more of an arc that they can fire upon as it currently feels really, really limited, but I usually avoid jeeps and other vehicles because of the instant dead-dead anyways so I'm not sure how more use they'd see when adding more range to the MG arcs.
I'm currently undecided about the chosen camo, it looks a bit off, not sure why. Maybe it's because of the graphics mod I'm using.
One little titbit I'd like so share is that the slow turret speed actually makes it possible to completely outmaneuver an enemy. I saw a Pz IV get outturned and consequently defeated by a circling Greyhound and it was hilarious and intriguing. Kudos to whoever pulled off that maneuver.
Map Feedback:
Merville:
Haven't played too much of it, but it's a solid seed map from 20-40 players. After that the possible room for maneuvers end up being incredibly limited, and it doesn't help that the Wehrmacht has such a great fortification in the middle+spawns. Much like Omaha I do see this map as a more "objective" focused map, something PR hasn't seen in a long time, and thus ends up being quite limited in the ways you can play the map out.
From a visual standpoint, it's probably the prettiest out of the 3 maps(due to size), and it captures the French countryside really, really well. Of course I have no idea about Normandy's countryside in the 1940's but I still stand by that it feels very much natural and believeable.
Omaha:
Still reasonably easy as Axis, and ragequit-inducing for the allies, but the new 3-flag layer at least spread the German defenses thin, making a coordinated assault less likely to result in a 100% failure. I believe that the map favours the Germans a bit too much, especially considering they have FOBs up by the time you get up the hill, but it's quite doable now and no longer a brutal, one-sided affair. I still think that this map, even though it's one of the better Omaha maps made in any game I've played, doesn't quite have the PR-feel to it, and the Southern portion of the map is way more interesting to fight over(said this in the Alpha Feedback as well).
Carentan:
What should I say? It's the best map in WW2 atm, that's for sure, and the 3 layers+skirmish make for various, drastically different combat experiences and require each team to adapt to the combat situation they're thrown in. It's a bit of a bummer the middle farm is not included in the STD/ALT layers for even more variety, but it's not like that takes anything away from the current map.
One issue with the layers(STD/ALT) that I do have however is that some of the flags are very close to either team's main, even with the lessened combat distances I think it could be a good idea to crop some fields in the middle of the map and put the Lumber Mill, the Church(?) and Carentan a bit further to the West, the South Western Village that the Allies have to neutralize more to the East/Northeast. Not sure how doable that is without a major rework but I personally don't like camping DODs or Spawns and I think the map makers should strive to avoid that if possible.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the bleed on both Omaha and Carentan is rather slow, I would personally argue that it's best to finish a map quickly after the last flag has been taken, since anything left to do for the winning team is to camp near the DOD, which is both boring for the attackers as well as frustrating for the defenders.
Just something to keep in mind.
Weapons feedback:
Kar98k:
A bit too strong in my opinion. If memory serves me correctly I got dropped in one shot each and every time. While it's of course a reasonable assumption, it feels like an engagement with somebody using a Kar98k has only two possible outcomes, you die, or he dies.
G43:
Didn't use it as of yet.
MP40:
Very natural, and very deadly. The low ROF can be a bit annoying but you can usually stay on target easily because of it. I didn't count the bullets in the mag but I sure hope you've loaded it with 28 rounds rather than 32 to cater to my hystrical, err historical accuracy
StG44:
Also known as the God Gun. You field that shit and anyone daring to stand in your way gets spanked. Massively. Controlable, strong, accurate enough, just like it should be.
MG34:
The older brother of the MG42. It's a bit inflexible because of its 50 round magazine and long deviation time, but it gets the job done usually.
MG42:
Works for the Wehrmacht just as well as it did for MEC and the Bundeswehr.
Luger:
Not too much practice with it, but it did ok.
Panzerfaust:
The sightings are misleading, which is currently my biggest issue with it. Comes more down to "feel" and knowing how it handles rather than getting the distance to target correct. Hopefully we can range it sometime in the future - or the sights work.
Panzerschreck:
Shots up until 150m are very much doable and it feels right. Nothing particularly wrong with it.
M1 Garand:
It's good the way it is. Nothing like dropping someone with your last bullet and seeing the clip pop out of the weapon.
M1 Carbine:
Just like the Kar98k, I feel as if this weapon is a bit too good imo. 2 or 3 shots from that caliber with a 15 round mag is a bit too much, makes fielding the Garand a bit pointless since the "extreme" ranges on which the Garand's superior accuracy comes into play are very rarely seen, maybe Omaha but on that map your best bet is "ta get off mah beech"
Thompson:
Cuts through Germans like a hot knife through butter until you meet either MG. Probably the best weapon for close range, even outperforming Shotgun and StG44.
M3 Grease Gun:
It's noticeably more wonky in it's recoil pattern but that's kinda how the weapon is like and thus much appreciated(maybe that's just me).
B.A.R.:
One of my personal favourite firearms of all time, and it's good to see do as well as it does in the game. A personally hope we get use "fast auto, undeployed" as well as "slow auto, deployed" alongside the currently existing modes(slot 5 and 6) but I guess it could be a bit finnicky and makes the choices a bit too plentyful.
Remington(? - whatever, the Shotgun):
It works well, drops people quite handily and is also not too shabby on close-medium distances due to the non-existing body armour.
Pistol:
Not too much practice with it either, the Thompson is too good.
Bazooka:
Does what it's supposed to do. It can be ranged, which is very nice.
Gameplay feedback:
While I enjoyed almost every round, I couldn't help but feel that something is ~quite~ off-ish, and that's largely due to the current kit loadouts which can very well lead to the dreaded Fullautospam I see in numerous other WW2 games. What do I mean by that? Well, fully automatic firearms and semiautomatic firearms were a rarity on the battlefields of WW2, the only noticeable exclusions are the Eastern units of the Wehrmacht, the Red Army and the US Army, where a reasonable number of the aforementioned circulated(even though the Kar98k/Mosing Nagant were still the most fielded firearms on the Eastern Front). In these games it's not too big of a deal since people can usually stomache a couple more hits from automatic firearms, and they are made quite inaccurate, too, but PR is more focused on delivering a more realistic experience. As such even MP40s take a maximum of 3 shots to kill while being really, really accurate.
The problem with this is as of the current version it is entire possible when playing the the Wehrmacht to have 1 StG 44, 2 MP40s(Breacher, Gren Alt), 1 MG34 and 1 MG42(the remainder are 2 medics and a LAT) without abusing people going CO for some more Officers Kits. This leads to a ratio of 5 automatic firearms to 3 Kar98ks. So, as much as it pains me to do that, in order to counteract the aforementioned fullautospam, a lot of the available classes for Germany will have to be equipped with Kar98ks only. The only classes for the regular Wehrmacht who do get something different are the Designated Marksman(G43), the Officer(MP40, no alternative) and the MG roles. This places more emphasis on the Machine Gunner, as they are largely responsible for your squad's firepower. It also means that the Germans will rely more on defensive tactics, ambushes from cover, from FOBs(which they can fortify with up to 2 MG42s) and using other emplacements.
This of course would limit the Wehrmacht to a strictly defensive playstyle(Carentan's STD layout would become the norm) and I wouldn't want that either. So in order to make Wehrmacht "Attack layouts" possible, we could equip them with more offensive equipment and claim it as certain branches, since, as we all know, the German forces consisted of a number of units and thus equipment differed greatly between the Elite(SS and Fallschirmjaeger) and the regular Infantry or Grenadierdivisions stationed in France, which often had a mixture of subpar, captured equipment[since SotA equipment was shipped to Russia primarily]. For a SS/Waffen SS or FJ unit to field the rare StG 44, the MP40 on personell other than SQLs(Breacher) and FG42s as SAWs wouldn't be uncommon and it would greatly add to gameplay variety if that were a thing.
The low life-span of vehicles is also something that I would like to bring up. Even Tanks can be taken out by one LAT, two at most. Although the low range of their AT weapons requires the soldiers to go quite close to the vehicle compared to modern times, the hedges make for some good camouflage and I would say that it's not terribly hard to sneak up on them. Despite that, I dare say the current damage model is fine and so is the amount of AT weapons available to each team, so I propose to remove the Rifleman AT from the spawn screen and make it requestable only.
The final bit I am bring up is the current destruction mechanic. Breachers are currently not equipped enough to destroy an FOB currently(unless normal frag grenades do the trick, too) and it was pretty annoying. Since the Bundled Stick Grenade is more powerful than the regular one I think both armies should receive a generic type of explosive, so a Breacher can actually fulfill his combat purpose without making multiple supply runs.
TL;DR Version: (Defensive) Germany has too many automatic weapons, pls nerf. US fine. Vehicles require a bit more love, not every squad of 4 has to run around with rocket launchers. Explosive rework.
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