Regarding cache marker changes. Bare in mind that caches now take 3-4 incendiaries or 1 x C4. Meaning that at least half a squad will need to be on the cache to take it out. Basically, the cache location will have to be cleared first before it's disposed.
Posting this here too,
I knew someone on the team would have to give a comprehensive post about the reasoning behind this change, so here goes. I suggest anyone who wants to respond to this afterwards
reads all of it, as I'm condensing months of debates between PR team members and military advisers into a nice little package for you.........
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It's hard to portray just how rare a situation it is for a soldier, or unconventional combatant, to pick up an enemy weapon and use it in the middle of combat in reality. If it is
ever done so, it is a last resort or matter of desperation. The reasoning behind players picking up an enemy kit in PR for the same reasons is almost unheard of.
In-game, when an insurgent picks up an automatic rifle, or a sniper rifle, they
transform into that role. An AK wielding ambusher transforms into a conventionally trained M249 gunner that can put tight groupings out to 600m, or a Sniper that can hit point targets even further. Even if we compared similar roles irl, do you honestly think that a Taliban PKM gunner is going to want to swap it for a BLUFOR MG he's unfamiliar with? No, he's going to stick with the PKM he's been carrying since Pakistan...
fact.
Switch to the conventional side of things. A conventional soldier that picks up an enemy weapon will be nowhere near as effective operating a foreign weapon system that he has little-to-no experience with in comparison to what he's trained on. For heavy weapons and specialised weapons this change speaks for itself. A Russian soldier picking up an Eryx ATGM Launcher and operating it without any problems is absolutely ridiculous. A US soldier picking up a PKM and operating it with the same proficiency as it's previous owner is also insane.
We have a military adviser on our team who has trained soldiers on foreign weapon familiarisation, below are some of his words on the matter,
I've had to train skilled soldiers on how to properly use an AK-47, and even Expert Marksmen that have been using battle rifles such as the M16 and M4 for a few years needed several hours of intensive range drills in order to use those new weapons effectively.
I have also trained foreign forces in similar skills as well, so it's not just a "US problem".
Standing on a range shooting at a stationary paper target is one thing. But being in a firefight with a weapon you are not familiar with is likely to get you killed, or at the least mean you just waste ammo and contribute little to the fight. You might get some hits, but chances are you'll leave yourself open to get shot more easily too. Trust me, there is a big difference in weapon skill before and after familiarization.
Deviation and weapon handling in-game is weapon specific and
can't be soldier/player specific,
if we could do that we would have just made enemy weapons extremely ineffective in friendly hands meaning nobody would want to pick them up any way. But we can't.
What we eventually get left with is those few instances of desperation I mentioned initially. Alas, I ask all of you....
how often have you picked up an enemy weapon in PR because you ran out of your 6-8+1 mags for your rifle and there was no friendly ammunition source (supply crate, ammo crate, rifleman, APC/IFV etc) within 100m?
Note, for those concerned about unconventional forces,
You now have deployable and technical mounted SPG-9's available.
You now have deployable mortars
Kits with RKG-3 grenades now have 2 instead of 1.
You now have primary and secondary detonation groups for IED's, allowing you set up multiple ambushes and chose what you want to detonate.
If ME Insurgents, you now have field dressings.
You are no longer able to have half your team transform into conventional troops, what you
do have are more tools that allow you to play effectively as an unconventional force.
