These are some interesting changes.
The problem with the insecurity of having one Medic comes from the issue of a particular mindset. I'm under the impression that most players who act as Medics consider themselves to be Rifleman with a First Aid kit, which is the major problem.
If a player decides to use a Medic kit he/she needs to be prepared to play the role of a EMT/Doctor equipped a rifle for personal defense only.
What I'm trying to explain is that there are 5 other men in your squad that can engage targets. If a player decides to volunteer to be a Medic, it's your job to avoid combat and concentrate on healing your squad members and reviving them. You should also be frequently checking your map interface if squads nearby need revival or medical assistance as well.
Simply put, if you're a Medic and you're on point (ahead of your squad) and/or amongst the other rifleman you're doing something wrong. You should be at the rear of the squad and beside the officer (as the officer should also be behind everyone else) anyway. Anything other than that you're risking your own life and the life of your fellow soldiers because you're useless when you're dead.
As a Medic you need to take up the mindset as being subtle and an escape artist. That means you need to hide and take cover when a firefight breaks out. Not to run around the place looking for an enemy to shoot. The sooner you take the role of being both passive and defensive and also undertaking the aspects of longevity and survivability in mind, you'll prosper well as a Medic.
Besides, it makes perfect sense that if you're playing a Medic and 3 or more of your squad members are down, it should be a complete nightmare. Truth is, your squad just got whooped. The idea is to emphasize teamwork, skill and to be attentive to detail. Spawning with more Medics to make up for recklessness is pretty lame.
The fact of the matter is that there is an implied contract (which most players are completely unaware of) that as soon as you pick up a Medic kit, you have sacrificed your personal intent on being offensive. You have instead volunteered your services to act as a supporting role for your team. It just so happens that it isn't an easy role and it is slightly boring at times. Playing a Medic properly will test your ability to remain focused on the task at hand and the strength of your self-control. If you don't have these traits then being a Medic isn't for you and you'll be met with frustration and disappointment.
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GreedoNeverShot wrote:How am I supposed to have 2 independent fireteams?
I can understand why some people may want two Medics for fireteam purposes. However, I feel that the only way to truly have an effective fire team established is when Squads can have up to 8 people. And to the best of my knowledge a real squad consists of 8 people as opposed to BF2's standard 6 players.
If you really want to set up a fire team I suggest getting together with another squad on your team. Mumble, Teamspeak and Ventrilo is an interesting way to do this. I can speak from personal experience when I had played as the U.S.M.C. with another squad on Korengal Valley. It was pretty awesome and we were practically unstoppable.
I admire your effort to teamwork and get public players to work effectively in a fireteam. But I feel that the hardcoded issues we have to deal with are a major problem and inhibit organized play as it should be. A fireteam consisting of 3 and 3 soldiers is very small. If we could have 4 and 4 it would make a significant difference.
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I love the Give Up / Call Medic option that's been attached to the spawn interface. I didn't think the option to right click on would work on anything outside of the Comm Rose interface. Good news indeed.
As for the new spawn screen kit selection. My only gripe (thanks to my O.C.D. tendencies) is that I feel it should be listed as:
Officer (Optics) - Limited
Officer (Ironsights) - Limited
Rifleman (Optics)
Rifleman (Ironsights)
Rifleman Specialist
Automatic Rifleman - Limited
Combat Medic - Limited
