Hey all. :D

So I just want to say that I'm REALLY sick of people trying to call the SMG overpowered. -_______________-' To start, it doesn't really even matter; like 9/10ths of the people I played with used Semis 24/7, and that actually got on my nerves because of the lack of intensity. It was more like "shoot first or you die", and I prefer those games where you actually stand a chance. Dying after one, well-aimed headshot isn't nearly as fun as going extremely commando and having a real gun fight with the other team.

Now, I'll even admit it myself- I only use the new SMG about 35% of the time now. 55% more of that time is usually the Semi, and the remmaining 10% is the Shotgun. The SMG is indeed good now, for it can actually stand up against the Semi jerks who spend their entire day sitting around sniping. In addition, YOU ACTUALLY MOVE WHEN YOU HAVE AN SMG. -_________________-' The jerks I refer to with Semis actually just sit on their lazy hindquarters and snipe anybody before they can get closer. Thus, that provokes the other team to use Semis, and thus, it just turns into a Sniper Battle or a Sniper Slaughter. And I think we can all agree that's SO much less fun than actually going into battle with an automatic weapon and being as much of a boss as Rambo.

Now, the SMG is MUCH better. What people don't realize is that the people who critizice the SMG buff SPAM SEMIS. They're just afraid that they'll be beaten by SMG users. *sigh...* I mean, does anybody actually REALIZE how sad that is??? That's like whining about not doing your homework because it's too hard! I'm going to tell it to those Semi retards ONE. LAST. TIME.

IT'S. NOT. UP. TO. YOU. ONLY. SO. SHUT. THE. F*CK. UP.

Honestly, this buff is EXACTLY what we needed. The SMG could barely even be used past the range of the Shotgun, and was basically a mix of the two weapons in the crapiest ways possible. If you don't understand, I'll put it in diagram form:

#Example#
Weapon Traits:
-Trait #1 (Level of Importantness, 1 being lowest and 4 being greatest)
-Trait #2 (Level of Importantness, 1 being lowest and 4 being greatest)
-Trait #3 (Level of Importantness, 1 being lowest and 4 being greatest)
-Trait #4 (Level of Importantness, 1 being lowest and 4 being greatest)

Now these were basically the ideas of how the game looked BEFORE 0.60...

Semi's Traits:
-Power (3)
-Accuracy (4)
-Range (2)
-Fire Rate (1) (yes, it has a fairly good fire rate, considering it's only semi-automatic really)

SMG Traits:
-Rate of Fire (2)
-Range (1)

Shotgun Traits:
-Power (3)
-Accuracy (2) (you know within it's short range :P)
-Rate of Fire (1)

Now, here's the basic stats and performance AFTER the update:

Semi's Traits:
-Power (3)
-Accuracy (4)
-Range (2)
-Fire Rate (1)

SMG Traits:
-Fire Rate (1) (because firing more quickly doesn't matter as much now; it matters about landing those powerful hits that it now has)
-Range (2) (because you can actually HIT something now)
-Power (3) (because it actually does more damage)
-Accuracy (4) (because you can actually land hits from a distance now, and THAT'S what really caused SMG-users problems)

Shotgun Traits:
-Power (3)
-Accuracy (2)
-Rate of Fire (1)

WaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT. Let's take a look again! This time, for all of the retards, I'm going to explain why I say these things for the weapons' traits:

Semi's Traits:
-Power (3) (if you get a headshot, it's a one hit KO, so that's VERY important; but it also only takes a few shots for any other kill)
-Accuracy (4) (if you can't get those pinpoint-accurate shots that the Semi has, you can't deal the damage that it gives!)
-Range (2) (it's a defensive weapon- they'll never see you coming)
-Fire Rate (1) (not really the highlight of the Semi; it's just off to the side and not really factoring in its performance)

SMG Traits:
-Fire Rate (1) (because firing more quickly doesn't matter as much now; it matters about landing those powerful hits that it now has)
-Range (2) (because you can actually HIT something from a distance now)
-Power (3) (because it actually does more damage)
-Accuracy (4) (because you can actually land hits from a distance now, and THAT'S what really caused SMG-users problems)

Okay, I kinda just used the same explanation for the SMG, but let's take ONE LAST COMPARISON...

...

Now, is it just me, or DO THOSE FACTORS ADD UP TO THE SAME STATS?!?! YEAH GUYS, LOOK- SAME VALUE IN RANGE, POWER, FIRE RATE, AND ACCURACY!!!

Now before you go off at me, I would like to say this: just because they have the same "stats" from the observation of their performance DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY ARE TRULY EQUAL. It simply means that NEITHER ARE COMPLETELY WEIGHTED IN POWER COMPARED TO ANOTHER. But since they both have generally the same stats, that means that it merely depends on how they are used by the PLAYER and THEIR SKILL, NOT JUST BY HOW GOOD OR CHEAP THE WEAPONS ARE!!!

Something nobody takes into account is that there ARE people with skill who are actually pissed at the n00bs who can't quit whinning about the performance of people. I was just playing on Goon Haven the other day, and KomradeKristina and MinecraftGamer were camping in this HUGE enemy structure and I spent SUCH a long time trying to get them out. Not until I started writing this I had felt that they were just camping and being n00bs, but THEN I realized at the strategizing and skill it must have taken to get up there in the first place and maintain their position that whole time (about 20 minutes or so)! It occurred to me that it wasn't them that lacked the skill and needed to resort to something n00by; it was simply ME not being able to compete with THEM! So whenever you see somebody actually dominating you with THEIR skill instead of doing something totally n00by, DON'T BE A N00B.

I think my point is clear enough to understand. If you still need help understanding why the SMG and Semi are balanced or have another point to bring up, please do so in a comment.

But there's something else I wanted to say...

Did ANYBODY notice that we barely discussed the Shottie AT ALL???

Yeah, that's right guys- the Shottie is being NEGLECTED. It looks like a child's toy compared to the Semi and SMG now! What ever happened to the idea of a weapon that actually CONNECTS at close ranged and completely MASSACRES enemies that are shot? Why aren't there any total headshot moments that make us go "OOH, THAT'S GOTTA HURT!"? Where's the idea of a weapon that is ACTUALLY the King of Close-Quarters Combat?!?!

The SMG and the Semi are fine, but the Shottie is just a weapon barely ANYBODY ever uses anymore. The game has become based around long-ranged battles where cover doesn't matter anymore, for it's just WAY too easy to destroy. Thus, Shotgun-weilders can't get close enough to pwn the n00bs. :,( The Shottie is my best friend in A LOT of FPSs, and it's actually a shame that it's full potential as an infamous bane of murder hasn't been unlocked by Ben. So this is what I suggest:

1) Keep the power of the Shottie the same, but up it's range and accuracy to "mid-range" (basicaly the effectiveness the SMG used to have). I say the best way of going about this is by recuding the spread, because the spread is what really causes that. So nerf the spread a bit, but not by enough to make it more like a Semi; just enough to keep it's spread fairly wide within an average distance, if you guys know what I mean. By doing so, this will give the Shotgun the range and accuracy it needs to compare to the SMG and Semi now.
2) Up the damage it takes to destroy blocks from gunfire (and maybe pickaxe damage if you guys think that's a good idea too, but I honestly don't know), thus enabling people to actually find cover and think more tactically instead of picking and pissing off people while hiding from the entire fight. If the amount of durabilty was upped for the blocks, not only would Shottie-users be able to have a bit more safety from being sniped, but demolition would have to be more gradual instead of a single, pride-bestowed structure being totalled in a few seconds by 10 people with SMGs. And who knows- maybe it will give us all some time to fight grievers at work. ;) I say that maybe 5 hits (166% damage to destroy, compared to 100%) or so would be a good amount, because it's not above 200% but it's not too close to 100% either.

As long as these things are applied, nothing should be unbalanced based on mere performance, and should ONLY be good in the hands of the proper player. ;) They would all be BALANCED in some way, and it would only depend on the SKILL of the player in the end.

So that's how I feel about it, and again- SHUT UP ABOUT RE-NERFING THE SMG, IT'S FINE YOU D*CKHEADS. -______________-'

And while I'm here, what do you guys think about more points being given for melee kills? :?

-rifle and SMG accuracy increased
RIFLE ACCURACY INCREASED

WHY.

JUST WHY.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A WEAPON THAT CAN ALREADY KILL BY HITTING WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY THE TOP THIRD OF THEIR BODY MORE EFFECTIVE?

It's already the primary weapon used in AoS. Wanna know why?

-Up close, headshots are easy.

-The gun is accurate with manageable recoil at mid range without even crouching or looking through the sights.

-The gun has 10 shots per clip, but only needs 1-3 shots to kill an enemy.

-The gun is the only gun with the capability to kill with one shot. This means that if two players spot each other at once, the rifle is at a considerable advantage. The SMG might shoot fast, but if the rifle player gets off a shot, and it hits the head (Typically at medium and close range given the range of the other two guns) the rifle player will win the 'duel'.

-With the update, the gun is almost back to pinpoint accuracy. I literally killed 8 people with 8 shots at long range... two of which were behind one-block windows.

Solutions:
-Lower the clip size and total ammo for the rifle to maybe 3-5 shots and 20-25 total ammo.

-Remove the ability for rifles to kill instantly with headshots (namely doing 100 damage), and instead just change the damage to a high amount (like 75). Also, lower the damage for bodyshots to about 35-40.

-Reduce rifle accuracy significantly (like, misses by a mile and creates ridiculous recoil) while not aiming down the sights and crouching. The gun is meant to be camped with, not used sightless while walking (that's more the shotgun's territory).

-Reduce the size of OUR HEADS. I like the current head sizes, but if you really gotta get crazy, reduce the size of the head to make headshots a less effective way of dispatching enemies.

Each of these solutions individually would be well on the way to making the other guns as useful as the rifle, rather than having the rifle being almost impossible to deal with short of camping under cover with anything short of another rifle and HOPING the person behind the rifle can't hit the broad side of a barn.

Going to post this on the forums as well.

So, I was thinking about what role the SMG plays: Generally (VERY GENERALLY) it is outdone by the rifle at long-mid range, and outdone by the shotty at close-mid range. My suggestion is this: Make the SMG the 'stealth' gun. No tracers, and either a very quiet, or silent, sound for it, as if it had a silencer. I think this would balance it out, and it isn't a huge change. To clarify, there should be SMG sounds client-side, but maybe not server-side (or very quiet server-side)

Watcha think yall?

One thing I get most annoyed of is griefed-to-heck maps. People spend the time to build nice-looking, perfect maps, and yet some noob is going to run in there and mess everything up.

People build nice city maps, and after trying to join one all day, I find it nothing but colorful blocks and rubble. Many people are looking for a sanctuary where there are no griefers. How do we fight them? Votekicking hardly works.

My idea-Make a plug-in that allows custom VOXED maps that make them indestructible. That way, players can neither place, edit, nor destroy any map you create with the plugin. You can create a large, balanced map that no-one can change.

While the down-side is taking away in-game creativity, it can still make maps permanent and griefer-proof. I'd love to see this.