It's great that Bungie is demonstrating a willingness to continue to evolve Crucible, because it has a lot of potential, but the incoming adjustments to ammo distribution don't go far enough to not only limit the undesirable effect of special and heavy weapons, but also introduce dynamic, strategic, and deep gameplay.
I propose heavy ammo drops be reduced to a count of one and moved to a neutral location, and special ammo be moved to current heavy ammo drop locations and timed with heavy ammo.
[b]One neutral heavy ammo drop[/b]
This change complements gameplay in several ways.
In the current model of essentially giving each team equal access to heavy ammo on a regular basis, teams regularly acquire heavy weapons only to lose them seconds later. It creates a weird spike in gameplay that usually quickly diminishes. In Bungie's update, it seems like this is the design intention, but I think we should ask whether this goal is desirable. Certainly, it's fun to get rockets and machine guns, but it's a bummer when those rockets and machine guns are invariably taken with a kill trade, and this occurs often. In addition, the acquisition of this ammo is flat as there is no conflict. As a result, there is no fulfillment in acquiring the ammo.
A neutral location for heavy ammo means, when players acquire it, they are given a better chance to reap the rewards of their power weapons. It also means map control and teamwork is emphasized. It also means acquiring the ammo is much more exciting.
Of course, with a neutral location, acquiring the weaponry is no longer guaranteed. The effect here is teams must now fight over a controlled location, and this offers many opportunities for desirable and dynamic encounters. It creates strategic flexibility as well as depth. It emphasizes teamwork. It makes the acquisition of heavy weapons fun and interesting.
The present model is uninteresting, unrewarding, and undynamic, and the incoming changes do nothing to address these shortcomings.
[b]Special ammo drops in current heavy ammo locations and timed with neutral heavy ammo[/b]
The stated desire is to reduce the influence of special and heavy weapons on the gameplay, and if the above changes are adopted, this change is logical. The team-oriented drop spaces have already been designed for such isolation, ensuring each team gets adequate access to the ammo. This change limits the influence and presence of special weapons, but it distributes them in a logical way that makes sense to players. It helps create an event when ammo drops.
[b]Conclusion[/b]
There are many details that need work in Crucible, but ammo distribution is a great first step in ensuring the integrity and health of Destiny's PvP gameplay. The current changes that Bungie is implementing mitigate the flaws with ammo distribution, but they don't fix them. Worse, they continue to miss opportunities to create interesting and dynamic gameplay.
Simply stated, Bungie's incoming changes don't go far enough to rectify the flaws of ammo distribution, and they don't make the game more fair, fun, and balanced in any measurable way. The above proposed changes could achieve the same goals but alter gameplay and the flow of the game in ways that would introduce dynamic instances, depth, and strategic options.
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Bump.