This is kind of a half complaint/half suggestion so I wasn't sure which forum this would be better on.
My biggest complaint right now with SF are the awards. The game itself was great and the infantry warfare is exactly what I was looking for, but I feel that the awards were half-assed and virtually no work was put into them. They are a joke. The specialist badges are in reality no different than the regular badges.
Regular Veteran Assault badge = 15h played, 20 kills IAR
Veteran Assault Specialist badge = 16h played, 22 kills IAR
Anybody else feel owned by this? We have all these fantastic stats that are tracked throughout the game, and even after the expansion the badges all come down to time played vs. kills.
Ok, no point in ranting more than necessary, now onto the good stuff. Here's my view as to what the awards should be for SF.
Note: I'm more concerned about the concepts of these requirements, and I understand in advance that my numbers may not be as balanced as possible
Kit Specialist Awards
Specialist by nature implies skill. The original bf2 kit awards, which are still attainable in SF, will still be awarded for the basic time put into a kit. These awards are intended to show skill with that kit.
Basic: The requirements to achieve these awards show a basic understanding of the skills utilized by this class. This award should be achievable by most players in the game.
Veteran: Obtaining this award shows that the player has put time and dedication into this kit as well as being skilled at the various abilities of the kit. Most people will only get the Veteran awards of the main kit or two that they play.
Expert: Getting the expert kit award is something to be proud of. The requirements are intended to achieved by only those with great skill in their class. This is proven by global requirements that need to be worked for, ratio success over a long period, as well as putting everything together in a great single round. This award will only be achieved by a small percentage of people, and the versatility in the requirements should help against stat padding.
Notes:
Kills are based on infantry weapons, this prevents using armor/helis to gain these awards. Also there are no time requirements, those are covered in original bf2 kit awards.
Team wins: Unsure if its possible to implement, but I like this idea. This is on all of the IAR requirements and should slightly help any stat padding problems. Stat padders tend to cause their team to lose, and winning is the overall goal of the game.
Anti-Tank Kit
The difficult aspects of the AT awards are based on the AT rocket usage. The Shotgun/SMG is designed to be a defensive weapon and is not the primary use of the class, but they should still be proficient with it. I did not include K/D ratio requirements with Shotgun/SMG because the Engineer uses it as well.
Anti-Tank Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
25 kills with AT missile
100 kills with Shotgun
100 kills with SMG
Basic Grappling Hook Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 kills with AT missile
3 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Anti-Tank Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 kills with AT missile
500 kills with Shotgun
500 kills with SMG
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
1:1 K/D ratio with AT missile
50% accuracy with AT missile
IAR Requirements:
10 kills with AT missile
5 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Anti-Tank Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with AT missile
1000 kills with Shotgun
1000 kills with SMG
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
2:1 K/D ratio with AT missile
70% accuracy with AT missile (may be too high, but if you're shooting at tanks you shouldn't miss)
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with AT missile
10 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Assault Kit
I wanted to include GL in the IAR requirements, but not all maps have it available (Iron Gator is one I believe)
Assault Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
100 kills with Assault Rifle
25 kills with GL
Basic Tactical Support Badge
Basic Grappling Hook Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
8 kills with Assault Rifle
1 use of Flashbang
1 use of Grappling hook
1 Captured CP
Team wins
Assault Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with Assault Rifle
500 kills with GL
1000 Captured CP
Veteran Tactical Support Badge
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Assault Rifle
IAR Requirements:
10 kills with Assault Rifle
3 uses of Flashbang
2 uses of Grappling Hook
3 Captured CPs
Team wins
Assault Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
3000 kills with Assault Rifle
1000 kills with GL
Expert Tactical Support Badge
Expert Grappling Hook Usage Badge
2000 Captured CP
Greater than 2:1 K/D ratio with Assault Rifle
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Assault Rifle
8 uses of Flashbang
5 uses of Grappling Hook
5 Captured CP
Team wins
Engineer Kit
This was the hardest kit. The Engineer's don't really have much in the way of trackable stats that determine their worth to a team. I wanted to include some AT mine usage on the IAR requirements, but not all maps have AT mines (Iron Gator I believe)
Engineer Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 repair points
Basic Repair Badge
100 kills with Shotgun
25 kills with SMG (I think MP7 falls into SMG category, correct me if I'm wrong)
10 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
5 repair points
Team wins
Engineer Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 repair points
Veteran Repair Badge
500 kills with Shotgun
100 kills with SMG (MP7)
150 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
10 repair points
Team wins
Engineer Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 repair points
Expert Repair Badge
1000 kills with Shotgun
200 kills with SMG (MP7)
500 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
15 repair points
Team wins
Special-Ops Kit
I wish destroying enemy assets was a tracked stat, as that is one of the more important things a Spec-ops can do. If that were the case I would lower the IAR kills a bit and add a requirement for destroying assets
Special-Ops Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
100 kills with Carbines
50 kills with C4
Basic Explosives Badge
Basic Zip Line Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 kills with C4
5 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Special-Ops Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
1000 kills with Carbines
500 kills with C4
Veteran Explosives Badge
Veteran Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Carbines
IAR Requirements:
6 kills with C4
10 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Special-Ops Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
2000 kills with Carbines
1000 kills with C4
Expert Explosives Badge
Expert Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 2:1 K/D ratio with Carbines
IAR Requirements:
9 kills with C4
15 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Support Kit
This is the only kit that I have not put any time into, so I do not know it very well. I'm sure the requirements could be made to be more exciting as they are fairly bland right now
Support Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 resupplies
100 kills with LMG
Basic Resupply Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 ammo points
5 kills with LMG
Team wins
Support Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 resupplies
1000 kills with LMG
Veteran Resupply Badge
IAR Requirements:
6 ammo points
10 kills with LMG
Team wins
Support Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1000 resupplies
2000 kills with LMG
Expert Resupply Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with LMG
IAR Requirements:
9 ammo points
15 kills with LMG
Team wins
Sniper Kit
Spotting is not currently a tracked stat, but as it is the main teamwork job of snipers I would love to include spotting requirements
Sniper Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 kills with Sniper Rifle
Basic Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 35% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
10 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
7 kills with Sniper Rifle
Team wins
Sniper Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 kills with Sniper Rifle
Veteran Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 50% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 3:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
50 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Sniper Rifle
Team wins
Sniper Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with Sniper Rifle
Expert Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 65% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 5:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
100 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Sniper Rifle
0 deaths (My favorite, shows true skill of a Sniper)
Team wins
I'm sure not all my numbers are fair or perfect, I haven't exactly done balancing tests, but I think with better awards this game will become much more team oriented rather than whore oriented. I also believe alot of the original awards need to be revamped, but that's another list and wouldn't happen anyways.
Lets hope somebody from EA stumbles by this and they get it right next time.
I hope you enjoyed it :)
My biggest complaint right now with SF are the awards. The game itself was great and the infantry warfare is exactly what I was looking for, but I feel that the awards were half-assed and virtually no work was put into them. They are a joke. The specialist badges are in reality no different than the regular badges.
Regular Veteran Assault badge = 15h played, 20 kills IAR
Veteran Assault Specialist badge = 16h played, 22 kills IAR
Anybody else feel owned by this? We have all these fantastic stats that are tracked throughout the game, and even after the expansion the badges all come down to time played vs. kills.
Ok, no point in ranting more than necessary, now onto the good stuff. Here's my view as to what the awards should be for SF.
Note: I'm more concerned about the concepts of these requirements, and I understand in advance that my numbers may not be as balanced as possible
Kit Specialist Awards
Specialist by nature implies skill. The original bf2 kit awards, which are still attainable in SF, will still be awarded for the basic time put into a kit. These awards are intended to show skill with that kit.
Basic: The requirements to achieve these awards show a basic understanding of the skills utilized by this class. This award should be achievable by most players in the game.
Veteran: Obtaining this award shows that the player has put time and dedication into this kit as well as being skilled at the various abilities of the kit. Most people will only get the Veteran awards of the main kit or two that they play.
Expert: Getting the expert kit award is something to be proud of. The requirements are intended to achieved by only those with great skill in their class. This is proven by global requirements that need to be worked for, ratio success over a long period, as well as putting everything together in a great single round. This award will only be achieved by a small percentage of people, and the versatility in the requirements should help against stat padding.
Notes:
Kills are based on infantry weapons, this prevents using armor/helis to gain these awards. Also there are no time requirements, those are covered in original bf2 kit awards.
Team wins: Unsure if its possible to implement, but I like this idea. This is on all of the IAR requirements and should slightly help any stat padding problems. Stat padders tend to cause their team to lose, and winning is the overall goal of the game.
Anti-Tank Kit
The difficult aspects of the AT awards are based on the AT rocket usage. The Shotgun/SMG is designed to be a defensive weapon and is not the primary use of the class, but they should still be proficient with it. I did not include K/D ratio requirements with Shotgun/SMG because the Engineer uses it as well.
Anti-Tank Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
25 kills with AT missile
100 kills with Shotgun
100 kills with SMG
Basic Grappling Hook Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 kills with AT missile
3 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Anti-Tank Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 kills with AT missile
500 kills with Shotgun
500 kills with SMG
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
1:1 K/D ratio with AT missile
50% accuracy with AT missile
IAR Requirements:
10 kills with AT missile
5 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Anti-Tank Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with AT missile
1000 kills with Shotgun
1000 kills with SMG
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
2:1 K/D ratio with AT missile
70% accuracy with AT missile (may be too high, but if you're shooting at tanks you shouldn't miss)
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with AT missile
10 kills with Shotgun/SMG
Team win
Assault Kit
I wanted to include GL in the IAR requirements, but not all maps have it available (Iron Gator is one I believe)
Assault Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
100 kills with Assault Rifle
25 kills with GL
Basic Tactical Support Badge
Basic Grappling Hook Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
8 kills with Assault Rifle
1 use of Flashbang
1 use of Grappling hook
1 Captured CP
Team wins
Assault Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with Assault Rifle
500 kills with GL
1000 Captured CP
Veteran Tactical Support Badge
Veteran Grappling Hook Usage Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Assault Rifle
IAR Requirements:
10 kills with Assault Rifle
3 uses of Flashbang
2 uses of Grappling Hook
3 Captured CPs
Team wins
Assault Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
3000 kills with Assault Rifle
1000 kills with GL
Expert Tactical Support Badge
Expert Grappling Hook Usage Badge
2000 Captured CP
Greater than 2:1 K/D ratio with Assault Rifle
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Assault Rifle
8 uses of Flashbang
5 uses of Grappling Hook
5 Captured CP
Team wins
Engineer Kit
This was the hardest kit. The Engineer's don't really have much in the way of trackable stats that determine their worth to a team. I wanted to include some AT mine usage on the IAR requirements, but not all maps have AT mines (Iron Gator I believe)
Engineer Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 repair points
Basic Repair Badge
100 kills with Shotgun
25 kills with SMG (I think MP7 falls into SMG category, correct me if I'm wrong)
10 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
5 repair points
Team wins
Engineer Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 repair points
Veteran Repair Badge
500 kills with Shotgun
100 kills with SMG (MP7)
150 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
10 repair points
Team wins
Engineer Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 repair points
Expert Repair Badge
1000 kills with Shotgun
200 kills with SMG (MP7)
500 kills with AT mine
IAR Requirements:
15 repair points
Team wins
Special-Ops Kit
I wish destroying enemy assets was a tracked stat, as that is one of the more important things a Spec-ops can do. If that were the case I would lower the IAR kills a bit and add a requirement for destroying assets
Special-Ops Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
100 kills with Carbines
50 kills with C4
Basic Explosives Badge
Basic Zip Line Usage Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 kills with C4
5 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Special-Ops Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
1000 kills with Carbines
500 kills with C4
Veteran Explosives Badge
Veteran Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Carbines
IAR Requirements:
6 kills with C4
10 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Special-Ops Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
2000 kills with Carbines
1000 kills with C4
Expert Explosives Badge
Expert Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 2:1 K/D ratio with Carbines
IAR Requirements:
9 kills with C4
15 kills with Carbines
Team wins
Support Kit
This is the only kit that I have not put any time into, so I do not know it very well. I'm sure the requirements could be made to be more exciting as they are fairly bland right now
Support Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 resupplies
100 kills with LMG
Basic Resupply Badge
IAR Requirements:
3 ammo points
5 kills with LMG
Team wins
Support Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 resupplies
1000 kills with LMG
Veteran Resupply Badge
IAR Requirements:
6 ammo points
10 kills with LMG
Team wins
Support Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1000 resupplies
2000 kills with LMG
Expert Resupply Badge
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with LMG
IAR Requirements:
9 ammo points
15 kills with LMG
Team wins
Sniper Kit
Spotting is not currently a tracked stat, but as it is the main teamwork job of snipers I would love to include spotting requirements
Sniper Basic Specialist
Global Requirements:
50 kills with Sniper Rifle
Basic Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 35% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 1:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
10 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
7 kills with Sniper Rifle
Team wins
Sniper Veteran Specialist
Global Requirements:
500 kills with Sniper Rifle
Veteran Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 50% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 3:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
50 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Sniper Rifle
Team wins
Sniper Expert Specialist
Global Requirements:
1500 kills with Sniper Rifle
Expert Zip Line Usage Badge
Greater than 65% accuracy with Sniper Rifle
Greater than 5:1 K/D ratio with Sniper Rifle
100 kills with Claymore
IAR Requirements:
15 kills with Sniper Rifle
0 deaths (My favorite, shows true skill of a Sniper)
Team wins
I'm sure not all my numbers are fair or perfect, I haven't exactly done balancing tests, but I think with better awards this game will become much more team oriented rather than whore oriented. I also believe alot of the original awards need to be revamped, but that's another list and wouldn't happen anyways.
Lets hope somebody from EA stumbles by this and they get it right next time.
I hope you enjoyed it :)