Dear Bohemia Interactive Team,
Reforger is an amazing game that brings back memories of Operation Flashpoint.
The graphics look stunning, the day-night-cycle and weather lets us experience the environment in many different settings.
So we have this realistic looking landscape and assets, radio communication between squads, rank system etc. but the most played gamemode, conflict, feels totally random most of the time.
From what we see, people tend to have the best experiences when there is a certain teamwork and coordination going on.
It just doesn't come all by itself. The game should support the process with certrain mechanics.
We have A Visually accurate representation of military assets VS. no representation of military structure.
"Conflict" is meant to focus on logistics and resources, but there are no boundaries in place to prevent anarchy/chaos around those resources nor foster teamwork.
In a nutshell, a conflict game is not the slower paced game it wants to be.
It is about how fast people can race around the map in light vehicles to capture tents with flags on them.
There are no real "lines of contact".
No real motivation to stay alive.
-> Suicide missions of few individuals are the norm.
So I wonder, why not introduce more structure right into the game mode?
My theory is that the resource system of the game mode is the key to a more realistic experience.
At the moment, resources are distributed around the map, at bases, at resource points. Access is free.
And if anything is free, nobody cares to be economical about it.
Vehicles and gear are free, so why not take the most expensive vehicle?
Gear is free, so why not take as much as possible?
What happens is that few random people can deplete a base and drive off into the next suicide attack.
Now, if you would assign a "wallet" to every player, things would become a lot more interesting.
If a player has to use up points of his own wallet to pay for resource consumption at a base, a more economical approach to everything on the map would emerge.
The current rank progression could be easily combined with the wallet.
Progress within a rank would also add points to the wallet:
Opportunity Cost becomes a thing
1. Increase wallet size if rank goes up
2. Increase wallet size if number of squad members goes up
3. Fill up wallet if spawning at main
-> being in a squad becomes more desirable as access to resources increases.
-> staying alive becomes more desirable as lost gear and respawn at bases other than main will cost you
-> capturing key objectives becomes more desirable as it rewards you the most
It would be a mechanic that links a players access to resources with his contribution to the goal.
In essence it would mimic the value of military assets a bit more accurately.