[cellinaire]

I think the real problem arises only when some players are forced to use cockpit view while other players are forced to use HUD view/ or free to toggle on and off.
Let players to have freedom of choice. Let players have fun, competitiveness, and immersion. You just can't say all of gamers in the world are stat-whores. Let explorer-type players have their freedom, also.

togglable or forced, as long as a criterion applies to everyone, can either be not bad. If a player or an outfit really care about balance, I guess all of them will toggle off the cockpit view when going out to fight unless some members are not that smart. If anyone in the team intentionally want to hinder the action of his or her own team, he/she can still do that in forced settings.

Finally, PS2 isn't lobby/room FPS. So, in the long run, toggling won't prevail as noticeable disadvantage to any particular faction or outfit I guess.

Just my 2cents.