*sigh* Here we go again...
The surge change is long overdue. Too long in fact. The reason we hear so much whining is due to the large number of players who left BECAUSE of surge, so that now mostly it's the ones who abused it that are left...and now they are angry because their shiny toy is getting taken away.
Here's a clue for those who need one: PlanetSide is, and always has been, about team tactics. Is it possible to be a lone player? In some circumstances, yes...but there will be a myriad of situations that you're ill-equipped to handle. The problem with Surge is that it allowed one player to be EVERYTHING. HA has the ability to do some serious damage to people, pack in a decimator for any MAX you encounter and you can go on a killing spree all on your own, no teamwork required. That, my friends, is the true BS of this equation.
Simply making a no jumping fix still leaves unresolved the problems of inclines. Since EVERY base and EVERY tower is multiple levels, the surgile still has the ability to create an easy warp effect. Combine this with their rather cheesy use of 3rd person to see around corners and they're having their cake and eating it too. Not only can you see the enemy before they can see you, when you DO attack them, there's no chance in hell they can hit you. That problem would still be unfixed by simply taking out the jump.
It's easy to assume the cavalier attitude of "Well, it's your machine...obviously" but guess what...they're paying just as much money as you are for this game. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a high-end machine and Sony would be cutting themselves off at the knees to just go "oh well...sucks to be you guys!" So unless you're planning on upgrading every paying customer to a "good" machine out of your own pocket, STFU about machine specs. If Sony wants to revise their specs (which they should, since they're no where near accurate anymore) and these people no longer meet them, that's one thing. So long as they meet the recommended specs, BS like surge-warping should not be the defining characteristic of their gameplay experience.
Surge was an exploit that was abused heavily. As publicized as it's been for the past few months, there was no way in hell that people didn't know what they were doing and why. When you have a substantial part of your playerbase doing the same thing and having large successes as a result of a well-documented bug, it ceases to be a bug and becomes an exploit. How would the surgers feel if a Jammer grenade killed anyone with Surge active through a bug? They would be mightily pissed if someone just loaded a thumper full of Jammer grenades and went to town. The Devs tried measures to fix the problem without affecting the way the implant did it's job, it didn't work...now they're doing the most effective fix to keep things under control. The Devs did NOT say that this was a permanent thing (though I really don't care if it is or not), and this may be the band-aid to keep the community balanced while the very complex issue underneath is worked on more fully. We could very well see a return to surging with weapon drawn at some point in the future...no Dev has yet said to the contrary, people just wanted to jump to conclusions and start up the flame wars.
Is this a fairly large nerf to the JH community? If you used surge to use the weapon effectively then yes, you're screwed. Many people found that you can just use the JH with appropriate tactics and it works just as well. The JH itself is no less effective, just a crutch to make it so you didn't need support to get you into a position to use it has been removed. For pilots who get shot down, the JH is no longer a weapon they can carry around...if something shot you down though, chances are it was a MAX or a Vehicle...so you'd really want AV at that moment anyway. Being a downed pilot sucks in general, so I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for not being able to surge offensively...if anything that surge should be getting your ass back to base.
The TR are also severely guilty of surgile, and I can't say that I'll be sorry to see them go either. As much as the NC complain, at least their weapons are somewhat effective. The Cycler and MCG are capable weapons...and that ends the list of useful TR weapons. Yes, the Prowler is a nice tank...except that for 10 Prowlers you'll be facing 15 Mags or Vans...same deal with the Marauder. The MAXes are still pathetic. So losing anything that gives killing ability is a bigger nerf to the TR than it could ever be to the NC. Yes, your HA doesn't work so well now...your MA and AV and MAXes and tanks are still *quite* effective.
The VS...well, the less we say about them the better. Hope they're enjoying their brief time in the sun. Fix the damned Pulsar...what good is a short-ranged rifle?
Infiltrators: Yes, the surge is somewhat of a nerf to you. 2.6 will also see the sizable BUFFS with the invisibility factor and the damned gauge being accurate. Sure, they're not so much buffs as long overdue bug fixes, but it's not like you're being crippled. VS infiltrators won't notice much of a change, but damned if the TR and NC ones won't. And if you're a VS infiltrator and feel like complaining...go get five of your Barney Buddies to drop the Lasher...then you can complain
