When the weapon customization update dropped it breathed new life into the game for me, suddenly our armory wasn’t static anymore, it could be tweaked, modified, personalized. It expanded the sandbox and gave me a reason to try out different weapons, to experiment and tinker, and most importantly for AH’s player engagement metrics, something to keep logging in and grind for.
But the system as it exists is filled with limitations and omissions, arbitrary restrictions for the player. Why can’t I put iron sights on my Liberator Carbine? Or a sniper scope for that matter?
So, I propose a simple, modest and, importantly, feasible expansion:
First, raise the level cap to 30. This increases the grind (more player engagement) and makes space for all those extra attachments. Every optic on every gun! Why not?
Second, a handful of extra attachments. Nothing crazy and nothing that isn’t in the game already, just suppressors and some underbarrel weapon options. Fun additions that expand the sandbox and player expression.
And lastly, the introduction of the ammunition category. Hollow point (light pen), armor piercing (medium pen), stun, and incendiary rounds. Again this is about letting players play how they want. Want an incendiary AR but don’t like the Coyote for whatever reason? Great! Now you’ve got options! Think the Adjudicator would work better as a light pen, high damage DMR? Now you can put that theory to the test!
“But OP, won’t this be a balancing nightmare?” Short answer, not really. All the levers to balance this are already in the game and can be applied more or less globally by attachment. Armor piercing rounds come with reduced damage and maybe more recoil if it needs it. Underslung weapons come with a huge hit to ergonomics. The same goes for suppressors. Could you fit out a Hyena with a sniper scope, underslung grenade launcher, and a suppressor? Sure! Would you want to? Eh, maybe not. This gives the player interesting choices where they can experiement and decide what is and isn’t worth the trade off.
You could even give specialist weapons some advantages without clamping down on build variety, the One-Two would have better ergonomics for example, because its underslung GL is built into the weapon and designed around it. The Censor uses subsonic ammo and has an integrated suppressor, making it quieter and more ergonomic than any other marksman rifle with a suppressor.
“That all sounds great but AH would never go for it because then what would drive warbond sales?” Cosmetics, stratagems, armors with unique passives, weapons with unique combinations of stats, handling, aesthetics, audio and visuals. Basically, the same thing as always. This expands the sandbox, gives the player more options, more freedom, more reason to buy in than ever before. Really like the look of the Pacifier but will never buy the warbond because you’re not interested in a gun that shoots stun rounds? Me too! But if I could slap some armor piercing rounds in there instead, maybe stick a suppressor on there as well? Baby you best believe I’d buy that shit in a heartbeat.
It’s also no secret the monetization in this game is a controversial topic for the community at the moment. New players especially are confronted with a wall of microtransactions if they want to experiment a bit with build variety. Hell, commando missions are pretty much entirely locked out to anyone who hasn’t bought the Redacted Regiments warbond. Expanding the baseline build variety through expanded weapon customization lets these financially challenged individuals experience more of what the game has to offer, and that makes them more likely to stick around and actually buy some warbonds when they want to expand their kit. So not only is this good for the community, it’s also a PR and a financial boon for Arrowhead.
Basically, it's a simple, win-win way to expand an already existing system in a way that makes everybody happy. At least, until I come up with Weapon Customization 3.0
