Valve's changes to CSGO's balance have become
slow and cautious and this isn't a bad thing.
But sometimes, it's interesting to have a
major overhaul, which is something that Slothsquadron
has spent the last year doing! It's now up
and running and you can test these changes
on the servers mentioned in the description
of the video, but I'll try to summarise the
changes here.
First of all, who is Slothsquadron and why
should you care? He co-authors an in-depth
spreadsheet documenting every value for every
weapon in CSGO. He has greatly helped me with
my analysis videos by providing valuable information
that nobody else seems to know! This knowledge
gives him a unique approach to this weapon
balance project. He has been running changes
by Natosaphix to ensure that they make sense
from a competitive stand-point.
First shot accuracy has been improved across
the board- you can now see if it makes the
change you hoped it would! Pistols have been
completely reworked to cater for many of the
suggestions in Thorin's video, 'The Pistol
Problem'. The aim of this was to move the
strategy away from lucky sprays by making
them more accurate and skill-based when stationary
and by reducing their effectiveness when on
the move. The Deagle functions similarly to
how it did in past games and is now the only
pistol that can one hit kill a helmeted opponent.
Also, pistol prices were increased to make
them more of a risky buy.
This gives SMGs and shotguns more room to
shine in anti-eco rounds. SMGs are about the
same, but shotguns (excluding the Mag-7)have
tighter spreadsso may actually serve a purpose
in matches. Even the M249 has been changed.
It's now cheaper, more accurate, can one hit
kill helmeted opponents at most ranges and
has a sensible spray pattern. It almost acts
as a luxury alternative to the rifles!
As an experiment, The M4A1-S now costs the
same as the M4A4, though its damage drops
off more at range. Tap-firing is now more
accurate for all rifles. Scout-jumping has
been removed but it has received buffs in
more sensible areas and the scoped movement
speedfor the heavier snipers has been increased
to almost what itwas before their nerf.It
will be interesting to see how large changes
to guns that are so prominent in the meta
will affect how players choose their weapons.
Here's something I like- the difference between
starting CT pistols is more like the choice
between the M4A4 and M4A1-S. The USP-S's magazine
size is now 10 but has been made more accurate
to compensate.Having two distinctly different
pistols to choose between will let you choose
a weapon that better complements your play-style,
which in turn gives your choice greater meaning.
This can only be a good thing, even if you
disagree with the current differences between
them.
I know that even if this mod is universally
praised by all that Valve won't just implement
the changes over-night. I'd be kind of worried
if they were. But I think that this mod is
a great opportunity to try out many of the
changes that people have wanted for a while
and to see if it improves the game. As well
as this, Slothsquadron has also included tweaks
that I wouldn't have thought of in a million
years, in part due to the way he has approached
this project in a numbers-based fashion. Now
he has a chance to get real-world feedback
from you!
Remember, changing things is not the same
as admitting that what was done previously
was wrong. Just as I did with de_newke, change
is a chance to try NEW things and ultimately
that's worth doing, even if you end up deciding
you don't like them! But there will be some
you like. And the result of this can only
be a better game for everybody. Oh and testing
this won't get you VAC banned.
What's next? I have an installation video
and another, longer one that looks at the
changes in more depth. You'll find a link
in the description of these videos to a reddit
forum which will have all of the news and
updates on this mod that you could possibly
want to know, as well as a list of servers
hosting this mod. As flashy as these videos
are, the beating heart of this project is
the reddit page and should be your first port
of call for questions and information! Let
us know what you think of this mod there!
