[QUOTE=strychzilla;436367]I still think loadouts are a bad choice for a F2P model.
You should have 4 (I know you’re going to stick with 5) classes, with a default loadout. Then give the players the freedom to build their loadout the way they want and make more loadouts for the same class purchasable.
Example:
I pick medic default loadout is:
Primary: SMG
Secondary: Glock (****ty w/e)
Grenade: Standard
Special 1: HoT Healthpacks
Special 2: Revive paddle
Active Passive: You regenerate HP twice as fast (+2hp/ps)
I can than purchase a shotgun to replace my SMG, a Desert Eagle (current pistol) to replace my ****ty glock, I can purchase a wide range of grenades like a DoT nade (to prevent the other team from healing) or an AoE revive nade, an AoE heal nade, whatever the **** nade I want and be creative (yet balanced) with it. I can purchase different health packs, we can have one be a HoT, instant heal, have one that suppresses damage by 75% for 2-3 seconds, you can even make a real aggressive medic and have him drop bait packs that actually do damage to enemies that walk over them. Revive paddles can revive players slower but give them a HoT on pick up, have limited charges but gives the revived player invulnerability for 2 - 3 seconds, revives player with less health but it’s instant, paddles no longer revive, has a lower RoF, and does 60 damage to enemies.
Now of course their can be some OP ass builds if you go that direction. How do you control it for comp play? Simple, put a value to every item. Example:
SMG 4 pts
Glock 4 pts
Grenade: 3 pts
Special 1 HoT pack: 3 pts
Special 2 Revive Paddle: 3 pts
Active Passive: Regeneration 3 pts
Total: 20 pts
You can set a value limit on your servers to restrict builds (similar to how you do RAD soldiers.) If a certain build is OP in comp play you can increase the value of the item and thus make the combo not valid in comp play but still fun in pub play.
Example:
Value limit for comp play is 22, your build is 22, you’re using a strong passive with a special nade. It’s considered OP. You increase the value of the grenade by 1 or 2 and the combo is no longer possible.
The benefits of this is you give the players the freedom to build their character the way they want to, the way they want to play and still make a **** ton of cash. Strategy hits an entirely new level but still keeps the same FPS genre. Classes have a very different feel to them and are definitely unique compared to others.
Other passive ideas just to throw them out there.
Lt: Regenerates Ammo
Lt: Packs no long refill ammo but refill a grenade
Lt: Your weapons are more steady when ADS
Sold (base HP is 100): Your sold has +20 hp
Sold: Your conc nades no longer impair movement, your conc nade now do damage
Eng: Your movement speed is increased
Eng: You complete objectives faster
Eng: Your deployables can now be manually set up to decrease load up time.
Sniper: You make no noise when moving
Sniper: You load your bullets faster (higher RoF w/ bolt action rifles.)
I think it’s a better approach with a much higher cash potential.[/QUOTE]
It’s a nice idea and we’ve discussed similar stuff, I still think there are some issues with it though:
[ul]
[li]Games with similar systems have been accused of being Pay2Win (Blacklight), even if a lot of the stuff is side grades
[/li][li]When so many combinations become possible balance becomes harder to predict, test and manage
[/li][li]Points would help with balance issues, but that assumes the point costs we apply are fair
[/li][li]It can make it very hard for opponents to identify what enemy they are coming up against in a fire fight (“Does he have X or Y??”)
[/li][/ul]
To some extent what you’ve described is Brink with points 
