I would like to share some specific thoughts on the changes to the Mandalorian class. I found that the change to the "feeling" of the EE3 had a significant impact, but unfortunately not in a positive way for everyone. Perhaps adding a new weapon that restores the classic way the EE3 behaved could appeal to those who preferred the previous style.
EE3 was a complicated problem and decision to make. In ye olden days, Mandalorian used to have the projectile rifle. Having that sniper, a jetpack, and more basic level design that combination proved to be pretty powerful in the right hands. Because it was so strong, and having it on a jetpack class it was eventually removed. In the end we were left with a lesser sniper mode on the EE-3, but it was still very powerful. There has been a little back and forth depending on members of the community over the years who have thought EE-3 sniper was a little too strong, or sometimes unfun to play against in very skilled hands, and the bloom mechanic a little too annoying and that it could have been made/done better. While another segment who played it loved the weapon, got were really familiar with its capabilities and knew how to use it to great effect. As a dev you do have to try and see all sides and try and see the reasoning behind that feedback. Did people like it because they were dominating, did people dislike it because they were getting shit on? Did people like it because of the mechanics themselves, or did people dislike it because they were good players who genuinely felt it was too strong?
Now fast forward to more recent days, where we need to start adding new features into MB2. One set of them was Mandalorian abilities based on the recent show and one old ability that we didn't end up getting to work quite right. One of those was Amban, which brought back a dedicated sniper to the mandalorian class, but designed to be nerfed slightly to help prevent the oppressive nature of the original projectile rifle, and also to create a slightly unique weapon that matched the show and sat between proj and disruptor. Which with the return on a highly mobile class, having two sniper modes is kinda a bad idea. Then you have Beskar, which makes Mandalorian harder to kill. So a mobile, flying machine, with higher tankiness, that can reach areas other classes can't, with two high damage sniper options? A third is the addition of Whistling bird. Whistling bird + wrist laser + EE3 burst combos were SUPER strong when testing in beta especially against saberists that were caught off guard that we had to add a few minor delays to reduce its effectiveness. I shudder to think what that wombo combo would be like with old EE-3s sniper mode. So right there is three negative points towards maintaining old EE-3 on Mandalorian. The dedicated sniper addition returning, increased tank, and absurd combo damage potential. Beta testers did not want the comboing potential nerfed as they found it fun, so we largely kept it.
The next goes towards how past balancing was handled in MB2. In MB2 there has been a lot of game breaking problems that have plagued it for decades, and people in past dev teams and even the current dev team, have been doing what I and others call "Circular Balancing" where you are never going to end up at an ideal balance state, because the problems with MB2s meta/state of balance cannot be solved with the existing set of weapons, abilities, and classes. New things needed to be added, and radical changes needed to be done beyond just simple number tweaks. Those number tweaks just ended up going back and forth all these years. Two big examples are the fairly consistent buffing and nerfing of weapons like p3 and proj. This document contains many examples of completely radical changes that I believe were needed in order for MB2 to even have a chance at being balanced in the future. Things like a riot shield that is deployable for clone, giving another class other than jedi the ability to block a lot of damage coming from the front allowing rebels to push. Or astromech having a fire extinguisher to be used against fire grenades, or the magnet mine thing that gives another class outside jedi an option to redirect grenades. Mandalorian and EE-3 were treated no differently. Radical changes were needed in my mind. Those kind of radical changes will always have people who like it and dislike it, people who can change an adapt, and those resistant to that change. Regardless, throwing cogs in the wheel are what needed to happen. My only issue is the subsequent changes in my doc above have been too slow to happen, it all needed to be done much faster.
Another final consideration, and this is more me as a person than a lot of the team including the beta team, is that I firmly believe that if we are to ground ourselves in the Star Wars universe, and specifically call ourselves "Movie Battles" that canon and its design are important. To me it constrains designs a bit, and shifts what balance options are available. Otherwise we are not a Star Wars mod called Movie Battles and we should rebrand and retheme if we want complete creative freedom.
In the end, given all the variables from design additions, radical game design changes, mixed community feedback (so overall a wash), and core design constraints that I believe are important in mb2, I believe there was no choice but the complete removal of the old EE-3 from Mandalorian and its a decision I stand by. What the new team does it up to them, but I hope they at least honor or take into account the reasons for the decision. I fully expected that not everyone was going to agree, and that there is a lot of things even in the document I posted above, that were going to ruffle feathers. But to me that was the point, ruffling some feathers and bringing new life into something that has remained mostly stagnant for 13 years or more.
This is all I will say on the matter.
Another issue that bothers me is related to the rockets and the interruptions the class suffers whenever it is hit by the enemy. Why doesn’t the ARC class face the same disadvantage?
This was one of the rush decisions, brought on by the latest scrimmer grievances spamming the beta channels and developers giving in. This was not a decision I had any say in, and hated the idea because it felt forced, rushed, and just done to placate a few people. Its the kind of crap I had a big problem with while on the team.