Final MCG analysis and possible solutions

Best fix:
Increase default magazine to 200. 200 reserve. Extended mags: 400. None in reserve. Maybe people will actually use ammo belt now. This is a tradeoff as the heavy can no longer have a suit slot advantage. That doesn't suck.
Put FART in barrel slot. Increases RPM to 1000. Damage is reduced to 134.

Done.

That COF is crazy, yes a changun is a very difficult thing to control but worse than a shotgun? really?

Realistically speaking, Chainguns can be quite acurrate at longer ranges, a big problem, however, is their recoil, which is completely nuts.

is there any difference between the mcg we have on live server and the the pts mcg with 200 mag equipped? because if there's no increased spin-up time or more RoF I can only see this update as a very not needed nerf to the gun.
the brrt makes the gun a bit better than now at close range and 1 vs 1 corner encounters (but still far from being competitive versus other weapons thanks to the spin-up time) but destroys the weapon medium/long range effectiveness and does so at the cost of half our ammo pool, while still keeping the same neverending reload time?

Yeah. Its worse. Using other attachments than the BRRT doesnt work. It makes the sustained fire from the extended mags a little strong if you were to combine the BRRT though to be honest. I thought it was amusing that hipfire with laser was more accurate than ADS on PTS. The problem as it stands with the current iteration, I am reloading roughly 50% of the time. That is a bit ridiculious.

My proposed idea:
A shorter SHORT reload would help this out considerably, while not buffing the extended mag MCG in to large a way.
Decrease COF while ADS'ing. The weapon should be effective out to 20 meters. Especially If I am willing to take the movement penalty.

People have stopped comparing the MCG to the Carv.

You're doing it right SOE.

Yes, SOE promised to fix the MCG - in result it was neerfed. I shudder at the very thought of Striker update.

well, the fix they promised shows that they actually know the gun has a problem. remember this stuff is still in testing and we had already different versions of the BRRT in about a week.
I say give em time, right now can anyone confirm that the gun on test server (without BRRT attachment on) has no increased spin-up time or RoF? if that was the case I think the gun would be pmuch useless, being crippled in close quarter environment due to the spin-up time (less with BRRT, but still the only infantry weapon that has it) and useless in medium/long range because of the new ads accuracy.

It's clear to me that the MCG player likes to use the chaingun because it's a fun and unique weapon...to force player to have only 100 bullets in order to be somewhat competitive is a straight way to make the MCG feel less unique and less fun, making most of its users simply switch to another more competitive gun.

the hipfire buff IMHO is not needed, just stick with the old hipfire bloom, move the BRRT to another weapon slot and make it remove the spin-up time, keep the max RoF to 800 and the ADS accuracy we have now on test server and you are done, here's a fun, terrain weapon that is "niche" and absolutely not overpowered, being useless for medium/long range shots and in close quarters not much different from other similar close quarters carbines, cept for the ammo pool. is it that so difficult?

Get real please.

Personally this is what i think needs to be changed about the MCG:

1) Change the BRRT into a fire mode
2) Let Exmags be kept as an attachment
3) And keep rest of the features as it is in its current mode

Ammo reserve can be buffed later on if the MCG is still underperforming.

People can choose when they want the faster RoF or when they want the long range option.

Don't worry about what they can do to the Striker, it's complete garbage, it simply CAN'T be made worse. So there's that at least. It could be argued that they can make it equally bad just in a different way, but let's not jinx it, now that SOE is on such a streak of genius...

Sigh, the changes to the MCG on test are really not cause for enthusiasm.

I think SoE should redesign the weapon, to be the intimidating bullet-hose most players including me think it should be. Such as:

- Remove ADS completely.

- Change the RMB to spin up the barrel, thus making it fire at top RPM immediately. To balance, barrel spinning makes noise and increases minimap visibility. Basically, the sound of a spinning MCG barrel should make the other side spoil their spandex, or similar.

- Remove the BRRT attachment completely, as it's a poor solution.

Well the BRRT nearly removes the barrel spin time. It takes 5 bullets to reach max rank, starting off at a pretty high RoF.

They just need to make the BRRT a fire-mode and not an attachment.
This allows Exmags to be kept as an attachment.
This allows you to switch to a more accurate CoF for less DPS.

Not having downloaded test, I do have one or two ideas

-BRRT as a fire mode, this needs to happen.
-Munitions-Fabrication unit as an attachment. Link the magazine to the user's shielding, both Overshield and standard. Firing over 100 rounds sends the MCG into overdrive, drawing energy from the HA's shields in order to create more rounds, slowly draining the user's shield charge, allowing for the continued fire of up to ~300 rounds past what was originally loaded, provided no damage was taken.

Too complex, just give the Vulcan and MCG "Heat" mechanic(On top of all the other things both need to be viable). Simple stuff works better, translates better, easier to process when you ADADADAD and trying to survive against rabid SMG/Shottie wielders or throw off that RL aimed at you ;P I like new and unique mechanics, only intuitive ones though. No offense.

Now this talk about the Striker has got me interested in finding a very old discussion here on the Forums about how it could be made fun again. If only I had saved that... It was full of good ideas if I dare say so, having added a couple. If SOE were to just make it a Coyote clone or Multi-Lock or just plain DF like the stock RLs, that MIGHT be enough.

Know what would be extremely LOL worthy? If it worked like the Coyote on Infantry or at least MAXs as well!

(With the right appropriate Stats of course)

Come to think of it, why don't we have the option to fire salvos on Striker, Zephyr, C75 and Duster? Mag dump it, less control but more Dmg delivered instantly. Oh and sorry for the Cluster-Post ;P

SO MCG rpm buffed by 50rpm with attachment, but nerfed range and accuracy. You call that a fix?

I rather keep my extended mag, 50 rpm is nothing. Better yet, the shotgun is better at CQB anyway. I'll just shelf my MCG like before.

It needs better range and accuracy than the Jackhammer, with slower TTK but still competitive. It's only fair.

Try it now - I think they pushed a patch out in the past few minutes, the COF is noticeably tighter now when you ADS.

The reticle is indeed tighter, but the ADS stats are the same and I compared a screenshot of the bullet spread I had before to what is is now and didn't notice much of a difference, if anything at all.

I bet you money it's a placebo.