There exists a dimension where balance is just a word which starts with "B".

What I say may be difficult to grasp, but I assure you there is a very real meaning here which is very supportive of the points I will make.

Far away from here in a nonlinear sort of way, there is a place like any other. It inhabits space, or would be considered the lack of it. It is not far unlike this place here, but at the same time it is vastly different. How can it be both? Consider Einstein's theory of relativity. There are an infinite number of existences or dimensions which can not be quantified and the content of which can neither be qualified nor compared so far as we know. The differences range in a number of impossible variables, so much so that if there are an infinite number of realities which must be different, it must therefore also be true that there are an infinite number which are the same. If we were able to pass between them, who is to say our reality should be the measure of the others? We are infinitesimally small compared to all the others which would attempt the same sophistry. This limits us purely to the realm of theoretic rhetoric in relation to this thread which we will discuss.

You see, there must exist somewhere, probably within the same space on a different plane of existence a Planetside 2 where balance issues do not exist because the people inhabiting that space do not comprehend it to be a problem. Instead they spend their time discussing skill and challenge level. Theoretically speaking, if Einstein is correct... that must also be a possibility here so long as physics are a constant.

What I am getting at is that what if we were to take a moment and consider Planetside 2 perfectly balanced as far as we could know? What if instead we adapted in a fluid manner instead of trying to make the game adapt, a far less flexible solution. If there was an instant kill weapon, the people from the theoretic dimension would learn to dodge much better. A simple solution, and we can not exclude the likeliness in this particular universe that people can also be reasonable and therefore no weapon would be inordinately unreasonable. It's quite simple really. Let us attempt this if not only briefly. It is possible if you believe.

I do not feel serviced by this announcement.

Half the fun of a sandbox, EVE O, is finding and exploiting things introduced to gain an advantage. Long may market forces give us poorly designed cash grab weps

Let's say the instant-kill weapon was hitscan and had a 20m AOE?
The skill required to hit vs the skill required to dodge is far lower and there is no challenge in dodging as you are almost completely dependent on the user skill to dodge rather than your own. To which the people from the other dimension will respond to with only one thing: Picking the same weapon to equalize the skill requirement between them. It's the only way to adapt to it and will limit the amount of playstyles, variation and fun people can be having in the game.

But what if we equalized the challenge and skill requirements? We could give different challenges with a somewhat equal skill requirement to each faction and let them play against each other. This would open up the game and allow more playstyles to be effective, would give players the option to form their own challenges without being disadvantaged (unless they set it up that way) and would mean that all factions get a more or less equal chance at winning.
Also, the challenge will be equalized. If we keep it so that one team has the big challenge and needs to adapt, then the logical conclusion is that the opposing team will have a smaller challenge and needs to adapt less, giving one team less of a fun value regardless of how you look at it.

And therefore folks, these people from this dimension have invented this thing called "Equalization", which is there to form the line from which we start creating the challenges and adaptations you need to enjoy the game.

People already do this. If there's a sniper, everyone I see runs in an unpredictable manner and towards some sort of cover. If they know there's a LA, they periodically look at rooftops. Enemy is coming close, take some cover and pre-aim.

It's natural and therefore commonly sighted that people adapt. It could be seen as a universal trait of all living beings. Claiming people don't do this sort of thing in-game is a bit silly, at least in my observation. People have adapted very well if you compare same players from 2012 and 2017.

I also notice this to some degree. Of course it isn't universal and doesn't happen all the time, but there are a lot of players who do ask "how is X so good?", "how to be a better LA/HA/infil/medic/engi/etc?".

This is basically taking the blue pill and ignoring potential issues completely, and shouting "EVERYTHING IS FINE" to yourself. I never understood these sorts of "cease and desist" attitudes. Imagine if I made these sentences :

"What if we were to take a moment and consider politics perfectly honest and every decision made by politicians well-intended as far as we could know?"
"What if we were to take a moment and consider economics perfectly stable and never-changing as far as we could know?"

Now, the sentences are absurd and were intended to be this way and I'm not implying that Planetside 2 has any really massive balance issues, but my point is that EVERYTHING SHOULD BE QUESTIONED, even my post. If we do, we can come to conclusions on why certain systems are right or wrong and should certain things be altered and improved.

Because ultimately, balance is incredibly important in the gaming world, ESPECIALLY in Planetside 2 which is a COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER GAME where engagements are decided by skill. In this sort of game, balance is CRUCIAL to game design because if you don't do it properly, you create a lot of useless, inferior gear or superior gear that allow users to beat more skilled users with practically no downsides, which kind of negate the competitive point of the game and kill gear variety, in other words reduce the quality of the game and diversity of playstyles.

In other words, poor balance can completely ruin the skill aspect of the game and boil it down to "if you don't use this weapon or gear, you instantly lose". It should always be questioned, for questioning and discussing things does reveal which statements and approaches can be valid, what can be improved and discredit and expose bad design.