Balancing the matchmaker would be an interesting option. I have this idea for players to be able to choose a category their vehicle belongs to based on the way it’s built and the intended playstyle. My idea was for there to optionally be icons representing these categories for quick and easy reference on the HUD. Imagine, if in addition to seeing teammates’ nicks, we’d see icons telling us wat they’re driving, to help us make better tactical decisions, e.g. if someone is a heavy, or fast, high alpha, support, etc. Some examples of such categories:
- skirmisher (assuming mgs or similar)
- brawler (assuming shotguns or similar)
- tank (assuming cannons or other high alpha damage weapons)
- spidertank (as above, but on legs)
- melee (a buzzsaw icon for any melee function, also passive melee)
- lancer (if a separate category from melee)
- flamer
- artillery (an icon showing a steep firing arc - incinerators, howitzers or similar)
- sneaker (a general icon for any sneaky playstyle)
- barrier car (or just a turtle icon, to show a general defensive function)
- miscellanneous support, maybe mines, kapkans
- droner
- a Firewhip type car - because it’s so unique.
But, ultimately, it would be up to the player to determine what playstyle they’re after, and not about the weapons used.
Such a division could help put teams together so there ideally is someone to do the tanking, someone for skirmishing or brawling, a melee, a droner to get carried… 
Except in such a case teams could seem weird, at least for those that are used to the unpredictability. It could help new players find a niche for themselves, and seeing as the developers have been changing Crossout to better accommodate new players, who have NOTHING - no stuff, no experience, no motivation, maybe it would be something they’d want to implement. Anything to keep new players happy for what seems like a short expected duration before quitting for good. They keep lowering their expectations of new players, and that seems to be making the game more casual.
I remember being overrun at Sector EX (note the subliminal programming) by a team of mostly melees. But maybe a skilled enough team would be able to handle that? Which, in turn, would require wantng to play well. Too many lazy losers that aren’t trying enough and don’t seem to care about improvement. Which would be another reason to have separate leagues for anyone, for art vehicles, for competitive players, and an elite league tag to help with automatic selection of battles to stream on twitch, promote the game, attract more players, more money, and it could’ve been done years ago, if only the developers had cared enough to do something for the game, to be creative, brainstorm all possible options. It was their responsibility to have come up with the Twitch idea, not mine. I shouldn’t have to think about how to better promote the game because I see the developers being too lazy to care.
It could be balanced relatively easily, with developers devoted enough. E.g., the Cockpit could have been balanced by setting the bonus damage limit at +100% or +90%, and reducing the bonus by 1 point for each energy point spent on weapons. That way, if a leviathan had 50 energy points in weapons, the damage bonus would be +50% or +40%, respectively. And regular PvP vehicles would retain a higher bonus. There could be made special conditions taking into account the Destructor or the Wang, e.g. having the bonus decrease throughout a volley dealing damage to a single target - but that could be too limiting for the Hurricane. But at least the general rule with reducing the bonus depending on the energy spent on weapons would be a big improvement. A simple, elegant solution. If they’d only cared to do balancing creatively.
At this point, I’d expect new balancing measures being aimed at new players, to make the gameplay easier, less demanding, so as not to scare them off too soon, so they’d spend more money. The writing is on the bathroom stall wall, and it’s not crayon. Which reminds me of the glory points and the new co-driver system. “Those players who are close to reaching max level and have unlocked one or more co-drivers may have too much advantage over those who are at earlier stages of the game and cannot unlock a co-driver yet.” This is a quote from today’s preliminary announcement of the new system with a list of some of the new co-drivers. It quote conveys a very obvious message: the developers don’t expect new players to stay long, so they want to make their short stay more bearable. So that they’d be more inclined to buy a pack, feeling more welcome, hopeful, until the disappointments hits hard and they quit for good. Making more room on the servers for new arrivals. A high player turnover rate isn’t bad for a game if money is flowing in. Gameplay quality be damned! This particular writing has been on the wall so long it’s fossilized over the years.
For clarity, let me emphasize:
- higher and higher turnover rates, both expected and preferable,
- focus on providing a sense of achievement early on,
- which makes new players more likely to spend money - because they feel like they’re already achieving something, in their very first days of playing,
- still not caring about losing players, and if they only play for a few months instead of years on end, that’s even better, because there’s extra room for new arrivals,
- gameplay quality was never a priority, so if seasoned players quit because the game is broken (by favoring new players and their lack of experience or involvement), even more free space on the servers.
Bonus remark:
Western players still pay double the prices for Russian players and still no money is being invested in launching servers in North America, but they’re free to quit anytime, whatever. Just pay us and go, hurry up!
