TRIGGER WARNING
The following video contains graphic scenes of a swashbuckling, one-eyed pirate yelling "YARG" at a camera
Greetings. I, the WarOwl, greets you.
What's wrong with Counter-Strike?
Sure, there are some problems, like
how easy it is to cheat at the game,
how scummy some of the people in the [organizations] are,
*wink*
as well as how we still don't have 128 tick servers and unranked matchmaking,
but the one thing that isn't a problem is the core gameplay.
That's what keeps us coming back,
that's what separates Counter-Strike from all of the trash out there.
Sure, we can make changes over time,
to the weapon balance, to map visibility,
small bugfixes, and such,
and the game has drastically improved since it came out
which is a credit to the developers, and the dedicated community.
But why?
Why, oh why do all of the weapons,
all 33 of the weapons in the game
Why, oh why does the Negev,
the biggest meme weapon in the game,
have to be competitively viable?
A few months ago, we were given one of the biggest eye-rolling changes in the game's history,
since that week the auto-shotty was ridiculously over-powered.
A rework of the Negev, to make it actually viable,
instead of, just a joke.
The idea is to give the Negev a stationary turret role,
making the weapon get more accurate the longer you fire it,
or, the complete opposite of how Counter-Strike works.
Just recently, we've seen another major change to the Negev,
a desperate plea to the player to actually use the weapon.
The price has been dropped to $1700,
the same price as the Scout and the MP7,
making it a possible choice for an Anti-Eco round,
and Force-Buy rounds.
The armor penetration has been decreased,
taking away the one-tap potential of the weapon.
In fact, it's been strategically changed
so that at point-blank range against a helmeted player,
it'll leave them with exactly one HP.
The accuracy of the weapon has been drastically improved,
but the S-P-R-E-A-D of the weapon remains unpredictable,
meaning that the recoil is easier to control
but the randomness of the weapon remains very very high,
to the point where one-tapping at anything higher than spitting distance is a bad idea
Hmm, reminds me a little of the CZ...
If we check out the new recoil pattern by removing S-P-R-E-A-D...
ooohhhh....
Oh no!
So we have a stupidly easy recoil pattern, and very high randomness...
"Skill based game?"
The accuracy is supposed to be the big buff to the weapon, encouraging players to burst or tap-shoot,
but with such low movement speed and such randomness compared to other weapons,
this doesn't really change the core reason why people won't take it seriously.
The movement speed while firing has been cut in half,
making it move incredibly slow while full-auto
and since it takes 13 shots before it is accurate
this is a weapon that's meant to be used while full-auto for an extended period of time.
I stated in a previous video that the only real use of the weapon was on the CT side,
to hold off Terrorist rushes,
and would be best used as a sidearm to a pistol,
like the Five-Seven or something,
that you can use as your primary.
Because of how long it takes to become useful,
but how slow the movement speed is,
I don't think players would ever move around the map with the Negev out.
It's incredibly situational; if somebody jumps out,
I mean, what are you gonna do?
You just gotta get lucky.
Meaning I would always run around with my pistol out in case I get jumped.
"YARG! Ye mateys ahoy!"
The fact that you need to spray at least 13 rounds to get it accurate,
combined with it's massive 150 round magazine capacity,
makes it little better than an extended molotov.
Players can just hear the spray of the Negev, and then just wait it out.
Or, they can just preshoot the Negever, given how obvious their position will be.
I don't see the Negev becoming viable in the least,
given how fast the gameplay of Counter-strike is,
and I really hope it doesn't, because it would ruin the best part of the game.
Counter-Strike's core shooting mechanics are about quick reactions combined with mobility.
Counter-Strike is a tactical shooter.
You have minimalist, clearly-defined passageways,
not a giant open field or a sprawling city.
You can't set the negev up on a tripod,
sit there for five minutes, and provide suppressive fire for the troops.
It just doesn't make sense in the gameplay loop of Counter-Strike.
If the weapon does become meta,
the randomness, combined with it's stationary use and laser-like accuracy when spraying,
drastically decreases the skill ceiling of the game.
My message is simple:
Let Counter-Strike be Counter-Strike.
Now I actually really like how many different weapons are bought inside of Competitive, and make sense to buy.
Counter-Strike is unique in this respect,
because of the money system of the game.
Weapons can be balanced based upon the in-game economy.
But not every single weapon has to be viable, or has to have a place
The Negev was always a fun troll weapon,
It was, "Oh, we have a lot of extra money,
"let's buy this dumb gun to make the other guy really mad,
"it'll be funny!"
And it really worked in that role.
It doesn't have to be an eco weapon
You don't have to invent a role for the gun,
as like this weird, stationary, turret-fire type thing.
It doesn't fit into the gameplay of Counter-Strike.
And while we're at it, the game would be much better if the CZ wasn't meta, okay?
Five rounds, you don't even have to really control the recoil for it,
It's random; it goes all over the place.
Think of the skill that goes into using the other pistols, or, dare I say it, the USP from 1.6
Now you're gonna be, "Wait, now, Warowl..."
You're gonna brow-beat.
You're gonna say, "You're a Luddite, Warowl.
"You just want things to go back to how they used to be."
Now for the past seven years
I've probably been the most positive, supportive voice in the community
for constructive feedback to the developers,
and changes to the game,
and I admit, the game's gotten better, and I like how many different weapons are being used.
But on this one, here's my constructive feedback:
Please, no.
I'm gonna go back to bein' a pirate...
Thank you, folks, very much for watching. I am the WarOwl and I still have no closer.™
"YARG! Ye mateys ahoy!"