AKBolto is honestly unnecessary

[Expletive]

It kind of makes the bolto completely obsolete, and I honestly don't see why they needed it when they added the BOLTOR in the same patch. Sure, it's "Cool" and all, and the players wanted it, but it just feels redundant and I feel the weapons aught to all have their own niche as opposed to certain guns being objectively better than others in all situations. The only real exception to this I'd like would be the starter equipment which, let's face it, is what they're their for. I'd like to give honorable mention to TF2 and how well they've handled adding lots of new and fancy weapons and supporting new playstyles without too much imbalance. See, it should all be about side-grades, as opposed to upgrades. Instead of buying/crafting a gun that is objectively better than your current one, you should acquire it because it would open up new styles of gameplay for you and allow you to have more fun in a different manner than you'd have been able to before.

tl;dr: New guns should offer new options and gameplay expansion, instead of just demanding you grind to get the same gun you already have just with bigger numbers.

[FrankJaeger]

and the players wanted it

'Nuff said.

...

Ok, it's me, so its never enough said. Player demand should inform Dev choices but not override or control them, obviously. And I agree with your overall idea of making weapons unique and all, but I don't see a major problem with having akimbo variants on the regular (non-hand cannon) pistols. It just makes sense. I can hold one Bolto, why not two? Now having 2 pistols over 1 should have its own effects. Reduced accuracy/aiming, or faster reload times, whatever. I haven't look that closely into the differences between 1 or 2 of the same pistol.

[Ced23Ric]

You see, there is something in game design that is the "rule of cool". You put something inbecause it's cool. Not because you need it or because it makes sense. But it's cool. Makes people happy. And whammo, there we go, Akimbo Boltos. I don't mind, I run them. There is no harm done using or not using them. They don't break the game. They just make people happy. :)

[Expletive]

Player demand should inform Dev choices but not override or control them, obviously. And I agree with your overall idea of making weapons unique and all, but I don't see a major problem with having akimbo variants on the regular (non-hand cannon) pistols. It just makes sense. I can hold one Bolto, why not two? Now having 2 pistols over 1 should have its own effects. Reduced accuracy/aiming, or faster reload times, whatever. I haven't look that closely into the differences between 1 or 2 of the same pistol.

It could be argued that because the BOLTO fires a projectile that is as long as the gun barrel, that it is indeed a 'hand cannon'

Edited February 1, 2013 by Expletive

[FrankJaeger]

It could be argued that because the BOLTO fires a projectile that is as long as the gun barrel, that it is indeed a 'hand cannon'

It could also be argued that because the Tenno are using cybernetic space ninja suits and are capable slicing through an entire body with armor, muscle tissue and bone with a single Skana strike, that they could handle the recoil/knockback of a weapon like the Bolto with one hand.

Edited February 1, 2013 by FrankJaeger

[Expletive]

It could also be argued that because the Tenno are using cybernetic space ninja suits and are capable slicing through an entire body with armor, muscle tissue and bone with a single Skana strike, that they could handle the recoil/knockback of a weapon like the Bolto with one hand.

You're right, this line of reasoning is pointless. Instead of arguing fluff, we should be debating numbers. But since you seem to feel that dual pistols are fine and I don't, I suggest a compromise, which is really just another word for a solution that neither party is happy with.

The compromise: You can have Dual Pistols, but they can't ADS. Pressing the aim key merely fires the gun in the off-hand. This allows for both gameplay diversification and expansion of fluff. Each frame's 'off' hand can be unique to them, giving them another unique character trait, of which we have so few.

[Mebhin]

It's a little annoying for me because I used a catalyst on my Bolto and while I was playing yesterday on three separate occasions people asked me why I wasn't using Akbolto as it's 'better'.

You could make an argument to reduce the accuracy of the akimbo pistols I guess. However it'd be very hard to do that without making them useless. I usually use my pistol when I've got a weapon that isn't very accurate at range to take out a camera or shoot a flier. Lately I've been using my bolto to take out ancients when I have a main weapon that doesn't have any armour penetration.

[Ced23Ric]

"This alternative option I don't intend to use needs to be nerfed to make something that I use better.."

I don't know how this makes sense.

[Wolfereign]

It's a little annoying for me because I used a catalyst on my Bolto and while I was playing yesterday on three separate occasions people asked me why I wasn't using Akbolto as it's 'better'.

You could make an argument to reduce the accuracy of the akimbo pistols I guess. However it'd be very hard to do that without making them useless. I usually use my pistol when I've got a weapon that isn't very accurate at range to take out a camera or shoot a flier. Lately I've been using my bolto to take out ancients when I have a main weapon that doesn't have any armour penetration.

Wouldn't make sense because the bolto is wielded in just 1 hand. Also It takes 2 boltos to make an AKbolto so it should be better then just a bolto

[FatRefrigerator]

They should remove ADS from dual-wielding and then make a skill branch that gives you the ability to dual-wield, and then down the tree it improves accuracy while dual-wielding, off-hand stats, main hand stats, etc.

[direcyphre]

Because two is always better than one, dual-wielding is always cool. Adding downsides to dual-wielding makes no sense since you have to sacrifice two Boltos just to make it, just like the Afuris. It's an upgrade, plain and simple. I even sacrificed a level 30, supercharged Bolto in the making of an Akbolto for that matter. Zero regrets and never looking back.

Adding a mechanic where you can't ADS, and shoot two guns independantly would add a lot of mechanics that wouldn't really help anything else. I suppose it would be different if you just straight up had two Boltos to use and could dual-wield by default without having to create a new gun, but there aren't a lot of dual-wield variants for it to be a priority.

[FrankJaeger]

I disagree - just as a matter of personal taste, I feel they should have single and dual pistols both be viable but distinct options, with at least some minor tradeoffs between the two. This is not a radical idea - plenty of games that include dual wielding like that have drawbacks, such as removing ADS or lower accuracy like people have said; but I think a lot of people agree with you, that having two should just be better than one. It's going to just come down to a Dev decision on what they want to do. My vote just goes for having tradeoffs.

[CY13ERPUNK]

i luv how they look

i miss my old akimbo latos looking like the boltos

but i hate the bolto mechanics (projectile hard to see and speed makes aiming a huge chore)

[Nasmodok]

Personally.. I won't use it as a rifle. I don't want it on my main gun. I'd much rather have the pistol version. Putting both out in the same patch lets people use it where they want it.

Edit: Also, it doesn't make the bolto useless, because you need to make the boltos first. It's an upgrade that you've earned. Plus you even use your first bolto to make the new one, so it's not even wasted resources. I played with my bolto up to level 15 before I was ready to combine it into the Ak version. I think they did a great job with it.

Edited February 2, 2013 by Nasmodok

[Telzen]

I hope they didn't just make my Bolto useless. All the guns should be sidegrades from each other. Gonna suck if I now have to buy the dual one with plat.