I'll put the sneak nerf on hold for now and see how it plays out with these bug fixes.
I saw my fortune teller and she said: "This will change nothing! Buahahaha!".
Maybe because those fixed bugs are not even close to problems listed in 3 previous pages...
Well, seeing as how being sneaked you still can achieve max view range of 100. You have to deal with these weapons.
DSR 91 ER
PKS 56 ER
DKS 75 ER
Minigun 58 ER
And If we want to make it counter-able by hex firing on a street with no cover we have to nerf down sneak BG/Snipers sight range to just about PKS range.
Personally, I still am unable to come to a conclusion on sneak balance. I've seen the sneak strategy lose and win about evenly, one could say it takes less effort to camp sneaked but that's how I feel about sniper balls and rape trains as well.
I would like Simms opinion on the matter as I believe it is his platoon that is mainly using this strategy.
Sneak strategy is now strong, borderline OP against small to medium-sized groups (up to 8-12 including enemy sneakers). You can pick enemies off 1 by 1 from 'round the corners while being undetected by the rest of the group, maneuver freely across the map and not get cornered or suppressed to the point you can't change your position.
On the other hand, you cannot actually apply this kind of strategy to the large prime-time teamfights as it is. If you have a 20+ battlegroup and a couple of sneakers on your own, you can counter it pretty easily by
a) keeping your group tight
b) having long open ranges covered by at least 2-3 people with DSRs so it's too risky for sneaks to open up on them
c) screening your group with your own sneakers to prevent the enemy from getting closer
d) if you fight in the open, basically having more DSRs than the enemy helps a lot -- you can lose one in a sneaker attack but it'll be a suicide move for them. It applies to all sorts of rangefights, stealthed or non-stealthed alike.
Moreover, with the current defib mechanics it's not much of a problem to avoid irreplaceable casualties from long-range sneakers. If one of the group gets taken down by a sneaker salvo, you have plenty of time to revive him while sneakers change the position and restore APs.
So, basically, all-sneak and mixed (like 50%/50%) groups have slight advantage in maneuvering, but lack firepower and defence both to hold their ground and to force the enemy from their positions. When the location gets saturated by enemies, it becomes really hard to choose the terms of the fight as the zones are not really too big considering the 60-100 hex ranges the firefights occur at.
Why use combat sneak at all? It's good when you're outnumbered 2:1 (or even more) and you intend to inflict as many as possible casualties while taking as little as possible on your own. You cannot really prevent the enemy from capping the zone eventually (even if you get higher score, the zone will be recapped right after), nor can you cap and hold the zone on yourself, but you still decide when and where to initiate and to stop the fight.
Talking about proposed changes -- this:
Effective range nerf while using sneak+amplifying the damage recieved by the sneaker after desneaking, to add a high risk factor. Along with a anal train nerf
Plus, at the moment we've got a very DSR-heavy meta, "light fifties" being the weapons that grant 90% of kills every teamfight, both for sneakers and non-sneakers. Along with machineguns (up close) and wakizashis (ever closer), it's the guaranteed way to get a quick kill -- and the only one that works at all ranges and outranges every other weapon. In most other ways, there are still chances for the enemy to NOT die after a single salvo.
Changing the availability of these guns and ammo will do both things -- eliminate the DSR+sneak combo from mass usage and prevent reducing teamfights to 90-hex range wanking. To be honest, this was discussed by us on the first week of the game as .50 ammo and guns became widely available -- you can buy several hundreds each day and they get stacked by thousands in the end.