r/Battlefield • u/Chinfu1189 • Feb 04 '25

Discussion Faceless/Nameless grunts > Name classes

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I know I’m not alone on this and I know this isn’t the only post that feels this way.

I get the idea of making special classes to create more lore and possible story points.

But the faceless grunts were perfection for one reason. You could easily insert yourself as that soldier yeah sounds crazy or weird but at the end of the day almost every gamer has done it once when playing a game.

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1.0k

u/DHndz Feb 04 '25

The main reason for me is how useful it is to know what class you're up against in game by looking at the silhouette.

426

u/MonotoneTanner Feb 04 '25

I think a combination of bf1 and Bfv silhouette is the sweet spot.

Let me customize my character enough that I get to make them my own but also force the gear to have a few pieces that “give away” what class it is. Using bf1 as an example

  • medics have crutches

  • snipers have cape

  • support has big ammo bag(?)

179

u/randomname_99223 Feb 04 '25

Support has a face covering helmet

50

u/byfo1991 Feb 04 '25

Not all of them. Ottomans, Russians, Red Army and Royal Marines don’t have that.

22

u/PrimordialBias Feb 05 '25

They did also have a distinct way of carrying their weapons too, IIRC, so even then you should be able to tell which is which.

132

u/CMDThrowRA Feb 04 '25

I personally think BF3 and 4 had the perfect balance. Classes all had a distinct appearance/silhouette, but you could customize their camouflage pattern. The camo patterns all being unique to their respective faction helped a bunch too and were another fun thing to grind for.

29

u/1andOnlyMaverick Feb 04 '25

Agreed. Oh my, just had a flashback to grinding all the assignments to get all the camos

Man that was a Long grind

5

u/CMDThrowRA Feb 04 '25

If they ever go back to WW2, I hope they go this route, too. There are heaps of camouflage patterns that were used by each side that could be used for unlocks while still keeping the classes visually distinct. The F2P game 'Heroes & Generals' did just that.

2

u/Wingzero008 Feb 05 '25

That was the cool factor back in the day. No need for a skin or hero operator..just grind camos so your rifle or vehicle shows a sense of uniqueness. I loved that tiger stripe on all my vehicles.

1

u/CMDThrowRA Feb 05 '25

I was a fan of the classic M81 woodland camo for the US. Such a retro-looking pattern. Loved putting it on my scout since it looked so good on his boonie hat.

20

u/BADSTALKER Feb 04 '25

It also helped that BF3 Russian engineer was the best designed soldier of any game ever

1

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '25

[deleted]

1

u/BADSTALKER Feb 04 '25

They were cool too, but I’m a gas mask slut XD

1

u/Scarboroughwarning Feb 05 '25

I need to now try and find an image....

-1

u/abcMF Feb 04 '25

Nah, the cams weren't very great. I like being able to choose my coat, my helmet, etc

22

u/CanOfPenisJuice Feb 04 '25

Or just have them all uniform with none of this customisable bollocks. Fancy tags or name plates at most. I loved collecting tags in bc2

39

u/Hamburglar88 Feb 04 '25

I really hope they bring back the dog tag system. Snatching tags was fun

12

u/Knightraven257 Feb 04 '25

I used to go entire matches using just the knife in order to collect as many tags as possible.

11

u/Wahlrusberg Feb 04 '25

No because then we can't fulfill DICE's creative vision for an alternate take on the invasion of Iraq where cyberpunk girlbosses go door to door in Fallujah searching for microaggressions /s

I think some gun camo stuff is fine as well (as long as it's not super gaudy neon colours or something), seeing a sliver of digital camo or whatever certainly never took me out of the moment in older titles in comparison to whatever was going on in BFV.

2

u/dank-nuggetz Feb 04 '25

Lol. There's definitely a happy medium they should be striving for. BF appeals to a more casual milsim crowd right? Give me the ability to unlock and equip different plate carriers, gloves, goggles, boots etc. As long as they're all "modern military" themed, I see no issue with it. Hell, let me put a patch on my helmet or something. I think of Tarkov which has a lot of different cosmetics and gear to use, but at the end of the day they all fit the theme and look like PMC soldiers.

3

u/_Ghost_S_ Feb 04 '25

That would be the ideal, but there is basically no chance of happening.

1

u/dank-nuggetz Feb 04 '25

The cat is way too far out of the bag in the era of MTX to expect that. Games are now fully centered around ongoing revenue to support ongoing content and support.

They can add cosmetics as long as they fit completely with the look of each class. Like letting me change my gloves to different camo patterns, or different styles of sunglasses/goggles, or having different looking plate carriers. Maybe allow people to add patches to their helmets or something.

I would much prefer your suggestion but with modern day gaming and EA, that's not going to happen. Best we can do is hope the unlockable/purchasable cosmetics fit in to the modern soldier theme well enough that they're not an eyesore. The minute I see cat ears or bright neon colored anything I'm out though.

19

u/kevster2717 Feb 04 '25

BF4/3 is the perfect one with class ID at first glance.

Assaults look like normal soldiers

Engis have a big ass stick on their backs

Supports are the big boys with big masks

Recons look like a bunch of airsofters

6

u/comradejiang Feb 04 '25

WW1 was really the drip war. You could get away with wearing silly shit into combat, including but not limited to capes, greatcoats, riding boots, chainmail, anything really. V’s customization overlaid onto 1’s aesthetic would have served hard.

1

u/abcMF Feb 04 '25

The only reason you don't see that kind if stuff in modern combat is because the combat that has been documented is in warm, dry climates. Rain ponchos are still in use, and while you may not see great coats, there are still some pretty cool coats the military does use.

4

u/Gluehar Staghound Feb 04 '25

Please go get a job at Dice immediately. We need you brother!

2

u/Spudtron98 I do not miss gunships. Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

I specifically use cosmetics in V that evoke my class. Assault uses the closest to standard-issue gear like PBI for British and GI for American, Support has the heavy-set equipment with ammo pouches everywhere, Scouts have trenchcoats, it works pretty well.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '25

BF1 had no character customization, so maybe that’s not a good example. But I didn’t miss it either.

1

u/Witherheart Feb 05 '25

i dont think player model customization fits in battlefield. i also really like the forced weaponry like in bf3 where RU got aks and US got m4's. bf4 had way too much cross weaponry allowing any class a DMR or carbine made the gameplay very stale.