The old system was better, no question about it. When the best strategy becomes camping for PODs, you know you’ve done something wrong. By having power weapons spawn in consistent locations, you can promote map movement, as teams can now plan accordingly to gain control of them. It also will give the team that has lost control of the map a strategy to take it back.
A perfect example of the flaws with this system can be seen in pretty much any game on Abandon. If one team gains top control, it is nearly impossible to get back into the game. They already have control of the power position, making it much easier to get kills. These easy kills help fuel their PODs, reinforcing their control even more, since now the team has control with SAWS, Shotguns, and Needlers in their back pockets. And then the fact that power weapons rarely spawn on the map, and spawn randomly, limits the strategies for the other team to take back map control.
The solution to this is simple. Delete the random drops from the maps and give the initial drops a spawn timer that applies to the weapon it’s set for.