Ok i wont dispute that FF limited was unpopular, the population numbers bear that out.
But FF arcade is a terrible substitute and its because of the fuel rod gun. Everyone grabs the FRG and the jetpack and just rains green hell down on everything, so that you dont get a chance to even do anything. You mayaswell just go and stand in the corner for the whole game.
It just makes for terrible gameplay, you basically get permanently deafened and blinded by you teammates tossing out fuel rod shots at anything that moves, including you.
No one ever votes for the more interesting game options either. This means that FF is basically a one trick pony now and that is a damn shame because the potential depth of gameplay that firefight has to offer is incredible, but as it is now its just a fuel rod tin can alley. Any staff here, go and play a few games and youll see what i mean.
So tl;dr, i think the fuel rod needs to go from arcadefight, for much the same reasons as it is almost never in competitive matchmaking.
Each weapon has its place in the game. Many people think being able to use the FRG and Jet Pack is some kind of super-weapon. It’s been my experience that the FRG is a death-trap. You can’t hit anything from long distance as guys dodge the very slow-moving green globs. And if you use it in close, you bleed your own shields to actually hit guys, so eventually an odd PP shot or a PR kills you. Plus, if you fly into the air to avoid the backsplash all you do is make yourself a visible target. Only exceptionally talented individuals know how to use this combo well, but it is a pretty complementary combo overall. Also, “power” weapons like the rocket and FRG are best on small-to-medium size FF maps. Maps like Beachhead, Outpost and Overlook are too large to effectively use a weapon whose killing trait is its area-effect splash. On large maps I always go with precision weapons because I can strike from long-distance with a high degree of accuracy.
It is entirely possible to outscore FRG users and show them the error of their ways.
Example
Personally I think the rocket is a better power weapon because the rocket moves faster and is stronger. The only downside is the long reload time and the AA attached is sprint which doesn’t complement the rocket in the same way as the Jet Pack complements the FRG. The point is most people don’t really learn how to use any of the weapons effectively. They just pull the trigger as fast as they can, which is what the FRG is really good at.
I favor use of precision weapons myself, but I’d rather see more small-scale weapons like the AR, needler, shotgun (b/c there are definite drawbacks to its use when four Elites run right at you), needle rifle, PP, and PR. IMHO, these should be the base weapons for all FFs with liberal use of power weapon drops.