I just dont see why you don't listen to us who have been around long enough to know that big changes makes people quit the game. version 2,2 i think it was, nade throwing distance reduced, sights on both m16 and acog changed, bunnyjumping removed. People just left, the game practically died over night. Went from (made up number) like 14000 active to half that, i remember a 50% drop in active pubbing players. Big changes in a game are never for the better, especially on the loose terms of "it's boring as it is" Atleast go for "we want to improve things, do this, and this and hope for this result. With this you're not having enough valid points as for why change is valid, no improving points that actually make a diffrence is presented. You can dance around the bush saying "opinions differ" but it still don't change the fact that it will do nothing to improve anything.
Its like saying "I'm SO bored driving my car to work every morning, same road, same speeding cameras, cops are always on the same spot, i could sleep and still get there safe" Then having the road change into a curvy, bumpy, rimb crashing holes in the road "just for the fun of it" No improvement to the road, just to make it abit more exciting thinking it would change how i get from point A to B. WHY NOT?
Couple of things here Ares;
1. I wasn't around for v2.2 in it's prime-time. I came around when 2.3 was being distributed but I think my CD's were old because it seems like not long after I got them, I heard about v2.6 being released. But I played a mix of 2.3 and 2.6 for quite a long time. I was never part of the "competitive" community mostly because I never cared to be. I've always thought it to be silly to take games seriously. Back in these days, I enjoyed AA very much, pulling all-nighters was a frequent occasion. It's hard to figure but v2.3 is probably my 2nd most played game if not the first. I knew all the whoring, all the tactics, what players did and didn't like.
2. Changing the original game is a very controversial topic and one we're trying to handle delicately. We want to progress this game forward but we don't want to alter classic gameplay. Personally, I deem "classic" gameplay as that of the overall game feel, it's mechanics, if you will. I'm undecided whether or not it's a good thing to edit original maps. It's one of those things where a lot of people want to remember the classic maps as they were but it also stagnates gameplay very quickly. Random spawns wouldn't change the gameplay or the map but rather the tactics and behavior of the players on the map.
I would seriously doubt that the original dev team would like if all of you changed their trademarked maps into your own version of random spawns, create your own version of it, and then randomize spawn it all you want.
Nobody would play the new ones. That's been proven. mAAp Pipeline and Urban Assault SE are superior versions of the original maps but nobody bothers with them. The changes would have to occur on the original maps or players get sneaky and figure out ways around just like the 82nd guys and playing SF Pipeline once we told them forceclassing SF wasn't allowed.
Sure, we can do whatever we want to the maps but ultimately we want to take this game in a direction that will be favorable for the majority of users. What we should do is go through each original map and completely overhaul it. Fix bugs, improve graphics, add features that users want and discuss things like weapon loadout, spawn position and random spawns. The devs WOULD have done this if they had more time to refine the game rather than be pushed for more features in short deadlines.