Original Title: Weapon Popularity by Platform
Author: J0hn-Stuart-Mill
Alright, so I’ve had this idea a while, but realized if I’m ever going to do it, I better hurry up before Close Quarters distorts the data heavily (both because of CQ weapon selection, AND because CQ = so much higher average kills/minute that I don’t want it to disrupt this data.
Methodology - What you’re looking at is total numbers of players who have carried guns past 600 kills. A shockingly high percentage of people stop using guns after they get the 500 kills dogtag, so I chose a 600 kill threshold to remove those players who only used the weapon to get the dogtag, and what remains are the guns that experienced and capable players are electing to use, presumably because they either feel the most effective with a given weapon, OR because they have some reason that a given weapon is their favorite. The more potent and experienced a player is, the more represented that player is here. If a player only played BF3 for 20 hours and doesn’t have any weapons beyond 600 kills, that player is not reflected in this data at all. With the data gathered, each graph is skewed so that the most popular weapon of each class becomes the “benchmark” and all the rest are relative to each other shown in percentages.
My second post in this thread will soon be meta-analysis of these numbers. (Kit vs Kit, and adoption rates, and such…)
*** All data scraped from bf3stats.com ***
Takeaways from Assault and Engineer -
- The Famas is still heavily used on Console. I think on PC a the average gun fight is at greater distance than on console. This leaves the Famas out in the cold if you can’t be potent at 30+ meters.
- Assault top 3 weapons account for 50-60% of kit usage
- Engineer top 3 weapons account for a solit 70% of kit usage (even less balanced than assault!)
Takeaways from Support and Recon -
- I personally find it interesting that the M249 is so popular. I suppose this is because it’s the most controllable huge capacity belt-fed
- PS3 likes the RPK more than the rest of us?
- Bushwookies LOVE the M98B
- I do not understand the L96’s popularity. Perhaps it’s BF2 Nostalgia, but I HATE the scope sway between shots while ADS.
- Everyone hates the SVD with a passion.
Takeaways from PDWs and Shotguns -
- The We finally see our first disagreement between platforms. ASVAL on PC and P90 king on console. Obvious reasons here I believe
- The 360 really loves the UMP? No idea why.
- The PS3 hates the 870 for some reason? Strange…
- The USAS was clearly king pre-patch, and the nerf was both necessary and appropriate
Takeaways from Pistols -
- G18 in it’s two forms is the most popular across the board
- 360 and especially PS3 really love the 93R
- Revolvers are most popular on PC
- No one, and I mean no one likes that M1911 Supp Tac (LOL)
Takeaways from Explosives -
- Bizarre- Consistantly on all platforms, the RPG accounts for 40% more kills than the SMAW (the ONLY thing I can think is Metro’s shooting down the stairs advantage)
- Super Bizarre- 2300 people have 100+ kills with the IGLA, but only 800 people in the world have 100+ kills with the Stinger. WUT?!?!?!
- 360, but especially PS3 LOVES C4?? This makes no sense to me
- PC users very effective with hand grenades
- The 360 players really love AT Mines, again, this makes no sense to me