binnsyboy said:
Appropriate recoil on guns
A variety of weapons with them having strengths and weaknesses with nothing being generally overpowered (if it kills incredibly quickly then it usually has some realistic drawback, like a grenade launcher. Never the easiest thing to aim.)
No machine gun should kill in a couple of seconds.
If other game mechanics come into play that balance these out, then none of those are problems. Take TF2, for example. The force a nature gun for Scout has so much recoil it will cause both the enemy and the player to fly backward. However, this can be used to your advantage--it can break your fall as you go down and it can push enemies out of your way as you run. The sniper's gun has a small charge time, but if you get a fully charged head or well-placed body shot it's almost always an instant kill. Extremely precise, too. And a fully upgraded engineer turret will take any class out within a couple of seconds.
But each of these can be easily counter-acted with the advantages of other classes. For example, heavies and pyros are good against scout because the heavy can take a lot of hits and the pyro can do latent damage by setting the enemy on fire. Snipers can find other snipers with ease, and snipers are prime targets for spies to sneak up on, considering they're facing front most of the time. And Engineer guns can be disabled by spies, too--or taken out by characters who have been made invulnerable by medics.
So sure, what you said matters if the only choices a player has involves equipment, however if other mechanics are involved the system can be much more flexible and elaborate.
