2013-06-25 20:44

Hello DICE and Battlefield fans,I've been a major Battlefield fan since Battlefield 2, a major fan of Fabrique Nationale's SCAR rifle for nearly as long, and a firearms nerd for even longer than that.So far, the SCAR has been available in BF2, BF:BC, BF:BC2, BF:P4F, and BF3, and it's pretty likely that it'll make an appearance in BF4. Basically every modern-setting Battlefield game (except Modern Combat) since Battlefield 2 has featured this firearm.The part that peeves me, though, is that, without fail, the version of the SCAR available in all these games uses a mesh modeled after the outdated prototype version of the First Generation SCAR (except BF:P4F, which looks like a First Generation stock on a Third Generation rifle).A lot of these photos will be high resolution, so be careful!Specifically, these are the weapons we see ingame: the SCAR-L [upload.wikimedia.org] and SCAR-H [imfdb.org], which are "early prototypes" [en.wikipedia.org] that were really only proofs of concept, rather than actual field-ready rifles.Contrast this with the Third Generation rifle, which is currently in use today: SCAR-L [upload.wikimedia.org] and SCAR-H [upload.wikimedia.org]; even a cursory glance and comparison shows that there are many differences between the two generations (besides the Flat Dark Earth finish of the Third Generation), most notably to the ergonomics and thus aesthetics of the stock and lower receiver (the sights and upper receiver are also updated, just less obviously). These differences are evident even on the black versions of the rifles: SCAR-L black [i.imgur.com] and SCAR-H black [i.imgur.com].The Third Generation SCAR is also the one that is currently being used by the United States (and other countries') military and police forces, as seen in these photos: One [i.imgur.com], Two [i.imgur.com], Three [i.imgur.com], Four [i.imgur.com], Five [i.imgur.com], Six [i.imgur.com], Seven [i.imgur.com], Eight [i.imgur.com], Nine [i.imgur.com], Ten [imgur.com].The Wikipedia [en.wikipedia.org] and IMFDB [imfdb.org] articles on it also show the distinctions.After having put hours and hours into Battlefield 2, I was so excited to unlock my favourite firearm in the new, modern, cutting-edge Battlefield 3, and was totally crestfallen when it was the exact same long-outdated prototype version that was in Battlefield 2 six years prior (for contrast, the Third Generation SCAR started to show up in media around 2006, a year after Battlefield 2 was released), and Battlefield 3 came out long after the Third Generation SCAR was in every other FPS/airsoft form/every action movie/top several results for "SCAR" on Google Image Search. I love the Battlefield franchise, but it just kills me that I have to use the old, outdated prototype version of the gun every time I want to play my favourite FPS, when the decidedly-cooler Third Generation version is everywhere else.I realize this is nitpicky, but it's a big thing to a firearms nerd like me.Thanks for your time, and I'll see you on the Battlefield!Tyr