DICE, let me introduce you to a lad by the name of “{UN} players.light.” He's a plucky chap, and a tremendous fan of the Recon kit. He's also singlehandedly demonstrating how masterfully horrible the APM mine is.
Nothing in Battlefield 2142 pisses me off more than the APM mine. I have made this abundantly clear in previous posts. But, like all “broken” elements of a game system, it's only a matter of time before people realize how to abuse them. Enter {UN} players.light. He's a relatively competent player, capable of moving and shooting on a level that escapes most people in the game, but he's really nothing special.
Despite this, he manages to rack up solid kill totals via the use of the APM mine. I ran into this dude numerous times, and pretty much every time I saw him, he had a mine out and chucked it down. I would then gun him down, and then as I tried to head off to the battle, the mine would kill me. Or, once I got wise to him, it would kill the guy that came after me.
This guy's tactic basically amounted to running into the area of the densest fighting, chucking down a mine or two, then dying. Of about 8000 kills this guy has, over 1000 are with the mine. 45% of his dropped mines kill somebody.
I know you guys are too arrogant to nerf the mine. You got it right the first time out, by gum! But if you suddenly have an epiphany, and realize that the game is about movement, squad tactics, accurate shooting, and is a simulation of vaguely realistic combat, you'd no doubt feel incredibly stupid about how much the APM mine is abused, and in what a ridiculous fashion. The fix is very simple: The mine requires 3 seconds to plant, and you must remain stationary. As it stands, you can run and leap around like a crack-addled snowshoe hare, and still deploy mines all you want (and {UN} players.light is more than happy to demonstrate this). This is retarded. You deploy the mine, you become stationary for 3 seconds, then it plops down. Do that, and you can leave all the other ridiculous, game-breaking properties, like the massive range, the total lethality, etc.
Seriously, guys. Play your own game long enough to notice how it works.