1v1 me bro.
Nah but seriously, when we get to the final tuning stage, it makes sense to lean towards the strong side. Couple reasons: (1) hype new thing should be fun, and (2) if it’s fun to use, players get more reps in with it sooner. This helps a ton for properly diagnosing the specific fun/strength/frustration factors that emerge when the new gameplay thing is put in the spotlight by millions of players in the live game. Would rather release strong and nerf than release weak and buff. (NOTE: There needs to be a compelling gameplay reason to add the thing in the first place. With the CAR, we want that to be the magazine/loot versatility... that's always been its cornerstone. Change for the sake of change is blah.)
I remember playtesting the CAR close to release and essentially thinking, "damn, the mag versatility + strong hipfire + DPS make this thing a beast. Our last SMG had much more manageable recoil at range, and I suspect while people may eventually realize its power, if this doesn't have the potential to drop players quickly in a saturated weapon class, players might neglect it and stick with what they know." I remember watching streams and looking at the data a month or so after the CAR's release and its usage rate was lower than I anticipated. It was doing well in engagements where it was designed to excel though. Given enough time, those usage and power level metrics will align; good players will show how the on-paper strength translates to in-game strength.
In terms of power creep, this is a never-ending "struggle," if you can call it that. New legends/items have to be sexy and strong to disrupt the meta. The new thing has to be particularly appealing to get us to break up with what's comfortable. In a competitive game, I'm naturally going to sway towards what I'm comfortable with to give me the greatest chance of success, and often times it's what I have the most reps on.
So now that players have warmed up to the CAR, what's the best way to address something like the R99? It's a staple weapon in Apex and I'd agree that the CAR overshadows it in a few ways. Buff R99? Nerf CAR? I'd say SMGs in general in Apex have been hit hardest by loot/TTK creep... do we revisit that? Do we revisit the class wholesale? Are we seen as pandering to controller players if we do so?
At the end of the day, we have to make balancing decisions with the long-term health of the game in mind. As a "live" balance designer and everyday player, I personally have to make concessions when thinking about what needs to be touched now vs. next season vs. three seasons from now. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I've been pretty happy with the CAR's trajectory.
TLDR; while we could've done something like lower the mag size or increase the reload time for the CAR on release, I'm really glad we didn't. I think it matured into the meta quite nicely while giving us a better sense of how to revisit it's identity within the SMG class when the time comes.
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