Agreed it wasn't as bad as others make it out to be. Medals added a mechanical layer to keep track of, and led to rotating targets based off medal count rather than just spamming the squishiest target like if it was more like TDM. Though I think I would have enjoyed it more if the buffs/debuffs medals gave stayed, if even at half potency, as I felt it led to more kills which was more engaging and helped negate tunneling as much.

Hot take, but I still think the button squish was a good thing for PVP. In PVE everything is pretty static, you're occasionally reactionary, and usually you can plan most things out enough that nothing really surprises you unless you're a healer and someone takes a hit they weren't supposed to. In PVP though, it's highly dynamic. You have to watch your screen at all times because even a single slip up can lead to a death. The tempo in PVP is also really fast in comparison to PVE. This leads to most people using macros to keep up with the pace. Target macro's, healing macro's, cc macros etc. This isn't even an issue of 'skill' it's just the optimal way to keep up with the speed of a match. Not to mention you have to communicate more in PVP, and because SE hasn't implemented Voice yet, you have to use almost half of the given Quick Chat buttons given to properly communicate. All this would be a nightmare with an entire PVE toolkit. Plus the squish makes some(some) job actions better. For example, like how Rough Divide on GNB in PVP gives a cartridge so you have to keep in mind not to overcap, while also being able to rely on this if you have no cartridge available before a burst, which is way more interesting than a simple gap closer. Combing 1-2-3's just gives me more hotbar room, so I still see it as a gain even if that's all that changed about them.

That said QC could have been way better, the level of responsibility and difficulty of the roles wasn't balanced with the players in mind(melee and healer are the hardest roles by far), and the zero moderation given even with slideshows and video evidence of the actions against ToS was huge WTF. The idea of a self healing action with pots wasn't a bad idea but why an "item" with a 2 second delay? Same map sucked especially when I have to zero out my brightness just to play without needing eye surgery later.

The biggest issue I had though was not enough ranks with the current system or just a lack of skill based matchmaking(that they say is coming but, :copium, and that there was no incentive to play once you were "safe" in top 100. That's why most seasons sucked, was because people would freelo their way to Diamond, and not queue at all unless they were concerned for their spot. Their was no reason to play past the "safe" mark in unless you really wanted r1-10 or were achievement farming. Hell, even adding actual useful items for wolf marks would make me keep queueing. Or give me a currency for winning ranked games that I can spend on a golden fenrir pup that I can sell on the market board to give me any reason to keep playing. I fear this will continue into next expansion. Finish the series battle pass? Did enough for the Season reward? Why bother to keep queueing? Hopefully they will address it, but at least I shouldn't have to sit in hour long tank queues anymore *inhale*.