I wanted to provide some feedback after about 4-5 hours with 3.0.0.

I've been a very tough critic of this game from the onset but I also will try to pay respect where its due.

Overall, although the game is not perfect yet and I'm sure there are a lot of remaining points of criticism, the experience has improved a lot if we put in perspective where this game started at launch and where it is now. Substantial improvements have been made to the overall experience. I found myself completely unable to play through the game at launch to now playing through the missions with at least some enjoyment.

The gunsmith keeps improving with every iteration. With the new stock customization, it feels like we have a gunsmith that is actually better than Ghost Recon Wildlands for the first time. I'd say the team is making the right decisions here and needs to keep moving forward with the current philosophy. I would recommend hand guard customization for the next iteration of the gunsmith followed by gas system tweaking.

The new weapons added are fun. The M4A1 CQC is a nice addition, although understandably the community preferred a CQBR closer to the DD style mk18 from Wildlands (in particular, I think people preferred the DD RIS II hand guard). However, as a developer myself who has worked with some teams, I know that DD Legal has been extremely difficult lately with licensure due to the deteriorating political climate around firearms in the US and certain pundits blaming both firearms manufacturers and video game developers for the acts of evil individuals. It would not surprise me at all if the developers ran into issues with licensure as I know other companies first-hand who couldn't obtain a license to portray that rifle in their video games (I'm actually curious as to how NWI managed to get approval). The best way to implement this in my opinion is with hand guard customization as mentioned above.

The AI team members, with all their quirks, are overall a welcome addition to the experience. The added communication and functionality has improved immersion.

The improved ghost experience, improved gunsmith and the AI team mates synergize well and improve the overall generosity of the game resulting an experience that feels more rewarding. It seems like the development is under better management and is steering in the right direction although there is more journey ahead. I have not tried episode 3 missions yet but will try to provide some constructive feedback when I do. The best suggestion I could give is to keep moving forward and adding features/gear, being sure to cater to the "milsim" audience. An interesting and unexpected outcome of all the changes is I actually find myself playing with gear leveling on again. As "unwelcome" as we all thought this system was in the beginning, with the added customization and generosity of the sandbox now, it actually can be fun at times to level gear up and try perks although the preferred way to play Ghost Recon is still probably with gear level deactivated. I would say another area of improvement would be to gradually phase the bullet sponge drones out of the game. Bullet sponge robots are just totally dissonant with this genre of shooter so they either need to be removed or new ways to quickly dispose of them need to be added over time.