My thoughts after playing the update on CTF
Java:
I'm happy that the default mode hasn't been "ruined" per se but it's disappointing that the balance that the kits desperately need to make more than 4/12 viable still hasn't happened. The bad kits really need buffs because they are unusable.
The new map seems okayish, but it seems to be heavily inspired by Green Hills ( everyone was in agreement on that ), so it doesn't really feel unique. The jump pads are cool at least. It should be 16 players. It's no more suited to being 10 players than any other map so it should just be standard. ( Might be a bug )
The command /kit doesn't work so that needs a fix ASAP.
Now for the new mode: Powerups really don't spawn that much in CTF so they don't have too great of an affect, but when you can use them they seem cool. I'll have to play more to form a stronger opinion about them.
For the analysis and explanation of the kit balancing, I made this text doc:
https://pastebin.com/UvNzEeQX, which I encourage people who need to see it look at.
But in short, the OP mode has absolutely no considerations for kit balancing, making it an even bigger mess than the normal game, and it REALLY needs work. This mode has every single player using runner because it is far away and the best.
That doesn't just mean nerf runner, it means that some thought actually needs to be put into giving every kit an actual use case. I'd be glad to help with working on that as I have my own set of rebalanced kits that I've worked on, which I would happily extend to the OP game mode.
Also as a proposal, instead of adding efficiency to tools in OP, just remove the mining fatigue. The exploits that easily make it simple to avoid the effect which will probably never be fixed aren't a problem then, and it will have a similar affect on mining speed. You can put efficiency 1 on the tools instead so it still
feels like OP.
People will play OP because it makes defences much easier to defeat not because it brings new strategy to the table.
As evident from the player count, this update isn't even halting the slow withering away that this game has had for years without a single bit of thoughtful attention.
Well anyway...
As for
Bedrock, after playing a few hours, the OP mode makes it far too easy to take and capture the flag. As long as you don't get hit off you are good. The protection level needs to be reduced to maybe around prot 2 at the least, because it's currently stronger than full iron. Having a big part of the game being useless isn't the best design choice. The same should be done with reducing sharpness to level 1 so there is a purpose to getting a diamond sword.
Bizarrely, you get fewer arrows in OP, getting 5 instead of 32. This makes using the bow near useless. The frost trap doesn't seem to work as I couldn't activate it on anyone. OP just needs some rebalancing and it needs KITS to actually add some strategy.
Maybe like these ones?
https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/kits-for-blockwars.250796/
The community thrives the most on new elements of Minecraft in each map. Different ores in different maps or the ability to enchant would make each map feel special, it never has to be big.
Tetromino has hidden diamonds.
Robots has extra iron blocks.
Hive has gold blocks.
Retro has a prebuilt head hitter.
Castlewars has a tree to get lots of extra wood.
Green hills has the beacon.
The new map has nothing like that sadly, despite there being lots of other features of Minecraft that can be used to have fun and be creative on the game.
On bridges, the chicken bomb destroying all player blocks seems really silly, it should only remove the blocks of the other team. That would make it much more interesting. Also I really like that map, it's much better than the CTF one.
Anyway that's it for me. I spent a long time working on that text file here:
https://pastebin.com/UvNzEeQX. I hope for a solid reply.
Update 1: I think the problem with the new map is that it feels really cramped all throughout it and some of the parkour feels awkward like the jump going down the small stairs. I get a similar feeling from the stairs on the fallen log on Green Hills but worse in this map.
The exploding chickens powerup seems to exist on CTF Java too, which in my opinion really isn't good. It makes the map completely empty and bare. I know you get given blocks but I don't think people want to rebuild their defences. I think it would be better if it were removed from CTF as player placed blocks are the most important part of what makes each individual game unique.
Update 2: Amazing idea: On CTF the exploding chickens shouldn't destroy all the blocks in the game but instead it should replace all the blocks of the team who picked it up with concrete. Concrete takes longer to break so instead they become FORTIFYING CHICKENS