Civilian penalties not apparent enough

[[R-COM]bad_nade]

The only reason to play insurgent side is (was?) higher chance of winning. This is the asymmetry I like the most in INS game mode, no matter which side I play. Blufor can get better everything as long as they only rarely win. Playing with good guns and assets is fun. Winning is fun. But for the most of the time these two must not happen at the same time. That's why I see this discussion about nerfing yet another INS asset quite troublesome.

That being said, there are some features with the civilian "kit" that can be exploited too easily. Like jumping off from rooftop while bleeding, or just landing on top of a manned blufor vehicle, leads to civ kill penalty for the blufor. There is also an exploit level feature regarding dropping your kit while surrounded by civis: Cool down timer applies only to the insurgent who drops his kit to become civilian but it does not apply to other nearby civilians. The moment an insrugent drops his kit, everybody else around him are protected by the Rules of Engagement.

I think all these issues can be solved. For example, civilian could be spawn-only kit that cannot be dropped or picked up. Once a civi, always a civi. ROE should still apply, of course. So, hanging out with your armed insurgent friends should make you fair game.