PATCH #38

Upcoming Patch

In this patch you’ll find hot-fixes, gameplay fixes, performance improvements, and UI communication improvements. We know there are a few big issues out there, so we’ve addressed some of these in detail below.

BASE RUSHING

Base rush tactics, while they can be countered, are definitely not intended to be the only or best way to take a base. To deal with this, we've implemented two main changes.

The first is that players must now destroy three new small generators before gaining access to the Omega target – the orbital gun.  Until such time as the three mini generators are destroyed, the Omega target will have a protective door covering its internal generator.

The second is a series of map changes designed to provide more cover and protected pathways after breaching the gates. The intention is that we want to see more brawling taking place inside the gates, and even deep into the base, but with less base-rushing tactics.

TERRITORY MATCH STATUS BAR

When coming out of a match it can be difficult to see your attack progression. To make your actions more transparent we've changed how the territory match status bar shows territorial wins and losses.

In the territory status bar each one of the slots represents a territory which is fought over. On CW’s initial release, this bar would fill with red or stay blue, depending on the total territory lost or won at a given time; territories-per-slot were relative.

Now when you fight over a given territory, each slot is hard-set to the specific territory for which you've battled. The result is that you won’t see a curve of attack wins, but will see each of the 11 slots change depending on whether a territory was lost or held. This should better reflect the dynamic and multi-battle status of a planet.

We now display an attacker win percentage instead of the total number of attacker wins. This more accurately tells players when a planet will successfully flip; anything over 50% means it will flip at the end of the combat window. 

LOBBY ACTIVITY

Pending player activity is now displayed when in the matchmaking queue, so there is an indication of how many players are lined up looking to form a 12-person team. When there are fewer than 12 players, this pre-lobby window will indicate how close the matchmaker might be to creating a full 12-person strike team. The full team, with actual Pilot names, will still not display until a 12-person strike team is fully formed and in a lobby.

Due to the way matchmaking works for Community Warfare there may be many groups queued up to play, but the total players between the groups can't form a 12-person team. To help clarify this, our next step in the New Year will be to display the actual composition of the groups which are queued for a match. This will allow players to see on which planets they’re most likely to enter a match.

PLANET FINDER & PLAYER ACTIVITY

The planet finder now shows the total number of players fighting on a given planet, and splits the player numbers by attack or defense. If a player sees many people queued to attack, they will know that jumping into the defense queue should allow for a match to kick off sooner.

64 BIT CLIENT

In addition, we've included the option to run a 64-bit client. Please see our news post for more info.

See you out there!
- The MechWarrior Team

Change Log

Gameplay

    - Players must now destroy three generators in order to gain access to the orbital defense gun (Omega target)
    - The hit points on the main Omega target have been reduced to compensate for the extra generators
    - The Omega target is now covered by a door
    - Certain locations in map have been tweaked to provide attackers with more cover when trying to penetrate the base
    - The match status indicator on the planet selection window now accurately reflects which territory was fought over
    - The total percentage of attackers wins is shown on the planet selection UI, over 51% or more will cause the planet to flip at the end of the combat cycle.
    - Players will now see match making activity in the lobby. Please note, due to how the match maker works, a number of different sized groups may be in queue at any given time; only when a full group of 12 can be formed will a match kick off.  Therefore it may be possible that you will see a full window of players yet the MM is not able to kick off a match.
    - The total number of attackers and defenders is now displayed in the planet search window
    - Waiting times for an auto-win are now 10 minutes - this was the only change quickly available that should help factions with lower populations try to keep up with the larger factions.
    - Loyalty points required per achievement have been increased – please note, players will not lose any achievement rank they have already unlocked
    - Sulfurous Rift performance improvements: the factory area should no longer dramatically decrease framerate
    - Replaced attacker DropShip 7 medium lasers to ERLLs.  Attacker dropships now have 12 ERLL's.
    - Removed defense DropShip ERLLs. Defense dropships now have just 7 medium lasers.
    - DropShips will only fire their weapons if they are in range to hit for maximum damage.

Bug Fixes

    - Many areas where players could get stuck on Sulfurous Rift have been fixed
    - All Faction achievements now show the correct faction for which you’re gaining loyalty points
    - The 'Exchange XP' button is now clickable
    - Rewards no longer disappear when hitting “ready” on the planet info window
    - Conquest HUD progress bar is no longer smaller than it should be
    - User can no longer drag & angle the map without using the mouse buttons
    - The Loyalty Points on the planet info will no longer change to 0 when selecting to attack/defend while in a Unit Group
    - Dropping from the DropShip with a King Crab no longer causes collision issues with the claws
    - Any selected planet will now display the planet battle status chart around the planet image
    - Client side display of ‘Attack Phase’ no longer overflows and incorrectly displays 5 hours remaining immediately after ending an invasion cycle.
    - Permanent Contracts now correctly display ‘Time Left’ and ‘Attack Phase'.
    - The loading screens before an invasion match will now correctly display the win conditions for attack, defend, counter attack, and hold territory
    - When a player is spectating, the orbital cannon’s health will no longer appear full
    - A number of missing strings have been correctly updated
    - Dead ‘Mech’s weapon doors are now properly cleaned up
    - User can no longer pan and rotate the IS map at the same time
    - General memory improvements made across the game
    - Smoke particles will now fade out when a generator is destroyed
    - Fixed Drop Deck resets
    - Attack wins will now properly update when a user is already in the faction tab
    - Breaking a faction contract in a unit will now properly update the unit coffer without needing to re-log
    - Hanging cockpit items will now display again
    - ‘Mech cockpits will no longer disappear
    - Friends or people on your unit list will no longer show up as a blank space after being on notification
    - Players can now break contracts which have more than two days remaining
    - Players who have broken a permanent contract can now start a new contract without error
    - Unit leaders can now disband their Unit without having to start a contract

Known Issues

    - Faction achievements do not grant titles and other related rewards – this will come in the new year with new title functionality to allow titles to display in-game. Please see http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/180554 … -clarified
    - Sulfurous Rift: when a player enters the internal out of bounds areas they will not get a warning countdown or die
    - Unit coffer may not update properly upon donating – relogging will fix this issue
    - Creating multiple ranks with the same name causes all but one to be deleted
    - Going from dropdeck selection to the store causes the dropdeck to overlap with the dropdowns. To fix this, you will need to relog
    - If a member of a Unit Group enters the store, their status in the social window may display “store” – this is a visual issue only, and will not affect actual status or gameplay
    - When your contract ends, you will be abruptly taken back to the Faction selection screen
    - Rarely, a user’s Faction icon may change to match other users Factions in the same Lance
    - Ready/Not Ready buttons remain after leaving a Unit Group – to fix this select the same planet again and to switch back to the correct attack/defend buttons
    - Rarely, the user will not see the rewards screen when returning to the Front End after the end of an invasion match
    - Rarely, upon conclusion of a match, you will see the incorrect contract results screen. Please note you will get the proper rewards, regardless of the screen's message
    - Rarely, users will not be disconnected at the end of round screen - if this happens, hit the exit match button
    - When joining a Unit with an active contract of longer duration than your own, your contract duration will not update until you re-log
    - Rarely, when playing with a high latency, names may not show up correctly on the end of round screen

Интервью с президентом PGI Руссом Буллоком:

I'll be listening and updating this as they go to the best of my ability
Starting at 6:08PM PST
QA still working on Testing Thursday Patch Targeting 10AM Patch
Pushing hard to get fixes in before Christmas so they can take a well earned break over the holidays
Q: Limited Use Ammo drops or Consumables for CW?
A: This based on how long PGI wants mechs to live in CW combat. Wants battle of attrition to be part of the CW. So Maybe
Q: Make CW maps available for Private Lobbies?
A: No brainer.. Yes but no eta
Q: Would love to get Planetary Stats/Readout over a Battle Period or history of planet. How are points allocated? And how are tags assigned
A:  Would love have all that information on all planets.. very interesting stuff.    Unit tags are based on total number of tags of all players winning drops on planet.   1 solo 1 tag... 12 man 12 tags... Unit with most tags at the end of the day gets the planet name
Q: Going to add additional objectives for attackers and defenders in CW?
A:   Wants to get another game mode into CW, lots of dreams.   Maps are large enough to have preobjectives that have to be done before assault is allowed to begin assault.. Would be really cool
Q: What further Tweaks are you working on CW or Public Queue?
A: CW has 2 Upcoming Maps,   most maps are going to get major work overs to get them tuned right.  Next one is Canyon Network Themed Map - Currently Named Gorge.   2nd is a Tournamalin Desert Themed one.
Q: Are lessons learned from 1st two maps being rolled into New Maps?
A: Yes! but lots more to be learned
January 6th SMALL Patch
January 20th Big Patch
Predicted 3rd map release February 3rd
Predicted 4th map release March
Talked about adding the 3 Generators 1/2 HP of Gate Generators that have to be killed before Omega Cannon can be attacked. Omega Cannon HP lowered... total of Cannon + 3 generators is 125hps more than current Omega Cannon Hit points... all subject to change.
Wants to see more brawling in and around the base...this is why they are adding in terrain and barriers to force the defenders to split up to defend the base. Want to move the fight away from the gates.
short break
Going over changed to Drop ships
Replaced attacker DropShip 7 medium lasers to ERLLs. Attacker dropships now have 12 ERLL's.
Removed defense DropShip ERLLs. Defense dropships now have just 7 medium lasers. Dropped the ERLLs
DropShips will only fire their weapons if they are in range to hit for maximum damage.
Q: Will you be resetting the IS MAP when Beta is over and how long might Beta last?
A: Watching Situation and will listen to players feedback as the war evolves. Hoping to come out of Beta by mid year. Wants to add alot more depth into the game first. Would like to add logistics into the game. Haven't set the minimum barrier as to what is needed to call Beta done.
Q: Why is there no Count on Queue or Lobby for Planets? How is Queue times being approached
A: Wait time for 12mans really good. Matchmaker for each planet is separate.. Could be as many as 60 matches going off at once if everything perfect. If a Solo or Small group the Teteris assembly of a Team 12 might take a while to build.
Not getting Global Chat or Faction Groups before Christmas
BUT
All Planets will now show Player numbers in Queue
Will now show Pre-Queue Players in Lobby so you know how many players you are waiting on before you drop.
Trying to provide as much information so sub 12man units can make decision on how best to get a drop in CW
Q: Will we see incentives to drop Light? And will Incentives grow/shrink automatically as needed rather than needing Dev involvement?
A: #1 Yes some day.. no ETA #2 Yes, Rewards can be done live, but changes to # of Zones per planet have to be done via patch. but again no ETA
Q: Will we see Faction Grouping before Christmas?
A: No ETA.. but it IS a must! Will help with Queueing. Isn't crazy about global chat just because of the logistics needs to handle that many players in a single chat room.
Paul likes the IDEA of a Merge Group function that allows small groups to combine at the end of a match
Q: When can we see tools to allow SOLO players to communicate or be comminucated to better?
A: Top of the Line come January.... no ETA Command Wheel and/or VOIP
Q: Additional In Match Contextual Rewards.. Turret Kills, Gate Opens, Generator Kills?
A: Update come to Rewards system which will include alot of these plus more things like AMS and ECM rewards. CW specific rewards planned.
Q: Can you add the Mech Lab Popup in Drop deck Lab so you can make sure you have the mech configured properly before launch
A: Improvements planned for this, not that great... no ETA
Q: How are population factions affecting community warfare?
A: Only small ones are Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar and Liao.. Smoke Jaguar just a little smaller. Little bit of concern over the auto win Ghost Drops of Large vs. Small population. Ghost Drop timer being increased from 5 minutes to 10 minutes. Its the best they can do at the moment.
Q: How is Timezone affecting things?
A: Investigating option to be fair to all time zones. Heavily favoring NA timezone
Q: How is FPS drops being combated and fixes?
A: Optimization is on going much better in Public Queue vs. Community Queue. Memory and CPU improvements in 12/18 patch. 64bit Client should help most players. 64bit client is a million times better in memory management.
Short Break
Q: Are there any plans to make Gates less of an easy obstacle
A: More of an Early warning, more focused allowing attackers more freedom toward base. Want to make Non Zerg Attack strategies more viable. More Brawling!
Q: Referencing PDF Loyality Rewards. Will you add rewards that will ensure long term loyalty to a faction. Everything sees to be one off rewards
A: Yes, what was in the PDF minimum rewards.. will be adding in along more in the near future. Send us Ideas for good rewards
Q: What happened to Mercenaries in CW?
A: Mercenaries always fought for one of the great houses so the idea that Mercenaries jump around is kinda against lore. Mercenaries will probably never have their own area of the map. IF they add in Legendary Mercenary Companies into the game that Merc Company will still be loyal to a particular faction per lore.
Knows their is a strong desire for some more and greater for mercs.. but need player feedback
Q: Are you planning on doing a CW ticker or New Report?
A: Yes
Q: Are we going see more Planet info on CW so mechs can be choose to be appropriate for map?
A: That seem logical.. all things are possible with time.
Q: Are you going to make CW stats available in our Profiles?
A: Yes CW and LP bonuses are not chassis specific but XP is. So if you take a single Hero its bonus to CW and LP affects your entire match.. but a bonus to XP is JUST for that mech.
Q: Do you think CW will be taken off the rails? IE when can we attack any planet?
A: Player base is not large enough to allow that in the near future, but no technical barrier to prevent it if the player base grows to a point where the queue would allow it.
Q: Will and When will logistics be added into CW?
A: Yes wants to add alot more depth but no ETA
Q: Will we get Browser based Live Map of the IS?
A: The community will probably come up via the API in short order. Internal options being worked but no ETA
Q: When will start seeing varied weight drop decks?
A: Its programmed and ready to go.. will start seeing tonnage limits soon
Q: Are we going to see Shards with different time periods with different tech?
A: Player base numbers is a limiters, but if we could get all the players onboard we could do it in a seasonal fashion.
Q: Solaris Update?
A: Paul and Russ talked about it earlier today.. its cool.. everyone wants it.
Q: Will CW always remain 24/7? Player Burn Out Concern? Time Zone battle windows?
A: Wasn't alot of love for Battle Windows from the community. Only change being considered is a slightly longer that 24 hour so that ceasefire rotates through all timezones
Q: Any chance for 4v4 or 8v8 being introduced in CW?
A: Its a good thought for lower population times. But no commitment.
Q: Anyway to address the fact that players have both IS and Clan Mechs?
A: In CW just change Contracts or just play the other mechs in Public Que
Q: Will you provide incentives to pull the defenders out of the base?
A: Focused on bringing the Attackers into the Base and away from the Gate.
Q: How does PGI plan to keeping people interesting in MWO.. specific the New User Experience?
A: January focused on CW, fixes and new content.
Completely new design for Mechlab and UI coming
New Player Tutorials, Steam Integration being worked.
Collisions, Improving Hit Detection.
Once thats all done then Single Player Campaign and other PVE content, Command Wheel, VOIP.
Q: How are you planning on dealing with sniping victory in last hour before Ceasefire
A: Investigating, rotating ceasefire window and increase # of zones per planet
Q: Unit Skins? Perhaps using Unit coffers?
A: Plate is full there.. but the Resistant Pack has faction skins, once thats out it needs to work with all mechs and then be able to handle all the color changes within the skins.
Q: Formal Political for CW, Alliances, communication, etc... ???
A: Totally possible in the future.
RUSS BURNS OUT
Thanks PGI Staff for all their hard work, Thanks the players for sticking with them as the game improves