132 replies to this topic

[Rofl]

Can we get this moved to the news forum? No idea what it's doing here.

[jay35]

The News forum is currently just some read-only nonsense. Until it opens up into somewhere we can actually host discussions amongst ourselves, it's better off here where we can at least discuss the updates.

[Thontor]

Transcript for the reddit AMA, nicely organized for easy reading.

Thanks TOGSolid!

TOGSolid, on 23 April 2013 - 06:09 PM, said:

A friend and I already organized and formatted the entire AMA: http://theoosiks.com...mans-reddit-ama

COMMUNITY WARFARE

Spoiler

Q(sweetcheeksanta): So you could have a team of 11 up against 12 pugs/smaller groups?
Bryan Ekman: Not currently. The matchmaker is not quite ready for that challenge. A coordinated team of 11 will nuke a random group of 12 almost every time.

Q (The_Maddog): Since in game mode "Assault" is really "Team Death match"...what are the chances of a real assualt match? I.E Team A defending an object from being destroyed or captured and team B attacking?
Bryan Ekman: We're working on a new mode for Community Warfare that will have assault and defense concepts.

Q(MgrPaine): Have you considered perhaps adding turrets at assault bases which mech pilots can 'stall' their current mech at their current location (leaving it vulneralble to damage) to activate the turret when all mechs are away from base... yes the turret can be activated by both sides but the team that gets into it will leave their current mech at a specified location to operate the turret unless 'captured' by opposing team or blown out... you know where im going with this...its alot like the turrets of the past but may help in cap n bag matches
Bryan Ekman: yes. Community Warfare concept.

Q(TheAndersBot): Mr. Ekman: With community warfare on the horizon, and UI 2.0 coming soon™ a lot of the community's expectations rest on these features being ready for prime time. While I am confident that you will deliver an amazing experience, other members of the Word of Lowtax have commented that there is a disturbing lack of specific information regarding Community Warfare. With that being your "golden goose" is there any concrete, discrete factoid that you can present to your loyal and rabid fanbase to put their mind at ease?
Bryan Ekman: We'll be releasing details as they are finalized from now until launch. Right now we are just getting UI 2.0 finalized, then expect to see more details on both 2.0 and CW.

Q(Nefilm314): Are we ever going to see game modes to defend particular objectives such as TF2's Payload game type where mechs would defend a convoy from one side of the map to the other?
Bryan Ekman:Defense yes. With Community Warfare.

Q(Surtr1stRDR): Will there be an option for self created house units? My unit has spent a lot of time developing lore/identity etc. for our Non-canon house unit, it would be a shame if we just had to run with pugs to be considered house. Also we can't just pretend to be mercs as we're a rasalhague unit, and that doesn't fly in the FRR.
Bryan Ekman: If you take away the name Merc Corp, this essentially the spirit of this type of play. A group of like mind players organizing into a structure.

Q(GeneralWoundwort): How much terrain will actually be conquerable in CW? Can we storm the gates of Tharkad, or will we be limited to just fighting over border worlds 1 or 2 jumps deep?
Bryan Ekman: Frontiers and border planets.

Q(mvrckpa): With the announcement that we will be able to control territory within the Inner Sphere, but not change the borders, what does this mean for Merc units that want to carve out their own little fiefdom? Will we always be sub servant to a larger house?
Bryan Ekman: For now, you will need to pledge allegiance to a major Faction. Later... you never know.

Q(HHoD_Iron): is there any plans to support teams that want to be part of a house rather than a go merc?
Bryan Ekman: If I removed the word "Merc Corp" you would have this functionality essentially. It's been asked a few times now, I'll put on my thinking cap and see if we can make something happen.

BALANCE

Spoiler

Q(fernsie): Hi Bryan, are you planning to buff arty and airstrikes?
Bryan Ekman: Yes! We're doing a round of tweaks in the coming months.

Q(roflcopterpilot): Despite statements from PGI that the weapon values "are within our expectations", the community largely thinks the LBX10, Small Pulse Laser, and Machine Guns are garbage and rarely uses them on their mechs. There have been consistent cries to improve these weapons. What exactly are your expectations for these weapons?
Why doesn't PGI post links to MechWarrior Online articles on their website? Most of the big updates, previews, and interviews have happened on gaming blogs or twitter, yet PGI can't post links on their front page?
Bryan Ekman: We address balance in a circle - that never ends. We haven't come around to those particular weapons in the tuning phase.

Q(OneManWar): Considering this is beta, why do you guys seem so reluctant to play with the weapon balancing numbers? I understand wanting to analyze the changes over time but this is beta and its ok to break things then re-adjust the next patch. More often than not there are few to no balance changes from patch to patch.
Bryan Ekman: One thing I'm looking forward to is our upcoming public test server. This will allow us to test modest or ridiculous concepts.

Q(Tagichatn): Does PGI ever plan to balance weapons by changing their weight and/or damage? So far only missiles have had their damage changed throughout the beta and everything else except MGs have their TT damage values.
Bryan Ekman: Possibly. We're looking at overall DPS right now, which is too high overall with the new HSR fixes. It's super risky, so we're not jumping in head first with any DMG changes yet.

Q(Jman5): Do you see any changes/additions/tweaks coming down the pipeline that will improve role warfare? I know a lot of people have been complaining about the trend in mass Assault/heavies games.
Bonus Question: When will the Hunchback quirks come? I want what you did to the centurion!
Bryan Ekman: After launch we have plans for more modules. They're cooking in the background.

Q(Selbatrim): Regarding consumables. Do you not fear arty and air will become mandatory if you make them effective? Do you not think 32 strikes per match is going to be awful?
Bryan Ekman:It's definitely something we are concerned about. We're keen to make sure this doesn't happen.

Q(Warlune): Are there any plans on making Ferro Fibrous armor worth choosing over endo steel? If not, can you think of any situation where you would choose FF instead of ES?
Bryan Ekman: Let me look into it. David and Paul are the primaries on all things balance related.

Q(Loler_Skates): You say you balance based on telemetry could you go into this process a little more? Do you mean you balance based on usage figures or that you balance on what you see the actual equipment doing? This is process is something that is the least transparent so more information on this would be great.
Bryan Ekman: Similar to how we use the k/d/movement heatmaps, we have telemetry that tells us how accurate weapons are, how often they are equipped, composition of each match in terms of mechs used etc.. This helps us determine what is popular, OPd etc..

Q(shukrix): Will trial mechs eventually be made with decent enough builds? Not good or great builds. But enough to give new players a taste of what that mech/weight class is like.
Bryan Ekman: With UI 2.0 Trial Mechs will become less important for new players.

PPCs & POPTARTS

Spoiler

Q(CeaseToHope): Are you happy with the current sniper-heavy metagame? Are high-alpha, long-range builds a concern for you? Are poptart snipers a concern?
Bryan Ekman: We're happy with the continued evolution of strategies. With such a large and complex simulation, we have to regularly make tuning changes!

Q(mashed_penguin): I'm pretty sure in the past PGI has said that poptarting was something from MW4 that you considered undesirable. Is this the case and if so are there plans to address the abundance of PPC jump snipers that seem to be everywhere at the moment?
Bryan Ekman: It's a new feature brought on largely by fixes to weapons and the introduction of a new jumpjet capable Assault mech. Expect tuning adjustments to help balance this out in the next few patches.

Q(TrackZero): Is there any consideration to balance ER PPCs? It's been having a large impact on the number of viable builds over the last month or two.
Bryan Ekman: Yes. Balancing as always, is ongoing. It never ends. Player continue to find new awesome builds that are incredible.

Q(ThePiMaker): The reason why PPC's had their heat lowered was because they required so many shots to kill someone because the hit registration was sub-par. Now that PPC'***** registration is almost perfect, do you feel that they are too powerful? Any plans to slightly increase the heat of PPC's? They really do need it.
Bryan Ekman: It's in review right now.

Q(FD3Shively): And what about poptarting, mister Ekman? Surely, as the creative director, you'd have something to say about this drastic redirection of game design?
Bryan Ekman: Ebbs and flows. It's the flavor of the month, expect it to diminish as we tweak some of the variables. Last month it was SSRMS, the month before LRMS. Ebb and flows...

Q(bitmonger505): Are there any plans to add reticule shake whilst jump jets are firing to help alleviate poptarting in the game, much like this poll on the forums http://mwomercs.com/...e-jump-sniping/ Thanks
Bryan Ekman: It's a possible solution, however we've tried to avoid any artificial randomness whenever possible.

BUGS AND THE SQUASHING THEREOF

Spoiler

Q(Cephyn): HUD bugs seem to be a constant problem, and often its the same bugs that persist patch after patch. Many players feel not enough attention is paid to the HUD bugs. Why have they been so persistent and hard to squash? Are they high priority, particularly the minimap and IFF bugs?
Bryan Ekman:Very high priority, and very complex. We're working very hard to address as many issues as possible. A lot of the current bugs are associated with underlining CryEngine and Scaleform.

Q(Warskull): The game has had some major technical issues in the past few months. Frequent crash bugs and various UI elements not working. Personally, I end up having to reinstall the game from scratch about once a week to keep it functional. Your support has no solutions and it feels like you neglecting technical issues in favor of working on new content.
How much effort is actually being put into resolving these issues? What sort of a timeframe can we expect these crashes to be resolved in? Does PGI feel the game is in an acceptable state in regards to these technical problems?
Bryan Ekman: Every few months we go through a hardening phase, where we address technical issues. It's a constant balance between forward progress, new content which gets consumed extremely fast by players, and managing bugs and performance.

Q(Woopas_s): 1. A lot of us are tired of redownloading and reinstalling the game because of a bug or FRead error. Will we ever get the option to have a CD/DVD disc with a base version of the game so we can make the process of uninstalling/reinstalling a little bit smoother?
2. Speaking of FRead errors. Has your tech support figured out what causes those? And how to fix them? I always get told to reinstall MWO. Which works. But also restarting and or having the PC shut down for several hours works as well.
Bryan Ekman: No disc version will be available .
Not yet. We're still digging... Thank you for the patience though!

Q(Thontor): 1: Why do my weapons not do full damage transfered to the center torso when I shoot a destroyed side torso?
2: Why does armor stay on the front of a destroyed side torso if it is destroyed from behind?
Bryan Ekman: We're looking into both of these issues.

UI 2.0

Spoiler

Q(MgrPaine): I am color blind! (im cursed as a cryengine3 dev..so I'm used to rewriting the rules but...)So may I ask will there be time when I can change my hud colors etc...even night vision and thermal to suit my visual taste to help... just a common mech against a a green/brown or red/green background rips me up. (and the mech might be right in front of me)
Bryan Ekman: Yes. It requires us to finish UI 2.0.

Q(Bucklar): Can we get a quick outline of when certain features may appear? Specifically, new user flow(achievements) and UI 2.0? Doesn't need to be set in stone or anything, just an idea. Also, would like to know which of those is higher on the priorities list

Bryan Ekman: UI 2.0 is going to be late summer. It has to come in one shot. CW will come online in spurts from now until then.
Q(Huntsig): Are there any long term plans to facilitate a spectator mode in MWO (potentially with a free roaming camera on a delay to prevent cheating) to allow people to shoutcast games between community teams? Myself and a number of friends are keen to get involved in this side of the community if the opportunity arises.
Bryan Ekman: Yes.

Q(surloch): There hasn't been much talk lately about the Achievements system. Any word yet on what form this will take?
Will we get rewards like titles, new icons next to our names, banner items, small MC or cbill awards, forums avatars, mech colours / camo etc?
Finally any time frame on them? I know they have the potential to add significantly to the "End game". If implemented properly, trying to get them will consume hours / days / weeks of play
Bryan Ekman: All of the above pretty much. This is a launch feature and part of CW and UI 2.0

MAPS

Spoiler

Q(mvrckpa): Is there an ETA for when Tourmaline and Alpine will have their matchmaking weight value dropped back down to 1?
Bryan Ekman: Next month.

Q(BadgerPoking): Will we see a fully urban map with very few open spaces?
Bryan Ekman: Possibly. We're working on a new urban like map after Volcano.

Q(CarrionCrows): Any Chance can we have alternate drop locations for existing maps? Thus we would see a lot more of the map being played as the path's and focus shifts.
Bryan Ekman:We've discussed something along these lines. Right now, we want to push hard for 10 unique maps before making to many changes.

Q(cephyn): I've heard that Alpine Peaks is going to have some reworking so that not every surface is climbable by every mech, and so that the mountains are actual barriers to some mechs. Is this still in the works, and will it be done soon?
Bryan Ekman: Yes. Around launch.

Q(Warlune): Alpine peaks seems a bit too empty to me. Are there any plans to add objects to it? Like how you guys added the crashes boat to forest colony after it was released
Bryan Ekman: It'll be under review again in the fall after Canyon Networks and Volcano are released.

Q:(e46daze): Will you be allowing players to create their own maps and share it with the community? Possibly allowing the community to vote which maps to keep or have the devs pick which to keep?
Bryan Ekman: Maps are pretty tricky. It's not just content, but quality, QA, and distribution. Distribution of maps in a free game is not only a technical challenge, but a financial one as well. the F2P world is very different from the regular PC retail world.

Q(FD3Shively): Why does it take several months and cost $250,000 to make a single map in MWO when fan mappers have created comparable work in one day? How does PGI intend to streamline this gross expenditure?
Poptarting was a major concern going into MWO, with fans quickly pointing to the state of MW4's multiplayer. Early in development PGI stated they were against the broken and tedious style of gameplay it encouraged, yet gameplay changes and balance tweaks have turned the meta-game into Poptarting. How did this happen when you set out to avoid it from the start? What are you doing to fix this?
Bryan Ekman:No production quality map could ever be created in a day. It takes hours to playtest!

MATCHMAKING/QUEUEING

Spoiler

Q(Surtr1stRDR): Will we ever see odd numbered groups return to the queue? I'm a bit worried with 12v12 coming out, especially for smaller units. And by far the biggest player loss my unit has ever seen was due to the implementation of <4/8 ONLY. Forget ECM/poptarts/bugs any other QQ topic, the group size nerf was the biggest hit, and we've still not recovered, with many original members totally giving up on the game to play other stuff. Just a maybe will keep me happy Keep up the hard work.
Bryan Ekman: The main issue with pre-mades is the poor experience create for pubs. We're constantly evolving this aspect of the game, making sure that we improve the quality of experience for both sides.

Q(Thontor): Right now it can be extremely difficult to find a match when launching with a group of 8. Are you concerned at all with the popularity of the 8v8 queue and what changes do you have in mind to help alleviate this, besides a tonnage limit. Possibly greater rewards as an incentive?
Bryan Ekman: Part of the problem is that 8v8 has no restrictions. Players can face some really OPd groups etc. So it's not super fun. People have migrated to synch dropping. Expect love in this department.

Q(Thontor): When you introduce a tonnage limit for the full premade vs full premade groups, will you allow groups of 5+ to launch against full groups with more tonnage available per mech?
Bryan Ekman: It's possible, if we can guarantee the integrity of matches. Right now we are not confident this is possible... yet.

Q(Druidika): Matches are currently 8v8, with options to either play solo, in groups of up to 4 players, or as a group of 8 players. With the introduction of 12v12 matches in the near future, there are concerns that the already high barrier of entry for the current eight player matches will raise even higher because you need 12 players available to even start. How are you addressing these concerns?
Bryan Ekman: There will be a round of balancing to the matchmaking system that will help to improve 8v8 and 12v12 premade groups. This tonnage limit will increase the quality of these matches. If teams can't field full groups, they will be put into the public queue system.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

Spoiler

Q(TheAnders8ot): Are there any plans to improve upon the customer service aspects of the game, such as reversing a mistaken purchase of a cosmetic item? When will we see the introduction of the Tetatae bobblehead, which even your selfsame community manager agrees we must have?
Bryan Ekman: We're continually improving the back end customer support tools. This is a large part of the unseen aspects of what we do. A large portion of the engineering team works on features that players never really see.

Q(TechSwitch): How many players are currently playing MechWarrior online?
Bryan Ekman: We get asked this a lot. We're very happy with our numbers and where MWO is at currently! Expect to see some cool numbers announcements around Launch in late summer!

Q(Woopas_s): Hi Bryan, Will there be more tournaments in the future focused more of being done and over within one days time? Compared to the 4 day running tournaments?
Bryan Ekman: Yes.

Q(Huntsig): When deciding which 'mechs to add to the game do you take into account the current utilisation rate of each 'mech already in the game? ie - if there's no demand from the community for, say, a new light 'mech (cf. the Flea), is this delayed in favour of a weight class that is more under represented / in demand (cf the Highlander)?
Bryan Ekman: We balance the wants, needs, and overall gameplay balance with what we see in the telemetry. So yes. We might decide to push a mech out because of previous sales data.

Q(Monsoon28): What can we Expect in May and June?
Bryan Ekman: A lot of fixes. A public test server. 12 v 12. New consumables, and more balancing/tuning.

Q(BadgerPoking): How many mechs in the end will be available to play?
Bryan Ekman: There is no end to content. We have over a decades worth of possible Mechs to build.

Q(Tuokaerf10): Do you think there's any chance of artwork or merchandise (t-shirts, figurines, etc) from MW:O that could be available for purchase? I know the BattleTech licenses are spread out a bit and might be prohibative, but that would be cool even if in partnership with Catalyist/whovever owns the license.
Bryan Ekman: No plans. It's an unfortunate by-product of licensing.

Q(charlieboy808): Hiya Bryan! So is it going to be possible to change our pilot's look in the future? Like maybe when I pilot my Wang I could be missing a certain left arm? ;-)
Bryan Ekman: Distant future yes.

Q(Thontor): Many months ago, one of the devs said the goal was to eventually be able to put two mechs into the game per month. Is PGI any closer to that goal?
Bryan Ekman: Should happen this fall.

Q(Kaze71): Can we get a "Merc" tag or something instead of the "LNW" tag when we enter a match and have already identified with a merc group on the main website?
Bryan Ekman: Eventually yes.

Q(Dubh-sidhe): I realize it is "Mechwarrior" is there any far down the road plans to intro tanks or Power armor, say in a fashion like the artillery and Airstrikes?
Bryan Ekman: No plans yet.

Q(Kaze71): Will you guys be having a sale on MC anytime soon? Edit: better yet, can you guys just release a calender/preview of upcoming future sales so people don't get shafted by buying something the day before a sale?
Bryan Ekman: We discussed doing a preview yes. We're going to be changing up sales on launch to be more dynamic and in-client.

Q(nickrenfo2): Approximately how many games are being played at any given moment? Which 'mech seems to be the favorite? Which 'mechs die the most? Which 'mechs do the most damage on average per match? What kind of other interesting factoids might there be that you know of?
Bryan Ekman: I don't have all the number handy, but it's thousands (games). I'll have to do another stats post.

Q(M_A_L_I_C_E): Will you continue to make pre-announcement announcements that you are announcing an announcement in the future?
Bryan Ekman: Why of course. And then we'll unannounced the pre-announcement.
In all seriousness, it was just a small scheduling glitch. No big deal, and not a huge"announcement".

Q(CeaseToHope): What do you consider MWO's "end game" content to be, and what will be involved in earning it?
Bryan Ekman: Epics. Ranking up in a faction. Performing skill based achievements. Time.

Q(CeaseToHope): What are epics? What will be involved in ranking up in a faction?
"Performing skill based achievements" and "time" are what are involved in earning the end game content, correct?
Bryan Ekman:Epic would be the endgame for your Mech. Details forthcoming before launch. But it's going to be exciting and worthy of the effort.

Q(Panda-Monium): Past tournaments have all been for solo drops. Do you have plans to have any tournaments for group drops?
Bryan Ekman: Yes! Closer to launch, once player groups can be matched together on a scheduled basis.

Q(Nerroth): Hello. As you may have noted, your counterparts at Catalyst have been expanding upon the alternate era support which BattleTech can facilitiate; with books on the Jihad and the Clan Wars of Reaving, then back to the Year of the Star League, and now on to the year 3145 (and beyond, with hints of an "ilClan" floating around.)
However, if MWO retains the one-day-per-BT-day setup it has at present, it may never be able to go forward (or back) far enough to cover the Star League, Jihad/WoR, or Dark Age eras.
Is there a plan to one day open the game up to a broader degree of era-specific settings and arenas for MWO, or will it remain firmly planted in the Clan Invasion era for the foreseeable future?
Bryan Ekman:We've designed the game to support this concept. For now, we're focused on the Clan Invasion 50-52. After that, anything is possible.

Q(Fireye): Glad tidings from another person cursed with an unusual Y in their name. How far off are the next mech announcements? PGI (You, I believe) has previously said that there are 6 mechs whose concepts are ready to go, and were waiting for some sort of PR event. Urbanmech: Yes or Yes? Most of our maps now have alternate versions. There was a "Caustic Night" in the game files, and was mentioned back in November, but AFAIK hasn't been brought up since then. Has it been fully dropped?
Bryan Ekman: We're going to be announcing the next `Mech within 30 days UrbanMech? How much would you pay?

PERSONAL QUESTIONS

Spoiler

Q(Jetblack42): If time/money were no object, what would you like to implement in the game? Are there any plans to look at improving the SPL, damage increase/cool down reduction? What are you looking forward to most about CW? Did you fix the LLs after I broke them last Friday?
Bryan Ekman: The Ranking system, metagame, watching player earn end-game content, and seeing the Merc Corps and Factions fight for territory. Super exciting.

Q(Nerroth): From your own personal perspective, is there a particular era (or unit type) you would most like to highlight?
Bryan Ekman:Succession Wars and 3067 era.

Q(Antaka): Bryan - any regrets or things you wish you had done differently in creating MWO?
Bryan Ekman: No regrets. Just forward progress. Everyday brings amazing new challenges, both from the community and internally.

Q(Huntsig): If you could chose to throw the timeline out of the window and implement one piece of Battletech technology (be it a weapon, a mech or some equipment) what would it be and why?
Bryan Ekman: Hunchback IIc. I just love how mean it looks.

[Illiani Dourana]

http://mwomercs.com/...-teymory/ Neema Teymory seems to be increasing his presence on the forums. No idea what he is responsible for, but might be worth chucking in the OP.

Edited by Illiani Dourana, 24 April 2013 - 12:59 PM.

[Thontor]

Illiani Dourana, on 24 April 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

Neema Teymory No idea what he is responsible for

"Member Title: NetCode Slayer™"

Edited by Thontor, 24 April 2013 - 01:12 PM.

[Illiani Dourana]

Ah, yeah, that'll do it.

[Helmer]

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending April 26th.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Russ Bullock - President

Russ's Twitter feed.

Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock April 26th
Spending my day being dev support, running tests over and over looking for patterns in our HUD bug. I'm on a mission wish me luck.


Twitter User April 24th
this would have mattered more before the forum fiasco, but would it be possible for you to log in more than once a month?
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock April 24th
log into the forums? Look the forum change in my mind makes it more organized and easier to get player feedback. Less clutter. at least that was the idea but we will be looking at all feedback as usual.




Bryan Ekman - Creative Director

Interesting Stat - 19% of Assault wins come from Base Caps. 81% of victories come from destroying the opposition.

Reason the Flea was delayed - MASC + Movement code. Both are being worked on.


Bryan's Twitter feed.

Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 26th
I managed to get a crashdump on an elusive memory leak! #proud #mwo : P


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
1.2% of Assault matches end in 0 deaths. #mwo
Twitter User April 25th
What about 3 or fewer?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
Assault Matches End with 0 - 10% 1 - 12% 2 - 10% 3 - 8% 4 - 9% 5 - 9% 6 -13% 7 - 26% Deaths before Win by Capture.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
Interesting stat - 19% of Assault wins come from Base Caps. 81% of Assault victories come from destroying the opposition.
Twitter User April 25th
Of those 19%, how many are when 7/8 mechs on the losing side have been destroyed? i.e. "no point chasing it, lets just cap" wins
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
26% of win cap matches end with the losing team having 7 deaths.



Twitter User April 25th
an NGNG topic last night was ELO. can you say if players on team ~same ELO or over a range with other team having similar range
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
there is a range tolerance that grows over time. After 1 minute the matchmaker loosens the requirement in to get players in game.
Twitter User April 25th
Does that mean 4mans ignore ELO entirely? As in, all the players in my 4man could face off against a higher ELO 4man?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 25th
2-4 man groups use a group Elo rating based off the individual player Elo scores. These are used in matchmaking.


Reddit AMA transcript provided by TOGSolid , and posted by Thontor located here . Thanks guys!




Paul Inouye - Lead Designer

Weapon Balancing




Kyle Polulak - Website Overlord

Assualt vs. The World -Highlander edition winners




Brian Windover - Gameplay Engineer

Possible hotfixes and LRM/SRM change

FPS drop and Mid game disconnect fixes in testing

Front end alert system in the works




Niko Snow - IGP Customer service representative

Forum Community Changes

Community Forum Referendum

Spring Clean 'em up Tournament

Sneak peek at the new Canyon map




Karl Berg - Senior Software Engineer

Out of Sync issue

Out of Sync issue explained

Out of Sync hotfix pushed out

Out of Sync hotfix explained




Teema Teymory - NetCode Slayer™

Out of Sync error effects weapons damage registration

Out of Sync error explained




Krist Smith - Senior Software Engineer

MWO repair tool, public release

Edited by Helmer, 29 April 2013 - 11:39 AM.

[Rofl]

Thank you for moving this to News! Forum justice be praised.

[Helmer]

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending May 3rd.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Bryan Ekman - Creative director

Ask the Devs 37 - Answers!

Rejoining a battle in process

Map voting


Bryan's Twitter feed.

Twitter User May 3rd
Whatever happened to the noise that the AC/20 used to make when hitting another mech? Pls bring it back! http://youtu.be/4lIBHPMwQS8?t=1m1s …
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman ‏ May 4th
hmm let me find out on Monday.


Twitter User May 4th
now that I think about it, it's not just me...it has been 4ever since the last Piranha Hunt!?!?!?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 4th
@pgi_thegarth it's time for another? Sounds like a plan. You ready to die lots Garth?
TheGarth ‏@pgi_thegarth May 4th
@bryanekman I die lots every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday already


Twitter User May 2nd
with hero customization, will there be a way to reset to the "stock" hero mech paint job (in case I hate my pink Ilya)?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
definitely!
Twitter User May 2nd
Will hero colors be added to our palette??
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 3rd
hero colors will be only available to each hero mech currently. This is a limitation of our UI and backed architecture. ATM
Twitter User May 3rd
Does this include founders mechs? Founders are heros too!!
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 3rd
eventually. Need to do some artwork.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
What's this! The fabled Hero `Mech color customizations make their debut in the next #mwo patch (May 7th)! pic.twitter.com/ERowIMUxhQ


Twitter User May 2nd
is the skull 'n' bones a preview of the decal system or part of the buccaneer pattern?

Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
it's part of the pattern.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
#sad to see UAV pushed back by a patch. #happy to see HUD bug getting squashed. #mwo
Twitter User May 2nd
Wait, I'm not up to date on this. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
You bet. A new consumable. Due out May 21st (now) #mwo
Twitter User May 2nd
Well how about that! I know you guys have stated that mixed arms is not in the scope of the project before, but... maybe?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 2nd
controlled by a player, correct. This is unmanned.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman Apil 29th
Just because it's Monday. Desert + Buccaneer pattern. #mwo pic.twitter.com/CTf4uL1s03
Twitter User April 29th
Pretty spectacular. What's that rendered in?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 29th
In game, 1920x1200 High settings across the board on a ATI Radeon HD 6900


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 29th
Testing the new UAV consumable. Very cool! Even uses the original 2009 video model! #mwo


Twitter User April 29th
Is the Special Hulah Girl restricted to the current tournament or will we have the possibility to get it elsewhere?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman April 29th
this version is exclusive to this event only. We do plan to add more variants in the future.



Paul Inouye - Lead Designer

Weapon Balancing



Garth Erlam - Community Manager
May 3rd Hotfix

Trial by Fire sale

Garth's Twitter feed

Twitter User May 3rd
we like CTD hot fixes. Any news on the HUD bugs?
TheGarth ‏@pgi_thegarth May 3rd
We're still working on those, so no ETA for them.



Karl Berg - Senior Software Engineer

Crash to desktop after 5 seconds

The HUD bug



Omid Kiarostami - Gameplay Engineer

Hunchback 4p Inaccuracy

Edited by Helmer, 04 May 2013 - 07:26 PM.

[Helmer]

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending May 10th.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Russ Bullock - President

Russ's Twitter feed.


Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullockMay 7th
btw good news on the HUD bug seems they finished it last night. It wont be in the patch this morning but with any luck a hot fix very soon.


Twitter User May 7th
If you start releasing more good patches like the beginning of this year. I might Buy MC. Lots of Angry Community members.
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
The good patches are starting to roll out starting today. May 21st is epic with lots of great gameplay changes.
Twitter User May 7th
1. New MC mech/etc Purchases Should Be giftable. 2. Gift previously owned mechs could cost a low MC fee. 3. C-Bill Transfers.
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
It's all going to happen but 12v12, UI 2.0 and CW are the top priorities on engineering until launch.
Twitter User May 7th
So should I just shut up? Also did you ever read my old post about Solaris? Why not 8 vs 8 vs 8?
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
no I dont want anyone to shut up. It's not just frustrating for the fans, we have a priority list thats super long but..
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
its a continuing effort in patience and discipline on our side to roll out features as quickly as we can, but I guess the...
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
bright side is that we hope were adding features to MWO for the next 5 years. Thanks for your help, support and feedback.
Twitter User May 7th
Lots of work ahead. know that feeling. Need to throw bodies at it (D-Day) If I didn't have a job right now I would apply.
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
It's all hands on deck, nearly 50 full time developers.


Twitter User May 7th
what is the timeline for increasing LRM damage back to 1.4?
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 7th
May 21st has the balance changes including LRM's.




Bryan Ekman - Creative Director

UI 2.0 and the numerous posts after it.

UI 2.0 Timeline

UI 2.0 views and Here



Bryan's Twitter feed.

Twitter User May 7th
Want to get bold with social elements in UI 2.0? Let players link/share builds through chat to preview in the mechlab. Brilliant
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 10th
On my short list of features requested


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 8th
from the sound man himself - "No changes to the AC20 recently." Volume has been lowered across the board though.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 8th
Also - he's pumping up the AC/20 sound. Which should show up soonish.


Twitter User May 7th
Up & down scale? Windowed & FS? This can be done now through Alt+Enter. But the images in 720p. So anyway foresee blurry pixels.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 7th
the images are mock ups. The elements scale based on resolution. So no. Not pixelated.



Garth Erlam - Community Manager

May 7th Patch Live

Spring Clean 'em up winners



Matthew Craig - Technical Director

Hud Bug update



Matt Newman - Producer

Hero 'Mech Colours and you

Edited by Helmer, 11 May 2013 - 07:06 AM.

[Helmer]

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending May 17th.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Bryan Ekam - Creative Director

Ask the Devs 38 - Answered!

'Mech quirks visualization WIP


Bryan's Twitter feed.

Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 17th
#mwo trailer music has been posted here - https://soundcloud.com/mechwarrior For those interested.


Twitter User May 17th
stats related question: what is the average percentage of damage for the various airstrike/artillery strikes? % hit rate? Etc.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 17th
we currently aren't tracking that. Will be shortly.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 15th
Looks like we're going down under! @PAXAUS here we (@russ_bullock) come. More details to follow on our #mwo panel.


Twitter User May 15th
seems like adressing pin-point is something the #MWO community would really like to hear a dev point of view on



Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 15th
it's on our radar for review. The design team is working feverishly on a big tuning pass for the 21at #mwo patch.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
This should settle the #mwo who's taller debate. A Cicada or a Blackjack... pic.twitter.com/G1QVUfeGXH


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
Very (!) detailed account of the HUD bug. Interesting technical read worth taking a look at - http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/117769-hud-bug-brief/ … #mwo



Twitter User May 14th
So will CW be first person only, will there be a server for each view mode, or will it be mixed? This is important
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
Final decision hasn't been made yet, however out goal will be to support player choice.


Twitter User May 13th
anything about the bad hit detection? watched an erppc spider getting multi hits on and not doing dmg might have a vid of it
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's an ongoing process. We've made large strides to improve this. Missile host state rewind comes out next week. More to follow.


Twitter User May 13th
Will we be able to gift mechs soon?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's on the list. Not until after launch.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's the new #mwo Cobra Pattern. It has an awesome pearlescent effect like this - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Pearlescent_Toyota_Supra_-_002.jpg …


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Updated UI 2.0 post with player feedback updates - http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/117053-ui-20/page__view__findpost__p__2345978 … more to follow later this week. #mwo


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
A shot of the #mwo Blackjack before the carnage - pic.twitter.com/rWChCYApNU


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
It's Monday... Hmmm. What's that I see there? Some nice May 21st patch content? pic.twitter.com/7LzwFyLl7K



Twitter User May 13th
Does this mean Flamers actually do something now?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Target Flamer heat will not exceed 90%. Heat % will no longer jump when using flamer or being flamed. And
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Target heat will increase exponentially due to Heat Retention. These tweaks just went into test today.



Paul Inouye - Lead Designer

Weapon Balancing and a follow up



Matthew Craig - Technical Director

Ssrms

New Damage decal



Karl Berg - Senior Software Engineer

Engineer Bandwidth and here

HUD Bug brief

Edited by Helmer, 17 May 2013 - 03:37 PM.

[Thontor]

Helmer, on 17 May 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending May 17th.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Spoiler

Bryan Ekam - Creative Director

Ask the Devs 38 - Answered!

'Mech quirks visualization WIP


Bryan's Twitter feed.

Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 17th
#mwo trailer music has been posted here - https://soundcloud.com/mechwarrior For those interested.


Twitter User May 17th
stats related question: what is the average percentage of damage for the various airstrike/artillery strikes? % hit rate? Etc.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 17th
we currently aren't tracking that. Will be shortly.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 15th
Looks like we're going down under! @PAXAUS here we (@russ_bullock) come. More details to follow on our #mwo panel.


Twitter User May 15th
seems like adressing pin-point is something the #MWO community would really like to hear a dev point of view on



Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 15th
it's on our radar for review. The design team is working feverishly on a big tuning pass for the 21at #mwo patch.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
This should settle the #mwo who's taller debate. A Cicada or a Blackjack... pic.twitter.com/G1QVUfeGXH


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
Very (!) detailed account of the HUD bug. Interesting technical read worth taking a look at - http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/117769-hud-bug-brief/ … #mwo



Twitter User May 14th
So will CW be first person only, will there be a server for each view mode, or will it be mixed? This is important
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 14th
Final decision hasn't been made yet, however out goal will be to support player choice.


Twitter User May 13th
anything about the bad hit detection? watched an erppc spider getting multi hits on and not doing dmg might have a vid of it
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's an ongoing process. We've made large strides to improve this. Missile host state rewind comes out next week. More to follow.


Twitter User May 13th
Will we be able to gift mechs soon?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's on the list. Not until after launch.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
it's the new #mwo Cobra Pattern. It has an awesome pearlescent effect like this - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Pearlescent_Toyota_Supra_-_002.jpg …


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Updated UI 2.0 post with player feedback updates - http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/117053-ui-20/page__view__findpost__p__2345978 … more to follow later this week. #mwo


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
A shot of the #mwo Blackjack before the carnage - pic.twitter.com/rWChCYApNU


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
It's Monday... Hmmm. What's that I see there? Some nice May 21st patch content? pic.twitter.com/7LzwFyLl7K



Twitter User May 13th
Does this mean Flamers actually do something now?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Target Flamer heat will not exceed 90%. Heat % will no longer jump when using flamer or being flamed. And
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 13th
Target heat will increase exponentially due to Heat Retention. These tweaks just went into test today.



Paul Inouye - Lead Designer

Weapon Balancing and a follow up



Matthew Craig - Technical Director

Ssrms

New Damage decal



Karl Berg - Senior Software Engineer

Engineer Bandwidth and here

HUD Bug brief

Wow, posted this early this week

[Helmer]

The Developers posts week in review for the work week ending May 24th.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however, it is intended to point out some of the more interesting posts that you may have missed this week.

Russ Bullock - President

Russ's Twitter feed

Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 24th
Looks like a hotfix for #MWO is coming at 10am. Small LRM tweaks, to indirect path and splash damage radius has been lowered greatly.


Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 24th
Nice updated preview from ten ton hammer http://www.tentonhammer.com/mechwarrior-online/opinions/project-update … we get it you guys want community warfare! #MWO


Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 23rd
Want to thank @pcgamer for the honor pic.twitter.com/txnjNXmpx5


Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 21st
Make sure to log in and check out the new patch for #MWO. New mech the Blackjack as well as a new map. Also bug fixes and balance work.
Twitter User May 21st
Don't you think you might have overtuned the LRM's a little bit? ;P
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 21st
splash damage may need to come down, lets give it a couple days.
Leg_Destroyed ‏@ReverseDisabled 22 May
Twitter User May 21st
I like LRMS now just fix the out of LOS bug and we be golden
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 22nd
There working on a tweak to the indirect path and lowering splash radius..hopefully that will be the sweet spot


Twitter User May 21st
Bryan won't answer. I'll try asking you. Weapon balance fix is hardpoint size restrictions. Why are you guys against it?
Russ Bullock ‏@russ_bullock May 21st
were not against it, it's been discussed.




Bryan Ekman - Creative Director

U.I. 2.0 Quirks updated based on player feedback


Bryan's Twitter feed.

Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 24th
BattleMech 20 is - http://mwomercs.com/media/concept/153-victor …
Twitter User May 24th
Take my money.... TAKE IT!!! LOL have a date yet?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 24th
July


Twitter User May 21st
Thanks Bryan. Should've delayed the LRM buff until the splash damage changes really. Long range meta just got even more crazy
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 22nd
we're looking at hot fixing this week. Small tweak.
Twitter User May 22nd
when can we expect a fix for malformed packet disconnects? 3 patches now and still have the same issue.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 22nd
We're working on it now. Make sure to put a ticket in, and post on the forums so we can recruit you to help us track it down.
Twitter User May 22nd
I have. Last email I got from support was on the 9th. No responses since then.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 22nd
the engineers have been tracking it. New logging will be added to the patch on Friday to help tracks down. So you run AVG?


Twitter UserMay 22nd
Any update on community warfare? None of my friends wants to play till it's in and as such have not played myself
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 22nd
it's in development alongside UI 2.0. First component, 12v12 comes online next month. Then more pieces in summer.


Twitter User May 21st
What did the note about PPCs doing appropriate min range damage mean? Were they doing too much or too little before?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 22nd
min range is 90m at 45m the PPC was doing 25% damage, instead of 50% damage.


Twitter User May 21st
Is map weighting handled server side? Game files show Alpine & Tourmaline are still double weighted.
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 21st
Yes it's server side.


Twitter User May 21st
Did jump-jet shake not make it into the patch?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 21st
First June patch.


Twitter User May 21st
The new UI2.0 pics show twist/turn rates as well as ranges. Are those equations available somewhere? Thanks!
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 21st
I'll ask David to post the formulas in the Command Chair section.


Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 17th
trailer music has been posted here - https://soundcloud.com/mechwarrior For those interested.
Twitter User May 18th
Who is the author and performer of this music?
Bryan Ekman ‏@bryanekman May 18th
Sean Kolton does all of our music and SFX.




Paul Inouye - Lead Designer

LRM issue after the May 21st Patch

LRM Hot Fix 05/24/13 Clarification and part 2




Garth Erlam - Community Manager
Medium vs. The World leaderboard challenge

Employee of the month sale - May 24th to May 28th

May 21st Patch notes




Matthew Craig - Technical Director

Lag in every drop




Niko Snow - IGP Community Representative

LRM Hotfix notes additional notes

Dissatisfaction with QA

In dedication to Mechwarrior Sarah Marie Alida Parries.

Surely, the most precious of Jenner pilots

Edited by Helmer, Yesterday, 04:04 PM.