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[Tvae]

(I put this in Suggestions, as a number of items on the list are things I feel that PGI should seriously consider. Other items are merely things which PGI has mentioned and ought to be in the game soon, whether at launch or soon after, so I put together a list of things that, while not entirely likely, would at least be believable.)

First: I have no guarantee anything written here will happen in any way, shape, or form. This is merely my thoughts on what would be the best case scenario for what we could possibly see at launch. I attempted to base it off what we know will have a good chance to be in, as well as around changes that could be logically made in the time remaining.

To PGI specifically: Please, relax. The fans are not your enemies. The fans WANT you to succeed, to do great and make a fantastic game. We love this game. What you've made so far is, admittedly, not perfect. But, the base gameplay IS there, and it IS amazing. The art is great, the feel of the mechs is powerful... It's only the small things you seem to need a bit of help working out. (That, and time to actually finish the bigger features, but considering how young of a game this is that's not really that surprising.)

So! On to (what I hope) will be the patch notes come September 17th.


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Greetings all, and welcome to launch day! I think you'll all be quite surprised and excited by all the changes we have ahead for you today, in terms of balance, content, and other surprises! Brace yourselves, Mechwarriors. This is a big one.

New Content:

New Hero mech (Orion)
- ON1-Kerensky
Right Arm - Gauss Rifle
Right Torso - Medium Laser
Left Torso - PPC
Left Torso - SRM 4
Left Arm - Medium Laser

Orion (Heavy, 75 tons)
Variants:
ON1-K
ON1-V
ON2-M

Firestarter (Light, 35 tons)
FS9-A
FS9-H
FS9-S1

Map: Island Metropolis
- (I would write more about this map, but all we've really seen so far is the overview, so I got nothin' .)

UI2.0
- A new look for a fresh start. With UI2.0, it should be much easier to navigate through what you own, and will give you more options for how YOU want to play the game (such as the ability to rename mechs, and order them how you like in the Mechbay). More information can be found here: (Post to info on UI2.0).

Community Warfare Phase I
- With the first part of Community Warfare, we have split the queue in two: One queue will be locked for new players until after their Cadet Bonus has worn off. This queue is the first part of Community Warfare, and will grant Loyalty points as rewards for victory. This queue also contains a way for two groups to drop against each other specifically. Additionally, this queue will be restricted to 1PV. More info on Phase I, and the other upcoming phases, can be found here: (insert link to info on Community Warfare).

Basic Tutorial
- A simple tutorial had been added to the game which details the basics of mech movement and weapon usage. New players will be prompted to play the tutorial when they first start up the game, and current players can view the tutorial at any time by selecting it from the drop-down list of play options.

DirectX 11
- Although the changes made by the inclusion of DirectX 11 won't increase graphics a large amount initially, over time it will help us to improve graphics both in looks and how they are handled, meaning that they should not just look better, but they should run better as well.

New skin: Piranha (Literally has little cartoon-y fish with giant teeth drawn all over it.)
- Not purchasable. Given to all players for all mechs as a release bonus. Only available for mechs currently in the game and the Pheonix mechs (future mechs will not receive this skin). Players who join within the first week of launch will also get this skin.



Balance:

PPC only heat restriction
- The heat system has been removed from all weapons, with the exception of the PPC. The original purpose of the system was to restrict boating, but the only weapon it really noticeably fixed in the way intended was the PPC. As such, we have decided to restrict the system to the PPC and ER PPC, while all other weapons will be balanced in different ways. As a weapon that, in lore, is notoriously hard to handle the heat of, we felt this change will help make PPCs one of the harder weapons to use effectively, while still remaining a powerful option.

AC/20 cooldown increased by 1 seconds
- Although a pretty large increase, this should secure the AC/20 as something where it becomes risky to bring as many as possible, as you will likely be sacrificing other parts for a weapon that has far more downtime than any other - meaning each shot matters that much more in a AC40 Jaeger. It should still be viable, if played right, but should be much easier to take down.

The Gauss Rifle now has a half-second charge time before it fires.
- The shot cannot be canceled once triggered. This should help make it harder to snipe with and pair up with PPCs, while not making it too much worse as a weapon.

Gauss Rifle health boosted to 5 health, from 3.
- While it will still be weaker than other weapons, 3 was a bit too low in addition to the other change. In exchange, bringing the health back up slightly will make them slightly less risky, while the charge time will make them a bit harder to use.

Flamers heat output/second increased slightly
- You still won't be able to push opponents past 90%, but you should be able to get them there a bit easier with continuous fire, now.

Flamers heat usage/second decreased slightly
- This should make it slightly easier to fire them without burning yourself out before you burn the enemy out. They still cause a lot of heat, but it should be a bit more manageable.

Flamer damage increased very slightly.
- Not enough to rival other weapons of similar weights even, but should make them a bit more viable in conjunction with the heat they put out.

Seismic sensor only reports enemy positions once every 2.5 seconds.
- This should allow sneaky lights to scurry past quick enough to only be seen by one or two blips, if that. Hope your opponents aren't paying attention to their map!

Seismic sensor range increased slightly
- Only a small bit larger than previously, and definitely not to their original values, this should make them a bit more reliable considering the above change.



Other/Bug Fixes:

Split the queue into 1PV Only and Mixed variants.
- The Mixed queue (both 1PV and 3PV) will be selected by default for new players, to help them get accustomed to piloting their mech, and will be required until they have completed their Cadet Bonus. The tutorial will instruct them on how to switch between viewpoints. The 1PV queue is also the Community Warfare queue.

River City & Tourmaline Model Optimization
- A pass has been completed of some of the objects on River City and Tourmaline Desert, meaning the edges should be a bit more precise. You should notice a definite decrease in the amount of times it appears that your shots are colliding with what appears to be open space near buildings. As always, there are likely spots that we missed, so if you encounter any spots where it looks like you should be able to shoot, but you can't, please report them!

First win of the day now applies to CBills earned as well.
- This should help out the income of players who can only play a few matches a day, while not increasing it too much for those who play a large number of matches.

HSR changes, which should improve weapon fire.
- We are continuously working on getting the game as lag-free as possible, so hopefully these new changes will make even more of your shots hit where it looks like they should.

More object collisions!
- Watch those trees fall! (Not all object collisions are in the game yet, they will be added over the course of upcoming patches. Mech collisions soon too, hopefully? Yes? )

Founder and Hero paints!
- Players who purchased a Hero Mech or Founders mech will get the paints that those mechs use. Additionally, Hero Mechs now come with Mech Bays, and all players who have purchased hero mechs will be granted additional mech bays for those mechs.
- The colors for Founders Catapults and Jenners have been updated. The paint should be a bit easier to see now. Additionally, Atlai and Hunchbacks can now change their Founders colors too!

Champion mechs for all (variants)!
- How Champion mechs work is changing. Instead of being released for specific variants, Champion is now a status which is purchasable for any (normal) variant. Any mech, and any variant (except Heroes), can now become a champion. All previous Champion mechs will be removed, and replaced with standard variants with the new Champion status attached. You can now have Champion status for the mechs you like, not just the ones that are available!

-Information about other upcoming stuff, that should be in very sooner now that UI2.0 is live.


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Any thoughts? I tried to avoid definite numbers (such as damage/heat usage for flamers), and the few that are in there are not based on any testing - moreso an indication of the direction I feel changes should head in. Also, I know some of the parts are outright guesses based on no evidence (Firestart, Piranha skin), but those were just included because A.) I thought they would fit the game as it stands, and B.) having things in the patch which had not been previously announced seems like the sort of thing Piranha may do.