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[Kyle Polulak]

UPDATE
Greetings MechWarriors!

Today we are pleased to introduce our most stable and dynamic matchmaking system yet. This new system not only improves the overall wait-time for players, it also allows us to modify major matchmaking variables on the fly whenever needed as well as introduces more in-depth monitoring tools for us to observe the behavior of the matchmaker. More info about this system will be coming soon to the Command Chair for those with technical curiosities; The average player benefits out of all this with shorter wait-times, more fair matches, and the re-introduction of Groups of 5-10.

Being one of our most complex backend systems, the road to improving the matchmaking has been long with several twists and turns. We are grateful to those players who have both expressed patience and support in our past attempts to improve this system, as well as those who took part in last week's Public Test to help us test and offer feedback on this current system.

We are also introducing several gameplay features to this patch: Fall Damage is now scalar based on the weight and structure health of your Mech. A case study as well as values and variables can be found below which will offer a better idea of how this will affect your 'Mechs on the field. We are now also introducing functionality to the Clan Targeting Computers and IS Command Console

That's not all folks! We also have a bevy of Front End Interface improvements and weapon tunings to direct your attention towards.

Please check out the notes below for more details on these changes, bug fixes, and other improvements mentioned.

See you on the Battlefield!

New Match Maker Description
The new matchmaker is designed to provide a fun, balanced match as quickly as possible. It does this by constructing team compositions with 3 of each weight class as well as a fair ELO rating for the teams.

Solo Players: Solo players are matched in the Solo queue and can select their preferred game mode. Players can also use the matchmaking queue status for each weight class to reduce wait times. There can also be one group of 2 to 4 per team.

Groups of 2 to 4: Groups of 2 to 4 will be matched up in the Solo players queue or the group queue. When they are placed in a Solo queue there will be a group of 2 to 4 on the opposing team. When matched in the Group queue they will be playing with groups of various compositions. Keeping an eye on the matchmaking queue status for each weight class will reduce wait times

Groups 5 to 10 and 12: Larger groups now will be dropping in the group queue (formerly the 12 player queue). Teams will need to respect the 4x3 weight composition in order to launch and will be matched against other grouped players. The group UI has added information and functionality to help players configure their team composition and refill consumables after a match.

• There are two types of matchmaking requests, determined by group size:
  
  • Solo players up to groups of four are considered valid candidates for Solo queue games.
    
  • Groups of 2 to 12 – (except 11) are considered valid candidates for ‘Group’ games.
• The matchmaker will attempt to match based on both Elo and weight class composition (3’s)
  
• Over time, the matchmaker will relax both Elo and weight class composition constraints. In the case of weight class composition, the matchmaker guarantees both teams end up matching.
  
• Here are some hard guarantees the matchmaker makes with default configs. Currently:
  
  • A solo player should never be put into a game with a group of 5+
    
  • A solo player should never be put into a game that has more than one premade on a team
    
  • Both teams must have the same mix of lights / mediums / heavies / assaults to launch
    
  • Both teams must be full to launch
    
  • A group of 11 is never allowed into the queue, the matchmaker must refuse the request
    
  • Teams must conform to the 3’s rule, otherwise the matchmaker must refuse the request

Front End

UI Improvements:

• Moved the Search Cancel button to the center of the screen
  
• "Select 'Mech" now goes to the "'Mech Select" instead of MechLab
  
• User can now ready up within a group even if they are inside MechLab as long as their 'Mech is saved
  
• After a match, user will return to MechLab instead of the "Home" tab.
  
• Improved "sorting" of the Owned filter in MechLab
  
  • Sort by weight, then alphabetical if same weight
    
  • Heroes and Champions no longer at the top of the list
• Add sorting options to items in the MechLab:
  
  • All items can be sorted by name, price, tons, and slots.
• Scrolling and State Resets:
  
  • Removed auto scroll on friend status update
    
  • Retain weight class selection when switching between owned and purchasable
    
  • The social window now have two tabs, one for friends list and one for messages
• After every 'Mech purchase, the newly purchased 'Mech will be automatically selected
  
• Check Out button improvements:
  
  • Removed View button
    
  • Increased Checkout button size
    
  • Renamed Checkout to Save
    
  • Button pulse when changes require saving
• Universally made the [ESC] button functions as Back (within a logically hierarchy)
  
  • User can also press the [ESC] button to back out of the social screen now.
• New turret icon in-game

Gameplay

How Fall Damage Triggers:

In order for fall damage to trigger, the following conditions must be true:

• The 'Mech has been airborne for 1 second minimum.
  
• The 'Mech has a vertical fall rate of at least 30 ft/s. (9.144 m/s)

How much damage is determined by it's fall velocity and the weight class of the falling 'Mech.

• Light 'Mechs = (Internal Structure Health * 1.9) * 0.04
  
• Medium 'Mechs = (Internal Structure Health * 1.9) * 0.03
  
• Heavy 'Mechs = (Internal Structure Health * 1.9) * 0.035
  
• Assault 'Mechs = (Internal Structure Health * 1.9) * 0.04

Case Study: Spider-5K

Internal Structure Health of a Spider's leg is 14.7 (Remember, we doubled internal structure from tabletop rules (7) and recently we gave all Light 'Mechs a 5% leg health boost (0.7))

Let's say the Spider falls and hits the ground at 30ft/s. This is the minimum speed at which damage is triggered.

Spider Base Damage = (14.7 * 1.9) * 0.04 = 1.12

The faster the Spider hits the ground, a scalar multiplier is added to this base damage. This scaling happens, for Light 'Mechs at 38 ft/s. So any impact speeds of 30-38ft/s will do 1.12 damage to each of the Spider's legs.

By default, the Spider-5K has 28 leg armor. This combined with the internal structure health brings each leg to a total of 42.7 health. The spider would have to fall 38.125 times at 30-38ft/s in order for the legs to be destroyed.

Speeds you're going to want to get used to:

• 30ft/s (9.144 m/s) - Minimum speed of all 'Mechs to take fall damage.
  
• 38ft/s (11.582 m/s) - Speed at which fall damage ramps up for Light Mechs.
  
• 35ft/s (10.668 m/s) - Speed at which fall damage ramps up for Medium Mechs.
  
• 35ft/s (10.668 m/s) - Speed at which fall damage ramps up for Heavy Mechs.
  
• 33ft/s (10.058 m/s) - Speed at which fall damage ramps up for Assault Mechs.

Each weight class has a different rate at which fall damage ramps up at (scalar multipliers).


It will take a bit to get used to the new mechanic and the need of a vertical speedometer is now needed. What we've done is add the new speed indicator to the HUD and it will show you your impact speed on landing from jumps/falls. It will also tell you if you're taking low damage or high damage. See image below:



'Shock Absorbance' Balancing:

With the new fall damage system in place the Shock Absorbance module received a new balancing. The numbers are now:

• Light 'Mechs: 35% fall damage reduction
  
• Medium 'Mechs: 30% fall damage reduction
  
• Heavy 'Mechs: 25% fall damage reduction
  
• Assault 'Mechs: 20% fall damage reduction

Weapons tuning:

• Clan LRM launchers heat scales set to 3.1 up from 2.8
  
• Clan LB2 spread set to 0.45, down from 1.3
  
• Clan LB5 spread to 0.85, down from 1.3
  
• Clan LB2, AC2, UAC2 and IS AC2 cooldown set to 0.72 down from 0.8
  
• Clan ER Small Laser damage reduced from 5.0 to 4.0
  
• Clan ER Small Laser range increased from 180m/360m to 200m/400m
  
• Clan Small Pulse Laser damage increased from 3.4 to 4.4
  
• Clan Medium Pulse Laser damage increase from 7.0 to 7.4
  
• Clan Medium Pulse Laser heat increased from 5.0 to 5.5
  
• Clan Medium Pulse Laser duration reduced from 1.1 to 0.9
  
• Clan SRM/2 and SRM/6 impulse value reduced from 0.192 to 0.11

Zoom levels:

Players will notice that the standard zoom level values displayed on the HUD have changed. However the visual zoom levels have not changed. This was due to the HUD displaying hard coded values. Here are the previous and New displayed values.

• Standard view = 1.0x is still 1.0x
  
• First level zoom was 1.5x still 1.5x
  
• Second level zoom was 3.0x now displays 2.0 x
  
• Advance Zoom Module displayed a Value of 4.0 x now displays 4.4x

Please note these have not affected the actual zoom level, the value displayed is now accurate to the in-game value.


This is important because the Targeting computer and Command Console can now directly affect the zoom levels with an [X] percentage increase.

The Targeting computer Mark VII (15% zoom level) would modify the stock and Advance zoom values in the following way

• Standard view – No effect
  
• First level zoom: without targeting computer 1.5x, with the targeting computer 1.725x zoom
  
• First level zoom: without targeting computer 2.0x, with the targeting computer 2.3x zoom
  
• Advanced zoom module: without targeting computer 4.4x, with the targeting computer 5.06x zoom

Read on for the full functionality of the Targeting Computers and the Command module.


Targeting Computers and Command Console:

• Targeting Computers - Clan 'Mechs only
  
  • Targeting computer Mk I:
    
    • Weight: 1 Ton
      
    • Slots: 1 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 4.5%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 2.25%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 22.5%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 4.5%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 2.25%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 2.25%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 7.25%
  • Targeting computer Mk II:
    
    • Weight: 2 Ton
      
    • Slots: 2 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 6.5%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 6.5%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 32.5%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 6.5%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 3.25%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 3.25%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 8.25%
  • Targeting computer Mk III:
    
    • Weight: 3 Ton
      
    • Slots: 3 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 8.5%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 4.25%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 42.5%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 8.5%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 4.25%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 4.25%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 9.25%
  • Targeting computer Mk IV:
    
    • Weight: 4 Ton
      
    • Slots: 4 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 10.5%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 5.25%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 52.5%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 10.5%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 5.25%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 5.25%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 10.25%
  • Targeting computer Mk V:
    
    • Weight: 5 Ton
      
    • Slots: 5 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 12.0%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 6.0%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 60.0%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 12.0%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 6.0%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 6.0%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 11.0%
  • Targeting computer Mk VI:
    
    • Weight: 6 Ton
      
    • Slots: 6 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 13.5%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 6.75%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 67.5%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 13.5%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 6.75%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 6.75%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 11.75%
  • Targeting computer Mk VII:
    
    • Weight: 7 Ton
      
    • Slots: 7 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 15.0%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 7.5%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 75.0%
      
    • Projectile weapon projectile speed increases by 15.0%
      
    • Beam weapon long range increases by 7.5%
      
    • Beam weapon max range increases by 7.5%
      
    • Critical chance for projectile and beam weapons increases by 12.50%
• Command Console
  
  • Inner Sphere Heavy and Assault 'Mechs only
    
  • Equippable in the Head component
    
    • Weight: 3 Tons
      
    • Slot: 1 Slot
      
    • Zoom distance increases by 12.0%
      
    • Sensor range increases by 6.0%
      
    • Time to gather target info decreases by 42.5%

Bug Fixes

Gameplay

• All Ultra AC's will now continue to fire after cooldown completes when holding the assigned button
  
• Fixed an issue where, rarely, Ultra AC's could jam upon firing successive off-cooldown shots.

'MechLab

• Fixed an issue where Ferro-Fibrous and Endo-Steel both appear as Dynamic Structure Slot in MechLab
  
• Fixed an issue where the Purchasable filter doesn't update the quantity after selling a 'Mech
  
• Fixed an issue where the scroll wheel is not functional in certain areas in the 'Mech drop down windows
  
• Fixed an issue where the red play button for the tutorial video does not function if the user clicks on the Boosters tab first.
  
• The description of the Shock Absorbance module not longer appears cut off in the Mech Select screen
  
• Purchasable mugs now updated with the original Clan logos

'Mechs

• The Gatling Horn no longer clips through a monitor in the Warhawk Prime Gold 'Mech
  
• Summoner SMN-B's missiles now properly line up with the weapon pods as they are fired
  
• VFX for Clan Missile's fired from the Kit Fox Right Arm no longer appear outside the component
  
• Clan LRM's VFX no longer misaligned if equipped within the Summoner left arm slots
  
• Fixed an issue where user can look up in the Adder's cockpit to see through parts of the Mech
  
• Fixed an issue where the Direwolf snaps to a previous position when turning on point in third person view
  
• Fixed an issue where a texture is flickering on the front of the Right Arm on the Dire Wolf DWF-PRIME (I) when viewed in Low graphic settings
  
• Fixed an issue where the Summoner and Warhawk displays excessive smoke VFX when shot with channeled weapons
  
• Direwolf CT Hitbox has been slightly reduced

We thank you for your patience and we look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!

- The MechWarrior® Online™ Team

Edited by Nikolai Lubkiewicz, 02 July 2014 - 12:56 PM.