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Spoiler
As you may be aware, our resources are currently focused 100% on Community Warfare Phase 2.
However, there are quite a few items that are currently in branch testing at PGI that I wanted to give you an update on... I do not have a firm patch delivery date for most of these items yet, though they should all be released in the months of October and November. I wanted to give everyone a heads up on those items so you can see some of the improvements coming in the future.
Fall Damage
I have instructed the team to make a small adjustment to fall damage for Medium and Light class 'Mechs. Currently Medium, Heavy, and Assault class 'Mechs all take falling damage at 35 m/s, with Light class 'Mechs starting at 38 m/s. After some more testing, we have decided to leave Heavy and Assault class'Mechs as they stand, but we will be slightly increasing Medium class 'Mechs to 39 m/s and increasing Lights to 46 m/s.
I feel this will feel a little bit better for the more mobile Medium 'Mechs and provide a much better feeling for fast-moving jump-capable Lights overall.
ETA: Oct 7th patch.
Jump Jet Thrust
Since the adjustment of JJ thrust, along with fall damage, we have seen 'pop-tarting' gameplay decrease to a much more acceptable level. I think everyone agrees this is a positive step for MWO. However, I think certain 'Mechs, well-represented by the Summoner (who takes 5+ JJ into combat), are not receiving enough of a benefit for taking them into battle. I am going to be making a small adjustment to allow the thrust to increase a little bit faster as you add more JJs. This will make those 'Mechs feel a little more mobile and give more advantage to 'Mechs that dedicate more space to JJ.
ETA: Oct 7th patch.
Jump Jet Turn Rate
While analyzing why certain players still enter combat with as little as 1-2 JJs, we discovered (or at least reminded ourselves) that the JJ turn rate while in the air was the same whether you had 1 JJ or 5+. This is obviously a huge disadvantage for 'Mechs such as the Summoner that have 5 fixed JJs for 5 tons. We are making an adjustment so that the turn rate while in the air while using JJs will increase with the number of JJs equipped. This means that a 'Mech such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage in a brawling situation over a non-jump capable Heavy, or one utilizing far less JJs. This, in combination with the small change in JJ thrust, should mean 'Mechs such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage for its tonnage spent on JJs.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Omnimech Fixed Jump Jet Slots
The current rule for Omnimechs is that slots are set by the Prime variant. For instance, the Prime variant of the Summoner has 5 fixed JJs and this rule is dictated across each variant. We are expanding this rule slightly when it comes specifically to Jump Jets so that the rule is determined by the variant instead. What this can mean, for example, is that the Timber Wolf S variant will come with 5 fixed JJs. This also means that if you are using (again, for example) the Timber Wolf Prime and decide to equip the RT omnipod of the Timber Wolf S you will have 2 fixed Jump Jets and another 2 if you equip the LT omnipod.
This should result in a much more fair relationship between Clan 'Mech variants and chassis.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Destruction of a Clan Side Torso
Although we hope to eventually put in a full engine critical hit system that would affect both IS and Clan 'Mechs, we are going to start out with a change to place some penalty on a Clan 'Mech that loses a side torso. Essentially, there needs to be some penalty for losing 2 critical engine slots. Using the tabletop game as a guideline, we have decided to not make movement a part of the penalty but to save that for some future implementation on the effects of heat on your 'Mechs functionality. A Clan engine has a total of 10 critical engine slots and the destruction of a Side Torso in a clan ‘Mech means the loss of two of those slots, or 20%. With this in mind, we have decided to implement a rule that the destruction of a side torso in a Clan 'Mech will result in a loss of 20% of the engines internal heat sink capacity. By way of example, a Timber Wolf with 15 internal engine heat sinks will lose the cooling equivalent of 3 of those heat sinks. A small penalty, but we feel that heat sink loss along with the loss of everything in that torso and arm will be enough.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Updated Reward System
Since the implementation of the Queue size window, we have been working on an improvement to the reward system to help promote the use of Medium and Light 'Mechs. What we have done is rework the rewards table by adding some brand new rewards, as well as adjusting how the current ones work. Once implemented, it should represent a moderate improvement to the Role Warfare pillar of MWO.
ETA: Oct 21st or Nov 4th patch.
Inner Sphere Quirk System
The capabilities of the quirk system continue to grow. Our first full quirk pass with the new system has taken the input of several players, including competitive team members. This has allowed us to categorize each Inner Sphere 'Mech, from Tier 1 being the best to Tier 5 being the least competitive. Tier 1 Mech's won't receive any quirks at this point in time, while Tier 5 ‘Mechs will be receiving serious attention. We also made every attempt to give each variant a particular role: e.g. the Hunchback 4G has weapon-specific AC20 quirks, general energy weapon quirks, and Armor/Internal hit point quirks to the right torso. For the greatest impact, players will want to have an AC 20 with energy weapons. Other weapon configurations will still benefit from a subset of the quirks but will prevent the player from reaching the full potential of the variant. We hope to be testing the complete quirk pass by mid-week.
ETA: Oct 21st or Nov 4th patch.
Russ Bullock, on 29 September 2014 - 11:29 AM, said:
As you may be aware, our resources are currently focused 100% on Community Warfare Phase 2.
However, there are quite a few items that are currently in branch testing at PGI that I wanted to give you an update on... I do not have a firm patch delivery date for most of these items yet, though they should all be released in the months of October and November. I wanted to give everyone a heads up on those items so you can see some of the improvements coming in the future.
Fall Damage
I have instructed the team to make a small adjustment to fall damage for Medium and Light class 'Mechs. Currently Medium, Heavy, and Assault class 'Mechs all take falling damage at 35 m/s, with Light class 'Mechs starting at 38 m/s. After some more testing, we have decided to leave Heavy and Assault class'Mechs as they stand, but we will be slightly increasing Medium class 'Mechs to 39 m/s and increasing Lights to 46 m/s.
I feel this will feel a little bit better for the more mobile Medium 'Mechs and provide a much better feeling for fast-moving jump-capable Lights overall.
ETA: Oct 7th patch.
Jump Jet Thrust
Since the adjustment of JJ thrust, along with fall damage, we have seen 'pop-tarting' gameplay decrease to a much more acceptable level. I think everyone agrees this is a positive step for MWO. However, I think certain 'Mechs, well-represented by the Summoner (who takes 5+ JJ into combat), are not receiving enough of a benefit for taking them into battle. I am going to be making a small adjustment to allow the thrust to increase a little bit faster as you add more JJs. This will make those 'Mechs feel a little more mobile and give more advantage to 'Mechs that dedicate more space to JJ.
ETA: Oct 7th patch.
Jump Jet Turn Rate
While analyzing why certain players still enter combat with as little as 1-2 JJs, we discovered (or at least reminded ourselves) that the JJ turn rate while in the air was the same whether you had 1 JJ or 5+. This is obviously a huge disadvantage for 'Mechs such as the Summoner that have 5 fixed JJs for 5 tons. We are making an adjustment so that the turn rate while in the air while using JJs will increase with the number of JJs equipped. This means that a 'Mech such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage in a brawling situation over a non-jump capable Heavy, or one utilizing far less JJs. This, in combination with the small change in JJ thrust, should mean 'Mechs such as the Summoner will have a more appropriate advantage for its tonnage spent on JJs.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Omnimech Fixed Jump Jet Slots
The current rule for Omnimechs is that slots are set by the Prime variant. For instance, the Prime variant of the Summoner has 5 fixed JJs and this rule is dictated across each variant. We are expanding this rule slightly when it comes specifically to Jump Jets so that the rule is determined by the variant instead. What this can mean, for example, is that the Timber Wolf S variant will come with 5 fixed JJs. This also means that if you are using (again, for example) the Timber Wolf Prime and decide to equip the RT omnipod of the Timber Wolf S you will have 2 fixed Jump Jets and another 2 if you equip the LT omnipod.
This should result in a much more fair relationship between Clan 'Mech variants and chassis.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Destruction of a Clan Side Torso
Although we hope to eventually put in a full engine critical hit system that would affect both IS and Clan 'Mechs, we are going to start out with a change to place some penalty on a Clan 'Mech that loses a side torso. Essentially, there needs to be some penalty for losing 2 critical engine slots. Using the tabletop game as a guideline, we have decided to not make movement a part of the penalty but to save that for some future implementation on the effects of heat on your 'Mechs functionality. A Clan engine has a total of 10 critical engine slots and the destruction of a Side Torso in a clan ‘Mech means the loss of two of those slots, or 20%. With this in mind, we have decided to implement a rule that the destruction of a side torso in a Clan 'Mech will result in a loss of 20% of the engines internal heat sink capacity. By way of example, a Timber Wolf with 15 internal engine heat sinks will lose the cooling equivalent of 3 of those heat sinks. A small penalty, but we feel that heat sink loss along with the loss of everything in that torso and arm will be enough.
ETA: Oct 7th or 21st patch.
Updated Reward System
Since the implementation of the Queue size window, we have been working on an improvement to the reward system to help promote the use of Medium and Light 'Mechs. What we have done is rework the rewards table by adding some brand new rewards, as well as adjusting how the current ones work. Once implemented, it should represent a moderate improvement to the Role Warfare pillar of MWO.
ETA: Oct 21st or Nov 4th patch.
Inner Sphere Quirk System
The capabilities of the quirk system continue to grow. Our first full quirk pass with the new system has taken the input of several players, including competitive team members. This has allowed us to categorize each Inner Sphere 'Mech, from Tier 1 being the best to Tier 5 being the least competitive. Tier 1 Mech's won't receive any quirks at this point in time, while Tier 5 ‘Mechs will be receiving serious attention. We also made every attempt to give each variant a particular role: e.g. the Hunchback 4G has weapon-specific AC20 quirks, general energy weapon quirks, and Armor/Internal hit point quirks to the right torso. For the greatest impact, players will want to have an AC 20 with energy weapons. Other weapon configurations will still benefit from a subset of the quirks but will prevent the player from reaching the full potential of the variant. We hope to be testing the complete quirk pass by mid-week.
ETA: Oct 21st or Nov 4th patch.
