134 replies to this topic

[InnerSphereNews]

Greetings MechWarriors,

We will be rolling out a hot-fix, currently scheduled for Tuesday, December 20th at 2:00 PM PST (10 PM UTC), with the following changes:

Quick Play Escort Game Mode

• Removed Ammo that had been equipped in the Atlas VIP 'Mech.

Design Note: To help improve the balance of Escort results between patches we've been actively adjusting the armor/health values of the Atlas VIP based on live results; this is a change we can make without the need for downtime or server maintenance.

With the burden of securing victory resting more heavily on the Attackers, along with the usual learning process inherent with the introduction of a new Game Mode, Escort matches were often ending in favor of the Defending team in the days following the December 13th patch. In recent days however, Attacker and Defender win rates have started to reach a point of greater parity.

One unintended component of Escort was the presence of Ammo in the Atlas VIP 'Mech, which we have opted to fix/remove in this hot-fix. While the removal of this Ammo from the VIP will increase its chances of survival and favor the Defenders, we were not comfortable with the random nature of Ammo Explosions influencing the core objective of this Game Mode.

We'll continue to monitor community feedback regarding Escort, along with its metrics, to improve the balance and fun of this brand new mode.

HUD

• If you have deactivated Friendly 'Mech Icons with the key toggle, looking directly at a friendly 'Mech (or any other friendly element) with the Arm reticle will now bring up the standard Friendly 'Mech HUD icons (weight class and statuses).

Design Note: Providing players with a way to toggle the persistent display of Friendly HUD elements was a welcomed addition with the last hot-fix, but it brought with it certain caveats for use that negatively impacted the availability of critical information if a player had toggled the icons off.

To address some of those issues, with this change you will still be able to identify friendly 'Mechs, Turrets, and UAVs at a quick glance, even if the Friendly 'Mech Icons toggle is off, by passing over them with your Arm reticle.

If you've set the toggle off, ending up face-to-face with an ally after rounding a corner should now better enable you to avoid reflex-driven friendly fire under such circumstances. More critically, this change will also enable players to perform status checks on their allied forces with a quick glance, without needing to worry about hitting the manual toggle to restore icons.

Faction Play Groups

• Fixed an issue where Groups of 11 could not drop into Invasion Engagements.

Faction Play Scouting
(Scouting)

• Clan Scouting Drop Deck Tonnage reduced to 50 (from 55).

Design Note: While the forces of the Inner Sphere have at times made decent gains in the Scouting Tug of War during the recent Conflicts, the greater distribution of higher Skill Tiered players on the Clan side, combined with a greater presence of organized, high-tier Units also aligned under the Clan banner, still make Scouting engagements an uphill battle for Inner Sphere forces.
We should stress that Tonnage changes such as this, and the previous adjustments to Invasion Tonnage seen since the December 13th patch, are not intended to be the sole balance mechanic for Clan/Inner Sphere Conflicts.

We are listening to all feedback on this front, and are very much cognizant of the potential avenues for improving Conflict balance. That said, these Tonnage changes do provide us with a 'live' method - not reliant on downtime or patch cycles - to account for dynamic changes in Clan and Inner Sphere populations.

Scouting Intel values and conditions are being adjusted in this hot-fix.

• The total amount of Intel in the Scouting Tug of War bar has been reduced to 200 (from 300).

• Planetary Advantage thresholds remain at their same positions along the Scouting Tug of War bar.

Design Note: The amount of Intel for Scouting Tug of War progress is being reduced to provide greater elasticity in the Scouting Tug of War.

Faction Play Invasion

(Skirmish, Domination, Conquest, Assault, Invasion)

The allotment of the five Invasion Stages along the Invasion Tug of War bar has been adjusted.

• All Invasion Stages are now evenly distributed along the Tug of War. As a result, a larger portion of battles throughout a Conflict will now take place in the four initial Invasion Stages. You can see this change reflected in the image below.

Design Note: Conflicts since the December 13th patch have tended toward Clan domination by the end of each Conflict cycle, with a bulk of those Conflicts seeing extended periods of Invasion-only engagements. With the positive reception to the introduction of Skirmish, Domination, Conquest, and Assault Game Modes into Faction Play Invasion, and with player and Unit populations currently favoring Clan forces in the higher Skill Tier ranges, we've seen some desire for a greater presence for these Modes when playing Invasion.

To that end we've set even distributions for all Game Modes within the Invasion Tug of War. With this change we have also pushed the Capture Threshold a little closer to the endpoint.

These changes should result in a greater likelihood of dropping into the one of the first four Invasion Stages, and will hopefully intensify last-minute Tug of War action near the Capture Thresholds.

In the same vein as the Clan Scouting Tonnage change listed earlier, we'd like to stress that these kinds of changes are not the definitive or sole methods for balancing Clan/Inner Sphere Conflicts. We are listening to all feedback on this front, and are very much cognizant of the potential avenues for improving Conflict balance.

Patch Files (Direct Download)

To make the patching process easier for players with limited download caps, we'll be providing direct download links for the patch file(s) that comprise this patch. This will allow you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, for manual injection into the MWO patcher through a Patch Cache folder.

Aside from allowing you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, on another connection, there are no additional benefits to performing the patch this way; the patching process itself will be the same.

This direct patch download process will only work for players running the standalone client. It does not apply to players running MWO through Steam.

Patch File(s): http://patcher.mwome...ndPatch_288.zip

How to use these patch files

• Download the above file(s)

• For sake of ease we recommend creating a dedicated folder for the patch file(s), such as 'MWO Patch Cache'

• You do not need to unzip or unpack the patch file(s)

• Launch the standard MWO launcher

• Click the gear icon in the top right of the launcher window

• Choose the 'Specify Patch File Cache' option

• In the field that appears, paste or enter the location in which you saved the patch file(s) and hit OK

• For example, C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MWO Patch Cache

• Click the blue Patch button

• The launcher will now check the Patch Cache folder you defined. If it locates the required patch files, it will unpack and use those files to apply the patch.

• Once the patch is complete, launch the game!

[pillepallemachen]

i dont know what to expect but 50 ton cap at scouting ? gg ...

/edit

for yesterdays daily challenge i had to drop four times since "clan always wins" and pulled 6xx 7xx and 913 dmg and still it wasn't enough since pugs are dropping in shadowcats and adders for a brawl

it may have been bad luck and a small sample but i dont think this change is preventing 4 man clan groups to stomp pugs. it's just a disadvantage for the ordinary clan pug.

Edited by pillepallemachen, 20 December 2016 - 07:00 AM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

pillepallemachen, on 19 December 2016 - 07:09 PM, said:

i dont know what to expect but 50 ton cap at scouting ? gg ...

Wouldn't we expect Hunchbacks and Huntsmen?

[pillepallemachen]

Prosperity Park, on 19 December 2016 - 07:15 PM, said:

Wouldn't we expect Hunchbacks and Huntsmen?

dont give em any more stupid ideas ~~
but i guess we are going is tomorrow so what the heck

clan should only scout with lights since its scouting queue right ?

/sarcasm intended

[Glaive-]

The scout drop deck tonnage reduction isn't going to change a thing. All that will do is ban the Stormcrow from scouting, and that mech is easily replaced by something like the Hunchback IIC.

PGI pls

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Scouting mode has been hard mode for IS since the beginning due to the dramatic power offered by the Ryoken. Taking that away will leave them with several advantages still in play (especially cSSRMs, cSPLs, and most of all cXLs), but at least the most egregious outlier will have been taken off the table.

All in all this is a strong hot-fix.

[Tesunie]

pillepallemachen, on 19 December 2016 - 07:09 PM, said:

i dont know what to expect but 50 ton cap at scouting ? gg ...

Still leaves the Nova (10-12 Sm lasers and maybe some MGs), Huntsman (4-8 (S)SRMs, among other configs), Adder (4 (S)SRMs, etc) and other clan mechs in. Only really seems to exclude the Stormcrow from what I understand. Still plenty of good mechs to choose from.

I kinda disagree with their change, but at the same time the Streak/SRMcrow was being a bit of a problem... (But now some other mech/build will probably become a problem...)

[Wing 0]

InnerSphereNews, on 19 December 2016 - 07:01 PM, said:

Faction Play Scouting

(Scouting)

• Clan Scouting Drop Deck Tonnage reduced to 50 (from 55).


While the forces of the Inner Sphere have at times made decent gains in the Scouting Tug of War during the recent Conflicts, the greater distribution of higher Skill Tiered players on the Clan side, combined with a greater presence of organized, high-tier Units also aligned under the Clan banner, still make Scouting engagements an uphill battle for Inner Sphere forces.[/color]

We should stress that Tonnage changes such as this, and the previous adjustments to Invasion Tonnage seen since the December 13th patch, ]are not intended to be the sole balance mechanic for Clan/Inner Sphere Conflicts.[
We are listening to all feedback on this front, and are very much cognizant of the potential avenues for improving Conflict balance. That said, these Tonnage changes do provide us with a 'live' method - not reliant on downtime or patch cycles - to account for dynamic changes in Clan and Inner Sphere populations.[/color][/indent]



Scouting Intel values and conditions are being adjusted in this hot-fix.
• The total amount of Intel in the Scouting Tug of War bar has been reduced to 200 (from 300).


• Planetary Advantage thresholds remain at their same positions along the Scouting Tug of War bar.


The amount of Intel for Scouting Tug of War progress is being reduced to provide greater elasticity in the Scouting Tug of War.

PGI. You guys are becoming really dumb on these changes. Why dont you guys learn to actually PLAY the goddamn mode than listening to feedback from idiots who either cant do jack or not willing to play with teams. Theres going to be a lot of death stares coming in.

Edited by Wing 0, 19 December 2016 - 07:41 PM.

[Natural Predator]

NERF CLANS TO OBLIVION. ANY CLAN MECH THAT BEAST AN IS MECH SHOULD BE NERFED INTO THE GROUND. BRING BACK ALL IS QUIRKS AND KEEP DROP INVASION DECKS BY 10 MORE TONS.

[Leggin Ho]

Heck, just change it to lights only and be done with it.

[Tarl Cabot]

huntsman would be my gt mech

[WANTED]

About time. I quit scouting with pugs, partly cause of the pug factor and partly cause of the pugs who had easy mode with Stormcrows. I still expect the Clans to do well in this area so I don't get the crying.

[Kael Posavatz]

InnerSphereNews, on 19 December 2016 - 07:01 PM, said:

the greater distribution of higher Skill Tiered players on the Clan side,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole PSR/Tier thing was only for Quickplay. That CW matches did not contribute to it, and were not affected by it.

[BLOOD WOLF]

Kael Posavatz, on 19 December 2016 - 08:10 PM, said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole PSR/Tier thing was only for Quickplay. That CW matches did not contribute to it, and were not affected by it.

He could just be referring to the high ranked units are clans

[Kael Posavatz]

BLOOD WOLF, on 19 December 2016 - 08:26 PM, said:

He could just be referring to the high ranked units are clans

There's a Pilot(s) Skill Ranking for units now?
When was that implemented?

Edited by Kael Posavatz, 19 December 2016 - 08:33 PM.

[Rizzwind]

Kael Posavatz, on 19 December 2016 - 08:27 PM, said:

There's a Pilot(s) Skill Ranking for units now?
When was that implemented?

Leader board and Tier system is what I'm thinking they are going off of.

[D V Devnull]

I look at the HotFix, and wonder... Will we be getting back the previous In-HUD indicator for Friendly UAVs when "Q" is not pressed? It really doesn't help to have your UAV shot down by a Friendly 'Mech who misidentifies a Friendly UAV, and is not aware of the game changes.

Also, PGI, good move getting rid of the Unused Ammo in the VIP Atlas. It shouldn't have had those in the first place. I do wonder, however... Where's the internal health on that Mech? Seems like it dies at the moment the armor is gone.

~Mr. D. V. "Please STOP letting Friendly 'Mechs shoot down Friendly UAVs due to misidentification!!!" Devnull

[Jingseng]

Fixed an issue where IS scouting teams sometimes lost. They will now always win.


I mean, kidding. I don't think 5 tons is going to be that difference. But It DOES feel like this is the end goal - we need to just reduce clans until IS wins all the time.

I mean why. And especially if you take it to the point where IS and Clan win roughly the same amount of times - especially because what is the point of that. A tug of war completely stalemated in 0 net progress for either side.

Because what is next... everyone running Huntsman (and crying about cash grab) or hunchbacks with huge missile loadouts and energy boat novas versus the same griffins, cents that are in right now running huge missile loadouts... So the limit becomes 45t? And then shadow cat and viper have too much speed and hiding, so the limit becomes 40t?

How far are we taking this?

D V Devnull, on 19 December 2016 - 09:29 PM, said:

I look at the HotFix, and wonder... Will we be getting back the previous In-HUD indicator for Friendly UAVs when "Q" is not pressed? It really doesn't help to have your UAV shot down by a Friendly 'Mech who misidentifies a Friendly UAV, and is not aware of the game changes.

Also, PGI, good move getting rid of the Unused Ammo in the VIP Atlas. It shouldn't have had those in the first place. I do wonder, however... Where's the internal health on that Mech? Seems like it dies at the moment the armor is gone.

~Mr. D. V. "Please STOP letting Friendly 'Mechs shoot down Friendly UAVs due to misidentification!!!" Devnull

yeah it took me a time or two to realize what was happening. Feel sorry for anyone using MC uavs.

that said, it looks like this change will sort of fix that... if your arm ret is over the uav, ostensibly you are aiming at it to shoot it, it will show up as friendly? I prefer the old system though... especially as now I have no idea which mechs are being targeted and which are not (and thus, no one on my team potentially sees them)

[Commander Harrison]

In before... this doesn't change anything.

Clans will still always win, cos that is the way of the clans.

In Lore, IS troops stopped the clan invasion, maybe PGI... just maybe.. in MWO that isn't suppose to happen and no matter what you do the clans will still strike through the inner sphere and gobble up Marik and Liao like last time; because it is just meant to be.

You could reset the map once a month and it will still happen again and again because RNGesus says so.

[El Bandito]

Leggin Ho, on 19 December 2016 - 07:44 PM, said:

Heck, just change it to lights only and be done with it.

Clans would win even harder if that happens.