Posted 01 August 2018 - 04:16 PM

Hello folks,



PART 1:



I just want to quickly cover some of our findings in relation to balancing weapons according to my original post and the discoveries made from gathered data pulled from PTS.



In regard to addressing the high damage Clan alpha strikes, the PTS numbers moved in the right direction when trying to address this singular problem. However, it is not attaining the level of reduction in a manner that would be fair to all aspects of Clan gameplay. Energy boating aka 'Laser vomit' is a separate problem which does get affected by what is on PTS1.0, but PTS1.1 also hurt the lighter weight class 'Mechs that don't have the hardpoints to deal with the changes.



That being said, the numbers on PTS are NOT approved for implementation into the live environment. While some numbers could be refined and some numbers completely removed, as of right now, PTS1.0 and 1.1 values will not be put into the live environment.



In the next couple of days, Chris and myself will join Daeron/Phil of NGNG to do a podcast to communicate what we are planning to look at in terms of the above AND future changes that can help with these problems without having to hard nerf Clans so extensively.



PART 2:



I will be doing another podcast with Phil/Daeron discussing the future of Faction Play. With the completion of Solaris game mode, we've decided internally that the next big ticket item is to address the stagnant state of Faction Play. We won't be re-writing FP from scratch but we will be looking at the feedback in the Faction Play forums for ideas on what we can implement within reason. After the podcast, I will create a forum post that will outline my bullet points on what was discussed. In that thread, I ask that you submit your ideas in that thread so we can focus feedback in one location. Yes, I know there are some posts already out there with pages of information and if you want to keep that in the discussion, feel free to link it in this upcoming thread.



CONCLUSION:



The pre-recorded podcasts are coming soon. And not soon™. The intent is to start the dialog needed to get the game state to where you the players have expressed your thoughts on addressing the issues at hand, and we take the time to make sure all balance trajectories move in the right direction.



NOTE: "But Paul, pre-recorded means you don't take our questions!!1!111". Correct, that is what I mean by starting the dialog. We will be setting up followup podcasts for taking questions and interacting with some of you directly on all of the above matters.



- Paul



TL;DR:



Two upcoming podcasts. One on balance updates, and the second is about Faction Play.

