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Falconeer
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Reply #35 on: October 23, 2014, 03:09:18 AM

New Huge Update from Paul.

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Community Warfare - Phase 2 - Update Oct 22

Hey folks, back again with some fairly big news about CW. As per discussed in the previous update, I'll organize the information as follows:

1) New Stuff/Updates
2) Changes (Actually included in New Stuff this week)
3) Questions

The big change is the way you will be able to align yourself to a Faction on a temporary or permanent basis.

1) New Stuff/Updates

Faction Selection by All Players

On day 1 of Community Warfare release, all player accounts will be reset to a neutral state. All Faction Units and players will be reset to Merc Units and Lone Wolves respectively. Clan Units and Dagger stars will also be returned to Merc Unit and Lone Wolf status respectively.

Following the reset, all Lone Wolf players and Merc Unit leaders (all players in a Unit will be aligned to the Unit leader's choice) will be presented with a new Faction Alignment flow when entering the Faction Tab.

The first part of this new flow will ask players to select a Faction. Lore information will be given to assist new players in their decision as to which Faction to join.

Upon selecting a Faction, the player is taken to a new screen which will display contracts offered by the selected Faction. These contracts will include the following:
[1] Month Alignment to a Faction
[2] Month Alignment to a Faction
[4] Month Alignment to a Faction
Permanent Alignment to a Faction
*Please note these time periods are purely for example purposes only.




Players can back out of this screen and look at other Faction options until they accept one of the contracts.

Let's look at this firstly from the perspective of a Faction loyalist player. Someone who never wants to change Faction. Any of these players can simply select the Permanent alignment to their chosen Faction. The same applies to a Unit that chooses the permanent alignment option. Upon CW going live, there will not be an in-game option to change Factions if you choose this path. We may look into a solution for changing a permanent alignment but that will not be included in CW Phase 2.

Next, the way Merc Units, Lone Wolves, Clan Units and Dagger Star players interact with this system. These players can choose to align themselves to a Faction for a specified amount of time. For example, a Merc Unit selects a [1] month alignment to House Steiner. For the next month, this Merc Unit can only participate in combat either defending Steiner territories or attacking in the name of Steiner in neighboring Faction territories. The Merc Unit can (like anyone in the game) participate in the Clan/IS border invasion conflicts. Lone Wolf players, Clan Units and Dagger Star players behave the exact same with with the exception that Clan Units and Dagger Star players will be aligning themselves with a Clan.

With this system, it IS possible for a Merc Unit to align to House Steiner for [1] month and at the end of that month, switch to a [1] month alignment to Clan Jade Falcon. Note that this will NOT bypass technology locks. When the Unit is aligned to Steiner, only IS 'Mechs can be used, and when aligned to Clan Jade Falcon, only Clan 'Mechs can be used.

This feature means that we can do away with the initially proposed "Season" system. However, we do reserve the right to reset the IS Map if we find major problems in the system.

We feel that this new system allows greater flexibility for players to be able to play for a given Faction for their choice of duration. Keep in mind, we do not want players to be flipping Factions between matches or every day for that matter. Taking a contract for a House/Clan means that players will be fighting for that Faction for a while. This system also allows the more hard-core Faction players to permanently align themselves to their favorite House/Clan.

Loyalty Points

First off, upon inclusion into the game, Loyalty Points (LP) will be rewarded with an initial, lump sum injection into player accounts who own the Phoenix Package: Loyalty Point booster. From that point on, all players will be rewarded LP based on their actions and their Faction alignment.

What can affect LP gains? Killing opponents of lore based enemies. For example, a Kurita player killing a Davion player will be rewarded Kurita LP. At the same time, that same Kurita player will be losing Davion LP for the same action. Faction LP totals will not drop below 0.

Another means of gaining additional LP is by winning CW Faction conflicts. From the above example, the Kurita player partakes in the Clan/IS conflict and the IS team wins, the Kurita player will earn Kurita LP.

A bigger means of gaining LP is by completing contracts for a Faction. For example, the Kurita player is on a [2] month contract with Kurita, Kurita will reward a large amount of LP at the end of the contract period. The longer the contract, the more LP rewarded.

Special case: If a Lone Wolf player (or any player for that matter) switches Factions after completing a contract, they will lose LP for the Faction they just left. Depending on which Faction the player switches to, this LP loss for a Faction would continue depending on the Factions involved. For example, if the Kurita player from above switches to Davion after the Kurita contract expired, all kills/wins/contracts with Davion will reward Davion LP but will also reduce the LP total they had with Kurita.

Any rewards gained through LP will be retained, but cannot be used unless the LP total for the Faction is at the reward's LP requirement. For example, if the Kurita player unlocked a rank 10 skin, that rank 10 skin is only usable if their Kurita LP is at rank 10 level. In the case of titles, let's assume the Kurita player earned the title of "Gunsho" at Rank 8. If the player has an LP total of Rank 8 requirements, then they can freely use the title "Gunsho". However, if the player switches to Davion for example, and they fight for Davion against Kurita and the player's Kurita LP total drops below Rank 8 requirements, they will no longer be able to set their title to "Gunsho" even if they switch back to Kurita. At this point (we're still debating this one) the player can select "Gunsho" as their title but it will be prepended with "Honorary". The title will become "Honorary Gunsho" until the player gets their LP total back to Rank 8 requirement.

Faction LP rewards can only be used if the player is aligned to the Faction that gave the reward. In the case above, the Kurita player who switched to Davion will not be able to use any of the Kurita rewards they've earned until they switch back to Kurita.

Some planned LP rewards include titles, Faction specific skins, Rank specific skins and other novelites. The full list of rewards will be listed once we have them ironed out with both the design and art teams. On a side note, we are investigating on locations where we can have titles appear in the game and not just on the website. More on this when I have more concrete information for you.




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These are most of the questions I'll be answering.. I'll just post the questions and fill in answers as I hammer through them tonight. I put the feedback thread up so you can start commenting on this update. Take a read through these questions before asking your own to avoid duplicates.


I don't like this result. Having matches/planets determined by forfeitures is not productive... like in league play. Why not just increase the Assault window or reduce the token rate (as in it isn't a full token, maybe like a half token)?

Planet takeovers will not occur based solely on forfeitures. This situation should be a very rare occurrence and is part of the reason we have CW time windows. The number of planets up for attack/defend also help remedy this situation. We will be starting with a select few planets in each Faction space available for attack/defend. If we have an overwhelming number of players partaking in CW, we will both increase the time windows and the number of planets up for contest.


Any examples of the benefit a unit/faction gets beyond having it's banner hanging over the planet it just won?

Higher Loyalty Point rewards is a big kicker and there may be some C-Bill incentives to drive this even further.


You mentioned players will still earn most of their Cbills in the public queues we have now. Will the CW matches have similar rewards something completely different or none at all?

Due to the CW time windows, you would probably be playing more in public matches than CW. This does not mean that CW matches will not be profitable (depending on outcome).


Do we have to change our unit faction in the Unit Leaders profile to say Davion for example or will this be a modular in cw that we select our faction.

The setting of Faction (as described in the update above) will be in-game and not done through the web profile interface.


Though, realistically, considering the way you put it... Paul, am I right in thinking there isn't going to be an animation? Is there possibly any way a first person animation, or at the very least a pod flying up from the destroyed 'mech, could be implemented?

We are going to try to make ejections as dramatic as possible, but with our current timeline and resources, a full on 'holy poop!' moment probably isn't in scope. However, we will be able to advance on this feature when CW Phase 2 is out the door and have time to address it.


Will we see the cbill rewards be adjusted since it's going to cost us money to actually participate in cw?

C-Bill rewards will be determined though play testing, observing the mode when it's live and adding additional kickers (destroying a base, destroying a power generator etc) to the mode.


When will my unit be tagged Clan Loyalist ingame? Tag works here on forums, still not showing us as such ingame. Any help coming on that (admittedly minor) item?

Good question... I'll ask around and get you an answer soon.


It would be nice to get a sneak peak at the UI for it though :D Can't you just cover up the actionscript vars?

I'll talk to the UI designer and others about screens that I can show you. I'm always hesitant about releasing information too early and having preconceived notions about what the UI will be like come up when the whole interface could change between now and release. If I'm able to get you some images, I'll post them at the bottom of this thread.


If we are stuck with whatever faction we have now by the time CW start - will we be able to get any loyalty points transferred or at least refunded in some way when we change to the allegiance we specifically want? Or will it be fixed by this point?

This is something we're still discussing. We want to give you your Loyalty Points and be able to choose which Faction you want them applied to. It's up to engineering to come up with a clever way of doing this without having to write a complete new system for a 1 time injection. Will update as we figure out what we can do.


Just a simple question.. ATM is there only the one map to be used in CW? Well a couple more..... Will the gate control (building) be able to be Narced (Narc) or targetable? Will the building take damage from Arty or airstrikes?

Right now "Frost" is the only map being tested. There is another map in progress but you didn't read that here.


The gate control building will be targetable just like the current turrets in Assault mode. As for NARC, it may or may not work. Will have to test this out tomorrow. Yes, the buildings should take damage from Air/Arty strikes.

Have you considered that the opposing player last to shoot the ejecting pilot's mech the moment before he ejects is ACTUALLY the FINAL BLOW?

This is something we could do but the actual Eject system is still being thought through in terms of timing and people trying to exploit the system to "deny a player a kill".


Isn't that supposed to be VTOL?

These are not the 'Mechs you're looking for... move along.... move along...


Will there ever be a PVP game mode that will be designed with the goal that you are more likely to win in a different manner, like capping for example.

Sorry about the confusion over my last response. Game modes that do not rely on total enemy annihilation is stuff that is being investigated right now. The chances of them being included with CW Phase 2 is not likely but it is something we are looking at in terms of design as a must have feature soon after.


Is PGI looking at any additional new resources for consumables for this DropShip mode? Possibly in the sensor or advanced forward deploying UAV?

We are always open to ideas and investigation into new consumables/modules and DropShip mode will probably need a few new ones. Open to suggestions from the community if you have some ideas.


Just two quick questions, any chance that you will be implementing a "spectator mode" for CW and will you be allowing Trial 'mechs to be taken on the dropships?

Spectator Mode is something we really want to iron out for our competitive players as well as people wanting to create videos of MWO. Right now, as Russ has mentioned, we are all hands on deck for CW Phase 2 and Spectator Mode is currently not on the table. This too is considered a must have feature in the future for MWO.


Can you get more than 10 tokens to have a "lead"? Does it matter if you have one person/group attack an undefendet planet, or 120 players at once, if there is no defender?

Yes you can get more than [10] tokens for a lead buffer. (Note: Anytime you see [ ] around a number, it means we have defined it as a variable that can be tuned.) There are talks about making some planets be harder to take over so that [10] might be [20] for a specific planet. A single player cannot trigger an attack on a planet. They can choose to attack it but unless 11 more people show up to help him/her, there will be no attack made. If 120 players show up and attack, the call to arms of the defending Faction will be sent out as the CW queuing system starts building 12-player attack teams. If no one shows up to defend (and that should be rare as mentioned above) then a zone or two on the planet may be lost.


How are Mech going to reload ammo in prolonged fight ? I don't think it should be prohibited because it's kind of sad to eject just because you're out of ammo. And if it's available, i don't think it should free either.

This is a very delicate discussion in the office. We are talking about the possibility of having reload stations in the map but this is not 100% decided yet. I'll post more on this as we make the final call.


Were the 10 seconds just an example or have you locked that amount of time? If not, may I suggest 2-3 seconds? Another thing, what happens if the player doesn't eject in time?

[10] seconds is a tunable variable that we are using for testing purposes. This could change to any value as we see how it plays out. As for the player not ejecting in time, do not think of this as your pilot's life. If you get destroyed without ejecting, you still move into the drop ship queue just as you would if you ejected.


Have you guys ever thought of creating a map generator using different parameters such as max and min: altitude, temperature, water on ground, building (city, industrial), destruction of the objects (if they are almost all brand new or mostly destroyed), etc; so you can create a base for lots of maps using existing objects in a quicker fashion and possibly generate all maps like this? Also, have you gave any thought of applying specific maps to specific kinds of planets? For example: Hot maps to notoriously hot planets as they are described in sarna?

Random map generators do not create well balanced multi-player PVP maps. They do generate some cool co-op and single player maps. Things random map generators do not take into account are sightlines, pathing, timing/pacing of gameplay and the dynamically changing battlefield in terms of player locations and activities.

We have Randall Bills going over the planets and giving us write-ups about each of them. If we can adopt a map/planet combination that is suitable, we will do it.


Please specifically indicate if you are planning on letting us change out modules between mechs in drop ship, during respawn or not.

Right now there is no plan to allow you to take modules off a destroyed 'Mech and put it on a 'Mech in your drop ship.


I would highly recommend that you add a new restriction preventing new players (those who have not finished their first 25 cadet matches) from participating. This will prevent much rage from competitive teams.

This is something we can discuss and has been mentioned. I'll fill everyone in if anything comes of this. We do think it would not be ideal for a brand new player to drop into CW.


My only question is are you still on target for release this quarter? What's the ETA?

Mid to late Dec. So yes, we're still tracking for that time.


Will we be allowed to use a Mech twice on the dropships? Maybe with two different variants?

You can use any individual 'Mech only once. If you create a Jenner and call it "Maybe", you can only use it once. If you have 4 individual Jenners, you can drop in each of them once. Think of it this way.. if you take a 'Mech into the fight and it gets destroyed, you cannot warp it back to your drop ship all fixed and new and re-drop.


Which maps & modes will be used in CW? Just Frost or will we see assault, conquest, skirmish as well.

Right now "Invasion" (Frost is the codename of the map), is the only mode that we have targeted for CW. But that is right of this moment. We may include some of the other game modes if necessary.


Are there going to be different tonnage limits for IS/Clan units, or will there be a unified tonnage bracket? Or are you planning on using tonnage caps as another way to bring balance to the Clans?

Current plan is 140-240 for both IS and Clan. This does help balance the Clans out a bit, but we will adjust as needed and as more Clan 'Mechs become available.


When we die and are about to respawn, do we get to select which mech we drop in next, or does the game automatically pick the next mech in the dropship queue?

When you are destroyed and returned to your dropship, you will have a limited amount of time to choose the next 'Mech you take into the match. If you miss more than 1 consecutive drop/respawn, the game will automatically select the next 'Mech for you in a left to right order.


Falconeer
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Reply #36 on: October 24, 2014, 12:42:40 AM

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Will there be a drop statistic recorded for these things, when a ‘Mech is dropped off. I ask because I have a HALO Achievement for each of the weight classes, but each requires a certain number of HALO drops to earn the Achievement.

Will will be tracking drops just like any other action in the game. As for separate low altitude drops vs high altitude drops, that will probably fall under one stat if we do implement both types of drops. We have to be very careful if we plan on doing high altitude drops because depending on the height of the Drop Ship, players may see beyond the modeled world space of the level. The latest I've heard from rendering and art teams is that they're leaning toward the low altitude insertions. No concrete confirmation on which direction has been made quite yet.


I don’t know how a defense will be mounted against aggressors on worlds where my players are not able to be present?

I'm not sure if you're assuming that only 1 unit can attack a planet or not. There will be plenty of units attacking/defending planets and not every single border planet will be up for conflict at all times. For day 1 of CW we're planning on putting 2 planets on each side of a Faction border up for conflict. (2 inside Davion space and 2 inside Kurita space for example and for every border between the other Houses) Any number of units can attack and any number of units can defend as long as they're aligned with either of the two Houses involved in the conflict. As mentioned in other answers above, the time windows we're working with (prime times with highest player counts) should ensure that there are always plenty of attackers and defenders available. If these time windows are opened too wide or the number of planets in conflict is too high, then and only then would stalls start to happen and that's when we would adjust as needed.


I would request that the maximum of 4 ’Mechs remain, while the minimum number is removed. My reasoning is this... a player bringing too many ’Mechs can really upheave a match, because they can come from multiple directions, at great speeds, and build extraordinary disruptions over the course of a drop period. However, someone bringing fewer than four is simply putting themselves at a disadvantage, as higher numbers on the other side could be used to still overwhelm the fewer numbers of available ’Mechs for the field, but not to such a great degree that better pilots will discontinue being able to drop more ’Mechs with their fewer. As well, if both sides took fewer ’Mechs to the field, the battle will be completed more rapidly, anyway.

You kinda talked yourself through the process of why we are requiring 4 'Mechs in your Drop Ship. Everyone should be bringing as many 'Mechs as they can or you'd be doing your team a disservice by not bringing the additional firepower to the battle. Keep in mind, not all teams going into a conflict consisting of 12 players in a single group. Smaller groups and solo players will also be dropping. Players bringing less than 4 'Mechs, again, are doing nothing but denying their team additional support even if their skill isn't as high in other weight classes. In a mode that will be as long in terms of playtime like Invasion will be, every single point of damage on target is going to help a team achieve victory.


Is EVERY MechWarrior presently engaged in a single mercenary unit required to join the SAME House? If I have fifteen active people in Armageddon Unlimited, would ALL of us have to be registered with House Davion, or would EACH MechWarrior be allowed to select their own alignment, and then the compiled Loyalty Points be the overall calculation for the mercenary unit, as was discussed in the first posting concerning Loyalty Points?

Hopefully this answer will not only cover your question but a lot of questions I've seen popping up again.

When a UNIT decides to align themselves with a particular Faction, everyone in that UNIT will be automatically aligned to that Faction. If a player leaves a Unit, and joins another Unit, that player will be automatically aligned to the Faction that the new Unit is already aligned to. There will not be a mix of alignments within a Unit. If you are a part of a Unit, you fight for that Unit and its cause/contract alignment.

If at the end of a contract, a Unit switches Factions, everyone who is still inside that Unit will be automatically aligned to the new Faction.


Thank God! However, if this turns out to NOT be at the three fixed times per day you were talking about, recently, will we be able to opt-in to email and/or text notifications?

This is something we have considered. It is not off the table in terms of opt-in email even though we do plan on keeping conflicts restricted to the time zones. It's a fairly cool feature and adds a level of fun to the call to arms feature. However, when it comes to texting... that's something we'd have to do further investigation as not everyone has free texting with their phone service providers etc.


With the current population of this game, that is not fair in the LEAST. Please consider allowing unit commander’s to set up times and days for this? Three separate times/dates, three for each Commander, as proposals for the other Commander, should work. If the two commanders are incapable of getting people to any of the proposed times, there should be proxy units proposed by each Commander, and then each Commander can try getting a game together, the first to reach that goal being the winner, by each negotiating with the proxy unit proposed by the opposing Commander. It’s simply extremely UNFAIR and wrong for a group to work hard to gain control of a world, only to have it taken from them, without a fight, because they can’t get anyone there. Now, get the population back up to what you had in pre-Beta 2011, and then that won’t be a problem, anymore. And, don’t try to tell ANYONE here that the population has exceeded that, because we already know it doesn’t. That’s not me being negative, that’s just the truth.

Then don’t make them immediately available. Make it so they’re hidden until a pilot does more than collect enough GXP to purchase the skill, and then allow them to ONLY see what is available to them to spend as a result. Right now, they ARE NOT REMOTELY end-game content, should not be anywhere near as expensive as they are –GXP for each module type/skill is fine, but C-Bills are entirely too much–, and it’s ridiculous that these are available from the get-go, if they’re end-game content.

My use of the term "end game content" has been interpreted in too many ways which is my bad. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused and I'll clarify my statement. All modules, skills and efficiencies are behind fairly high cost walls. Whether it be EXP, GXP or CBills, there is a barrier to entry to get to them. The only way of acquiring these items is to play the game. The more a player plays, the more of these items become available to them. The costs of the weapon modules, for example, are set fairly high as they are meant to be for advanced players who have worked their way through basic 'Mech operations and loadouts and are now able to specialize their builds to suit their play style and 'Mech builds. They are not meant to be an instant gratification item in game where they're easy to acquire and use. They are meant to be items that require some thought into which tech tree do you want to finalize first.. work your way through that tree, get your modules (the lower tier modules are meant to ease your way into the process instead of the high cost top tier being your only option) and equip as desired. This is why each weapon system has its own modules instead of a global "Energy Range +10%" type of module. The cycle ends up as: put your time in, learn your 'Mech and play style, then streamline your customization using the modules, efficiencies, skills and consumables.


Okay, so the unique factions you have set up are, indeed, not unique at all, except in a very notional fashion? I understand the population is low, right now, but when it picks up, will you be looking at greater faction separation? When I say faction, as a veteran BattleTech player, it’s not just Clan on one side, and IS on the other, but it’s Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Smoke Jaguar, etc., and it’s House Davion, House Marik, etc., Magistracy of Canopus, Lothian League, etc., Wolf’s Dragoons, Armageddon Unlimited, etc., St. Ives Compact and Free Rasalhague Republic. Methinks y’all better get your heads out and understand the importance of these factions, and that it’s NOT just Clan vs. Inner Sphere. You opened an amazingly HUGE can of whoop-ass, and now you gotta live with it, guys, hehe.

From the very start we stated to the community that we were going to reserve all canon Units/Factions from the very start. This allows us to roll in these Units/Factions as we start developing the intricacies of CW and overall Faction gameplay. Will you be able to align to Wolf's Dragoons? Possibly. Take control of that Faction? No. This is all stuff that will be added to the game as we keep developing CW as a whole.


This is all fine and good and dandy, but it’s bass-ackwards. Contracts should be made between the Employer and the Merc Unit, the money goes to the Merc Unit, and then is dispersed per a system set up by the Unit Commander and/or their Command & Staff.

The Unit Coffers are meant to cover costs of operations. The Contracting Faction would have nothing to do with it. Further plans for the coffer come into play after we start adding logistics to the CW feature but that is not part of CW Phase 2.


What about those of us Unit Commander’s who keep track of our MechWarrior’s? This might really just put a boot straight in the ass of all the work we’ve done.

The way the members of your Unit behave is completely internal to your Unit's organization. Politics, tracking participation, standards of gameplay are completely in the player's hands. If players within your Unit decide to change Factions, that is entirely their call and up to you how you react to that situation.


Will we be able to have any input, whatsoever, on what we would like to see in the Faction Management interface? Will we be able to select plug-in/module items to build our own management interface?

Either I mis-read the original question or you are assuming there may be something there that will not be. :)

I think it was me reading the question wrong. Either way, let me clarify. No there will not be player councils governing Factions.. there are WAY too many variables there and it would be near impossible to set up something that would be considered fair when it comes to player to player interaction at that level. For example, for every player that supports a given "counsel" member's idea, there are just as many who do not agree. This opens a political nightmare and also starts to cater to special interest groups and that is something we'd rather not put our player base through. To that end, no, there will not be a Faction Management interface.


EDIT: fully answered now.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2014, 08:12:38 PM by Falconeer »

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Reply #37 on: November 06, 2014, 02:16:32 AM

Update for November 5th, 2014, by Paul Inouye.


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As mentioned in an earlier update.. the further into development we go the less "news" there's going to be since design won't be changing much. Below I'll update you with the news/updates I can share...

Something Stirring

It seems that Thad our Level Designer has been busy working on a second Invasion Mode map. This one has 3 gates in it and will make both attackers and defenders decide early on which path they plan to take or face the consequences of thier choice.

This makes 2 new maps for Phase 2 Invasion mode.

The IS Map Looks a Lot Better

The current IS Map you see in the client has been updated both graphically and interactively. The rendering engineers have put a lot of extra hours into this and it's paying off very well. Can you have a sneak peek? That will depend on who wins an arm wrestle between Russ and myself. I'd like to keep some stuff under wraps for the big reveal when Phase 2 goes live.

Some More Clarifications

Faction Point Usage

It's been asked if Loyalty Points are a spendable currency. The answer is no. Loyalty Points are similar to XP in which players will earn LP while aligned to a Faction and those points will reward the player at certain milestones. Essentially it's a leveling system with rewards that are Faction specific. Things like titles, cosmetics and infamy.

Merc Units and Mercenaries (Lone Wolfes) along with Dagger Stars who align themselves with a Faction using the previously discussed Faction Contracts will earn LP at varying rates depending on the length of contract they take. The fastest means of earning LP is to permanently align yourself with a Faction.


Switching Units and Faction Alignment

When a Merc Unit enters CW for the first time, the Unit Leader will be selecting a Faction Contract. Once selected, all members of the unit will be automatically aligned to the Faction. At the end of the contract, the Unit Leader has the option to retake a contract with the same Faction or to switch to a contract from a different Faction. If the Unit Leader switches to a different Faction, all players within the until will automatically be aligned to the new Faction.

The basic premise is, when a player is part of a unit, they will automatically be aligned to the Faction that the Unit has aligned to. This includes switching Units. For example, if a Unit is aligned to Davion for 3 months, and 1 month into the contract a member decides to leave, that member will be switched back to a neutral alignment (Mercenary/Lone Wolf). In order to continue to participate in Community Warfare, this player must choose a contract from one of the Houses/Clans OR join a new Unit. If this player joins a Unit that is aligned to House Kurita, the player's alignment will automatically switch to Kurita.

This may bring up the question of, what if the Unit Leader wants to change Faction before the contract is up? In this case, the Unit Leader has 2 options. The first is to disband his/her Unit or to pass Unit Leader to another member and then leave the Unit and follow the same process as the above description. A Unit Leader cannot disband a Unit unless it is empty and he/she is the last person remaining.

Unit Coffers and the Faction Reset on Release of Phase 2

It's been asked a couple time now... will the Unit Coffers be reset on day 1 when we reset alignments? The answer is no. We can't be that mean... <_< ... yeah.. we can't be that mean.



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Reply #38 on: November 07, 2014, 03:12:36 AM

Usual additional Q & A with Paul Inouye.

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After Phase 2 is out, will future CW content be released iteratively (i.e. smaller additions that occur more often - say, monthly), or more like expansion packs (i.e. larger bundles of content dropped every 3-6 months)?

More than likely we'll be adding bigger stuff with longer intervals. At the same time we'll be fixing and addressing current features that need to be revisited.


How are contracts structured? i.e. is there any point in staying loyal if the faction you chose loses every significant engagement in the first month? I haven't seen any mention about whether CW combat provides C-Bill / XP rewards or should I just assume that it will be similar to the Public queue rewards? If a player loses the LP of the Faction they just left when switching, how does the player continue to lose LP for that Faction since all of the Faction's LP would already have been lost after the switch?

You will be earning XB/CB like you do in public play. We are working on balancing the reward system for CW to make sure you don't notice a significant difference from public play.

Faction alignment will not affect you if the Faction is always losing, only the IS map will change to reflect that.

Players will not ZERO out LP if they leave a Faction. They will take a penalty amount initially and from that point on it will depend on which Faction they switched to, to determine any further losses. If you have 100 LP in Kurita and switch to Davion, you will take the initial hit of, let's say 20 LP for example leaving you with 80 LP. If killing a Kurita player as a Davion player costs 1 Kurita LP, then your Kurita standing will be 79LP but you will be climbing in Davion LP.


Why can I not create a Clan persona and an Inner Sphere persona?

This is something that was discussed internally. It is a HUGE rewrite of our database/back-end systems and much larger than the plan we have in action right now. It was originally designed to have an IS profile, and a Clan profile for CW but due to technical hurdles that would have to be implemented, we moved away from profile selection to what we have now.


Can I get more information about the LP boosters from the Phoenix packs? And, finally, will Loyalty Points degrade over time?

LP will not degrade over time. As for LP booster, if you got one with your Phoenix Package and equip it when you're aligned to that Faction, you will get your extra LP per match from the booster on top of your normal earnings. This operates much like XP/CB boosters in Hero 'Mechs for example.


Regarding Loyalty Points, have you made any provision to insert loyalty medallions for Clan players who bought the Phoenix Packages or are these boosters going to be restricted to Inner Sphere Factions?

This is something I can bring up in the next production meeting with Russ and Matt.


How will faction loyalists who commit permanently be rewarded above contract players?

The thing about permanently aligning with a Faction is that you will earn higher LP per match than part-time contract players.


So, what's the point of Loyalty Points if you plan to be a Mercenary unit for a Clan?

Clans will be giving out rewards just like IS Houses do.


So for us Mercs that means, that Faction Rewards can only be used while we are contracted with that specific faction... if we are playing our role properly, we would be fighting for a lot of houses, which means all faction rewards will just be senseless for us?

If you keep switching Factions then you won't be able to maximize the awards you get from the Factions if you were to stay with them longer. Constant flipping of Factions is something we do not encourage but it's up to you the players to choose what to do. If you do frequently flip Factions, you will have low LP totals for numerous Factions instead of high LP for a single Faction.


Is the LP system only going to be counting CW matches?

LP is Loyalty Points, this is part of the CW part of MWO. So yes, LP will only be earned in CW gameplay.


On behalf of the large and lively Nova Cat faction existing within your playerbase I´d like to ask:Should we go for timed clan loyalist contracts and hope, or go permanent?

This is up to you but I would suggest going for the longest part time contracts for now. Once we add Clan Nova Cat to the game, you can then switch to it when you see fit.


Will specific mech chassis used mainly by a specific faction give you any bonus or boost to LP earned for each faction during CW play?

Not at this time but it is something we could add in a future expansion.


Have you considered placing Ammo Supply Points (ASP) on the map and allow the units to either attack it or defend it? Maybe one on each side of map or just one located on the map. It then becomes a decision of securing the ASP first or take out the gate first? Or try to do both. Make the players decide and fight over the ammo.

If and when we do add an ammo supply system into the game, we probably will do it as you mention where they are vulnerable to attack.


So... what is CW for a newb like me and will it modify in anyway the way I play now? I would not like to be forced to join a faction because I don't know nothing about any and I don't feel to do some intensive reading about where all this is originating from.

Community Warfare is an Opt-in section of the game. You are a public/PUG player, you can continue to play as such without any interference from CW if you so choose. If you do not launch into a match from the Faction tab, you will launch as you do right now.


StalaggtIKE(Big set-up block of text for a question but here's the answer):Is such a system being considered? Will there be any incentives to choosing one over the other?

Half of your question relates to items we would include with logistics. As mentioned in other updates, logistics would be a large undertaking which we'd have to do in a Phase 3 type of expansion.

As for reducing prices on items based on Faction play, this is something that our database is not built to do. It is something that we will continue to investigate but it will not be in Phase 2 of CW.


Could you not manage the CW, that if somebody wins a planet, they could it hold without fear (fight) for a [week] long or such... Because, fighting for a planet 90 days long day-after-day is just boooooring?

When a planet is successfully taken over, the game will select an adjacent planet to put up for contest next. So yes, if you do successfully take over a planet, it will remain in your control as long as the opposing faction doesn't push you back through counter attacks on the nearby planets.


This is something we can discuss and has been mentioned. I'll fill everyone in if anything comes of this. We do think it would not be ideal for a brand new player to drop into CW." Really? While I agree it might not be ideal, are we catering CW to the 1% ?

Miscommunication here... this decision has nothing to do with competitive players, it has to do with us not wanting to drop brand new players into this experienced/role playing aspect of MWO.


Butane9000: Map alternative suggestions

Great suggestions here and we'll look into this as we develop CW.


Jetfire: Consumable suggestions

Some good thoughts here, a few that would be problematic but thank you for your suggestions!


Can you expand on what you mean by zones?

What have you guys thought about or worked on to deal with population imbalances between the factions? Would it work to stagger the faction contract sign ups instead of doing them all at once? Do you have plans to use population and faction successes to determine the number of CW planets that are contested at a given time?


We recently pulled the data on Faction alignment from a Unit perspective. What is surprising is that currently Units are fairly evenly spread across the 10 Factions. There will be the Faction reset at the start of CW that may change this and we will be keeping an eye on this carefully. While the game system will be in charge of planet contention, we do have the ability to add/override any planetary conflicts. If Steiner has a ton of people defending their border, we could easily add more Steiner planets into a contested state and open the floodgates to attack Steiner.


Will Wolf's Dragoons ever be a faction in this game? If so, does the original plan of attaining a certain amount of LP in each of the IS houses before you can join them still hold true?

It is our plan to add Wolf's Dragoons but not right away. When they do appear in the game, they will earn and lose LP in a different manner than a "pure" Faction/Merc Unit player would.


Clarification: "You say that you keep your loyalty rewards, even after you change factions. You also say that you lose all loyalty points upon changing a faction."

Again, you do not lose ALL LP when switching Factions, but there will be a hit to your total.


I'd like to know, whether repair and rearm will be implemented in community warfare. So for all intents and purposes there aren't really any "house units" but rather "mercenary units" taking a "permanent alignment" contract?

First, repair and rearm is something we have to be very careful about. We do not want to cause a situation where players lose so many CB through RnR that they can no longer play. We bring this topic back up every 2-3 months and still are looking into a way of bringing it back in a manner that makes sense and is fair to the player.


If there are 36 players attacking a planet, split into 3 groups of 12, will I be able to view the members and choose which group I want to defend against?

Matches will be created by 2 groups of 12 players. How those groups are constructed is on a first come first serve basis. You will not know who is on the other team until the match starts.


What is your relationship with Catalyst Labs? Are they working with you to make the game more canon?

Randall Bills has been working with us since near the beginning of the project. He's an invaluable resource when it comes to lore and information not generally available online. Very cool guy and I'm lucky enough to have a picture of him and myself choking each other out. But yes, he's a go to guy for lore and was also behind the InnerSphere News items that we used to have running.


Some players are purist and will only play IS mechs (Maybe some will only play clan mechs as well. But I’m going just talk about IS purists). Others, may not want to put out the cost for clan mechs. So, if the unit leader picks an IS fraction for a month of contracts, everyone in the unit can participate. However if he changes it up to a month of clan contracts, now everyone in that unit who does not own a clan mech is unable to play CW for 30 days!

This is entirely up to the player Unit to decide on. It is no different than playing a guild in an MMO where every decision is made by the players and the leader of the guild.


Clarification: I read Paul's post and I didn't see anything that said you wouldn't be able to equip cockpit items you earned (or purchased) from factions you aren't aligned with.

Items that you currently have (and can still buy after CW launches), such as a Steiner flag will always be usable. It's the rewards that are given out by a Faction (i.e. not purchased) that will be locked to Faction alignment.


SovietArmada: Ammo Center suggestions.

Again, some good ideas and thanks for the suggestions!


What kind of Loyalty Points am I going to need to get my Wolf's Dragoons decal?

There will be full disclosure when we get around to adding Wolf's Dragoons as to how they will be part of the game.


With the rank specific items are we talking about faction ranks or ranks based on our individual unit basis?

Faction ranks are ranks given by the actual Faction. The Factions will reward players with ranks as they accumulate enough LP to meet their thresholds. Yes, you will be able to get Faction specific ranks that are pulled from canon.


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Reply #39 on: November 07, 2014, 03:14:10 AM

It's like you're posting updates from some bloke in a mental asylum.


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Reply #40 on: November 07, 2014, 04:53:33 AM

Finally get them to address population balance systems and the response is: "it looks balanced enough".

Except:
1. Mercs/LNW are a HUGE population dwarfing any of the other factions in population.
2. Everyone gets to "re-pick" their faction at launch.

At least they acknowledged that more planets to spread out the population of bigger factions works, for sure they won't have a procedural system to handle that though at launch.

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
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Reply #41 on: November 14, 2014, 05:00:57 AM

Town Hall November 13th, Q&A with Russ Bullock.

A lot of stuff is being said, mentioned, hinted at, promised and so on.


Highlights in my opinion:

- Community Warfare happening in 32 days (December 16th).
- UI 3.0 next year, with support for module-locating. And Smurfy lab.
- Playing as a merc will be a disadvantage at first, staying loyal to a house will give greater rewards. This will change at some point.
- Could go to Steam next year, but nt before a UI and tutorial overahul.


Here's a more comprehensive recap.

Quote
Primary Topic - Community Warfare


Are you really dropping all the regular maps and going 100% invasion for CW?

- Changes in CW has made it harder to use the old maps and modes
- 2 Confirmed Maps... 3rd will be complete in early Dec Alpine theme, Canyon Network theme, Caustic Valley Theme
- 3 different lance dropzone for Leopard dropships
- Normal maps won't be included in CW intitially.. will need to be upgraded/overhauled to support new Invasion functionality



Due date for CW Dropship testing?

- Tomorrow Nov 14 - starts Friends and Family CW Testing
- Its big feature so need encompassing testing
- Dec 2nd patch very light
- Dec 16th still target for CW release
- Need to decide on Invitation mechanic for testing



Will Solo Faction Players be supported in CW without units?

- Yes we expect you to be reasonable participate in CW
- Attack and Defend as a Solo Player with Contracts
- Que will build up to 12 players and then launch.. mix of Solo and Group



Attack windows seem very inconvenient any chances they will be changed?

- Attack Windows gone.. open all the time
- Will watch ques and put in extra Calls to Arms during peak times to draw people into CW
- Want to support players to exist exclusively in CW.
- Will watch battles alot / gating implemented to try to prevent auto wins. Perhaps a 10 minute wait for defenders to show up
- Need to get alot of real data to help make decisions



How are you going to prevent large factions from ganging up on smaller and what rewards will you provide if you help them out as Mercs?

- Capital can never be taken... always a base
- All factions will initially start to pay the same to attacks
- Can alters reward structure as the game goes to help out weaker factions
- Smallest Faction is atleast 1000 players



what are you going do to maintain faction balance?

- Change rewards to influence player behavior



Will Dropships be armed?

- Will be armed and customized with turrets.. Significant damage output to prevent spawn camping



Can you separate CW and Competitive players by allow people to be in both a unit and SolarisVII stable?

- Not now.. but in the future



Large units have both hardcore IS and Clan players... can this be supported?

- No.... This is why they went with Contracts to allow individual players to switch sides.
- Probably never salvaged mechs allowing IS unit to have Both Clan and IS mechs on same side



Clan tech on IS mechs?

- YES, but way down the timeline



Will the Concept of Attrition be in CW?

- Not in the beginning
- plays into logistics which isn't available at the beginning
- Doesn't want to handicap players since this modifies and sent players away



What are the planned limitation on Group Creation in CW?

- None.. this is suppose to be hardcore mode
- Large Groups and Competitive teams are not going to be stopped by groups of Solo Players. The Counter for these are more of the same.
- Big groups want to see big rewards.
- Solo player support needs to be watched, as its going to be very hostile for these players, but there will be trade offs that will need to be evaluated.
- Probably very tough for Solo players
- Battle Wheels and VOIP additions on the board to get into the game.



Warning to Solo player that click on Faction Tab so they know how dangerous CW will be for them?

- No



Set of Module of cost more mech with upgrades. Makes Dropship mode VERY expensive to outfit mechs. Will this change

- Maybe change modules system to that modules are cheap but are permanent additions to mech.
- Perhaps MC to remove them like WoT
- likes the expensive but interchangeable



What will make Permanent Contracts stand out for Long Term

- Longer the the higher the multiplier for LP
- Permanent created to support those types of players that don't want to
- expect vast majority of players to do 1 2, or 4



Intensives to use Faction Mechs in CW?

- Probably not since it will be limiting to the player... maybe in the future



Will you force 1PV only for CW

- Sure it makes sense but He really doesn't care about forcing
- Will Faction Rewards be truly special?
- Wants to make truly unique rewards (player driven)
- LP will be under used to start with
- 20 levels of LP... Phoenix packers will start between Lvl 1 and 3
- Titles will appear in game within 1 to 2 months of CW launch
- Decal system will launch shortly after CW launch
- Wants to avoid Faction skins since the time involved to create them is immense.
- to start with will look an achievement system.. will evolve over time.
- Perhaps add in discounts for equipment
- Will get lower rewards if added and you are already higher level



CW Summary?

- All Players be set at Mercs - Now Choose
- No planned Seasons, want persisent, much might need to reset at some point
- Contracts to start 1, 2, 4 months and permanent
- Want to make faction decision feel weighty
- Each Attack / Defend Contracts will tell you the rewards upfront
- LP as you fight
- Unit Players will ALWAYS drop as a Unit/group.. never solo
- As you gain planets the map will change
- Highest Performing in attack/defend Unit Tag will appear next to Planet
- Universe Map has had a major upgrade
- 140 to 240 starting dropdeck
- Will vary by planet.. but 140 to 240 will be most common
- 3rd Person view as the initial drop starts
- First Death sends you back to drop ship lobby and select next mech
- 30 second respawn timer
- Thinks match lengths last no more than 30 minutes
- Main Objective will be giant anti-drop ship gauss rifle
- 24 hours to fight over 11 zone. who ever has 6+ zones at the end gets the planet
- December 16th is the target release
- Beta Test with Friends n Family starting Nov 14th... will expand via invitations
- Initially Faction will care BETA tag so that we know its a work in progress
- Probably wont have Drop Costs to start with. Unit Coffers wont be needed to start
- Wants Coffers to be able to upgrade planetary defense upgrades



Whats the incentive to go Merc vs House?

- None to start with, tossing around ideas for change in rewards
- Would like to evolve it.
- wants to prevent faction flipping as much as possible to prevent gaming the system for better rewards
- will take ideas from players on how it can be improved



What were your takeaways from the Weekend Challenge with Weight Limits to help Group Queue MM

- Keep 3/3/3/3 in UI make it more restrictive 2 - 1/1, 4 1/1/1/1, 8 2/2/2/2, 9 3/2/2/2
- Provide Small Handicap to Small groups... with tonnage restrictions 2 man 60 - 175 3man 120 -230tons 12man 480 - 720
- Match up group sizes on each side
- Layer in Average ELO for groups
- Reintroduce Game Mode voting with ability to veto ONE and Only One Mode



When will these changes be made?

- After Christmas



Are you worried about player backlash on this proposal?

- Players have to accept things have to change for the betterment of the game. Something has to give.. cant get something for nothing.



Any plans to fix JJ animation on certain mechs that allows them avoid/spread damage?

- Aware of issue but not near future fix.. 2015



TTK Triple HP on all mechs to make everyone will more survivable?

- Match Length since Quirks has dropped only 15 seconds.
- Trying to find a good way track this better.
- Based on Match length the TTK probably has only drop a small amount.
- Might consider increasing Armor and HP in short term.
- Current Meta from their stand point is all MPL and SRMS now.
- Looking for balance... always going on



If we get Clan Hero Mechs will they get Omnipods or Locked Hard points

- Assume there will mechs but no timeline
- Not really thinking about them right now so can't really answer it well
- Don't see Clan Hero mechs breaking Omnipod rules.



What was the result of the community outreach on ECM?

- Still committed to attacking the ECM problem with directed Town-halls
- Probably post Christmas
- wants to talk ECM, Ghost Heat



Do you have plans to review mechs that have fallen short of the mark on Quirks?

- already have a list building
- probably no changes until Dec 16th build at the earliest and even then will be small to start



Add Non Weapon IS Quirks? Consumable, Sensor Range, etc...

- Absolutely no list right now



What was the reason for adding the S Variant of the Timberwolf... seems overpowered. Consider changing it to provide better balance?

- Wont be removed from game
- Can't forsee everything.. sometimes things get added. Sold alot.. not going to take it away from anyone
- Nerf it? Maybe... but that's apart of the balance equations... maybe add negative quirks



Would you consider a longer release schedule because of the price point of mech packs?

- yes



Possibility for a bigger, more organized, better marketed tournament?

- Yes, would love one soon!



Urbanmech ETA?

- Alex has mocked up the Urbanmech



How the API coming along?

- didn't comment



How is VOIP coming along?

- not worked on at all... want Buckton on it soon.. A TOP priority



Command Wheel?

- Would like but not priority



Any plans for global help and chat tabs?

- Huge revamp of UI underway
- Smurfy Mechlab + Collapse Smurfy view
- Potential to drag weapons directly onto the mech
- Alot of work.. most after the New Year
- If going to go Steam 1st 1/2 of next years need a FTUE overhaul including help and new tutorials
- No ETA



UI 3.0 when?

- You can call the above 3.0 if you want
- 1st 1/2 of 2015
- He will call it 2.5
- it will be wicked



Colorblind friendly mode for UI?

- Doesn't have an answer?



Plans to take smaller maps out of rotation, enlarge or revamp them?

- Been talking about reworking them
- Using them for FTUE to ease new players into the game in 4v4 games



Any Re-flavoring of existing maps in the works?

- Possible
- Working on Time of Day functionality probably see it in CW Invasion maps first



Would be nice to have a module swapper

- Much easier in new UI..
- will know what mechs they are on!!!!!!



Map release schedule? How often?

- Fairly quickly AFTER CW
- Maybe as much as once a month for re-flavored maps
- 5 new maps this year... just sayin



Will some maps be available for Dropship mode and Public Que modes?

- Effort need to make the two compatible... definitely not day one of CW... in the future maybe



How happy are you with Clan Engine XL drawback? Most players don't seem to notice it

- We can grow it pretty easy
- For now no immediate plans to change it
- Will wait for CW and review



Mech Collisions and Knockdowns implemented soon?

- Top Priority for Russ.. but need resources to become available after CW to look at it



Will we get additional Omnipods added to Ice ferret and Summoner to give them more variety?

- Yes but no schedule at the moment



Is PGI willing to create variant for Chassis that don't have lore variant that are available?

- Yes



Custom Hangers for MC? Things to customize Hangers

- Great idea! Just need available resource



Mauler Update?

- Not really but its an obvious good candidate



Considered IIC mechs?

- Yes.. will be a timeline thing
- Very focused on Clan Invasion



Any last comments?

- Very glad we got chance to have another one before CW release
- Work very hard to get CW into the hands of the community ASAP
- Some players will be disappointed but that will always happens you do your best to please as many as possible.
- Very excited and nervous in the time leading up to CW.

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Reply #42 on: November 14, 2014, 08:38:56 AM

Actually a lot of the questions are answered were mine. Thankfully they announced the town hall very last minute so I managed to get in real questions and they weren't flooded out by bullshit RP wetdream questions and people who only care about rewards so I managed to get some core gameplay system stuff talked about which is pretty cool.

I listened to most of it live and I'd say Russ sounds serious about 12/16 patch having CW. Crazy times.

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Reply #43 on: November 21, 2014, 03:23:59 AM

Update:

Quote
Community Warfare Update – Nov 20

Inner Sphere Map





Drop Ships




As each wave of ‘Mechs enters the battlefield, a Drop Ship will be entering the playspace for each lance. Everyone in Lance Alpha, will be spawning from the same Drop Ship, and the same goes for Bravo and Charlie.

Currently each Drop Ship wave is spaced at [30] seconds apart. If there are no players in need of a drop, no Drop Ships will appear. The [30] second timer is a global timer. For example, players who get their ‘Mechs destroyed at time X, will be dropping back into the game at the same time as players who had their ‘Mechs destroyed at X+25 seconds. A player who had their ‘Mech destroyed at X+29 seconds will have to be fast with their ‘Mech selection or they will carry over to the next [30] drop meaning they will drop back into the match at x+31 seconds.

Players can only miss 1 drop. If a player does not make a valid ‘Mech selection within 2 drop cycles, they will automatically be assigned the first available ‘Mech from left to right in their Drop Ship layout.



Contracts

Contract times have been reduced from 1 month, 2 months, 4 months and Permanent to 7 days, 14 days, 28 days and Permanent. We have also added the ability to break a contract but it will be at the cost of both Loyalty Points and C-Bills. Further detail on the actual costs will be outlined in the next update as we are still testing 12v12 x 4 outcomes in a CW match to see where the economy will be sitting when CW goes live.



Invasion Game Mode



This is coming along nicely. The map has gone from the terrain map it was to a nicely art covered map. It is still an open map so keep your heads down and moving. There are now turrets mounted on the gates. Breaking through the gates is not meant to be an easy task but it is also not meant to be a drain on your logistical resources (ammo).

As per usual, feedback can go here: http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/178784-community-warfare-update-nov-20-feedback/
And I'll post answers to questions later tonight.

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Reply #44 on: December 04, 2014, 03:06:11 AM

New update from Paul, and possibly the last one since CW will become real in 12 days.

Quote
The Update

First I'd like to apologize for the missed Q&A last week.. it was a crazy number of meetings plus trying to get CW properly prepped.

Loyalty Point Bonuses From Contracts:

There have been numerous questions about the purpose of taking longer contracts with Factions. The varying length of contracts provide Loyalty Point reward bonuses. What this means is that every time you are awarded LP, you will recieve an extra bonus amount of XP that is directly impacted by the length of contract you have signed up with a Faction. The bonus levels are:
7-Day Contrate = 0% bonus.
14-Day Contract = 15% bonus.
28-Day Contract = 30% bonus.
Permanent alignment = 50% bonus.
This means that if you earn 100 LP after a match, and you have selected a 14-Day contract with House Kurita, you will recieve 100+15=115 LP for that match.

LP bonuses do NOT stack with other LP bonuses. All calculations are based of the base amount of LP being rewarded.

There are 2 methods of earning LP; in-game actions and battle contract rewards. Everytime a group leader or solo player clicks on a planet they can fight on, an attack or defense contract will appear and these are the battle contract rewards. If you successfully complete the contract (win the match), you will earn the LP indicated by the battle contract.

Case Study 1:
The player is aligned to House Davion on a 28-day contract.
The player clicks a planet in Kurita space that is along the Kurita/Davion border and is under conflict.
A battle contract appears and on the contract it will state that if the player succesfully wins the attack match, they will earn 50 LP.
The player accepts the contract and is dropped into the match.
The player wins the match and returns back to the front-end.
The player is presented with the reward of 50 LP and an additional 30% for being on a 28-day contract (an additional 15 LP) for a total of 65 LP.
The other method of earning LP is in-game actions. This is very similar to how players currently earn XP/C-Bills for in-game actions. This is the current LP reward table:

-Component Destruction = 8LP
-Kill = 15 LP
-Assist = 6 LP
-Team Kill = -20 LP
-Kill with Most Damage = 20 LP
-Solo Kill = 30 LP
-Scouting = 5 LP
-Flanking = 5 LP
-Brawling = 10 LP
-Tag Kill = 15 LP
-NARC Kill = 15 LP
-Hit And Run = 10 LP
-Lance Formation = 5 LP
-Protected Medium = 3 LP
-Protected Light = 3 LP
-Saviour Kill = 12 LP
-Defensive Kill = 12 LP
-UAV Kill = 7 LP
-Counter ECM = 10 LP
-Counter ECM Locked Damage = 3 LP
-Turret Kill = 5 LP


Case Study 2:

-In the match in Case Study 1, the player got 4 assists, 2 kills, 3 hit and runs, 1 saviour kill, 1 UAV kill and 3 Turret Kills.
-The player has earned 24 LP from assists
-The player has earned 30 LP from kills
-The player has earned 30 LP from hit and runs
-The player has earned 12 LP from saviour kills
-The player has earned 7 LP from uav kills
-The player has earned 15 LP from turret kills
-This means the player has earned 118 base LP.
-The player is on a 28-day contract with Davion, hence will recieve an additional 30% LP bonus
-The player has earned 153 (rounded) LP total.

Of Note:
We have also added a 10% LP bonus to Premium Time which works exactly the same as above by being calculated using the base amount of LP earned.. not the sum of all LP plus bonuses. A reminder, Loyalty Points (LP) can only be earned while participating in Community Warfare conflicts.



Drop Ships and How They Work

This keeps coming up in a lot of questions so I'll try to clarify as much as I can on the topic.

Consider Drop Ships a loan from the Faction you are aligned to. You are a space hitch-hiker and they're giving you a ride to the battlefield. The reason I say this, is that for the moment, you cannot modify or engage the Drop Ships as they bring players into the game.

You MUST bring 4 'Mechs into the match. The total tonnage of all 4 'Mechs must fall between 140 and 240 tons. You will not be able to save your Drop Ship configuration until this requirement has been met.

There is only one Drop Ship loadout at the moment. This is why you can switch 'Mechs in your Drop Ship right up until the point that the Match Maker kicks in and starts putting you into a match. You will have enough time to configure your Drop Ship if needed and you will also know if you're attacking or defending.

Prior to dropping into a match, make sure you select which 'Mech you want to drop into battle with on the first pass. If you're 'Mech gets destroyed, you will see the standard death screen like you currently do in public matches. On this screen is a Drop Ship selection button which will bring up the interface to allow you to choose your next 'Mech to pilot. On this screen you also see how much time is remaining before the next wave of Drop Ships head into the battlefield. I don't want to spoil what happens during this time so you'll have to wait and see. It's pretty cool!

Once all 4 of your 'Mechs are destroyed, you will be able to spectate just you can right now in public matches.



Contract Length Reductions

A lot of people are not on board with the recent change in terms of contract lengths.

We wanted to make sure players had enough flexibility to play their various 'Mechs and to play the role of Mercenaries while staying within the contraints that we need to have in place to make CW work.

That being said, the 7,14 and 28 day contracts are currently implemented, but these numbers can be fairly easily changed. Russ and I have been talking about these times and we are both seeing the positives on both longer and shorter contracts. We MAY change these numbers sometime between now and the release of CW. I'll let you know when the numbers are locked down.



Grouping In CW

To re-emphasis what has been mentioned before. Community Warfare is primarily directed to role-playing and unit gameplay. It is because of this that groups in CW (Unit Groups) will consist of only players within the same unit. A team can have players from multiple units but groups themselves will only consist of players who are in the same group/faction.



Summary

We are only a few weeks away from Community Warfare being in your hands and playable. That being said, not a lot is going to change between now and December 16th. We need to stabilize the build and continue testing as much as we can to make sure the feature is ready to go on to the live servers.

This is the last major update before that time. I will however keep trickling information out as it becomes available with more and more finalized implementation and testing.

Community Warfare - Phase 2 is now in a state of fruition with numerous possibilities for growth and expansion as we head into the new year. It's an exciting time for us here at PGI and the entire development staff is eager to get it in your hands and watch a new era of BattleTech InnerSphere history unfold as you, the community, drive the direction the invasion and Faction conflicts go.

eldaec
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Reply #45 on: December 04, 2014, 06:32:58 AM

Finally get them to address population balance systems and the response is: "it looks balanced enough".

Except:
1. Mercs/LNW are a HUGE population dwarfing any of the other factions in population.
2. Everyone gets to "re-pick" their faction at launch.

At least they acknowledged that more planets to spread out the population of bigger factions works, for sure they won't have a procedural system to handle that though at launch.

I'm not sure I see any impact of imbalanced population except queue length?

If so, surely it is self balancing?

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Shannow
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Reply #46 on: December 04, 2014, 07:32:17 AM

Btw, can we start a pool on CW actually coming out on the 16th?

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Falconeer
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Reply #47 on: December 04, 2014, 07:57:00 AM

I think it will come out on the 16th. But it will be horribly broken and unplayable, and that's why it comes with the "beta" marker.

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