Patch Update

[Will]

Monday, May 12th

1) Made Proximity map changes to make icons more visible:
- radar blips pulse slightly
- altered the red color to make enemies visible in TR facilities
- gave the buildings 50% opacity on the prox map to make it easier to see the blips

2) Advanced Targeting Implant is functional again.

3) The "anti-aircraft" MAX units got some adjustments:
- NC Sparrow MAX had its refire rate and damage per shot slightly reduced...however its ammo clip size is now 12 instead of four so it's capable of delivering much more damage over time before reloading.
- The VS Starfire MAX had its clip size increased from 6 to 8.
- The TR Burster MAX is unchanged.

4) Further reduced the size of every network packet, thus making our netcode more efficient.

5) Building capture experience system has changed. Details below:
a) Squads no longer share base capture experience for either BEP or CEP.
b) Base capture experience is earned by the individual, not the squad and is based on time inside the contested SOI.
c) Every base capture is divided into time "slices" starting 10 minutes before a hack starts and ending when the hack is successful (25-minute time period).
d) You get credit for each time slice in which you are within the SOI of the facility. The more you are in the SOI during the 25-minute window, the more credit you get toward experience. (There are 300 time slices in that amount of time.)
e) Each time slice is worth more or less depending on the NUMBER OF ENEMIES that are in that SOI during that time slice.

So...in a nutshell, the longer you are in an SOI, and the more enemies that are in that SOI while you're there, the more xp you receive if the capture is successful.

If the cap isn't successful, you get no capture xp.

Unique kills are no longer counted for any purpose.

Command experience is still modified by the size of your squad, so the bigger your squad is, the more CEP you will gain for base caps.

NOTE: You do not have to be present at the time of capture to gain experience for a base capture. You will get the award for each "time slice" that you were present for if the base is successfully captured.

Netcode improvements and AA made better. Excellent.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

BAH AA sucks

*cries* there goes my galaxy AGAIN

 

[Old_Bean]

The Exp thing sucks big time doesn't it?!

 

[Will]

Well, it encourages massed group attacks, and rewards you for being present for large battles. On the flip side, it is rare that the enemy make any decent attempt to retake a base straight after a hack, which is a bit of a downer.

 

[CliffyG]

I got about 580 xp from taking a base that was heavily defended. Admittedly i did spend some time getting an ANT but the others in my group only got 800'ish anyway so i didn't miss on much. And generally when you are hacking there aren't many enemies left at all so XP will never be great . Not much incentive to hack a base when you can get more XP from just fighting outside it and letting them respawn inside. 3.5k was a bit much but around 2k would be nice .

 

[SilverHood]

hmm, nice changes

cept for the squad bit

Had to go fetch an ant for our base last night, so me and the Gal pilot recalled to sanc.

After 7 mins or so, we deliver the ant, get the cap xp, and deploy the ant

that would mean me and the gal pilot would loose out, simply because we're helpful.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

U recalled to sanc for an ant run?

 

[Will]

If its the first base on a continent you have to DMW.

And playing last night, our squad received 2000-3000 per base cap.

 

[SilverHood]

wasn't anywhere else capable of spawning one

and we needed a galaxy anyway

 

[SilverHood]

will? DMW?

new lingo here

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Originally posted by Will.
If its the first base on a continent you have to DMW.

And playing last night, our squad received 2000-3000 per base cap.

Indeed that was pretty fun, especially with Cooker's ANT run the length of a continent hehe.

 

[Will]

The ANT could really do with an afterburner.

DMW = DeadManWalking.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Famous for my airtrips and commanding
Not sure if thats good or not

 

[Will]

I almost put in brackets after (because its shorter to type than wanker) but I resisted.

 

[adslrizla]

And playing last night, our squad received 2000-3000 per base cap

This was post-patch? That's some going mate - your squad must have taken out around 130-200 defenders in the 10 mins before and fifteen mins after the hack to do that. Outstanding

 

[SilverHood]

yeah, I got that in my squad too

then again, I was in a kickass squad, with a BR12 CR4 commander who knew his stuff

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Will im hurt

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Originally posted by adslrizla
This was post-patch? That's some going mate - your squad must have taken out around 130-200 defenders in the 10 mins before and fifteen mins after the hack to do that. Outstanding

It was odd, we rolled up and there didn't seem to be any hackers around, so I smuggled myself in and hacked the console whilst everyone else hung around guarding.

 

[adslrizla]

Ummm. That's not post-patch then. Basically for an individual (in or out of a squad) to get maximum xp you'd have to kill 20 enemies in the 25 min "window" around the hack. That's why I asked was it post-patch - cos the beta forum boards are nearing meltdown about this now

Snip of post from developer :

Well, it's been interesting reading the various threads on exp changes. Obviously we have struck a nerve. Or perhaps exposed the nerve, stretched it out, poured salt and pepper on it and then lit it on fire while chanting ancient dark rituals of pain and dancing in horrible glee. One of those two.
There are some good suggestions here, many of which I've copied into a log as notes. In particular the intent of the changes was not to diminish support roles, although that may have been the effect. We'll be examining that. The rate is a common complaint, and we knew it would be - exp before was too fast. This may be too slow. We'll need to collect some data and see how it actually works in practice to make that determination.

Most of the angst seems to revolve around base captures, which got the largest changes. It would be good to get some comments about kill exp and how that is working out, since that's a very large component of where exp comes from as well.

Please note it's not productive to start the Nth new thread so you can put your own personal spin on how badly exp sucketh without offering fix suggestions that aren't already covered. So please, Zerg the existing threads and add your thought if it is new or just acknowledge you agree with the poster if applicable. That will give those two guys in the back of the room the chance to tell us how badly MAX's sucketh as well.

In the end we'll do our best to come up with a system that is fun while preserving a sense of accomplishment and value to those people who have used exp to specialize their characters. We don't want it to suck. In fact, I'll go out on a limb here and say we WILL make it not suck for as many people as possible (because to paraphrase Lincoln, you can make it not suck for some of the people some of the time, but you can't make it not suck for all of the people all of the time).

Ph33r our determination to not suck!

-Twist