166 replies to this topic

[[HWK]ZamboniChaos]

Greetings pilots!

On Wednesday, December 11 we will be deploying a minor update in order to address some of the issues players were seeing following the Wreckage Update. We will also be addressing the balance concerns regarding the Hellfire Missiles and Failsafe.

We also made some additional balance changes, mainly regarding heat. We felt that the current overheat recovery duration lasted too long, so we made some small adjustments to better improve the gameplay experience.

Special Notices

[*]We've identified the issue that was causing performance problems on Winter Last Eco. You can read more about what caused this problem and how it was fixed here.
[*]We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.
[*]Several changes implemented in the Wreckage update were accidentally omitted from the patch notes. Here's a list of the changes we missed.

[*]The Vanguard Initiative Cupcake Chassis is now able to be equipped on all C-Class mechs you own.
[*]In-game Kill and Assist text now display the percentage of damage dealt.
[*]Selected mech on the main menu screen can now be rotated 360 degrees.
[*]Changed mech icons to be more accurate.

[*]Previous Vanguard icon (Explosion) was given to the Grenadier
[*]Previous Rocketeer icon (Triple Lines) was given to the Vanguard
[*]Previous Grenadier icon (Crosshairs) was given to the Rocketeer
[/list]
[/list]
[/list]Mechs

[*]All Heavy Mechs

[*]Fuel burn rate while boosting decreased from 8 to 7 liters/s
[/list]
[*]Scout

[*]Base heat generation decreased from 92% to 91%
[*]Base armor decreased from 490 to 470
[*]Base boost speed decreased from 37.44 to 36 m/s
[*]Base run speed increased from 17 to 17.5 m/s
[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 9.5 to 6.5 seconds
[/list]
[*]Brawler

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 10.25 to 8 seconds
[*]Base fuel tank decreased from 158.5 to 144.5 liters
[*]Base run speed increased from 11 to 11.5 m/s
[*]Base boost speed increased from 18 to 20.16 m/s
[/list]
[*]Berserker

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Infiltrator

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Reaper

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Technician

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8 to 6.5 seconds
[/list]
[*]Assault

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Bruiser

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Predator

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Raider

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]CR-T Recruit

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Sharpshooter

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8 to 6.5 seconds
[/list]
[*]Grenadier

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8 to 6.5 seconds
[/list]
[*]Rocketeer

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 8.75 to 7 seconds
[/list]
[*]Vanguard

[*]Base overheat recovery time decreased from 7.25 to 6 seconds
[/list]
[/list]Tuning Modifications

[*]Cooling Units

[*]Overheat recovery time reduction changed from -0.75 to -0.5 seconds per point
[/list]
[/list]Weapons

[*]Hellfire Missiles

[*]Decreased damage per projectile from 23 to 20
[*]Decreased minimum damage per projectile from 7.2 to 6
[*]Note: "Minimum Damage" is the damage applied on a hit at the edge of the radius, as opposed to a direct hit
[/list]
[/list]Internals

[*]Failsafe

[*]Self-damage reduction decreased from 90% to 60%
[/list]
[*]Light Failsafe

[*]Self-damage reduction decreased from 45% to 30%
[/list]
[/list]Ongoing Improvements

[*]Fixed an issue where players were having trouble selecting mechs in the garage.
[*]Collision on Wreckage map improved and polished.
[*]Adjusted base turrets on Wreckage to prevent players from easily entering the enemy base.
[/list]

Click here to view the article

[driedjello]

The Hawken community must now rejoice!  (If they don't, they are a bunch of whiners)

[MrShade_]

Brawler buffs at last!

[Sylhiri]

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• Collision on Wreckage map improved and polished.

Well, at least I don't have to send a video to support about that now.

I will always remember the good times swimming with the yeti....

Edited by Sylhiri, December 10 2013 - 07:00 PM.

[Greenvalv]

Holy freaking cow, didn't expect this much in this hotfix.  Bravo.

[CJacobs]

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

If this means 'absolutely all service awards' instead of just the time based ones, that's really mean. I hope they buff how many credits you earn in general soon because 200 per match doesn't cut it when mechs cost 13,000.

[Preternatural]

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

Not sure how I feel about that one. I mean, people who have already done all the service award now have 1000s of more HC than incoming pilots. Not sure if that's exactly "balanced". Now we have a bunch of high class millionaires and a bunch of incoming homeless people, and right in the middle a slim bit of middle class. And because the initial game by a New Recruit is around 1 or 2 thousand, it is going to be a HUGE pain in the ass to rack up enough money to buy a new mech.

Lower the cost of mechs, maybe_

Besides that, everything else sounds great. I think everyone was wanting a nice little minor-adjustment patch.

Edited by Preternatural, December 10 2013 - 07:10 PM.

[KejiGoto]

Glad to see some of these changes but I think Failsafe needs a further decrease in damage reduction. 2 slots for a 60% reduction is one hell of a benefit compared to other internals and it still rewards terrible gameplay habits. 30% damage reduction should be the max and 10% should be the bottom. It's a benefit but not enough to tip the scales in favor of those who use it to facehug their opponents.

It's either that or increase Deflectors at this point.

Scout nerfs feel good though I'm not sure how I feel about the heat reductions. I'm still a fan of the idea of A-Class mechs generation more heat because they are smaller but we'll see how this plays.

Brawler needs a bigger speed boost than that in my opinion. Boosting should make a noticeable difference but I don't think the walk speed will which is where Brawler suffers the most. .5 walk speed increase doesn't seem significant enough to overcome the lack of mobility the Brawler has with its limited range (using Flak and Vulcan).

Glad to see this balance patch coming out quickly though and I hope this becomes the norm moving forward. Hawken will definitely benefit from faster patching like this. We all appreciate the new content and definitely want to see that coming but not at the cost of having a well balanced game.

Also I'm not sure nerfing Cooling Units was the best approach. Certain mechs need to have a quick recovery time (Rev GL comes to mind) while other mechs need their recovery time tuned down (Tech comes readily to mind here). Perhaps addressing individual issues instead of an across the board nerf would be better moving forward_ I get the idea of making overheating a punishment for the player but some mechs recover far too fast for what they bring to the battlefield while other mechs need to be able to be able to unleash large volleys and recover quickly from it to remain effective in combat.

[ShadowWarg]

YAY, another thing to talk about on the cockpit tomarrow.

I also hope that these balance patches are more frequent.

Lastly, maybe a global overheat reduction may not have been the best way to go about handling the over heat problem. It kind of negates that specific mechanic and penalty for not managing one's heat. Idk, have to play it first.

Edited by ShadowWarg, December 10 2013 - 07:14 PM.

[KejiGoto]

CJacobs, on December 10 2013 - 07:05 PM, said:

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

If this means 'absolutely all service awards' instead of just the time based ones, that's really mean. I hope they buff how many credits you earn in general soon because 200 per match doesn't cut it when mechs cost 13,000.

You can still unlock every mech in the game for free though... This is the price you pay when playing a Free2Play game.

[SS396]

NO!!!

SS396 fires a batch of hellfires at [HWK]ZamboniChaos!

[Sylhiri]

Hotfixes in the right direction every two weeks in between large patches might turn my frown upside down :0

*Looks at Scout*

Hmmm, this mean Flak isn't going to be touched_

[CJacobs]

KejiGoto, on December 10 2013 - 07:10 PM, said:

CJacobs, on December 10 2013 - 07:05 PM, said:

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

If this means 'absolutely all service awards' instead of just the time based ones, that's really mean. I hope they buff how many credits you earn in general soon because 200 per match doesn't cut it when mechs cost 13,000.

You can still unlock every mech in the game for free though... This is the price you pay when playing a Free2Play game.

Free to play or not, it's not going to maintain my interest if it takes eight hours of straight up grinding matches to unlock the mechs I want. Making it take longer to do things does not make me want to purchase credits, it makes me bored with the game. Removing credits being earned from awards would make sense if they'd even slightly boosted how many you earn in general through matches. As of now all it does is hinder new players and make no difference to old ones. Of course there's no telling if that is planned and coming later or not but if it is then why not figure it out before pushing out a patch that includes the detrimental part of it_

Edited by CJacobs, December 10 2013 - 07:16 PM.

[Leonhardt]

KejiGoto, on December 10 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

Glad to see some of these changes but I think Failsafe needs a further decrease in damage reduction. 2 slots for a 60% reduction is one hell of a benefit compared to other internals and it still rewards terrible gameplay habits. 30% damage reduction should be the max and 10% should be the bottom. It's a benefit but not enough to tip the scales in favor of those who use it to facehug their opponents.

It's either that or increase Deflectors at this point.

Scout nerfs feel good though I'm not sure how I feel about the heat reductions. I'm still a fan of the idea of A-Class mechs generation more heat because they are smaller but we'll see how this plays.

Brawler needs a bigger speed boost than that in my opinion. Boosting should make a noticeable difference but I don't think the walk speed will which is where Brawler suffers the most. .5 walk speed increase doesn't seem significant enough to overcome the lack of mobility the Brawler has with its limited range (using Flak and Vulcan).

Glad to see this balance patch coming out quickly though and I hope this becomes the norm moving forward. Hawken will definitely benefit from faster patching like this. We all appreciate the new content and definitely want to see that coming but not at the cost of having a well balanced game.

Also I'm not sure nerfing Cooling Units was the best approach. Certain mechs need to have a quick recovery time (Rev GL comes to mind) while other mechs need their recovery time tuned down (Tech comes readily to mind here). Perhaps addressing individual issues instead of an across the board nerf would be better moving forward_ I get the idea of making overheating a punishment for the player but some mechs recover far too fast for what they bring to the battlefield while other mechs need to be able to be able to unleash large volleys and recover quickly from it to remain effective in combat.

Failsafe returned to where it was thats fine in my opinion, The heat changes are clearly to get the game ready for the new mech that is on the way.

So I wouldn't judge those changes just yet.

[Xacius]

Very nice.  If the frequency of these hotfixes were to increase, I'm sure a lot more players would be happier.  

Great work, team HWK.  

While the Brawler buff is minor, I believe it's a good start!  Was surprised to see the Scout armor and speed nerf (minimal as they were), but it seems like a beneficial change.

Edited by Xacius, December 10 2013 - 07:19 PM.

[Sylhiri]

Xacius, on December 10 2013 - 07:19 PM, said:

While the Brawler buff is minor, I believe it's a good start!

Maybe about seven more hot fixes I can stop laughing at Saturnine :0

[Xacius]

CJacobs, on December 10 2013 - 07:05 PM, said:

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

If this means 'absolutely all service awards' instead of just the time based ones, that's really mean. I hope they buff how many credits you earn in general soon because 200 per match doesn't cut it when mechs cost 13,000.

Regarding the service award changes, I believe this is the beginning of an economy overhaul.  Many successful F2P games have daily systems that reward players for completing certain objectives.  These could be implemented to keep players interested and promote new rewards.  WoT has a pretty successful "dailies" model.  I imagine the HWK team could learn something from their business model!

Edited by Xacius, December 11 2013 - 05:46 AM.

[KejiGoto]

CJacobs, on December 10 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

KejiGoto, on December 10 2013 - 07:10 PM, said:

CJacobs, on December 10 2013 - 07:05 PM, said:

[HWK]ZamboniChaos, on December 10 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

• We've removed the HAWKEN Credit reward from all Service Awards except "Hawken Initiate" and "Thanks for Playing!". This decision is part of our recent efforts to rebalance the economy.

If this means 'absolutely all service awards' instead of just the time based ones, that's really mean. I hope they buff how many credits you earn in general soon because 200 per match doesn't cut it when mechs cost 13,000.

You can still unlock every mech in the game for free though... This is the price you pay when playing a Free2Play game.

Free to play or not, it's not going to maintain my interest if it takes eight hours of straight up grinding matches to unlock the mechs I want. Making it take longer to do things does not make me want to purchase credits, it makes me bored with the game. Removing credits being earned from awards would make sense if they'd even slightly boosted how many you earn in general through matches. As of now all it does is hinder new players and make no difference to old ones. Of course there's no telling if that is planned and coming later or not but if it is then why not figure it out before pushing out a patch that includes the detrimental part of it_

Well you have to remember that Adhesive is trying to run a business here and the game is in Open Beta so changes like this should be expected as they attempt to find a business model which not only suits their game but their suits their players as well. I agree that taking longer to unlock stuff isn't really a good idea and I've been a long time fan of great cosmetics to make people want to spend money. However what should keep you playing is the fun gameplay and not "Oh man I can almost buy another mech." Once you unlock them all then what_

Mech prices vary as well so while you're saving up for a more expensive mech you could be earning a cheaper mech or the other way around.

ShadowWarg, on December 10 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

YAY, another thing to talk about on the cockpit tomarrow.

Yup I've got to write up a piece on this now it seems like. I was getting worried we wouldn't see patch notes today though. xD

Leonhardt, on December 10 2013 - 07:13 PM, said:

KejiGoto, on December 10 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

-snip-

Failsafe returned to where it was thats fine in my opinion, The heat changes are clearly to get the game ready for the new mech that is on the way.

So I wouldn't judge those changes just yet.

I'm glad to see it back where it was but it also wasn't widely used before. Now though since it had its time in the sun with 90% reduction we're going to see it a lot more and I don't think a 30% reduction will be enough to make it a non-issue now. Only time will tell but I'm expecting to see plenty of unskilled pilots leaning on this crutch still.

My problem is that the new mech isn't in the game yet so I kind of have to judge things as they are now.

[Wasabi_Wei]

Cool beans overall, but why not fix the Fuel Converter activating from self-damage with bugged high fuel gen_ What did I miss_

UPDATE: On The Cockpit Vanu addressed this. It is a more code-intensive fix that is going to be fixed, just not so soon on this hotfix. I am so happy Vanu got on the stream and Saturnine tossed out the issue so skillfully. You guys made my week!

[OdinTheWise]

i am pleased to see that the brawler is finally getting som much needed love but it needs more