yourrandomnobody74

Why? It was the only mod which allows Waterfront to be playable by spawning cover at will. Which tester in SPCT thought it's useful to add unnecessary delays to a already fast TTK game? 500ms makes or breaks fights... It'll just make the game feel clunkier than it already is. This is great, very needed, change. It was about time that Hard Landing became a blue mod without any downsides. Both great changes. Happy Landings desperately needed some changes. This is a great buff, a major one even. You could receive 0 fall damage from any drop with HL3 and the flinching which happens won't happen at small distances (was really annoying with previous HL3) Interesting that you've opted to make Mobility Sling without a downside. Now all purple mods are without downsides. Could be really great for some preset weapons like the S-AS PDW with Mobility Sling on it, the Nano etc. or in general weapons which rely on MM mode and don't lose accuracy while walking (walk modifier at 1 when ADS) will greatly benefit from this. Welcoming changes. Not quite enough to shake up meta, but makes the mods more desirable. As for the rest (med spray & vehicles, especially the latter), we'll have to wait & see how it'll play out. It's great that vehicles are finally getting tackled. I'm really bummed out by the Mobile Cover change however, but decent changes otherwise Still not the shake-up needed to make the game feel robust & consistent, very mild changes which have been requested for years tho so it's OK. I have a suggestion, continuing the trend of buffing niche guns and a nice QoL change. 1.) Take a look at the VAS-C2, H9 Curse, CAP40, ACES SMG and COBR-A Change their Shot Modifier Cap to the following values: C2: 1.75 -> 1.5 H9: 1.5 -> 1 CAP40: 1.05 -> 0.9 ACES: 2.15 -> 1.8 COBR-A: 4 -> 2.25 2.) Buff the character crouched speed of the game: 90cm/s -> 110cm/s 3.) Revert the Mobile Cover change. 4.) Remove Long-Range Rifling 5.) Change Hunting Sight behavior on the Scout back to how it was (setting MM modifier to 0 instead of 0.03 across the board, regardless of HS level used) If the Oblivion and Dog Ear can have this behavior, why not bring it back to the Scout? Perhaps even make the N-HVR 762 and DMR have the same behavior, so it performs uniformally on snipers. Would be welcoming changes. I sincerely hope Little Orbit re-considers their adamant stance on the current TTK and RNG by: - Adapting TTK to ~1s (would require magazine size changes to most of the guns in the game) - Removing mods such as Cooling Jacket, Improved Rifling, Long-Range Rifling (should be deleted ASAP, breaks balance a lot) which impact range, TTK and RNG - Set (Assault/High-Velocity/Normal) Rifles, pistols and SMG's marksman modifier to 0 (or at least make this happen for all sniper rifles) - Let us test this in a district (perhaps even a RTW Test District too, but this time without the unnecessary RNG added) - Sprint modifier to 1 for all weapons (so no accuracy loss on 1st shot happens when going from sprint to run while shooting) - Plays around with Recovery Delay's (? not sure if this influences what I think it does, Shot Modifier Cap & Per Shot Modifier would need changes too, test district would reveal what works and what doesn't) of most guns (should be sub 0.05s on all or perhaps even to 0 imo, to make them consistent, akin to FBW changes) (NOTE: these changes have to occur all at once, implementing only 1 of them will not work out and won't have the same effect. It'll only exacerbate the problems) RIP Mobile Cover....

I'm afraid that they won't listen to either side, whatever our intent is... Even people with more influence have tried their efforts, but there was always someone who was blocking it. In particular, during G1 times, it was Qwentle.

This is such a huge skill issue, genuinely unreal. We all know the game is relying on silvers/bronze players which have been clueless for years and It was always known in the community that forum dwellers are in the deepest pits of silver/bronze hell, but this is just ridiculous. I sincerely hope no one from the balancing team takes this comment serious. The new FBW changes are the single best change the secondary has had in the past few years. It made the gun more consistent, it feels great with the faster recovery delay (0.1 to 0.05) The RS1 version is even better, granting it less RNG as a whole. The FBW changes, along with the PDW changes, are a welcoming addition, since they're unwilling to budge on attempting greater balancing. Sadly, they don't wanna fix the underlying issue with the balancing as a whole. I'll drop a quote to illustrate what we're dealing with right now. They're just moving the knife around, nothing else.

All of these changes are way too mild. TTK to ~1s, Marksmanship modifier = 0 across all guns, lower bullet spread while shooting will make the player feel 10x more in control over the game than the current dice simulator that we have. Oh and also, double the crouch movement speed. This is a decent buff to how the PDW plays, but changes like these just expose the general issue with balancing Most pistols should have a uniform modifier of walk, run, sprint to 1 (sprint especially, since the slight discrepancy between run & sprint modifier affect 1st shot accuracy when switching movement modes from sprint to run while shooting) If I understand the formula correctly, it won't be a huge change in practice. It'll definitely have the best accuracy (RS1 version) while running from the most common secondaries used, when compared to FR0G Thumbnail it's ~3cm difference (base FBW is ~0.5cm of FR0G Thumbnail, the RS2 modded one)

Almost as if mods which affect TTK and range shouldn't exist? It's insane to me how they haven't learned their lesson that Qwentle's vision of lower TTK in this game has failed. I don't know who's in the LO team, which people are giving advice to them in terms of weapon balancing, but I can surely say that they're all clueless. I don't understand how they expect a successful launch on Epic Games with the hideous state the gun balancing is right now. And no, the announced gun balancing for September will still not steer the game into the right direction. The game has a bloated mod and weapon pool which needs desperate attention, perhaps even deletion of certain weapons & mods. (real) RTW stats were a step in the right direction in terms of gun balancing, but it was still lacking in some aspects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SjlOMi3biw&nbsp And if someone says "BUT WE'VE HAD HIGH TTK / RTW BUT NO ONE LIKED IT" The RTW testing district and high TTK district were botched on purpose by Qwentle by adding a ton more bullet spread or how the community falsely calls it "bloom" (fake) RTW test district bullet spread can be seen here (compare it to video above, night and day) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezZNyXmNGk

Your comment clearly showcases your overall mechanical skill in shooters and lack of basic foresight as to what makes a game great and competitive. I don't see a reason for not to ask this question. It is clear that APB's gameplay mechanics have not stood the test of time and that the game is spiralling downwards. People would stick to the game if the fundamentals were good. The only reason people are coming back is because of nostalgia and the invested time in customization (or in general, wanting to roleplay) Sprintshooting was removed because of technical debt / lack of server infrastructure / dumbing the game down. Look at old games such as CS1.6, the game has more players than APB just because the original mechanics are great, fluid and timeless. I'm not gonna derail the thread w/ elaborations of my questions and the thought process behind them. HF.

Game balance questions 1.) Will you consider lowering overall RNG of the game and transitioning to a bit longer TTK, as the game was originally intended to (perhaps even make ADS 100% accurate for all guns). Perhaps even properly done RTW/High TTK districts without the original RNG garbage the old administration served us? 2.) Trimming/slimming down mod selection since they interfere with balancing (some mods should not exist at all, such as some red mods - CJ3, IR3,.. on top of my head. RS3 is useless, Slimming down green mods & adjusting blue mods for characters is also something to look at). WIll this ever occur? 3) Unbalanced missions (or even simpler, obscure game mode choices for FC) when are they getting tackled? 4.) Waterfront is long due for an overhaul (old forum had a great thread on suggestions as to what to change with screenshots of problematic spots) Will you ever detail the your plans with it? With proper full before-after screenshots. (using https://imgsli.com/ for example to showcase a before-after) 5.) When are we getting new movement mechanics? Walljumping, sliding, air strafing (such as the unreleased air control mod). Akin to GunZ, Double Action; Boogaloo, The Specialist (HL mods) 6.) Vehicle top speed & stats in general need fixing, any plans for this? 7.) Crouch movement speed needs attention, any plans for this? [take a look at Dopefish suggestion thread at my post below] UI questions 1.) UI changes / unification of UI interfaces (inconsistency between Scaleform & Kismet frameworks) When will this happen? The UX is hideous right now (queue system, hello?..) 2.) Why can't we have all 3 FC maps simultaneously running, now that the game is 64bit? Is this a UI limitation? That was the last answer I had on this topic. 3.) You still cannot preview ARMAS clothing items individually, as seen with the release of the new bundles), Will this ever happen? Considering APB's main monetization relies on customization, I'm baffled this wasn't considered yet. 4.) Why are we still not able to uncap FPS in-game and have a adjustable in-game FPS cap? (using WaitablSwapChains for proper CPU/GPU synchro, even Trackmania in 2009 had this...) Can we also get a OneThreadFrameLag toggle in-game already too? There are too many toggles hidden under config changes. 5.) We don't have a proper in-game VOIP system for YEARS now, are there any plans for this? 6.) Crosshair customizations (dot, X, colors, etc.), along with crosshair actually displaying real accuracy of gun. Oh and resolutions and crosshairs dont play well together When will this get tackled? https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/2804-resolution-differences-affecting-crosshair-and-perceived-recoil/ New content 1.) New hair styles? When? 2.) Any plans on new clothing that isn't the hideous poor leather effect BDSM? Take a look at the clothing suggestion thread once in a while, or at least use web-archive to access the old forum ones (examples I can think of rn: jewelry is heavily missing on both genders) 3.) Are there any plans on a new district/map, such as the Midtown (EllixOnline has great assets which could be re-used imo), which would drive the new contacts 4.) Are there any plans for a new game modes, such as BR or the legendary sought-after racing district? RIOT was a good concept but poorly implemented. Perhaps even a competitive district to segregate the casual & comp crowd of the game. 5.) Any plans to add Melee weapons? Fists, katana's axe's, frying pans etc. I think it would freshen up gameplay mechanics. 6.) Motorcycles, when? 7.) Music studio overhaul or additions, when? 8.) Clan progression / warfare content, when will this get looked at? For example: https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/2042-game-clan-progression/ Misc 1.) Why is the server still running at the abysmal tick rate it's running at right now? Can we get any updates on whether you have any plans for upgrading server infrastructure on any news on current state of server performance? A few helpful links: https://web.archive.org/web/20160503010949/http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/386708-new-ui-aka-scaleform-warning-there-are-a-lot-of-images-be-aware-of-internet-traffic/ https://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/5968-am-i-the-only-dude-that-dislikes-the-slow-ttk/?do=findComment&comment=71943 https://web.archive.org/web/20150128031946/http://forums.gamersfirst.com/topic/288723-dopefish-list-of-suggestions-and-issues-v2/ [great thread] [i got a few more in my post history]

Just because the concrete implementation of a concept (BR) was done carelessly does not mean it cannot work within APB as a whole.

There was nothing of substance added in the recent patch. It's a dying game with greedy management, capitalizing off of nostalgia that people have since players spent their youthful years playing the game. They've just released assets from early APB in this patch. Game still has bad weapon and movement mechanics for years, not awarding skill in any way. Game still runs horribly even on modern PC's, since it's a archaic UE game (UE in general is shit) If you wanna play the game for the customization aspect, there are other titles to take a look at. The old forums & current forums community section brims with ideas from passionate players, but for +10 years the devs have ignored them due to personal visions of how the game should be (or just general incompetence / unwillingness to do them), such as: - New district/map,, - Clan warfare content,, - WF overhaul (old forum had a great thread on suggestions),, - Lowering overall RNG and damage on problematic weapons (heavy HVR had issues for years, inaccurate representation of accuracy with crosshair + no customization of crosshair etc.), - Trimming/slimming down mod selection since they interfere with balancing (some mods should not exist at all), - UI changes / unification of UI interfaces (inconsistency between Scaleform & Kismet frameworks, still not allowing 3 FC maps simultaneously, you still cannot preview ARMAS clothing items individually, as seen with the release of the new bundles), - Tutorial overhaul (the game is not user-friendly at all, in terms of UI and gameplay mechanics. Just bad UX in general) - Rework of Prestige/Notoriety system - New game modes (BR would've been a great headstart for propelling APB, but they haven't capitalized on that) - Adding a functional frame limiter + uncap game in its entirety without the need for config changes (using WaitableSwapChains for capping method, for proper CPU/GPU synchro, even Trackmania from 2009 had this...) - Melee & skill-based movement mechanics (walljumping, sliding, fast direction changes/strafing etc.) - Unbalanced missions & obscure game mode choices for FC General UX of APB has stayed the same for years, apart from the great JT change Little Orbit did. All of this is in vain however, since no one wants to approach the game in an objective matter. Everybody seems to be living under an illusion and just pushing some agenda from Discord servers without critical thinking.

I wanna make my characters dress modest. This would actually make me install this dice simulator.

Almost as if mods which adjust range and accuracy in marksmanship shouldn't exist? All of this is band-aiding the root issue this game has with balancing.

You mean the numerious attempts at Qwentle misinterpreting (be it on purpose or not) the community's plea's, knowing what the fundamental issue with this game is? Like the high TTK district which they've butchered on purpose? Or the RTW TTK district which was also butchered on purpose to "prove a point"? Or the huge suggestion forums which spans over a decade of suggestions (rip old forums) by the community with amazing QoL changes? (dopefish's list comes to mind) yet rarely any feature from there was considered to be implemented (even though at least 50% of them were feasible for implementation during the whole decade this game has been out for) The devs have rarely listened to people who know what long-term mechanics prevail. Look at CS, the game hasn't changed in over 3 decades yet there are over a milion people playing it. Why? Because the fundamental gameplay is easy to get into, hard to master. Relying on customization as your main attraction in a game is not gonna last long, especially with how many issues it has compared to modern counterparts. The game should be a shooter at first, barbie simulator at second. The opposite is, unfortunately, true. APB doesn't know what it wants to be, and with the 'recent-ish' changes suggested by SPCT testers (NTEC ones specifically), they don't seem to know how to balance guns either. Increasing the TTK by adding bloom does not result in a consistent and robust experience for newcomers and veterans alike. Have you ever talked to a newcomer? "OmG WhY DoEsNt MY gUn KILl HiM AfTeR 50 ShOtS oN HiM, BAD GAME!!!! BAD SERVERS!!!" Even though they've just been out RNG'd by the game. No, telling him to "control" the gun does not result in a better experience either. Ever since APB:R got released, the game had no clue how guns should be done. The addition of reskins doesn't do any favour to the act of weapon balancing either. Proper balancing would be making the game skill-based, rewarding grinders and not be at the mercy of RNG to decide whether you win a fight or not.

No, you didn't write anything boring. You wrote things which have would have a questionable outcome at best. >"...and although it sounds nice when you willingly ignore the gargantuan amount of work this would represent (and the fact that this would cause a general increase in accuracy and a TTK decrease across the board)..." No, it's not a big task at all when you have a proper vision on how a shooter is supposed to work. The game does not need a TTK decrease. However, it does need a accuracy (which your changes do not propose???) increase paired with multiple other changes. >"...it also signals cognitive dissonance: the gun is “so balanced” that the rest of the weapon roster just needs to be as good as the NTEC." There is not a single weapon in the game which can be used as a model to balance the rest of the guns around, as all guns are inherently flawed ever since APB:R released. Balancing around a single balanced gun, when the game has at least 1 proper gun, is good step in the right direction though. This particular part stung me. >What LO doesn’t understand however, is that no games, casual or otherwise (and especially games like APB) thrive by directly pandering to meta-whores and “muh e-sports” types. Absolutely false to the ground. People at the highest level have the most knowledge on how a game plays out and how it works, they're the BEST candidates to dictate how to properly balance the game. But, the most important aspect to have when it comes to suggesting balancing changes is to have experience in other shooter games outside of APB and see what makes them good. Your particular change would result in a overall bloom increase, thus increasing the margin of miss by a lot, making the game cattered towards the worse players. You don't balance a game by introducing bloom (as the usual trend of balancing is steered towards), you balance it by adjusting recoil/damage/stk/range/ttk (most of which are extremely connected) I'm not going to bother with the rest of the changes as I'm not interested in making a "bash OP" type of topic. I'm just going to say that I heavily disagree with these thoughts (which many other veterans will agree with I'm sure)

This is probably the most important bit in the blog to me (along with anti-griefing measures, district phasing and DX12 even though it's very far down the list), cars needed a major overhaul ages ago and I'm glad at least this is getting tackled. I don't see anything on the roadmap in regards to weapon/mod balancing though, which is VERY concerning... Also, nothing mentioned about the UI mismatch we have in right now in form of a conjuction between Kismet and Scaleform. Is this planned to be streamlined into a unified UI? I haven't tried out the recent supposed performance changes to the UI, so I can't verify if there has been any difference. Nothing in regards to balancing out missions either. Seems like gameplay related features (most important aspect) are getting ignored.

Ok, that I can agree with. Misinterpreted the original quote, if this is what you've meant. However, to implement headshots doing more damage over body shots, one would still have to increase/lengthen TTK and have less bloom. It would definitely be a good upgrade, requires a ton of reworking though. How can a random number made up by the computer be a something which is "more realistic and raises the skill ceiling"? What skill ceiling? You cannot alter that output with your input in any way, shape or form. The bloom APB has shouldn't be a thing in any game that tries to be a shooter game. APB is an arcade shooter, even if it was "realistic", it shouldn't be a thing. "me klik b4 u, me kil u" => the only scenario where TTK alternating mods would prove useful. It makes balancing harder and adds unnecessary mechanics (bloom) to APB's already large weapon pool. Tracking should win duels.