LilyRain

This thread pales in thiccness and length compared to MattScott's beard.

Were Less-Than-Lethals buffed within the last week or something? Nice link though

inb4 the upcoming beta-feedback thread will be longer than that "last person to reply to this thread wins" thread APB's new dawn draws near, the days ahead will be ones to remember~~ #StayPositive&ReportEngineBugs

"This is our first small step towards making sure Joker Mystery Boxes remain a compelling and exciting part of your APB gameplay" You got us all good there, well played, Master~~

#CharacterGlobalizationShould'veBeenMadeAPriority

#MakeLTLGreatAgain #LTLMasterRace

Dear MattScott, I am glad to see efforts towards making the game fair for everyone continue. Very informative, hopeful and honest update. I hope that APB will become macro-free soon. I'd like to see numbers/figures between EAC & BattlEye that show added latency from checking clients/users if available as this may affect game-play, thanks in advance.

Real-ads on TVs and buildings? I can't wait. Would be something to have cabs carry ads as well. Welcome to pre-Neo-Tokyo city! inb4 those who rage 24/7 will start a trend: "those Bronzes and Silvers are too distracted by ads"

It is better because JG + Snub has a ttk of 0.1 seconds. In the event the snub-shot misses or JG deals less than 700 damage (but above 400), the second snub-shot will be ready to fire in 0.5 seconds. Effectively making the ttk of JG+Snub in this scenario 0.6 Seconds, which is still faster than just shooting twice with the jg on its own.

Amen! It sure is game breaking & the mod doesn't hide it. Its description itself tells it is a wall-hax. Another poll from a parallel supporting-thread: I hope the Devs realize that this mod is another thing they need to clean up after G1's mess & remove this mod from existence.

That would be a dream come true

Yeah, that would actually work out pretty well. I'm down for it. Well said~ ♥♣♦♠ G1.

FAR offers that little more accuracy. Yes, the bloom recovery is exactly the same, but FAR has a better marksman modifier. This reduces the need for hunting sight, which is great as new players won't have that from the get go (the starter STAR has no slots to fit it because of the slot system as well). In addition to added accuracy, FAR has a ttk of 0.7 seconds, which is on par with a stock PMG. Of course, new players will be fighting against cooling-jacket PMG so they would still be at a disadvantage, but at least 0.7s plus added accuracy gives them a chance compared to 0.75s I know that making FAR a STAR reskin isn't great to those who waited for Xmas to get it, but we should think less about ourselves and more about the game as a whole. FAR is already an improved STAR, no reason to have new players missing out on that & wait potentially up to a year in order to even farm to get it. They wouldn't stay that long if their experience is not updated for no reason.

Side note, but it would be nice if the STAR inherits FAR's stats as it is basically a buffed-STAR. This will both help total-newbies compete and make FAR an xmas-earned reskin of the STAR. Waiting up to a year to get it is ridiculous but it won't be if it is made a reskin.

All you had to do was actually open the provided link and read the description.... People just can't read these days.

Wall hacking is unfortunately a game-feature: https://apbdb.com/items/FnMod_Character_Spotter This tells how much work is yet to be done on the core game.

I hear RTX3000 series should release around September, which is only 4 months from now. GPU prices might shift greatly as the RTX3000 is expected to be a considerable jump from RTX2000. If you can wait for ~4-5 months that would be great, if you are rich and don't care then 2080ti should be fine for anything that is not APB. P.S: They say the RTX memory bug with APB will be fixed with the new engine, so that is also something to look forward to.

Them prefering the traditional spotting system compared to the new one is natural. It doesn't mean they completely like the old one. It is the same with APB. Most people that are against Spotter mod are sort of okay with the tagger mod, some dislike both. Of course, people login to grind. Look up on the internet and you'll see the dissatisfaction/complaints, most people won't take the subject to discuss it in-game. It also says something when those games are much more massive in size compared to APB and complaints there exist. APB is too small to even need Spotting and Tagger already exists. Firework launcher also exists and its cheapness is also brought up every now and then by the community. Example from Battlefield, the video and comments speak for themselves (as a side note, both APB and battlefield did nerfs and ttk increases, notice a trend here?): Examples from Planetside 2: This one also shows its exploitability. Spotting in APB doesn't work like this but still shows how cheap spotting can be & why APB should not follow anything remotely similar in essence: https://www.planetside-universe.com/showthread.php?t=50192 ------------------------------------------------- Then why must APB be ultra-competitive in order to make things more fair to everyone? Why are we clinging to APB's poor progression system? Clinging to a faulty-base will only produce a weak structure. New Players sure don't have access to what those who grinded do, but this doesn't justify Spotter mod's existence or its need to remain in the game over the negatives it brings. Being able to move to bronze means your threat is silver, so you are more likely to be matched away from high-tier players. This probably explains why you don't see Spotter as much. Going with your observation, Spotter existing in lower-threat matches 33.3334% of the time is a problem to newcomers. Everyone knows what those naughty de-threaters are up to. Yeah, let us allow them to 'wallhax' newcomers as well... Newplayer experience is only about half of the problem. The other and actually bigger part is those who make it through all the way. End game matters more just like in any game. When end-game is filled with cheap game-play mechanics, most people will have no reason to continue playing till rank-cap increases (which will take forever with APB). Even now, a big chunk of APB's community only watches streams and awaits news regarding the new engine and APB's future. When this many people aren't interested in playing, it is very clear that there are fundamental issues with game-play to address. Spotter mod is one of them. I respond to your question with 2 points: 1- This type of rank segregation won't work with APB for many reasons (can't play with friends below R195, small community, etc). It is also hundreds of times more of a hassle than just getting rid of Spotter mod and adjusting the remainder of the cheap stuff. 2- Those who made it to R195+ should not even need Spotter to begin with. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Although we are used to the mod, Spotter staying is really not great for APB's future. I honestly hope this gets addressed.

Battlefield made changes to the spotting system & was received badly. Plus, everyone knows how much of a let down the Battlefield franchise has become. It is already a joke and people are asking DICE to find better solutions. Mentioning Battlefield to defend Spotter actually does the opposite. It only shows how stale and unwanted games become with that cheap gimmick. Moreover, this is another problem on its own. Any game that rips off the bad features of successful games doesn't make the game any better. APB has its own problems and shouldn't follow suit on the gimmicks that made triple-AAA titles less than masterpieces. All this does is contribute to accelerating APB's death as apparent. One more thing, district-sizes in APB aren't that large with many options to even require such cheap visual aid. Plus it is meaningless when the mission area is clearly visible and the playable field is only 100 meters. Spotter mod is absolutely not needed in APB. All it does is destroy game-sense and make the experience less than mediocre. Currently, APB is not competitive indeed, but that doesn't mean we should make it even further from that. 'APB is not on ESL so might as well go all the way down'. No, that is not how things should go if you really want to see APB be slightly more healthy. Although CS:GO is on ESL, the AWP sniper being competitive is also a very known subject of debate. A lot of servers disable that weapon as well. No game is perfectly competitive even if it makes it to ESL so don't speak as if they are. And there is no spotting in CS:GO, only radio-communication quick messages with the general area. This also speaks for itself. People should also stop trying to make it incredibly similar to something else. APB is not on ESL but it was definitely something else before these cheap additions. Read harder. I said such a downside would've been less impactful than the current, zero repercussions state of the mod. Spotter having a downside is not my stance. I'd rather it be gone for good. Nothing personal, but maybe it is time you get out of the Bronze district and see the real world. There is simply no other reason as to why you don't see this mod often.

I am usually against removing content from games, but Spotter mod is a fine exception. The mod's description speaks for itself: Calling the mod a wallhack is not an exaggeration. It actually is a wallhack made 'legitimate' by someone who should never be allowed near video games, especially shooters. The day this mod alongside other mods and things were implemented, APB was never the same again. New Player Experience: This mod is a major prime pillar among those that are, by design, demolishing the new player experience. For starters, it is locked behind either R195 or JTs from fightclub grinds, which a newcomer should actually be spending elsewhere. Any new player who previously played a shooter game would quit if told he/she must grind fight clubs EVERY SINGLE week just to be able to equip a wall-hack mod... Having premium also requires time to reach R195 as well. VERY few would bother going all the way when they discover that the game currently contains gimmicks like this that should have never been approved. Newcomers that think would play a better competitive game that doesn't have something as ridiculous as this. Players quit shooters because of cheaters, no one in their right mind would play a game that has a cheap 'cheating' mechanic DEEP in it through progression or 1-week-time use of continuous dedicated grind. 'Grind to wallhax? Yeah, no thanks. *Uninstalled*' Those who don't bother thinking or improving will never succeed as even weapon stats don't have numbers in-game to tell how far newcomers can go with them (just bars that tell them nothing).. most newcomers are guaranteed to never know what APBDB is or how to interpret stats from it as a lot of existing players themselves don't. I mentioned APBDB because newcomers can't check what locked Contacts have to sell, so they'll never know what this lovely orange-icon does from the tab-screen as it is 100% stealth. Newcomers can be spotted IN THEIR CARS when driving to objectives, Spotter mod doesn't even require them to be on their feet. A decent newcomer who dismounts and attempts to advance tactically behind walls is already dead before the battle starts as they can be seen in real time.. 10 seconds of real-time tracking guarantees their death. There is no way these newcomers would survive against experienced players let alone experienced players with a wallhack that doesn't even tell that they are CURRENTLY BEING TRACKED THROUGH WALLS! Looking at the balancing trends of mods in APB, Spotter mod would have for instance made the person doing the spotting spotted themselves as well, would've discouraged the mod being used as much for obvious reasons. That would've made Spotter a "I am here, you are there, FITE ME NAO" kinda fun-gimmick mod, but sadly it is not. It is simply game-breaking with zero% repercussions. Existing Players and Newcomers that Survived: This mod (among others) makes gameplay boringly cheap. Accounting for respawn times, etc.. Spotter's cooldown and duration lengths effectively guarantee continuous 'wallxahing' when 2/4 players in a team have it equipped. It is enough of a reason for any newcomer who has no nostalgia or attachment to APB to NOT recommend the game to anyone (alongside other things such as Pioneer/Espacio car gameplay). It is enough to tell the game's history of the previous, greedy managements that designed progression and gameplay in this way. Any player who is not a troll or cheap knows for a fact that this mod has no place in this game. Suggested Action: If Little Orbit cares about this game, it would go to Ernst 'Mule' Templeton from the Enforcer-side and Birth from the Criminal side and REPLACE Spotter mod with unique taggers. One that signifies Enforcer-progression and another for Criminal-progression (in a similar fashion to N-tecs Crim Slayer and Cop's Bane). LO would naturally remove spotter mod from the Joker Store as well. There is no need to waste time trying to balance something that is broken by nature. This mod, no matter how gimped down or nerfed still should not exist. Its positives are nothing compared to its negatives. Delete it and never look back. I know that Little Orbit is prioritizing the engine upgrade & I also want it to be ready as soon as possible.. but there are fundamental things that need to be done prior as news travel exceptionally fast and this one doesn't even consume time whatsoever. Game-Writers are racing daily around the clock for scoops in blogs and whatnot. If this gets delayed till the engine is done, players will simply come to enjoy improved performance and visuals then leave again after the hype from it dies because core-gameplay is still full of ridiculous gimmicks such as Spotter mod.

PMG getting nerfed would be a day to live for as 80% of the community will flood the forums.

You did the same. Your comments are well on-point. Very respectable ♥♥ Even though it excels at some things and certain combinations, I also do prefer other LTL weapons over the NL9 as without secondary-ammunition, grenades or cover it becomes a death-sentence (buff its speed, MootScott. 1.56 time-to-stun is slower than a turtle and enough to die twice by even the starter STAR). You are right, NL9 isn't enough proof as with a well-placed Concussion, NL9 can also 1-hit stun (it has to be perfect though as it exactly does 600 stamina damage). Against infantry, in addition to their 1-hit potential, stun-grenades can kill 75%ed enemies, so they can assist most average players in a lethal situation or finish what they started (except for some weapons that don't deal enough damage per shot, such as the CSG's and TAS-20's 651 damage per shot). But that is also not enough as it doesn't overcome its shortage of utility against vehicles. When it comes to vehicles, a well-placed stun grenade can only do 121.5 hard damage.. so against meta-vehicles, I can only see it helping in a 2v2+ situation and finishing off a 4x4 (that car has 1,350 total health) in one of 2 occasions: 1 - A teammate throws a concussion (1,108.8 hard damage) at the 4x4 & the driver insists to stay in the car for a little longer.. at that point, the car being on fire would do enough self-damage (119.7‬) for the Stun-grenade to finish it off, but this rarely happens to it isn't reliable to depend on. 2- The 4x4 driver having previously hit a civilian car or a wall & did not blowtorch the car, so the 4x4 would easily gain the 119.7‬ hard damage needed for a Stun-grenade to assist a Concussion. This is much more common and likely, but it definitely doesn't work in a 1v1 mission or against competent drivers. Of course, Stun-grenade can't help against Pioneers or Espacios. One must usually have 2 Concussions for these or do something else, because some genius decided to give them 1,600 health and roughly 91% the top speed of the fastest car in the game. (One frag-grenade can help a Concussion against these two, so frags effectively take the place of stun-grenades on the 4x4 example above). But yes, these 2 cars are exceptionally formidable, Stun-grenades can't help with these. However.. Speaking of utility, satchel charges exist. These fill a big portion of the gap as they are also better to use against say, parked cars with the car-spawner mod. When going lethal, I would rather use a satchel instead of wasting a Concussion to disable a car. A Concussion that I could instead use against infantry. [An Enforcer must keep in mind that Satchel Charges are 1-shot-trigerred with PIG or NL9, so these are the only LTL weapons to use when dropping a satchel against an incoming opponent. Against a stationary car however, 10 TG-8 shots will blow up the Satchel (or it can just be left alone to eventually explode). CCG does not trigger it at all]. With Satchel Charges in the game, a player can literally have the best of both worlds! Against infantry? 1-shot grenade potential with Stun-grenades. Against stationary vehicles? Satchel Charge. Against car-gameplayers? Flip their car over with yours, they'll have no choice but to exit their cars at that point (most of them will exit the car to go on the offensive, a decent LTLer actually wants this outcome). With all these things considered, there is no way on Earth Stun-grenades are useless. It compliments and is well complimented all-around in the current state of APB. Perhaps if 1-shot Concussions return, Stun-grenades will lose value.

That is exactly the point. I did not say that stun-grenades need a nerf, I simply debunked GhosT's statement that they are the most useless grenade next to percs. Stun-grenade currently does its job better than all lethal grenades against infantry in exchange for barely-existing hard-damage. In general as in by the general-folk who play LTL wrong. When LTL is used right, NL9 is superior to CCG because it can guarantee out-stunning pure-FBW players (whom have probably killed a teammate and proceeding to fight you with the FBW or nano, because reloading takes time) in the backward cycle of PIG→NL9 (which you will be in it by force if this is the 2nd player you are engaging after stunning someone). PIG → CCG can't achieve this as the CCG's equip time is exactly the same as FBW's time-to-kill. Good note but nobody should cook grenades without cover to begin with. Excellent note, hitreg is a major reason as to why the PIG can still get someone killed. But we are assuming the shot connects so PIG is still best complimented by stun grenades due to their radius. That depends, "any lethal weapon" is a big statement to make. NL9 + Stun grenade can insta-stun unaware enemies in ranges shotguns can only dream of reaching & SMGs will require RNG-luck (you may epinephrine to arrest or have a thirsty-teammate get the Criminal). Nobody should be LTLing at such ranges but it is something far more achievable with LTL than Concussions for example, and this is assuming the stun-grenade doesn't drop perfect for a 1-shot stun. Nobody complains about Concussions half-shotting half of the vehicles in the game because everyone plays with Pioneers, Espacios and 4x4s, these won't be one-shot by concussions.. plus the nasty self-assurance that is high-burn-fuel. I hope the patch that buffed vehicle-health to be reverted alongside high-burn-fuel being reworked or deleted, but that's a different discussion. PIG works with anything, but NL9 being able to 1-shot after that proves stun grenades aren't the most useless grenades in the game.

You must first verify that Vivox has its own volume slider in your windows's volume mixer. If it doesn't exist in the mixer, your local-firewalls or Internet Service Provider might be throttling it to the point where it can't even launch with the game. (Or you can download a game called Planetside 2, if you can use voice there or hear people, your network is fine as it also uses Vivox). If Vivox is running but bugged, you'll see '?' marks in front of all players in your team. Disabling and re-enabling voice in the settings can clear the bug and show you something like this: Those who still have '?' marks definitely have Vivox disabled or not functioning. This also doesn't guarantee that those with open Vivox didn't mute the game to listen to music, or even have microphones, so your luck will vary.

That is what I like to hear. Let us see those useful includes make your tournament the best community event throughout the history of APB.