Edward Larkin has been captured but some of Starfleet brightest minds fear that his misguided plans to have tribbles solve the temporal anomaly crisis may have already been put into motion. Investigate reports of tribbles propagating at incredible speeds in different universes and timelines.
Event Name: It’s the Fuzz - Mega-Event part 2 Event Type: Galaxy Event (supply missions) Event Start: Thursday, 08/12 at noon ET (16:00 UTC) Event Finish: Monday, 08/16 at noon ET (16:00 UTC)
Squadrons: Y Crew Sharing: N Faction Winner Bonus: N Community Rewards: Y
It's hard to believe that I've been writing these update posts for an entire year. It's amazing to see how far the game has come in that time, but also interesting to see what has stuck around. If you want to see how far things have come you can check out the full progress report history.
Level Preview: The Classic
I was hoping to have this level ready in time for this update post, but there are still a few bugs to fix with the way that replays work. It's pretty close to being done, but I wouldn't want to release it in a partially broken state.
Making a level that's 2D was a pretty interesting experience. Internally everything is still fully 3D, but I needed to do things like prevent the character from moving or rotating into the Z axis. It was easy enough to prevent user input from tilting the character that way, but due to the way Unity collisions work, there was a small chance with each collision that the character would lean into the Z axis slightly, and those slight offsets would compound over time, eventually resulting in the character jumping out the back or front of the level in the 3rd dimension.
There was also a bunch of work to do to make sure that the level used the proper cameras, but now that I've done it all once, it should be relatively painless to make additional 2D levels if I think of another fun 2D idea.
Changelog
BUG FIX: Adjusted demolition geometry to be less prone to bad corner collisions.
BUG FIX: Fixed issue the jump animation would not properly reset if you landed after failing to jump because you slid off of a surface.
BUG FIX: Add border walls to Spin To Win so you can't fall out of the level anymore.
BUG FIX: Adjusted walls in Target Practice to prevent you from jumping out of the level.
We've just released our v9.1 UPDATE! Full list of new features, changes and fixed bugs below. *
Moreover, we will have EXCEPTIONAL XP EVENT & SANDS OF TIME SPECIAL from Friday to Sunday!
Have a nice weekend!
* New features:
Tavern: new event "Summer Collectifun" (stay tuned for more details!) Fortress: new particle effects during Fantastic Fortress Festivity
Changes:
Apps: added new Playa Games logo Tavern: replaced graphics of thirst for adventure and quest progress bars City guard: replace graphics of city guard bar Events: increased fruit reward for quests, wheel of fortune and pet and habitat fights during Assembly of Awesome Animals event from x2 to x3 Dungeons: after completing light world the shadow world now opens by default the first time you load the dungeon screen Mail: adjusted size of text field to actual character limit
Fixed bugs:
General: fixed a bug that disabled weapon sounds when switching resolution Guild chat: selecting a name to send whisper message no longer displays the cursor in front of the "@" Tavern: the screen no longer freezes when loading the gambler's game of dice Guild: fixed a bug that changed guild description when a guild leader clicked own character description Guild: sword icon no longer overlaps text in some languages Guild: players without a guild no longer see "guild is x ranks above/below yours" Mail: fixed a bug that caused hit point bar flickering during replays Mail: fixed a bug when scrolling received messages (only the scroll bar worked) Hall of fame: item popups are no longer displayed off-screen Hall of fame: fixed a display bug when guilds were about to attack Options, apps: auto login function no longer displays tutorial texts when launching the app Legendary dungeon: fixed the orientation of warrior weapons
Hello everyone! We were informed that people is getting some trouble with a bug that don't let them finish the game. We found out that it comes from saving both ranking and game. We are turning off ranking and save functionalities until we get it working properly. Thanks for your patience!
The Siege community has a lot of questions about the current state of the game and its future, which is why we brought together members of the dev team for a Reddit AMA on July 22nd. You can find a recap of the most important questions and answers below, the full Reddit thread can be found here.
MOUSE & KEYBOARD ON CONSOLE
Have you made any significant progress to detect MnK and have a reasonable timeframe for banning people who abuse it?
Our MnK work currently is still very much a R&D subject. We have dedicated people in the Rainbow Six Siege team who are actively working on MnK to not become an unfair advantage, but an additional input that we support to make everyone's experience fairer without impacting our players with disabilities. We plan to run tests in the coming months to validate our approach, once properly validated we can move forward.
A large portion of what we do unfortunately can't be shared here, as security is a huge part of anti-cheat and we need to guarantee we're not giving any hints to cheat makers. While we know this is frustrating, know that we have ongoing initiatives already live and in development that we can't explicitly share. We'll be sharing a data-focused update to this Anti-Cheat article in August, but today, we're going to break down some of our most recent actions and plans for dealing with cheaters.
Will you guys ever consider manual bans of players doing new glitches in ranked that are found and exploited? When someone finds a glitch, our stance is to fix it as quickly as possible. For that reason, we don't want to penalize someone who has found it in the first 24 hours - especially if this helps to identify the issue.
Are there any specific plans to add new level requirements or other/more forms of verification to Ranked?
In the future, we aim to add some access restrictions to Ranked for players who have not relaunched and played the game for a while or any new account that has reached the Clearance Level allowing access to Ranked and has not made sufficient matches in PVP Public Matchmaking to validate its eligibility. We are also actively looking with our partners inside Ubisoft at reinforcing the account security to make sure it gets harder and harder for hackers to get their hands on accounts.
If we report a cheater in-game via the overlay, does an actual human look into the report? If not, how is it done?
We have a team dedicated to going through these reports and identifying cases that involve cheating. But, considering the high number of reports we receive each day, we have to prioritize which reports are reviewed immediately.
What do Developers plan to do in order to curb rampant cheating for Siege aside from automated bans? When will Devs look into the possibility of hardware-based bans?
Hardware bans are indeed a sanction used by us and across the industry, however, it's not a silver bullet since advanced hardware ID spoofers can disrupt the detection.
In a time where it feels like every game has a cheater in it, wouldn't you agree that manual bans would improve relations with the community?
Manual bans are not our long-term strategy as it would not be scalable, but that doesn't mean that we don't do manual bans - they're still very valuable to the team.
Is the overabundance of operators and its resulting unpredictability seen as a design challenge that needs to be addressed?
We had introduced the Pick and Ban and the Sixth Pick to help on this. The current system encourages to pick operators who do a bit of everything or perform specific basic functions and for us it's something we would like to address. The Attacker Repick will answer to this.
I am curious to know how you conceive a new character, and which are the main factors you focus on during the creation; the aesthetic, or the gadgets first?
Sometimes the Gameplay will come first and drive the whole development of the operator. That was the case of Wamai for example, or Hibana as we wanted to give alternative pick choice for teams to fulfill one core function. On the other hand, sometimes the Lore or the history of a CTU is very strong and attractive and drives the process of making the operator, such as Nokk from the Jager Corps.
However, we will never reach a point when we "sacrifice" the gameplay for the lore.
I know people working with R6 have said in the future they hope for around 100 operators, but do you genuinely feel that is realistic with the current trajectory of the game?
This statement of reaching 100 operators was a strong symbol of us, the Siege dev team, claiming and saying to our community that we were HERE TO STAY.
Representation is incredibly important to us as a team. This year, in fact, the team has taken great strides to really level up how we are authentically representing our Operators, for example with the partnership of Nakoda consultants for the creation of Thunderbird. This is an approach we'll be taking moving forward as well, to ensure the future LGBT operators we bring to the game feel like honest, real people.
What are your thoughts on Kali's balance at this current time?
She has a very good secondary weapon and to be honest, for now, we are not looking to give her another primary. For us, if we do that, nobody will use her sniper anymore and that's a shame. So we need to look at the sniper itself how to buff it. We still believe in a bolt action sniper rifle in Siege.
Siege's lore has made a shift from it being a realistic counter terrorist game, to more of an Olympic-style game. What is the reason for this?
It's no secret that our obsession since the beginning has been competition rather than making a realistic and immersive game. So the more the game evolved, the more we felt the need to explore gameplay areas that were no longer compatible with the "realism" and the original settings.
Is there a plan to incorporate new maps instead of just reworking old ones?
Now that the competitive map pool is more solid, we will be switching to hybrid mode. This means that we will continue to maintain and improve the released maps with reworks but we will also start to make brand new ones again.
For Y6S3, we're doing Buffs in 3 competitive maps: Clubhouse, Coastline, and Bank. The 3 maps received a complete tech overhaul (transparent to players) and some gameplay changes (balancing, quality of life). The total amount of changes in those 3 maps are about equal to the number of changes of a single rework. We wanted to be more surgical but tweak more maps.
The top one is overall balancing. Each team must have equal opportunities to win at high skill level of play. There must never be a point where one team can't do anything due to the layout or setups. It is also a question of trade-off. When a map has a certain aspect that favors one side, we try to counterbalance by having something else that favors the other side.
We're still in the early phases so we don't have dates to share, but we are planning an update to Ranked. Among the changes that we have planned one of the core changes is to split the MMR from your ranking. MMR will be kept hidden. Your ranking will be a value that is slowly progresses towards your MMR. It will ensure better matchmaking from the start of the season without the stress of good/bad placement matches. It will also reward dedication on top of pure skill.
As a solo queue ranked player, what are your plans to improve the experience?
We're looking at two possible solutions.
Solo & squad queues: While this would address many concerns, it has a drawback. This option runs the risk of increasing queue times and decreasing matchmaking quality.
A single Ranked queue: Rather than just using MMR, it would also factor in the advantage of playing in a squad vs. playing solo. This would ideally offer fairer matches without splitting the community between queues.
Will the 700 MMR gap be changed? It's difficult to play with my friends with the current restrictions.
We're looking at a couple of different solutions: The most promising one is to allow players to play with nearly anybody (some extreme limitation might apply) and then take into account the squad skill disparity into the MMR update. The goal is to dampen the unbalance that teams with a big skill spread can create.
Do you guys ever plan to rework the MMR/ELO system for ranked to make it more dynamic instead of just being "you get MMR if you win a game" and "you lose MMR if lost a game."?
We want to improve our skill rating system so it computes your skill with better accuracy and more importantly: faster. In R6S it's a bit tricky. We tried using kills and in fact, our system was less accurate by taking that into account, which means that the game is strategic and not just about who got the better aim. We also have to be careful about those stats, they could be datamined and people could try to adapt their playstyle to 'min-max' the stats instead of thinking about winning the game.
Do you plan to do something about the growing number of smurfs in the ranked ladder?
We have already committed ourselves and are currently working on this topic within our team and with our partners to get an accurate understanding of the smurfing ecosystem via data collection and analysis. Currently what we want to do is:
We are looking at account rules modification to establish stronger controls at the account level.
Also, on the game side we will explore various possibilities including the identification of the main account (in terms of performance) to automatically adjust certain values so that alt accounts meet this rank/performance.
At this time, we have no short terms plans to open a North African location but as we said previously, we are open to looking at the options in the future.
What exactly is the reason you guys decided against the AWS/gamelift gameservers?
We have indeed added Gamelift to the roster. The idea behind is 3-fold and pushes to improve the overall server quality of service: Improve our resiliency, offering a service backup in case of outage of our other providers. Mid-term we plan on putting Gamelift in the Siege server pool more frequently in order to improve connectivity.
Why doesn't Siege have a form of bracket tournament similar to the ones in Rocket League or Fortnite?
We are working on a competitive playlist that will be activated only during weekends. We call it the R6 Cup as a code name. 5v5 pre-made squad only. However, new features like the R6 Cup have to be delayed because it's counterproductive to make this feature in the old online environment, and then have to redo it again when the transition it's over.
Will we be getting a gun range and is that idea even being considered?
I am happy to say that we currently working on some prototypes where the focus would be to learn & practice weapon recoil control and also visualize the effect of different weapon attachments.
Any thoughts on removing friendly fire from casual? That game mode is supposed to be relaxing and fun.
There is no plan to remove friendly fire in casual. The problem there is not about being relaxed, it's about toxicity. However, you are right to say that this game is a very sweaty one and we acknowledge that sometimes you might want to enjoy Siege without necessarily having the whole pressure of a 5vs5 bomb match. That's why we are working on a prototype of a TDM mode that we call Warmup. The main goal is to have something easy going, easy opt-in and opt-out where you can practice your aim and try different weapons.
Will there be any more work or updates for Terrorist Hunt?
To be dead honest, we have wanted to remove TH from the game for a while now. It has a lot of flaws, costs a lot to maintain, and doesn't really fit anymore the direction we are taking with Siege. However, it still has some interest and some purpose for some people. So, we said to ourselves that before touching the TH we need to deliver some features that answer the needs I mentioned above. We need to ship a Warmup game mode first. And we also need to have a way to play with bots in a safe environment for people that want to learn or play coop with their friend without playing against human.
What is the ideology that is used to determine the 4 bomb sites on a map?
These days the bomb site areas are decided upfront, and we build around them once we have the building skeleton. We noticed that it is faster to converge toward something solid this way. But there is a drawback, it tends to make all bomb sites more similar to each other's so we must keep this in mind. When we decide on the general location of the 4 bomb sites, we try to cover most of the footprint of the building so that every part of the map will be used at one point.
Is there a plan to make a better Tutorial mode for beginners?
We are actively working on a brand-new Onboarding experience for new players which will take them through the Basics of Siege, such as destruction, verticality, and intel. We also want to have a more Siege-like preparation for players where the essence of Attack and Defend are introduced and how Operators play an important role in this experience.
It's been in discussions on the team for some time, but we've lacked a large enough variety of modes to support a permanent playlist that players would actively use. Our intention is to release on a more regular basis arcades like Golden gun and headshot, until we build a large enough bank, to keep the quality of the matchmaking on par with the rest of the game.
When Game After Death was first brought to TS many asked to cancel the feature entirely. However, Seb Francois (UX Designer) put out a tweet saying "Gameplay After Death is not a 'take it or leave it' situation at all" is this correct?
The community's feedback to Gameplay After Death was super useful after its appearance on the Test Server. It didn't feel balanced, so we're continuing to experiment with it. It's a feature we plan to release someday, but ONLY when it truly feels like it fits within the Siege experience.
Are you guys going to enable cross-play between PC and console, with an option to disable it?
We believe in developing and deploying features in an iterative fashion. This is how we're proceeding for cross-play. So far, console generations (e.g. PS4 & PS5) can play together. Stadia, Luna, and PC players can play together as well. Coming up next is cross-play between all consoles. Crossplay between PC and consoles is a more complicated subject, and we want to make sure we can provide a good experience before activating it. It's not a technical restriction, but more a matter of making sure we have better control over cheating, toxicity, and type of controllers.
Will we see changes to the Battlepass at all, and will we ever see the return of the year pass?
We are looking to re-introduce the benefits that were previously given to Year Pass owners in the short term, including Boosts to Battle Points earned from Premium Battle Pass players. Additionally, we are still not satisfied with our Battle Pass solution overall. We are actively working on a new type of Battle Pass that won't be found anywhere else. We're also looking to tweak challenges and make them more engaging in the upcoming seasons.
Please be aware that we will be conducting scheduled maintenance on Steam Knight Online Servers and service will be temporarily unavailable.
Maintenance time will be as follows:
Knight Online Server Time (EST): 21:00 South America (PET): 20:00 Turkey: 4:00
During this server maintenance; - The I Love Knight Online event has been added to the NPC named Akara's Altar. After going to Akara's Altar and typing "I Love Knight Online", a 4-hour "I Love Knight Online Emblem" will be yours. *You can get the item once a day.
The features you will gain with this emblem are as follows; * EXP 20% * HP +300 * Weight 300 * Cont 2
- Added new effects for received Loot (Drop) and EXPs. You can access the relevant settings by following the steps F10 -> Option -> Looting Option -> Looting Effect.
- The top 3 players in the monthly Ladder Point ranking of the servers will earn Premium according to their ranking! The event will start on August 1st and will end on Tuesday, August 31st. Prizes will be distributed as of Thursday, September 16. Premium rewards are for 30 days.
- The Pathos Glove Package and the 3-pack BUFF SC event has ended. - The +3 NP Event has ended. - The 1+1 event has been extended for another 4 weeks! - The Juraid 2x Event has been extended for another 4 weeks! - 30% EXP Festival Has Started! EXP Event is with you for 4 weeks! - Ibex Potion(5000), Crisis Potion(5000) and 90% Resurrection Scroll can be purchased from NPC Aset for Noah for 4 weeks! * There is a difference between buying Ibex Potions DC Premium/War Premium and normal. - Normally Ibex 70m Crisis can be taken as 105m. (When buying in this way, the pots are tradeable.) - DC Premium/War Premium can be purchased with ibex 55m and Crisis as 80m. (When buying in this way, the pots are not tradable.)
- Buffs that you can add to your pet on NPC Aset are available for sale. After purchasing these buffs, you can activate them through kate and put them in your pet's slots. (You can activate the related buffs via the auto loot add area to the pets.)
The buffs you have received from Aset are 30 days old. Activated buffs are reflected in your character's HP/Defense/Attack values.
* User Buff Pet Scroll - HP 200 - 70M * User Buff Pet Scroll - AC 20 - 70M * User Buff Pet Scroll - 5 Atks - 80M
- REWORK RONARK LAND MAP!
The New Participation Event is with you for 4 weeks! In order to participate in the event, you need to go to the NPC named [Event Manager] Aset and press the "Progress of Attendance Check" button. You can get "Daily Coin" and a random item daily by clicking the "Progress of Attendance Check" button from the menu that opens. You can deliver the Daily Coins you collect by logging in daily to the same NPC to get the reward you want.
You can see the rewards and the amount of Daily Coins required below. 1 Daily Coin -> You can choose one of 4 Gem types (Life, Cont, Defense, Exp) You can get 3 Daily Coins -> 5 Armor & Weapon Enchant Scrolls. (not tradable) You can get 5 Daily Coins -> 3 Days of Alencia Wings. (Untradeable / Ready to use broken income) You can get 7 Daily Coin -> 7 Day VIP Vault Key. (Untradable / Comes broken ready to use) You can get 10 Daily Coins -> 5 Magic Hammers. (Not tradable.) You can get 14 Daily Coin -> 15 Day Lunar Tattoo. (Untradable / Comes broken ready to use)
- Increased the impression limit from 100 to 999 in the new Kills and Assists Line system. - Added 3 Different Fireworks to Sundries. - Twisted Moradon Event Is Back! The event will be active for 4 weeks.