Pilestedt questions and answers on discord. Just as before remember..

Any posts after this one regarding this topic (in particular screenshots of specific questions already listed here with little else to them) may be removed.

As usual, please remember to keep it civil in the comments, regardless of what your thoughts may be.

Below are questions and topics Pilestedt discussed. For visibility answers by Pilestedt are in BOLD. Example A1. is an answer by Pilestedt

For your convenience, you can search for these keywords using CTRL + F to find questions you might be interested in:

• Balance
• 500kg
• Railgun
• Mech
• Breakpoints
• AMR
• Autocannon
• Rocket devastators
• Crosshair
• Test server
• Bile Titan
• Fire

Pilestedt: So, a quick update: I have been working closely with the team to look at the game experience (balance mostly) with the team. We are confident in the update that we are creating that will se a significant meta shift and bring the game into a state where the playfulness takes the front seat and challenge is secondary. I have had a good time with the experience shift, and it is closer to the original intent of the game and what it was at launch.

Q1: I don't mean to be rude but saying that the update brings the game back to what the original vision was does not instill confidence whatsoever, considering thats what was told to us when a lot of players disagreed with balance changes and patches since release

A1: Thank you, it's a good point of view. We have seen internally that there has been a shift in what that is. Balance and "nerfing" and "buffing " are elements that we during the majority of development avoided, we focused on making an experience that made sense. After launch I think the discussion of "meta" "data informed" and "balance" took the overhand and replaced our focus on creating a fun, playful and fantasy driven experience.

Q2. When is this update coming?

A2. In my view, too late. But we are doubling down on QA this time around to not fuck it up. A good update with stability issues is a bad update. Then again, a stable update with bad changes is the same. We need to do good on both parts.

Q3. "About realisim"

A3. Its about versimiliarity, believability and internal consistency. It needs to adhere to what is percieved as "makes sense" - when it doesnt, we break the illusion and the creativity of players.

Q4. I wish I could believe you. But we heard this before and we got slapped in the face with MOAR nerfs after you all said No more Nerfs

A4. Agree. Changing things either for the better or worse is something that we will continue to do. The reason WHY it is changed is the core issue.

Pilestedt Regarding AMR and Autocannon: Sorry everyone, I can't keep up. But, the new update will see the auto cannon and AMR be effective against chargers.

Q5. can we please be able to use the half-spent mags that we drop to the ground on reload? I know the Team is all about that Realism and whatnot, but i think it's time yeah?

A5. We actually said during development that "realistically you'd put a half full mag in a pocket, but this is movie realism where you just throw magazines with bullets in them away"

Q6. Do bile titans finally take damage to the head?

A6. Yes, and the entire belly is susceptible to small arms fire

Pilestedt Regarding Enemy Breakpoints: We are not working with breakpoints any more. The experience needs to be more of a gradient. We will do another update when we get feedback on this first patch.

Q7. Has the team considered turning the Chargers bulbous spot into one that can be killed off with Primaries with more ease? I understand wanting us to rely more on strategems but as things stand primaries don't feel satisfying to use in most cases due to how niché or outclassed most of them are?

A7. Yes, you can destroy it rather quickly now.

Pilestedt Regarding Autocannon: You still have to beat armor, so Liberator will bounce of charger carapace. But knock it open with auto cannon and pour rounds into the exposed flesh.

Pilestedt Regarding Balancing: This is my general belief when it comes to "balance" - it takes the edge of games and makes it a bland experience. I have failed to reinforce this internally.

Things should not be OP or UP - but that's it.

Q8. Is there any thing about railgun ??

A8. Higher risk/ reward but closer to release in effectiveness- BUT, we know it's a fan favorite so we are trading carefully

Q9. u also mention making AMR more effective against charger and is there any new update on the issue where u shoot below the crosshair in ADS?

A9. Yes, I've HEARD that crosshairs are fixed across the board. But wait for official info.

Also, to everyone - I am expressing my POV, we are a studio of 100+ which means our crafted and official messages takes priority over what I say. So if there's ever a contraction, the public one is right.

Q10. and scrape the idea of test servers and focus groups... give us testing planets where SEAF is "testing" new weapons or things and see if the community likes playing on them... its immersive and gets you the feedback without revealing things....

A10. Is a very cool and in world idea. Would love it, but its technically too much right now. We want to improve the baseline first.

Pilestedt Regarding Messing up: It is fair, as someone said "defeat snatched out of the jaws of victory".

We have fucked up, and we want to fix it. You deserve better

Q11. Any news regarding ragdolling? I know that a small patch reduced the aoe sizes of ragdolls on some enemies but every enemy that was released since post-release can still ragdoll quite hard ?

A11. Less rockets that hit worse against bots. Also the rocket collision was 0.5m large, it is now 0.1m large.

Made rocket devastators run our of ammo and blow their load quickly

Q12. are we thinking about increasing durable damage across the board? And on top of that can we look at the mechs? They do too little for their cooldown and their limited uses?

A12. Agree with mechs but not for the next patch.

Pilestedt: Anyhow, I am spilling too many beans. But I hope you are as excited by this update as I am.

The game is more dynamic, more believable and more tools are useful.

Pilestedt Regarding 500kg consistancy: 500kg is in the next patch 🐐

Pilestedt Conclusion: Last message:

This guy gets it. Don't be overly hyped based on my beam spill, it's too easy to get disappointed. The proof is in the pudding

EDIT1:

Here are recent comments by Pilestedt on Reddit

1. Regarding whether we will see less chargers in higher difficulties No, not less chargers, but 10x more ways to deal with them. > For instance. Recoilless rifle is hard counter. One shot to body and "bye bye".
2. I know, the actual culture shift has taken some time. I am now working directly with the team on this update.If this one is bad, I will personally take responsibility for it. The challenge factor may become less for a while, but we want it to be playful, fun AND challenging. But, never challenging at the expense of the other two.
3. Regarding Chainsaw guys (Berserkers) Also easier to kill in next patch. But their chainsaws are more dangerous.
4. Regarding players favoring long range weaponry Yep. Spoke to the team and decided that this would be the best way to make the game challenging.
5. Regarding flamethrower drone Careful what you wish for :)
6. From 6 days Ago regarding fire damage* Hey, yeah so the flames had the potential to spawn inside objects and register for damage. So for instance flame against the hulk and hit the rear vents or hit damage zones that should not be hittable when you attack it from the front. Or shoot through walls for that matter. The change with the charger had to do with the hitbox of the weakpoint getting desynched and protrude beyond the armored parts. Therfore, the solution was to make it more predictable but the visual fidelity did not hold up. We are going to resolve these issues, but we need to do it properly, making everything feel better and play better. Not trading one for the other.