Allowing squadrons to have members from multiple regions will cause problems.  The normal match-making system will only allow adjacent regions to fight (Based on feedback saying that USWEST to EUWEST has bad latency... especially for people in Australia (you guys will matchmake with USWest until your number grow)).  If players are separated by too much distance the quality of the games will suffer.  This will be especially noticeable in squadrons matches.  Restricting squadrons to only contains players from a single region will allow me to ensure a reasonable level of latency in all matches.

However, I don't know how big of an issue this is.  If those interested in squadrons really want no restrictions, then that is what you'll get.  But keep in mind that there will be problems caused by this.  I may have to kick players from squadrons matches if there latency is too high, or make matches with too much latency 'unofficial' and not affect the ladder.

--wj

I am implementing stuff, so now is an excellent time to make suggestions.

The baseline here is:

Players select Squadron Match.  There will have to be at least 4 members online.  If there are at least 2 Squadrons, then there will be a match will be started.  If there are no other squadrons on, then players will be able to join normal matches while they wait (but not as a single unit, just normal matchmaking).

However, there are a lot of details.  Suppose two Squadrons are ready to go, but have a different member count.  Should I just send out invites to the general population to fill out the ranks?  How important is a large match?  Should I try and make a max size group which contains a squadron on each side?

Let me know what is important.  --wj

I almost never see anything useful coming from in-game chat.  I am seriously considering changing the chat features so that:

Players can chat in the lobby, with their own battlegroup.

Players can join a global chat group (common to all servers) to ask questions, look for groups/squadrons, or socialize.

I find that whenever I want to say something useful to my team while playing it takes too long.  Just typing something isn't that useful.  I want to replace typing with a set of premade commands that can by accessed by holding down a button (shift?) and clicking on the options with the mouse.  These commands would broadcast messages to other players (with VO when I get a chance) and put visual indicators in the game world that only my team can see.

I could then sell taunts/gloats which would be nice (for me anyway)...

All Light Fighters have a shorter shield recharge delay.  

The Sidewinder has a really short shield recharge delay and increased shields.

The Stingray has more shields and a powerful boost, but the tank size has been reduced.

Rocket explosion radius increased.

The bug that sometimes prevented players from grabbing the flag in CTF has been fixed.

Default FOV changed to 105.  FOV buttons can now be remapped.

The respawn timer for dropped flags no longer changes based on the amount of time remaining in a match.  

Kingfisher afterburner speed decreased slightly.

--wj

1) I will almost definitely change the default zoom to 105 (which is 3 ticks out from the current default).  This is the widest I can set it without getting visual distortions.  I will go a head and make the FOV commands *official* and add them to the key mapping list.  I will *not* remove the 120 setting, though I encourage all players to try and limit themselves to 105.  At some point I will make the 120 view a customization option (which will compete with other such options) and then remove the option for 120 when not using the perk.  The perk will be balanced against the others and will probably do other things than just increase the max FOV.

2) I will collapse some of the under-used regions so that they match against populated servers.  I will change the default behavior for matchmaking so that players are added to a 'battlegroup' of 8-16 players.  Players in a battlegroup will fight against other battlegroups with as much variation as the player population allows.  Unless you leave your group, the players on you team will not change, though the enemy players will change.  In addition to the normal game modes, there will be a Free for All (deathmatch) mode where all players in 1 or 2 battlegroups fight without teams.

3) I will allow players to play with 1 or 2 friends as part of a 'wing'.  Wings (a group of up to 3 players) will move between battlegroups as needed for matchmaking, however the players in the wing will stay on the same team.  They will *probably* stay out of FFA (Free for All) games.  Groups of 4 to 16 will match against other groups of 4-16 including clans (or squadrons).  I will probably have to decide what to call clans (or squadrons).  Once this is working, I'll add some more maps and game modes for small teams, but until then small groups will play Search and Destroy.  CTF and CA don't really work with 4 player teams.

4) We will stop developing for NaCl (chrome).  We will start supporting mac and maybe linux.  NaCl has lots of problems, and doesn't support many of the things that we need to do.  The chrome version will continue to run, but chrome players will no longer play against steam players.

5) The ship prices are way too high.  Some of the ships are balanced around this fact.  I will balance all ships and magnify the upgrade system so that any ship can be made to perform like a 'prestige' ship.  When I make this change, I will refund all ship and upgrade purchases for Cred.  Players will then be able to change the ships they own or purchase their old ships again.  The upgrade system will make it so that the stats of prestige ships are *basically* unchanged (and fully upgrading a ship will have comparable cost to purchasing a prestige ship).  Refunds will be based on either the Cred price or the He-3 price depending on which is greater.  This change should greatly improve the game, however I understand if players are upset by it.  Players will be able to play using the old system, but only on chrome.  Of course, everything will still be purchasable using Cred.

None of this will happen immediately.  I just wanted to give players time to digest the upcoming changes.  --wj

I would like to allow matchmaking between regions.  This would allow me to make sure that there are better balanced games at a more uniform population.  

What I need to know is if people experience much latency when playing out of their region, especially regarding US East, US West, EU West.

--wj

Max speed, turn rate, and pump rates have been increased for almost all ships.

Max speed increase varies with ship class. Light Fighters +8, Medium Fighters +7, Heavy Fighters +6, Bombers +5

Bomber speed and handling improved. 

Timberwolf boost speed increased.  Fuel pump speed increased

Rhino boost speed and pump speed increased.

Rhino fuel tank capacity decreased.

Search and Destroy matches no longer have kill limit.  The time limit is now 15min.  

Capture the Flag matches now end at 10 captures instead of 3 captures.  Points for flag pickups and retrievals have been increased.

Bonus points for Kills and Assists are now the same in all game types.  

Missiles and Beams will now do slightly less damage against large targets.

Light cannon damage has been slightly increased.

The slow down effect caused by picking up the He-3 canisters in CTF has been magnified.

--wj

Cobra: heat dissipation and capacity increased.

Kingfisher: Boost speed, fuel capacity, and pump speed increased.

Hammerhead: Shields increased.

Heavy Cannon: range decreased slightly

Light Cannon: damage increased and now causes bonus damage (5%)

Missiles(LR/SR): Lock range increased, locking time and reload time decreased.

--wj

Here are some concepts for player avatars.  Let me know what style you prefer.  --wj

I would like some feedback on the worst ships.  Ships that do not see any play are eligible for minor (or major) buffs.  

Please be civil.  I have been somewhat lax as a moderator, but I will just start deleting (or editing) overly negative posts (regarding other players, say whatever you want about the game).

--wj