Bryan posted this month’s developer update a little bit ago, over on the MWO forums.
There is not a lot of new information in this month’s update.. since the big news (Late Summer Release) was announced via media outlets at GDC/PAX over the last week or so.
I was hoping for some additional clarification on the whole Community Warfare uprising (one interview stated that you’d essentially be “paying to play with your friends” in that they were going to require active premium time to be in a Merc unit. There has since been clarification that that wasn’t what was meant, but, no additional details yet.
The biggest thing, is the addition of a new type of purchased ‘Mech.. we’ve already got ‘regular’ ‘Mechs, and Hero ‘Mechs, now we’re getting “Champion” ‘Mechs:
We’ve decided to add a new style of Hero BattleMech, one that represents the community – the Champion. Similar in nature to the Founder’s BattleMechs, a Champion `Mech is based of an existing variant with a special permanent 5% XP boost and lower
price point. Our first Champion BattleMech will be revealed on April 12th.
This is a nice little give to the community. People who missed getting a Founder’s package, and feel that the MC price of Hero ‘Mechs is too high (it is, a little), will have the opportunity to get a ‘mini-hero’ with different bonuses (If that XP boost also applies to GXP, that’ll make it very popular), for less MC. It’ll be interesting to see what Champion ‘Mech number one is.
A LOT of what is mentioned in the April update (new vision modes, Hero Highlander, etc.) was delivered in yesterday’s patch, which could be part of why this update doesn’t feel as ‘beefy’ as March’s.
Mentioned in the update, is an enhanced team structure.. Bryan provided some pictures of the new features/look via twitter:
While not specifically part of the April update, I asked Bryan yesterday via twitter (after he mentioned how well Heavy Metal was selling), if they would ever release “sales” information on the Hero ‘Mechs, and the popularity..even at a ‘generic’ level (without including actual numbers sold). To my surprise.. he responded with some information this morning.
The most sold Hero ‘Mech, is the Yen-Lo-Wang, which makes sense, since it was the ‘original’ Hero ‘Mech.
Yesterday’s Heavy Metal, comes in second.. which is impressive after one day of sales!
3rd Place goes to the Flame… and everything else (Fang, Muromets, X-5, Death’s Knell) is ‘close together’. Sounds like Hero ‘Mechs, on the whole, have been very successful for PGI. I know there was at least one Highlander (besides mine) in every match I dropped in last night. I hope PGI continues to release the Hero version of a ‘Mech, before the regular versions.. it’s a good incentive for ‘early adopters’ to buy.
Full copy/paste of the April update after the jump:
Welcome to April! Teamplay takes a giant leap forward with the addition of new team structure elements. After reviewing the test branch, I’m incredibly excited to get this very important feature into the game. Since my last update, PAX East and GDC have come and gone.  We have announced details about upcoming features like 12 V 12, Lobby, DirectX 11, UI 2.0 and Community Warfare. Along with a launch date of Late Summer 2013! This month we see the addition of several new features, consumables, and a new line of BattleMechs called Champions!
New Content:
- `Mech of the Month – Highlander (19th)
- Hero `Mech of the Month – Heavy Metal (2nd)
- Champion `Mech – TBAÂ Â (19th)
- New Patterns – Digital (2nd) and Fractal (19th)
- New Cockpit Items – BattleMech Statues (2nd)
- New Modules – Air Strike and Artillery Improvment
Team Structure and BattleGrid Improvements
The team has been busy adding new functionality and roles into the command hierarchy. The first phase allows players to join two lances, each with a commander. Players will now see there lancemates name, health status, and grid location on the HUD. Lance Commanders will be able to issue lance commands via the BattleGrid. Company Commanders can now also issue orders to individual lances.
Artillery and Air Strike Consumables
Two new consumable items bring new tactical options to the battlefield, especially for scout players. Using line-of-sight targeting, players can elect to reign down a damaging barrage of focused artillery or linear air strikes on their enemies.
Champion BattleMechs
We’ve decided to add a new style of Hero BattleMech, one that represents the community – the Champion. Similar in nature to the Founder’s BattleMechs, a Champion `Mech is based of an existing variant with a special permanent 5% XP boost and lower price point. Our first Champion BattleMech will be revealed on April 12th.
Improved Night and Thermal Vision
We have adjusted both Thermal and Night Vision modes to be better in different situations. Thermal Vision will no longer be the defacto standard, and Night Vision will have more uses than ever before. These improvements bring these modes closer to their intended original design.
Community Events
March saw more event testing, and better results, including an MC event for solo players. Expect two more main events in April as we continue to refine our scoring system! We plan to roll out team events in the coming months after we allow player to officially band together in units.
Performance
Host State Rewind (HSR) for ballistics will be going live on the 19th. Players with high pings will see a dramatic improvement in ballistic hit detection, similar to last month’s HSR beam weapon fixes.
Behind the Scenes
A lot of work is going into UI 2.0, Community Warfare, and 12 V 12. Expect to see more details and feature rollouts over during the month of May, June, July. A signifcant portion of the team is dedicated to making these features happen. First up will be 12 V 12!