Apologies for the late response; I do not get any notifications about replies here. 

Coming to your message, I agree with you regarding the cost of it. The cost of kitting out maxed mods on your build is way too expensive to be justified. As for the balance part.....my opinion is that it makes the game more balanced and teamplay oriented, since you cannot have a single player solo carry the entire team now, as it was possible previously. Weapons weren't nerfed; they just have to be used differently. I still get 10+ kills with sniper weapons, I just have to spend 2-3 seconds more to recognize multi layer mods and avoid the mechs that sport it. Same goes for other weapons. Since mods are a one time thing that don't replenish themselves (except for hardened hull), you do have the option to playing guerilla warfare to deal with them. 

As for nerfing the mods, maybe that will happen in the future. Maybe it will not; you and I have no idea of knowing. Seeing players leave the game is sad indeed, and it's worse when you have many of your existing friends and clanmates quit - as it happened with me. However, as I have stated before, there is no reason to play a game that you don't have fun playing. I personally find gameplay is more fun with mods, but that doesn't mean everyone else has to. 

For the first point, it is actually possible the force buy thing in the tutorial. If you stay inactive on the tutorial screen for 1 minute, it shows you a skip tutorial button that you can use and thus save the 1500 mod parts you'd otherwise have had to spend. 

For the second point, I wholeheartedly agree that it is poorly executed. However, from what I've spoken with the Community Managers, the feature underwent a lot of testing and development, and was under work for a long time. So, this is the most balanced version of mods that the devs came up with. When you compare mods with Pilots, you can see how the focus with mods was to address the complaints about the way too short TTK and the damage meta. In terms of gameplay, I believe that they are balanced as they are right now. In economy terms, with epic mods being useless vs legendaries and the fact that a single set of mods on a single mech costs $80 in resources? Hell no. 

The issue with graviton beam is that Galvanic Hull exists. Galvanic Hull mod absorbs extra damage, be it side/back damage, modified damage (double damage, crits, hunter mark etc) or effect damage(implosion, overheat etc.) Galvanic Hull is treated as a shield that absorbs the extra damage. So, when your implosion deals say, 100k damage, it is absorbed by the galvanic hull. If the galvanic hull has another 1k HP left, it will absorb another 100k implosion damage. Grav beam deals 4-5 implosions on a full charge, so when galvanic hull is eating 2 of those implosions, you end up having the ammo depleted after 1-2 opponents. 

As for the control point map, I do not have any news about that. I agree with you, though, a new CPC map is looooooooong overdue. 

I'm sorry to know that you feel that way, and in some ways, I do share your frustrations regarding the amount of money that is needed to buy the resources to outfit these mods. Rest assured, I will pass your feedback in the document I am making. 

I personally disagree with the 'thrown back in noob stage' comment, but that's just me. Maybe we define 'noob stage' differently, since I interpret it as a literal newbie. 

I've seen many people share similar opinions as yours, many of them being my own friends and clanmates. I do understand the frustration; you spend time and money to get to a certain point in the meta, be it endgame or not, and suddenly, the finish line has shifted, and you need to spend even more time and money to get there. 

Well, good news and bad news- playing by the meta always carries that risk; META stands for Most Effective Tactic Available, and as the game evloves, it will change. It changed when EMs were introduced, when Pilots became a thing, when Grade update happened, when Discs got nerfed....each time, the meta changed, and the people who had invested significantly into it had to reconfigure their choices. Of course, the fact that reconfiguring anything in this game costs an arm and a leg pleased nobody, and understandably so. The same was bound to happen with mods, no matter what. There can be no addition to the game that will please everyone. 

As for the implant system revamp, it is in the works, as confirmed by the Community Managers multiple times. We do not know any additional details yet, sadly. 

Sorry for the delay, but the link seems to no longer be working. 

Could you please elaborate on what you're trying to say? English isn't my first language, and I'm having trouble making out what you mean.

First off, thank you for providing such elaborate feedback. 

Now, coming to the points you covered-

1. The goal was to end sniper weapon dominance, and it has been achieved. Sniper weapons can no longer solo an entire team by themselves, sure, but then no weapon should be able to. Snipers now require picking off unprotected targets, and working with their teammates to take down high value targets. I've played with snipers post mods and they work just fine as long as I remember my own advice.

2. You can actually see the number of layers left on multilayer shields. The icon that shows up next to the enemy's HP bar has a tiny bar at the bottom of the mod icon, which shows you how many layers of shields remain. It's not easy to see, sure, and especially not on mobile, but it is there, and you can get a rough estimate of it after playing enough matches. 

3. Pilots and implants were introduced with the implant removal costs on day 1. When Grade Update happened, a year or so ago, there was a temporary 6 month peiod when you could swap implants for free. Something like that coming back would be very welcome, sure, but as stated by the Community Managers, it's not happening.

I updated the Video Link above (now YouTube). 🙂

Moderators have been out in force = Plarium numbers must be down. Good work fellas. 

S1LENCE acknowledges openly the evolving game has historically nerfed the most effective builds. This forces players to "reinvest" into new builds. Why not nerf the begisis out of popular effective builds when the sheep just pull out a new benjamin to buy the latest and greatest. Discs, arcs, yada yada.....now the grand nerf, MODS! Don't just make some weapons less effective, make EVERYTH1NG in your hanger, regardless of what it is, less effective against anyone willing to pay up. Brilliant, now even the graviton beam guys have to buy or grind to be competitive. 

From a business model, knowing the community may just pay up, it was a stroke of genius. On the flip side it could be disastrous seeing everyone wake up and quit being a part of the endless nerf for cash scemes.   

You did more than end sniper weapon dominance, you effectively removed them from the game, just as you did when you nerfed arcs and DLs. Once again, players that invested time, money and resources on weapons, upgrades, pilots, implants, etc. are left holding the bag because Plarium cries about game imbalance. I would much rather face a lethal sniper than a team full of maxed bots with maxed mods. Every day I see another friend, teammate or clan leave the game over this disaster. Even after admitting their mistake, I've still seen very little action taken to correct the problem. 

Hi guys! I personally really like the mod update. I was so tired of being steamrolled by Nomads and one shotted by EMs and Railguns, and also by perfect accuracy bots with one-shot weapons. I survive a lot longer now and have much more fun with the slowed down game. My heavy mechs and Stalker have relavance finally, and overall my play-style is better. I think plarium had a really good update, would love to see a mod that increases speed

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fCEcmQQMgqUCkSzGA

Hello S1LENCE, I've collected footage on the "indestructible ML mod", but couldn't send it earlier this week due to me being banned.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cjyEdSPx76BxWBbY7

I also have this footage, which I couldn't trim for some reason, but does contain the problem 

I understand the game needs to advance with new features to keep long term players engaged, but in my mind, the launch of the mods creates further separation between spenders (real $$$ purchases) and skill players.  Spenders have the advantage stronger weapons, pilots, implants, which already makes it challenging for non-spenders.  However, this has been manageable via skill/technique when battling.  Maybe you don't take out the overpowered mech in your first encounter but you have a chance to successful after reloading.

However, the mods have essentially allowed the already overpowered mech to absorb 2-3 full rounds of an average players strongest weapons, which in turn allows them 2-3 chances of taking out the inferrior mech with their overmatched weapons.  Skill/technique is no longer a factor.  Firepower and max health+shield will always come out on top.

If you want my opinion, mods should adjust based on the attributes/level of the mech. Just a quick and dirty example, if your mech has 100k health, you max out at 75k shield, if you have 150k health, you only get 50k shield, 200k health 25k max shield,etc.

And since I never post, I might as well throw out another idea, that I am confident will keep long term players engaged while also allowing newer players ti Be competitive early.  Create a system to allow the sale of blueprints for credits!  You don't have to give a lot per print, but requiring players to hang onto prints that will never be used is pointless.  For long term players, you will be awarding them for time played vs. Money spent.  For new players, it will allow them to focus efforts on specific weapons, which will keep them excited and competitive.  

I've spoken my peace.  Hopefully someone listens.  :)

Qball

I have this question, why should I play a game where I can't kill almost any BOT? I'm tired of hiding behind corners to survive at all. I'm tired of killing a BOT for 20 seconds who is immortal and who eventually gets killed by another BOT while another BOT sneaks up behind me and kills me from behind because I'm fully focused on the indestructible elite in front of me. The game is no longer fun. I don't understand why, when I have no mods standing against me BOTs with 4 mods upgraded 4+. Come on developers, one single reason why I don't take my wallet and time to another game. I've been here for 3 years and all I've seen is that after 3 years the game is in ruins. Many of the weapons are unplayable. Sniper rifles are unusable absolutely. The only weapons that are otherwise boring and broken in my opinion are the emberguns and revorkers. Even that's only because they can shoot all the time and have a minimum CD that can't even be stopped by a Guardian. When I enter a game and see an opponent with Eclipses and those weapons I straight up leave the game. It will be three years now that I've been in the game, but I'm thinking of putting the whole account on ice. Maybe things will get better around here with time, but right now the game is uninteresting to me. I'm also tired of playing a tournament where players deliberately break their hangar and play with one gun and no pilots to cheat the sqaudpower system and get easier opponents. You haven't fixed that either, and you've known that for a very long time. The game would benefit if it worked the way you promise. Oh, and I won't even mention the botched season pass with no MOD benefits in it.

Hello Plarium Team, 

Here is a short open letter addressed to you that I am putting here. I don't know where to, that is why here:

My name is Nikolay Dimitrov, my Game ID is 26574894, my nickname 戦士 Gultia an I am with SNS clan (or what is left of it).

I am doing this, because I see that MA is at a crucial turning point and sharing feedback is very important now.  I will explain what I think in 3 parts - 1. where I come form / why I chose this game; 2. what is happening now;  3.what can be done / changed.

1.1 - Who am I -  I am former pretty close to what you can call a ProGamer in 90's and 2000's. With three words - ex "No Lifer". I have invested years of gameplay and countless 24-72 hours raids on the following games:

• D2 - Hardcore mode only
• L2 - Countless servers and battles for supperiority on the servers.
• WoW - until TBC
• Different mobile games for 2 years period.  
• War Robots - for about an year, with pretty heavy investments. - arround 5000$

Why I spend on mobile games? Simple! Because now I am a familly guy with wife and kids and there is no justification to me anymore to grind the game when I can aford to pay and spend time with my familly. How much I spend on MA I will not reveel, but Plarium can easyly check that. 

1.2 - Why MA - Like I have mentioned I came from War Robots and why so, the answers are two:

• I saw for an year that they (Pixonic) have no regards for the spending users (after all the game end goal is to make money - lets be honest about it)  and quickly rotate prised stuff to be outdated. Simply Pixonic's
  greed is discourageing us to spend, but that is my lesser issue with WR. 
• The game IS FAKING SLOW. Imagine comming from D2 Hardcore where your 2 years development can die in a single second, if you don't pay attention.  I better watch the grass grow than play WR.  And then my son introdused me to Mech Arena.

      ...Ahhh, what a relieve! - Supper fast paste game with closer CPs and different in usage mechs, which you can use only onece in your hangar... and there is a KillShot that charges and scrables enemy's teamplay..

I was hooked immidiatelly to the point that MA was the only game I play. Later Surge came arround. That made the game even faster. Pilots, new mechs, nerfs of old weapons, introduction of new mechs and weapons made the game even faster than before. That made me want to play competitively and quickly I have changed  several clans until I have found a clan with stable play and voice communication in english. 

The game was fast and was exclusively skill based. If you develop good skills you can compete. Yes, it requires some investment to aquire the meta mechs and weapons, but out of that the best skills + teamwork + communication wins. The game was so good that even 3rd party tournaments emerged, and even good ones.  

The essense of the game and the reason why everybody played MA was a fast paste game, where every little mistake is brutally punished, so the best team to emerge as a winner. 

2. What is going on now - After the introdiction of the shield mods all that "skill based - no mistake allowed - best to win" corelation disappeared. Now everything is slow. Now everyone can survive (win) his/her mistakes. Now I can't kill a mech with a single salvo/magazine of both of my weapons (just like in War Robots) togather. There is no difference, if shoot entire magazine SRacks12 or Railgun12/16 or EmRifles12/16. The result is the same - barely removing the shields. That tells me that there is no insentive to take and guard key positions on the maps with middle mechs. Now a every position can be attacked. There is no stratigic points anymore. Here are some examples:

• No point of taking a roof key position with LaceWing + SRack 12/Railgin12/EM Rifle 12 in order to deny access to particular routes/possitions. Now everybody can survive those with no HP lost.
• No point of guarding key position with Eclipse + SRack 12/Railgin12/EM Rifle 12 in order to deny access to particular routes/possitions. Now everybody can survive those with no HP lost. 
• No point of guarding key position with Surge + EM Gun12/SRack12/Railgin12/EM Rifle12 in order to deny access to particular routes/possitions. Noone cares, because we have crit/back damage denyle mod, which randers Surge useless. 

Do you see the trend? All the fast gameplay making mechs/wepons combinations are out. Only big, chunky, and slow combinations are good to use now.  

• Tanks +  MiniGun 12/16
• Tanks + "The new yellow Minigun" 12/16 
• Tanks + "The fishing harpoon" 12/16 

To be clear. I am not bitching, because I don't have the mechs/weapons that are META now. I have all mechs/weapons that are not trash, so this cannot be an argument. I am bitching, because Mech Arena starts to smell like War Robots  - slow and boring like observing how my grand-grand mother is folding socs.

It is so bad, that yesterday I have showed my son (which doeas not play MA form years now): "Look I am going to shoot to this robot (with two SRack12) and I will not do any damage on the HP of the mech." And sure thing. No actual HP was taken from the mech (because of anti-back/crit mod + shield mod), without even taking in account the HP mod. I have spend (no joking) 3 entire magazines of 2x SRack 12 to kill tha damn thing. At that point every 5 years old on the other side can just run away. Very, very, very interesting and trilling gameplay. 

So thrilling gameplay, that a good chunk of my clan left the game. They just uninstalled the application. Players that have 2+ years of playing in the same clan were so thrilled from the gameplay that unistalled the game. 

Yes some of them do not spend as much as I do and most of their equipment is rendered useless now. Ok, you are going to lose those players in every big change in the META (like with DLs). That is understandable. But a lot of players are going away, because the game is no longer that high-skill/high-reward now.  

And here is the proof: When DLs+EM Rifles were nerfed noone of my clan stopped playing. Some bitched for 2 days and that was it. Now - I have never seen such low clan players activity in my entire MA experience. And [SNS] is not a joke-clan. People know that. 

3.  Possible sollutions - To be honest there are several possible paths forward. Every single each of them with different tradeoffs. The one that looks less harmful for everybody is tha path of co-existance and natural selection.

Plarium can make Mods as a separate game mode (like Tournamest; 2v2; CPC; 5v5; Single Player) and revert the Normal (fast paste) gamplay for the rest of the modes. In that case people that enjoy MA for the fast paste games can continue play that unique style and people that want more biffy and survivable play can enjoy that as well. Plarium can make Mods mode to be engaging and rewarded. To give ensentive to play that mode as well with different rewords. In that manner natural selection will decide which mode people play and spend on more, so Plarium can focus more on the particular mode. 

The way that is handled/forced now does no good to anyone. 

In closure:

I believe that the most powerful vote (ballet) that men can cast is the one you cast with your wallet... and I am pretty close to change my voting on Mech Arena. 

Gultia

After nearly a season, gameplay is starting to even out (tournament next?) My biggest Beef with the way Mods were released. Something that has that much potential to upset gameplay.  Should NOT be released for SALE until FAIR gameplay has been established. It has taken most of 2 seasons to even get a 1/2ass take it or leave it from Plarium. We had a full clan before Mods and have had to replace 8 clan members because of Mods. DO NOT OFFER ANYMORE new content until you can handle it. 

Overall, I don't have a problem with the mods. They have significantly altered the gameplay and changed the "meta" of the game. My issue is that I spent six months farming to get my 16 EM Rifle weapon to purple and max out all my legendary implants. Now, because of the mods, I might as well throw it all away since it's useless. Will there be a free implant removal day? No matter how I look at it, it would cost me 12,000 A-coins just to remove the implants. That's not fair! I can eventually get over the fact that my weapon is useless, though I'm still angry about it. But I shouldn't have to buy coins just because the game has changed...