Price increased from 4500 ---> 5000
Decreased scoped movement speed from 76% ---> 72%
Adjusted deadzone from 30% movement speed to 15% movement speed (become inaccurate sooner and longer to become accurate)
Fire rate changed from 0.75 ---> 0.6
Increased* instant equip time from 0.3 ---> 0.5
Proof: https://youtu.be/aOZv1fPUpLY?t=80
External link →So after weeks of saying the op is fine, they drop 5 different nerfs at once?
I don't think the general stance of the balance team has been that the Op is "fine", but rather that we've been taking our time to make methodical changes that we're confident in.
Here's a twitter thread from two weeks ago where I say that the Operator needs changes, both from a balance perspective and a sentiment perspective. We also called out that we've been working on changes in the last set of patch notes, and have been for some time - we identified the opportunity awhile back, but wanted to make sure that we were making the right changes, for the right reasons.
So after weeks of saying the op is fine, they drop 5 different nerfs at once?
As was mentioned in the last patch notes...
While these major Agent changes settle, we have turned our eye on a more pressing issue: the Operator. We know that this weapon can feel very oppressive to play against, often leaving players feeling like there is no hope when attacking. We agree that the Operator is likely having an outsized impact on match outcomes and are testing a suite of changes to address this issue.
For how important the Operator is to the game, we want to make sure we are making the right call, so we’re giving these changes a bit more time to soak internally to make sure we get them just right.
C'mon...
I think this is fine. Its really only nerfing aggressive op players. A passive/defensive player with an op is still going to be difficult.
I feel like this nerf is similar to awp nerf in csgo against kennyS, but you'll still have people like a device who aren't as aggressive but difficult to play against
This will still punish defensive players as long as you force them off the angle with utility. Dry-peeking defensive oppers will still get you killed (and we want to maintain this - it's what the weapon is for), but it'll be much harder for them to peek back into you if you take the angle with a flash or daze. The refire rate also makes it easier for allies to trade on Ops, and the equip time makes it harder for Ops to be combat ready after using counter-utility to slow a push.
how is months of nothing followed by 5 changes in one patch "methodical"
Because players have been learning the game this entire time and we've been watching game data as it progresses. Now that it's become more stable and the pro scene has solidified more, it's easier for us to be confident in our analysis.
These 5 changes are focused around a specific vision for the Op and how it should fit into our game - shipping balance changes is about the impact you want to make, not the number of tweaks that get bundled together to get there. This is one change with a goal in terms of how it should effect behavior and usage of the Operator. In games like this, it's very rare that you can just make a single change and accomplish all of your goals, because content interacts with other content and systems in a complex way.
Just curious, was there any discussion of adding a scoping sound first rather than mess with the accuracy timings and cost?
It got talked about, but the scoping sound just doesn't address a lot of the pain points around the Op. Even in situations where you know an Opper is in an area (via a scope sound or some other utility), the gun in its current state can feel oppressive due to how effective it is at peeking angles and securing multikills, which makes fighting against it difficult. We want to encourage players to combat Operators with utility and coordination, while also making an Operator more of an investment and rare purchase, which is what these changes set out to do - a scope in sound doesn't really help us accomplish any of that, and also doesn't address many of the pain points players were feeling around the Op (feeling like even if you play around it effectively/force them out with utility, they can punish you anyway)
can you share some of the game data please? One of the things the community loves about the devs is their transparency and I think offering up more data and info on the decision making can help ppl understand the and adapt to the changes.
I totally agree; it's a weird state right now where our 3rd party API resources aren't spun up yet or accurate, but we haven't shared any of our internal data. It's something I'd like to do, even if it's just a snapshot of a patch for visibility.
Hello, this isn't related to the Op but my colorblind friend has a hard time in deathmatch because he can't see the red pulsating dots on the mini map. If any change comes to the mode, I hope there is someway our colorblind friends can have an equal footing.
Will pass this on!
you guys have poor messaging then because up until the last patch notes that said changes are upcoming after being tested internally i had heard riot (i believe morello) say the OP was working exactly as intended.
There's probably some amount of misinterpretation going on there, which is not your fault at all so I can understand how that's confusing. I'd be surprised if he said it was working "exactly as intended", because the Op has been a point of discussion internally for quite some time, but the Op has been "doing its job" quite well in terms of holding down angles. We think the Op is overperforming in areas that it doesn't need to, which is leading to this nerf - its ability to lock down angles is working as intended, but its ability to peek into them, secure back to back kills, and be purchased as often as it is is more problematic.
Also, it's worth calling out that Morello is a member of the balance team and obviously a hugely influential designer in our org structure, but he is not the voice of the balance team and not everything he says on his stream should be taken as absolute gospel. We can and do disagree on different subjects, and y'all should take the patch notes as the source of truth for where the team's head is at at any given moment, not individual's social media (myself included).
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